I'm BACK! Sorry for taking so very long to update this story. Thank you for being so very patient for all these months. Thanks a lot!

Disclaimer: STAR WARS belongs to George Lucas. (sob)

Here's chapter 16!

CHAPTER 16
Master and Padawan

Even at night, the Temple gardens would not be entirely devoid of visitors. There was usually always someone meditating by the pond, or taking a stroll or gazing at the stars.

However, most sane occupants of the Jedi Temple saw the rationality of retiring to their beds once it was midnight. One could not guard the peace of the galaxy half asleep.

Jeran Vàner was not insane, but according to a certain Arianne Shamwari he was not exactly fully sane either.

Which was probably why he found himself lying under a tree in the garden, staring at the sky and waiting for someone.

Or it could have been because his entire quarters were wet. The sleepcouch was damp, the floor was wet and anyone entering his room would probably think that they had been somehow transported to Kamino. And the lecture he had received from Master Ru-Mah, who was in charge of housing! He was going to throttle Salis. If he closed his eyes he could actually feel the pesky Zabrak's neck in his hands.

Jeran closed his eyes, inhaled and then exhaled deeply, releasing his anger into the Force.

He turned his thoughts to something other than his annoying friend. Like the fact that his planned to ask Maia to be his Padawan tonight. If she would come here, that was, but he was sure that she would be out and he knew she would find him here. Don't ask how. He just knew.

But until then he would take a walk around the gardens. It was a warm night but a gentle breeze blew through the boughs of the trees. Cool moonlight shone down casting the garden in a silvery light.

It had been alright, teaching her, showing her stuff as a friend but knowing now that he would be running after her and guiding her for then twelve or so years was…scary. He was not sure whether he was ready for such a commitment. He was known to run away from them.

…………………………………………………………………………………………...

The water was warm but still cooler than the surrounding temperature of the gardens. The mud of the banks squelched under her toes. It felt slimy but soothingly cool. Carefully, so not to get her pants wet, she waded into the pond, making sure to remain on the shallow part.

If Master Narista would be furious if Maia was caught running around when she aught to be asleep in her bed, she'd probably turn to the dark side if she'd return dripping muddy pond water onto the floor.

Adults were so…unreasonable.

Jeran was somewhere in the gardens. She had not seen him on the way here, but some part of her knew that he was here, probably walking around. Something was worrying him and she wondered what it was.

The thought quickly fled her mind as she darted forward but she was to slow and her prey escaped. Water sloshed around her legs and soaked the legs of her pants. She frowned and folded them higher until they were over her knees.

She was about to return to her search when a familiar presence made her look up. It was Jeran, and he was standing under a tree, watching her with a funny look on his face. She waved at him. He smiled and waved back.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

He was four years old. The sun beat down brightly upon the garden but it was cool, sitting in the mud by the pond, making mud pies. Somewhere behind him he knew that his caretaker was sitting and watching him, making sure that he did not wade too far out. He was talking to Jon, who was his special friend. Jon liked making mud pies too.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around. His caretaker stood behind him, her Padawan braid falling over her shoulder. "Come Jerry," she said. "It's time to go."

He pouted. "The name's Jeran and I don't wanna go."

She sighed. "Okay, Jeran, let's go now."

"Don't want. I wanna stay. Jon wants to stay too."

"Jon?"

The memory faded. He blinked, once, twice. He did not really know what had caused it to resurface. Maybe watching Maia dabble in the pond had triggered that old memory. Jeran lay on the ground smiling at the canopy of leaves overhead.

Twenty-two years ago he had been sitting in the pond playing with an imaginary friend. Twenty-two years ago was a long time, he reflected. It felt like a lifetime ago. Where had all the time gone?

He was so caught in nostalgia that he did not hear Maia give a crow of victory as she crouched in the shallow water, cupping sometime in her hands, nor did he notice her walk up to him.

She got his attention when she flopped down next to him and plopped whatever that was in her hands onto his chest.

That got his attention all right.

"Arggh!"

Jeran sat up in a hurry and whatever that slimy, goggle-eyed thing that had been sitting on his chest was, tumbled off onto his lap. He stared at it for a moment, ripped from pleasant memories, his heart pounding in this chest.

He calmed down and realised that it was a frog.

Just a frog, a poor frog that had been kidnapped from his lovely pond by Jeran's Padawan-to-be and dropped unceremoniously on his chest.

"Maia!"

She crouched next to him with a hand over her mouth trying not to burst with contained laughter.

"Maia, that wasn't nice. Put the poor frog back in the pond!"

He scooped up the frog from his lap and handed it to her. She carried it back to the pond, giggling madly all the way.

Jeran had told her to set it free gently, but it hopped out from between her hands once she reached the bank. It was probably very relieved to have escaped the clutches of the huge, ugly pink monster.

