Archive of Our Own ^beta

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          Mace Windu resisted the urge to massage his temple. He absolutely hated full council days, which consisted of eight to ten hours of listening to his peers bicker about trivial things like how refectory hall 3A served fish too often. Speaking of food, it was almost mid-meal, and the refectory hall on level five was serving a coco-cake that paired wonderfully with his favorite golden bud blend of tea. Judging by the looks on some of his fellow councilor's faces, it seemed he wasn't the only one counting the minutes until it was time to call a break.

          "<I vote we table this discussion and re-adjourn in a few hours.>" Master Trvvokya said, interrupting Madam Nu's rather one-sided argument about the number of books that masters and knights could check out of the archives at a single time.

          "I second," Mace quickly tacked on before an argument could erupt about whether or not they should adjourn. A few seconds and a short vote later and Mace's wishful thinking about cake, tea, and a few quiet hours in his rooms were about to become a reality. As the council began to leave the room, they paused as a peculiar yet intense feeling overcame the Force. Mace was debating making a quick exit before a new debate could open upon whether they should discuss this new feeling, only to turn and see a togruta falling from a rift in the air. Mace and several others reached out to stop the person's fall. Still, Mace must have not been the only one suffering from shock because the female (and he could see now the togruta was a female) landed on her back in the center of the council chamber with a rather resounding thud.

          Above them, a convor was flying in lazy circles around the ceiling. The togruta let out a groan and what sounded like a series of curses in a language that Mace couldn't quite place. Her gray tunic and leggings were covered in dirt, and the mishmash of armor strapped to different parts of her body had scorch marks in several places. However, what drew his attention the most were the two curved lightsaber hilts clipped to her utility belt and the plethora of shatterpoints around her. Mace could already feel a headache coming on just thinking about even one of those shatterpoints breaking.

          As one of the masters closest to her and not sensing any danger in the Force, Mace cautiously moved towards her, but as soon as he took a single step in her direction, she launched herself off the ground and drew, but did not ignite, her lightsabers.
         

          "What is this?" the woman hissed with her teeth bared. Her fierce glare was solely on him, but her lekku twitched in a way that let him know that she was studying the room and the group of masters in front of her.

          "You're the one who just appeared out of thin air into a secure location; why don't you tell us?" Saase Tiin asked a little tersely. The woman finally drew her attention away from Mace and glanced around the room before staring at the convor. She relaxed from her battle stance and held out an arm as the bird flew down and landed on her shoulder.

          "Well," she said, re-attaching her sabers to her belt as the bird hopped up her arm, giving one final flap before landing in between the torgruta's montrals, "I believe I have either time-traveled or entered an alternate and/or parallel universe." She finished rather matter of factly.

          Mace had never known the council chamber to be so quiet, and he had never felt that much pain as her statement caused a considerable amount of shatterpoints to explode at her comment. Gripping his head, he heard one of the other masters begin to question the unknown female.

          "I'm sorry, what?"

          "It's the logical conclusion considering I was just running for my life away from my least favorite Sith and into a mysterious portal," the togruta said, plopping down into one of the empty council chairs.

          "What?!"

          "The Sith have been gone for a thousand years!"

          "How is time travel a logical conclusion for any situation?"

          "Who cares about time travel? How did dimensional travel come up!?"

          "Your name, what is?"

          "Ah, easy question first," The woman said, cutting off the barrage of questions, "My name is Ahsoka Tano, and this is Morai," the newly named Ahsoka noted as the convour flapped its wings before settling back down. "Next question, obviously, looking at the situation logically, it is simple to deduce using the process of elimination that I have time traveled or traveled to an alternate universe. If I were dead, why would my reception into the afterlife be a bunch of Jedi masters in my least favorite room in the temple? Especially considering that I don't even know half of you, a quarter of you have had, let's say... disagreements with me and my lineage, and the rest of you… well…" She trailed off for a second, staring out the window, lost in thought, before she snapped back to attention, "Yeah, no need to pick fights for things that have yet to happen. Anyway, it just doesn't make any sense to me, not to mention I thought becoming one with the Force would get rid of all my aches and pains. I did briefly consider that this was some kind of new interrogation method used by the Sith. If this is a vision or a mindscape, they did an excellent job on the detail and made sure the edges weren't blurry. Still, I would hope that Vader would be familiar enough with me to know that you are not people I would inherently trust, and this is not a place I would feel comfortable. So that just leaves crazy Force osik, as my vode used to say, that defies the natural laws of physics. Unless Vader is doing reverse psychology by making the mindscape something so unfathomable that I would dismiss it as an interrogation…."

          Mace, having recovered a bit from the shatterpoints, but Ahsoka's rambling was adding a whole new type of headache. Still, it felt like they were missing a significant detail despite her rambling, and he had a foreboding sense that his headache was about to get worse, "You were running from a Sith?"

          "Yes."

          "A Sith? Not a Dark Jedi?"

          "Yes."

          "Your least favorite Sith implying that you know multiple people proclaiming themselves to be Siths?"

          "You could definitely say that."

          "How many Sith do you know?"

          "That depends. Do you want me to count the Sith acolytes or just those who've held the title Darth? And what's your policy on Sith that have given up or "lost" the title Darth before I met them? Do they count as Sith or Dark Jedi? What about someone who's been apprenticed to a Sith with the title Darth but didn't carry the title Darth themself? Also, while we're at it, should we group someone who is not technically a Sith but has received combat training from a Sith and wields the lightsabers of all the Jedi he's slain? Do you want just the Sith I've personally met and/or fought, or do you want how many I know of?"

          "Have much to discuss, I sense. Retake our seats, I suggest," Yoda said, walking back to his chair. As Mace made his way back to his seat, he reached into one of his inner pockets and pulled out a bottle of pain medicine. It looked like he wouldn't be getting his cake and tea any time soon.

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          Ahsoka sighed as she stood from the chair that was painfully comfortable for her sore muscles. This was the perfect thing to add to her day. First, there was her fight with Vader, which almost ended with her death. Then, fighting off and running from Sidious. Finally, she had to play twenty questions with the Jedi Council. Sure it wasn't the same one that kicked her from the order for something she didn't do and then refused to apologize when they were proved wrong, but it also lacked the familiar presence of her grandmaster and Master Plo, who she knew would be more understanding.

          As she moved to the center of the council room, she decided to be a little petty by not standing directly in the center of the room as proper protocol dictated. Instead, she stood exactly one step back and one step to the left. It was just enough to irk the more traditional masters, but it wasn't a big enough deal for them to throw a fit about her being "disrespectful ."After all, She was her master's padawan, and besides, what kind of learner would she be if she didn't take all of her master's and grandmaster's teaching to heart. But the happy memories were quickly overshadowed by the thought of her master and the encounter she had with Vader only hours ago.

          "Master Tano," Master Windu started to say before she cut him off.

          "Not a Master."

          "Apologies, Knight Tano…"

          "Not a Knight."

          "You are too old to be a padawan, so you must be either a knight or a master unless you are lying about who you are!" Master Yarael Poof said.

          "First, I never said anything about who I was other than my name and that I am a time-traveling Sith fighter. Second, this is exactly the closed-minded thinking that caused me to leave the Jedi Order," Ahsoka said with crossed arms.

          "<Young-one, why did you leave the order?>" The Wookie master that Ahsoka did not recognize asked. Ahsoka sighed, uncrossing her arms.

