Reviewer appreciation:
Thank you, Christina B! Here is another chapter for you, yay!
Thank you so much, Go For It!
Thank you, wosao! Your words were very inspiring!
Thank you, ClassicalBrunette! We'll keep updating, don't worry.
And thank you, storyshark2005!
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"Light in the Shadow"
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Chapter 3
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Two months later, Ana sat in the Temple cafeteria, her hazel eyes looking across the table at her best friend, Lexxa. Anakin Skywalker sat next to her, shoveling his food into his mouth as if he hadn't eaten in days. Ana couldn't help but smile at how perplexed Lexi looked.
"Please, Anakin, slow down. You're going to choke!" she pleaded, her brows furrowed in exasperation.
Anakin swallowed a large bite of food, washing it down with some milk before he spoke, "Master Qui-Gon runs me ragged! What do you expect?" he said in a voice a touch rueful.
Lexi sighed. "I know...but really, you should put more effort into it."
Anakin gave her one of his charming smiles before he nodded, proceeding to eat his food at a bit of a slower pace. That was, a bit.
Analaughed asLexi shook her head. "Don't worry, he probably has the esophagus of a Bantha."
Anakin sputtered in indignation, which nearly caused him to choke. "You're going to pay for that later," he warned, his eyes sparking determinedly.
Ana grinned, her own eyes glinting mischeiviously. "We'll see."
They continued to glower at each other until Lexi stuck her hand in Ana's face, breaking their eye contact. "If you two don't stop your little staring matches, your eyeballs will fall out."
"Oh no! I think it's already happened!" Anakin said in a false voice of anguish, before he shoved his boiled eggs in Lexi's face. She shrieked in surprise, jumping up from the table and banging her knee. "Anakin!" she yelled, rubbing at her leg. He laughed theatrically before speeding off; Lexi was quick to follow after him. Both disappeared out of the cafeteria doors and into the hallway.
Ana watched after them with a content smile, before standing up and moving to clear their table.
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Later that day, Ana and Lexi sat out in the gardens behind the Temple.
"You seemed down today," Lexi spoke up, "I was going to ask you if there was anything wrong, but Anakin decided to pull one of his little tricks."
Ana smiled gently, Lexxa could always see through her. "It's nothing really...just...my Master seems distant. I've done my best to get to know him, and I've kept my heart and mind completely open to him since we met...but he seems to be hiding something from me."
Lexxa gave her friend a soft half-smile. "All Masters are allowed to keep some things to themselves, Ana. Even my Master has not shown himself to me completely," she said, but a flash of a look crossed her face, one that seemed to say she didn't really care.
Ana frowned some. Lexxa seemed a little spacey lately. It wasn't really in her companionship, but more in her eyes. They seemed to get glassy all too often, as if she was remembering something. Ana could sense her friend's reluctance to talk about it yet, so she was remaining loyally quiet. If she was not informed of the problem soon, she might just have to bring it up whether Lexi wanted to or not.
"Lexxa!"a sharp call echoed out over the gardens.
Lexxa shot up immediately. "Coming, Master!"
Ana smiled at Lexxa's apologetic look, and waved. Lexi waved back and hurried down the path to meet her Master. Ana stood, watching them as they spoke. Lexi's Master didn't look very happy...he almost seemed angry. His short curly black hair was neatly in place as always, his gray eyes baring down on his Padawan, his height adding to his intimidating expression. Ana felt her blood boil momentarily before she was reminded that jumping to conclusions was never a good idea. It was her Master Obi-Wan's voice that repeated this statement inside of her head.
With a sigh, she set down the path to the Training Arena. She was going to practice a new lightsaber technique today according to her Master.
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"On time, as usual," Obi-Wan Kenobi said with a pleasantly pleased voice.
Ana smiled and bowed to her Master who stood in the middle of the Training Arena, his hands clasped behind his back. "How could I ever be late? I look forward to all your lessons Master," she answered truthfully.
