Hello, again!

Tremendous author appreciation goes to wosao, storyshark2005, and Monker.

Serena Kenobi: I would answer your questions, but well, I rather you just find out for yourself. Some of this stuff is sort of obvious, but there will be a lot of twists. One thing for sure, Padmé will be in this story.

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"Light In The Shadow"

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Chapter 10

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( Tournament Day... )

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All the Jedi Padawans and Knights, even some Masters, were filling the large training room. The Padawans and Masters got to sit up in the observation decks while the Knights stood around on the sidelines of the large room where various Jedi Padawan would face off.

This year, nearly every Padawan eligible for the contest in the temple had entered the tournament. It was a very full house, but thankfully it was not so full that Jedi were crammed together. Of course, there was some cramming going on at the windows of the observation decks.

Excitement was thick in the air, and the Jedi Masters, most particularly, enjoyed the mess of emotions. It was a very uplifting sight for none other than Master Yoda, who had seen much turmoil and pain in his life. All of this raw energy and jubilation actually made him feel young again, which was a stunning feat seeing as he was over nine hundred years old.

Mace Windu appeared, settling in next to Yoda. "A promising tournament we have this year. Many aspiring Jedi are in our midst."

Yoda nodded with a gamely smile. "Does my heart good to see so many smiling faces."

"Agreed," Mace replied with a large grin. Not a minute here and he was already feeling the effects of the Padawans' anxiety. "I am looking forward to viewing the fights of a certain few."

"Hm," Yoda mumbled, his expression serious for a moment, but only a moment.

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Ana stood before her Master for the last time until the tournament's end. The tournament would start soon and from there she would be dueling non-stop until there were only three winners. She could say that she had trained for this, trained for this hard, especially with her Master.

They had been very discreet about their training. Ana had worked on better perfecting her Jar'Kai. As a Youngling she had practiced in the ways of Form VI: Niman, which was a stepping stone to Form X: Jar'Kai, a Niman variant. Her training had been very odd. When Obi-Wan had took her as an apprentice, he had her delving into Jar'Kai, while she was busy mastering Niman at the same time. All of this time, Obi-Wan had been looking into the future. He knew she would master Form VI at an early age and go on to try and master Jar'Kai. So far she was exceptionally skilled in this form of lightsaber combat and getting better with each day.

She was lucky. The only other Padawan in the temple that had also mastered Niman and went on to perfect her skill in Jar'Kai was Serra Keto.

"Are you ready, my Padawan?"

Ana smiled warmly at Obi-Wan, nodding. "Ready as I'll ever be."

"Good," he said, returning her smile. He placed a hand on her shoulder and looked at her meaningfully. "We've practiced in every area of lightsaber combat...so you'll be ready for anything." He squeezed her shoulder. "Go out there and have fun." He winked.

Ana grinned affectionately. "Fun? Did you say fun, Master? I'm stunned!"

"None of your cheek," he murmured, nicking the bottom of her chin gently with a curled index finger.

She smirked, backing up. She would've said that she was going to make him proud, but he would've argued that this tournament wasn't about gaining pride, it was about perfecting yourself so that you could selflessly give everything to the Galaxy. To keep the people save, to keep everyone and everything safe. And to that, you give your all.

"See you at the top."

Obi-Wan nodded, smiling still. "See you at the top, Ana."

She gave him a sound salute and with that, turned to join the other Padawan competitors in the holding room.

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Lexi stood next to Anakin where they were lined up in a room conjoined with the large Training Arena. She kept glancing at him, her thoughts racing about in her head. She actually managed to keep herself still, but Anakin was a near jiggling mess.

Lexi giggled and Anakin turned his head pointedly.

"Stop hopping around, you're going to wear yourself out before we even start."

Anakin rolled his eyes sardonically at her. "I highly doubt that. I have to do this or I think I just might explode."

Lexi smiled beautifully, exposing a row of pearly whites. "You're so melodramatic."

"Only for you, my dear, only for you," Anakin said off to the side as he continued his jiggling, trying to see over the heads of the Padawan in front of him.

Lexi rolled her eyes this time. She turned to see Ana making her way toward them, a happy smile on her face.

