TITLE: "Fitting In"
PERIOD: JA[early]
PLOT: Sierra Kenobi is the most highly thought of and proficient padawan in the Jedi order under Master Mace Windu. Her brother can't even find a master willing to take the small whip of a child with no excelling abilities about him. In fact he is the worst initiate up to be chosen on Choosing Day!!
// at the beginning and end of a sentence indicates mind speech or mind thought.
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"Hey Kenobi think someone will choose you next week?"
"I figure my chances of being chosen about three initiates ahead of you are greater than you even being chosen."
Obi-Wan really didn't believe his own words. He was not all that sure he would even be chosen. His grades were bad and his saber techniques were" atrocious". At least he thought that was the word Master Windu used when he tried to help the boy with extra saber training.
He usually tried to ignore the comments from his arch nemesis, well one of them. Bruck Chun wasn't the only person that did not care for Kenobi. There were a great many others who were not his friends. In truth he had no real friends. It wasn't really his fault, it was his older sister's fault. She was the padawan to the honorable Master Mace Windu. There was only two other masters equal to him or so it was rumored through the initiate's quarters. They were Master Yoda and Master Qui-Gon Jinn.
Master Windu would not need to seek an apprentice next week. Sierra Kenobi would remain with him another five or six years and there were no plans in Master Yoda's future to take another apprentice. He stopped after he mentored Qui-Gon Jinn to his very successful Knighthood status.
If his sister got Obi-Wan in trouble, which he thought she did, it was because she had one of the three best masters and was renown and pronounced the most studied senior padawan in the Jedi temple, Coruscant. *SHE* really was the reason Obi-Wan was resented so fiercely.
Jealously radiated straight to Obi-Wan from the other initiates because they thought his chances would be better for getting Master Jinn as his master. Although they all knew Obi-Wan wasn't anything like his sister, they thought maybe because Master Jinn and Mace were such good friends or because of his sister's reputation alone, Obi would get the spot everyone would fight for next week; the honor of being the apprentice to the greatest master ever, Master Qui-Gon Jinn.
The news spread like a wildfire when Master Jinn notified his former master, Yoda that he, the rogue Jedi would finally return to the fold and begin again as other masters. He would take an apprentice this time. He had Xanatos out of his system now.
Living in the swampy wilderness of Dagabah had a way of erasing a lot of old hurtful memories. It worked for him. However Master Jinn would be the first to advice anyone who asked, not to do it unless they were force blessed and possessed a lot of personal stamina. It had been needed. but back into civilization he would attempt to come. Start over Master Yoda said.The past forgotten, the future to look forward too.
####four days later.######
Obi-Wan sat out front on the temple steps doing absolutely nothing but daydreaming. He looked up when he felt rather than saw someone close to him. There before him, a ragged-looking, very tall man stood with two bags in his hands. Obi-Wan wondered if this beggar came to the temple in search of food or a place to stay.
He knew from past similar experiences the Jedi order would not turn down a request for food by someone, but they would not allow them to stay. It was not safe for them or a Jedi. Someone could lay a trap that way..
"Hey boy get up here and carry my bags."
"Uhn… you…ugh… mean me? Obi-Wan stuttered his words and could not figure out why this man in front of him made him so nervous.
"I am sorry but you can't stay here. If you would like some food and rest you may rest on these steps and I will go and get you some food.
"Insolent little brat aren't you? Is this what the Jedi have to offer up as a future apprentice? How Master Yoda convinced me now was the time to return I will never know."
Obi-Wan heard the man's words with his overly gruff and angry sounding tones, but he still did not know who this man was, surely not a Jedi.
//Jedi do not allow themselves to become so bedraggled unless they have been captured and without water for say like a year.//
Obi-Wan chuckled at his own mental joke to himself. However the huge man in front of him scowled even harder, if that was possible. Obi-Wan already thought he had to be the most evil looking man in the galaxy and he only hoped his personality did not match his looks.
The boy eyed the very tall man again.
"Did you here me kid? I said take my bags in."
"I am sorry sir, I can't do that. I do however, have to go see Master Yoda."
Obi couldn't have been happier when he heard the doors open behind him and Master Windu and his sister, Sierra stepped through them.
"You heard Master Jinn, Initiate Kenobi. Take his bags inside while we hustle Qui-Gon away to Master Yoda."
Jinn looked up at Sierra and Mace.
"Glad to see you Mace, Padawan Sierra. This boy your brother?"
Sierra blushed and shook her head yes. She knew Obi-Wan hadn't recognized Master Jinn in his condition. Bedsides, while she and her master had been paired with him from time to time when they went to Dagabah, she didn't think Obi had ever met him. She also knew her baby brother had made a bad, maybe even fatal impression on the master when it came to impossibly choosing Obi-Wan as his apprentice; something all the initiates were vying for.
Padawan Sierra nudged her baby brother very hard with the toe of her boot to his backside.
"Obi, do as your are told and quickly."
Qui-Gon looked from sister to brother and shook his head.
