Authors Blog: returned at last. I hate school sometimes… and starting ones own business is hard work!
I am finally finished school, moved into my own place. I could possible be updating every couple of days. It's wonderful to have nothing to do since my job doesn't start for easily a month.
"WATCH IT!"
Three battle droids shuffled around the corner and aimed their blasters.
"I see them!" A green lightsaber blade unsheathed as its wielder took a battle pose. Two more lightsabers lit up blue, and purple. "We got this!" The Barabel exclaimed before the droids started firing.
"I'll cover you Ana!" The Twi'lek shouted. The blonde human between them dashed, blocking the array of blaster fire, her two partners close behind.
Ana pushed her hand forward knocking over one droid, which instantly stopped firing.
"Good aim." The Barabel stated before knocking a series of blaster fires towards the other droids body, scaring its shell, and knocking it over as well.
"Only one left. My turn!" The Twi'lek pushed her hand forward and tried crushing this droid by slamming it into a wall with a large metal crate. However, she hesitated, and the droid let one last array of blasts from his blaster, one hitting one of the Twi'leks Lekku, and she let out a terrible screech.
The third droid stopped firing immediately, and the area was filled with lights.
"Pala…" The two others sighed.
"You hesitated…" A human walked onto the arena grounds.
"Master Lekiti…I'm sorry…I don't know why…" Pala looked to her feet rubbing the place where her Lek had been hit.
"Your head is fine. You know it's only red light. Stop being so over dramatic. You made us lose again!" Temu growled.
"Temu, Barabel's do not growl at team mates." Master Lekiti shook his head.
"Pala…You are still loosing focus. You must meditate more. However, you also lost points for your team Temu. You were tasked with using only force powers to disable the droids…not your saber. That blue blade will not save you from everything." The Jedi lectured as the Barabel looked down.
"I didn't do it right either guys." Ana chipped in.
"Actually you were quite excellent Ana, especially…"
"No I wasn't. I didn't just want to knock it over. I was trying to throw it hard enough so that it would crash against the wall to disable the arm so even if it wasn't destroyed, it couldn't go back to shooting. Without the safety protocols…it would have continued shooting. It was poor on my part…I should be doing better…"
"Ana. You are best in this whole class. You are too hard on yourself for the level you are at." Master Lekiti placed a hand on her shoulder.
"But I should be better…I'm going to meditate…"
"Master Skywalker, may I have a moment…" Ana found her father at the fountain in the center of the academy.
Luke smiled at her. He had long since gotten used to her calling him by his title. She tried so hard to be the perfect Jedi youngling.
"Of course Ana. Come, let's have some pie."
She walked in silence next to him to the cafeteria. She almost never had time to speak with her father. And when she did, she tried to pay him no more interest than any other Jedi Youngling. Most of her classmates hadn't seen their parents for months. She didn't want her youngling experience to be much different then theirs. She respected the Jedi ways and what it meant to be one.
Finally finding a decent sized piece of berry pie each, they found a table in a corner.
"Master, I need help. I tried meditating, but I still feel…wrong…"
"Wrong?"
"We had a skills test today." She didn't touch the pie in front of her. She looked at her hands as she rung them together.
"Well, I bet you did wonderfully as always."
"That's the thing though. I…I didn't." her father watched as her face scrunched up in worry.
"There were droids, and we each had to use force powers to disable them as they shot blaster bolts at us. I used a force push to knock it over."
"And that's fine. That works superbly...trust me, I know…"
"But it doesn't 'disable' them. And that was the assignment. I wanted to slam it against a wall and knock off its blaster arm, or at least hard enough to cause damage so it couldn't go for the blaster again…I failed at what I wanted to do…I should be doing better…I'm eight years old!"
"Ana, you're still just a youngling. Don't be too hard on yourself. You're still growing, still learning."
"But I should be doing better…" she stabbed her pie, before stuffing a far to large chuck of it into her mouth.
Her father watched her bemused. If she were any other, and possibly older Jedi, he would have told her about where that thinking can lead.
But he knew his daughter.
"Well then, lets step up your training them. Why don't you an Ben train together once a week."
