I am again very sorry for the late update. Real life caught up with me and when I finally wanted to update the story, I couldn't upload the document. Something about not being able to process my request. Anyway, I finally managed to do so and here it is!

Many thanks to Elemarth and AnnJinn for reviewing. Here's chapter 4. Enjoy.

CHAPTER 4
There is no Emotion; there is Peace

"You cheated!"

"I did not!" Maia retorted as she backed away from Darek Kosta's accusing finger.

The boy crossed his arms and glared at her with all the ferocity a nine-year-old could manage. "Yeah, right. You did not. Then what was that?" he asked and attempted a complicated lightsaber manoeuvre. "We certainly have not learnt that yet," he snarled at his classmate.

Maia mirrored his stance. "Master Vacedai said we were allowed to improvise." Behind her, Sabie'nrha Assani, her best friend, was anxiously watching out for any Jedi who might come upon the argument.

"Improvisation, my foot," snapped the boy. "I'll bet ten credits that that was a move from a higher kata."

His classmate shrugged. "Go ahead. You don't have ten credits."

"That is not the point!" cried Darek angrily. "The point is that you cheated."

"You're just upset because I beat you for once."

"I'm not. Like master Yoda says, 'Learn to lose a Jedi must'. You cheated! A true Jedi does not cheat!" He lowered his voice. "Have you been going out at night again?"

Maia was stunned. How does he know? rang in her head.

Her shock must have registered on her face for a look of glee replaced Darek's fury. "You did, didn't you? Sneaking around at night like that. I'll-"

"If you tell," interrupted Maia heatedly curling her hand into a fist, "I'll-I'll…"

"What?" sneered Darek. "Punch me? I'd like to see you try."

"Please," Sabie'nrha suddenly spoke up. "Don't fight. You'll only get us into trouble."

Maia waved her friend away. "You can go, Sabie. This is between me and Darek."

"No," her alien friend insisted. "You are coming along with me. I do not care what you may say, but you will not get into trouble again."

"Go away, Sabie'nrha," Darek said. "Maia's right, this is between us both only. Don't get involved." He turned to his rival. "Where were we?"

Maia raised her fists in front of her. "You were daring me to punch you. And to answer your dare, I will do just that." She threw herself at him.

Jeran strode down the hallway, deep in thought. Arianne's accusations and breakdown had struck a chord in his mind. Okay, she was right, he admitted guiltily to himself. He had been selfish, thinking only about himself and ignoring his friends.

But then again, Arianne had no right to order him to do anything. "And may the Force help you if you don't have a good reply for me the next time I see you." Her words rang in his mind. Who did she think she was, ordering him about like that? His Master?

Why should she decide what he should do? He liked the missions he went on, no matter how risky they were. Besides, it was the risk that made it fun. What was a mission if it did not challenge him, physically or mentally? He was a Jedi Knight, come on. He could take care of himself.

Moreover, he was good at what he did. The Council knew that. Why should they send him on diplomatic missions-which he totally sucked at- instead of sending him to get rid of the scum of the galaxy? And if the Council sent him on such a mission what could he do? He had no desire to argue with any of the Masters.

He sighed deeply as he turned a corner. The best thing to do was to return to his quarters and avoid Arianne like the plague until the Council assigned him another mission.

A voice drifted from around the corner. "Please don't fight. You'll only get us into trouble." The voice had a pleading tone to it. It sounded rather young too.

Someone else spoke. "You can go Sabie. This is between me and Darek." Jeran recognized that voice. Maia. Maralaia Vestarii, the girl he had encountered last night. She sounded angry. A boy spoke. First he repeated what Maia had said then he said something else. Maia replied.

The next moment there was a thud and somebody yelled. Whatever the quarrel was about, it seemed to have erupted into a fight.

He quickened his pace and turned the corner. In the small narrow corridor, two Initiates were rolling on the floor, punching and kicking. One of them, the girl with familiar flame-coloured hair, was swearing in the most unJedi-like manner.

Where the blazes do they learn these words from if they hardly leave the Temple? thought Jeran.

