"You alright?" Raven asked, handing Eeth a towel. Of course he was not going to die, but that would have been a tough swim, even for him.

"Well, I did want a proper workout," Eeth replied wryly to Raven's question and accepted the towel. He was quite exhausted, but it was still within the margins of what he considered acceptable for a non-life-threatening situation.

Jas accepted the towel from Raven, guilt clear on her face. "Thanks for helping me," she said to Eeth, only just managing to hold his gaze for a second before looking away.

"You are welcome," said Eeth neutrally, but his tone of voice indicated that the matter was not closed yet.

He put the towel across his shoulders and said, "Let us take a shower. Raven, you go first."

He had noticed that his padawan was cold, as she frequently was, and despite the fact that the air was still pleasantly warm, he thought she had better rinse herself with hot water and change into proper clothes. He was quite protective of Raven although he did not show it frequently.

Raven inclined her head in response and took off for the shower because, as Eeth had correctly surmised, she was cold from standing around. Still, she would not have left the beach until they were all safely ashore.

Jas dried herself off and slung the towel over her shoulder as Eeth had done. "How can she possibly be cold?" she thought aloud, leaving out the fact that she was putting it down to yet another human feebleness; but it was still quite obvious to Eeth from her tone.

"My padawan has less body mass and a different metabolism from ours," Eeth replied evenly as they started walking towards the cabin, or as evenly as he could while he was still breathing hard from the exertion.

"And yet," he continued, "she is quite obviously a much better swimmer than you are, so lose the condescending tone. I am really not feeling particularly tolerant with your misplaced feelings of superiority. You constantly overestimate yourself and underestimate others. Both are stupid at best and dangerous at worst. Since you pride yourself on your honesty, you might seriously consider acquiring a more realistic outlook."

Given that she had just needed to be bodily towed back to the shore, Jas didn't argue that. She rarely did when the point being made seemed valid to her. She still believed herself to be superior to most, but perhaps not in everything as she had once believed. The trip to the cabin was made without further comments from Jas. She stopped, washed off the sand and put her towel over the outside rack where Raven's was left so that it would dry in the sunshine tomorrow.

The second the door to their cabin was opened, Jas made for the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water; the salty water had made her thirsty and she had swallowed a bit of it on the way out. Wordlessly, she poured a second and handed it to Eeth.

"Thank you," said Eeth, sitting down and sipping his water. His body was feeling the exertion, but that was no more than he had been looking for when planning to swim to the end of the bay. He would be fine after a good night's sleep. Jas's muscles, on the other hand, were going to be quite sore, he suspected.

"Enlighten me," he said, directing a penetrating look at Jas. "What was it that you were trying to accomplish?"

"Raven ordered me to," Jas stated evenly, hoping to deflect any trouble from herself. "Besides, I thought I could make it. You can make it, Raven can make it, so I should be able to make it, too."

"Ridiculous," Eeth said. "This was exactly what I meant when I was talking about misplaced feelings of superiority. And what do you mean, Raven ordered you to? She ordered you to do what, exactly?"

Jas ignored his claims but could not ignore the question. "Raven said that if I could do it, I should go ahead, and to make sure not to lose sight of you." Jas shrugged. "I get in trouble for disobeying." It was a tactic that worked on her peers. Whether or not it worked on Eeth was yet to be seen.

"She told you to go ahead because it was your idea and you insisted that you could do it," said Eeth. "She did not give you an order, she allowed you to carry out your plan. There is a difference. And I am sure you are aware of it."

Of course she was. Jas was simply trying to offload some of the blame and she realised that she was doing a bad job of that.

Raven was just emerging from the shower at this point, already clad in her pyjamas. She could tell that Eeth and Jas were having quite an uncomfortable discussion. She could also guess over what.

"Is it possible that you were lying about Raven having ordered you to make that swim in order to get yourself out of trouble?" Eeth asked Jas. He saw no point in beating around the bush.

Jas went silent and Raven raised her eyebrow, putting the pieces together quickly and curious to see how the initiate would respond to this.

Jas felt like she was watching a speeder wreck unravel in slow motion, but outwardly she appeared cool. "Well, technically you did tell me to do it," she said to Raven.

