Chapter Six
A/N: Of course you know that at two feet tall he would have to shop at the children's section so his choices would be the Star Wars equivalent of Spiderman or Sponge-Bob briefs. Jei-El, my daughter, would pick Superman; Master Lucus's isn't the only galaxy she gets lost in.
"What have you done?" Moth said stunned by what Yoda had produced in one night.
Puzzled Yoda said. "My room, I fixed. Like it, you do not?"
"This stuff is from…everywhere!" Moth said recognizing things from all over the temple.
"Said I could use what I needed, you did." Yoda said still confused as to what he had done wrong.
"From my apartment, not the whole temple." Moth said in shock. Just then the door chime sounded and he had to answer it because Nyla was still stunned silent at the sight of Yoda in his little white-pocketed undergarment. Master Tona and Evea were at the door. Evea walked over to see what Nyla was standing, staring at mouth still open in shock.
"Well that is a sight I have NEVER seen before." Evea said turning to Nyla, who also turned and shuttered.
"Can I get you something to drink? I think I need something after that." Nyla asked as the two Padawans headed over toward the Masters. Evea declined.
"I see you redecorated since I was here last. How did you talk Master Osips into letting you have some of his prize hydrangea bushes?" Master Tona asked unaware of the excitement going on around him.
"Yoda arranged it, all by himself." Moth answered honestly.
"We just came by to let you know we are heading back to Lidio and the surrounding systems to find the pharmaceutical plant. The Council has ordered it destroyed since it produces a weapon aimed at the Jedi exclusively." Tona said. "What is that noise?"
"Yoda eating breakfast." Nyla answered then shook again.
"If you get a chance could you arrange for me to get my ship back? I have a mini infirmary in it and would hate to have to set another one up." Moth said.
"I'll see what I can do?" Tona said. "How did Nyla's test come out?"
"Except for her almost hanging the Head Med-Tech, pretty good. There are some lingering side-effects of the drug. They gave her a new medication and she has started to get her use of the Force back. The Jedi medical team is hoping to have the anti-dote soon to issue to all Jedi, to have in case they are attacked."
"Good. Evea, we need to go if we are to meet up with Masters Lang and Phyfe." Tona said.
"I wish we were going with you," Nyla said, "one of the biggest missions in decades and we are stuck on Coruscant because of me."
"Not because of you, because of what was done to you." Moth said. What you are doing to help the med-techs find an anti-dote is very valuable to all Jedi."
"Maybe you could help Gen, he is going to need it after loosing his Master." Tona said.
"That sounds like a good assignment." Moth said.
oOo
Master Osip dug around in his potting shed looking for the prize bulbs he had ordered for a special display, they were no where to be found. The only clues he could find were some strange tracks in the dust. "Some one has brought a swamp rat back from Sidell and it has gotten into my prize bulbs." He explained when Master Poof asked what he was mumbling about. "And some of my Hydrangea Bushes are missing."
"There has been a rash of things missing. I have a suspect and I am going to take care of it now. Just order more bulbs and order a few extras for me. Don't ask!" Master Poof said then left.
oOo
Over the past few days Master Moth had spent his time in the Med Center helping work on the new antidote for the Force Blocking drug and in the Holo communications center listening to reports of how the battle was going.
"Master Moth, how are things going with Nyla?" Master Poof asked.
"Well, she is responding to the new medicine and is getting her use of the Force back." Master Moth said suspicious of Master Poof's coming all the way down to the med center to ask about Nyla. "She is assisting Gen, he got out of the bacta tank today. It is helping both of them."
"And your other, let's say, 'non-Padawan'?" Master Poof said.
'That's what I thought.' Master Moth thought. "He's doing pretty good, he has a thirst for learning that is sometimes hard to quench and gets him into trouble if it isn't handled properly." Moth confessed. "I am going to the Jedi Library later this morning to see if I can get him permission to use it with youngling clearance, so he will be occupied and out of trouble."
"I will take care of that for you and I will get him Padawan clearance, it won't be long before he is a Padawan and he will be less likely to get into trouble with the weightier material. Oh! I have ordered him some bulbs from Master Osip so he won't be in his potting shed again. Will he?"
oOo
"Well, you have gotten rid of that pesky prune look." Nyla teased Gen as she came by to check on him.
"Yes, but they still won't tell me what is going on. They won't let me out of the med-center yet they want me to walk and they don't want me walking around in the med-center. I am about to go crazy in here." Gen ranted.
"Put your robe on and I will take you for a walk." Nyla said, then told the med-tech she was taking him for an assignment, "I am assigning you to go for a walk." She told Gen when he was surprised at her deceptive statement to the med-tech. "It's all in your point of view."
Nyla and Gen walked to the lake room, and then they sat on a bench near the water. "I can't believe that I am so weak compared to a few weeks ago. I could run for hours, now I get winded walking a few minutes." Gen said trying to catch his breath.
"I know, I was never good at levitating things, even Yoda could out do me on his first try, now I can't even make objects move slightly. I feel like I'm back at step one." Nyla sighed.
"Have you heard anything about what's going on in the Lidio system?" Gen asked.