"Hey, excited you two?" Ana exclaimed, "I have no doubt that you're going to own this tournament!" There were assorted looks from Padawan close to them. Ana ducked her head sheepishly. "Whoops," she whispered.

Anakin grinned, distracted for the moment. "Well, I didn't train for nothing."

"I vouch for that," Ana retorted almost scoldingly. She had thought that Anakin's, as well as Lexi's, training habits over the last two weeks had been unhealthy.

Their friendship had been a little tense over that time, but, with Ana's new wave of good spiritedness, they had mended their issues and were the inseparable trio once more.

The issue had mostly been with Ana's uncertainty toward her Master and the things upcoming in her life. She had been troubled by them and found herself inadvertently irritated by it all. She had resolved her turmoil with three simple words.

Come what may.

She couldn't brood forever. It was taking a toll on her friends and on herself. She'd been rather ashamed of herself for these last few days. She still had a lot of growing up to do. Of course, "plenty of time for that, there is," Master Yoda had told her. She'd gone to him about her issue of becoming a Jedi Knight only. To dicuss a matter of love to a Master was almost like emotional suicide. You only had your heart crushed with a few well-phrased Jedi rules, and then further stamped upon by word-for-word statements of the Jedi Way.

Ana couldn't say if Master Yoda saw through her. He was very wise and often seemed to know everything there was to know about everything. But Ana was certain that she did not let her thoughts stray to any overly warm-hearted feelings about her Master, only platonic friendship while in the presence of a Jedi Master.

A raucous cheering brought Ana from her thoughts and back to the present. She blinked, noting by the cheering and the looks on her friends face that the tournament was starting.

It was time for them to show their true colors.

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The Padawans exited the holding room and poured out into the Training Arena. The Jedi assembled roared with applause.

Ana glanced over at Anakin who was grinning so hard it looked as if his face was going to split in half. Lexi on the other hand had a very serious expression, but she seemed pleased with the claps resounding around them.

Lexi's gaze met her friend's. She nodded, offering a smile. Ana returned it, feeling uneasy. She knew that if she and Lexi both made it up to the top, they would have to fight at some point. She had sparred with Lexi many times, as with Anakin, but the thought of something so weighty, like this tournament, had her nervous. Ana knew that this was going to get to the other Padawans. She knew that this tournament was pride to them, well, most of them. And by the looks of Anakin, that's exactly what it was to him.

Ana inhaled deeply. This tournament would act as a lesson to a lot of these Padawans. The cocky would be taken down a notch by the more skilled and wise Padawan. And the wise Padawan would learn that there was so much more to lightsaber combat than just what the books told them.

She looked up at a large read-out board plastered to the metal wall opposite the entrance doors of the spacey training arena.

Tournament will start 1 minute.

59, 58, 57...

Ana looked away from the countdown as Jedi Knights acting as Tournament Officials got them in an ordered line next to a row of benches.

Ana sat down in her seat and after a few moments there was quiet except for the soft chatter of watching Padawan. Most Padawan competed in the tournament, but some were too young, and others were kept from the Tournament on their Master's wishes.

The Younglings were mostly kept out of the tournaments except for those allowed by Masters for whatever reasons. The Jedi Council thought it better if the younger, Masterless Jedi did not view the tournaments as they raised many questions and often incited them with idolization's.

22, 21, 20...

To Ana's suprise, Qui-Gon suddenly appeared in the center of the dueling mat, his arms spread, inviting silence which was quickly rewarded.

He spoke, "It is time for this tournament to begin. Padawans, let this event act as guidance in your training ahead." His voice was almost mezmerizing. His soft lilting accent drawing in all eyes, all attentions. "Learn from each and every Padawan you duel today. No matter how minimally. This tournament is not about winning, it is about furthering yourself for the good of the Jedi cause."

Ana raised a brow softly when she noticed an almost disdainful flash cross Qui-Gon's face, as if saying those words hurt his tongue in some way. She looked around some at other Padawan's, but they were still listening raptly and seemed not to notice a thing.

Ana gazed back at Qui-Gon and sighed. She might be guessing, but from her knowledge of Qui-Gon's previous cavilling, he was having problems saying this speech. And by the placement of his wince, the problem seemed to be with the Tournament rules.