"Incredible." He slapped the side of his robe and Obi-Wan swore to himself he could see the dust fly up from the hit. I tell you it is incredible… Sierra is *THIS* your little brother you told me about?"
Obi wondered if he had to ask the question twice to be sure he heard right. Obi thought Master Jinn had to be surprised as such a boy being the brother to the best padawan in the Jedi order.
Sierra looked to her master and even stepped a couple steps closer to Master Mace as she called him, before she addressed Master Jinn's question to her.
"Well yes sir...Master Jinn this is my baby.. I mean my little brother.. Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Jinn laughed out loud, a deep belly laugh that rumbled from his belly and sent humiliating goose bumps down Obi's spine for he knew the laugh was at the expense of him and his actions..
"Well I know how advanced you are and I had hoped to check your brother out during choosing week. I suppose I just wrongly assumed he would have the finely honed qualities and abilities as you. From what I see so far, he is nothing like you and from the looks of him and his actions today, I suspect he never will …."
In that very second Sierra didn't care if Obi-Wan had made a bad impression on Master Jinn or not.
//I do want my brother to become an apprentice next week, but I don't want him to be chosen by Master Jinn..//
Padawan Sierra Kenobi really would like to give her baby brother more encouragement for the up coming choosing day in two days, but she couldn't. There was nothing to use for a basis of that encouragement. Unbeknownst to her master and Master Jinn, she overheard the entire conversation about Obi-Wan. They discussed him at great lengths the evening Master Jinn came for last-meal.
He looked a bit different almost handsome thought Sierra *that* night.
//Of course not as handsome as my master. If Obi-Wan saw him again he would probably not recognize him.. I know my master tried to get Master Jinn to think about Obi-Wan as his choice for an apprentice. However, I heard the way Master Jinn laughed. While Obi might not be the best at everything yet I bet he will be. How could he not? I also overheard them say his midichlorian count equals Master Jinn's himself. If so, why its he so clumsy in everything Jedi.//
Sierra hoped to spend more time with Obi-Wan before they shipped out right after choosing day but her time at sparsely her own; her master gave her so much to work on and her finals also took a toll on her limited time.. She knew they might possibly be away for awhile. It would depend how their mission went. This would be her last time to offer up any words of condolence or encouragement to her brother, but still she hesitated. //I just can't bare to see that look of disappointment and possibly fear for his future etched on that little freckled face of his. //
The future knight rubbed both sides of her head. The headache was sudden and from worry. She had a lot of those lately because it was even hard to focus on her duties for the worry she had for her little brother.
He came to the temple just as she was made the apprentice to Master Windu. Since then the Jedi and herself had been the only family he ever knew. He was brought immediately after birth. Their shared mother and father only held love for one of their children, their first-borne, her. They were older when they had Obi-Wan and didn't want to be saddled with the responsibility of another child, *any responsibility*.
Exact words spoken in front of Obi-Wan when they once came for a visit when Obi-Wan was three was that he wasn't wanted, wasn't plan and they would have nothing to do with him. They came only to see Sierra when she made it to senior padawanship. She had made a couple of visits to her family but it was kept hidden from Obi-Wan because he was not invited to go with her on those visits. It was not the Jedi to refused to allow him to go, his parents refused him any visitation at home with them.. She spent most of her time when she visited her mom and dad trying to convince them to see Obi-Wan occasionally. Her visits dwindled down to almost nothing because of their cruel refusal to allow Obi-Wan to accompany her..
Now Sierra was about to run out of opportunities to help her brother. If he was not chosen he would be sent away, quite possibly to the Agricrops or if he was lucky enough to stay on Coruscant maybe a job as a senate page or buried in dusty books as he helped to maintain the temple archives. One thing she knew for sure he would never be allowed to return home and the one thing he wanted more than anything in the galaxy, to become a Jedi might be less than two days away from slipping right through his fingers. Rumor had it, no t one master had really considered Obi-Wan a suitable candidate for apprenticeship this time. It looked like he might not be chosen if the grapevine got the rumors right. She just wished someone would give him a chance.
//He will grow into his abilities. He just hasn't peaked yet//.
############The day of the choosing############
All the initiates talked and readjusted their training tunics. Some made a north trip to the fresher just to be sure every hair on their head was in place, especially the feminine ones waiting to be chosen. The girls thought their looks might prompt some to choose them. //Shallow as that it is thought Obi. I am not even particularly handsome or graceful enough to be chosen if that was what being chosen was based on, bubbly personalities and the grace of a swan.//
Obi-Wan surveyed his competition in the locker room as they prepared for the event that would shape their lives, give them a destiny if they were deemed worthy and capable of it.