Still giggling a little, Maia stumbled back up to him.

"That wasn't very nice Maia. Neither for me nor for the frog."

"S-s-sorry," she gasped, sputtering with laughter. She bit on her sleeve trying not to laugh out loud.

"Sorry," Maia said again, once she had calmed down.

"I hope you mean it. Do you always greet people by dropping frogs on them?"

She shook her head, grinning madly. "We had Biology class today. We studied the frog. I just wanted to have a look at it but you were just lying there and–"

"– and it was too good an opportunity to miss, huh?"

"Uh, yeah." She looked at him, biting her bottom lip. He was not sure if she was being contrite or if she was trying not to laugh.

"Sorry, Jeran."

Okay, maybe she was being contrite. "It's alright. You just surprised me. And it isn't only me you should apologise to. You kidnapped the frog from his pond."

"I put him back."

Jeran just looked at her.

She huffed. "Can't understand Basic anyway," she muttered under her breath.

"Sorry frog," she hollered at the pond. The shout reverberated throughout the gardens.

"Maia! Hey, ow!"

She'd bitten the hand he had clapped over her mouth.

"What the blazes is wrong with you?"

"Nothing," the girl chirruped. Her brown eyes shone.

"Are you alright?"

"Great, brilliant, wonderful," she sang.

Jeran sighed and rubbed his face. Maybe he should rethink the Padawan thing. It would probably be too much for his poor nerves.

"I think your nerves will be fine. You're not old." Her face was solemn and she said it absently, like she did not know she was saying it.

"Huh?"

"What?"

"What did you just say?"

"I said something?"

Jeran shook his head. "Never mind."

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Maia sat down next to Jeran and rolled down the legs of her pants. A cool breeze blew through the garden and she rubbed her bare arms.

"Here," Jeran reached under his cloak and pulled out a smaller one. Hers. The one she had forgotten in RedWraith. His baby.

"Thanks." She pulled it on.

She chanced a glance at Jeran. He didn't look angry or irritated but maybe she had gone too far with the frog.

It had been funny, though she probably would not have done it if she had known that he was going to scream his head off like that.

Another giggle threatened to escape so she bit down on the lapel of her pyjama top.

"Are you scared of frogs?"

"No, but they aren't exactly cute and cuddly, are they? And I don't get bombarded by them every other day."

"I don't like caterpillars, especially the hairy ones," Maia explained conversationally. She shuddered. "They're creepy."

"Mm-hm."

"I like butterflies though. They're pretty. It's funny that something so ugly can turn into something so beautiful."

"Uh-huh."

"You aren't listening!" she accused, sounding hurt. Jeran did not have time for that.

"Look!"

Her gaze followed his outstretched finger to the streak of light that fell across the dark sky.

"Wow! A shooting star!"

"It's not a star, Maia, it's a–"

"I know," Maia interrupted. "I know what it is. But 'shooting star' sounds nicer."

They watched the 'star' fall until it winked out over the horizon. Maia sighed as she stretched out beside her friend.

"Look at all the stars."

It was a good night for star gazing. The sky was clear and the two of Coruscant's four moons that were out tonight were both sickles; one waxing, one waning. They provided enough light to see by but did not manage to outshine the stars.

It was so beautiful.

"I'm going to visit all of them one day. Every single one of them." Maia suddenly declared ambitiously.

Jeran chuckled. She turned to face him, looking affronted. "What?"

"I sorry to disappoint you, Maia, but you'll have to be at least ten times as old as Master Yoda to be able to visit only at the very least one hundredth of the universe. Or even older."

"I know," she grouched. "I was just saying so. Didn't mean that I meant it."

He smiled knowingly at her. "It's alright, I understand. I thought so too when I was younger. I'm sure every youngling does."

"How many planets have you been too?"

Jeran laughed. "When I run out of fingers to count I'll tell you."

She was surprised. "So little?"

"Okay, maybe a little more than ten. Can't remember."

Jeran suddenly sat. "I've been thinking," he declared to the garden at large. Somehow he found that he could not explain what he was thinking and stared at his hands as though his thoughts would show up on them.

"I been thinking," the knight repeated after a while, but this time it sounded more like he was talking to himself.

"Thinking what?" Maia prompted, her curiosity aroused.

"That I – uh, that I –" He glared at his hands.

"Maia," he said suddenly, looking up but not looking at her. "Do you want to be my Padawan?"

"What?"

"I, er, I…I would be honoured to accept you as my Padawan." This time he looked at her. He looked afraid.

Afraid that she wouldn't accept?

Maia did not care at the moment. She couldn't. Her stomach seemed to have shot up to her throat and she couldn't speak. Excitement bubbled up inside her, anxious to be released. She opened her mouth and found that she could speak. Or to be more accurate, yell.

