Chapter 7 - Ridiculous Acrobatics

Rey recovered well enough after her vision. They spent most of that week swimming.

Qui-Gon was the best at it, having learned from Rael years ago. Aside from racing one another, Obi-Wan and Rey found themselves dragging each other through water. He played the proper victim, muttering about the sea creatures after them as he pretended to swoon. Causing Rey to sometimes half drown them as she laughed and tried to ask about said aquatic nightmares.

Obi-Wan found himself much more protective of Rey than he ever had been for anyway before.

He was quite used to dealing with his own anger and fear when he was younger. But that had been personal fear, something he had a certain extent of control over, being able to weigh the risks and move on.

But he couldn't guard Rey at all times. He wouldn't always be there for her, and that idea was terrifying.

Months later, and he was still having nightmares of her body motionless, left in the dark. Her curled fingers reaching out to him for help.

"Go ahead, Rey," Qui-Gon said one evening, "Obi-Wan and I have some topics to go over."

She bowed, "Good night, Master Jinn. See you, Obi-Wan."

When she had gone, the door closed behind her, he asked his Master, "She didn't look scared, did she?"

Qui-Gon didn't answer this, instead, he said, "Go make us a pot of tea."

Obi-Wan suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. He did as he was told without protest.

Qui-Gon took a seat and waited in a meditative silence for him to finish his task. The familiar activity put Obi-Wan at ease, by the time had poured the hot water into the teapot, let the tea steep, pour a cup of tea for first his Master and then himself, did Obi-Wan feel himself again.

A bit chagrined, he asked, "I shouldn't have asked that. I've been worrying too much lately."

Qui-Gon took a sip of his tea savouring it for a few moments before he answered, "She continues to dislike the Temple, as well as Coruscant, but no, I do not believe she is afraid. The visions she has seemed to accept as part of the price for becoming a Jedi. Though thankfully, so far there has only been the one vision."

Obi-Wan was dreading the next. He researched what one was supposed to one someone was having a seizure, the only answer was to make sure they didn't fall hard if you were there to catch them and make sure there was nothing around that could hurt them. He didn't know what they would do if-

"Master Quinlan Vos will be returning to the Temple in the next month or so after he's completed his latest assignment. Once he clears her, we will be going back on missions, Obi-Wan."

He bristled, "She's not-"

"Rey is more than ready, you are the one who isn't."

"She doesn't have a lightsaber."

"She hardly needs one, they aren't sending us after rogues. Besides, I was thinking of starting her with one soon. On the field, however, her staff and telekinesis will be far more useful to us all. And as I remember from Naboo, she was not too bad with a blaster either."

Obi-Wan sipped his tea, trying to give his emotions to the Force.

There is no emotions, there is peace.

But the Code had been failing him of late and apparently his Master had noticed, because he said, "Your attachment to Rey has been distracting you, Padawan."

He flinched, did Qui-Gon have to phrase it like that? As if Obi-Wan wasn't already aware of his own failings.

"Tell me what you are afraid of?"

He kept his eyes on the tea in the little blue cup, "Her getting hurt."

"She will," Qui-Gon stated matter of factly.

Obi-Wan looked up sharply, "What?"

His Master repeated, "She will get hurt. She will experience pain and loss and failure, and one day, she will die. As will I. As will everyone you have ever known. This is enviable."

Obi-Wan's heart felt heavy in his chest, his Master wasn't usually so harsh. He bowed his head, "I know, Master. I'll do better."

"I asked you to talk to me, Obi-Wan. I didn't say you were doing poorly."

"You said I was being distracted by my attachment to Rey," he said and felt his cheeks redden as he heard what he had said. "I don't mean- I don't see her like that."

Qui-Gon chuckled, "I know. I wouldn't be letting the two of you share a room if I suspected anything else between you. She continues to be an oddity. Not many women raised outside this Temple could have assumed a role here as well as she has. But what I meant is you becoming overly protective. I am not training you both to your limits for you to be afraid so."

Again, Obi-Wan felt as criticism like a blow. He always had been able to follow the Code, or at least better than Qui-Gon made the effort to, so why couldn't he handle his emotions now?

"It doesn't get easier, you know."

Obi-Wan brought his gaze back up, "What?"

"Having a Padawan, having the responsibility of another person, it doesn't get easier. Especially as your next apprentice will be far younger than Rey, and more than likely not as strong. Rey is already an adult, she has already had trials, and to a large degree, she knows how to handle herself in a battle. This will not be so for your next Padawan."

For a moment, Obi-Wan felt sick. "I don't know if I can-"

"Answer me this, Padawan, which is worse, having an attachment to another living being that causes you fear, or refusing an attachment because you are afraid of caring for them?"

"I know you mean the latter, but both are wrong. I shouldn't be afraid."