//I am not very Jedi orientated yet either. I can't win for losing. Nothing is as easy for me as it if for the rest of my initiate age mates. Everything seems so heavily stacked against me becoming an apprentice. Even Sierra has tried to ignore me. I know why, if I ask her what the odds are that I would be chosen she would have to tell me the truth. I know how she would hate to disappoint me with the truth, I already know. //
#########One hour prior to the choosing event##########
"Absolutely not. You can *tell me his midichlorians is equal to mine, but that will not sway my opinion of the child. I am not sure I will take an apprentice this time anyway. I read the reports of several and none are to my liking, None have met the overhaul criteria I have set for my next apprentice, the full package. I want the full package in my chose of apprentices. I want exactly what I have thought about and nothing less will do. Nothing personal I just think you and Master Windu have lost your ability to judge initiates if you think Obi-Wan Kenobi would make my perfect, well rounded apprentice. I will chooses my own apprentice by my own stipulations. If there are none here that meet them, I will just have to wait for the next choosing period."
Jinn crossed his arms over his chest and stood in a defiant posture, Windu knew all too well. When he got this stubborn streak in him nothing, not even his former Master Yoda could overturn that stubbornness. It looked like Master Jinn etched in truth what he and Master Yoda suspected. He would not agree to take the boy, Master Yoda thought he should.
"Listen to the force my beloved padawan, you do not. See in the boy what his potential is, you also do not."
Jinn wheeled on his master. He laughed but it was a vengeful angry laugh.
"Even the force would not have me take an apprentice I see no worth in, yet you try to throw the child at me anyway. In this I am right Master Yoda, I know it. The force tells me nothing about the boy. However I have seen with my own eyes, in his records and first hand as I sneaked in to watch him in saber practice. He is as clumsy as a giraffe just borne ,wobbling on gangly legs in an attempt to stand. I am noted for my saber abilities. Not pride fact. Nevertheless I doubt I have the ability or the patience to teach that one how to use a saber. Not correctly at least even in your life time Master Yoda. And at the rate you are going your life time will be forever."
Jinn had a smile for his beloved master and gently squeezed his shoulder. Yoda however did not return the endearment. He was quite cross with Qui-Gon right now.
Jinn snorted and Mace had to smile. Qui-Gon coud be bull-headed at time but in the same breath he had to mention to himself that Master Yoda could be equally so. He wasn't sure how this would turn out. He made a mental note to check back at the temple after he left to see what did happen even if Obi want chosen that day. He knew how persuasive Yoda was. .
//No mind, Sierra will undoubtedly remind me to check periodically on her little brother while we are away, especially if he isn't chosen today. I only hope I won't have to deliver bad news such as to tell her Obi-Wan has been shipped away to the Agricorps. I fear that knowledge truly would interfere with her own Jedi apprenticeship.//
Master Yoda had his own thoughts.
//Convince the council I will, term at teaching Master Jinn needs. Maybe extra instructions needed by new padawans in the use of sabers. Also convince the council I will, Obi-Wan too meek and mild to go to the Agricorps at this time. Eleven too young I will tell them. Truth that would be. Normally thirteen they are before extradited to manual labor, failed initiates are. Later soon enough to be shipped off from his only home.. Recommend I will, Kenobi child to work in the archives down below. Much to keep him busy until Qui-Gon 's head is back on straight, it is. A little maneuvering on my part there will be. Maybe come together they will, only not now. Jinn finished not he has with his misery of failed apprentice., I think….. Time will tell. Time and a determined interfering master such as myself.//
Both Mace and Jinn heard the little troll of a master laugh out loud, which was unusual. It was also a very unusual time for the little master to laugh out loud at absolutely nothing , as far as Mace and Qui-Gon could tell.…..
Master Windu wished he could say or do something that would make Sierra feel better. He walked behind her as they boarded their flight to their next mission.
Nothing he could do or say could bring the girl out of her melancholy. To have to leave the temple and not know for sure if her brother would be there when she returned was an inconsolable matter for his apprentice.
The usually jubilant, happy and pleasant apprentice had turned into a grumpy tired and just out of sorts young lady.
//I guess Master Yoda's words to me once were true, a female padawan can be more difficult at times and boy is she being difficult.//
Although Mace knew it hurt her deeply to have to leave the temple at just that particular time, he knew Sierra must face her brother's fate stoically and continue her own padawan duties faithfully. Nothing less would do… What ever would be with the younger Kenobi would be. Her staying at the temple would not railroad the council's decision on what o do with him now that he was *NOT* chosen as a padawan.
Although Mace occasionally still sat in on the council during temple business if he weren't on a mission, he refused to vote on this matter. He would have no part in shipping Obi-Wan to the Agricorps. To begin with, he felt him too young. Their normal policy had been not to send anyone under the age of thirteen. However, because of the lack of work on Coruscant or at the temple for them to do, it had become necessary to send initiate, not chosen by a master there anyway.
The ship that Mace and Sierra were to depart on was five minutes away from firing up for takeoff.
Mace was more than surprised to see Master Yoda, gimer stick in hand, nearly bouncing his way up the up the steps to the cabin of the space craft. Sierra had paid no attention to the little master at all. She pretended to be in deep thought over some Astrophysics problem before her on her data pad. Her thoughts were actually with her brother and his rejection of the Jedi apprenticeship program.
"Master Yoda, you don't normally personally come right to the ship to see us off. Is there something wrong?"
'Wrong there is always at this temple. Council bull-headed at times. See your apprentice I wish too. Have information I do that might lead to a better trip for both master and apprentice."