"They have found the Pharmaceutical plant and are going to destroy it. The Council has called all the available Jedi into the fight, so they are sure they can get it in one mission." Nyla said.
"Did they figure out why some one is trying to take out the Jedi?" Gen asked.
"Not yet, Yoda has this crazy idea that it is a Sith Lord, he has been spending a lot of time at the library since Master Poof got him clearance and thinks he knows everything." Nyla smiled at the thought of Yoda's suggestion.
"That would be impossible they were killed off over a hundred years ago." Gen agreed smiling at the preposterousness of the thought.
"Have they found anyone to take over your training?" Nyla asked changing the subject.
"No. They think I have been through my trials, surviving the ship crashing and Master Bria's death. Master Moth said there was barely any oxygen in the ship. Master Bria had been teaching me a special meditation technique to slow down your heart rate and oxygen use. Apparently it worked."
"Maybe you can teach me, when you get your strength back." Nyla hinted.
"I would love to, when you can use the Force again." Gen added.
"We had better go, they want me to have some more test this afternoon and you know how upset they get if we get them off schedule."
oOo
As they arrived back at the Med-Center new patients were arriving from the battlefront some had been attacked with the new drug. Moth and Nyla assisted in the treatment of the new patients much to the Head Med-Techs displeasure. "You are not on my staff." He protested. "And you are infirmed yourself." He complained.
"I am not infirmed! I have been cleared and ready for duty by your own staff." Nyla insisted. "And you need help."
"I don't want you treating my patients, unsupervised. You might injure them, unintentionally I'm sure." The Head Med-Tech protested.
Master Moth assured him. "I will personally oversee her treatment of any patient as I have been doing for the last ten years so, what is your problem?" Moth insisted.
"I do not believe field training Healers is the correct way to train them. They should be trained in a school environment, by certified teachers, and in clinical settings, under proper supervision. Not fly by night healers teaching the Force knows what." The Head Med-Tech ranted.
"Well, it's apparent you do not trust the Force to teach students what they need to know. How unJedi-like of you." Nyla said imitating his insulting demeanor.
"I am not a Jedi! I don't even like Jedi! I'm out of here!" Shouted the Head Med-Tech for all to hear as he ran screaming into the night.
"Was it something I said?" Nyla asked innocently.
"I think you have been around Yoda to long Nyla. He's starting to rub off on you." Moth said shaking his head. "Now I have to tell Master Poof, we're going to need a new Head Med-Tech.
oOo
Over the next few weeks Nyla and Gen worked out in the sparing rooms on a daily basis. Both were getting their strength back. Master Poof would occasionally drop in to check on their progress personally. If the rules on attachments had been different they would have become more than friends, but the rules were what they were, so they became friends.
"Your use of the Force has improved." Gen said as they broke between rounds.
"And you strength has improved." Nyla said rubbing the knot coming up on her head where she had let a blow get through.
"Sorry, I got carried away, Master Poof stuck his head in for a few minutes. No pun intended… I'm going to have to stop hanging around with you; your sense of humor is starting to rub off on me. I have gotten in more trouble lately over it." Gen said in disbelief of what he had said.
"Well at least it got rid of the Head Med-Tech. He was horrible at bedside manner." Nyla defended herself.
"Have they found a replacement yet? Or are they waiting for you to leave before naming another so you won't run him off." Gen teased.
"Who said it would be a him not a her!" Nyla asserted.
"The two of you are improving nicely." Master Poof said stepping out of the shadows, surprising the two sparing partners. "Soon you will be back in action."
"Thank you, Sir." They both said in unison.
"Nyla, I hear your future replacement as Padawan is making himself home in the Temple. Is there anything else I can do to help?" Master Poof asked.
"Not that I know of at this minute, Sir. He has been well occupied since you got him onto the Library. We almost forget he's around sometimes."
"And his diet problems?" Master Poof asked.
"Master Moth took him to a gardening shop down by the park and opened an account for him to get whatever bulbs and roots he likes and he has started to eat some of Master Moths garlic and onions so you don't want either one to breath on you." Nyla giggled then composed herself.
"Keep up the sparing it's good for both of you." He said as he was leaving. "Nyla don't forget to duck."
"Bulbs?" Gen asked puzzled.
"Yes, bulbs, Master Osip's prized flower bulbs. Yoda was eating them for breakfast until Master Poof found out and informed Master Moth where he was getting them. We expected Yoda to be sanctioned but Master Poof got him into the Library instead. We asked what he had on Master Poof but he just grins and says, 'Never tell, I will.'" Nyla said doing a good imitation of Yoda's mangled Basic.
"Maybe we should be taking lessons from him instead." Gen said in jest.
"Master Yoda?" Nyla said. "I hate to think of it, the Jedi order will never be the same." She sighed.
oOo
Nyla spent the next few months helping with the injured and had improved her skills as a healer by the time everyone was recuperated. Gen had been assigned to a mission with another knight to settle a minor dispute on a planet well away from the area of the war with the drug / arms dealers. Nyla was called into a meeting with the Council in their chambers and she found Master Moth and Yoda already in the Council chambers.
