Half an hour later

"I can guarantee you, Jedova, that your Padawan got through that Temenneree poisoning without any permanent damage," Amariel told.

Relief visibly took over Jedova. This was most certainly the best news he had heard in the whole month.
"No need to thank me. Just please give her some of her own space, for the Force's sake," Amariel said before the man could speak up. "I mean, how can a girl so small even breathe when there's a giant like you overprotecting her?"

Arya did not know whether she should be mortified just like her Master appeared to be or laugh at the unexpected and surreal situation. She had not said anything about how she felt about Jedova overprotecting her, but Amariel seemed the have reached her own conclusions from her lack of words.
"I… I really am not sure what you're talking about," Jedova said steadily – actually too steadily and both adults knew it.
Amariel just grinned at him. "Just make sure you two don't come here again soon!" Then she turned and walked away.

Jedova turned to look at Arya, his expression a mixture of mortification and confusion. The girl shrugged with the corners of her mouth twitching.
"Why don't we talk after we've gotten your things to your new quarters?" Jedova suggested. Arya nodded, too afraid to open her mouth; she feared that she would burst into laughter if she spoke up.

They left the Halls of Healing for the quarters of the Boma clan.
"Master, I really don't have that much to be carried so I could do it by myself, but I have very little idea of where your quarters are," Arya admitted. "Otherwise I could do this completely on my own."

Jedova noticed the attempt to impress him. Arya still wanted to prove herself even though she had done it already at the Exhibition Day. The time of constantly doing it without success seems to have affected her a lot, the Jedi Master mused, and now she tries to cling to what she has already gotten at all costs.

"So, you are leaving now, huh?" asked the caretaker of Boma clan, Chama Fe.
"Yup!" Arya replied. "You won't be worrying about me anymore!"
"It is great to see you go on. For some time, I had been wondering if you were going to stay here forever!" Master Fe said with a smile.

Arya grinned, but there was a tiny bit of bitterness in her eyes that she had never noticed to show and thus had never hidden. Jedova wondered if anyone had ever actually noticed that secret bitterness in the grin.

Or am I the only one who knows well enough how it feels like to be a lost cause in order to notice these signs in Arya?

Arya rushed to gather her things. Master Fe spoke to Jedova quietly, "I can't express how glad I am to see that she has been chosen now. You can't even imagine how broken she was when the last one of her age mates here was chosen instead of her even though she has put more effort in her doing. It has been bothering her for long."
"Yes, I believe I can't imagine it," Jedova admitted, "because I know exactly how it feels."

Master Fe did not say anything for a brief moment, taken aback by the admission. Then, as if nothing had happened, he started to talk about Arya's studies, her strengths and weaknesses and what was normal behavior for her. Jedova listened, noticing a good lot of faults that could be fixed with private training in which one could see what actually was wrong.

Arya was grateful that Jedova stayed to talk with Master Fe. She wanted to gather her things on her own. She went through all the places in her small quarters, not wanting to leave anything behind.

There was something under her mattress. Arya knew there was; she recalled putting something under there and swearing to herself to keep it a secret. The girl made sure that no one was watching, slipped her hand under the mattress and took the thing out from there. It was a leather scroll, fully closed. She frowned for a second, but then she remembered the odd figures on the day she had finished her Initiate Trials.

She had to keep this as a secret.

Once again, she hid the scroll between her undertunic and overtunic and acted like it did not even exist. She gathered the rest of her things and made sure everything looked like the day she had first stepped into this room. There was nothing left anymore, no traces of her to be purged away before the next Initiate to use these quarters would arrive.
"Ok, Masters, I'm ready!" Arya called out and took all of her things to her arms. It was a wobbly pile she could keep from collapsing only with her chin pressing them.
"Are you sure you manage to make it with that pile?" Jedova laughed. "Hey, why don't you let me help you, my Padawan?"
"This is good. I can keep it from collapsing this way," Arya told, smiling. The sight of everything else in her head than her chin and jaw moving looked so hilarious that Master Fe could not help snorting in amusement.
"She is stubborn, I warn you," he told Jedova.
"I've noticed that already," the elder Jedi Master remarked with a smile, "but since I have dealt with stubborn Padawans before, I doubt there will be any problems."