Mace extended his hand in a motion to show Yoda where Sierra was, just in the back.
"By all means, if it will perk up my sulking little apprentice, go right ahead. "
Master Windu had no idea what news would bring Sierra out of her depressed state other than Obi had found a master. That, he knew would not be so The only master available that did not take an apprentice was his dear friend, Qui-Gon. His refusal of the boy had been quite fast and definite to the point of cruelness in his words of Kenobi.
Mace was not sure of the message Yoda gave his apprentice, but when he saw her face light up in one of her notoriously infectious smiles, he knew it was very good and more than likely had something to do with the little initiate brother. She was being forced to leave Obi-Wan to ponder his own future, all alone without his big sis to help.
Yoda huffed past Master Windu in the isle of the ship and gave him a little nudge with his gimer stick as he went to get the taller master out of the way. He turned and met the dark brown eyes of one of his favorite master, Mace."
"Wonder you do, tell the girl what, that would make her so pleased?"
"Yes, yes I am bit curious as to what could have brought such a bright smile to her face although I have to say I am quite grateful for it."
"Idea it was, not mine. Thank the force you should. Told her I did Obi-Wan to stay and work the library archives for a year. Make her feel better it did. See him again, when she returns, she will. Know some of his future she does. Remind her I did, future always in motion to worry not. Tell you this part only I will. Insisted I have Master Jinn stay here and teach some of the new padawans lacking in good saber skills. Need the time here to focus he does. Do better here I think. Out of his mind Xanatos is not but a few months here teaching will serve him well it will."
Mace's own face lit up in a smile that matched his apprentice's. He knew exactly what Yoda was doing. //He will say the force made him do it.//
"You are up to one of your tricks aren't you, Master Yoda?"
"Trick I have played on no one. Resent your inference I do in what the force has planned for those two. Wait and see we all will. Qui-Gon too I am afraid. Now mission you go on. Watch out for the child I have told your apprentice I will. Fine he will be until your return."
Yoda turned to walk away, while he still mumbled to himself.
Under his breath, "Trick he thinks I pull. Nine hundred years old I am. Too old for tricks. Rely on the force I do, when make a decision such as this."
The little master shook his head and twitched his ears. He was a bit put off by Mace's assessment of his *tricks* maybe because he knew the dark complexioned master was right. //A little trick, a little force adds up to success I say. //
#####One week after Sierra and Mace's departure#########.
Qui-Gon spent most of his morning in the gardens of serenity, one of his favorite spots at the temple. He often sought quiet and calm after the initiates and padawans had long since gone to bed. This time however, he chose the morning to visit his favorite garden.
He would kneel down on the lush green dew-laden grass and meditate. Master Yoda had often chastised him for not bringing his meditation mat .He insisted Qui-Gon would catch a cold from the wetness that soaked through his leggings, while he knelt there. Jinn always refused. He felt closer to the living planet if he could touch what grew, smell what released fragrance such as the wet grass crushed under his weight. Often the grass stains were hard to remove and the laundry droid would complain. It did not matter, Master Jinn would tell him. On his knees unprotected from the dewy grass was where he could best see, smell, and touch the loveliness that grew around him.
That was the way he had been before he sought absolution and devotional time spent on Dagabah as he contemplated his place among the living. Xanatos had been a hard blow to his is ego, his soul and maybe most importantly his heart It always is to a point for any master if an apprentice under them decided to leave the order. When you have an apprentice that not only leaves the Jedi but also opts to follow the dark it was a crushing blow to Master Jinn. Never had it happened just so until Xanatos did it.
Jinn rested on a bench near where he meditated that morning when he spotted a not- so-spry Master Yoda, hobble up to him. He did not usually think of Yoda's walk as a hobble but the "hobble" was more prevalent and made Jinn realize this beloved master grew older with each passing day. With his older age came the increase in his arthritis that stemmed from his diminutive height. Hard on the joints, the healers warned, for one so short.
Qui-Gon had to smile. The healers had told him much of the same would happen to him as he grew older only for the opposite reason, his enormous height would cause more joint problems as he grew older.
"Aye master, bad day for the bones hey?"
Master Yoda cocked his head and looked up at his former padawan, although Qui-Gon was sitting, stretching his neck upward was still necessary to meet the sea of green which were Qui-Gon's eyes.
"Weather through the pain and agony I will. Give your old master a boost you should. Sit I would like too and not on the ground today. You may sit on the dampness of the dirt all you want and commune with the living force. Choose I do commune from beyond the reach of its cold and pained rendering wetness."
Qui-Gon laughed aloud as he picked his master up and planted him beside him. Jinn scooted over to give him more room.
"Meditate today I see. Resolve anything have you?"
"I have nothing to resolve Master Yoda. I told you when I returned. I have accepted what Xanatos did. It is over, the past now."
"Humph… So you say padawan, so you say. Think your heart and your mind not healed yet from Xanatos' betrayal. Or chosen a padawan you would have…..."
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This story is real iffy. I put it out for your opinion. I may or may not continue it because of the summer and the slacked reading during the summer.
