Chapter Three

Ana followed Obi-Wan to their new quarters, her one small pack of things from her old quarters hung off of one shoulder. It was a rather…strange feeling. She didn't really know what to feel. She was excited because she was finally a Padawan learner, one of the oldest in the Temple now. She would have a mentor to train with. She would grow in the ways of the Force and was starting her way to become a Jedi. However, things were still slightly awkward. Neither knew too much about each other yet.

She looked around the small living space, only two couches and a table with a smaller kitchen area. She smiled as she looked around before commenting, "cozy."

He gave her a smile as well before he motioned to the couches. She nodded and sat on one, settling into the smaller, cream coloured couch as she placed her pack on the ground beside her. She never did like this colour. It looked classy but bland. And it was easy to dirty. But I guess Jedi weren't supposed to be messy enough to wreck a couch.

Obi-Wan sat across from her and he asked, starting the conversation, "do you have any questions for me?"

Ana stared at him before finally asking, "why did you agree?"

He raised an eyebrow and Ana explained, "why did you agree to take me as a Padawan?"

Obi-Wan nodded once with understanding before he shrugged, "I've been thinking about it for a while. The Council has been looking for someone for you, but we didn't know who would fit you best and who had the time. I was one of the people who was suggested and later I offered to accept and the Council agreed."

She stared at him, slightly confused.

"Master Yoda made it seem like they were the ones who suggested it and you agreed." she told him.

"Well that's what first happened. I was thinking about it, but the Council got one step ahead of me. But I didn't want to agree until I knew I was prepared." Obi-Wan explained.

She raised an eyebrow, slightly curious.

"Prepared?" she asked.

"I learned more sign language for one. I only remembered so much from teaching you when you were younger and I didn't remember much of anything that Qui-Gon Jinn taught me. I also had Cody, the now Captain of our battalion to learn as well." Obi-Wan answered.

Ana was surprised. She had the masters learn sign language for her, but only a little for their teaching. She didn't expect that her Master would learn a language for her, much less made his Captain learn as well. She assumed that if the time came that she would just have to be weary of watching him talk and maybe a couple of hand gestures, but she hadn't expected that they would learn a whole new language for her!

"I…I have to admit that I am surprised," Ana told him.

He told him, signing as best he could while he talked, "It'll take me a little bit to really become fluent, but I'm sure that actually signing with you, I will learn better. I'll do my best to understand."

She counted three mistakes, mostly grammar, in the words, but she let him slide. He was learning and was trying and that was more than what a lot of people have done for her.

He nodded, smiling as well. She gave him one back before he looked over at the small kitchen area and asked, "do you want any caf?"

Ana thought about it before shrugging, "a cup would be great."

He got up and she watched him go over before making the caf. She didn't know if he was asking any questions since his back was to her, but she hoped he had some common curtesy. She looked down at her hair that floated over her shoulders and down her chest a little. That was another thing that made her stick out, if people had not seen her hearing aid. There were not many people with red hair, especially people with hair as vibrantly red as her's. She stuck out quite easily.

Seeing him move again, she looked up and saw him turn around, placing a cup of caf on the table in front of her, keeping on in his hands. She offered him a smile before taking the warm cup in both of her own hands. She looked up at him before taking a sip, "thank you."

She feels the warmth of the drink fill her veins and she smiled, looking at her new mentor again, waiting for him to take the lead again. She didn't know how this would go and he had done this before.

"We won't be going on any new missions soon, so we'll have time to get to know each other." Obi-Wan told her. Ana nodded. He asked her after taking a drink, "I've heard many call you Ana. Do you prefer that over Anallah?"

The redhead shrugged, "it's a name that kind of stuck. Kids would call me that when I was younger, then when I was with the younglings I would use it since it wasn't as long and complicated. It doesn't matter to me, but Ana is what most besides the Masters call me."

He nodded and told her, giving her a smile, "Ana it is then."

She gave him a smile as well. He seemed to read her mind. The shortened version of the name was what she was used to. And she did like it better than her full name. She wondered if he sensed that from her.

After taking a drink of his caf, Obi-Wan asked his new apprentice, "I guess one of the first questions that I have for you is do you know what your strengths and weaknesses are?" It would be a good place to start. He had done the same with Anakin. It was good for one to be self-reflective, know what they can and can't do. Sometimes the person may be somewhat humble, or not know that a strength they have is such, but it was a good place to start and a good place to build.

Ana thought for a moment, thinking about herself before she answered him, "I guess my some of my strengths are…well my strength." She gave him a small grin. She was a girl who worked out a lot, especially on her arms. Not too many Masters approved about how much focus she put on working out, but it helped her develop herself in the Force by teaching her self-discipline, trust, and balance and goal setting. And it left her with some pretty good arm muscles. She saw him grin as well, showing at least some approval, which was more than what a lot of Jedi Masters did. Staying in shape was one thing, doing it as excessively as she sometimes did was another thing. She continued, "and I, or at least I believe and what many have told me, have a strong physical connection with the Force. I'm very good at using it as a sensory for what is around me and using it to lift things. I'm good at meditation."

Obi-Wan agreed with that. It was one of the things that the Jedi Masters have always noticed about her. She had a deeper connection to the Force than anyone of her age, more than a lot of others. He always thought that it was because she relied on the Force more so than others since she didn't have her ears to tell her when someone was coming close and if there was danger. And he knew that she knew how to tap into her own inner Force connection as well. She had a deep physical connection with the Force.

"As for weaknesses…I think I would have to say I am not as good as I wish to be with my lightsaber." Ana answered. She never had too much time to really learn lightsaber wielding. During the lessons she could watch, but would miss a lot of what the Jedi Master would say, so she would copy the best she could. Not to mention that she didn't have a lot of one on one training, as that mostly came in when a youngling became a Padawan.