          "When I was a padawan, a fallen knight bombed the temple, killing and wounding over twenty people. She framed me for her crime, and instead of getting my rightful trial with the Council of Reconciliation, the High Council gave me a trial that lasted all of five minutes. I was considered guilty and tossed from the order to have a trial within the senate."

          "Why would the senate give you a trial? The crime was committed by a Jedi on Jedi property?" Madam Nu asked her.

          "At the time, the galaxy was at war, and the Jedi were conscripted into the Grand Army of the Republic as Generals and Commanders. As a padawan, I automatically received the title of Commander. Because the bombing killed civilians as well as our troops, people were calling for my head, and in order for me to receive a trial with the military tribunal, I had to be expelled from the Jedi Order."

          "This can't be! Jedi are peacekeepers, not soldiers!" Master Oppo Rancisis shouted

          "We're supposed to be… Anyway, I was expelled, went on the run from the authorities, got caught, and then got my trial in the senate. Luckily my master never lost faith in me, and he found the true culprit and brought them in right before I was about to be declared guilty and most likely sentenced to death. Afterwards, the council simply stated that this must have been a trial of the Force and that they would knight me. I received one apology from someone I am sure was one of the few dissenting voters, and that was it. I lost my faith in the order. I always wanted to be a Jedi, but I could no longer be a Jedi of the order. So I left, and I probably learned as much about what it meant to be a Jedi in that brief time than I did in the three years I had been a padawan."

          Ahsoka could feel the shock and outrage of several of the masters in the Force. Everything about her story painted a terrible picture of the future of the Jedi order, from actively participating in combat to trying to knight someone who had only been a padawan for three years. At this point in time, it was likely that three years of training would barely qualify a padawan for senior padawanship, let alone a knight. 

          Master Yoda's ears had dropped during her story, "Disheartening this is and like to talk about this more I would. Changes we need to make, but off-topic we are. Talking about the Sith we were."

          "Right. What year is it? Actually, scratch that, the galactic calendar is so inconsistent it would probably be easier for you to tell me if you know an Obi-Wan Kenobi, and if so, how old is he?"

          "A talented initiate. A few months before his thirteenth birthday, it is," Yoda answered, his ears curling in curiosity at the mention of one of his favorite younglings.

          "Right then, of the for sure- most definitely- Siths that I know one is under the age of ten and has possibly started training in the Sith arts. One hasn't been born yet. One is currently a Jedi master. The most dangerous one is probably amassing political power either on his home planet or here on Coruscant. It is very possible that his master is still alive."

          "Well, are you going to tell us their names?" A human or near-human master asked her.

          "No master, I am not," She said, trying to channel as much- obi-wan dealing with incompetent politicians but being too polite to outright say such a thing- in her mannerisms, "Because, as you should know, as a sitting member of this council that the future is always in motion so some of them may never become a sith and even if we went after the one that I do know is a sith now, I do not know who his master is or who that master might pick to be his next apprentice, and that would put us back to square one. However, I will consent to speak with the master of Shadows about it so a silent investigation can begin." By the end of her tirade, another human master was not so subtly coughing into his hand with waves of amusement rolling off him in the Force.

          "Hhm, give us much to think about, you have. In the antechamber, wait for us, will you?"

          "Of course, Master Yoda," Ahsoka said, giving a shallow bow before turning on her heel and walking out of the chamber. Luckily the antechamber was empty as she settled into her favorite meditation position. 

          She had a lot to contemplate starting with the fact that Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader were one and the same. Her kind and compassionate master, who knew every one of his Troopers' names, was the man that led thousands to their death. Her master, who got a dopey smile whenever he received a comm from Padme, was the man who destroyed countless families. Her master, who always believed in her and promised that he would never let anything bad happen to her, was Darth Vader. 

          Darth Vader, who slaughtered the Jedi in the temple, who hunted survivors mercilessly, the Emperor's Fist who crushed any descenters of the Empire. Who tried to kill her. He was her master. She felt a tear slide down her cheek and heard Morai's sad crooning above her. Taking a shaking breath, she gathered her hurtconfusiondespair and released it into the Force. It would take her weeks of meditation to untangle her mess of emotions, so she just focused on clearing her head of the big emotions and balancing herself as best she could. After she dealt with the grief and betrayal of finding out that her master and Vader were one and the same, she moved on to the next big event. 

          Time travel. She promised Ezra that she would find him, and now she didn't know if she would ever see him again. What about Hera or Kanaan or the rest of the Ghost crew? And what about Rex? One of her last living, ori'vod'e. Would she see any of her family again? Rex would be fine. He had to be. She stayed like that for what felt like a few minutes but, in reality, was only hours. She felt a gentle pulling sensation on her mind and slowly drew herself out of meditation to see the Wookie master that she had never seen before standing in the doors of the council chambers, beckoning her forward.

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          Reentering the chamber, and feeling a bit more balanced, Ashoka decided to be more respectful, and pulled on all the training from her padawanship. She stood in the center, where Anakin usually stood during mission debriefs, and executed a bow that her grandmaster would have been proud of. She couldn't fold her hands into robes as master Obi-wan was fond of doing, so she crossed them behind her back in parade rest, as Rex had taught her to do. 

          "Our help you need. Your help we need. Rejoin the order we ask you to as a Master of the Force, and together solve our problems," Master Yoda declared. Ahsoka opened her mouth to answer, but closed it again as millions of thoughts swirled around in her head. Taking a deep breath, she tried again.

          "Masters I'm flattered truly, but I never truly completed my padawanship let alone trained my own padawan," she argued.

          "Master you are. Feel it in the Force we do and non-negotiable this is," The female Yoda said. 

          Taking another deep breath Ahsoka steadied herself, "Okay. Okay. We're doing this. What's my cover story? Because I don't think it would be wise to go around introducing myself as Ahsoka Tano, the time-traveling master from a terrible future, especially when my younger self is bound to show up in twenty-five years or so."

          "We thought it would be best if you helped create your cover story," Madam Nu said with a datapad out and ready to take notes, "That way you can keep your past as close to the truth as possible and make it easier for you to remember, but I do recommend that the reason for your sudden reappearance is that you are a shadow returning from a long mission in which you were to have no to little contact with other Jedi and that you spent most of your padawanship out on missions."

          "That already isn't too far from the truth," Ahsoka said, bringing her hand up to rub her chin. A horrible habit she had picked up from Obi-Wan and later Rex when he grew a beard, "I have been a spy and performing recon missions for the Rebel Alliance to Restore the Republic for over fifteen years, and before that I was a commander in the war and was probably in the temple for a cumulative time of four months during my padawanship. Yes, that'll work."

          "Great," Madam Nu said, making notes in her datapad, ignoring the other Masters' incredulous stares, "now we just need a name, maybe some lineage details if possible and a little more backstory and I'll have your profile set up and in the archives in no time."

          "My new name shall be Ashla. Ashla... Tamah. It's close to the name I used when I faked my death and went into hiding, so I'm already used to answering to it. As to my lineage detail, we could say that I'm the great-great-great-grandpadawan to Yoda which is true but."

          "Of my lineage you are?" Yoda asked, interrupting her.

          "Yes master, Qui-Gon Jinn was… is? Maybe? Augh tenses are weird. Anyway, at some point in time Qui-Gon Jinn was my great-grandmaster though I've never met him," Ahsoka explained.