"Of course you should be, what you should not do is let that fear cloud your actions, your motives. Acting on fear will lead to mistakes, mistakes will lead to anger and so and so forth."

"Did you just make that up?"

"I'm a Master, it is my prerogative to make things up."

Obi-Wan huffed a laugh.

"Do you remember the incident with the shifting earth and the log?"

Obi-Wan quirked a smile, "How could forget?"

"I have rarely been so afraid in all my life as when I saw you clinging to that log, blaster fire raining down on us, and do you remember what you said to me?"

He frowned, "Save yourself?"

"I didn't deserve you, Obi-Wan, I still don't. At the time, if I am remembering correctly, you believed I doubted you, when it was myself I doubted. I doubted my ability to teach you, to help you to grow into the Jedi Knight you were already becoming. And there you were, brave and completely selfless, on the edge of being buried alive and you didn't call for help, you told me to save myself. I don't think you understand how proud I am to be your Master, how you have humbled me over the years."

Obi-Wan didn't know what to say to that. His heart was twisting in his chest, because that had been so long ago and those words meant to him now.

Qui-Gon went on, "To experience fear is to be alive. We are not droids, though sometimes I think even a few of them are half sentient. Even plants can experience fear and pain."

Obi-Wan couldn't help but smile at this, a smile that left him at his Master's next question.

"Have you been meditating on the Code lately?"

"Yes, Master."

"And yet you have been unsuccessful in banishing your emotions."

Obi-Wan swallowed hard. Over his apprenticeship with Qui-Gon, he had often wished his Master was less of maverick. Obi-Wan was the one to lecture him about the Code. Now for once, the shoe was on the correct foot and Obi-Wan found being on the receiving end less than comfortable.

Sometimes karma had a vindictive sense of humour.

"No, Master."

"There is no emotion, there is peace. A sound resolve, but impossible in its practical use. Do you know what the Code was originally?"

The original Jedi Code?

"No, I thought that was the original."

"No, subtlety different, but to my preference, the original Code is in some ways more reasonable and yet a harder line to walk," he said before reciting:

"Emotion, yet peace.

Ignorance, yet knowledge.

Passion, yet serenity.

Chaos, yet harmony.

Death, yet the Force."

Obi-Wan was silent for a long time after that, trying to think through all the ramifications of the small changes. It was essentially acknowledging both sides with a preference for, as his Master had said, the harder path. A path made somehow less daunting if one didn't have to completely banish what he had been raised to be bad.

He especially liked the idea of Ignorance, yet knowledge. Because he had always felt a bit ignorant, there was too much in the galaxy for any single person to have enough knowledge for there to be no ignorance.

Qui-Gon stood to prepare a second pot of hot tea.

As he sat down to refill each of their cups, he said, "As you have not chastised me for going against the Council's teachings, may I be so bold as to assume you see the benefits of this version of the Code?"

"Maybe, but isn't no fear… I mean how are you supposed to be at peace while being afraid? To be fearful means you are not at peace."

"Perhaps, perhaps not. Perhaps what it means is not that we hold onto our fears but deal with them, so that we might be at peace with them."

Obi-Wan had more questions than answers, but somehow this Code was a light in the darkness where he had been blindly trying to keep the demons at bay. "Why did they change the Code?"

"Because it is notoriously hard to teach. Much easier to shove down your problems then process all the complexities of emotions and passions, or the ramifications of chaos and death. Much easier to avoid attachment than accommodate for the moral issues one faces when doing what is right for their loved ones and what might possibly be right for the larger galaxy.

"Which brings us back to your attachment to Rey, her inevitable death, my inevitable death, and your inevitable death."

Obi-Wan sipped his tea, Qui-Gon wasn't holding back tonight it seemed.

"Xanatos I failed-"

"He failed you," Obi-Wan interrupted, knowing his Master's view on this.

Qui-Gon shook his head, "No, my apprentice, I failed him. I failed to give him the guidance he needed to overcome his fears and passions. Just as after Tahl's death, and again after Xanatos's demise, I failed my first apprentice, Feemor."

Obi-Wan froze, both because his Master had said Tahl's name and because Obi-Wan hadn't known about Feemor.

"In my grief for Tahl, I nearly succumbed to the Dark Side, and in my personal struggles, I failed to help Feemor through his own feelings in losing her. I failed Xanatos in not being fully attentive to his building aggression and selfishness. When Xanatos fell to the Dark Side, I said many things that I now regret. And among those things, Feemor, as well as the Order itself, took my meaning as my dismissal of Feemor having ever been my apprentice.

"What I meant to say was that Xanatos was my first failure, proof of my failings as a Master and that I was not deserving of the title. Feemor interrupted that as my rejecting him, and I was too prideful to make a large enough effort to correct that misconception. I thought such a conclusion was so obviously wrong that no one would believe it, especially not Feemor. But I was wrong. He did take it to heart and I have not crossed paths with him since before I took you as my Padawan. I believe even you know Xanatos as my first apprentice, not Feemor who has done everything in his power to keep away from me."

