About a week later, Kiros, Mid Rim

Before coming on this foolhardy venture on Kiros, Jedova had never seen a hoe – the tool, not what the word means in slang! Those Jedova did recall encountering several times. Nevertheless, as a tool, a hoe was something new to Jedova, and the man could not help wondering why the Lianorosians still relied on such old things when far more advanced means had existed even when the Veledosians had gone on their exile. I wonder what made them stop using them.

It had been a week since he had started to work for Arya's birthday gift. He had to admit that this had been one of his biggest miscalculations ever since the mission on Utapau back when Lucian had not been knighted yet.

Thinking about that mission still made his blood run cold.

He tried to shake the memories of the carnage – which had been the outcome of his fatal miscalculation – away and concentrate on his work instead. Yesterday, they had gotten to that point in which Tureq took over and Jedova was left to do other work.

Right now, that "other work" meant helping the main farmer, Phal, with his lent agricultural tools the design of which possibly dated back to the time when Coruscant had been something more – or less, depending on your point of view – than a planet-wide city.

Jedova guessed that this still beat the stables. The Brekos were not very happy about his presence, or so it seemed to him. Purono seemed to think otherwise, but the Jedi Master stayed cautious – he did not want to get bitten. Their teeth were sharp as far as he had seen, so he was not willing to have his hands pierced by them.

The hard work in itself was nothing to the Jedi Master; the decades of Jedi training had ensured that he could take it without a problem. When the work became mechanical and repetitive, he slipped into light meditation, taking advantage of those moments to recenter himself. No, it was amount of work and the time it took that worried him. He had underestimated it.

The mistake was his, though, and already made. He had to do his best to cover the extra time he had not anticipated and hope that his stay would not be extended too much. That meant using every moment he could for repaying his debt; all the time he spent working brought his reunion with Arya closer.

Despite of the language barrier and obvious distrust, Jedova had started to like the village. It was peaceful, quiet and safe. However, the Jedi Master was not sure if the tribespeople knew how aware he was of the looks he got and the whispered words and their odd, distrusting waves in the Force.

Jedova did his best to avoid selfish thoughts – he was a Jedi, after all – but this time he allowed himself one of those. At that time, it did not matter for him as long as he would get back to Arya as soon as possible. Deep inside he knew that it did matter a lot now and it would also matter in the future. As Arya's Master and the person in between her and the tribe, his standing with the tribespeople bore a lot of weight.

Despite of that, it was probably the lesser evil to sacrifice his relations instead of the time with his apprentice at the Jedi Temple. With luck, his work ethic would be more effective than any attempts at talking with most of the Lianorosians. His worry about Arya weighed more than any concerns about his standing with the tribe. He had contacted the girl a few times during the week and things seemed to be going well, but he was still worried. He knew that he had been too eager to go; he should have stayed and made sure that things had gotten normal and stable.

Nevertheless, it was too late now. "Should haves" did not help his Padawan. All Jedova could do was be as fast and efficient as possible, but his limits with time were a hard fact. Even if he could work all days nonstop – which probably would not work in the long run; he might burn himself out and use even more time because of recovering – the Lianorosians cared enough to make sure he ate, slept and rested.

At least they think I am diligent by now. Hopefully they don't know how much I want to leave already...

Jedova knew that he probably worried too much, but at the same time he could not help it. It was a part of who he was and even though it was hard, he knew it was worth it in the end. He would miss important but hard-to-notice things less when he worried a lot; his time training Degu, Lucian and Sören had proved that to him.

In meditation, everything looked clearer. After meditating far less than he should have, the Force's light current refreshed Jedova's mind. It was only then that he saw how badly his ridiculous working pace and neglect of self-care had already affected him; it woke him to actually realize that he should reconsider how much work he was going to do in a day and find time for taking care of himself too. He could not work if he burned himself out, and then he would have to be there for longer. He could not explain that to his apprentice without lying.

The hours passed by in another blur. Suddenly, Jedova realized that it was dark and that he should go to sleep. Despite of deciding to have some time for himself, Jedova found that he had just gone another day in the same flow of working as the last five days. The wake-up call had not had a lasting effect, at least not without an effort he would have to put in.

After seeking advice from the Force, he only found himself telling that he should slow down, that he was not so young anymore. He was 54 already, a fossil in the eyes of the human younglings. His body had not protested much yet, but he knew that it would start doing that sooner or later – and more and more during Arya's apprenticeship, he believed. At least his hair would start to gray if nothing else would happen during the next decade.

Jedova Wang's youth had already run out, and he knew that his strength would only start to lessen during these years.

He had to use the time he had remaining well.

Two weeks later he found himself feeling exhausted quite often, the wake-up call he had gotten having turned out ineffective. He had worked like a madman yet had not rested as much as he should have, and he feared that Arya had started to notice his weariness in those few conversations they had managed to have via comlink. As far as he had understood, Jedova had already paid half of his debt, but he knew that he could not do the other half at the same pace. His body could not take nor allow such a stress.

Despite of it, all the time he told his apprentice, "I am well."

He knew it was a lie. And if it was not that right now, it was going to be sooner or later.

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