It had been three weeks since Master Wang had left. Arya managed on her own – she had learned to do that – but as she carried her Padawan braid alone, never seen with a Master, few actually believed even now that she had actually become someone's Padawan Learner. This doubt offended her, but as long as her Master was on his mission, she could do nothing about it. She had to keep on studying. The tests would be soon and she could not afford slowing down. She did not want to fail at anything.

Gomorrah had left on a mission earlier on the week, Qui-Gon was busy with his studies on his own, custom-made timetable, and Tahl was somewhere doing... something. Airka, on the other hand, was suffering a punishment for a witty comment gone too far and everyone else she could have spent time with on her limited free time were scattered all around the galaxy. Therefore, with nothing more constructive to do, she headed for the dojo. She needed to hone her katas and if she was lucky, she could get a spar with someone. She felt like she needed those spars to prove others that she was an actual Padawan even though she did not know why she felt like that or why anyone would have expected that from anyone.

She could only hope that a new Padawan like her would be her partner because she did not feel like getting beaten by someone much more skilled than her. The dojo was crowded as usual, but Arya found enough space to rehearse the katas. Her Master had not only given her personal instructions but also told her about helpful information sources. While Arya knew she would not just suddenly master the katas, she knew she was improving, and that was enough for her. She had to keep practicing.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight...

One, two, three, four, five...

Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen...

When she was at longer katas, like katas from 10 onwards, the count tangled up and morphed into something strange. The voice was at times Master Gla's, sometimes Master Jedova's, occasionally it was someone else's voice, and the count kept on even though at some point Arya could not hear it. She kept her pace without conscious counting.

She had accidentally ended up tuck between Empty Meditation and Moving Meditation, sometimes able to hear the voices but unable to fully acknowledge them nevertheless. It was like having legs stuck in a swamp, even though those legs moved. She needed to improve her abilities at meditating, too.

When Arya finished kata 15, she came out of her meditation with a dazed shake of her head, deactivating her lightsaber. She noticed that twelve younglings had joined her, having followed her motions. They even shook their heads after ending the kata. The Padawan stared at them, bewildered, and they stared back at her.
"You were at a good pace with the katas, so I decided to let them do them with you. They insisted," a soft female voice said. "But when it comes to kata 13, you could sharpen the swipe of the eleventh motion." With a startle Arya turned around to look at the talker; it was Chria Lfdaan, one of the lightsaber instructors. The purple-skinned Keshiri was a junior instructor, having received her position a few months ago.
"Master Lfdaan," Arya bowed as a greeting. The presence of the younglings was now understandable, but she was still confused.
"You're so skilled! I want to be as good as you someday!" a youngling said to Arya.
"Oh no you don't! I haven't even mastered these katas, and I am not that good at fighting with a lightsaber. No, if you want to be a good at wielding a lightsaber, you need to look at the skill level of Knights, at least," the Padawan told with a smile coming to her face.
"Who do you look up to when it comes to wielding a lightsaber, Padawan Deinden?" Master Lfdaan asked.
"Master Gla and Master Yoda, at least. Many Masters in general, I'd say," Arya answered. "I think I look up to Masters in everything."
"If you want to be that good, it's a tough goal to reach," the instructor noted with a nod.
"I am going to reach it someday. I will work for it as long as I need to," Arya told. Her old enthusiasm had turned into a chunk of obstinate willpower and ambition during the last weeks. She did not want to be stopped by anyone – especially not herself.

She knew that her sheer, even occasionally faltering determination did not make her master katas on its own. She had to practice. Therefore, she repeated the cycle of the katas, from one to 15, again and again. After every single cycle, Master Lfdaan gave her, just like the younglings, notes about what they should do to improve the kata. Yet this did not make her feel like a youngling, no; Master Lfdaan addressed her as "Padawan Deinden" and she received far fewer notes than any of the younglings, who, in turn, looked up to her more and more.

Suddenly Arya felt like a true Padawan. The braid that grew from behind her right ear was real, not a joke or fake. Even though her Master was away, she was Jedova Wang's Padawan Learner, no matter what. It had taken this to reach this enlightenment, and Arya could not have been more grateful for the lightsaber instructor for letting the younglings follow her with the katas. With every repeat, the kata became more fluid, more graceful, and the Force flowed all around them, as the lightsabers crackled in the nearby spars.

This was it.

This was being a Padawan.

The burden of insecurity, the surrounding disbelief, of her position, it was lifting along the way with every motion that brought the katas onwards.

Arya could not possibly feel prouder of herself. With her green eyes lighted as she left the dojo without having a spar about one and a half standard hours after the younglings had joined her – their lesson had ended in an hour – she could not wait until her Master would see how much she had already improved.

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