Chapter Title: First Day

Series Title: Unlikely Brothers

POV: Tannerlin

Ages in this chapter: Tanner (20) Dashen (26)

Chapter Summary: Tanner starts his first day as a full-fledged teacher in Kaolin, finally fulfilling his dream of following in the footsteps of his Jedi Master, Ayden Yen.


Already I knew their names. Their faces. I'd made it a point to have them be as comfortable as possible first day. My first day. Their first day. We were all nervous.

And excited. I'd been thinking of this day forever. My dream of teaching, now a reality.

I looked at each of my students. My students. Yeah, I was pretty sure that I'd never get used to saying those words.

Aashi Kralic. She was a half human with olive skin, short dark blue hair, and even darker blue eyes. It was unclear what her other half was, but other than coloring she appeared more human than not.

Emer Kapua. Human. Her skin was a rich dark brown with hair a shade further and pulled into 2 thick braids over her head. The right braid having a single white flower weaved into the strands. Curious eyes were the greenest of greens I'd ever seen.

Cree Shrah. The only human boy in the class. He wore shoulder length brown-red hair, edging more towards red, which offset his bright blue eyes and lighter brown skin.

Lastly, there were the Pantoran twins. Vren and Nepa Toth. At six years old there was very little that set them apart from each other. I focused on the hair. Black on the boy, Vren. Bright white on the girl, Nepa. Although Pantorans skin color could vary, this pair were both a blue tone, and each kept sharp yellow eyes. Each also held the traditional yellow tattoos on their faces that marked that proudly as Pantoran. The main difference between the pair was that Nepa was a mute. She could not speak or verbalize any sound at all. Though her brother was quick to defend the revelation by telling me how smart and quick she was. I didn't doubt it. After observing them for a few moments, I also didn't doubt that they had a bond much like the one Dashen and I shared. Close. Protective. Perhaps weighted heavier on the codependent side of things. I could appreciate them as siblings.

First moment, first day, I introduced myself as Mr. Tannerlin. Not 'Master' or 'Professor' as was standard here in Kaolin for teachers. I would not ever hold the title of Master. For me, that word meant one thing and one thing only, and no one would ever fill the shoes of Master Ayden. The kids seemed confused at first that they were to call me Mister and not the 'correct' title, as they would have been instructed to do in orientation, but I promised them they wouldn't get in trouble for it. They appeared relieved; one of many worries lifted from tiny nervous shoulders.

I began our first class by moving them from their desks to the back of the classroom and onto a circle of meditation mats. Six mats. I was part of the circle. Not the head of it, not the center

of it, just one sixth of our newly formed unit. After some explanation and reasoning with extremely clever six-year-old minds, we closed our eyes, pulled deep breaths in and pushed them back out. Relaxed. Meditative. Calm and focus before learning. Just as Master Ayden and I used to begin each day. Just as I began each of my days since his death. My students would begin school days the same way. At some point later, we would work on the idea of emptying our minds during meditation. For now, there were simply too many bits and pieces of first day jitters to move too quickly.

Not surprisingly, the Pantoran girl, Nepa, took to the idea of meditation faster than the others. As a non-speaker, her senses would be more attuned. I could even feel an essence around her from within the Force. She wasn't Force sensitive, none of the children were. I'd made certain of that with Miss Sanya prior to her choosing students for my first teaching class. The last thing I needed was a six-year-old Force sensitive child spilling the secret that I'd held close for the past eleven years. But I was practiced enough to feel and many times see the Force glide around people, plants, animals and such. All of the children had a glow of course, but Nepa Toth's shone a bit brighter.

After meditation, relaxed minds gathered back to their desks and our day went forward. Six hours was the standard day for the youngest of students.

We talked, we learned, we taught. We had a good day.

The final hour of that day, I'd saved for the children to teach me. To ask me questions. To tell me thoughts. To begin to form our bond as teacher and students. Yes, it wasn't anything like what I'd had with Ayden, and nothing close to what I shared with Ben Kenobi, but as their teacher, I wanted to be someone they felt comfortable with and someone they didn't despise after spending thirty some hours a week with crammed into a small classroom.

Mostly, I wanted to be someone they could trust.

"All right everyone, your turn. For our final hour today, you can ask me anything you want. Anything. I will be honest, but I have to say that I can't promise that I'll be able to tell you everything. There are a few parts of my life that I am unable to share for various reasons, but I want you to get to know me as I get to know you. So, who wants to be first?"

