The lightsaber flew to Jiruan's waiting hand and ignited immediately, the blue blade cutting through the darkness like a flame. She wielded it in the circular motions of Form 3 and abruptly switched to the fencing style of Form 2 to stab through one of the orbs circling her. She aimed the weapon over her left shoulder to hit another orb, turning to face it at the same time. A small orb by her right knee was no problem as she swept at it one handed, slicing it in two perfect halves.
"Jiruan, why did you do that?" cried the instructor. "Destroying our few training droids was not the point of the exercise!"
Jiruan ripped off the blindfold and switched off the lightsaber as she replied, "You said the object was to not get zapped and I didn't."
"You were supposed to block the shots, not destroy the machine!" groaned the instructor with his head in his hands. "The lightsaber isn't supposed to be on a high enough power to cut through anything. Considering that I don't have access to any more druids, class dismissed."
The class of eleven to thirteen year-olds filed out into the halls of the Jedi Temple a half hour earlier than usual. The windows showed a normal, bright, beautiful day and a cloudless sky. It was by far not a normal day to Jiruan and her friends, though.
"Ronin! Rurini!" she called to a tall boy and an obviously related short girl a few feet apart in the crowd. They both saw her and the three of them worked their way apart from the crowd.
"I almost forgot that today was the day," said Rurini. Small, blonde haired, tan and brown eyed, she was easily mistaken for an Apprentice senator, which would come in handy later.
"What are you talking about?" said Ronin. Tall, dark haired yet the same tanned skin and brown eyes, he could easily mix with any crowd- also handy for later.
"The Queen of Naboo is arriving with Master Qui-Gon Jinn today!" explained Jiruan excitedly. Her dark red hair, piercing blue eyes and very fair skin made her extremely noticeable- a slight problem for later at first, but a workable one.
"Oh no, not another crazy plan," groaned Ronin. I tell you every time: get me expelled and I'll kill you."
"As always, I'll remind you that if we got tossed out, you couldn't afford to kill me," snapped Jiruan with a crossed arms and a defiant stance.
Rurini sighed. "Do you two have that out of your systems?" she asked impatiently.
Ronin considered a moment before he replied, "Yes, I think so. Where are we off to?"
Jiruan smiled mischieviously and led them the other way from the rest of the class. Everyone else would have nothing to do until lunch and therefore Jiruan, Ronin and Rurini wouldn't turn up missing for a few hours. Jiruan led her friends to the place where they'd hidden their cloaks earlier. It would be much easier to blend into crowds in a cloak to cover the taditional Padawan tunics that all students wore.
"Why did I agree to come on this again?" asked Ronin half an hour later as they were making their way through the sky bus routes to the Senate landing platform.
"Because she's hot," said Rurini flatly. "You weren't going to come until you saw a picture, remember?"
"Oh yeah…"
"How you can consider her good looking through face powder and gowns thicker than your head is beyond me," joked Jiruan. Ronin glared at her briefly.
"So where are we going?" asked Rurini.
"Hopefully to the landing platform," said Jiruan. She looked out the window of the dismal sky bus in search of the right platform. "There it is!"
Ronin pulled the cord by their heads to stop the bus and open the door, but the bus didn't lower to the platform as it was supposed to. The three considered the drop for a moment; it was larger than they had attempted ever at the Temple but still not terribly far…
"If you're waiting for it to drop, you'll wait forever, kids," said a voice behind them. The three of them whipped their heads around to see to whom the voice belonged. A large, brown creature with an extra set of arms and a very wide, welcoming grin was watching them intently. He continued, "That's official Senate stuff; the public bus system can't go near it."
"Damn," muttered Runin.
"How do you know...?" asked Jiruan.
"Jiruan, come on! We'll miss the landing at this rate!" nagged Rurini.
"She's right, Ji," said Ronin.
Jiruan checked the drop again as well as the position of the sun in the sky before voicing her decision. "I know," she sighed. "Let's go before I change my mind." Rurini jumped first; Ronin and Jiruan grabbed hands and followed her. The stranger watched them land a few stories below in the speeder by the platform without a scratch.
"Crazy Jedi," he muttered to himself as the bus sped off to his diner on the other side of the planet.
Ten meters below in the speeder, Jiruan, Ronin and Rurini stared in awe at the elegance of the whole place. Ronin and Rurini had only seen Couruscant outside the Jedi Temple a few times and Jiruan hadn't seen her old world in years. Somehow, Chancellor Valorum and Senator Palpatine did not notice that three padawan's had just landed behind them
"There it is," gasped Rurini. Jiruan was already watching it land. The outside, though slightly burned and corroded in places, was a shiping silver, reflecting the sunlight in all directions. Its sleek design made it bend in almost completely with the sky.