PERIOD: JA[early]
PLOT: Sierra Kenobi is the most highly thought of and proficient padawan in the Jedi order under Master Mace Windu. Her brother can't even find a master willing to take the small whip of a child with no excelling abilities about him. In fact he is the worst initiate up to be chosen on Choosing Day!!
// at the beginning and end of a sentence indicates mind speech or mind thought.
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"Hey Kenobi think someone will choose you next week?"
"I figure my chances of being chosen about three initiates ahead of you are greater than you even being chosen."
Obi-Wan really didn't believe his own words. He was not all that sure he would even be chosen. His grades were bad and his saber techniques were" atrocious". At least he thought that was the word Master Windu used when he tried to help the boy with extra saber training.
He usually tried to ignore the comments from his arch nemesis, well one of them. Bruck Chun wasn't the only person that did not care for Kenobi. There were a great many others who were not his friends. In truth he had no real friends. It wasn't really his fault, it was his older sister's fault. She was the padawan to the honorable Master Mace Windu. There was only two other masters equal to him or so it was rumored through the initiate's quarters. They were Master Yoda and Master Qui-Gon Jinn.
Master Windu would not need to seek an apprentice next week. Sierra Kenobi would remain with him another five or six years and there were no plans in Master Yoda's future to take another apprentice. He stopped after he mentored Qui-Gon Jinn to his very successful Knighthood status.
If his sister got Obi-Wan in trouble, which he thought she did, it was because she had one of the three best masters and was renown and pronounced the most studied senior padawan in the Jedi temple, Coruscant. *SHE* really was the reason Obi-Wan was resented so fiercely.
Jealously radiated straight to Obi-Wan from the other initiates because they thought his chances would be better for getting Master Jinn as his master. Although they all knew Obi-Wan wasn't anything like his sister, they thought maybe because Master Jinn and Mace were such good friends or because of his sister's reputation alone, Obi would get the spot everyone would fight for next week; the honor of being the apprentice to the greatest master ever, Master Qui-Gon Jinn.
The news spread like a wildfire when Master Jinn notified his former master, Yoda that he, the rogue Jedi would finally return to the fold and begin again as other masters. He would take an apprentice this time. He had Xanatos out of his system now.
Living in the swampy wilderness of Dagabah had a way of erasing a lot of old hurtful memories. It worked for him. However Master Jinn would be the first to advice anyone who asked, not to do it unless they were force blessed and possessed a lot of personal stamina. It had been needed. but back into civilization he would attempt to come. Start over Master Yoda said.The past forgotten, the future to look forward too.
####four days later.######
Obi-Wan sat out front on the temple steps doing absolutely nothing but daydreaming. He looked up when he felt rather than saw someone close to him. There before him, a ragged-looking, very tall man stood with two bags in his hands. Obi-Wan wondered if this beggar came to the temple in search of food or a place to stay.
He knew from past similar experiences the Jedi order would not turn down a request for food by someone, but they would not allow them to stay. It was not safe for them or a Jedi. Someone could lay a trap that way..
"Hey boy get up here and carry my bags."
"Uhn… you…ugh… mean me? Obi-Wan stuttered his words and could not figure out why this man in front of him made him so nervous.
"I am sorry but you can't stay here. If you would like some food and rest you may rest on these steps and I will go and get you some food.
"Insolent little brat aren't you? Is this what the Jedi have to offer up as a future apprentice? How Master Yoda convinced me now was the time to return I will never know."
Obi-Wan heard the man's words with his overly gruff and angry sounding tones, but he still did not know who this man was, surely not a Jedi.
//Jedi do not allow themselves to become so bedraggled unless they have been captured and without water for say like a year.//
Obi-Wan chuckled at his own mental joke to himself. However the huge man in front of him scowled even harder, if that was possible. Obi-Wan already thought he had to be the most evil looking man in the galaxy and he only hoped his personality did not match his looks.
The boy eyed the very tall man again.
"Did you here me kid? I said take my bags in."
"I am sorry sir, I can't do that. I do however, have to go see Master Yoda."
Obi couldn't have been happier when he heard the doors open behind him and Master Windu and his sister, Sierra stepped through them.
"You heard Master Jinn, Initiate Kenobi. Take his bags inside while we hustle Qui-Gon away to Master Yoda."
Jinn looked up at Sierra and Mace.
"Glad to see you Mace, Padawan Sierra. This boy your brother?"
Sierra blushed and shook her head yes. She knew Obi-Wan hadn't recognized Master Jinn in his condition. Bedsides, while she and her master had been paired with him from time to time when they went to Dagabah, she didn't think Obi had ever met him. She also knew her baby brother had made a bad, maybe even fatal impression on the master when it came to impossibly choosing Obi-Wan as his apprentice; something all the initiates were vying for.
Padawan Sierra nudged her baby brother very hard with the toe of her boot to his backside.
"Obi, do as your are told and quickly."
Qui-Gon looked from sister to brother and shook his head.
"Incredible." He slapped the side of his robe and Obi-Wan swore to himself he could see the dust fly up from the hit. I tell you it is incredible… Sierra is *THIS* your little brother you told me about?"