"Well, I have a good one for you today," he said with a knowing glint in his eyes.
"Then let's see it," Ana replied with a smirk, igniting her blue lightsaber.
"I want you to do your very best, I will be going at you without restraints."
Ana's heart sped up with anticipation. She was going to face her Master at his full technique. She readied herself, circling her Master who had now lit his glowing green blade. When he did not attack, she decided that she would be the one to take the offensive. There was no time for dwaddling with an opponent.
Lunging forward, she drew her lightsaber in a graceful arc, meeting her Master's blade in an overhead clash, the blades sizzling for a second before coming down at waist length and clashing again. Both moved back and forth in a frenzy of flashing lights, and Ana found herself growing tired of the demanding pace. She felt like she was missing something all of a sudden, and she struggled to identify it as she brought her blade in a wide sweep under her elbow. It was then that her Master's blue-gray eyes looked right into her own hazel ones and she knew she was defeated.
He brought his blade up in a split second, her blade in her right hand seemingly forgotten as she lifted her left hand level with her face. Obi-Wan stopped his blade a few inches from her hand, his brow raised in amusement, a soft smile on his lips. He straightened, extinguishing his green blade. "There. That's your problem."
Ana blinked, following his gaze to her open left palm, still hovering beside her face. "My hand?" she asked in puzzlement as she extinguished her own blade.
Obi-Wan nodded, reaching a hand to his belt and unclipping a second lightsaber. She blinked in surprise. How comes she hadn't noticed that?
She became even more confused as he placed this second saber in her left hand. "There. Now come at me again."
Ana wanted to ask desperately what for, but she knew that Obi-Wan wouldn't answer her. She just had to do, and find out why later. She really didn't like the idea of two lightsabers though, working with one was hard enough. Igniting both with a deep exhale, she centered herself the best she could in the few seconds of pause before rushing toward him, her wrists rotating to carry the twin blades in a double whirl of sizzling energy.
Ana attacked with one andguarded herselfwith the other whilethey moved wildly across the floor of the arena, sometimes flipping or tumbling.
"Come on, Master! I thought--you said you--were going to give it your--all?" Ana asked between blade strikes, her breath not heavy, but beginning to get a little shallow.
Obi-Wan smirked. "Just observing," he said before his defense suddenly solidified and he switched to offense, his one blade a smear of color. Ana dismissed her sudden bewilderment and quickly defended herself, though she found her body being driven backward even as she used both blades to the best of her abilities.
Ultimately, she was found on her knees, one blade catching the underside of Obi-Wan's, but it was a little too late as the tip of his green blade rested finger's length from her throat. The, sort of, upside was that her other blade pointed straight at Obi-Wan's chest, though it was a little more than a hand's length from it. Obi-Wan would've struck her down before she even had a chance to sink the blade into his heart.
His saber went out again, and he clipped it back at his waist, his expression satisfied. "Interesting. You seem to be better suited for Form X: Niman. A rarity among Jedi."
Ana blinked. Niman was a lightsaber technique that allowed the weilder to use two lightsabers at one time, one particularly used for offense, and the other for defense. "Well...I admit...it made things less complicated. Are you sure I should be using this form now? I thought I was better suited for Form I?"
Obi-Wan shook his head, motioning for her to walk with him. "Form I is not your strong suit, though you're best in it currently, you were unable to fully utilize your abilities. Form I was too simple, you needed more." Obi-Wan smiled warmly at her. "You're extremely coordinated, my young Padawan. Form I just wasn't challenging you enough."
She stopped when her Master halted at an intersection in the great hall. "You should grab some dinner. I have an appointment. I'll see you back at the apartment later. You may practice with your lightsabers if you wish."
Ana bowed. "Yes, Master."
With a fleeting smile, he split to the right and left her gazing at his back before she turned and went the opposite way to the cafeteria.
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Ana sighed irritably as she headed to the table that she and her two closest friends always sat at. She could see them conversing, and she could also see that Anakin was trying to discreetly glance at her. There was an evil look in his eyes.
