Hello, a long chapter here for you, since we did not update yesterday. We try and update everyday, but sometimes we might not. Two days is usually the maximum.

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Reviewer Appreciation:

Anwinn: Thank you for your lovely review. And I e-mailed you, and told you that Lexi's Master was not a Jedi Master, but a Jedi Knight. He's sort of corrupt in a way, I guess you could say.Alley: "Gasp Maybe he's a Sith!

eac-dudette: Thank you!

wosao: We're keeping at it, thank you for your support! 8D

storyshark2005: Obi-Wan is 25 right now in the story, cause it is a few months after The Phantom Menace, so he is without his beard. I don't know if he should grow one now considering I think he only grew one in honor of his Master's memory. What do you think? Alley: I actually LIKE Obi's beard! It seems to fit him great! And I don't think he grew it to honor Qui-Gon's memory..so until the subject is settled it's up to your imagination I guess :)

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"Light in the Shadow"

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Chapter 5

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Ana yawned as she sat up in bed, the white sheets falling into her lap. She grabbed their edges and pulled them away from herself, letting her feet touch the softly carpeted floor.

After taking a nice shower, she dressed in her usual Jedi robes and exited her room to make some tea in the kitchen. Her Master, she knew, had stayed up rather late last night going over some report or another. She would never spy on him; she could only rely on his trust in her to tell her about anything important. What she really wanted was for him to confide in her if he was ever stressed. That was part of the role between a Master and Padawan, right? To lean on each other, even learn from each other.

She poured boiling water into two cups and set little tea bags in each alongside a spoon. Her master entered at that moment looking mildly perplexed. His features seem to relax when he saw that she'd made tea.

"Thank you, Padawan," he said with a smile, "You didn't have to."

Ana smiled back, waving a hand. "I don't mind."

They sat in a companionable silence as they drank their tea.

Ana felt compelled to say something after a while and with a deep breath, she spoke, "Uhm...Master?"

Obi-Wan tore his gaze from the textured wall of the kitchen, looking at her with raised brows. "Yes?"

Ana's eyes flicked down and then back up self-consciously. She felt stupid for saying anything now, and she almost wished that she could take it back. Obi-Wan waited patiently, his tea cup resting in both of his hands.

"I-I just feel shut out," she blurted, feeling flustered. If she did not finish now, she would never finish, "You never tell me if something is bothering you...and we hardly ever talk unless it has something to do with my training. I know that a Master is only suppose to train those he takes on and that he is not obligated to do anything else, but still, a Master-Padawan bond is more than that. Isn't it?" she asked hopelessly, her fingers clutching her cup. Her hazel eyes looked at him with confusion mixed in certainty.

Obi-Wan smiled, his blue-gray eyes now on his cup. They were a bluer color now, signaling that he was very calm. "You're absolutely right."

Ana sat up, her long, wavy auburn hair falling over her shoulders. "I am?" she said in surprise, before coughing, "I mean, yeah, I am."

Obi-Wan laughed softly and Ana smiled.

"I'm sorry, Padawan. I've had a lot on my mind...I meant to apologize sooner..."

Ana put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Master. You don't need to apologize."

Obi-Wan placed a hand over hers, nodding faintly. He would've argued with her, but there really wasn't any sense in it. Mariana was very adamant. "Then I promise, no more shutting you out." He waved a hand before him. "So help me, if I break that promise, may Yoda turn into a monstrous beanstalk and...sit on me," He ended a little falteringly.

Ana was already in a fit of giggles. "I don't know. Now I kind of want to see that happen."

Obi-Wan smirked, and stood. "No practice for you today, you can spend it with your friends."

"Thank you!" Ana hopped up, moving to grab his empty cup, but he stopped her.

"I'll do the dishes this time."

Ana's smile fell a little. She didn't want him to play the part of servant now. Afterall, she was the one who had gotten the cups out.

Obi-Wan bent down so that their faces were level. "Go, Padawan. It's just two cups."

She couldn't help but smile again. "Okay. Good day, Master."

"Good day," he said in a warm tone, already in front of the sink as Ana left the kitchen with a wave.
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Ana carried her tray before her, walking evenly as she made her way to the table she sat at three times a day with two of her closest friends. Anakin and Lexi were there, as always, talking happily to each other. She sat down, and smiled at them both.