Obi wondered if he had to ask the question twice to be sure he heard right. Obi thought Master Jinn had to be surprised as such a boy being the brother to the best padawan in the Jedi order.
Sierra looked to her master and even stepped a couple steps closer to Master Mace as she called him, before she addressed Master Jinn's question to her.
"Well yes sir...Master Jinn this is my baby.. I mean my little brother.. Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Jinn laughed out loud, a deep belly laugh that rumbled from his belly and sent humiliating goose bumps down Obi's spine for he knew the laugh was at the expense of him and his actions..
"Well I know how advanced you are and I had hoped to check your brother out during choosing week. I suppose I just wrongly assumed he would have the finely honed qualities and abilities as you. From what I see so far, he is nothing like you and from the looks of him and his actions today, I suspect he never will …."
In that very second Sierra didn't care if Obi-Wan had made a bad impression on Master Jinn or not.
//I do want my brother to become an apprentice next week, but I don't want him to be chosen by Master Jinn..//
Padawan Sierra Kenobi really would like to give her baby brother more encouragement for the up coming choosing day in two days, but she couldn't. There was nothing to use for a basis of that encouragement. Unbeknownst to her master and Master Jinn, she overheard the entire conversation about Obi-Wan. They discussed him at great lengths the evening Master Jinn came for last-meal.
He looked a bit different almost handsome thought Sierra *that* night.
//Of course not as handsome as my master. If Obi-Wan saw him again he would probably not recognize him.. I know my master tried to get Master Jinn to think about Obi-Wan as his choice for an apprentice. However, I heard the way Master Jinn laughed. While Obi might not be the best at everything yet I bet he will be. How could he not? I also overheard them say his midichlorian count equals Master Jinn's himself. If so, why its he so clumsy in everything Jedi.//
Sierra hoped to spend more time with Obi-Wan before they shipped out right after choosing day but her time at sparsely her own; her master gave her so much to work on and her finals also took a toll on her limited time.. She knew they might possibly be away for awhile. It would depend how their mission went. This would be her last time to offer up any words of condolence or encouragement to her brother, but still she hesitated. //I just can't bare to see that look of disappointment and possibly fear for his future etched on that little freckled face of his. //
The future knight rubbed both sides of her head. The headache was sudden and from worry. She had a lot of those lately because it was even hard to focus on her duties for the worry she had for her little brother.
He came to the temple just as she was made the apprentice to Master Windu. Since then the Jedi and herself had been the only family he ever knew. He was brought immediately after birth. Their shared mother and father only held love for one of their children, their first-borne, her. They were older when they had Obi-Wan and didn't want to be saddled with the responsibility of another child, *any responsibility*.
Exact words spoken in front of Obi-Wan when they once came for a visit when Obi-Wan was three was that he wasn't wanted, wasn't plan and they would have nothing to do with him. They came only to see Sierra when she made it to senior padawanship. She had made a couple of visits to her family but it was kept hidden from Obi-Wan because he was not invited to go with her on those visits. It was not the Jedi to refused to allow him to go, his parents refused him any visitation at home with them.. She spent most of her time when she visited her mom and dad trying to convince them to see Obi-Wan occasionally. Her visits dwindled down to almost nothing because of their cruel refusal to allow Obi-Wan to accompany her..
Now Sierra was about to run out of opportunities to help her brother. If he was not chosen he would be sent away, quite possibly to the Agricrops or if he was lucky enough to stay on Coruscant maybe a job as a senate page or buried in dusty books as he helped to maintain the temple archives. One thing she knew for sure he would never be allowed to return home and the one thing he wanted more than anything in the galaxy, to become a Jedi might be less than two days away from slipping right through his fingers. Rumor had it, no t one master had really considered Obi-Wan a suitable candidate for apprenticeship this time. It looked like he might not be chosen if the grapevine got the rumors right. She just wished someone would give him a chance.
//He will grow into his abilities. He just hasn't peaked yet//.
############The day of the choosing############
All the initiates talked and readjusted their training tunics. Some made a north trip to the fresher just to be sure every hair on their head was in place, especially the feminine ones waiting to be chosen. The girls thought their looks might prompt some to choose them. //Shallow as that it is thought Obi. I am not even particularly handsome or graceful enough to be chosen if that was what being chosen was based on, bubbly personalities and the grace of a swan.//
Obi-Wan surveyed his competition in the locker room as they prepared for the event that would shape their lives, give them a destiny if they were deemed worthy and capable of it.
//I am not very Jedi orientated yet either. I can't win for losing. Nothing is as easy for me as it if for the rest of my initiate age mates. Everything seems so heavily stacked against me becoming an apprentice. Even Sierra has tried to ignore me. I know why, if I ask her what the odds are that I would be chosen she would have to tell me the truth. I know how she would hate to disappoint me with the truth, I already know. //
#########One hour prior to the choosing event##########
"Absolutely not. You can *tell me his midichlorians is equal to mine, but that will not sway my opinion of the child. I am not sure I will take an apprentice this time anyway. I read the reports of several and none are to my liking, None have met the overhaul criteria I have set for my next apprentice, the full package. I want the full package in my chose of apprentices. I want exactly what I have thought about and nothing less will do. Nothing personal I just think you and Master Windu have lost your ability to judge initiates if you think Obi-Wan Kenobi would make my perfect, well rounded apprentice. I will chooses my own apprentice by my own stipulations. If there are none here that meet them, I will just have to wait for the next choosing period."
