The Jedi Temple had the reputation of being one of the quietest places in the galaxy. Since the last defeat of the Sith, that reputation had been well-deserved. The Temple was a place of meditation, learning, and reflection. The loudest spots were undoubtedly the Younglings' corridor and the sparring rooms, but even they were rarely any louder than a grunt or a collection of giggles. Jedi were trained from toddlerhood that raised voices were unnecessary and therefore discouraged. Things had gotten a bit louder since the arrival of the Jedi that went home on the weekend, but not by much.

To Leia, the quiet was deafening, and it had been since Luke had left their shared room. And it wasn't only Luke who had left the area. Almost all of her peers were gone now, replaced by the next batch of Younglings bound for the Initiate Trials. Those who had passed now bunked with their masters. Roughly half had already gone on their first missions. The rest, who had not passed, had either left the Order or gone on to the Jedi Service Corps. Only three of Hawkbat Clan still bunked in the Youngling corridor in the hopes of passing next year.

The first week had been very lonely. Leia didn't miss Derrik at all, but everyone else, she did. She hardly ever saw them anymore except by passing them in the halls or during meals. It hadn't taken long for them to change. Some became more insufferable than ever while others took on far more serious outlooks on life. That was expected, at least to a certain extent. Padawans left the safety of the Temple in preparation for their lives as Jedi. Those lives were anything but safe. Jedi put themselves in harm's way nearly every day to protect others. Sometimes this led to injury or even death. The only reward was the satisfaction of helping.

Leia had expected to miss Luke more than anyone else. They still tried to sit together at meals, but that was the extent of their contact outside shared classes. Luke now had to follow Obi-Wan's schedule and essentially become the man's shadow everywhere but in the Council chambers. Leia was still allowed to go home on weekends, but thus far she had refused that privilege. Even seeing Luke in the sparring room and at mealtime was better than nothing.

It had not taken long for Leia to notice a definite change in her brother. His walk was different. His attitude was different. He was still the reckless and enthusiastic young boy who loved being a Jedi, but he seemed a little more on edge than before now that he was under Obi-Wan's tutelage. Whenever his master was around Luke was stiffer than ever, watching his mannerisms closely. When Obi-Wan wasn't anywhere to be seen, Luke spoke anxiously of trying to impress the man and hoping he was doing well enough. Such talk rang loudly in Leia's ears as she continued to be the odd one out, and before long she couldn't stand it. The last few days she had insisted on changing the subject.

Now, with Luke gone on his first mission, Leia's loneliness was more profound than ever. The last two days she had shuffled through her classes and went to bed with a heavy heart. I should be with him, she thought. Why doesn't Master Obi-Wan or anyone else want me?

It was the Dark Side. It had to be. With Anakin's power and Leia's brush with the Dark Side, the Masters must have been afraid of her. What about Father? Is he afraid of me?

That was unlikely. Anakin wasn't afraid of anything except losing his family. Leia's only conclusion was that her father was so disappointed in her that he refused to keep training her.

That was the worst idea of all. It put Leia in an even lower mood as she shuffled to her next class.

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Little did Leia know that at that very moment her father was up in the Council Chambers making an attempt to help his daughter. Only long years of training kept Anakin from chewing his lips with nerves. There could not be a full Council session with Obi-Wan and Plo Koon off on separate assignments. Only Yoda and Mace Windu had agreed to see Anakin on such short notice.

At the moment the green elf and the dark-skinned Master were exchanging looks of uncertainty. Anakin had just made a surprising request.

"So...you once again wish to take on your daughter as a Padawan learner?" asked Mace, frowning.

"Yes, Master Windu," nodded Anakin.

"Even after being so adamant that both children would be better off training under someone else?" Mace squinted at the younger master, his frown deepening.

"A decision which I deeply regret," Anakin admitted.

Yoda was thoughtful. "Changed your mind, you have? For what reason?"

Anakin grimaced. "As you told me at the time, Master Yoda, I was letting my emotions interfere with my judgment. Now I see that I made a mistake."

Yoda rested his chin on his gimer stick. "Hmm. And not letting your emotions interfere now, are you?"

Anakin sighed and stared at the floor. "It would be untruthful to say that there are no emotions involved...but she's my daughter. I know when she's suffering, whether physically or emotionally. All that aside, I can't help but see the situation as terribly unfair. Leia passed the Initiate trials. She has as much right as her classmates to be taken on as a Padawan."

Mace shrugged. "None have approached us. A Padawan cannot be taken on except at the request of a Master."

Anakin frowned at this statement. "With respect, Master Windu, is that true? As I recall, I never requested a Padawan when you sent Ahsoka Tano to me. I don't regret training her, but..."

Mace's frown returned, and he let Yoda answer.

"Exceptions, there sometimes are, if a good match has been sensed," Yoda pointed out. "Not the case has this been."

"Well, I'm making the request now." Anakin took a step forward. "Let me train Leia. I think both of us would benefit from the pairing beyond just being father and daughter. You must have seen how Leia has been slacking off in her studies lately. She feels unwanted and inferior. She needs guidance."