Raven snorted and pulled her legs up to sit cross-legged. "Technically, I did no such thing. You said you could do it and my master and I thought this might serve as a good object lesson. By the way you are holding yourself, I'd say that was rather successful." Raven was referring to the way Jas was rubbing her arms, the occasional shoulder rolls and slightly pained expression; Jas was sore and rightly so.

"Raven checked this with me," Eeth told Jas. "And given your arrogance, I thought it would do you good to find out for yourself how far that attitude would get you. Obviously, it got you as far as the island, but not back to the shore. I hardly need to point out that under different circumstances, such a miscalculation might be deadly. And the last thing the Council or your mission leader will want to hear from you then is a lie that is meant to deflect the blame."

As Eeth spoke, Jas' frown deepened. She hadn't known Raven had done that! And when he started talking about lying, she lowered her gaze. This was snowballing out of her control! She wanted to cry, run to her bunk and not come out until the mess had blown over, but that was cowardly. Thus, Jus lifted her chin ever so slightly but said nothing.

"At least you are not trying to make excuses," said Eeth. "Go take a hot shower, change into your sleepwear and come back here. Ordinarily, I would have considered your sore muscles punishment enough for your stupidity, but I think your dishonest attempt to get my padawan into trouble in order to get yourself out of it needs stronger consequences."

The look on Jas' face said it all as she turned and ran for the shower without saying a word.

"Master, cut her some slack" Raven protested on the kid's behalf. "She's only ten." Raven didn't know what brand of horror Eeth had in store for the girl, but she was sure it would be suitably unwelcome.

"I know," Eeth replied. "And I am not going to be overly harsh with her. But I think she needs me to be consistent. She knows perfectly well that her behaviour was unacceptable, and there have to be some consequences. I have never let you get away with lying to get out of an unwelcome situation either, no matter what age you were."

Considering that he was still wearing his swim trunks, with no more than a towel draped across his shoulders, he rose and went to change into a pair of pants and a tunic. He was going to take a shower later, but not before he had dealt with Jas.

Raven nodded at Eeth's back as he went to change. She felt for Jas, but she also felt for Eeth. He wasn't a professional disciplinarian, but he was obviously so good at it that he often found himself in that role.

Jas emerged ten minutes later and was surprised to find Eeth fully dressed. She wondered whether he was planning to sleep with sea water and sand all over him. Raven was on the floor, one leg up the wall and the other over her head, a datapad in hand. Jas scrunched up her face. She was certain there was something wrong with that human.

Eeth pushed back the chair on which he was sitting and said without preamble, "Bare your bottom and get over my lap."

Jas's lips drew into a thin line and she stopped well before reaching him. "What for?" she asked, not, wanting to step forward any further. Jas didn't want to go over his lap. It hurt, and she already hurt! Besides, having to pull down her own pants and place herself over his knee willingly was new; it felt like she was inviting it somehow, when this couldn't be further from the truth.

"You know exactly what for," Eeth snapped. "Do you want to compound your troubles by adding disobedience to the list? If you do, you are going about it the right way."

She didn't, but neither did she want to do as he said, and her expression and body language said as much as she inched to his side. She looked over at Raven, but there was little hope that the human would have the courage to petition on her behalf. And why would she? Jas thought; it was not like she would have stood up for Raven if their roles were reversed.

"Master," Raven said, with a pleading note to her voice. That was the extent of her protest, but it came more than unexpected to Jas.

"Padawan, she deserves this," Eeth said, a hint of a warning in his voice. "Jas, do as I told you."

Raven recognised that there was nothing more she could do. She inclined her head, went to her bed, stuffed earphones in her ears and started working on an assignment that Eeth had given her.

Jas watched Raven's every step, discovering a newfound respect for the padawan, if only for a moment, because as she looked at Eeth, she wished that Raven had been a bit braver and had fought harder for her. Humans, that was the problem, thought Jas as she moved to Eeth's side and pushed her pyjama shorts to her knees, leaving her bare. She folded her arms across her chest tightly, her expression deadpan.