"Here they come," said Ronin under his breath.
First off the ship were the pilot and the Queen's security detail. They bowed to the Chancellor and Senator before stepping aside. The Queen's handmaidens were next. There were only three along on this trip. They were dressed in hooded robes that were red at the top and faded through orange to yellow at the bottom. They bowed their heads and moved aside. Finally, the Queen was in view. She was dressed in a regal black, hooded robe. It was beaded and feathered but the focal point to Jiruan was the absolute determination in the Queen's eyes. She said something to the Senator and Chancellor, then the party left the platform. An awkward and strange creature as well as an unfamiliar boy of about the age Jiruan had been when she had come to the Temple closely followed them. Only now did Jiruan, Ronin and Rurini now noticed the Jedi. Qui-Gon Jinn said something to the Chancellor and next to him was his Apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was looking at the boy ahead of them.
The three of them held a collective breath as the Queen and her company climbed into the speeder ahead of them, enabling the group to hear Qui-Apprentice tell the Chancellor, "I must speak with the Jedi Council immediately. The situation has become much more complicated."
"What situation are they talking about?" asked Ronin in a whisper, completely oblivious. Jiruan quietly and quickly explained about the blockade and invasion. She had been following it for months. "Why bother with a blockade if you're going to invade?" asked Ronin with a frown when she'd finished.
"I'm not exactly sure," replied Jiruan, "but that's why we're going to sneak into the Senate hearing this evening."
"What?" explained brother and sister.
"Actually, you're not going to be sneaking anywhere," said a richly accented voice in front of them. Jiruan froze; she remembered that voice. She looked up slowly only to see Obi-Wan Kenobi looking at them with a smirk that could stretch across the galaxy.
"You're not going to tell, are you?" choked Ronin, being the first to recover a voice.
"I should…" Obi-Wan contemplated aloud. "It works a whole lot better when you get an Apprentice senator working with you; I would think between the three of you, you'd figure that out."
Ronin and Rurini gaped at the Padawan Apprentice. Jiruan, on the other hand, knew how this soon-to-be-Jedi was a child at heart. She knew for a fact that he had been less than kosher before he was an Apprentice.
"It's great to see you again, Obi-Wan," said Jiruan, beaming. Ronin and Rurini couldn't stop their jaws from dropping.
"I see you still haven't changed, Jiruan," he replied, still beaming. "Why are you trying to get in to the Senate hearing?"
"I've been following the situation on Naboo…" said Jiruan suspiciously. Obi-Wan could easily tell that there was more but decided to wait until her friends where elsewhere.
"I was going to watch anyways," he replied. "I'll take you with me, if you like. As for now, I'm going back to the Temple and taking you three with me."
"If I may ask," Jiruan began as they started back, "who was that boy?"
Obi-wan snorted in disgust, "I'll tell you as soon as it stops making me nauseous."
"I figured they wouldn't come," Jiruan said about her absent friends that afternoon as she and Obi-wan wandered through the Senate building. "This was my idea. I talked them into it."
"Why so interested in Naboo?" asked Obi-Wan as they started toward the Jedi's booth in the Senate.
"Curiosity," replied Jiruan. "You know the Queen is only a year older than I am?"
"She is?" said Obi-Wan as they turned a corner. "I thought she was older."
"Most people think that," said Jiruan as they reached their destination: the Jedi's booth in the Senate. The Jedi technically had not vote in the Senate, but they occasionally presented information or observed a particularly important vote. Obi-Wan led Jiruan onto the platform and she gazed for the first time at a full Galactic Senate. It looked like the inside of a regal beehive.
"There's Naboo's seat," said Obi-Wan, pointing over to the left. There sat the Queen in all her glory. Her hair was split into two gigantic pigtails coming out of a huge bead on top of her head. She wore the traditional face powder and paint as well as the red and gold embroidered senatorial address gown.
"She's beautiful," Jiruan whispered. She stared intently at the spectacle, wishing with all her might that…
"You can put your eyes back in any time now," joked Obi-wan. Jiruan glared at him and sat down. The bureaucrats and assistants of Supreme Chancellor Valorum were attempting to quiet the crowd. The Queen was recognized and she began her speech, only to be interrupted by the Trade Federation. They were quieted at first but eventually received the diversion for which they'd been aiming. Chancellor Valorum asked Amidala to defer.
"How can he say that?" exclaimed Obi-Wan. "Especially after the show of loyalty he put on earlier!"
