A/N: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! I'm not going to go through them all and reply (I'm so sorry!) because I don't have much time to write, but I will next chapter when I don't have so much volleyball stuff going on (conditioning, weightlifting, try outs, etc.). But I appreciate them greatly. And keep them coming, please, they are my motivation to write.

On the other hand, I apologize for the delay in this chapter, I was updating my other story, which I had neglected for God knows how long. So yeah, without further ado, I give you:

PART ONE: BUDDING

Chapter Seven

An Elemental. That would explain so much, but it was just so…unbelievable. The idea of Mother Nature having children that could control the Wind, the Fire, the Water, and the Earth? Preposterous. Ali had grown too old for fairytales and happy endings. But the woman sitting in front of her seemed perfectly serious…could it be real? Could that be the explanation to her past experiences with Nature?

"Why wasn't I told earlier?" Ali asked, trying to keep her tone polite, but her brow furrowed in confusion. It was logical question, Lyra knew. It would've answered so many of the girl's questions and would've made growing up and maturing to her powers so much easier. "What's going to happen to me now?"

"The Jedi Masters wanted to be sure before they told you," Lyra said truthfully. "Since the power of an Elemental develops late, after about eight years, they couldn't tell from the beginning. Their suspicions were confirmed during your duel a while back with the other youngling, when you demonstrated your control of Wind." She decided not to answer the second question.

Now was a not the right time to explain of the Foretelling of Fior, or of why the Jedi Masters would want to hide Ali's destiny. After all, Fior hadn't even been a reliable seer—perhaps he had been wrong, and no loss would be suffered after all. Why cause all the worry for something that might be wrong?

Lyra had only been told of the Foretelling when she had been assigned the duty of being Master to Alianne Tyri. Yoda had taken her aside and explained to her the delicate future of the young Elemental, and what the appearance of both the Chosen One and an Elemental meant for the Jedi Temple. But Yoda had also explained that with proper training, the youngling might be able to escape her fate, and the whole Foretelling might've proved false. The older Jedi Master then requested that Lyra keep the whole fiasco a secret from Ali until she was of age.

"What's going to happen to me now, Lyra?" Ali asked again; worry now flitting across her face. "Am I to be kicked out? Is there no future for Elementals in the Temple?"

Lyra couldn't help it—she broke her mask of calm and chuckled slightly. "No, not in the least," she replied, still smiling. "I'm here to ask if you would like to be my Padawan."

There was a silence following Lyra's statement. "Do you…do you mean it?" Ali whispered, her already big eyes widening and filling to the brim with tears of joy. "You want me…ME… to be your Padawan?"

Lyra restrained her grin, gazed down into those huge, sparkling green eyes, and nodded slightly. "Yes, Ali, I would be proud to have you as a Padawan. That is, if you'll have me as a Master. You see, I'm rather young for the position, and not quite as experienced as the others. So you'll have to bear with me—trial and error is how things will work in this partnership."

There was still no answer. Ali had closed her eyes and was breathing deeply. Her whole being seemed to be glowing, radiating waves of joy.

"Ali?" Lyra asked. "Are you alright?" The girl seemed almost unearthly, eerily shining in the dull world.

"Alright?" Ali replied incredulously, those eyes flying open. "Oh, I think…I think this is the happiest moment of my life, Master Lyra! I never thought I'd be asked to be a Padawan, I thought you'd come to kick me out!"

"So you accept?" Lyra asked again, bemused and amused at the same time.

"Oh, yes!" Ali cried, clasping her hands together in front of her. "With all my heart."

Then, the little girl did something unexpected. She got up, out of her seat, and embraced Lyra, quietly crying tears of joy into the older woman's chest. The Windite felt her heart warm, and gently patted the child's back, unsure of what to do to best comfort the girl.

Lyra smiled the bowed red head buried in her front. There was a lesson to be learned here—Jedi never show their emotions. But that lesson, Lyra thought as she hugged the youngling—the Padawan—her Padawan—back, would be saved for another day.

Ali ran down the hall, her deep red hair pulled back in its usual ponytail. It swished her back in sync with her footsteps. Suddenly, the girl stopped abruptly, in front of a wooden door just like all the other wooden doors down the corridor.

She took a deep breath, straightened her clothes, and rapped on the door smartly. It opened after a few seconds to reveal an older man, perhaps around Lyra's age, with brown hair and a short hair cut. The man was built solidly, broad of shoulder and tall. He tilted his head to the side and smiled kindly down at the little girl in front of him.

"Hello, youngling," He said. "May I ask what you're doing here?"

"Master Kenobi," Ali bowed, feeling her ponytail brush her cheek. "I'm here to see Anakin, if I may?"

"I'm right here, Ali," came a familiar voice from behind Obi-Wan. It was Anakin, and he did not sound happy.

What do you want? Anakin asked in her mind. She flinched slightly—even in thought-speak, he sounded quite angry.

"I shall leave you two to converse, then," Obi-Wan said, still smiling cordially. "Good day, youngling."

"Anakin," Ali began hesitantly. Suddenly she regretted her decision to come see him—he was still upset, with every reason to be. "I know you're mad at me…" Anakin snorted derisively.

"But I wanted to let you know," Ali plowed on, determined to finish what she come to say. "That I'm really sorry for what I said and that it was horrible of me and that I shouldn't have said it, and that…that…I'm really sorry," she finished lamely.

"Is that it?" Anakin asked, his voice still harsh. He refused to meet her pleading gaze.

"No," Ali gulped. She had more, so much more to tell him. How much she valued his friendship, how much he had come to mean to her. "I also wanted to say that…I'm really sorry. I don't want to lose you, Ani. You're my best friend. And I said everything that I said because I was bitter that you were going on in life, and leaving me behind. But that wasn't right of me, because I was supposed to support you in successes like how you always supported me. And I didn't. And I'm sorry. And I'm here to say, congratulations on becoming a Padawan, you truly deserved it."

Anakin sighed, and looked at the forlorn young face in front of him. He should stay mad, but those eyes!

"You know, I never could stay mad at you for long," Anakin said, sighing again. "I forgive you." Ali's face broke out into a huge grin, and she hugged him tightly. Jedi shouldn't show attachment, but both children decided to ignore that fact.

"You know, Ali," Anakin began. "Even if I did become a Padawan, and you didn't, I'd never forget you. We'd always, always, ALWAYS be friends."

"Oh," Ali muttered, muffled into his shoulder. "I forgot to tell you—I'm a Padawan too."

Anakin pulled back, shocked. "What?"

"There's a lot I have to explain…" Ali began. "Come on, let's go outside. I have so much to tell you."

A/N: Next chapter, I'm so excited for. I'm sorry for the delay this took, but real life just caught up with me. There might be another delay before the next installment, but I'll make it worth your time, lol. Thanks for reading! NOW PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!