The gardens were beautiful in the summertime, despite the blazing heat that tattooed its mark on the back of La'Ana's curly black hair. Trees dipped their leaf-burdened branches in the gentle zephyr of wind that caressed her cheeks, and flowers bloomed, exposing their shining faces to the burning sun that bore down hard on the Jedi Temple. A winding path laid with worn stone twisted elegantly among the short bushes and around thick green spikes that bloomed brilliantly with silvery flowers that size of La'Ana's fist. Here and there were patches of thick green grass, nestled among flowerbeds of all exotic buds and leaves, perfect for meditation. To her left was a small glassy pool, completely still save for a tiny waterfall that trickled into it, causing modest ripples to cut across the flat surface. Fat orange fish, striped here and there with creamy white, swam around each other in lazy circles, peeping hopefully up at Ana in search of a snack. This large garden was one of the few left on Corscourant, and the Jedi Order treasured it greatly. She continued on her small journey, her bare feet scraping on the cool rocks that bled chill into her toes. She ducked underneath a low hanging branch, taking a sharp turn away from the path, and there it was.
Wathearu had planted a garden several years ago. He loved being inside it, saying it was one of the few places that he felt that he was truly a part of the Force. He would go there to meditate, or sometimes just to think and sit, perhaps read a scroll or two. She could practically see him on the small stone bench that would easily support his wiry frame, his spiky gray hair sticking up in all directions as he pursued an aged yellow scroll while sipping a mug of tea. She ran her fingers across the rough surface of the bench, but didn't sit upon it. She would sit where she had always sat, on a small patch of grass down by his feet. She hugged her knees close to her chest and surveyed the hard, bright blue sky that shone down upon her. Her slightly tanned face upturned to the bright sunlight, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was not the ideal place for meditation, as this garden was fraught with too many memories to even think of serenity and calm, but it was a good spot to sit and think. She took the two pebbles out of her pockets and held them in her hand until they had gained warmth. Without thinking, she began to talk aloud. If she had been conscious of her words she would have been mortified and confused, because to the best of her knowledge only crazy people spoke aloud to themselves.
"I wish you were here, Master. It's a beautiful day for meditation, and that's what I think you would be doing right now. Either that or reading the papers. I miss you terribly. Sometimes I think I catch a whiff of your scent, or the familiar sound of your feet, and I think you're home. But it's only my overactive imagination as usual." She paused and wiped her eyes, sniffling slightly. "Look at me, the big crybaby. You know I don't cry. I know I don't cry. And I'm the big, bad warrior who fought you so hard whenever you told me to do something. Look at me, blubbering like a bantha who misses his mother."
She crawled on her hands and knees over to one of his prized flowerbeds and began pulling weeds out with her fingers. The cool dirt stuck underneath her nails quite rapidly, but she didn't care. Several weeds were already piled neatly beside her before her thoughts were arranged enough to continue. "I have a new Master, by the way. You've probably heard of him; his name is Qui-Gon Jinn. He's not bad, as Master's go, but I so wish it was you completing my training. I know you wanted to show me off at the Knighting ceremony when I completed the Trials." she gave a watery, weak little laugh. "I'm such a headstrong girl. Hopefully Qui-Gon - I mean, Master Jinn - will get tired of me soon and throw me out. But then again, I'd have another Master then, and I'm not sure I want that."
She rocked back on her heels and glanced up at the sky once more. "He doesn't feel like a Master to me. I don't quite know what he feels like, but it's not a Master. He's different from the other Knights around here. It's not wisdom - all Knights are wise, as far as I know - but it's something. I need to meditate, I think." Ana decided, but she didn't feel like meditating here. It was too memory-inspiring, too many pockets of thoughts and old sparks that contributed to the fire of fatherly affection Wathearu had for Ana. She stood up and wiped her hands on her leggings, looking down with mild surprise at the pile of weeds she had harvested. She gathered them up and put them down on the bench to dry in the sun, then sat down next to them.
"Not good, it is, to dwell the past," croaked a familiar voice. Ana didn't have to turn around to know that the short green alien was approaching her from behind, his stick digging small impressions into the soft soil. "Join you, I may?" he asked. Ana scooted over to the left and Master Yoda heaved himself on top of the bench with a sigh of relief. "Overheard, I did, your thoughts of Qui-Gon."
"What?" Ana said, turning. Her brows were drawn together, and she looked at the squat, wrinkled green alien with surprise. He nodded sagely, blinking his huge golden eyes solemnly at her as he nodded. "I spoke aloud?" Ana asked.
"Not bad, it is, to voice one's thoughts," Yoda said soothingly, patting her knee. His hand was small, but it easily encompassed her kneecap. "Sometimes better, it is, to talk to one's self. Done it, I have, many times." then his gaze met hers and held it firmly. "A good man, Qui-Gon is. A good Knight, he is not. Good Master, he is. Qui-Gon takes the Code lightly, he does. Unfortunate, it is."
"I feel so empty inside," Ana said, picking up a thread of the conversation she didn't even know she had unraveled. "Like part of me has died. And I don't want it to grow with Qui-Gon; I want things to be just the way they were. Everything was safe and comfortable; I want to be with Wathearu again. I miss him awfully, Master Yoda."