Emer raised a hand. She'd been the most forward of the students today. Eager to ask and answer, even if she didn't quite know the correct response. I appreciated that.

"Emer? Fire away."

"Mr. Tannerlin. Did you grow up on Terra?"

"In part." I treaded carefully, willing to share a story, but I did have to leave certain pieces out and swap a few truths with minor falsehoods. Not only for my protection, but theirs as well. "I came here when I was nine. My father died here. He was my only family then. I guess I was an orphan. But I've been on Terra and here in Kaolin since that age, so eleven years now."

"But, you said you had a brother!" Vren, the Pantoran relaying an unspoken message from his sister. Their bond was remarkable that just a touch and short glance could convey a question for the other to ask. "You do have a brother, right?"

I nodded. "I do. And have since I was nine. My brother, he found me when I was an orphan. He took care of me after that. We were not brothers by blood, but family can be anything you wish it to be. I also have an uncle here on Terra who sort of adopted both me and my brother. They are my family."

The twins accepted the answer but Vren followed up with a question of his own. Interested in the sibling aspect of it all.

"You are close with your brother. Like Nepa and I are close?"

"I am very close with my brother. We still share an apartment together. In fact, he's the one who gave me my pep talk before class today. I woke up this morning very anxious about meeting you all. My brother made sure I was ready for the day. I actually... He saved my life when I was nine. Had he had not come and helped me - I was very sick at the time - I would've died. So, Vren, I understand how you and your sister are. I understand it and I get it. There's one thing I want you to remember though. And it's important. If anyone ever tells you there is something wrong with you and your sister for sharing such a close bond, you do not listen to them. Not ever. All right?"

That seemed to offer him a bit of comfort and even confirmation. I could see behind those yellow eyes that there had been times in the past... those who had either tried to break them apart or who had been overly concerned about the deep sibling bond he and his sister shared.

Having experienced that same reliant attachment with my own brother, even though non-blood - neither Vren nor Nepa would ever get any such condemnation from me.

"What is your favorite subject to teach?" Cree rang in next, blue eyes bright and inquisitive.

"Well, when I was your age, I loved animals and anything that had to do with them. I still do. Zoology is the study of animals. It's always been my favorite subject to learn, and by default, teach. We'll have plenty of animal studies during our free-themed lessons if you'd like."

Nods. All around. That made me smile. I did enjoy an animal friendly class.

"But! I caution you. If you ever meet my brother, animals don't much like him, so you may see him running away screaming like a madman if some tiny little swamp rat looks at him the wrong way."

Laughs. All around. A silly Dashen story never failed.

A serious question next. This one from Nepa on her data-pad.

"Nepa asks me, why did I want to be a teacher?"

The kids wouldn't know, but for me, this was a loaded question.

I even fought to push down a few tendrils of emotion that dared to try and bubble up. There's was one reason above all that I wanted so badly to be a teacher. One reason that remained at the top of the list no matter how many years came and went.

I wanted desperately to follow in Master Ayden's footsteps. I couldn't be a Jedi Master as he had been, but I could teach and share my knowledge, mold young minds and teach children with all of the respect they so deserved. In the process, I could make him proud.

With an assist from the Force, my bubbling emotions stayed in check though I really did want to be as honest as I could with these kids, save for the Jedi specifics.

"My... father, he was a teacher. A good one. The best maybe. To me at least. He taught me to love learning. And I remember watching him and how he worked with children and how much respect they had for him and he for them. I wanted to be that person. I wanted to teach and I wanted learn from teaching. Making him proud, even after his death, was so important to me. It always has been and always will be."

Silence for a moment as I waited for the next question that never came. Instead, something unexpected and amazing happened.

"I'm sorry your father died," Aashi Kralic said. Her face solemn. She meant every syllable of every word.

Honest as the day, these kids were. I loved that about them already. My heart warmed.

"Aashi, thank you. That means a lot. And you know, I still miss him. I miss him every single day."

"He would be glad that you have us to teach. We can help you to make him proud, Mr. Tannerlin."

Damn. Hadn't seen that one coming. Especially when the other four kids then agreed with their classmate. I almost... almost lost it there. The Force held me together again, though I don't know how. Maybe it was Ben and our modest Force bond. Maybe it was Qui-Gon and Ayden pushing from beyond. Couldn't tell, but I did manage to respond back to my kids without bawling my eyes out. If that wasn't a success, nothing was. The worst that happened was the escape of few slight cracks in my voice.

"You kids make me very happy to be your teacher already and it's only been one day. Thank you for accepting me."