"Ben swore off the force. I already asked him. He's being really silly about it. You can't change who you are." She stuffed another piece of the pie into her mouth frowning.
"Ben has done no such thing. He's going through some… stuff…give your brother some time. Why don't you talk to your cousins than? I'm sure Jacen or Jiana would be thrilled to train with you."
"Jiana's too busy with her piloting license right now…I could ask Jacen… I guess…" She finally sighed out defeated.
"That's the spirit!" He smiled at his daughter. She could be so stubborn, while at the same time understanding.
They finished their pie, and just before they left, Luke was called to the main room to settle a dispute. Ana went to her room so she could contact her cousin.
"You need to focus more. " Jacen had been doing a short, but intense training session with Ana once a week for over a year.
"I'm trying!" Ana, was getting significantly better every day with him…but continually more frustrated.
"Not hard enough or you would be succeeding. I thought you wanted to be better!"
"I DO…this is so hard…"
Ana was struggling to maintain five rock towers with five rocks each, soon to be six while standing on one foot. She clenched her eyes shut trying to focus, before she lost all focus, with a sudden flash of colour in her mind. She, and the rock towers, toppled to the ground with a crash.
Jacen chuckled before beginning to walk towards her to help her up. "I think we're done for today. That was good. You almost made six this time. I… Ana what's wrong?"
She held her head in one hand; the other was in front of her face pushing against her eyes.
"He's dead." Her head suddenly turned down. "Or at least, he will be soon."
"What? Who? Did you see something?"
"Master Vi-Gota…" She shook her head her hands falling on her sides. "He's on Tatooine…and he's going to stay there…buried in the sands…" She opened her eyes and blinked a few times.
"Ana, what did you see." He was now kneeling besides her watching her eyes glowing yellow.
She answered him in one word.
"Red…"
"Master Skywalker…did you know your daughter is having visions." Jacen, as soon as he had gotten her to her room had be lined to find one of her parents. He ran into her father first.
"She's mentioned it a few times. But she's still young. Flashes of colour and light aren't really a vision. I think she is developing an imagination finally and taking to her youth. She really should stop trying to grow up so fast. It's good to hear she is sharing it with you." Luke chuckled as he continued to walk away from Jacen.
"She saw Master Vi-Gota die." This made Luke turn and stare at him.
"She did? How?"
"She…didn't say…all she said was that he was buried in the sands of Tatooine. I thought he was stationed on Cantanta?"
"No…he is on Tatooine. I sent him there a few days ago on a secret mission. No one but myself and a handful of other Masters knew he was there."
"She said she also saw red."
"Red? Like blood…" he sat on a nearby bench stunned.
"She didn't say. I think you should talk to her. You are leaving tomorrow. For all we know, this could be a cry for attention."
"I think I will. Where is she?"
"Master Skywalker…" Both turned to find Ana walking towards them her pace quickening.
"Father…" She sat next to him and wrapped her arms around him.
"Daddy…" She whispered this time burying her head into his cloak.
Jacen bowed to excuse himself, before continuing down the corridor.
"Ana. Jacen told me…what did you see?"
"Red…I know what the red means."
"Ana, blood is a…"
"Blood is easy…Siths are not…" She muffled into his cloak.
"Siths…Ana, don't let your imagination…"
"A Sith with a red lightsaber killed Master Vi-Gota on Tatooine."
"Ana…"
"He…he didn't stand a chance…" She sniffled burying her face deeper into her father's cloak. "Red means Sith." She started crying against him. "Sith…is red…it always has been…"
"Analeia!" he pulled her away to face him. He nearly gasped when he saw her eyes staring at him horrified...and glowing gold.
"Listen. I want you to go to your room. I will contact Master Vi-Gota and patch it through to your room. Will that settle you down if you get a chance to talk to him in person?"
"He won't return the message…not even his droid…"
"Ana, I will talk to the council. Think on this no more. I will take care of everything. You concentrate on your training run tomorrow."
Ana hugged him tightly for a few more moments before letting him go, wiping her tears, bowing, and running back down the corridor.
Luke ran a hand through his hair, before going the opposite direction towards his own room to contact the rest of the council.