"You miss him."

"More than I can say, Obi-Wan, more than I can say."

"With Tahl, did you r- I'm sorry, Qui-Gon that's not my-"

"Ask."

Taking in a deep breath, he asked, "Do you regret falling in love with her?"

Something like a smile shadowed his lips, "I'm not sure, Padawan mine, if falling in love is a choice. But if you're asking if I regret pursuing those feelings, then no, I do not regret having loved Tahl."

"But you said yourself, what happened to her almost led you to the Dark Side."

"And she is who led me back to the Light."

"I don't understand."

"Her loss was nearly my undoing. But had I not known such loss I would not have been able to understand others as I have come to. True compassion comes from the capacity to empathize with another's pain."

"Emotions, yet peace."

Qui-Gon nodded, "We are only human, pain is only natural. Love, passion, compassion are gifts, but nothing lasts forever. Death, yet the Force. Confront your fear, Obi-Wan, feel your emotions, but let them return to the Force as all things are destined to."

Obi-Wan nodded, not understanding yet, but for the first time in weeks, maybe months, having a direction. He couldn't suppress his feelings, he had been trying and failing for quite some time now, but perhaps he could be brave like Qui-Gon.

He had loved and lost Tahl, but here he was sipping tea, remaining a humble servant to the Light.

Obi-Wan finished his tea.

"Meditate on this tonight, Padawan, but do try to get some sleep."

He stood and bowed, "Good night, Qui-Gon, and thank you."

"Remember, Obi-Wan, you cannot let go of what you do not understand you are holding onto."

"Yes, Master," he said with a great fondness.

Everyone kept telling him he was ready to be knighted. But personally, he was happy to still be his Master's Padawan.

oOo

The next morning, Obi-Wan found himself on the training mats, not with Rey but Master Dooku.

Rey was on the sidelines with Masters Yoda, Mace, and Sifo-Dyas. Qui-Gon was currently on the mats giving them instructions.

Dooku's return to the Order had not been a… peaceful affair. Especially when Master Yoda voted that Dooku should become a Council member while the rest of the Council, aside from Mace and Sifo-Dyas, were still debating whether or not Yoda was right to invite Dooku back into the Order while keeping his title as Count of Serreno.

So far Dooku had no official invitation onto the Council and he seemed to be on some type of probation.

In any case, no one had yet let him train the initiates or send him out on any missions. Today would be the first time he was even allowed in the training rooms.

Obi-Wan was equal parts as nervous as excited.

It was good to have a lightsaber in his hands again. With all the training he had been doing, there had been little time for extra training.

But his worries were quickly assuaged once he held the hilt in his hands. A life time of training did not diminish in a few short months. His lightsaber felt like the final piece to a dance he had been practising for months.

"Obi-Wan, I want you to rely mostly on Soresu. As Yoda taught Dooku and Dooku me, what you know of Ataru isn't going to serve you much better than learning to work through Soresu movements during a duel with him."

"Oh, good, I will not have to entertain humans pretending to be bats today," Dooku said drily, the comment directed more at Qui-Gon than himself.

Qui-Gon shook his head, "Yes, no 'ridiculous flipping' today."

Obi-Wan suppressed a laugh.

Dooku eyed him, "You think that is funny, Padawan Kenobi?"

A part of Obi-Wan quailed at the tone and the look, Qui-Gon had warned him that part of Dooku's fighting style was mockery and weakening his opponent's mental state.

He seemed to have a natural talent for it.

But Obi-Wan didn't let that show, calling on the Force to fill him and take away the intimation, the Force came easily, especially with Rey in the room. Around her, his connection to the Force felt heightened. He said, "Not funny exactly, I've just spent most of my mornings doing endless rounds of acrobatics."

Dooku frowned at Qui-Gon, "How long have you been forced to do these bouts of ridiculous acrobatics?"

"Last week they reached five hours without a serious break," Qui-Gon informed him lightly.

Dooku blinked, looking between them, before focusing back on Obi-Wan, "And you have not revolted?"

Obi-Wan grinned, "It's been a lot of fun actually. Rey has all but learned how to fly at this point."

The duelling champion shook his head, "Qui-Gon, if I had done this to you or Rael for months on end, you both would have reported me to the Council."

"My Padawans are perfect Jedi."

"Somehow, student, that will come back to bite you."

"Oh, I have no doubts. Now, Master, do you intend to train my senior Padawan or would you like to see Rey's impersonation of a bat."

"You should have learned Form II, Makashi is respectable."

"Makashi was never my style, I have neither the patience nor your sense of grandeur."