Eeth raised his eyebrows. "I was only going to use my hand," he said, "but your behaviour is making me reconsider."

He grabbed Jas by the shoulders and tilted her over his knees. "Padawan?" he asked through their bond. "Could you fetch me my small paddle? I left it on my bedside table."

Raven flung the leg that was up the wall over her head and rolled off her bed to do as Eeth had asked. She gave him a sceptical look when she handed him the paddle, wondering what Jas had done to earn the upgrade, but did not ask and simply went back to her bed to work on her assignment.

Meanwhile, Jas was struggling in Eeth's hold, which was very unlike her. "Wait, what! Why?" Jas complained when she saw Raven coming with the paddle. Both hands came back to cover her backside, because as brave as she was, the girl was overtired, physically exhausted, sore and her backside had barely recovered from the last punishment.

"I told you to get over my lap," said Eeth. "I do not like to repeat myself. When I give you an order, I expect your full compliance."

Eeth calmly and firmly took Jas's hands in his left and pinned them to the small of her back, and then he dealt out a dozen rapid swats. They were hard enough to be felt, but not as hard as they could have been. He was aware of the girl's fatigue and he had no desire to be cruel. But there were some things that he simply could not let her get away with.

When the dozen was completed, he laid the paddle onto the table and released his hold on Jas.

The first six were borne stoically; the last six, however, yeah, not so much. Still, Jas forbore to kick and scream, and as he released his hold, she quickly got to her feet and pulled up her shorts. That had hurt – not horribly so and not nearly as badly as the last time, but it still hurt. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears and she looked at his feet in an effort to keep him from seeing.

Just like he had the last time, Eeth gently took hold of Jas' chin, tilted her head upwards and cleaned up her face, this time with a napkin that had been lying on the table. A slight sniffle escaped Jas as he did this, not from any horrible pain, but because she was tired, sore and missed the comfort of familiarity.

"Tomorrow morning, we will talk about whether you learned anything from this," Eeth said quietly. "For now, I think you need to sleep. Brush your teeth. Then I will meditate with you for a few minutes, after which you will turn in."

Jas knew she had deserved this punishment, which was why she didn't want to talk about it in the morning. Wordlessly, she turned and ran for the refresher where she buried her face in a towel and allowed herself to cry.

Jas was shielding, and doing quite a good job of it, but she was still only ten and there was only so much she could conceal from two Jedi.

Raven blew the fringe from her face and tilted her head backwards to look at Eeth. His duty was not an easy one. He wasn't a cruel man, not at all, and having to consistently pull the kid into line would be taxing.

"Want me to take Jas through evening meditation and bed?" she asked across their bond. Raven didn't doubt that Eeth could handle this, but she did want to give him the option to get some air and take some time to himself if he wanted it.

Eeth considered this.

"One of us should try to offer her some comfort," he replied. "And she might have an easier time accepting it from you than from me."

Raven actually snorted aloud at receiving that message. "You're joking, right?" she sent back. "Jas hates me. She admires you. Then again, she might not be too happy with you at the moment. It might be an opportunity for me to try and reach out to her."

"She does not hate you," Eeth sent back. He was quite certain of that. Jas did, however, continue to look down on Raven, but he believed they would yet be able to shatter her conviction that humans were weak and inferior.

"Go ahead," he told Raven. "I will come and say goodnight to her when you are done."

After all, he did not want to convey the impression that he did not want to have any more to do with Jas.

Raven knocked on the refresher door once and entered to find Jas stumbling to stand. Apparently she had been sitting on the floor and, by the look of her red-rimmed eyes, crying.

Jas immediately strengthened her shields, so much so that Raven was now unable to sense her emotions at all. "Impressive," Raven commented nonchalantly, taking a seat on the laundry bin. "If you put as much effort into improving your attitude as you did protecting your pride, you might start making some serious progress."

Jas tried to glare at her but she was overtired, and the expression came across as nothing more than a sullen pout. "And what would you know of it?"

"More than you think." Raven gestured towards the sink. "Brush your teeth, please."