Yoda suddenly bent over and plucked two blades of grass in his gnarled paw. He held them up to Ana's face for inspection. "Identical, these are?" he asked. Ana studied the grass blades. Similar, but not identical; one had a sliver of yellow striping the left side, and the other was a shade darker green. She shook her head. "Identical, they are not," Yoda conceded. "Similar, are they?"
"Not quite," Ana said. "But distantly related." she wondered where on earth the small green alien was going with this. She knew he spoke in riddles, but this was rather perplexing. Yoda folded one of the grass blades into her hands.
"Identical, life is not. Very fast, does life change. A circle, life is." Yoda took the long grass blade and tied it in a loop. "Your circle broken, it was." he snapped the loop of grass in two. Ana flinched for a reason she didn't know, and looked reproachfully at the broken grass loop. "Refitted, they will not be," Yoda said, piecing the two back together. They fit, but not perfectly. Then Yoda, with a deft movement of his claws that belied their wrinkled state, tied two more knots. "Make do, we must." A little smile split his ugly features, and he dropped the repaired circlet into her hands.
"So…I should make do with Qui-Gon and finish my training?" Ana said uncertainly. He was answering a question she didn't know she had asked. "What does that have to do with Master Wathearu?" Yoda rapped her shin with his gimer stick and she yelped, let out a hiss of pain, and rubbed her now-bruised leg.
"Stupid girl, you are not," Yoda scolded. "An old circle, Wathearu was. New circle, you are on now. Changes, life does, and change with it, you must." With that, Yoda heaved himself to his feet with a sigh and shuffled out of the garden, leaving behind a very perplexed and confused La'Ana who was muddling over what he had said. Unconsciously she stroked the circle of grass in her hands.
Qui-Gon saw her first, and approached her quickly. The blue-skinned Twi'Lek was sunning herself outside on the many parapets that the Temple owned, a scroll on her knees. Unlike the rest of her race, Clah'Diam was shorter and stockier, with wide hips and full breasts, lacking the regal slimness that her clan possessed. He suspected she was mutated with something, but the overall appearance was pleasant, nonetheless. For a bizarre reason, he found himself comparing Clah'Diam's rounded beauty to Ana's slender form. He found them both equally pretty, with his preference lying with Ana. Shaking his head at these ridiculous thoughts, Qui-Gon mounted the steps to the parapet. At the sound of Qui-Gon's footsteps, Clah'Diam looked up and a smile created two dimples in her cheeks. "Good afternoon, Master Jinn," Clah'Diam said politely, rising and setting her scroll aside. She bowed slightly, then folded her hands into her sleeves. "What can I do for you?"
"I was wondering if you could tell me a bit more about La'Ana," Qui-Gon answered, sitting next to Clah'Diam on the wooden bench. The pale blue Twi'Lek raised her tattooed eyebrows and offered him a slightly bemused smile, her golden eyes round with amusement. She patted his hand in an overt display of affection - he had to remind himself that the Twi'Lek's were a rather affectionate race towards humans - then she rocked back and considered.
"Well, I can tell you some things about her, but the rest you must ask yourself. I cannot tell you truly how she is, for I only know one side of her. I am sure her enemies would see another side, her lovers yet another, and Master Wathearu saw a side that nobody else saw. I see her as a friend and a sister, and I can tell you what little I know of her. But that isn't what you really came to ask me, is it, Master Jinn?" Clah'Diam asked with a knowing smile. Qui-Gon gazed off into the distance.
"You are remarkably perceptive for a girl your age," he admitted ruefully. "I came to ask you if La'Ana has confided in you in any way concerning her master's death. The Council does not know, and I fear if I do not know what troubles her I might not be able to help her with her training."
"That is a good excuse for curiosity," Clah'Diam laughed smilingly. "But no, she has not. And even if she had, I would not tell you. That is a story she must tell you on her own time, in her own place. Ana rarely feels safe with anyone. Wathearu and I are the exceptions, and considering Master Wathearu is now one with the Force, I am the sole guardian; at least, in Ana's mind. Once she knows she can trust you, you will not be able to peel her off of your side."
There was a long silence, and then Clah'Diam suddenly spoke up. "I wonder, sometimes, if there was a greater love between Master Wathearu and Ana. But then I only have to look at Ana to remember that she saw him as nothing but a father substitute; despite his failings, she saw only the good man he was at heart." She finished sadly.
"I agree with you about their relationship," Qui-Gon said quietly after a moment. "But I am curious as to why you would list Wathearu as a failure. To hear La'Ana talk about him, he did nothing but good. She loved him dearly; it is no wonder she was so distraught when he died."
"Distraught is mild," Clah'Diam said with a little sigh. "More like stark raving, completely crazy. But Wathearu was similar to you in many ways. Instead of failing one Padawan, Wathearu failed two. Ana would be his only success, and he looked forward to the day when she would graduate." another long silence passed between them, and Clah'Diam stood. "My suggestion to you, Master Jinn, is that you ask Ana yourself about Master Wathearu's death. She will only confide in you when you can both trust one another. And remember; it took Ana three months to fully trust Wathearu."