"Grandstanding, mean he," Yoda called from the sidelines.

Sifo-Dyas chuckled.

Qui-Gon bowed to them both, before going to lean against the wall with Rey.

"They tell me you are ready for your trials, Padawan Kenobi," Dooku said.

"As they tell me, Master."

Dooku ignited his curved blade, twirling the beam of light until it was brought before him in a centre position. The curved hilt doing interesting things to Dooku's one handed mobility.

"Prove it, knight," the last word was a taunt.

Obi-Wan ignited his own blue saber as well, taking a defensive stance. He said nothing as his heart raced. This was an honour, he knew that but there was something a bit terrifying about Master Dooku.

He let his nervousness go to the Force, pulling on its strength and awareness as Dooku pushed an attack.

Makashi was completely foreign to anything else Obi-Wan had ever learned. There were no wide swipes, but jabs and quick cutting motions.

He was suddenly grateful he had spent almost all of the last year not training with a lightsaber because he was able to tilt his own blade in a deflecting manner that he wouldn't have used a year ago.

Being defensive was easier if you could anticipate your opponent's attacks, but not if what you were anticipating were full sweeps rather than quick slices and retreats.

Lucky for Obi-Wan, Rey had a particular fondness for jabs and Qui-Gon had pushed him to accept no checks, no matter how glancing.

Which against Dooku was ideal, because even a glancing blow from a lightsaber could have done real damage, and the man truly was at Mace Windu's level.

Obi-Wan let the Force guide him, alerting him to all dangers, and enhancing his speed. Theoretically, he shouldn't have needed this much for Soresu, but Dooku was more than his superior in this duel. The extra speed and heightened awareness were all that kept him from an automatic defeat.

"Your connection to the Force is impressive, but can you sustain it?" Dooku drawled, his voice condescending, his own motions were so economic that he was showing no signs of strain. Dooku didn't need to draw on the Force to keep up.

Again, Obi-Wan didn't answer as he began to let the Force tell him where the blades would be and let his gaze drift to Dooku's foot work. It seemed to be the source of his advantage. This was completely different from fighting Qui-Gon.

He hopped to the side of one of Dooku's jabs.

"You are not a bat today, Padawan, keep yourself on the balls of your feet. Yes, stay braced, Soresu is the style of endurance, your only hope to win with it is to wait." He pressed the attack, "You see that my Makashi has superior footwork, adapt, if I move, you must join me."

And just like that, it turned from a duel to a training spar. Dooku losing interest in beating Obi-Wan as he began to correct his every formation. Dooku's knowledge of Form III far exceeded what Qui-Gon had been able to teach him.

Rey was astounded by Obi-Wan.

She had been sparring and training with him for months, and until now, she hadn't fully appreciated what he was capable of.

Watching Jedi fight droids was far different than watching them fight each other.

Of course, she had been at the Temple long enough to have seen Jedi training and sparring.

But she knew Obi-Wan, and even as he sparred with his full concentration on Master Dooku, she could feel him through the bound.

She felt more than she was seeing.

"Mmmm…" Master Yoda hummed beside her, "much improved, he has. Utilizing the Ataru enhancements with Soresu forms, he is."

"His endurance without the Force is impressive now, he could do this all day," Qui-Gon answered.

"Endurance, patience, yes, these things the Third Form requires, but Soresu itself is not meant to push the body to extremes as it appears he has been."

"No, which is why I've been training them Ataru, the motions of which are incredibly taxing."

"Kenobi might be a candidate for Vaapod if he were interested," Master Windu said thoughtfully.

"No," Master Yoda said, "Rare Masters of Soresu there are now, and too much aggression in Vaapod. Soresu the form of a true Jedi, deter Padawan Kenobi from that path you shall not."

Rey was enjoying the discussion, she hadn't asked many questions about lightsabers, she didn't want Master Jinn to think she was pressuring him to teach her. Especially when she had someone so willing to help her improve with her staff work. No one would have messed with her on Tatooine or Jakku if she could have scaled the ceiling brought her staff down on their heads as she could now.

And though she certainly saw the appeal in the flashy swords, she wasn't sure about how she felt about holding the absolute life and death over another person.

True, she knew how to break someone's spine with her staff, but she would have to either do that intentionally or her opponent would have to be supremely unlucky.

With a lightsaber, the slightest mistake, and it was over, for either wielder or foe.

But she was beginning to change her mind as she watched Obi-Wan. His motions were completely defensive.

She liked that, almost as much as flipping around in a fight.

Through their bond, Rey felt him dodge swipe after swipe from Count Dooku. She could almost feel the Master's steps before he made them.

It was a dance of sorts, and the Force was the music they both created and danced to.

"What do you think, Padawan Rey?"

She looked up to see Master Windu who was watching her carefully, watching her with that look as if he could see through her.