And suddenly, Anakin leaned over to her. "My Master does not like the idea of pushing such ideals on the Padawans. He agrees with the objective of learning from each other, but he doesn't like this to be thought as something too serious. He wants the Padawans to have fun. The Jedi Council tries too hard to keep us in line and never thinks of our emotions along the way."

Ana frowned. "I'm sure that's not true. I don't blame your Master for the way he thinks, but we can have fun. Just because they say that, does not mean that we have to follow it. I wouldn't let it bother you. It's all about how you look at it, Anakin."

Anakin nodded vaguely, leaning away. He adapted a pensive expression.

Ana looked away. She rathered he thought about what she said. She knew various Padawans that complained a lot about the Jedi rules, and she thought it was pointless. What were they complaining about? As long as you had the Jedi objective in mind, whatever you did was yours to do. The Rules were guidelines, they weren't set in stone, though she was sure that Mace Windu would disagree severely.

Ana believed the Jedi to be a little too strict, but it was nothing that couldn't be changed with a little fluctuating of perspective. She fought for her own cause. To heal the galaxy. She did not think of bringing down enemies, of destroying Sith. She thought of a world where pain was not a factor. She knew this dream would never come true, but if she could, she wanted to get as close to it as possible. She wanted to heal everything and everyone. Even the Sith.

The Jedi believed that once you were consumed with the Dark Side, you were lost in it forever, but Ana did not look at it that way. There would always be a piece of the former person lingering, waiting to be saved from his or her pool of misery and hate.

"Ana," Anakin suddenly warned, elbowing her, "you're up."

Ana blinked in surprise. "Already?"

"Yeah, you're the first match. Now hurry up there. And try not to space while you're fighting." He smirked.

Ana was already up and heading for the duel center. She turned, giving Anakin a "hah, hah" look.

Lexi gave her a thumbs up and Ana returned the gesture before positioning herself fully in the circle.

Qui-Gon gave her a friendly smile which she reflected as both waited for the other duelist to appear on the mat.

Ana's gaze wandered to the read-out board as she finally realized that she was fighting someone but she didn't know who. She felt her heart skip a beat as she read.

Mariana Star vs. Serra Keto

Serra Keto! Oh, for the love of the stars, that had to be rigged, she thought. This match was either going to be a dead end or one was going to be better than the other. She and Serra were both Form X practitioners, and they were good at it, too. What were the odds, really?

Ana took in another deep breath. Nothing to be worried about, she had expected this outcome, she just hadn't thought that it would happen so soon, and in the first match, no less.

Serra came to stand two meters from Ana, her hands clasped behind her back. Each gazed at the other curiously, though Serra's gaze was more cold. Ana could tell that she was raring to fight.

"All right, let this match open the tournament officially," Qui-Gon stated, "Disarm your opponent or have them surrender, either will win the match. You may start." And then he stepped back.

Instantly, Ana and Serra started to circle each other, hands by their twin sabers.

Jedi Knights were standing close by. Strict measures were taken to ensure that the Padawans did not get out of hand and try to maul each other. No such thing had ever happened in the tournament history and Ana doubted that it would. Jedi were not mindless killing machines, they were protectors, and they kept that in mind.

Suddenly, Serra ignited one saber and charged at her, igniting the other in the next second. Ana had already flipped her blue blades out and ignited them, using her right defensive arm to block the incoming attack from Serra's right blade.

Ana noted this with mild irritation. Serra's defense arm was her left while the offensive was her right. Ana's reverse.

Serra pushed Ana around the mat with her forceful thrusts, Ana parrying every one of them. She noticed that Serra seemed a little frustrated by this and strengthened her attack.

Ana decided it was time to go on the offensive, so quickly warding off an incoming blow, she used the force to propell herself in a flip, landing at the edge of the mat and then moving in to attack Serra.

Serra had already whirled around to face Ana and was ready for her attack. The fight grew incredibly intense as both Padawans came at each other with their offensive all.

In the middle of the fight, Ana started incorperating her defense into her offense, trying to conserve energy, while Serra remained attacking, obviously wanting to end the match as soon as possible.