"Hey Ana," Lexi said with a cheery smile.

"Hey Lexi, how are you?" Ana asked as she buttered her roll.

Lexi shrugged and took a bite of her mixed vegetables.

Anakin glanced at Ana, and she caught his look. It was now or never. Ana held up three fingers, signaling for enough time to eat their food before saying anything. When three minutes were up, and three plates were near clean, Ana was the first to speak, "Lexi...we're worried about you."

Lexi blinked, looking at Ana in puzzlement. "What?"

"Don't pretend like you don't know. We want to help you deal with your Master, Lexi, but you never tell us the whole truth." Ana kept her volume down, cause she knew the subject was touchy. The cafeteria was usually rowdy, but it was the morning and everyone was tired, so the noise was only a dull buzz.

Lexi took on a defensive expression. "Never tell you the whole truth? Of course I do."

"Lexi," Anakin cut in, his voice low.

Lexi switched her gaze to Anakin and she seemed to break. Her bottom lip quivered and she found she couldn't face Anakin's intense blue eyes.The fact was that between Ana and Anakin, Lexi was closer to Anakin. It was strange considering she knew Ana before Anakin, maybe it had something to do with their age differences? Sometimes she found Ana complicated and confusing, she could never quite figure out her friend's moods, but with Anakin, it was like she could see everything. And he confided in her, about his deepest fears, of his mother, of being a Jedi. How could she hide anything from him? Overwhelmed with uncertainty, she leapt up from her seat and hurried out of the cafeteria.

Ana and Anakin shot each other worried looks before following after her. They tagged Lexi all the way to the gardens and after some mild searching, found her sitting on a bench in a little squared off section of flora. The brunette had her hands over her face, her elbows resting on her knees.

Anakin sat down next to Lexi, putting an arm around her shoulder. "Don't be sad, Lexi. We're your friends, we just want to help. We care about you, deeply."

Ana smiled softly at Anakin's face. He was trying his hardest to make the words he said count.

Lexi shuddered gently, lifting her head. Little tear tracks ran down her face. "I'm sorry, I just, I didn't want to concern you guys with my problems. My Master isn't horrible..or anything," she fumbled, hands clasped together in her lap.

Ana frowned. "I don't know what he says to you, Lexi, but always remember that me and Anakin love you. Don't let what he says get to you. Right, Anakin?"

"Right," Anakin reassured, one hand still wrapped comfortingly around her.

Lexi looked down at her hands. "Force, I feel so silly now. Keeping this from you guys..." she said with a sniff. "I know I have my friends, and as long as you're here by my side, I'll be just fine." Lexi was smiling when she lifted her head next. "We'll always support each other, and as long as we have one another, nothing can ever bring us down," Lexi said with a firm nod.

Anakin and Ana grinned. "Right," they both said.

Lexi opened her arm, gesturing for Ana to join in a big group hug. They all laughed softly.
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With Anakin's Master gone on a boring political matter, Anakin reluctantly trudged to his practice with Obi-Wan Kenobi. He entered the room to find the Jedi Knight standing in the middle of the padded room, arms crossed.

"You're late," the Knight said sternly.

Anakin looked off to the side, trying not to grumble sourly. "Sorry, Master Kenobi."

Obi-Wan dropped his arms to the side. "Very well, let's begin." He unclipped his lightsaber.

Anakin unclipped his Padawan Learner lightsaber, and readied himself. "What are we working on today?"

"Your defense," Obi-Wan said curtly, "Qui-Gon says that you're too offensive."

Anakin's bottom lip jerked to the side at Obi-Wan's almost mocking tone. Please, just let this end soon, he begged in his head as he set his stance.

Obi-Wan attacked first and Anakin blocked. He had to resist the strong urge to retaliate. This was a defense lesson after all. While Anakin was paying attention to the strokes of Obi-Wan's lightsaber, the Knight suddenly dropped and swept Anakin's legs out from under him. Anakin fell heavily onto his rear.

A lightsaber blade retracted as Anakin rubbed his back side. "Ow," he murmured as he stood back up. He looked at Obi-Wan who had his arms crossed once again, saber in one hand, brows raised. "Why did you do that?" Anakin asked him in confusion.