When Jas did as she was told, Raven continued. "You're not the only person to have struggled with the Order's expectations, you know. The subjugation of oneself to a higher authority does not come naturally to us all. I, for one, struggled, and had my master not been the person he is, it would have cost me my goal." When Jas spat the last of her toothpaste into the sink, Raven took her brush from the benchtop and gestured towards the girl's bed.

Their meditation was strained, albeit thankfully void of major complications; after all, Raven had dealt with a lot stronger than Jas in her time and lived to tell the tale. When they finished, Raven opened her eyes and gestured with the brush that the girl sit between her legs.

Jas frowned. "I don't need coddling. I'm not a baby, you know."

"No, you're not a baby, you are ten years old, as I've heard you remind us ad nauseam." Raven smiled just a little bit at that, then beckoned her over once again. "C'mon. It will be easier to manage in the morning if we get the knots out now. Besides, it's nice to have someone do your hair for you, don't you think?"

Jas shrugged but sat where bade. It did feel good to have Raven do her hair yet she simply couldn't bring herself to say as much.

When Eeth entered five minutes later, showered and dressed in his pyjamas, Raven was just working on the last strand of hair, and Jas was struggling with all her might to keep her eyes open.

Eeth waited until Raven had finished and then came to tuck Jas in.

"Sleep," he said quite gently. "Things will look brighter tomorrow."

And indeed, the clouds had completely gone and the sun was shining from a blue sky by the time Eeth awoke, well before anyone else. He decided to make use of the large variety of tropical fruit at their disposal to prepare a fruit salad, and some pancakes to go along with it.

Raven was first to join him. "Morning, master," she greeted him and offered a bow. She was clad in a well-worn training uniform and her long hair was brushed and hung untied. As she sat at the table to do her padawan braid, she could sense that Jas was still fast asleep. The kid had remained out for the count the second she lay down the previous night despite the fact that both Raven and Eeth were still moving about the cabin. Well, if Jas had not learned a lesson from that swim, Raven would be very surprised.

Eeth, too, hoped that Jas had learned from last night's ordeal. He also hoped that she would manage to get through a full day without earning some punishment for once because, strict though he might be, he much preferred it if there was no need for him to be so.

Half an hour later, when he started baking the pancakes, he asked Raven to wake Jas.

"If she does not get up soon, her pancakes will be cold," he said.

Knowing how much Jas would hate to miss out on her breakfast, Raven made for the girl's bunk and gently shook her awake.

"Alright already, keep your tunic on," Jas groaned, rolling off her bunk and scrubbing at tired eyes. That was until the smell of pancakes filled her nostrils and she made a break for the kitchen.

"Not so fast," said Raven, grabbing her by her arm. "You are not eating breakfast in your underpants." Raven did have to wonder what had happened to the kids shorts and singlet but assumed it had simply been too hot for her and she'd taken them off during the night. "Shower, change into a training uniform and unravel those braids."

"What the hell for?" Jas asked, and she really did want to know!

"Firstly, because I told you to, and, unlike the stunt you pulled yesterday, that really is an order. Secondly, because if you show up at the table in your underpants with your hair like this, my master will send you right back to make yourself presentable. He did tell you how he felt about manners and presentation. Hmm?"

Jas frowned but didn't complain. Eight minutes later she practically skidded into the dining area, clad in a clean, albeit crumpled tunic. Her hair was damp, yet brushed out well. "Whatever it is, can I have two?" she said in way of greeting. Whatever they had made smelled better than anything she had had in the crèche.

"I daresay you may have as many as you like," Eeth said mildly, pointing to a sizable stack of pancakes that was already sitting on the table. There was a bowl of whipped cream, too, plus the fruit salad he had prepared.

"Serve yourselves," he told both Raven and Jas, flipping the second last pancake over.

"Thanks for making breakfast," Raven told Eeth as she stabbed a pancake with her fork and added some fruit.

Meanwhile, Jas piled her plate with four pancakes and then went right for the cream. This was amazing! she thought.

"You are welcome," Eeth said, giving Raven a brief smile. He enjoyed cooking and was glad to have the time for it. Besides, the fruit on Coruscant were nothing compared to the fresh, tropical products available on Borleias, including those hanging on the trees in their yard. Many decades after having left Nar Shaddaa behind, Eeth still was acutely aware of the value of good food.