Jinn crossed his arms over his chest and stood in a defiant posture, Windu knew all too well. When he got this stubborn streak in him nothing, not even his former Master Yoda could overturn that stubbornness. It looked like Master Jinn etched in truth what he and Master Yoda suspected. He would not agree to take the boy, Master Yoda thought he should.
"Listen to the force my beloved padawan, you do not. See in the boy what his potential is, you also do not."
Jinn wheeled on his master. He laughed but it was a vengeful angry laugh.
"Even the force would not have me take an apprentice I see no worth in, yet you try to throw the child at me anyway. In this I am right Master Yoda, I know it. The force tells me nothing about the boy. However I have seen with my own eyes, in his records and first hand as I sneaked in to watch him in saber practice. He is as clumsy as a giraffe just borne ,wobbling on gangly legs in an attempt to stand. I am noted for my saber abilities. Not pride fact. Nevertheless I doubt I have the ability or the patience to teach that one how to use a saber. Not correctly at least even in your life time Master Yoda. And at the rate you are going your life time will be forever."
Jinn had a smile for his beloved master and gently squeezed his shoulder. Yoda however did not return the endearment. He was quite cross with Qui-Gon right now.
Jinn snorted and Mace had to smile. Qui-Gon coud be bull-headed at time but in the same breath he had to mention to himself that Master Yoda could be equally so. He wasn't sure how this would turn out. He made a mental note to check back at the temple after he left to see what did happen even if Obi want chosen that day. He knew how persuasive Yoda was. .
//No mind, Sierra will undoubtedly remind me to check periodically on her little brother while we are away, especially if he isn't chosen today. I only hope I won't have to deliver bad news such as to tell her Obi-Wan has been shipped away to the Agricorps. I fear that knowledge truly would interfere with her own Jedi apprenticeship.//
Master Yoda had his own thoughts.
//Convince the council I will, term at teaching Master Jinn needs. Maybe extra instructions needed by new padawans in the use of sabers. Also convince the council I will, Obi-Wan too meek and mild to go to the Agricorps at this time. Eleven too young I will tell them. Truth that would be. Normally thirteen they are before extradited to manual labor, failed initiates are. Later soon enough to be shipped off from his only home.. Recommend I will, Kenobi child to work in the archives down below. Much to keep him busy until Qui-Gon 's head is back on straight, it is. A little maneuvering on my part there will be. Maybe come together they will, only not now. Jinn finished not he has with his misery of failed apprentice., I think….. Time will tell. Time and a determined interfering master such as myself.//
Both Mace and Jinn heard the little troll of a master laugh out loud, which was unusual. It was also a very unusual time for the little master to laugh out loud at absolutely nothing , as far as Mace and Qui-Gon could tell.…..
Master Windu wished he could say or do something that would make Sierra feel better. He walked behind her as they boarded their flight to their next mission.
Nothing he could do or say could bring the girl out of her melancholy. To have to leave the temple and not know for sure if her brother would be there when she returned was an inconsolable matter for his apprentice.
The usually jubilant, happy and pleasant apprentice had turned into a grumpy tired and just out of sorts young lady.
//I guess Master Yoda's words to me once were true, a female padawan can be more difficult at times and boy is she being difficult.//
Although Mace knew it hurt her deeply to have to leave the temple at just that particular time, he knew Sierra must face her brother's fate stoically and continue her own padawan duties faithfully. Nothing less would do… What ever would be with the younger Kenobi would be. Her staying at the temple would not railroad the council's decision on what o do with him now that he was *NOT* chosen as a padawan.
Although Mace occasionally still sat in on the council during temple business if he weren't on a mission, he refused to vote on this matter. He would have no part in shipping Obi-Wan to the Agricorps. To begin with, he felt him too young. Their normal policy had been not to send anyone under the age of thirteen. However, because of the lack of work on Coruscant or at the temple for them to do, it had become necessary to send initiate, not chosen by a master there anyway.
The ship that Mace and Sierra were to depart on was five minutes away from firing up for takeoff.
Mace was more than surprised to see Master Yoda, gimer stick in hand, nearly bouncing his way up the up the steps to the cabin of the space craft. Sierra had paid no attention to the little master at all. She pretended to be in deep thought over some Astrophysics problem before her on her data pad. Her thoughts were actually with her brother and his rejection of the Jedi apprenticeship program.
"Master Yoda, you don't normally personally come right to the ship to see us off. Is there something wrong?"
'Wrong there is always at this temple. Council bull-headed at times. See your apprentice I wish too. Have information I do that might lead to a better trip for both master and apprentice."