The Queen rose to her defense and announced, "I will not defer. I have come before you to resolve this attack on out sovereignty now." She paused momentarily before continuing with, "If this body is no longer capable of action, I suggest new leadership is needed. I move for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum."
There was no class the rest of the day because of the political situation. All the instructors were waiting for information to come and were busy doing various things. There were rumors running all over about the boy who had arrived with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. Most were completely insane, but Jiruan still attempted to meditate over it. She chose a windowed room with a small, rocky waterfall and a painting of an ancient Jedi from before the days of the lightsaber. The man in the picture held an actual metal blade on the near prehistoric weapon. Jiruan had discovered in previous meditations in that room that the weapon had been called a Katana.
Jiruan was rather unconventional when it came to meditation. Upon entering the room, she laid down on her back spread eagle and shut her eyes. This room was always particularly nice because of the soft music of the waterfall… Jiruan let her mind wander. The picture of the ancient Jedi on the wall seemed to come alive, swinging his Katana with unseen power… Samurai, that's what his kind had been called… the man raced into swirling colors and disappeared in the spiral. The swirl led to a sandy scene; a desert. Creatures from all over the galaxy were climbing into machines, presumably for a race. The race started and they all took off… Soon the scene dissolved into the end of the race. A small pod racer crossed the finish line and out of it jumped the boy who had arrived with Qui-Gon. The race played in flashes of still pictures, showing the crowd. Qui-Gon was there, as well as the strange creature that had exited the royal starship with the Queen's group. An older woman, presumably the boy's mother, stared at the race, looking completely horrified. Next to her was a young girl who looked strangely familiar; she could have been a handmaiden. The end of the race replayed in slow motion and Jiruan suddenly felt a strong wave of the Force coming from the boy's pod.
"He's using the Force to steer!" she breathed as she sat bolt upright, breaking out of the meditation. Somehow, this boy kept his pod on course using the Force, even though he'd never had any formal training… it was too familiar...
"Are you ok?" asked a voice in the doorway. Jiruan glanced over to see who had spoken only to see the very boy from her visions in meditation. He was wearing the same simple clothing, and his sandy blonde hair laid freely as though he'd never seen a comb.
"I'm fine," replied Jiruan. "You must be the boy they're all talking about."
"I guess so," said the boy. Jiruan beckoned him inside.
"What's your name?" she asked gently.
"Anakin Skywalker," he said softly.
"Well, Anakin, if you don't mind me asking," Jiruan began abruptly, "Where did you come from?
Anakin stared at her; he was a bit taken aback, but before she opened her mouth to make amends, he said, "Don't apologize. You're just the first person who's been honest with me. I know everyone else wants to know, but they just keep lying to me and acting like I'm no different from everyone else here."
Jiruan looked at him with a look of satisfaction, as though he had shown something impressive or passed a sort of test. Anakin started his answer to her questions.
"My mother and I… worked for a Toydarion on Tatooine," he began. "We were slaves, actually. Qui-, er, Master Qui-Gon came into out shop looking for parts. His ship's hyperdrive was out and they were looking for a new one. They found it, but didn't have any money. I offered to race in the pod race and give them the prize money."
"I take it you won," said Jiruan with a knowing smile.
"Yeah, I did," Anakin stated as though it was the natural order of things, bordering on bragging. "We sold the pod, and then I found out that Qui-Gon freed me so I could be trained as a Jedi."
"I see," said Jiruan slowly, attempting to process all this information. Anyone could tell he was strong in the Force by the way he answered questions that had not yet been asked, a trait Jiruan had possessed. She could also tell that he missed his mother deeply by the emotion in his voice.
"So what about you?" asked Anakin, breaking Jiruan from her trance-like state. "I don't even know your name."
"It's Jiruan," she replied. "I guess you could say I'm like you in the fact that I came here much later than usual. The kids on the streets took me in when I was about four, and we don't know what happened to my parents. My friends were all either adopted or killed by the time I was eight so I came here on a whim. They took me in for a night and then let me stay," she explained.
Anakin nodded and looked at the waterfall for a moment. "How old are most kids when they come here?" he asked.
Jiruan figured ages for a moment. "As young as possible," she answered. "My friend, Rurini, doesn't remember anything from her life before the Jedi Temple. Her brother remembers what their parents look like, but not their names. I don't know why they brought the two of us here so late," she added, unconsciously predicting his question.
"Maybe we're special," Anakin hypothesized. "Something about us was… I don't know, extraordinary."
Jiruan sighed, "I've been trying to figure that out for almost five years. I've asked teacher, Masters, Jedi, students, Obi-Wan; I've meditated; nothing worked." She looked at the waterfall again to clear her mind. "So anyways, did they test you?"