"You must expect any attack, Young Skywalker," Obi-Wan said in a lecturing tone.

"Yeah, but Master Qui-Gon has me focusing on my lightsaber skills right now. We don't work on hand to hand combat until later," Anakin said, brows creased.

"And who is training you today?"

"You, sir."

"Indeed. Stand ready again."

Anakin sighed, and set his stance once more. He was going to have one sore bottom.
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Lexi and Ana were in Lexi's room, laying across her bed, both looking at a hologram that was playing on the small computer Anakin had given Lexi. It was a hologram of Lexi's favorite singer and both giggled as they hummed along to the music.

"Wow, Lexi, I wish I could get a hold of some music pads. I never knew music could be this good. Obi-Wan says it's mind-rotting rubbish."

Lexi grinned. "That's what all the old Jedi say."

"Are you saying that Master Obi-Wan is old?" Ana asked with a playful glare.

"No," Lexi said with a smile, "he's just deprived. You should make him listen to Avaline."

Ana laughed loudly. "And you should make Anakin listen to Avaline. His ears would probably bleed."

Lexi giggled. "I don't know why he doesn't like music, I guess it's because we're girls," she said with a smirk.

"Yeah, Anakin's a man's man."

They were both enveloped in peals of laughter.

Suddenly, the door to Lexi's room opened, and Lexi's Master stepped inside.

"M-Master!" Lexi cried in surprise, sitting up. He wasn't suppose to be home for another two hours. This was the first time he'd ever come home early.

Master Lottos' eyes went from the two girls to the little computer sitting between them along with a stack of music data pads and holo discs. "What's this?" he asked firmly, stalking to the computer and picking it up.

"No!" Lexi blurted, about to grab for it, but she stopped herself.

Ana looked nervously from Lexi to her Master.

Once Master Lottos was done looking at the computer, he gripped it in one hand and with a few squealing creaks of metal the little device was crushed.

Lexi and Ana's eyes were wide in dismay. Lexi pursed her lips and pulled Ana from the bed, escorting her from the room and pushing her outside of the apartment. "I'll meet you at dinner." And then Lexi shut the door.

Ana stood outside, stunned.
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Ana sat in the gardens until it was dinner time. And during that time of sitting there, she worried over Lexi. Had her Master smashed the rest of her stuff? ...Okay, so that was a stupid question. She sighed, checking the time. Standing up, she hurried out of the gardens and to the cafeteria. She hoped Lexi was all right.

She skipped the line and went straight to their table. She felt relieved when she saw Lexi sitting next to Anakin. She looked okay...

"Ana," Anakin said, smiling, "hey."

"Hey." She said before looking at Lexi and sitting down. "Lexi..."

Lexi glanced at Anakin nervously. "It's okay...I didn't really care for the music pads anyway..."

"Lexi," Ana said, exasperated.

"What?" Anakin blinked. "What happened?"

Lexi glanced at Anakin again before looking away in shame.

Ana frowned sadly. "Me and Lexi had the computer out and we were playing holograms. Lexi's Master walked in and caught us. He trashed her stuff."

"What?" Anakin growled, "He smashed all of it?"

Lexi nodded. "I'm sorry, Anakin. Your computer is broken," she said miserably.

Anakin shook his head. "I don't care about the computer that much, I just can't believe he trashed all your stuff!"

"Well...Jedi aren't suppose to have possessions anyway...I was asking for it." Lexi looked away from them to the other padawans and younglings crowding the cafeteria.

"I'll make you a new one!" Anakin said defiantly.

"No," Lexi said with a rueful smile, "my Master knows I've been hiding stuff from him now. He's likely to check my room."

Anakin sighed. "Your Master needs to learn to have a sense of humor."

Lexi hummed and shrugged. "He just threw them away, that's all...he didn't really say anything. Just that he was disappointed in me and that I was grounded for a while. Sure, I'll miss my music, but I have you guys, right?" she said with a grin.

"Right," Ana and Anakin said together.

"I'll sing Avaline's music whenever you want," Ana laughed.

"And I'll provide the music!" Anakin added with a smile.

"I'll hold you to that," Lexi giggled before something seem to grab her attention. "I don't think I've seen her before, have you guys?" she asked suddenly, pointing over at a dark haired brunette. The girl sat alone at a table in the corner of the room opposite them. Her head was down and she was poking at her food, a long braid hanging over her right shoulder.