She wondered what he saw, wondered what he found lacking in her.

"I'm sorry, Master Windu, what do I think about what?"

"Which form do you think is superior?"

Apparently, she had missed a large chunk in the conversation. Obi-Wan had explained to her the different forms, and she could only identify a few. She looked back to Master Dooku instructing Obi-Wan through Form III.

Master Dooku was not as gentle a teacher as Master Jinn.

Having no scope to really answer Master Windu but for what Obi-Wan had told her, she asked, "To accomplish what?"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean superior in what way? Don't all the forms have weaknesses? Some against other Jedi, some against multiple opponents, or over extended time, or against blasters, or- I mean what is superior?"

"Right questions, you ask," Master Yoda said with a smile, "Wish you were one of mine, I do."

Master Jinn explained, "Master Yoda trains the younglings."

She smiled down at the little green Master who had lived more centuries than she would ever see, "Me too."

It would have been better than Jakku at any rate even if the Temple still made her skin crawl at times.

Master Windu asked, "What form do you imagine yourself pursuing?"

She leaned back against the wall and looked at Master Jinn who said, "I'm teaching you the basics, Padawan, and you'll be studying those basics for a few years until I feel they are ingrained into your being. Don't feel as if you have to choose now, and even if you did, you can change your mind later, as Obi-Wan has changed ftom learning Ataru to Soresu."

Rey made a face, "I like both Ataru and Soresu."

"Because of Kenobi?" Master Windu asked.

She shook her head, "I like the motions of Ataru so far, I like being that in-tuned to the Force and making my entire body into a weapon. But I like how non-aggressive Soresu is." She motioned to the fight, "All he has to do is out last his opponent, it doesn't matter how good his opponent is, everyone tires eventually."

"That's assuming you are the one who does not tire first and do not make a mistake over an extended length of time," Sifo-Dyas remarked.

She shrugged, thinking of the problems she might face that wasn't one of them. Some days she had to slow down to let Obi-Wan catch up to her.

"Arrogance, I sense," Master Yoda chided, "And fear too, think I. Train in lightsabers, you wish not, Padawan Rey."

She shrugged again, looking back at the duel as she sensed the shift. It seemed Master Dooku had felt he taught enough for the morning, because Obi-Wan was now struggling to keep himself safe as he retreated.

She centred herself, evened her own breathing, let her emotions go to the Force as Master Jinn had been teaching her. She felt Obi-Wan anchor himself with her, and he began backing up to force Master Dooku advance.

Force him to keep attacking and eventually, wear himself out.

"What do you fear, Rey?" Sifo-Dyas asked.

She didn't take her gaze off Master Dooku's feet, she had never seen anyone move like that before. "Lightsabers are killing weapons."

She turned to see Master Windu focusing on her, "You're afraid you'll lose control and be motivated to hurt someone?"

She frowned up at him, "No, I'm afraid of having no other option. If I hit someone over the head with my staff, they could be severely injured if I followed through, but a lightsaber could cut through their skull at the moment of contact." There was no heat in her words, her attention was still on Master Dooku and Obi-Wan.

"That is why we train, Padawan, so we don't make those mistakes," Master Windu said.

Master Yoda, however, sided with her, "Well you think, Padawan Rey. Right Qui-Gon has been in your teaching, he has."

"Thank you, Master," Master Jinn said, but he too was watching the fight.

Master Dooku seemed to be slowing ever so slightly, but the music didn't stumble as he did.

Trap, she whispered lightly in Obi-Wan's mind as he spotted an opening.

Obi-Wan held back and they both caught Master Dooku's displeasure when they didn't fall for his faint. He attacked with a renewed veracity.

But Obi-Wan wasn't anywhere close to his limits.

Master Dooku couldn't get a slice in.

"Is Kenobi drawing the Force through you, Padawan Rey?" Sifo-Dyas asked.

She looked at the man, "Not exactly."

"Not exactly?" Master Windu asked, straightening.

"They are connected through battle mediation," Master Jinn explained, "One awareness can strengthen another."

"And distract, it can," Master Yoda noted.

Rey smiled, "Only if you lose track of what you're doing."

Obi-Wan switched for a brief moment to an Ataru formation, swiping past Master Dooku with a vicious slash that nearly had the older Jedi off balance, before Obi-Wan switched immediately back to the defence to catch the returning blows.

They wouldn't be distracted, they were Master Qui-Gon Jinn's students. The Force led them, and the Force wasn't so easily miffed.

The Masters kept talking as Obi-Wan wore Master Dooku down. Finally, the older Jedi called it.

"Alright, little one, Master Soresu you have not, but you're well on your way," Master Dooku said, deactivating his lightsaber and bowing to Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan was trying not to grin as he returned the bow.

"In a real fight, Padawan Kenobi, there are other things to be aware of than the saber and your opponent's footwork."

