Chapter Four- Bonding Time
"Requesting permission to enter the chambers of the Lady L'anyn Oumarin," Ira's finger quivered on the intercom button that he was pressing.
"Identify," replied an electronic voice.
"Apprentice Ira Solaris," he said, steadying his voice so as not to betray his nervousness.
"Enter."
The doors slid open, revealing a lavish sitting room and a hall that led to an even more extravagant bed chamber. A bronze protocol droid was hurrying down the hall toward the bedroom.
"And I thought Jedi were supposed the prefer more modest accomodations," Ira commented to himself as he stepped into the living space of his master.
He sat down on a chaise lounge and attempted to relax his verves while waiting for L'anyn to be alerted to his presence by her droid. He took a deep breath and once again tried to reach out and sense her in his mind, but to no prevail. His master remained unperceivable. He sighed and opened his eyes.
There she sat. The Lady L'anyn Oumarin was reclining on the divan in front of Ira's chaise.
"How can I help you, padawan?" she asked, brushing her hair back away from her face with the her fingertips. She noticed the dark, tired circles under his eyes and his weary stature. "Couldn't sleep?"
"Yes, ma'am," Ira replied with a nod.
"Bad dreams?" she leaned forward toward Ira with a concerned look on her pleasant features, "Master Vorschen's death is still haunting you, young one?"
He nodded again and looked down at his scuffed up brown boots.
"Ira, you must learn to let go," L'anyn reached out and touched his arm gently, "Master Vorschen knew the consequences of his actions. He died saving you, Ira. All he wanted was for you to live a full life. He'd lived his and was only trying to help others live theirs to the fullest. Lingering on his death makes his death worthless. If you don't get out there and live, then Master Vorschen has died in vain."
Ira nodded and sighed.
"Shall we take the day off?" she offered, trying to meet his eyes, "Have a walk around the gardens?"
He looked up at her and gave her a weak smile, "Yes, ma'am. That would be nice."
--
"M'lady, please permit me to ask you a personal question," Ira requested formally as they entered the botanic garden in the courtyard between the wings of the Jedi temple.
"Sure, Ira," L'anyn nodded as she picked her way along the path between the tall, serene trees and the flowering plants that spread across the walkway. They'd all been transplanted from an Ithorian ship that she'd ridden across half the galaxy in. She'd traded precious stones and metal and had leant her help to their technicians, and in return they'd given her clippings of her favorite flora.
"Last night you said that you'd been brought up blind to the Force, without any knowledge of your abilities," Ira said looking up at a bird that soared within the glass citadel of the temple. "How could you have absolutely no knowledge of the Force? I thought that everyone had at least some connection with it, some ability to use it."
"My parents were both Force adept and could have been brilliant Jedi, but I was brought up in a dark time for the Jedi Council, as were they," she explained, "My parents thought it best to keep me from the living Force for as long as possible so as to lessen the chances of me being found out by the Sith. They were making house calls those days, plucking children from their homes as soon as any ability to use the Force srufaced. They were preparing to overthrow the Council with a sort of 'inside-man', if you get my meaning. They hoped to infiltrate the temples across the galaxy and destroy the entire Council from the inside out. As you can see, it didn't exactly work."
"But how could you not feel the Force?" Ira persisted, "Everyone can feel it at least a little bit."
"I was dosed with something that suspended the life-cycle of the metichloreans in my blood, which completely severed my connection with the living Force," L'anyn continued, "When I ran away from home at fourteen, the metichloreans woke up and went to work. I found myself able to move things just thinking about them, accidentally stumbling into peoples' minds, all the things that an extremely adept padawan would do. That's how Master Vorschen found me. he was visiting Hoth in search of some Sith lair that the Council had gotten a tip about and found me instead. Apparently I'd simply caused enough of a disturbance with my 'accidents' that word had gotten back to the Council here on Coruscant, and they'd assumed the worst being no one could sense me."
"Then Master Vorschen brought you here and asked to train you even though you were much too old, right?" Ira asked knowingly. Same thing happened with me. Of course, I was only eleven... that was so long ago...
"Exactly right," L'anyn grinned, reaching her delicate fingers out to brush an extravagant violet-red blossom's fragile petals. "He'd insisted that I be taught in the ways of a true Jedi to save me from the Dark Side, which would've ruined me for sure. Had I been seduced by some Sith Lord, I surely would've fallen. I hadn't the knowledge to know the deiiference between Dark and Light- Sith and Jedi. Who knows what would've happened."
"Lady L'anyn!" called Allyah, Master Burke's Twi'lek attendant, running down the path toward them. She stopped and curtsied to L'anyn. "M'lady, my Master Burke requests you attendance at today's Council meeting. He would like you to bring along your apprentice as well. They have an assignment for you both."
"Yes, thank you, Allyah," L'anyn bowed politely and smiled, "Please inform your Master Burke that Ira and I will be in attendance this afternoon for the meeting."
"Yes, M'lady," Allyah bowed her head again and hurried back toward the temple.
"Looks like we have plans for today after all," L'anyn turned back to Ira and grinned, "You get your first real assignment."
Ira nodded and smiled, "I wonder what it'll be."
"Probably just escorting the Chancellor or something," L'anyn shrugged casually and continued to walk through the garden.
"Maybe we have to go free slaves on Tatooine, or obliterate ice monsters on Hoth, or fight for peace and justice on Endor, or even protect the queen on Naboo," Ira gushed, obviously hoping for an exciting mission.
"Ira, calm yourself," L'anyn laughed lightly and beckoned him toward her, "You'll disturb the tranquility of the gardens with such violent thoughts."
"Yes, ma'am," he bit his lip and tried to clear his mind of violence and excitement. He thought of the waterfalls of Naboo and the forests of the Mother Jungle of Ithor and the stunning setting suns on Tatooine. He sighed and found himself perfectly calm.
"Good," L'anyn congratulated him softly, closing her own eyes to clear her mind of everything.
"When do the Council meetings begin?" Ira asked quizzically, wrenching L'anyn from her silence.
"Padawan of mine, must you be so impatient?" she questioned him with a laugh, "I suppose we can head back to the training chamber so you can work off some of your steam."
"Yes, ma'am," he grinned and followed his master obediently back to the temple.
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A/N: R&R as always! --lexx