Ana was very impressed with Serra. She was strong and unrelenting.

She studied Serra's moves and blows as she fought. The differences between them were gaping. Ana's style reflected her Master's. Calm, serene, force sensitive. She waited for the right moment to bring an end to the situation.

Serra was very clever, she tied the Force into her blade thrusts, making them stronger, more calculated. She was patient, but did not wait for opportunites, she made them.

Ana had to be very attentive if she wanted to avoid being disarmed. She could feel the end of the match coming around though, and she welcomed it, as her defensive arm was growing tired.

And then it happened, Serra slipped up. It was extremely slight, just a tiny change in body position, but it was all Ana needed. She ducked down, sweeping at Serra's legs, but the Padawan leapt up, dodging the attack. Serra came down expecting to aim her green blades at Ana's throat, but Ana had already slid under Serra's jump and aimed her right glowing blue blade at her opponent's back as she landed.

"Match end," Qui-Gon chimed in, stepping up to Ana, who stood and extinguished her blades. Serra did the same, looking edgy. "Mariana Star is the winner. Well fought, both of you. You may return to your seats." Qui-Gon turned to Ana. "You will be going on to the next round."

Ana bowed, as did Serra, then the two opponents shook hands.

"You're very attentive...I didn't expect you to catch such a small change. I was trying to shift my offensive arm to conserve energy when I started to familarize your moves," Serra explained.

Ana smiled gently. "You're an amazing wielder of Jar'Kai. Mistakes happen."

"Yes," Serra said, then she turned and headed back to her seat, as did Ana. Ana was sure that Serra would be looking forward to a rematch next year. Unfortunately, this year was the first and last that Ana had chosen to compete in. Serra was still very young, and would probably compete in tournaments to come. She was a bright student, and on top of that, she was tall even for being so young, which gave her an advantage in fighting. Ana had no doubt that Serra would reach Knighthood early.

"You were great!" Lexi enthused, standing to hug Ana.

"Thanks, but it wasn't easy," Ana said with a heavy exhale, "If this is how the rest of the competition is going to be, I don't know if I'm going to make it to the finals."

Anakin laughed. "You'll make it to the finals! I've fought Serra before. She's about the toughest you get in this tournament. There are a little tougher, but not too many."

Ana raised a brow, smirking. "Well, looks like you don't have any worries."

"Nope!"

Ana and Lexi giggled together. Anakin was a hopeless case. He would always be charging forward, striving to make himself known.

"Oh!" Lexi said, startled, "I'm next!"

Ana turned to look at the board.

Lexxa Lysk vs Stass Allie

Ana's eyes widened. "Oh, good luck, Lexi."

Lexi glared at Ana playfully. "I can just hear the confidence in your tone."

Ana laughed. "I'm just kidding. Get over there and make it happen."

Lexi lightly punched Ana on the arm and then with a rather warm smile thrown Anakin's way, walked out to meet her opponent.

Ana sat down along with Anakin. Stass Allie, now that was a force to be reckoned with. Of course, Lexi certainly wasn't a push-over. This match was likely to be very intense.

An unintentional sadness rested in Ana's heart at that moment. She wished that Nave-Aumry could be here to participate in the Tournament. She would definitely have made it up to the finals. Unfortunately, her friend was stuck with her Master in the Outer Rim seeing to some smaller planet skirmishes. It was nothing catastrophic, but it was important none-the-less. The Republic wanted peace, and the Jedi tried to accomplish that as peacefully as possible.

Ana put those thoughts away and refocused her attention on Lexi. Her gaze momentarily flickered to Anakin. Her insidessquirmed uncomfortablyas she noticed how intent Anakin's eyes were upon Lexi's form. This was all she needed to give proof of her previous suspicions. Her friends were close, closer than she originally thought.

Ana sighed. Anakin had better watch out, he was making himself an open book. She would have to talk to Lexi about that.

She didn't want her friends to be expelled.

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TBC...

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Thank you for reading, we'll get the rest of the fights out in the next chapter. This tournament is a one day thing, just so you all know.

Hope you enjoyed!

-Aryll & Alley