"Hmph!" Yoda pounded his stick on the floor and jumped off his seat to hobble toward Anakin. "Regretted, you did, taking your children on before. Change your mind again, will you? Hmm?" The green elf tapped his walking stick on Anakin's boot.

"Master Yoda is right. This...indecisiveness of yours is troubling, Anakin. Are you certain this time that you're not making this request out of pity?"

Anakin shook his head impatiently. "It's not pity, Master. It's concern. I'm worried about what not having a Master will do to Leia."

Yoda pursed his lips. "Learn to deal with disappointment, a Jedi must."

Mace nodded in agreement. "Yes. And as to her self-worth, she should learn that it should not depend on when and if a person is taken on as an apprentice. Self-pity has no place in a Jedi's life. Our purpose is to benefit others, not ourselves."

Anakin wanted to growl with frustration. They don't understand. Yes, his emotions were involved. It was impossible for them not to be. He only wanted his daughter to succeed. After a deep breath he met their eyes. "So...is that a no?"

Yoda nodded. "Time you both need. And not ready is Leia to be taken on as a Padawan. Maturity, she needs, if her marks suffer from disappointment. Further preparedness against the Dark Side, she needs."

I could give her that. I could help! I know where she's been. While Anakin wanted to protest, he knew it would do no good at that point. "What will happen to Leia if she isn't chosen as an apprentice by anyone else?"

Mace straightened his spine. "Leia is young; much younger than the age that apprentices are usually chosen. The cutoff age stands at fourteen standard years."

"Time she has," added Yoda with a nod. "Until such time arrives, advise her you may, but take her as a Padawan you may not."

Anakin's shoulders fell, and he sighed in disappointment. "Understood, Masters. Thank you for seeing me." He hardly heard the parting greetings of 'may the Force be with you' as he bowed and exited the chambers.

It was just as well that Leia had not been told about this appointment. She didn't need anything else to dampen her spirits.

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Padawans had little reason to question their masters. Luke had certainly not anticipated questioning Obi-Wan. But by the time they had finished procuring the unneeded power convertors and visited three cantinas looking for their elusive contact, the boy was beginning to wonder if his master's strategy would really work.

It was in the last cantina where Obi-Wan finally located the local trader who claimed to have information about the missing Senator. While his master sat down to speak with the nervous Rodian, Luke wandered about in search of something to occupy himself with. He would not go far, of course. He would keep his master within earshot and the range of his senses. Other than a quick glance and a frown, Obi-Wan didn't protest.

The cantina was a bustling, smoky, dingy place, filled with beings of all descriptions and enough different kinds of body odor to wrinkle the snout of a Bothan. Most seemed to be in the middle of doing something shady or calculating which patron to quietly rob, murder, and dump in an alley. Jedi weren't supposed to jump to conclusions, but the sense of impending danger- however mild- was everywhere. Luke's eyes were wide as he took everything in.

Apparently all this was distracting enough for Luke to ignore the nearest danger sense until the last minute. By then it was too late, and he ended up tripping over the feet of a very large and ugly reptilian humanoid. The creature snarled a few words that might have been 'watch where you're going!'

Luke turned five shades of red as he scrambled to his feet. "S-sorry. Excuse me, please. I didn't see you." His discreet exit was arrested by the face-sized palm of the alien he had tripped over landing heavily on his shoulder. A rough yank whirled him around and he came face-to-face with the creature, who was still very upset. The young Jedi gulped, but stood tall...which did not work out very well given the boy's short stature. "Will you let me go, please?"

Apparently this wasn't enough for the alien, who waved a fist in Luke's face with another menacing smile.

Luke roughly pulled away, trying to remember that Jedi avoided getting into fights, and straightened his tunic. "I said I was sorry. If you'll excuse me, I'll get out of your-" Once again his attempt to flee ended with a hand reaching out to whirl him around. Luke ducked before dropping low in an attempt to disappear into the crowd. Full defense was impossible without a lightsaber, and Obi-Wan had been hoping to keep a low profile.

Said Jedi had already redirected his attention to Luke. Not only the noise that had made other heads turn, but the sense of impending danger for the boy made Obi-Wan frown deeply at his apprentice from across the room. When Luke was shoved again and the antagonist made an exclamation about the Force, the Master rose to his feet, hand on hilt in case Luke needed rescuing.

Luke glanced at Obi-Wan for half a moment before trying one last thing to avoid being flattened. "You do not wish to hurt me...you want to return to your drink," he said, waving his hand.

The creature let out an exclamation of rage before grabbing for Luke. It was only then that the boy recognized his foe as a Yinchorri, which were immune to Jedi mind tricks.

"Luke! Down!" shouted Obi-Wan as he ignited his lightsaber and swung at the Yinchorri.

Accordingly Luke dropped to the floor and rolled out of the way. The yelp and smell of burnt flesh that followed made the boy cringe. He almost didn't want to look up for fear of seeing someone's lopped-off limb. He sighed with relief in seeing that Obi-Wan had only nicked the Yinchorri.