          "<Makes sense if Feemor's your grandmaster. They've been estranged ever since that whole problem with Xantos>" The wookie whose name Ahsoka really needed to find out, growled. Wait a second… Ahsoka thought as her brain caught up to what the Wookie Master had said.

          "Whose Feemor?" she asked. 

          "Qui-Gon's first padawan that is. For decades estranged they've been" The female Yoda said, her ears curling in sadness.

          "Master Obi-Wan had another padawan brother?!"

          "Take initiate Kenobi as a padawan Qui-Gon did?" Yoda asked, perking up.

          "Yeah, but the only time he mentioned having a padawan brother was when he was in the medbay and high on pain medication. Even then all he really said were concerning things like, "the first time I was enslaved was because my not quite padawan brother kidnapped me" or "Don't worry Ahsoka, one time my former padawan brother tried to blow up the temple and he was fine until he jumped into a vat of acid" and things like that."

          "I'm sorry what?" Master Windu asked in disbelief.

          "There is a lot to unpack there and we will get to that later, but right now we need to get back on topic," One of the other Masters interrupted before anyone could ask any more questions.

          "Right. You could list me as part of Yoda's lineage but that may raise questions about why none of his other padawans don't know anything about my great-great-grandmaster. We could just say he fell to the darkside and died which would be the truth but really it's up to you master," Ahsoka said, looking at Yoda, whose ears had drooped once again at the mention of what had happened to Dooku.

          "Claim you as lineage I would like," he said. Ahsoka bowed to him and then turned back to Madam Nu.

          "Fill everyone else in as deceased; it's close enough to the truth. We'll say I had to leave the order and fake my death as a knight for a long term mission and so my folder had to be recreated which is why it is so small."

          "And then we can let the Jedi rumor take care of the rest," Madame Nu said while continuing to type on her data pad. "Okay, and done with the file."

          "I've commed Depa, and she should be setting up an apartment and gathering you a new comm unit, data pad, access codes, and anything else you might need," Windu said.

          "Yes and later you can go to the commissary and pick-up more appropriate clothes and whatever else you may need," another master mentioned.

          "No."

        The silence after her blunt statement was deafening.

          "I mean yes, obviously, I'll go to the commissary, but I will not give up my armor," Ahsoka clarified after a few seconds. She crossed her arms and drew her eyebrow markings together, giving her best Anakin Skywalker Scowl™.

          "Hmmm the Force a Jedi's armor is."

          "The Jedi are also a religious sect that respects the cultures of its many different members, and I am as much a Mando'ad as I am a Torgruta," Ahsoka rebutted. Seeing some of the Masters bristle at her tone she gave a more in depth explanation, "I use my lightsabers to honor my lineage and the culture I was raised in, I wear my Akul teeth to honor the culture I come from and show my competence as a hunter and warrior for the tribe, and I wear my armor to honor my brothers-in-arms and my baji'buir."

          "It would hardly be the first time we made cultural exceptions for our members," The older human master said.

          "But Jedi are not soldiers," another argued.

          "But she is!"

          "She is also right here," Ahsoka cut into the budding argument, "Yes, I was a soldier for a long time. I acknowledge that was my past, but that it may not be my future. Not every Mando'ad is a warrior, but to be a follower of the Resol'nare one wears their armor and fights in self-defense just as every Jedi carries a lightsaber but only a handful are knights."

          "As fascinating as this discussion is, it is getting very late, and I'm sure our newest member could use some rest," Master Windu cut in, likely ready to go to bed himself.

          "Yes we'll be sure to stop by the archives sometime soon, so we can discuss further similarities between the Jedi and the Mandalorians," Madam Nu said, "and Master Tamah, Welcome home."

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Depa had mixed feelings about being the Padawan of a councilor. Don’t get her wrong, Master Windu was an amazing Master, but his position often caused her problems. Like the time that Master Jinn "accidentally" brought a baby Kryat dragon to the temple, and then she had to find a safe animal sanctuary for it and help him take care of it in the meantime. There was also loads and loads of paperwork to do, and her Master often dragged her into helping him with the enormous stacks of data pads that filled their apartments. And then there were late nights like tonight, when the council had an emergency session for hours without a break, and she was stuck manning the desk and rescheduling people's meetings, and because she was a senior Padawan, she often pulled the late-late night shift. However, it was also nights like this that was one of the reasons she didn’t so much mind being a councilor's Padawan, and that was because of the gossip. She tried to subtly look at the Master she was escorting and think of some small talk that would answer the questions that wouldn’t be polite to ask.

She had been a little startled when Master Windu commed her and told her to organize a new apartment for a Master and take care of anything else that she thought might be needed for a returning Jedi. So she commed the quartermaster for the apartment and made an appointment in the halls of healing for the next morning. She thought about calling one of the kitchens to have them stock the apartment with food and beverages, but as she didn’t know the species of the Master, she decided to hold off. An hour or two later, her Master and the mystery Master exited the chamber, and she was asked to escort the strange Togruta Master named Ashla Tamah to her new rooms.

Deciding to finally break the silence, Depa pulled out the datapad she had put together for the Master, "So you’re in room 2567. That would be east wing fifth level unit sixty-seven," she paused when she heard Master Tamah make some kind of huffing laugh sound, "Is that okay? If you don’t like it I can change it, but you may have to wait several hours or even until morning, seeing how late it is right now."

"It’s okay Padawan. I’m sure the room is lovely, and I’m positive I have slept in worse places," Master Tamah said soothingly, and then with a small grin she explained, "It’s just the unit number is one off from another number that is near and dear to my heart." Depa had no idea what to do with that information, and ultimately decided to ignore the weird choice of words from the even stranger Master.

"Right, well, Your apartment isn’t stalked with much because Master Windu failed to mention anything about you other than that you needed an apartment right away, but you can go to the quartermaster and the grocer tomorrow to pick up things you need, and I made you an appointment for a check-up in the Halls of Healing for three hours after the morning bell since it’s late, and I’m sure you want to sleep in a bit." Master Tamah made a face at that, "Is that alright? I can make the appointment for later in the day if you would like."

"No it’s okay. I’ve just never been a huge fan of the healing halls since I was a Padawan."

Ah… that made more sense. She must be one of those Masters that the healers would chase down and sedate.

" So I’ve been gone for a while… What’s the latest temple gossip?"

"Well the rumor around the archives is that Master Nu is going to retire from the high council, but it’s like the third time this rumor has gone around in the last five years so no one really knows if they should take it seriously. If it is true, there is a huge debate on who is going to replace her. Right now, the betting pool is pretty evenly tied between Shaak Ti and Tahl."

"I’ve heard of Master Ti, but not Master Tahl."

"Master Tahl is one of Master Nu’s former Padawans and though she herself has never had a Padawan she received her Mastery from doing a bunch of research or something. A lot of people argue that she won’t be put on the council because of that and because she is rather close to Master Qui-Gon Jinn. Others argue that they put her on the council because of her close relationship with Master Jinn, citing that it might reign him in."

"Hhmmm… and what do you think Padawan?"

"I think that if they offered a council position to Tahl she would refuse, but I think it is even more likely that Master Nu won’t be retiring anytime soon unless something crazy happens, like a huge research project or some serious senate-council politics."

