Chapter 28: A Long Time
Plo Koon took his turn to stand and relay his report to his fellow council members. That report wasn't on the relief mission he'd just come back from but instead his Padawan and her progress. It was mainly in relation to when she would be knighted and eventually leave his care. He didn't want her to leave, obviously. She'd be off with her own life and wouldn't be able to stay with the wolfpack. They were the reason she'd gotten better and if she was separated too early then she could regress to how she'd been before. Though, she was getting to the point where she likely wouldn't.
Plo's other reason was somewhat selfish and something he had no joy in admitting to himself. Even before she became his Padawan, she was one of his children. He had his whole battalion to father now, but it was a little different. Maybe her not being a human played into it a bit. He had nothing but joy when Bultar was knighted. Again, it could be the circumstances, there was no war when his human daughter was entering her trials. When she was elevated, there was no gifting of a new war-title or loyal men created to die. Not that Bultar was ready for it as an already established Knight, but he held a little more concern toward Doryn leading men than he ever had considered for Bultar in the same circumstance.
Still, there were things she wasn't quite ready for on the traditional Jedi side of things either. She'd had the red crystal for about two months but made little progress. If anything, she ignored the crystal but worked with the geranium he'd given her. He'd started to think some days before that that it was a pointless gift. The Force had answered his question.
"Padawan Ror has made much progress. It is my belief that in the coming months she will be prepared for her trials." He'd told them lots, how her recklessness had decreased greatly. How she'd come to peace with the fact Master Tassu was dead, something even some Knights well into adulthood struggled with. There were things he didn't include, of course. Like the crush Ryn had on Wolffe and how close she'd gotten to the clones generally. He looked around at his fellow council members both in flesh and through holo-transmission. Ki-Adi Mundi, the man with 4 wives. Kit Fisto, madly in love with another Jedi. Shaak Ti, mother of the clones. Luminara Unduli, deeply connected to her home world. Yoda, Master of the separatist leader. Obi-wan Kenobi, the one who's capture had started this whole war. Mace Windu, who'd crafted a form so close to the darkness. All of them, imperfect Jedi, yet none of them would knight a Jedi like themselves. It wasn't like Plo was any different. He felt that so many were his children and let himself be attached to each.
He knew the rules, only tell the council about her triumphs. About all those successful missions. About her ability to lead the men. Worryingly, more about how she'd be a good General instead of a Knight. It wasn't like the council hadn't been prepared to knight her before she came to Plo. With the war, more Generals were needed. More Knights. Ryn turning it down and opting for proper trials wasn't very welcome but, in the end, had been the right choice for her. If the council hadn't brushed her off as a grieving kid, maybe it could've been a good reminder that these traditions had served the Order for generations and didn't need changing.
If her failure held no consequence, they would likely send her tomorrow. Mundi and Mace had tried to mitigate that consequence by suggesting her trials be when the Wolfpack, including him, were on a mission. Koth, acting more like a Cerean than Mundi ever had, tried to find a middle ground in suggesting that such traditions as risking the Master's life were not designed with the consideration of a council member having a Padawan. Yoda and Ti understood why he needed to do it.
The debate on the decision he'd already made took a long time. He spent this time silently standing. Even if Yoda hadn't stepped in and reminded the high council of the tradition they were meant to uphold, Plo would've still done it. She deserved it as much as any other Padawan. She deserved her trials like every Jedi who'd gotten to be knighted in peacetimes.
Yoda's two sentence lecture had brought the debate to a speedy end and now the next discussion was a separatist push in the Calamari system and Iceberg Three, home of a republic outpost.