"I will take over Jas' lessons today," he said to Raven. "You are free to do as you like."

"With your permission, I might go and take a look around the zoo. I'm curious to see what sort of wildlife was kept in captivity here and if any of it is Force-sensitive."

"Of course," said Eeth. "If you are going to be back later than seven, call me."

The pancakes were delicious so Jas had no problem eating her four. She finished before Eeth noticing that Raven had been finished for quite some time and was still sitting there. Waiting for everyone to finish before leaving the table had to be the stupidest rule she had ever heard, Jas thought, although the padawan didn't seem to mind. She just talked about their plans for the day.

"When are we going to the jungle?" Jas asked when Raven paused to take a sip of her drink. That human could really talk! Which was somewhat ironic, considering that Eeth didn't seem to be the chatty type.

Eeth gave her a thoughtful look. "I think," he said after a pause, "your behaviour last night does not warrant a reward. If you manage to behave better today, we might take the trip tomorrow. How are your muscles feeling?"

Jas shrugged to suppress her disappointment, her expression nonchalant. She wasn't about to humiliate herself by allowing him to know how much she had been looking forward to that trip. Instead, she pretended that her question hadn't been asked while picking at the tablecloth. "Stiff," she answered.

"Take another hot shower now," Eeth advised her. "I will give you a massage and we will put in some stretching exercises before our workout. It will help a little, but it will take a day or two until the soreness and stiffness are completely gone. During the massage, I will want to talk to you about the insights you might have gained from last night's events, so you might think about that during your shower."

The second he excused her, Jas was on her feet. She wasn't nearly as fidgety as Raven had been, but she was ten and sitting around idle was a bit of a chore for her.

When Eeth had finished, Raven stood, took their plates and started cleaning up. "I'm off," she said a few minutes later, shouldering her pack. She might have run to the zoo had it not been so hot, but doing so would render the padawan a sweating mess.

Eeth nodded at her to go ahead, giving her a quick smile. "May the Force be with you, padawan," he said.

When Jas emerged from the shower, Eeth told her to lie down on her bed. He drew up a stool next to it and started kneading her leg muscles, starting with the right calf and working his way upwards.

"And your insights would be?" he inquired.

Jas buried her face in the pillow. It wasn't horribly painful but nor was this comfortable; she was sore. And now he wanted insights! What sort of a question was that, anyway? She had already thought that the first time he had asked, and now that it was time to give an answer, Jas didn't really have one.

"I don't know," she complained. "How am I meant to answer that? What do you wanna hear, that I thought I could do it but wasn't strong enough and failed? That getting caught out trying to pin it on Raven meant that you spanked me?"

"No," said Eeth. "I assume you are intelligent enough to understand what you have been punished for. I expected you to think about yourself. What attitude, or what personality traits cause you to get in trouble time and again? How are they jeopardising your career and your safety? And most importantly, what can you do to change them?"

Jas shifted a bit as he moved up towards her shoulders and arms as those areas hurt the most. She didn't know what to say to his questions. Had she thought about the reason she pissed people off with the way she was? Of course she had. On good days, when she was being very honest with herself, Jas was starting to suspect that she had built up this tough façade because she was afraid of rejection, afraid of not being chosen as a padawan, of not being liked; if she beat them to the punch, then she saved face and that was more important to her than it ought to be. The initiate knew the mantra… Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate and hate leads to suffering. Jas was angry; it showed in her ruby blade. She wasn't hateful, just… Jas frowned at that thought and her walls came up. This was too hard to think about yet she had to come up with something. "I'm overconfident and I don't like being told what to do all the time. I could try to work on that," she told him, hoping that would be enough to make him drop this.

Eeth could sense her shields slamming up. She had issues that she did not want anyone to know about, and that was why she had given him the rote response. He could relate to that; he had been much the same. Only his master had managed to see what was behind that façade. Jas could not afford to wait until she might find a master, though, because if she kept up her behaviour, that might never happen.