"I’ll have to take your word for it. What else is happening?"

Well, there’s an initiates' tournament coming up soon, and Master Yoda has once again blackmailed Master Jinn to come watch, even though Master Jinn has sworn to never take an apprentice after what happened to his last one."

"Yes, even I have heard rumors about that."

"Yeah, it was a huge thing. Knight Feemor took a super long watch cycle in the outer rim afterwards. Even now, he hardly ever stays long in the temple. Of course, it’s the same for the rest of that lineage. Umm, what else? Oh, Master Ruthle is retiring as Master of the halls of healing, and both Master Che and Master Uldsen, among others, are up for the position, but neither of them want it, so they wrote letters of recommendation for each other. And then last week, there was a new Padawan working with the quartermaster, but they messed up the inventory, and the whole temple was in turmoil for half a rotation until they could straighten everything out. Oh, here is your room."

"Thank you very much, Padawan. I quite enjoyed your company and the gossip," Master Tamah said with a wink at the last part.

"It was my pleasure Master," Depa said with a bow, "may the force be with you."

"And may the force be with you as well, Padawan Bilba." Depa wasn’t sure, but as Master Tamah turned to her room, it appeared that she raised a hand to wipe a tear out of her eye. Strange. She couldn’t wait until the morning meal to discuss this with Lumi and Kit.

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Obi-Wan had taken a detour to the archives on his way to class. As he wandered through a side hall that he knew would cut a good five minutes off of his travel time when a large white and green bird dive-bombed him from above.

"Augh," he cried, covering his face with his arms. Only for the bird to perch on his arm. He slowly lifted his head so as to not startle the bird and get a face full of talons. The bird, possibly a convor, cocked its head and cooed.

"You don't belong here. Where did you come from?" Obi-wan asked before feeling silly for asking a creature that surely could not answer the question.

"Coooo," the bird replied and then, to Obi-Wan's surprise, projected to him a feeling of happypridecontent.  

"Ah, you are force sensitive. Did you come to the temple with a Master or knight?

"Trooo," another feeling of happysafecomanionship.

"Oh, Well, shall we go find them? I still have a little bit of time to spare before Philosophies and Worldviews."

"SKEEEEEE!" hurtsadnessnononono

"Okay… well, I guess Master La'a won't mind if you come with me to class as long as you don't disturb the class."

"Cooo…" the feelings of joycontenthappy permeated from the bird as it settled on top of his head and started grooming him.

"Do you have a name?" Obi-Wan asked, still feeling a little silly for talking to a bird. 

“ MoraiMoraiMoraiMoraiMoraiMoraiMorai.” 

"That's a lovely name," Obi-Wan stated as he continued making his way to class. When he got to the classroom, he did his best to sneak unnoticed through the door and sit in the back, away from prying eyes. Unfortunately for him, this plan did not work.

"Initiate Kenobi," Master La'a called from the front of the class, "who's your friend?"

Obi-Wan could feel his face burning, "This is Morai. She found me this morning and doesn't want to leave."

"Well, as long as Morai is not a distraction to you or to others, she can stay."

"Yes, Master La'a."

Obi-Wan did his best to pay attention to the lesson, but it was an uphill battle between the already dull topic and the bird preening his hair. However, Morai's presence didn't become a problem until after the midday bell. First, the droid in the serving line almost didn't give him a tray because Morai was considered a "health code violation." It was only Padawan Bilaba trying to see what was holding up the line and explaining that the bird was registered to Master Tamah and therefore allowed to go anywhere in the temple provided she wasn't making a nuisance of herself that allowed Obi-Wan to actually get his food. Then, Bruck, having heard everything Padawan Bilaba said, accused him of stealing a master's pet in order to get attention and potentially an apprenticeship. After the midday meal was meditation, which wasn't that bad actually, but after meditation was saber practice, and Obi-Wan learned the hard way; it was very hard to do katas with a bird balancing on your head.

"Initiate Kenobi, if you can not properly perform your katas, then perhaps it is best for you to sit and meditate for the rest of the lesson," the knight who was covering their lessons suggested after having to correct his form for the third time. 

"Yes, master," Obi-Wan said with his eyes downcast since he couldn't exactly do a proper bow at the moment. As he turned to go sit by the door, he saw Bruck snickering into his hand. Morai cooed as he sat down and a sense of calmrightnesspatience washed over him. He settled into meditation and focussed on the emotions he could feel from Morai and on the events of the day.

He was not upset about meeting Morai, but her appearance had made his life much more difficult. Still, it was nice to have a friend that wasn't so focussed on him getting a master, even if that friend was a bird. Don't get him wrong, He loved his friends, but with his thirteenth birthday drawing nearer, they were becoming more and more overbearing in their worry for him. Quinlan talked about all the cool classes they could take together once they were both padawans and all the missions they would go on as knights. Bant kept encouraging him to ask returning knights and masters to accept him as their apprentice. When he finally put his foot down and told her no more, she went to the masters and told them all about her cool, amazing friend Obi-Wan who really liked to read and was super good with a lightsaber. Garen had started following him to the archives to tutor him in astronavigation and galactic geography with the certainty he would need it in the upcoming months as a new padawan. Even Reeft had shown his concern by piling food onto Obi-Wan's plate and making sure he ate everything.

Deep in his soul, though, Obi-Wan knew the truth. No adult had ever wanted him or ever would. His parents hadn't (He could still feel the angerfearhate as the freezing water rushed around him, pulling him this way and that, filling his lungs). Later, the point was driven in even more when Bruck and Obi-wan were assigned to research each other's home planet and culture as a punishment for fighting. Bruck had taken much joy in declaring that Obi-Wan's name had many translations, such as no one, nobody, nothing. Whereas he came from a family of minor nobility. 

At first, he thought his seeker might want him (he had surrounded Obi-Wan with warmth and love just as surely as the water surrounded him earlier), but he had left Obi-Wan and never came back. (It wasn't common for a knight or master to take on an initiate they had found as a padawan, but it wasn't uncommon either.) Actually, that was the first place Bant had looked in her quest to find Obi-Wan a master, but Knight Feemor already had a padawan, and even if he didn't, He had not been back to the temple in almost a year. 

Then there was his creche master, Ali-Alann. Obi-Wan knew that Ali-Alann loved him, but he still didn't want Obi-Wan and all the problems that he caused. After all, Obi-Wan was always getting into fights with Bruck, constantly waking the others with his night terrors, always getting lost in the archives, and missing meals. Always making Master Ali-Alann's life difficult.

Patience

Hope 

Except Obi-Wan had given up hope a long time ago (except for that one little spark hidden deep in his heart that maybe with the next astronavigation test, maybe at the initiates tournament, maybe in the archives, maybemaybemaybe). Now all he had to be patient for was receiving his corps assignment, and all he had to hope for was that it would be a good one, like Educorps or Explorcorps, and it would almost be like he was a real Jedi knight.

Patience

Hope

Trust

Morai cooed in his ear. Obi-Wan opened his eyes to see his classmates gathering their things before heading to dinner. He got up and joined his friends on their way to the refractory. His head felt heavy with the weight of Morai, but his heartfelt lighter. Perhaps that extra meditation helped more than he thought. As he laughed with his friends and as Morai trilled along with them, the little spark of hope within him grew.