"She seems familiar," Ana said thoughtfully.

"I haven't seen her before," Anakin said, "but we should invite her over."

"Sure," Lexi said with a shrug.

"I don't mind," Ana said, shrugging as well.

"Okay, I'll go and ask," he said cheerily, making his way over to the table in the corner of the room. Ana and Lexi watched with interest as he came to stand before the table. The girl raised her head the next second, looking at him with irritation.

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Anakin smiled at the girl, unmoved by her annoyed expression. "Hi, my name's Anakin Skywalker, what's yours?"

"Nave-Aumry Zarrah," she replied tonelessly, "what do you want?" She seemed defensive, eyeing him suspiciously like he was suddenly going to pull out a pikatta pie and smash her in the face with it.

Anakin moved to the side to give her a view of the table where Ana and Lexi sat. The two girls offered friendly waves. "We just wanted to know if you'd like to sit with us?"

Nave narrowed her eyes, looking at the two girls before resting her eyes on Anakin. Nothing about him screamed deceit, not like it usually did when another person, usually a boy, tried to come over and offer her a seat at their table. Of course, that hadn't happened in a long time. She'd gotten here little over three years ago after her Master, Kel-Dor, had found her and taken her to the Jedi Temple. She'd eaten in the cafeteria at first, but when the people started to annoy her, she took her food out to the gardens. She'd been eating out there for most of her stay until it would start getting cold.

"Why do you care?" she asked with mild interest, not really exhibiting rudeness, just curiosity.

Anakin offered a very charming smile, "Because no one should be alone, and the more, the merrier!"

Nave couldn't stop the smile that split her lips. "Would you be saying that if a hundred wookies came and asked to sit at your table?"

Anakin seemed to be taken off guard before he looked up in thought. Nave blinked at his serious expresson, he was actually thinking about it? "Hmm...well, I guess so. Hope there'd be enough food though."

Nave laughed softly before standing. "Sure, I'll join you and your friends."

"Wizard!" Anakin enthused, leading her over to where Ana and Lexi sat.

Nave followed and sat next to Ana, sitting directly across from Anakin.

Anakin started introductions. "This is Lexxa Lysk," He said, gesturing to Lexi, "but you can call her Lexi. And that is Mariana Star, but you can call her Ana." Ana smiled kindly. "This is Nave-Aumry Zarrah, you guys."

"Hello, Nave-Aumry," Ana and Lexi greeted.

"Hello, Ana, Lexi," She said, nodding to both.

The four padawans talked for a long time, Ana, Lexi, and Anakin all getting to know Nave-Aumry better, while she, in turn, got to know them better as well. Nave was from the very small planet of Corda, and apparently she was royalty. She had been discovered with Jedi abilities when, her present Master, Kel-Dor Bane had been escorting Princess Nave and her mother from the planet at the threat of invasion.

Nave was nine years old now, and she was very intelligent. She seemed blunt at times, not willing to tip-toe around insinuated topics. She was also very independent and didn't mind her seclusion before. She was a natural loner, and it seemed it would take a little while for her to completely warm-up to them. If anything, she was the friendliest toward Anakin.

Ana smiled as she watched them talk, staying quiet for the moment. She noticed how alive Anakin seemed, how he drew people in, mostly girls. He was a natural charmer, a sweet boy with a heart of gold. But Ana knew he held in dark secrets, secrets that were none of her business. She could only offer him her undying friendship and leave the rest to fate, to the Force.

Ana could sense some faint connection with Nave-Aumry, a connection that spidered out to each of them through the Force, and when Ana took a moment to look deeper into those threads, she felt the sudden powerful emotions of pain and loss. She recoiled her focus immediately, blinking in confusion. What had those emotions meant?

She thought about it for only a moment, before mentally shaking herself. Whatever those feelings meant, she would not let them bother her. Nave-Aumry was their friend now; she was part of the pact that Ana, Anakin, and Lexi had formed on that very day in the gardens.

Ana would make sure it stayed that way. Pain or loss.

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TBC...

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Ah, if you thought that was a doozy, wait until Chapter 6, lol. Thank you for reading! Much love!

-Aryll & Alley