Arya grinned.
"We'll see about that," she said quietly, "Master."
"Excuse me, Padawan!" Jedova chuckled. "Why don't we already go and stop bothering poor Master Fe?"
"Sure. Bye, Master Chama. It has been nice seven years!" Arya said and bowed as much as she just could with her load.
"I hope you will do well while under Jedova's tutelage," Master Fe replied. "Jedova, I am now relinquishing my responsibility on her to you. Be sure to take care of her or else..."
"You don't need to worry about that," Jedova promised and bowed. "May the Force be with you."

Chama Fe watched as the door closed behind the fresh team.
"And even the last one is a Padawan now," he muttered. "And it feels like they were just given under my care those years ago..."

Jedova had noticed an odd protrusion under Arya's tunic. He wanted to discuss whatever she was hiding – and almost everything else – with her in privacy where they would not need to mind anyone but each other.

Arya smirked at Airka as he met them in the corridor.
"So you do all the carrying yourself, huh? You sure have a Master who makes you work a lot!" Airka remarked.
"I do prefer doing my work myself, y'know," Arya noted. "You should try that sometime."
"Ow! That burned!" Airka guffawed. "I hope you do have time to come and eat with the rest of us."
"Don't worry about something as easy as that," Arya replied. "Just be sure that you are there instead of sleeping all day!"

Laughing, Airka went in from one door to get to rest in his quarters.
"Is it always like that between the two of you?" Jedova asked, unsure of how he should react to the discussion despite of the two Padawans' smiles.
"Only when the topic isn't serious." Arya managed to turn her head enough to show her mischievous smirk to the much taller Jedi. Jedova shook his head, deciding that amusement was probably the best reaction for the quipping. It seemed to be consensual, after all.
"Here," he said and opened the door. "At least I can open the door for you, right?"
Arya chuckled. "You already did that, Master."

Jedova's smile widened; at least their senses of humor seemed to have some sort of a match even if their temperaments did not.

Arya walked to the door on the left. It had been left unlocked by Degu.
"I assume you want to put your things to their places on your own in peace," Jedova noted.
"That would be nice, Master," Arya said. The scroll felt uncomfortable between her tunics.
Jedova nodded. "Just tell me if you find something Degu has forgotten there. And make sure you hide whatever you are hiding under your tunic well so that I won't find it." He turned his back on Arya and walked to the cupboard. He had started to miss tea on the mission. Coffee helped him to stay awake but he had never liked it – or at least after that one mission during his time as a Padawan he had not liked coffee. He was well aware of the fact that Arya had frozen to her spot but he did not say anything else.

After recovering from the shock, Arya slipped to her new quarters and shut the door, leaving the Jedi Master to prepare some tea. After a while, the Jedi Master had sat down at the table with an old but warm mug in his hands.

Jedova sipped his tea. He had now given Arya the warning the girl needed. He did not want to experience the same thing he had experienced with Degu on Jaminere five years ago. By the Force, has it been that long already?

Arya spread her things to her sleep couch and took deep breaths. She took the scroll from where she had hidden it. What was she going to do with it?

Calm down, she told herself. Breathe.

Arya observed her new room. She had to find a place to hide it to.

The small wardrobe? Too obvious.
Under or into the sleep couch? Obvious. Too obvious.
To the chest of drawers? Arya did not have enough things to hide it there.
Behind the chest of drawers?

Arya tried to move the chest that had been put next to the wardrobe. There was enough space to hide the scroll behind it. However, there was already something. Arya reached out to get her hand to the small space. It felt like there was a couple of sheets of paper. Arya got a grip on them and lifted them from their hiding place. There was some writing and drawings on them. The girl could not help snickering at them. It seemed to her that someone had been severely bored at some point before putting the papers (who even used them these days, though?) away. She put the scroll behind the chest and pushed it to its original place. Then she opened the door and poked her head to see that Jedova was savoring his tea at the table. The Jedi Master lifted his eyes to look at his Padawan. Arya showed the papers, "Knight Odg or someone before him has forgotten something here."

Jedova smiled and lightly lifted his hand. Arya sensed the Jedi Master taking a Force grip on the papers and let go. The two papers floated in the air to the table. Arya disappeared back to her room to sort her things to their places.

Jedova looked at the papers. At first, it seemed that there were just two papers, but then he noticed that two papers were stuck together. He took them apart as carefully as he could and looked at what was on those three sheets.

He remembered that back when Degu had been his Padawan for just two years, there had been a mission on which the boy had had far more energy than was necessary. Therefore, when they both had been placed into quarantine, Degu had grown bored unusually fast, so he had been given some papers and a pen to pass time. Jedova had never seen those papers after they had been let out; Degu had never wanted to show them to him.