"I know that, and I know that you know it, too," he told Jas. "But it was not what I was asking for. I want to know what is at the root of your behaviour. And I am fairly certain that you have ideas about it that you do not want to think too hard about, let alone divulge. That is unacceptable."

"I don't care if you want to know or if you think it's unacceptable. I'm not ready to talk about it. That's personal, and it's up to me." Jas replied, carelessly confirming that Eeth was correct in his assumption.

"I think," said Eeth calmly, "what you really mean is, you are afraid to talk about it. A dangerous sentiment to indulge. Unless you work up the courage to overcome it, it will defeat you. I will not force you to open up, for now. But you are not doing yourself any favours."

That comment scared Jas – another emotion that she knew too well didn't belong in the life of a Jedi. She buried her head deeper in the pillow. This was something she didn't want to face. But what if Eeth was right? What if not facing it meant she would be defeated? Jas didn't like the sound of that. For now, though, Jas tried to internalise the whole mess and simply lay there. When he was done, she stood stiffly and started rubbing at her muscles. "Thank you," she said softly, and she meant it. Jas was sore and knew that he had helped with that.

"You are welcome," Eeth said gently. "Think about what I told you and ask yourself whether you have the courage to face your fears. Personally, I think you do; but it will require you to make up your mind and set your priorities straight. Now let us get started on your lessons."

Uncharacteristically cowed, Jas fetched her datapad and came back to the table where Eeth was now sitting. She made to tell him that she was going outside to work, only to stop and rethink her wording. So far, anything asked politely had been granted and she didn't think it was an unreasonable request. "I want to work outside. Will you let me? Please?" she said.

The fact that Jas had thought about how to phrase her question politely had not escaped Eeth. Nor did he have any reason to deny the request.

"Of course," he said quite pleasantly, rose and went outside. The sky was blue today; it was not going to rain any time soon.

A slight grin on her face, Jas took off out the door at a dead run, heading for the benches, sat and got started. The work was well within her capabilities, yet she found herself struggling to concentrate because her thoughts kept returning to Eeth's words. Was she really a coward? Maybe with regard to facing her fears, she was. Facing that sort of challenge was far harder for her than any physical test. She tried to suppress the thought but with little success.

An hour or so later, she pushed the pad away and scrubbed at her eyes. "Done," she said, standing to stretch. "Can I go do something else? Please?" Jas was sick of classwork.

"Let me check this first," Eeth said. "Then we can take a walk before you resume your lessons. I would really like you to get through them during the morning because your muscles will be in better shape for a workout by the afternoon."

"Fine," said Jas, huffing and slid the pad for him to look at. "You do know that I can be left unsupervised, right? I'm not going to do anything crazy, I'm not …" Jas stopped just in time before saying "a stupid human," but thankfully she managed to replace it with: "… a baby."

"Yes, I am aware of that," Eeth said, raising his eyebrows at her. "And your point would be? Is there anything in particular that you would like to do, unsupervised?"

Jas looked at him as though the man were insane. "Be unsupervised, that's the entire point! How would it make you feel if you only got a tiny moment to be by yourself each day? And even that time is conditional: don't go out of sight, don't do this, don't do that."

"I would probably feel like an initiate," Eeth replied, unmoved. "Do you have so much unsupervised time at the Temple that this suddenly strikes you as a huge problem?"

Jas didn't have an answer for that so she just glared. The truth was that she didn't, although one-on-one attention felt far more stifling than the group focus she was accustomed to receiving. "Whatever," she said. "If I must be supervised every moment of my time, can we go for a walk, then?"

"We may," said Eeth, "but lose the 'whatever' responses. I do not want to hear them. Nor is there any need to pretend that you do not care when you clearly care enough to have brought up the issue in the first place."

He took Jas to the beach and showed her how to fish. They were quite successful and thus, after they had gone through Basic and maths lessons, prepared two large fish on the barbecue outside the hut.

After that, Eeth took Jas through a lengthy warm-up and stretching session. Then they had a workout in the jungle, a short way off the hut, where he taught Jas some ways to make use of her natural environment. When they returned, Eeth had Jas practise cushioning falls for an hour. By the time they were finished, it was half past five.