Two packs lay abandoned on the floor nearby. A Lethan Twi'lek stood next to them. From the look on her face, she seemed to be torn between anxiety and a desire to cheer the fighting Initiates on.

Jeran strode purposefully towards the scene and pulled the two brawling younglings apart by the scruff of their tunics.

The boy, a dark-skinned human, made no attempt to free himself from Jeran's grip. Maia however, struggled to release her tunic from his fist. When her efforts to get lose failed, she darted forward and kicked her opponent in the shin. The boy howled and clutched his leg.

"That's enough," scolded Jeran, shaking her gently by her tunic. He crouched so that he was at their level. The boy -Darek- looked up and pointed an accusing finger at Maia. "She started it, Sir."

Holding them at arms length away from each other, Jeran regarded them both. He recognized Darek as the boy Maia had been sparring with during their lightsaber training. And wasn't the Twi'lek the one Arianne was interested in taking as a Padawan?

"Listen, you two," he said firmly. "I don't want to know why you two are fighting. All I want both of you to do is to settle your problems in a more civilized manner than beating each other up. Do you understand?"

Darek nodded. Maia looked at the ceiling and said, "Yes, Jeran." in a long suffering tone. Jeran frowned at her attitude. "I am being serious," he said to her. "Being a Jedi means not losing ones temper and controlling ones emotions no matter what the situation," he told them. "You both want to be Jedi, don't you?" Both children nodded. "Well then behave like Jedi then."

He let go of their tunics. "When I go away I do not want you both to go at each other again, have I made myself clear?" He looked pointedly at Maia as he said that. She nodded, as did Darek.

"Good." He stood up and wearily rubbed the back of his neck. Today quite a lot of people seemed to be forgetting the "There is no Emotion; there is Peace" part of the Code. First he got yelled at and now Initiates were brawling in the corridors. Perhaps it would be best if he remained in his quarters for the rest of the day before anything else happened. He had no desire to be involved in or mediate another fight.

It must be Satunda, he thought as he walked away, referring in Tapani to the third day of the week. His Satundas were always lousy. All the more reason to hide away in his room and sleep. Unless of course the air cooling unit decided to go on a strike again. Fate enjoyed being cruel to him.

­­­­­­­­­­­­All three Initiates watched the Knight until his silhouette disappeared down the corridor. When he was gone, Darek turned to Maia and extended a hand. "I'm sorry for accusing you and beating you up," he apologised.

Maia studied his hand for a moment then crossed her arms as she turned her back on him. "Apology not accepted."

"Fine," said Darek angrily. "And even if I apologised -accepted or not- I will still remember that you cheated and if you do it again I shall tell." He snatched up his pack and stalked away.

"Who does he think he is?" muttered Maia under her breath as she gathered up her own belongings. "If you do it again, I'll tell," she mimicked. She jogged to catch up with Sabie'nrha, who was leaving.

"You're lucky that Knight was lenient with us," the Lethan Twi'lek remarked as her friend caught up with her. "Otherwise we would have been a lot of trouble." she glanced at her friend who was trudging along, glaring at the floor.

"You should have accepted Darek's apology," she added. "I mean-" she shrugged "-you started the fight, you should have apologized." She ignored Maia's glare and ploughed on. "The way you turned down his apology, you sounded really obnoxious, you know."

Maia stopped in her tracks and angrily turned to face her best friend. "Fine, Master Assani. The next time I meet Darek Kosta, I'll give him a nice fat apology and an equally large box of candy. Happy?"

She turned and resumed her walk down the corridor. "Don't lecture me. If you were so worried about getting caught, why didn't you stop me instead of going-" she mimicked Sabie'nrha's voice but gave it a higher pitch "-Don't Maia, Stop it, Maia, Please don't fight, Maia."

"As you wish," retorted her friend coolly. "I know there's no point in trying to drag you away from a fight, so next time I'll just walk away and leave you alone to face the consequences. After all, it's not my problem." She paused, then on a friendlier note asked: "Do you know that Knight? You called him Jeran."

"It's none of your business, Sabie," said Maia. "Hurry up," she cried, breaking into a trot. "Or we'll be late for classes."

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May the Force be with you.