The sheet of paper which had been apart already was full of drawings. Jedova saw some stick figures with what seemed like lightsabers, but could not make out anything else among the numerous lines. On the other side of it was something that looked like a giant beast. Jedova shook his head, amused. He thought that understood why Degu had hidden them now.

He moved on to the other papers. On the sides that had been left to show was some writing about how bored he was. The word "boring" was repeated numerous times and with many different styles. Jedova was actually a bit surprised that in the middle of either paper did not have a huge version of that word. He turned the other paper. There were some words about what he had heard while looking for criminals – that odd hobby of his which had ultimately caused them to meet at night on a street on Coruscant in the first place – like the very little he knew about his now late father, Ianor Odg. On the other side, however, was something else.

He recalled a friend of Degu's – his name was extremely difficult to pronounce and Jedova doubted he had ever gotten it right – had inspired the boy to take up some poetry lessons some time before that mission. The teacher had later told Jedova how bad Degu was at it, especially at rhyming, and now the Jedi Master finally could see proof – and he could only agree with the poor teacher. Nevertheless, he started to read the text and pay attention to its meaning.

Hey, you know this face?
No. Never seen him.
Doesn't the name tell you anything?
No. Go away, punk.

I am looking for someone.
I don't know what he is now,
I don't know if he sees me.

Hear me out!

I want to see him,
Just one moment to talk with him.
Hey, why did you do that? Why are you here?
Too many questions and he pushes me away, again.
I can't choose the right questions.
I don't know which ones I need to know now.

It is this way, I can't see why.
I can't tell anyone.
There's someone who'd listen, I know,
But I can't burden him either.
I carry this alone,
I carry the uncertainty forever.

Nothing rhymed and the piece needed a lot of polishing to properly work on its own, Jedova acknowledged that. However, there was a deeper meaning in those words. While reading, he had realized while reading that Degu had written about his relationship to his father and his Master. He had wanted to get it out of his system but he had chosen not tell Jedova about it.

Only now Jedova truly understood why the papers had been stuck together and why Degu had refused to show them, opting to hide them altogether instead. It would be awkward, but he knew that he had to return the papers to Degu. They were a part of the younger man's past, after all.

The door of Arya's room opened up and awoke Jedova from his thoughts.
"It's nearly 1900 now, so I'll leave to the dining hall, Master," she told.
"Of course. Please remember that I want to talk with you after that, though," Jedova reminded. Suddenly Arya looked uneasy. "What?"
"Well, it's just that since some other Boma clan people will probably join Airka and me, our conversation may take real long. And I mean it's like over two hours then, so I may be back at something like near 2200 at the earliest," Arya explained.

Jedova's eyes lighted in understanding. Of course the young people had a lot to talk about. "If that's the case, then we shall postpone it for tomorrow. We'll just get up earlier."
"Okay," Arya said. It couldn't be too early, could it?
"By early I mean 0600," Jedova noted.

Arya tried to control her expression but her face did fall a bit flat in dismay.
"I understand, Master," she said as evenly as she just could, bowed and exited. The door closed behind her.
"Alright, Jedova, I think you have startled her enough for one day," Jedova said himself quietly and took a sip of his cooling tea. "Maybe try not to be so authoritative tomorrow."

Arya stood near the dining hall, waiting for Airka to arrive. Then she saw the Fosh.
"You're early. Did you run away from your Master before he could stop you from coming?" Airka said.
"My Master was too busy sipping his tea to do that," Arya replied. Airka grinned and started to walk past the girl. They entered the rather noisy hall side by side.
"Hey, look, there's Chirda. And also Satasha," Airka noted.
"Satasha?" Arya did not recall anyone by that name.
"She's two years older than us, but we were on a same mission a few months ago," Airka told. "I'll introduce you to her. She's great, I tell you!"
"That'd be nice!" Arya noted.
"But let's get the food first," Airka stated.
"Which one do you use more to think, your brain or your stomach?" Arya laughed.
"I'm trying to balance it," Airka told. Arya giggled.
"Good luck with that, then," she muttered.