"You may have some time to yourself now," Eeth told Jas. "Dinner will be in about an hour. Please do not move out of sight of the cabin."

Jas forbore to roll her eyes at that instruction. What did he think was going to happen if she lost sight of their cabin? Did he think she would get lost? Or didn't he trust her? The latter thought garnered a frown but then, she had to admit that she hadn't exactly given him much reason to trust her so far. Thus, Jas bolted across the open yard without comment or complaint.

She wandered around looking at ants, playing with crabs and climbing trees for a while. When that became boring, she started rolling down the sand dunes. Again, it felt kinda hollow without someone to play with, and thus, Jas sat down on a sand dune and stared out at the ocean.

At that moment, Raven pulled up at their cabin carrying a bag of supplies. When she stepped from the cab, she noticed Jas sitting slumped, elbows on her knees, chin resting in her hands and once again covered from head to toe in sand. "Free time is a luxury. I would hardly waste it sitting around. You have to do that far too often as an initiate as it is," Raven said, putting down the bag and sitting down beside her. She pulled the tie from her hair. Force! did that feel good.

"You'll get sand in your tunic, and in your hair! … Hypocrite," mumbled Jas.

"Don't start being a smartass, you're talking to the universal expert."

"Yeah, sure you are," Jas muttered, continuing to stare out at the horizon.

"Well, technically you're right there, I'm not really," said Raven. "Flynt is the penultimate at any and all things smartassery, and the current universal expert."

"Flynt? He's Lakhri's padawan, the one with the mechanical arm who drank alcohol and almost fried some guy trying to light a fuse?"

"That would be him, yes." Raven had been telling Jas stories wherever the conversation allowed for it in an effort at building some sort of relationship. She took her by the arm and pulled her back to lie with her. They stared up at the darkening sky, neither speaking for several minutes until Jas pointed to a bright orange sparkle that had just become visible in the waning light. "That wasn't there yesterday."

"Oh, it was," Raven replied and covered a yawn. "It was still behind the clouds. We're lucky enough to get a cabin on the very edge of Delta Beach, which, despite the location's lack of prestige, gives us a far clearer view of the night sky than if we were at one of the tourist resorts."

Jas blew out a long breath that sounded far too adult for her ten-year-old self and then fell silent.

The two lay there for a long time, until the sky had darkened another shade and some of the smaller stars were starting to become visible. "Which way is home, I mean Coruscant?" Jas asked. It was rather unlike her to initiate conversation with the human padawan but she was starting to think that Raven wasn't so bad.

"You can always tell if you put your hand like this," said Raven, grabbing the girl's hand and prising her fingers apart to make the correct shape. "As Pyria sets, it's that far to the left. Don't use that for technical navigation. It gives you an idea, is all."

"Cool." And Jas actually thought that was cool.

At this point, Eeth called them for dinner. He had made a salad from the remains of the fish they had grilled for lunch, baked fresh bread, prepared roast vegetable skewers and a creamy sauce with herbs.

"How was your day?" he asked Raven when she and Jas had cleaned themselves up and came inside.

"Productive," replied Raven, putting the bag of supplies on the counter and starting to unpack them. "It seems they are having some problems with the local imooda population. The Borleian government has established a sanctuary in the jungle so, with your permission, I should stop in and see if there is anything I can do to help."

"Of course," said Eeth. "By all means find out what the problem is and if you, or the Jedi in general, can do anything to help."

He handed her the plate of vegetable skewers and asked, "Are you up for a swim after dinner?"

"I'm up for it," replied Raven. Jas could be heard sighing from her bunk.

"Good," said Eeth, ignoring Jas' sigh. "Then let us have dinner."

Dinner was uneventful, albeit delicious as usual. Jas did grumble a little at being asked to do the dishes for the second night in a row, but complied after no more than a look from Eeth. She was not looking forward to the swim. She hated the water and the salt made her feel icky.

"I really don't feel well," she said. "Can I lie down and take a nap? I don't want to make it worse." It was worth a try, she thought.

"You," said Eeth, "are coming. And if you dispense with silly attempts to prove yourself, you will be just fine."

"Well, I hate it," she informed him, as if this would make a difference, and in a huff walked off to find her swimsuit.