Chapter Text

When Ahsoka woke up, she thought that the previous day had all been a dream, but then Morai landed on her stomach and started driving her talons into Ahsoka's flesh.

"Ow, alright, alright, I'm getting up," Ahsoka said, swatting at the annoying bird. She had slept in later than usual, so she threw on her clothes and a large robe she had hanging in her new closet and grabbed a ration bar for humans and near human consumption before making her way to the healing halls. As she walked, she basked in the feelings of peacecalmlightserenity that the temple exuded. She hadn't ever felt a place so peaceful within the Force, not even as an initiate. Part of that was probably because the Crèches were anything but quiet. However, the peace was not to last. Before her were the Halls of Healing. 

"Hello, How can I help you today?" the Padawan behind the front desk asked.

"Hi, I have an appointment this morning for a Master Ashla Tamah."

"Alright then, I have you checked in. Just follow me back to your examination room," The Padawan said, moving down the hall. Finally, they stopped before a room, "Alright, here you are. A Master-Healer be along to see you shortly."

Ahsoka sat down on the cot and tried to meditate. She really did not like medbays, and the last time she had been in the halls was around the time when Bariss betrayed her. Luckily, it was not long before she heard the door open.

"Hello, I'm healer Uldsen. It's a pleasure to meet you!" A Zeltron with pale red, almost pink skin said with a bright grin.

"A Pleasure to meet you. I am Master Ashla Tamah."

"Yes, it says here in the appointment notes that you have been away on assignment for an undisclosed amount of time and that, for redacted reasons, you do not have a current medical file. Which I think would be better stated as for redacted reasons you don't have a medical file at all." Healer Uldsen said with a grin. 

Ahsoka had met many healers in her time, but she didn't think she ever met one that was quite so good-humored? Mirthful? Cheery? She didn't know how to describe it. Maybe it was because the majority of the medics she saw were on military bases and or in clinics with too many patients and not enough staff or supplies. They spent the next quarter-hour filling in all the basic information: Name, weight, height, and so forth. It was when they got to medical history that things started to get interesting.

"Have you ever twisted or sprained one of your wrists or ankles?"

"Oh yes, definitely," Ahsoka replied with a grin. 

"Which one?" Healer Uldsen asked.

"All of the above."

"I meant which wrist or ankle, and was it a sprain or a twist?"

"Yes, that is correct." Was Ahsoka being obtuse on purpose? Maybe. Did Healer Uldsen deserve it? Probably not. Was she going to continue being petty for her own amusement? Yeah probably.

"So you're saying that you have sprained and twisted both of your wrists and ankles?"

"And fractured most of them too!"

"Oh dear," Healer Uldsen looked at Ahsoka suspiciously before asking the next question, "Which bones have you broken or fractured?"

"Um, a lot of ribs, my arms, my left leg, my nose, the big toe on my right foot, and I don't remember what else. That could be the multiple concussions talking, though." 

"Alrighty then. At this point in time, I'm just going to forgo the usual questions and just ask for any major things that should be noted in case of a medical emergency that could affect you or others."

"Um, I've had surgery on my right rotator cuff and a couple of blood transfusions. Um… What else? Oh! I have an immunity to the Blue Shadow virus."

"The Blue Shadow Virus was eradicated centuries ago. Do you mean the Carruleum Delta Rabies, more commonly known as the Blue Death?"

"No, I mean the Blue Shadow Virus. Although I guess it was a different strain designed to be airborne, so… I don't know if that changes anything," Ahsoka said. Healer Uldsen looked at her blankly, and she couldn't help but grin a little.

"Right then," Healer Uldsen said, shaking herself out of her stupor, "I'm going to schedule you for several different body scans and tests. As well as put in a referral for a mind healer and a soul healer." Ahsoka's grin slipped off her face. Meanwhile, Healer Uldsen seemed to rapidly regain her cheery demeanor as she continued, "and would you look at that. It appears that due to an influx of Masters and knights returning to the temple for the tournament and in need of a common med checkup, we're going to have to schedule all your tests on different days, so you'll be in and out of the Halls just about every other day for the next ten-day, and until all these tests are done, you'll be on med-leave. Of course, your mind healer may decide to extend that time."

Now it was Ahsoka's turn to stare in disbelief at the healer, who had a smug grin on her face. Healer Uldsen just grinned at her. Before continuing on, "It looks like we can get you to see Healer So-Jon three hours before evening bell for your first mind healing appointment, and I have already scheduled you for your first test tomorrow morning for the same appointment time as today. If that's everything, I will see you tomorrow!" Healer Uldsen then left the room humming a cheerful song that Ahsoka vaguely remembered from the creche. 

That did not go anything like how Ahsoka had thought it would, and she decided after a moment that it was probably a very good thing that Healer Uldsen and Helix never met. Since Ahsoka now had plans for the afternoon, she decided that it would be better to stop by the quartermaster's and the grocer's now rather than later. Luckily, with the number of robes Master Obi-Wan and Anakin lost, she was very familiar with the route to the quartermaster's and got there in no time.

"Hello, hello, how can I help you?" The Master at the front desk asked.

"Hi, I've just returned from a long-term mission and need some things."

"Yes. Yes. You must be Master Tamah. Padawan Billaba sent a message that you would be stopping by soon. This way, this way, we'll start by outfitting you with a new wardrobe," He said, beckoning her into a side room.

"I'll only take one or two sets of the traditional robes for special occasions and then grab the rest from the cultural and undercover closets." 

"Not a fan of robes, eh? Doesn't bother me; that's one less Master who will need a replacement every few ten days. Do you want tan, khaki, beige, cream, or ivory? I think the ivory would look lovely with your facial markings, but tan is the most popular color."

"One of each will be fine, and I'm on leave until the healers clear me, so hopefully, you won't have to worry about me losing my robes anytime soon."

"Good to hear. Good to hear. Now where in the cultural section would you like to go?"

"I'll see what you have for Togrutas, and do you have anything from the Mandalorian sector?"

I have plenty of things from Shili or made for Togrutas, but I don't believe we have anything in the cultural section for Mandalore. There might be something in the undercover area, though."

"I figured as much. I suppose this also means you don't have any armor paint or polish."

"Not at all. Not at all."

"Like I said, I figured as much. It just means I'm going to have to visit little Keldabe sooner rather than later."

"Hmm, you know, because the Jedi Order is inclusive of all cultures, anything you buy as a cultural necessity can be reimbursed if you bring me the receipts of any purchases made."

"Really? I did not know that. Thank you."

"Not a problem. Not a problem. Ah, here we are."

In the end, Ahsoka left the quartermasters with her two Jedi outfits, as well as an earth-toned tunic and leggings from Shili, and a couple of outfits that, while not traditionally Mando'ad, she could tailor with her new sewing kit to better fit with her armor. The quartermaster, who she later learned was named Don, also insisted she leave with decorations, furniture, cutlery, and a ship full of other things that she didn't think she needed, but he insisted that everything he gathered for her was imperative for turning her apartment into a home. She spent the rest of the afternoon organizing her apartment and wandering around the temple, relearning where everything was. 

She managed to make it to her mind healer's appointment a few minutes early as the last thing she needed was to piss off another healer and end up on medical leave for a year. At the same time, she didn't know how to approach this meeting. Sure it would probably all be pretty basic "getting to know you" stuff, but she didn't know how or if she should bring up being from the future. 