"Like what?" Obi-Wan asked, distracted.

Rey felt it before he did, and a moment later Obi-Wan was flung across the mats in a Force push.

He sat on his butt, stunned but unharmed. Rey went to him with a laugh, she ruffled his fuzzy head, "I'll have to remember this one."

Obi-Wan leaned his head back to look up at her as she leaned on his shoulders. He hadn't even worked up a good sweat yet. "You're a pain in the ass, did you know that?"

"Awwe, I was about to compliment you on your fancy dancy saber work, but now I must ask, does your butt hurt that much? I know a few healers now that might help you out."

He huffed at her, but he couldn't keep the smile off his face.

"Padawan Rey," Master Dooku called, "Care to have a turn?"

She dug her fingers into Obi-Wan's shoulders, really having no desire to make such a fool of herself. Master Dooku would have his blade at her throat in moments.

But Master Dooku went on, "This room is prepared for Telekinetic practice, I'm told you are quite talented."

Excitement lit her from within, lifting objects was something she could do. Master Jinn hadn't been training her overly so in it, but Obi-Wan had been teaching her little things before bed. She actually thought the smaller things were more difficult than pulling down that carrier. Yes, it took less energy to steal a card from the draw pile, but much more finesse.

Here was finally a chance to really practice.

She tugged on lightly on Obi-Wan's braid just as he did hers time and time again, before joining Master Dooku on the mats.

She felt Master Jinn's attention on her. She felt more than heard his thought, that his Master didn't know what he was in for.

Rey agreed with the sentiment as she watched aristocratic Jedi, clip his saber to his belt. They bowed to each other, and almost the moment they rose, Master Dooku summoned a bag of small pebbles and chucked it at her head.

She sidestepped it easily, stretching out her own senses, finding many such bags large and small throughout the room.

She smiled, holding her hands out to her side, palms up, as if she were orchestrating the wind.

Master Dooku threw sack after sack after her, but she let the Force catch them, let the momentum of those objects get redirected, wrapping in a circle around her.

She imagined the Force was truly a gust of wind swirling around her, and the objects thrown were nothing to the Force.

The Force was infinite.

Large or small, it made no difference in the end, all were of the Force.

She felt Master Dooku's mounting emotions, as he threw something toward her foot, something smaller with a great deal more power behind it.

In answer she let the wind rush around her, her eyes drifted close as she let the Force fill her every sense.

Somehow, this was different than using the Force for strength, she wasn't using the Force to supplement her strength from within, she was manipulating the Force around her.

It was like breathing, or swimming, or crossing the desert at noon. The air, the water, the heat, all of it belonged to the Force, and she belonged to the Force. She wasn't bending the Force to her will, she was letting the Force engulf her.

She gave Master Dooku's sacks back to him, with interest.

She opened her eyes in time to watch his cloak stream behind him as he ran to dodge.

He threw a hand out to her, and she raised a hand to meet that strike.

Dooku had been highly impressed with Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Perhaps he wasn't a prodigy, but for what genius he may have lacked he made up for with hard work and steadfast focus.

He was a credit to the Order.

And then there was Padawan Rey.

Dooku was not a young man, he had seen many things in his life. He had been trained by Master Yoda himself, for Force's sake, but even his Master had his limitations.

If Rey had them, Dooku couldn't spot them.

She was nothing short of elemental in her powers. And his pride was pricked when she closed her eyes.

His pride took a hike though, when she seemed to rise an inch off the floor within a vortex of her own power and began to hurtle some twenty odd weighted bags at him rapid secession.

He had thought to make a shield but it seemed she managed to be directed a current as opposed to lifting the objects individually.

What by all the stars had Qui-Gon been teaching her?

He tried for a straightforward Force push, which she met with a wild gust of Force energy.

So much power. More power than Dooku thought any Force user could harness relying solely on the light.

Her feet touched the ground, and she braced as she pushed into the spot he kept at.

She had the strength to both hold that spot and hit him from another angle, but she didn't have the practice or experience for it. Instead, she tried to muscle her way through the attack he sent her way.

He focused his offence into that spot, he had held his Master off on more than one occasion, he could certainly hold of one girl who had yet to complete a full year of training.

He pushed harder, dragging on both sides of the Force, knowing his Master and Mace would notice.

Dooku didn't anticipate the change this would inspire in Rey, however, her determined expression changed to one of wonder, as if she saw something in the space between them, as if someone were whispering some secret in her ear.

Her hand raised in a push away gesture, altered to a softer gesture, as if her fingers were strumming a harp.

Something in the energy changed between them.

He felt his eyes go wide, it was impossible for her to know how to do what he was feeling.

He felt his master tense, felt Mace reach for his saber, but it would all be too late. Dooku called to the Dark, he would not die today in a mere training exercise.