"Yes," he replied nervously. "They tested me last night, I think while Queen Amidala was speaking to the senate. I don't think I did that well.."
"Believe me, no one ever thinks he or she did well," said Jiruan with a laugh.
"What about you?" Anakin asked quickly.
Jiruan paused abribtly. "I think I had a nightmare and apparently I was using the Force to move evertying in the room that wasn't tied down," she answered thoughtfully. "My friends on the street told me I did that, too."
"Did you know you did that? Moved objects with your mi- the Force?" asked Anakin. He was still adjusting to the Jedi world and terminology.
"I did eventually," Jiruan replied. "I finally managed it while conscious a year before I came here. Why?"
Anakin took a deep breath and told her about the end of the pod race and how he'd willed the pod to cross the finish line. Jiruan tried her best to be surprised but broke down and told him she'd seen it in meditation.
"You certainly meditate a lot," said Anakin. "I don't think I have the patience."
"You'll learn," said Jiruan as she got to her feet. Anyways, is there anywhere you're supposed to be?"
"Yes, I need to meet Qui-Gon and Obi-wan by the High Council's area of the Temple," Anakin told her. "Do you know how I can get back there?"
"I'll take you, if you like," offered Jiruan. Anakin smiled and they left for the High Council's level of the Temple. They continued their discussion and Jiruan told him how she had been following the situation on Naboo. She finally confessed that she wondered what it was like to be in that position, what would have happened if she, Jiruan, had been Queen instead of a street child turned Padawan. Anakin also spilled how he didn't think Obi-Wan liked him very much.
"Don't feel bad about that," Jiruan told him. "A lot of people are an acquired taste to Obi-Wan."
"I don't think he wants me trained," said Anakin. They had reached the esteemed area by now, and Jiruan bid Anakin goodbye. She watched to see that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan found him before she left. As soon as she was back to the Padawan floors, Jiruan ducked into a corner and put her hands on her temples as though to contain all that she had learned from Anakin. She could tell he would be great, but it was unclear whether he would be Jedi or not. Aptitude for using the Force seemed as natural to him as breathing, but Jiruan sensed great emotion in him when he spoke of people he'd known. Padmé, the handmaiden Anakin had befriended, seemed to be the biggest source of emotion in him, which was never good in any Jedi.
Anakin's excessive feelings weren't the only things bothering Jiruan. The think making her the uneasiest was the strange connection she'd gelt between the two of them. It seemed to be through he Force, but Jiruan feared that it was too strong to ignore. She laid back on the wall and tried to concentrate, but her apprehension made this impossible. All she could take away from the experience was a strong feeling that their destinies were unavoidably entwined.
News spread like wild fire that evening that Anakin was not going to be trained. Jiruan felt guilty that she was relieved by this news.
"I don't understand," said Ronin that day in the ill-used recreation room for the Padawans. "They took you in when you were eight. He's nine. What's the big deal?"
"Jiruan's a girl," said Rurini jokingly, reclining on the couch. "She was more mature."
"No," groaned Jiruan. "I had no worldly connections whereas he has a mother back on Tatooine for whom he cares very much. Anakin's much more emotional that I was."
"Oh," brother and sister mumbled indifferently.
The news had also come that Queen Amidala and her entourage were returning to Naboo. Many mocked her and called her a foolish girl, but Jiruan knew she would have done the same. The Senate hadn't functioned as it was originally intended to for years; any progress would have to be self-made.
Amidala left late that night. Qui-Gon and Obi-wan were assigned to go with her. For the time being, Anakin was to go with them; the Council had postponed further decision about him until the political situations on Couruscant and Naboo wre resolved. Jiruan said goodbye to Anakin and Obi-Wan that morning on the platform. Queen Amidala herself passed by and acknowledged Jiruan's presense with a nod and smile. Mace Windu, who had also bid the Jedi goodbye, escorted Jiruan back to the Temple afterwards.
"I see you and Anakin have become fast friends, Jiruan," said Master Windu as they entered the Senate building.
"You could say that, Master," she replied politely. "Master, I felt a… some sort of… connection to Anakin. The Force seemed stronger between the two of us than I've ever felt it anywhere," she explained.
"I am not surprised," said Windu, unfazed. "You both are very gifted."
"Master Windu, will they all come back all right?" asked Jiruan with childish innocence and ignorance of war.
"It is uncertain," the esteemed Jedi replied honestly. "The Dark Side clouds much of it. You, however, have something else to which you should devote your attention."