"Jedi!" exclaimed several people in several languages. About half of the patrons -those that were sober- leaped to their feet and scrambled away from the glowing blue blade. The other half drew their blasters.

"Luke, get behind me," ordered Obi-Wan evenly. He turned to the crowd in a ready stance. "We have no quarrel with you. You will stand aside and let us go about our business," he said, wiggling his fingers to add a bit of Force persuasion.

Most of the others fell back, scratching their heads in confusion before sitting down to their drinks. Unfortunately six of them advanced. The Yinchorri had friends.

Obi-Wan grimaced. "Oh, dear. Luke, these are Yinchorri, they're-"

"I know. They're immune to the Force," mumbled Luke over his shoulder. "I already tried."

"All right. Stay at my back, and keep your head low. Try to relax...concentrate," he urged in a near-whisper.

Luke nodded and took deep breaths even as his heart began to pound with nerves. He knew he would need to have full control over his senses if he was to escape in one piece. The Force was his ally. And a powerful ally it is, he could almost hear Yoda saying. For his part, the young Jedi knew he would feel better about these odds if he had his own lightsaber. He would have to make do using the Force to aid him. "I have a bad feeling about this," he muttered.

With a cry of rage, the quintet of Yinchorri attacked. Some were drunk, and so their blaster bolts went high and wide. Other cantina patrons were hit or barely missed, re-igniting their rage. More beings jumped into the melee until it was nothing more than a bar room brawl.

Obi-Wan seemed to be handling things quite well. He dodged, ducked, deflected, destroyed weapons, and when necessary, dealt minor injuries so the beings would break off their attacks.

Luke, after being knocked around once or twice, relaxed into the flow of the Force. He moved when it told him to and defended himself with a few well-aimed kicks and Force pushes. When a Yinchorri went after him, he mentally pulled a bottle of ale off the bar and dropped it over the reptile's head. A smirk of amusement tugged at the boy's mouth when the alien staggered backward with a disoriented look on his face. The smile disappeared when a sudden urging from the Force made him dodge to the left, narrowly avoiding Obi-Wan's lightsaber.

In less than a minute it was clear that the pair worked well together. There even came a few moments when they were almost moving in unison...and then Luke's concentration wavered and he had to scramble to avoid catastrophe.

The fight lasted less than five minutes. Sweating and tossing his graying bangs out of his eyes, Obi-Wan eyed his moaning opponents. "Now...are there any further disputes?"

Bar patrons scattered, some even fleeing out the door. The rest went back to what they had been doing before the battle.

Finally Obi-Wan relaxed and deactivated his lightsaber. He turned to Luke, whose blue eyes were wide. "Are you all right?"

Luke nodded, fighting a grin. "That was-"

The older Jedi held up a palm to quiet his apprentice. "-regrettable. Jedi never go looking for trouble. You're fortunate to still be in one piece." Here he cast a critical eye at Luke's split lip and the bruise forming below one eye.

Luke's grin vanished. "But it was an accident."

"Accident?"

"I tripped over his feet. I tried to apologize, but he wouldn't let me."

"Ah. Then you should have been minding your surroundings, young one," berated Obi-Wan quietly.

"I know. I'm sorry, Master Kenobi." Luke hunched his shoulders in embarrassment.

Obi-Wan shrugged as the pair made a discreet exit. "No need to apologize. Though the odds were against us, we seem to have come through on top. You did surprisingly well in defending yourself without a lightsaber. Only, do try to pay more attention in the future," he added, taking Luke's shoulder. "Not all battles will be so easy to win."

Humbly Luke nodded. "Yes, master."

Obi-Wan released Luke's shoulder, then grimaced at Luke's shiner, lifting his chin to take a close look. It was starting to swell and obscure his vision. "Can you see out of that?"

Luke shrugged. "Jedi don't have to see- ow!"

Thoughtfully the Jedi Master released Luke's chin. "Hmm. Well, it will have to wait. I've the location of our missing Senator, and we haven't much time before the Hutts decide to collect. Come along."

The boy willingly nodded and scurried to keep up with Obi-Wan's long stride. As they walked along he recalled the expressions of surprise on the bar patrons they had just dispatched and cracked a smile. After a moment he chuckled.

Obi-Wan lifted an eyebrow at his young apprentice. "I find nothing funny about being involved in a bar fight, Luke."

Luke tried smoothing over his mirth. "It's not that, Master. It's...well, didn't you see the looks on their faces as they were leaving? And it was kind of fun dropping that bottle on the one man's head with the Force." he chuckled again. "I know, we're supposed to keep the peace, and I don't like hurting anyone, but it was funny to see everyone leave in such a hurry."

Obi-Wan frowned, shook his head, and sighed. Should I be worried? "All I think is that you needn't be worried about living up to your father's legacy, Luke. You are more like him than you know." Perhaps too much, he added to himself. It was a frightening idea.