Rey felt it, the imbalance in the Force as she pushed against Master Dooku's Force push.

She had been thinking about the Force as the wind or as the tide.

Where there was a push, there should have been a pull. Instead, she could feel the energy building, it was going to explode in both their faces if she didn't change direction soon.

She examined the nature of the Force as it built and built like a tumbling sand storm, kicking up more and more sand and debris.

But then she 'saw' something else.

Master Jinn said what the Force desired was balance. What she and Dooku were doing now was creating an imbalance of pushing that would eventually explode in either direction. But there was more to it than that.

Between her and the point she pushed against, there was positive and negative energy.

Holding her fingers out she coaxed the positive and negative apart, the negative she brought to herself, centring her breathing, she let the positive energy gather against where she held off Master Dooku's attack.

She had created an imbalance in the Force, and the Force corrected the displaced energy, jumping from one place to other, just like a magnet or connecting an electric wire.

She saw the light before she heard the thunder. This was perhaps not the best attack to use in a fight as it affected her physical vision and hearing.

But by all the stars and planets in the galaxy, it was incredible. She wasn't in the storm. She was the storm.

She saw Master Dooku meet her lightning with his own, but there was something different about his, it was blue and less pure.

She felt him direct their combined lightning toward the wall.

Mentally, she reached out for her Master and Obi-Wan.

Move.

They were already moving by the time Rey's warning came, though she didn't sound afraid.

Qui-Gon himself was furious.

Blue Sith lightning crackled as Rey's purple lightning shook the foundation as if she were a lightning rod returning the bolts to the sky.

Her lightning even sounded real.

Who in the blazes had taught her how to do that? He was her Master and Obi-Wan's, he would have said it was impossible.

As the five of them flung themselves to the mats, the combined lightning blew through the Temple wall to the outside.

"What the hell have you been teaching her, Jinn?" Mace hissed at him.

Obi-Wan was looking at Rey with wide eyes.

She turned to look at him with a growing smile, "That was awesome! No one told me Jedi could make lightning!"

Qui-Gon sighed.

Obi-Wan rolled to his back, laughing.

She went to him, kneeling by his side, and she began poking at him, "Why are you laughing?"

This only made Qui-Gon's senior Padawan laugh harder.

"By the Force," Sifo-Dyas muttered, "She's going to be the death of us."

Qui-Gon shook his head, and called, "Padawan Rey, explain yourself."

She looked up at him, "What?"

"Care to share with us how you learned to use Force Lightning?"

She tilted her head to the side, perfectly unaware of the severity of the question, "I felt the imbalance when we were pushing at the same point, it was going to explode outward." She held up her hands, about a foot apart, "I remembered what you said about the Force wanting and always working toward balance. I felt- charges, I guess, like you do when rewiring something. I just pulled the negative from one point, leaving positive at the target, and then," sparks lit between her fingers, in a crackling light of sparks, "the Force balanced between the two points."

Had she simply applied what she knew of mechanics to the Force?

"Are you telling us," Mace began, "You created lightning by engineering imbalance and balance within the Force?"

Rey shrugged, "I suppose." She jabbed a hand into Obi-Wan's side, "Why are you laughing?"

Dooku came up beside him and Qui-Gon bristled as he asked, "Your target was the spot our powers met, not me?"

She gave him an affronted look, "I wouldn't use you as an experiment, Master Dooku. I was just trying to change the attack before it blew back at us."

"How feel you?" Yoda asked.

"Great, that was fun."

"During the attack, mean I?" he pressed.

"Not sure, awed? The Force is incredible."

Qui-Gon had to suppress a smile of his own, which wasn't hard, because while Rey may have either accidentally created Sith Lightning or managed to create something else entirely, Dooku had neither excuse.

He turned on his old Master, "Mind sharing what business you had meeting lightning with lightning, Master?."

Dooku straightened to his full height, "I didn't leave the Order as a purely political statement, Qui-Gon."

Sifo-Dyas snorted, "My Master has been teaching us about the Dark Side since we were Padawans. No one can honestly be surprised"

"Who?" Qui-Gon asked.

"The Librarian," Mace supplied.

"No."

Mace nodded.

"Clearly," Sifo-Dyas said, "Yoda needs to keep a closer eye on his old Padawans, both are so perilously close to being Dark Siders."

Master Yoda glared at the future seeing Council member.

"Wait, did I do something bad?" Rey asked, looking between them all.

Obi-Wan was sitting up now, and slung an arm around her shoulder, "Relax, no one is going to kick you out of the Order for being insanely powerful, even if you have nearly scared Master Mace Windu half to death."

"Watch yourself Kenobi," Mace said. "Besides, insanely powerful she may be, but unlike with our Count, I didn't feel Rey was using the Dark Side."

"Then what were you using?" Dooku asked her.