A buzzer sound marked the end of day for the Stage One children. First day finished. An emotional wave, sure, but a

wave that left me with the most incredible feelings of joy and happiness. The kids all wished me a good evening and that they'd see me tomorrow.

Nepa stopped at my desk to type something out on her data-pad. She gently tapped me on the top of my hand with the same motion she did with her brother and then pointed to the words on the screen.

"I could never live without my brother." The screen said. "And Vren the same. We are happy you understand us. You cannot live without your brother either. The one who saved you."

Well, she'd nailed that.

"You're right, Nepa. I need my brother as you need yours and they need us just as much. But that's okay, right?"

She nodded forcefully.

"Be proud of that bond. Always. I'll see you tomorrow."

And with that emotional slug in the heart, I packed up and went home.

Pushing into our apartment door, I wasn't surprised to see that brother waiting for me. We were adults now. Both self sufficient, had our own lives outside of home, but Nepa had been correct. I couldn't live without my brother. No matter the age or how much time had passed since he'd rescued a filthy nine-year-old me from that terrifying hole in the wall. There was no path in my life in which Dashen was not a major part.

"Well, Mouse? How'd it go?"

Of course, our bond didn't stop him from annoying me with the nickname that just wouldn't die. It was all right though. His annoying me was one way he told me he loved me without saying it. Same with the nickname.

"Dash, it went amazing!" The smile on my face was big and stupid and I couldn't help myself. "These kids, they are curious and willing and open and honest and they actually like me."

"Tanner, seriously, did you really think they would not like you? Everyone likes you. You're impossible not to like. That's just you. Come'ere."

Dashen stepped forward and wrapped me in the most gigantic of hugs. A turn of events as it was usually me doing the initiating of all the hugging around here. I had been and would always be the hugger in the family, but my big brother was proud of me and couldn't contain it.

Eventually, he held me away. Grabbing my face between his hands and looking me dead in the eye, he told me so. "I am so proud of you, little brother. So damned proud. You know that? You worked your butt off for this. For years. I know it's only one day so far, but you're gonna make some waves in that school. Kids are gonna remember you forever as their favorite teacher. If I'm sure of anything, I'm sure of that."

I felt it now, those sneaky tears that had been trying to surface for a large chunk of the day. No point in fighting them anymore. Dashen knew I was a sucker for moments like this when memories clashed with my current life. He knew the emotional baggage I carried. He carried his own. It's part of what bonded us from the beginning.

"There you go," he said lightly, "Getting all teary again. Making me a proud big brother and, damn it, Tanner!"

I laughed as his own tears started. Seems we were both once and for all nothing more than big old bags of emotional messes. He quickly wiped at his blurry green eyes before leaving a moment to go into my bedroom. Returning, he placed a small piece of brown cloth in my hand. The tear from Master Ayden's robe. The piece of him that I held dear and tight when I needed time to fall into my past.

"He can hear you, right? Ben said. Without you having to be on Tatooine or connected to Ben or his dead teacher? I told you, I still don't understand how or why that works and yeah well... whatever. Whether he can hear you or not, it doesn't matter. Go talk to him. If anyone will be prouder of you than I am, you know it's him. When you finish, you and me and Colton are going to dinner to celebrate. Go on."

With a shove, he pushed me toward my bedroom. He was right. I did need to talk to Master Ayden. He was also right that I had no idea if he would hear me or if he was so wrapped up in training with Qui-Gon that he'd even know I was talking to him.

Ultimately, it mattered not.

In the far corner of my room, I found my place on my meditation mat, under the window. Robe tear in my hand, eyes closed, I breathed in deep.

"Master. I did it. I am officially a teacher. My first day. Five kids in my class. I was everything you always taught me to be. Open. Honest. Treat them with respect. Never speak down to them. Act as if they are the most important person to you at that moment.

I worked so hard for this for so long. You always being the inspiration pushing me to do what I loved. Thank you for that. I hope you are well and learning from Qui-Gon. It's funny, you know, that you are the student now and I am the teacher. Not sure how all that worked out, but I'm happy, Master Ayden. I really am truly happy. And I can't wait until tomorrow when I get to do it all over again and learn and teach and hopefully mold young lives like you did with me."

I paused, then taking a deep settling breath, I wished him goodnight, wiped a sleeve across my eyes and set the cloth back in it's decorative bowl on my nightstand where it had remained for eleven years. Then I hurried from the room to meet Dash and Colton for an evening out.

To celebrate and remember.


END