"Hello, you must be Master Tamah. Healer So-Jon is expecting you back in her office. Just follow me." The knight at the reception desk said when Ahsoka stepped into the office.

"Yes, how did you know?"

"When Healer Uldsen made the referral and appointment, she sent your basic medical file information, so when we make a medical file for our offices, we wouldn't have to start from scratch."

"Oh, that does make sense."

"Yeah, here we are," the knight stopped at an ajar door before knocking on the frame, "Healer So-Jon? Master Tamah is here for her appointment."

"Wonderful! Please send her in."

Ahsoka stepped into the office. Not knowing what to expect, she was still surprised to see the rather large area with a wall of trickling water and hanging plants. Healer So-Jon was behind a desk that was tucked away in a corner that was partially covered by a paper screen that depicted a mountain landscape in black and red ink. The majority of the floor space looked like an intimate sitting room with a couch up against the wall facing a low table set up with a tea service and two armchairs.

"Come in and sit down," the healer beckoned as the knight shut the door, "Would you like some tea and cookies?"

"Yes please," Ahsoka said, sitting down on the couch.

"So…" Healer So-Jon said, taking a seat in the armchair across from her, "I'm healer So-Jon, but you can just call me So-Jon or So or Jon. Whatever you are comfortable with really."

"Thank you," Ahsoka said, taking the teacup from the healer and looking at the service to see what condiments she could add, "You can call me Ashla."

"Ashla or Ahsoka?"

Ahsoka looked up from her tea, "Excuse me?"

"Well, when I received your documentation from Healer Uldsen, I also received a confidential file from Master Nu that mentioned some… other things. As a healer, everything you say to me will remain confidential unless I think there is a serious risk to you or others. That being said, do you prefer Ashla or Ahsoka?"

Ahsoka closed her eyes and thought for a moment, "I don't know. I am essentially undercover, and it will be easier to remain undercover if I am referred to as Ashla. However, I know I may come to miss my name, and the point of these sessions is to heal my mind, not to suppress my past." 

"That is a conundrum. How about we stick to Ashla for today, so you can get used to the name, and if you want to switch to something different next session or if you don't like it, we can make that switch?"

"That sounds fine."

"Okay, great! Now judging from the file, I received from Madam Nu and from what I have available of your medical files. You likely have a lot of trauma."

"I'm fine. I've gotten this far." Ahsoka said defensively.

"No one denies that you have done well for yourself and survived impossible odds, but we want you to thrive in life, not just survive, and you are not alone. Lots of people who have lived far less eventful lives still have some form of trauma. I understand why you may be defensive, but you are not a victim. You are a survivor, and I just want to give you the tools you need to grow and help yourself and others."

"Okay, You're right, sorry."

"It's alright. That has hardly been the worst bad reaction I've gotten from telling someone that they have some form of lingering trauma."

"I'm sure, but I knew coming in today that I have issues."

"Just because you know something in your head doesn't mean you know it in your heart and soul," So-Jon said. Ahsoka nodded and took another sip of her tea to avoid saying anything else. "Now that that is out of the way, this session is mostly to get to know each other and build a foundation for our future relationship. The more you offer, the stronger the foundation will be. However, I also do not want to pressure you into saying anything you aren't ready to talk about yet. I just wanted to bring this up because your referral note mentions that you may use humor as a coping mechanism and can be contrary to avoid answering hard questions."

"Yeah, that's fair," Ahsoka said, thinking back to that morning at the Halls and how the Vod'e, especially Cody, Kix, and Helix, would complain about her Master and Grandmaster doing the same thing. 

"So I have a few questionnaires for you. We can either do them together with me asking the questions and you answering, or I can just give you the datapad, and you can fill it out by yourself."

"I'll fill it out by myself."

"Not a problem. Now I can look at a separate datapad and analyze your answers as you take the questionnaire and possibly have a preliminary diagnosis by the end of our session, or I can wait until after you're done to look through your answers and have the preliminary diagnoses ready by our next session. Which would you prefer?" 

"I'm fine with you going through it while I take the test, just maybe not so close."

"Alright, in that case, here's that datapad. There's more tea in the teapot, help yourself to the cookies, and if you need anything, I'll be in my screened-off office." Ahsoka settled down on the couch, getting in a comfortable position. Who knew how long this would take.

Chapter Text

Ahsoka had had a busy week. Between acclimating into temple life, her healer appointments, and her visiting Master Nu in the archives and Master Yoda in his meditation chamber to discuss her past, present, and future. She felt like she barely had time for herself. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, according to Healer So-Jon.

("From what I have gathered from the data, I feel safe in diagnosing you with post-traumatic stress disorder, but I'm going to wait for a few more sessions before narrowing the type of PTSD. You also don't seem to be affected by any form of anxiety disorder or depression, but symptoms can differ between individuals. At this moment, I'm not going to put you on any medical restrictions, but keep your lightsabers on practice mode when sparring or running through katas. You have also just gone through multiple traumatic events in a short period of time, and a lot of people tend to keep others out, so I want you to try and get out of your apartment and talk to people a few times a day. Don't push yourself, but building a support network with your fellow Jedi will only help you.”)

So, Ahsoka was finally taking a day to go out and run the errands that she needed to do. Mostly just pick up all those cultural things that Don didn't have in his inventory. She wasn't on any serious medical leave yet, meaning she could still check out a speeder from the hanger, and in no time, she was on her way to Little Keldabe. 

  She wandered around the market, seeing the sites and picking up a few spices and some shig for her personal stores. Little Keldabe appeared to be a tight-knit community, and as a stranger, she drew quite a few suspicious stares. Though as she was wearing her armor and had left her Jedi cloaks back in her room, she did not stick out too much, so the suspicious stares simply stayed stares and did not turn into any sort of confrontation. It wasn't too long until she found an armory. Entering the small business, a bell announced her arrival to the armorer.

"Su cuy'gar, How can I help you?" the Mando'ad behind the counter said.

"Su'cuy, I need to pick up some armor polish and paint," Ahsoka said.

"Hmm, yes, it looks like you just participated in a battle." Ahsoka could just about feel the disappointment from the armorer.

"Yeah, about a ten-day ago, and in that time, everything I owned, not on my person, was… lost, and I'm just now getting around to replacing the things for my armor."

"What kind of paint and armor polish do you need?"

"I need two quarts of white for the durasteel-plastoid alloy, one quart of red for beskar, and then a pint of an orange-goldish, blue, and black for the durasteel. And then armor polish for both. A small bottle for the beskar and a medium size for the durasteel-plastoid alloy."

"You know," the armorer said, looking through the shelves, "it'd be no trouble to upgrade some of the cheaper alloy pieces for a stronger durasteel or beskar alloy."

"No! I mean… no, thank you. All of my armor pieces once belonged to different members of my aliit, and these pieces are the only thing I have left of them."

“Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la. I'm sure your family would rather you be protected than sentimental."

"Well, yes and no, as using pieces of armor from fallen brothers was very important in our aliit, but I know they would want me to be protected from all harm. However, it doesn't really matter at the moment as I'm grounded on planet until my baar'ur is done torturing me."

"Never mess with a baar'ur," the armorer said as she started gathering containers, "Was it this last mission where you lost your brothers?"

"Most of them started marching away a little over ten years ago, some a few years before that, and I lost the last of my aliit on the mission."