"Yes!"

She hugged him, unaware that she was kneeling uncomfortably in his lap as she tried to squeeze the breath out of him; unaware of the look on his face because her own was buried in his shoulder.

But she knew that he felt relieved, excited and still slightly afraid because she felt like that too.

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Then she remembered her manners and backed away, standing up so that she could bow and said, "I accept, Master."

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Jeran felt slightly light-headed. It could be all the excitement but was pretty sure also the fact that Maia was hugging him so tightly that he couldn't breathe. He was not very sure of what he was supposed to do so he patted her on the back a little.

Mercifully, she soon released him.

"I accept, Master."

He found that he was smiling so widely his cheeks hurt. So she had accepted, what now?

"Thanks."

Should he say 'you're welcome'? "Thanks too."

She grinned. Then she leapt to her feet and skipped around the tree, screaming and yelling and raising such a racket fit to raise the dead. It would probably raise everyone in the Temple, that was for sure.

They were all most certainly getting ready for the Sith army that was probably attacking.

Jeran didn't care. In fact, he was sorely tempted to join Maia turning cartwheels on the grass.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

They both sat down on the grass, under the tree. Both were silent. Maia had gotten her first lesson on calming exercises.

So far no one had come running out, demanding the cause the noise.

"So?"

"So what?"

"What do we do now?"

"I think we'd better go to bed."

Maia frowned. Going to bed was probably way too unexciting after all this.

"I'll see the Council tomorrow. Ask them permission to take you as my Padawan."

"What if they say no?"

"Of course not!" Jeran laughed. "They never do!"

She looked at him, brown eyes wide. "You sure?"

His laugh was more uncertain now. "Why should they?"

"I dunno."

"So why should they?" He felt, tired now, very tired. A pity his bed was soaked…

"We should go back now, Maia. It's late."

"But I'm not tired. I don't wanna go to bed."

"It's 0200 hours, Maia. Besides, I want to sleep."

She sighed. "O-kay."

"That's my Padawan."

Her grin took in her whole face.

"I'll walk you back, okay?"

"Yes, Master."

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

He thumbed the buzzer for the fourth time. "Please open up," he muttered under his breath. "Please open up."

Mentally though, he chanted, Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me.

If she didn't answer he'd have to sleep in one of the lounges. Salis had not answered the buzzer. Probably drunk and passed out.

The door hissed open; Arianne blinked rubbing her eyes and carrying a very grouchy expression on her face.

"What do you want?" she growled, tugging somewhat self-consciously at the hem of the oversized tunic he guessed she slept in.

Then her eyes widened as though she had just recognized who he was. "Do you know what time it is?" she half hissed, half snarled.

Her voice echoed loudly in the silent hall.

"Arianne, shhh!" Jeran hissed. "Sorry I woke you up, I –"

"This should better be good," she muttered, folding her arms across her chest.

He hurriedly explained the broken cooling unit and the flooded quarters. She did not need to know the rest.

"So?"

"I need a place to sleep. Just for tonight. Please."

She raised a sceptical eyebrow. "So what have you been doing the entire night? It's –" She cast a quick glance over her shoulder at a chrono hanging on the wall of the darkened room. "It's 0230 hours, do you know that? Have you been spending the whole night looking for a place to sleep?"

Jeran rubbed the back of his neck. "I was…taking a walk," he replied evasively.

Her eyebrow travelled further up her forehead but she stepped back to let him in.

"You sleep on the sofa," Arianne said, gesturing at the settee. She disappeared into her own room and came out with a pillow and a blanket which she thrust angrily into his arms.

"Thank you," Jeran said gratefully as he accepted the bedding.

Arianne grunted in reply and moved back into her own room. She stopped abruptly at the doorway and turned to glare at him over her shoulder.

"Wake me up at this time again and I'll kick your sorry butt over the balcony."

He placed the bedding on the sofa and gave her a low bow, knowing that it would only annoy her further. "Thank you. I appreciate your generous hospitality. Good night."

She snorted and shut the door behind her.

Jeran looked around the room and sighed. Then sitting down on the sofa he pulled of his boots and his outer tunic, stretched out as best as he could on the narrow couch, pulled the blanket over his head and soon fell asleep.

Thank you very much for reading this!
Sorry I haven't been updating for so long. Life got in the way (I had exams...again) and I had a little writers block (this chapter was hard to write; I didn't want it to sound like some marriage proposal!) and I was rather lazy (each time I turned on the PC I found that I had better things to do).

So I hope that this chapter's alright. Any comments and criticisms are accepted; please review.

As always, may the Force be with you.

PS: Many thanks to everyone who has reviewed or put me on their watch list. My thanks! May the Force be with you!