Mace extended his hand in a motion to show Yoda where Sierra was, just in the back.
"By all means, if it will perk up my sulking little apprentice, go right ahead. "
Master Windu had no idea what news would bring Sierra out of her depressed state other than Obi had found a master. That, he knew would not be so The only master available that did not take an apprentice was his dear friend, Qui-Gon. His refusal of the boy had been quite fast and definite to the point of cruelness in his words of Kenobi.
Mace was not sure of the message Yoda gave his apprentice, but when he saw her face light up in one of her notoriously infectious smiles, he knew it was very good and more than likely had something to do with the little initiate brother. She was being forced to leave Obi-Wan to ponder his own future, all alone without his big sis to help.
Yoda huffed past Master Windu in the isle of the ship and gave him a little nudge with his gimer stick as he went to get the taller master out of the way. He turned and met the dark brown eyes of one of his favorite master, Mace."
"Wonder you do, tell the girl what, that would make her so pleased?"
"Yes, yes I am bit curious as to what could have brought such a bright smile to her face although I have to say I am quite grateful for it."
"Idea it was, not mine. Thank the force you should. Told her I did Obi-Wan to stay and work the library archives for a year. Make her feel better it did. See him again, when she returns, she will. Know some of his future she does. Remind her I did, future always in motion to worry not. Tell you this part only I will. Insisted I have Master Jinn stay here and teach some of the new padawans lacking in good saber skills. Need the time here to focus he does. Do better here I think. Out of his mind Xanatos is not but a few months here teaching will serve him well it will."
Mace's own face lit up in a smile that matched his apprentice's. He knew exactly what Yoda was doing. //He will say the force made him do it.//
"You are up to one of your tricks aren't you, Master Yoda?"
"Trick I have played on no one. Resent your inference I do in what the force has planned for those two. Wait and see we all will. Qui-Gon too I am afraid. Now mission you go on. Watch out for the child I have told your apprentice I will. Fine he will be until your return."
Yoda turned to walk away, while he still mumbled to himself.
Under his breath, "Trick he thinks I pull. Nine hundred years old I am. Too old for tricks. Rely on the force I do, when make a decision such as this."
The little master shook his head and twitched his ears. He was a bit put off by Mace's assessment of his *tricks* maybe because he knew the dark complexioned master was right. //A little trick, a little force adds up to success I say. //
#####One week after Sierra and Mace's departure#########.
Qui-Gon spent most of his morning in the gardens of serenity, one of his favorite spots at the temple. He often sought quiet and calm after the initiates and padawans had long since gone to bed. This time however, he chose the morning to visit his favorite garden.
He would kneel down on the lush green dew-laden grass and meditate. Master Yoda had often chastised him for not bringing his meditation mat .He insisted Qui-Gon would catch a cold from the wetness that soaked through his leggings, while he knelt there. Jinn always refused. He felt closer to the living planet if he could touch what grew, smell what released fragrance such as the wet grass crushed under his weight. Often the grass stains were hard to remove and the laundry droid would complain. It did not matter, Master Jinn would tell him. On his knees unprotected from the dewy grass was where he could best see, smell, and touch the loveliness that grew around him.
That was the way he had been before he sought absolution and devotional time spent on Dagabah as he contemplated his place among the living. Xanatos had been a hard blow to his is ego, his soul and maybe most importantly his heart It always is to a point for any master if an apprentice under them decided to leave the order. When you have an apprentice that not only leaves the Jedi but also opts to follow the dark it was a crushing blow to Master Jinn. Never had it happened just so until Xanatos did it.
Jinn rested on a bench near where he meditated that morning when he spotted a not- so-spry Master Yoda, hobble up to him. He did not usually think of Yoda's walk as a hobble but the "hobble" was more prevalent and made Jinn realize this beloved master grew older with each passing day. With his older age came the increase in his arthritis that stemmed from his diminutive height. Hard on the joints, the healers warned, for one so short.
Qui-Gon had to smile. The healers had told him much of the same would happen to him as he grew older only for the opposite reason, his enormous height would cause more joint problems as he grew older.
"Aye master, bad day for the bones hey?"
Master Yoda cocked his head and looked up at his former padawan, although Qui-Gon was sitting, stretching his neck upward was still necessary to meet the sea of green which were Qui-Gon's eyes.
"Weather through the pain and agony I will. Give your old master a boost you should. Sit I would like too and not on the ground today. You may sit on the dampness of the dirt all you want and commune with the living force. Choose I do commune from beyond the reach of its cold and pained rendering wetness."
Qui-Gon laughed aloud as he picked his master up and planted him beside him. Jinn scooted over to give him more room.
"Meditate today I see. Resolve anything have you?"
"I have nothing to resolve Master Yoda. I told you when I returned. I have accepted what Xanatos did. It is over, the past now."
"Humph… So you say padawan, so you say. Think your heart and your mind not healed yet from Xanatos' betrayal. Or chosen a padawan you would have…..."
#######
This story is real iffy. I put it out for your opinion. I may or may not continue it because of the summer and the slacked reading during the summer.