"Hmm, I'm due for a break soon. There is a cantina nearby that serves some lovely shig." Soon Ahsoka found herself walking down the street with senior armor apprentice Thia Rhuls under Armorer Kor'Dur Puurt, who was apparently a very hard taskmaster but was also known for turning out some of the best work on Coruscanta. 

"So tell me about your armor."

"Well, my battle skirt is made out of the kamas of the twins. It was rough when Echo died, and it wasn't long after that Fives was killed by friendly fire. They had worked so hard to earn their kamas and achieved more than any of the trainers thought they would. My greaves are from Appo and Tup. There was a mission where I ended up jumping off a cliff in the middle of an explosion and ended up bruising my shins pretty badly. Appo was one of the oldest, and Tup was basically the baby, but they each ended up giving me one of their armor pieces to protect my legs from any other accidents."

"Why did you not already have armor going into the field? That is reckless and irresponsible."

"That would be the bad influence of the other side of my family. Also, my fighting style isn't really conducive to a full set of beskar'gam. Not enough flexibility," Thia had a thoughtful look on her face, so before she could join the 'let's get the Jedi into proper protective gear club,' Ahsoka continued on, "The Vambraces are from Jesse and Rex. One day they sneak attacked me while we were in hyperspace and strapped them on my arms, and then blackmailed me to keep them on. The gray palaudrin is from my ori'vod Wolffe, who actually bit me while we were play fighting and then told me it wouldn't have happened if I had worn armor. To be fair to him, I'm usually the first to bite."

They were starting to gather a small crowd around their booth, and quite a few started laughing at her last little story. She took a sip of her Shig and a bite of her cake before getting to the last few armor pieces. 

"The belt is from Cody, and the other palaudrin is from my ba'buir Obi-Wan. They were both more like my buir'e than ori'vod and ba'buir since my Master was only five years older than me. Cody gave me his extra belt because he was always picking up Master Obi-Wan's lightsaber, and he wanted to make sure I would never lose mine. The palaudrin is the only piece that is pure beskar because when Master Obi-Wan was a padawan, he went on a mission in Mandalorian space and ended up killing a kyr'stad member in self-defense. The family he was with said the armor belonged to him and offered to help him paint it. He ended up giving me a piece when I went on a mission in Mandalorian space." 

During her story, she had gotten lost in her memories. Thinking about her aliit still hurt, and the loss of some of them still hurt, like Rex, whose loss was still new, and Jesse, who she couldn't save. As she stared ahead, holding her cooling cup of shig, she didn't notice the room get silent. That is until the silence was broken.

"You're a Jetti?" Someone asked, and she could hear the sneer in their modulated voice.

"Hey! Being a Jetti doesn't change anything about her!" Thia argued, standing up.

"It certainly does! First, they steal children, and now our culture!" The same Mando argued. Thia slammed her hands on the counter and opened her mouth to argue, but Ahsoka put her hand on Thia's shoulder.

"It's okay. I can fight my own battles," She told Thia before turning to the Mando'ad, that had a problem with her, "Listen, I know that Mando'ade and Jetti have had beef for millennia. Still, there's a reason why one of the most famous Mandalorians in history was also a Jedi Master. Despite a few philosophical differences, Jetii and Mando'ade have really similar cultural aspects."

"Ridiculous! Everyone knows Jetii don't have families and are child stealers!"

"Actually, the only time Jedi "steal" children are in the case of abuse or slavery. For instance, my parents willingly gave me up to a man claiming to be a Jedi, but he was actually a slaver, and when a real Jedi on a seeking mission found out, he tracked down the slaver and freed me. My Master was also freed by the Jedi that found him. Of course, not everyone comes from such tragic backstories. Some are given up because their parents don't know how to raise a force-sensitive toddler. Others join because it is seen as prestigious, or their family is not well off, and that's one less mouth to feed. Really there are a multitude of reasons why children are given to the order."

"That still doesn't change the fact that you claim we are cultures are the same!"

"I never said that. Similar? Yes. The same? No," Ahsoka stopped for a moment to figure out how to explain it in a way they would understand, "Would it help if I went through the resolnore?"

"Yes!" This interrupted, looking excited.

“So, bajur bal beskar’gam. Jedi take education very seriously and are of the philosophical belief that it is always possible to learn more. We begin learning at a young age, and as we grow, we are expected to teach those younger than us, even as a padawan. Then when you become a Master of something, then you are expected to take time to either teach an apprentice or teach classes on your subject. In fact, the most common way to become a Master is to train a padawan to a Knight."

"Are you a Master or a Knight?" Thia asked.

"I'm a Master though not from training a padawan. I did help another knight who was without the support of his lineage with his padawan. Beskar'gam is a little more difficult because most Jedi are of the philosophical belief that we are not soldiers but peacekeepers and thus have no need for armor. The other popular belief is that the Force is our armor. Now historically, during the sith wars, Jedi were known to wear armor. Another way to take this would be figuratively or metaphorically."

"What do you mean figuratively?"

"Well, beskar'gam is the soul of a Mando'ad, right?"

"Yes…"

"Well, the lightsaber is the heart of a Jedi." After saying that out loud and thinking of the correlation between the two, Ahsoka wondered if all the times Anakin lost his lightsaber was foreshadowing of his eventual fall.

"Oh, that's… interesting," Thia said, brows furrowed. There were several others around them who also appeared thoughtful. Ahsoka decided to continue before they got into a deeper, more theological discussion.

"Okay, so next would be aranov and aliit. Jedi children are taught self-defense from a young age. When they start walking, they start tumbling, stretching, and going through very basic katas. Then, as they become initiates, they build on those foundations and start practicing katas with training sabers. By the time an initiate makes their saber, they have generally started favoring a certain fighting style though they don't start specializing until they become a padawan under a Master's instruction."

"What's your specialty?"

"I practice Jar'Kai, which is the use of two sabers. Anyway, onto Jedi families. When a child enters the temple at a young age, they are placed in a creche clan, and as you grow, they are like your siblings, with your clan leader acting as your parent. In most cases, creche clans are close for the rest of their lives. I lost contact with most of my clan mates when I went on an extended undercover mission, but Master Obi-Wan was close with his clanmates until he died. We weren't in the temple often, but I remember one time we had just come back after a complex mission, and Master Obi-Wan was about to meet with the high council, and one of his clanmates who became a healer came striding down the hall, screamed his name and then sedated him in front of half the council. She then dragged him down to the halls of healing, and I mean literally dragged him. Where was I? Oh yeah. 

The other type of Jedi family is lineages. For instance, I was trained by Skyguy; that's what I called my Master. He was trained by Master Obi-Wan, who had two older padawan brothers. They were all trained by Master Jinn, who had two padawan siblings as well, and their Master was trained by Yoda, who is like eight hundred years old. Technically, most Padawan-Master relationships are similar to that of a parent and child, but Skyguy and I were so close in age that we were more like siblings most of the time, and Obi-Wan was our parent. Though I would call him Grandmaster or ba'buir when I wanted to tease him for being old. He was the one that taught me a lot about Mandalorian culture."

"He's the one that gave you the beskar piece?" Thia asked.