"Don't feel so bad," Raven said to Jas' retreating form. "That one never worked for me either."

"Nor should it," said Eeth. "If we always limited ourselves to doing the things we like, we would never make progress."

This time, he managed to swim ahead without Jas trying to race him, and they returned home early enough for Jas to have a little more free time. All in all, Eeth thought, the day had gone quite well.

The next morning, he said, "I need to reply to a message I received tonight. Jas, you may have an hour to yourself. After that, we will set off for the jungle."

Jas was thrilled to hear about their trip yet she did not let on. Instead, she was out the door in a blur, quite literally, heading right for the dunes.

Raven smiled. "Do you need me to stick around or can I check out the sanctuary?" she asked. The truth was that Raven also wanted to visit the jungle with Eeth and Jas. However, she knew what Eeth would think about that choice, even if he wouldn't have stopped her. 'Duty first, padawan,' his voice echoed in her head. It was a lesson Raven had picked up and by now it happened without thought. Mostly.

"You may visit the sanctuary," said Eeth, giving her an approving nod.

"I'll go change, then," she said. Half an hour later, she left their cabin, just as Jas was bolting back in. "Hey, where's the fire?" Raven said, having almost been taken out . Shaking her head, she left her master to deal with Jas for the day and jumped in the cab that just pulled up outside.

"It's been half an hour," Jas said, trying but failing to look like she hadn't been checking the time through their window every couple of minutes.

Eeth nodded and made to get up from his chair but right then, his comlink started beeping urgently. He looked at it and frowned.

"I have to take this call," he said to Jas. "Please wait a moment."

He pressed a button and the hologram of Mace Windu appeared before him, a sight that Raven had come to dread in earlier years because it more often than not meant that they would have to cancel whatever plans they had made.

And indeed, Mace said, "Eeth, I am sorry, but a crisis has broken out on a planet called Mahau. You're the only person on the Council who has ever been there."

"Once, as a knight," said Eeth. "I doubt that my knowledge is very pertinent. It is most likely outdated. Is there no other person at the Temple who has been there more recently?"

"No, because the planet has pursued an isolationist policy for the last twenty years," said Mace. "The information we have received is confusing and it is hard for us to understand what is going on without having a clearer idea of the social tensions underlying the situation. Your time on Mahau might date back several decades but you spent eight months there; you must have learned things that are still valuable. We need your input. The Senate wants to know by tonight whether to withdraw their diplomatic staff. There will be a Council meeting in an hour and we need you to attend remotely."

Heaving an internal sigh, Eeth said, "Alright. I will be there."

"Thank you," said Mace, ending the transmission.

Eeth turned to Jas and said with genuine regret, "I am sorry, initiate. I am afraid we have to postpone our trip to the jungle. We will do it tomorrow."

"You have to be joking!" exclaimed Jas. "You said yourself your information is outdated! No! This is not fair, I have been waiting all this time and still something else comes up!" Jas was mad and with good reason, if you asked her.

"Yes, and I am sorry for that, but there is nothing I can do about it," said Eeth calmly and firmly. "Duty comes first. And so do orders."

"Fine. You do your duty, I'll go to the jungle by myself!" Jas shouted.

"Stop the tantrum," Eeth said. "We are not going today, and you are not going on your own either."

"I'M. NOT. HAVING. A TANTRUM!" Jas bellowed. The stress of the last week and the news that, once again, they weren't going on the trip she had looked forward to so much were getting the better of her. "This isn't fair!"

Eeth's eyes narrowed. He felt sorely tempted to swat her, but then, she was ten years old and had just experienced a major disappointment. Given the circumstances, it was to be expected that she would have difficulties mastering her emotions. Still, the Jedi were taught from an early age to strive to control themselves.

"Pull yourself together," he ordered. "You are throwing a tantrum, and that is not the way we deal with our emotions. If you cannot get a handle on them, ask for help."

"I DO NOT NEED your HELP!" With that, Jas turned and ran for their cabin. She was seething mad, really seething fucking mad. She headed to her bed where she proceeded to do another thing she had never done willingly in the presence of others: she cried.