"Physics?" she answered.

Qui-Gon shook his head, Rey knew so little that even he forgot what that could result in. She might wander into the Dark Side not out of falling, but because she didn't understand the difference.

She also didn't know there were limits.

Or that there were supposed to be limits.

Maybe the Jedi had limited themselves by creating such labels on what was good and what was bad?

"Physics," Dooku repeated drily. "Are you even tired? That's not-"

"Unlike you who actually used the Dark Side," Qui-Gon interrupted.

"Qui-Gon, if you truly wish there to be balance in the Force, you must acknowledge both sides of the coin. I was in control, no one was harmed."

"Except the wall," Obi-Wan noted.

Rey grinned, "We made a window."

Obi-Wan snorted, "Oh Force, my life would be so boring without you."

"And probably safer," Sifo-Dyas remarked.

"Well, I suppose it's time we see what damage you can do with a lightsaber," Mace said.

Qui-Gon shook his head, but didn't protest, the wall wasn't going to fix itself in a day. Masters were poking their heads to see the damage, but upon spotting Dooku, Yoda and Mace, they moved on.

He didn't like to think what the rumours around the Temple would be once they picked up on the damage originating from his Padawan rather than Master Yoda's prodigies.

Mace unhooked his lightsaber from his belt, he turned down the power setting, to what Qui-Gon fervently hoped was the lowest setting.

Rey hesitated, still on her knees side by side with Obi-Wan.

Mace quirked a brow, "You just used lightning to blow a hole through the wall, don't give me you're against shows of violence. Come on, Padawan, this is my apology for drawing on you when first we met."

Qui-Gon suppressed an eye-roll. Mace knew Rey thought of him as a celebrity, she thought almost all the Council were celebrities.

He was doing this because having the first saber she held be a purple saber would have a lasting impression.

He was probably right.

She reached a hand out.

And if Qui-Gon thought this day couldn't get more 'interesting' he was quite soundly proven wrong.

The moment Rey touched the saber, the world around her morphed into a mosaic of images shown through panes of glass.

She saw Master Yoda, his green lightsaber spinning faster than a spinning top. She saw a machine firing shot after shot.

She saw the world fracture into cracking glass.

She felt the lightsaber in her hand, flashes of purple as she aimed for the centre of that shattering point.

The mosaics broke around her, and she shattered with them.

Obi-Wan wanted to curse at Master Windu, he really did, as Qui-Gon dropped to his knees beside them.

Obi-Wan was trying to lower Rey back as gently as he could as her body jerked, her muscles fighting themselves. Her head and shoulders they managed to lean back into Qui-Gon's lap as Mace reclaimed his stupid saber.

Her hands didn't curl up like last time. She looked as if she were being electrocuted by a low voltage current.

The seizure wasn't severe, but it was a long five minutes. And Obi-Wan hated the sight of her eyes rolling back into her head as her stiffened body seized in helpless tremors.

"Well, at least now we know for sure that is psychometry," Sifo-Dyas said into the tension.

"I'm so sorry," Mace was saying.

"Pass, it will," Yoda comforted.

Obi-Wan wasn't so easily mollified, "Her first experience with a lightsaber is going to be this, happy now, Master Windu?"

The man winced.

Qui-Gon rested a hand on Rey's forehead, he was too worried to pick on Mace.

Dooku, however, was not, "She will certainly remember this, which I believe was Master Windu's intent."

"A price for power, there is," Yoda remarked.

Sifo-Dyas snorted, "The world is not so fair. One curse is not indicative of another gift."

"Her training was going well before you lot weighed in," Qui-Gon muttered after Rey's body slumped.

"Rey, can you hear me? Are you alright?" Obi-Wan asked.

Her eyes flickered open, then shut. She tried to speak, but it looked as if moving her throat hurt.

Obi-Wan turned accusing eyes on Mace who was kneeling on the other side of her.

They all waited. Yoda summoned a glass of water from the small table near the exit.

Rey was still blurry eyed but she was aware enough that with Qui-Gon's help she was able to lean up and accept a few mouthfuls of water from Obi-Wan.

Qui-Gon wetted his hands in the remaining water to wipe across her sweaty brow.

She tried to sit up, but Obi-Wan said, "Wait, Rey, give yourself time. We are just taking you to the medical wing anyway."

She stopped fighting them after that, her eyes drifting shut as she began to settle her breathing.

He asked, "I'm never going to live this down, am I?"

Rey roused herself enough to pat Mace's knee, "Is okay," she slurred, "shatter point…" she opened blood shot eyes to glance up at him, "very cool."

Qui-Gon was looking at the Vaapod Master too, "No, Mace, you are never living this down."

Master Yoda chuckled.

AN: Thoughts, reactions, reviews or comments of any kind for this aspiring writer, pretty, pretty please?