Suspicious, she sat down, her hazel orbs regarding them both. "So, how was you guys' day?"
Anakin automatically stuck his pointer finger at her. "Hah! I got the last bowl of Naboo peach!"
Lexi rolled her eyes. "I thought you were going to wait until she asked you what you got?"
"I couldn't wait," he said, looking sheepish.
Ana was staring at Anakin's bowl of peaches. The peaches that she had wanted. That she had been looking forward to. Peaches so good that they helped her forget about her stress over her Master. Yes...peaches. "Come on, Anakin, give them to me. Please?"
Anakin held the bowl of peach slices up and with a fork, stabbed one, and shoved it into his mouth. "Hmmm," he said, munching with delight.
Ana narrowed her eyes. "This is about that Bantha joke, isn't it?" she said in exasperation.
Anakin pretended to ignore her and had another slice of peach.
Ana looked over to Lexi, who shrugged and said with a smile, "When he says he's going to do something, he does it."
Ana sighed.for the second time, before she started to laugh. "Sometimes I really wonder about you, Anakin."
Anakin just shrugged and pushed the rest of the slices over to her. "You've suffered enough."
"Oh, thanks," she said with sarcasm, but altogether looking thankful. After a moment she said, "I really don't know what I'd do without you guys."
"All thanks should go to Anakin, and his entertaining Bantha habits," Lexi said, elbowing the Jedi protégé who glared, a look in his eyes that clearly said, 'so you want to be next?'
They all shared a quiet laugh.
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When Ana returned to her and Obi-Wan's apartment, her Master was not there. The fading light of an evening on Coruscant spilled across the light biege carpet of the living room, seeming to intensify the solitude of the apartment.
Ana scowled. Her Master was always home when she returned. So where was he?
She flopped down on the couch, wishing she that she already knew how to form mind links. She'd had a bad feeling when she'd been practicing with her lightsabers earlier. A painful feeling that seemed to strike a chord in her heart. Something was wrong. She knew it.
All she could do was wait.
So she sat back, gathering her legs to her chest and resting her chin on her knees.
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Obi-Wan made his way down the Jedi Temple halls, his pace brisk. His walk in the gardens had taken longer than he'd meant for it to take. He'd just been so deep in thought. He was sure his Padawan wouldn't mind. I mean, he----he slowed to a stop, standing in the middle of the moon bathed hall as a sudden realization struck him.
He hardly knew a thing about his Padawan.
Pursing his lips, he shook his head, and started forward once more. He would make up for his self-absorption. He finally came to terms with how stupid he'd been lately. All this irritation over his Master's Padawan, over his Master's lack of attention. Sure Jedi went their own ways, but Qui-Gon hardly even talked to him anymore. And it was almost as painful as if he wasn't even there.
Maybe he wasn't cut out for a Padawan yet.
He shook his head again. Mariana was the perfect Padawan. Obedient, calm, collected, skilled, intelligent. He hadn't had any problems with her...not one. Maybe that was the problem. He got too comfortable and let his thoughts center onto himself. But maybe that was better, too. He needed time to find himself, to let go of past attachments. He respected his Padawan for giving him the space he needed.
Feeling in a much better mood, he entered their apartment quietly. As he passed the living room, he stopped in his tracks, blinking a few times. "Ana?" He murmured to the figure draped across the couch. When she did not move, he walked over and leaned over her.
She was fast asleep.
He smiled at her sleeping face, the moonlight pouring over her giving her an angelic presence. Brushing back a stray, wavy lock of a auburn hair, he proceeded to pick her up bridal-style. He carefully moved to her room and set her down on her bed, pulling the covers up and over her.
She shifted some, her expression mildly troubled before it melded back into gentle serenity.
He sighed. He owed her. He would have to start paying back.
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TBC...
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Thank you for reading! I know it's a tad boring right now, but it's going to start getting more heated in Chapter 5, and drama city after that. Lol.
-Aryll & Alley