"It has been decided that you have passed the trials in the way you dealt with the drugs side effects and your retraining. You did it in a Jedi like manner and have come out stronger than before as a person and a Jedi. So you are awarded Knight Status." Master Poof said igniting his lightsaber and cutting Nyla's braid off in a masterful swoof of his blue blade.
Nyla stood frozen in place as the long awaited ceremonial removal of the object of her scorn was performed. 'This is trust,' She thought. 'One hic-cup and I would be the headless wonder.' "Thank you for the trust you have bestowed on me. I hope to always live up to that trust." Nyla said humbled by the pageantry of the simple ceremony.
Moth, Yoda and Nyla all left together as the ceremony was over. "Well, how does it feel to be a Padawan now?" Nyla asked Yoda.
"Like expected, I did." Yoda said in mangled basic, straightening to his full height of two feet two inches. "Like expected. Your braid, can I borrow?" Yoda asked. "Not have enough hair for one."
"Don't worry, I will just pull your ear instead." Moth said only half jokingly.
"Yes, sound like Yarin, you do." Yoda said making one of his rare references to his former life.
"That's the second time you said that, who is Yarin?" Moth asked not expecting to get an answer as usual.
"Grandfather, you call." Yoda explained.
"You have a grandfather?" Moth exclaimed in disbelief that Yoda actually let them in on something about his life.
"Think Yoda a bonegnawer of Tatooine, hatch from egg, not have family. Insulted I am."
Yoda said in a huff. Moth started to apologize when Yoda turned to Nyla. "Got him, I did."
"I'm glad you two are going to be separated now or I might run screaming into the night with the former Head Med-Tech." Moth warned them.
"Oooh… trained by a Dark Jedi, I am." Yoda teased.
"I'll make you think Dark Jedi." Moth warned.
oOo
Nyla was given her choice of assignments with the war over and with her new Knighthood. She chose to go to Naboo to do a follow-up on the fever that had affected them the year before. On arriving she was met by Delī at the spaceport and who was taking her to her home in the Lake country where they were to stay. "I can hardly believe they let you come back, I thought your Master didn't like our friendship." Delī said as they picked up where they left off.
"No, he just thought we were too hyper." Nyla giggled.
"You didn't bring the little green thing with you this time." Delī teased.
"No! He's my replacement as Padawan." Nyla said proudly.
"So the Jedi are getting 'short' on Padawans." Delī giggled.
oOo
Moth and Yoda had gotten their ship back from the Lidio system during the war and now that they were going to be assigned a new mission they started getting it ready. Their first mission was pretty routine, they were sent back to Klondel for the Naming ceremony of the first heir to the throne. Lady Amia wasn't sure about allowing Yoda near her newborn. "Are you sure he's safe?" She asked quietly to her beloved husband. "He looks wild! Like that creature that got loose during the coronation ceremony."
"Yes, My Dear, I'm sure our little heir is safe with him. I wouldn't endanger either of you if he wasn't." Handar III assured his nervous wife.
"All right but only briefly Kelia must rest." She relented.
oOo
After Yoda made his appearances at the celebration, he asked to be excused, since the Lady was nervous about his presents, Master Moth agreed. He was sure there was more to the gesture than kindness to the Lady since he had noticed a familiar ship in the spaceport. 'Reunion time.' He thought.
Yoda slipped out and headed to the ship and the friend he hadn't seen in what felt like a lifetime. They talked and brayed for hours. Chabocca missed their excursions on Kashyyyk when Tarbocca came home for a visit. Naish was expecting again and hoped it would be a female this time. Tarbocca just hoped to survive the pregnancy.
Yoda told him about their travels, how he was now a Padawan and what he was learning. He told Tarbocca about the war and the drug being used on Jedi. Tarbocca's expression changed when he mentioned the drug. Tarbocca brayed a warning that there were rumors some of the drug had survived the war and was being used against the Jedi by a Dark and dangerous man. Yoda promised to be careful and excused himself to go warm Master Moth.
Moth called the Council and told them about the rumors of a new threat. They had just started getting reports of Padawans missing. First one on Duro a few days ago, and then another on Corellia just yesterday. It had brought up new fears about the drug being used on the Jedi, now they were substantiated. The Council sent out orders for all Padawans to be accompanied by their Masters at all times.
'This is unheard of in Jedi history. A Padawan not being safe to go out alone.' Moth thought, then looked at his Padawan. 'I have no doubt Yoda would be safe but I imagine that's what everyone thinks about their Padawan. Just in case…' "Yoda I know you are capable of taking care of your self but let's not take any chances. I want you to follow the Councils orders and not go out alone."
"Yes, Master, protect you, I will." Yoda said bravely.
Moth started to explain but decided to let it go. He and Yoda went to pay their respects to the Heir and tell the proud father Handar the III that they had been called away on an emergency.
"Nothing, serious I hope." Handar inquired of his friends.
"All missions are emergencies when you are being called on them." Moth reassured him.
"I hope you are able to come again." Lady Amia said graciously, keeping an eye on Yoda.
"Thank you My Lady, Your Heir well be as kind as his Mother. I'm sure he will grow up to be as strong as his father." Master Moth assured her.
oOo
A/N: Input greatly appreciated.