Jiruan stared up at him in confusion. "What do you mean, Master?" she inquired.
"You shall be turning thirteen soon, as you know. Many Jedi have wanted you as a Padawan, but we have requested that you remain here as long as possible. The time has come, though, for you to leave the Temple as an Apprentice," he explained.
"Who shall my master be?" asked Jiruan politely, failing to control her excitement.
"Master Ten-Hi Tsugimiru has displayed interest in you since her first visit to the Temple. She shall be your new master," said Windu.
Jiruan first attempted to hide her elation and then remembered that it was futile around Mace Windu. The joy was due to the fact that Ten-hi Tsugimiru was a younger Jedi who balanced fun and duty perfectly. "When am I due to leave?" she almost squeaked.
"Ten-hi arrives this evening and you will leave with her when she goes," Windu informed her. By now they had reached the Temple once again. Jiruan bowed quickly and raced up the ziggurat two steps at a time. Mace Windu watched the spirited young redhead almost fly up the steps and marveled at how she had grown in so many ways in such a short time. He certainly wouldn't be alone in missing her.
The news came a few days later that Amidala had allied with the Gungans to draw the droids out of the city and then capture the Viceroy. She had sent her pilots to knock out the one remaining droid control ship, but it wasn't one of the pilots who fired the fateful shots; Anakin had. All went well until the report turned deadly. The Sith who had shown up on Tatooine had appeared again. Obi-Wan ultimately defeated him, but not before the Menace had defeated Qui-Gon. Jiruan and Ten-Hi Tsugimiru attended the funeral on Naboo before embarking on their first assignment together.
"You've done this before, Jiruan!" exclaimed Ten-Hi as Jiruan piloted the ship off of Couruscant. Her dark eyes sparkled with pride. Short yet powerful, Ten-Hi wore Jedi robes darker than most, her tunic and cloak being a dark mahogany. It set off her light brown hair regally.
"I've just been through a lot of simulators," said Jiruan modestly after the ship was in hyperdrive. Her long red hair had been pulled back. The traditional Jedi Apprentice braid that defined her was wrapped around her hair and fell on her right shoulder. Jiruan was still small and thing from her street days; her reddish-brown tunic almost hung off of her frame. She pulled her black-crimson cloak around herself to hide it.
"So, my young Padawan, I'm told you've been keeping up with the situation on Naboo," said Ten-Hi. Jiruan nodded. "Perhaps you could fill me in? I've been off planet."
Jiruan smiled; this was her area of expertise lately. She explained the blockade, the invasion, the Queen's escape, their stop on Tatooine, Anakin, the politics, the Jedi dilemma, the battle on Naboo, but she got stuck at the Sith's involvement. "I can't figure what they had to gain by throwing in with the Trade Federation," she concluded.
"Very observant, young one," said Ten-hi approvingly, "but I think you can figure out what the Sith gained."
"Well, they gained temporary control of a planet, but I thought they were warriors," Jiruan responded. "I thought they were more concerned with eliminating the Jedi. How could controlling Naboo help them achieve that goal?"
"You are quite insightful, Jiruan. I sense you will be quite a challenge for me," said Ten-Hi with a mixture of humor and truth.
The funeral was a typical cremation. Jiruan saw the looks on everyone's face and hoped that Qui-Gon had known how much he would be missed. The Queen, Obi-Wan and Anakin stood near by Jiruan and her new Master. Obi-Wan, though obviously the most changed by the loss, stood with a new stone-faces resolve.
"What will happen to me now?" Jiruan heard Anakin ask.
"The Jedi Council has granted me permission to train you," said Obi-Wan heavily. "You will be a Jedi, I promise."
Jiuran almost smacked herself in the head putting a hand on her suddenly throbbing temple. It was the connection once again, but a feeling that somehow, Obi-Wan's promise and undertaking would bring not only an end to him, but the Republic as well.
"Jiruan, you must know something," said Ten-Hi as they left the next day. "I know you believe you were trained at a late age because you had no worldly connections, but that is not the whole truth. There is a prophecy about a Jedi who shall bring balance to the Force. I wasn't sure what that meant until I met you. I still can't explain what it is to bring balance to the Force, but the Council believed for a long time that the 'Chosen One' was you. Now that Anakin has surfaced, they think it may be him. It is still uncertain, but I think it is time that you at least know."
Jiruan tried to drink in what she had just heard. "Why did the Council not wish Anakin's training at first, then?"
Ten-Hi sighed, "He, unlike you, was very close to his mother. His affection for her is perfectly normal for a nine-year-old, but not a Jedi."
Jiruan nodded somberly and set the coordinates for their first mission.