Obi-Wan nodded. She was mature for her age, obviously more than a teenage Anakin, but he was glad that she knew her strengths and weaknesses and what she had to work on. And admitting them was also something he was very proud of. It took some humility, and she didn't say it embarrassed at all, it was as though she was asking for help. She was eager to learn and that was something Obi-Wan always admired about her.

Ana shrugged, "and…languages. I'm not so good with those. I am fine if it's written down, I can read it then but I'm afraid that if we are on a planet where no one speaks basic, I'm going to be very lost…more than normal." She gave him a grin before continuing, "and…I am not so good in crowds. I miss a lot of what is going on around me word wise, so I focus less on the person and more on the surroundings. So…I don't know how well I could do with crowd control."

Obi-Wan nodded. That was understandable and it was something that she couldn't exactly control, at least not easily. He could try and help her to work on it, however he didn't know her experience on this or to really help her work on that aspect. He didn't know the background she did. He didn't know her point of view. It would be a learning experience for both of them, but Obi-Wan was more than willing if she was. Only a fool thought that he was done learning, or knew everything he needed to.

He asked her, starting a small discussion, and to start a boost to their relationship: "I find it interesting that you didn't mention your intelligence."

He sipped at his caf as he watched her face change, expressing confusion. She thought for a moment and Obi-Wan waited patiently to what she was going to say. Finally, she admitted to him, "I'm…not quite sure what you mean Master Kenobi."

He nodded and set his caf back down on his lap, "you're very smart, Ana. You do know that, don't you?"

Helping one to see their strengths was something that Obi-Wan always thought was important. Ana may not see herself as smart, but Obi-Wan certainly did and so did many others on the Council. Showing strengths was just as important to him as admitting weaknesses and things to work on because it shows what a person can do.

Ana shrugged and told him, "I don't think I'm smarter than any other in the Temple, Master."

He smiled, "would you mind if I challenge that?"

She raised an eyebrow, "comparing intelligence between people does not seem very…Jedi-like, Master."

He shakes his head, "I'm comparing different types of intelligence, Ana. Can you think of the ways that you are smart?"

She stares at him, slightly confused before she thinks about herself. She tells him, "I guess that…I know a lot. Little things here and there."

"From all your reading," Obi-Wan added, "you read a lot and have a very avid thirst for knowledge. As an example, if we were on a mission to a temperate planet, you would know what natural herbs and plants we could eat and which ones we could not because they are poisonous, yes?"

Ana thought for a moment before she answers him, "I guess."

"And you would be able to know how to read compasses, how to follow a map, even if it was in a language you didn't know. You know the principles of a map." Obi-Wan continued.

"I guess." Ana shrugged, "but don't most Jedi know this?"

"Not all of them. At least not to the fine details that you do." Obi-Wan answered, "they may, however, have different intellects that you do not."

Ana nodded, trying to piece the puzzle together that Obi-Wan was making her do. She answered, "well, I'm not terrific at maths, at least understanding it. I can do it, but I don't always understand what I am doing."

"And there are many Jedi who are good at it, but they may not be good at knowing plants or even languages. You admitted that you know languages. You may have the barrier of not knowing them verbally, but you can read them. Not all Jedi can do that either." Obi-Wan agreed before he said, "and not all Jedi can fluently speak two languages the way you do, especially since you can't hear yourself with the one."

Ana shifted in her seat, slightly uncomfortable at the second idea, "but that's only because I had so much speech therapy. And the other is…well it's the same but in hand symbol form, like with letters. And I grew up with both. Most don't grow up with two languages."

"No they don't, but I remember even as a child you caught on to sign language fast. You understood when someone pointed at an object and made the gesture and show you the word in basic that it all went together." Obi-Wan told her, "I remember because that was…"

"Qui Gon." Ana finished, "your master."

Obi-Wan nodded. He told her, "he worked a lot with you."

"He did." Ana agreed because it was true. He was one of the people to really help her with speech therapy and he also helped her with sign language and putting the two together.

Obi-Wan leaned forward a little and told her, "all I'm saying, Ana, is that when you were listing your strengths you missed something very important. You are very bright. And you learn very quickly, that I do remember from when Qui-Gon taught you and from when even I taught you in your early years."

"Can I ask what the point of that was?" Ana asked.

Obi-Wan nodded and took a sip of his caf before explaining, "I will admit, Ana, that there will be some difficulties. Although we can transition some things and change others to fit you the best it can such as making nonverbal cues with the men, having the holocoms so that you have to see my image, and I am also hoping that the others will catch on with the language and learn it themselves, or at least enough to help for important words on the missions, but things will not go completely smoothly. There are barriers that you and I will face, that you and the clones will face. You will be learning and I will be learning to and there will be more bumps in the road than most Jedi Masters and their Padawans would have because you are not just an ordinary Padawan. And, unfortunately, I know that criticism will come. I know that you have been proving your worth at the Temple, but we both know that this is the time where you really show it, that you really start your race because you're going to have to prove that even though you are deaf that you can be a Jedi. I'm helping you recognize your strengths because I don't want you to forget that you have them. When those criticisms come people like to focus on what you can't do and usually the other person getting attacked does the same a lot of the time. But I want you to know your strengths and keep them in mind for when you are going to need them."

Ana nodded, smiling at the end. Everything he said was true.

She tells him, "I know it won't be easy. I know things will have to be changed, even if you and the Captain learn sign language. I know that we will have to change things and things might take longer for me to do. I know I will make mistakes. But I don't need easy. I don't even want it. All I want is possible."

He smiles and promises, "that we certainly can do."