A moment later, they got to the table.
"Hi Chirda, hi Satasha! Do you mind if we sit here?" Airka asked.
"Not at all, Airka. There's always space for the hungry Padawans." Satasha grinned.
"I see why you like her," Arya noted to Airka.
"Satasha, this is Arya Deinden, a clan mate of ours. Arya, Satasha Trujl," Airka introduced.
"Nice to meet you. Have you been a Padawan for long?" Satasha asked.
"Nah, I was chosen not even a week ago," Arya told.
"You were chosen?! By who?" A bit of Chirda's salad fell back to her plate.
"Jedova Wang," Arya answered, surprised by the amount of pride she felt when she spoke her Master's name.
"The Unlucky Jedi?" Chirda asked.
"The one and only." Excitement kept rising within Arya; she was actually like the other people at the table instead of just an Initiate now and it felt unbelievably good.
"I've heard something about him. He seems to be always in trouble. What is he like, Arya?" Satasha asked.
"He's really nice. And yes, trouble follows him everywhere," Arya told.
"You haven't been on a mission yet, have you?" Chirda asked.
"She returned today from one. I saw." Airka told and chewed some meat.
"True. We were sent just a few hours after Master Wang had chosen me," Arya told.
"What was it like? It's quite scary to go on the very first mission, right?" Chirda asked.
"Hmmm... To be honest, I've been stuck here in the Temple for so long that aside from getting poisoned, I liked the mission. It was a nice change of pace," Arya noted. She took advantage of the shock around the table to eat her own food.
"You were poisoned?" Satasha asked.
"Yep. But I'm fine now." Arya smiled.
"Wow! I hope I won't end up the same way anytime soon!" Chirda noted.
"I doubt you will," Airka noted. "I've heard that Ithorians bite those who try to do that."

Others tried to avoid laughing, but Chirda frowned.
"Be careful with your quips or I'll bite you," she told. Airka opened up his mouth but Chirda continued before he got to speak up, "And before you say anything about threatening, I'll tell you that I am warning you. Those things you've heard may very well be right."
Airka closed his mouth.
"That was a good one," Satasha giggled. "You outwitted him."

Chirda smiled in joy. She had dreamed of this for long. Finally, she had said something that silenced the always-so-witty Fosh.
"Better luck next time, pal," Arya said and patted Airka's shoulder, chuckling.
"You won, Chirda. How was your mission in Ithori system, by the way?" Airka said.
"It was ok. Actually quite peaceful," Chirda told.
"Hi everyone!" came a shout just behind Arya and Airka. The two Padawans jumped and turned to look at the shouter. It was Peter, a hyperactive human boy who was among the younger of Boma clan's Padawans. "What's up?"
"Just a normal conversation," Chirda told.
"Satasha, this is Peter. Peter, this is Satasha. Now sit," Airka told.

Peter sat on the free chair on Arya's left side so fast that some of the food flew around.
"Chill out, dude!" Arya said. "The food is not going to disappear from your plate!"
"You sure? You could steal it!" Peter said and moved between his plate and the Veledosian protectively.
"I prefer my own food," Arya replied and put a good chunk of the meat to her mouth. Peter started to wolf down his own dinner without joining the conversation, then left as soon as he had finished.
"We seriously have no idea where he gets all his energy," Chirda noted to Satasha once the boy was out of the dining hall.
"Or who chose him as a Padawan. He's never stopped for long enough to tell us," Airka remarked.

Satasha nodded, understanding. "It was nice to see you all and talk with you, but now I need to go. My Master is waiting for me. I'll see you when we happen to meet again. May the Force be with you all." She left, followed by each of the Padawans wishing the Force to be with her. She must have noticed Gomorrah heading this way, Arya mused as the Wookiee along with Qui-Gon, Tahl, Clee Rhara and some others joined them there. Suddenly, the conversation turned massive but Arya did not mind it. It could be possible that they would never have such a chance to talk together with the whole group again.

At 2357

Arya slouched to her quarters. It seemed to her that Jedova had already gone to sleep. The conversation at the dining hall had taken way too long, but they all had had fun. Besides, Arya had to admit that for the first time ever since the time others had started to get chosen, she truly felt like she was once again one of them.
"I was starting to wonder if you'd lost your way," Jedova's voice startled her as it came from the corner of the common room nearest to her door.
"Master? You're still awake?" Arya asked.
"I was waiting for you to make sure you'd make it back. Did you underestimate the length of the conversation?"
"Yes. More people than I had expected came and we couldn't stop talking. The end."
"You must have listened to Airka a lot this evening." Jedova stood up. "Go to sleep now."
"On my way already, Master," Arya yawned. "Good night."
"Good night," Jedova's low voice was like whisper in the dark room. Arya was not actually sure if he was actually one of the shadows of the room as the Jedi Master crossed the common room to go to his own room. Too tired to think, Arya just yawned and went to her own room to slump on her sleep couch and fall asleep.

/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/