"Yes, that was him. The last two, Mando'a bal Mand'alor, are a little more difficult as I am the only Mandalorian Jedi at this time, but I speak Mando'a, and the Jedi have their own language that we speak, and every Jedi is encouraged to learn the language of their planet or culture and the language of those around them. Which I think follows the spirit of the law. Same for the Mand'alor, we answer to the Force first, and considering Manda'yaim's current political situation, I think we can let this slide," She said with a raised brow marking. There were quite a few grumbles, but no one outright disagreed. Just then, Ahsoka's comm went off with a reminder of when her speeder was due back in the hanger.

"Terribly sorry, everyone, but I must go. Thia, it was lovely to meet you, and thank you for your help. I'll have to come by some time soon and get some new weapons. Everyone else, lovely conversation; thanks for the shig and the cake." After gathering her things and making the rest of her goodbyes, it took her no time to get to her speeder and back to the Jedi Temple. After returning her speeder, Ahsoka swung by her room to drop off her purchases before heading down to the quartermasters to turn in her receipts to Don.

"Hello, Don!" she said, entering the front office.

"Hello, hello, Master Tamah. How are you doing today? Rumor has it you've been spending quite a lot of time in the healing halls," He said with a smile.

"Yes, I made the mistake of upsetting my healer, and as punishment, she scheduled me for every medical test she can reasonably justify, and considering my medical file hasn't been updated in a few decades, she has plenty to choose from. Anyway, I was actually free today, so I ran some errands to pick up some cultural things."

"Oh, how fun, how fun. Do you have the receipts for me?"

"Yup, right here," She said, handing them over.

"Let's see, let's see, the armor paint and polish we already talked about. What are these hear?" He asked, pointing to the receipts she got from the different market stalls.

"This is for a traditional Mandalorian tea blend, and the rest are spices and herbs used for seasoning things and making traditional foods."

"Very well, very well," he said as he filed them away, "you should see the reimbursement in your temple account in the next few days. Now my dear, would you care to join me for a late lunch?"

"It would be a pleasure," she said while offering her arm. In no time at all, they had made it to the nearest commissary. She was about to join the line for the more carnivorous species when she caught a flash of white, green, and red out of the corner of her eyes. She turned so quickly that one of her lekku almost hit the person beside her.

"Morai?!" at her call, three heads turned to look at her, and Morai, the troll that she was, just cooed and filled the Force with the feeling of joyhumorhappiness.

Chapter Text

Qui-Gon was not having a good time. First of all, he was in the temple before the initiate tournament, which meant all these little people kept giving him sad, pleading eyes. Second, Master Yoda was meddling. He didn't have any proof but based on all the tea invites and small cackles, he was planning something. Which led to the third reason. He wasn't allowed to leave because of "physical and mental stress," which, honestly, staying was probably causing some of the stress.

However, since he could not leave the planet, he settled for heading to the commissary nearest to the quartermasters, as it was generally one of the less busy ones in the temple. As he finished his tea and gave his food time to settle, a pair of initiates walked by with their finished trays. Usually, Qui-Gon would ignore them, especially as it was so close to the tournament where a lot of knights and masters looked for future padawans, and he was not. But… the redhead had a peculiar green and white bird perching on his head. He debated for a moment on whether or not to sate his curiosity. He grabbed his tray and got up.

"Excuse me," he said, approaching the two initiates at the trash receptacle.

"Yes, master?" the mon calamari girl asked.

"That is a peculiar bird you have there… Where did it come from?"

"This is Morai," the boy said, "She found me almost a tenday ago and hasn't left."

"Very interesting. What are your names, young ones?"

"I'm Bant," said the girl, "and this is Obi-Wan," she pointed to the boy with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. He needed to make excuses now before they started asking more in-depth things like apprenticeships and padawans. 

"Yes, well, I was just curious about Morai. I know I've been kicked out of quite a few eateries due to animal companions. Anyway, have-"

"Morai?!"

The three of them turned their heads to see a Togruta woman wearing the most curious ensemble walking toward them. Morai let out a coo, and then the Force around them was flooded with the feeling of joyhumorhappiness.

"Is this what you have been up to since we got to the temple?" The woman asked as she reached them. She lifted her arm, and the bird flapped over to perch and nuzzle her cheek. Letting out a feeling in the Force that was remarkably similar to the feeling in the Force when Master Yoda was being mischievous. 

"Are you Master Tamah?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I am. Though I do not know who you are," she said with a raised brow marking. The boy blushed and ducked his head.

"I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi. Sorry for taking your bird."

"I doubt you had any choice in the matter. Morai can be quite forceful when she wants to be. I hope she didn't cause too much trouble for you."

"Oh, she wasn't much trouble at all," the girl, Bant, interrupted, "but Obi-Wan has hardly been able to participate in saber class."

"Well, that won't do, especially with the initiate tournament coming up. I'll simply have to compensate you by offering to tutor you so you don't fall behind your peers," Master Tamah said, and Qui-Gon was debating if this was a good time to slip away or if he should stay and see if the strange master would let him study her magnificent bird, but she turned to him before he could decide, "Master Jinn, I've heard you are a master of Ataru would you care to spar with me at some point?"

Caught off guard, Qui-Gon cleared his throat, "yes, that would be fine. I'm sure we can work something out." 

"You know the large salles are usually open at this time of day," Bant said.

"Wonderful," Master Tamah smiled, "Master Jinn if you have nothing pressing, how would you like to spar now and use it as part of Obi-Wan's first saber lesson?"

"I'm not looking to take a padawan," He said without thinking.

"Nobody said anything about taking a padawan…" Master Tamah said with her brow markings furrowed, "I just thought that watching two Masters spar would be a good learning experience."

"Oh, uh, Yes, Force of habit. Lead on." He said, tucking his hands into his robe sleeves. Master Tamah grabs a couple ration bars from the dispenser, and then they all make their way to the salles. Feeling like the silence was getting overbearing, he cleared his throat, "So, Master Tamah, what saber form do you prefer?"

"First, call me Ashla. Master Tamah makes me feel like an old fuddy-duddy," Master Ta- Ashla said, wrinkling her nose, "As for my saber style, initiates, what do you think?"

"Well, you have two sabers, so you probably practice Jar'kai," the girl said.

"And the hilts are curved, which is typical of Makashi users," added the boy.

"Excellent observations," Mas- Ashla praised. Makashi was not a popular form; he wondered how this new master would compare to his master.

"Obi-Wan is the best in our clan at the theoretical and metaphorical parts of saber training."

"I'm not that good."

"False humility is not becoming initiate," Qui-Gon warned the young boy. It wouldn't do for the youngling to start bad habits early in life.

"I would hardly say his humility is false," Ashla argued, "besides, it's better than arrogance unless, of course, you can back up your words."

"Pride is not a Jedi attribute."

"No, it isn't, but neither is lying. I know for a fact that I am an amazing fighter. Is that a boastful statement? Maybe, but it is also true because I survived where others did not. Learn this lesson, young ones. Both overselling and underselling your skills in the field can be deadly to you and those around you. Oh, look, this whole training area is empty."

Mas- Ashla dropped their robe on the floor, revealing an outfit even more peculiar than he first thought. Not only was she not wearing traditional Jedi robes, but She also had pieces of armor strapped to her arms and legs. She took out her lightsabers and ignited the blades revealing two beautiful white beams of light, unlike anything he had ever seen before.

"My sabers are set to training mode by order of my mind healer," she said, walking to the middle of the room before doing a few warm-ups.

"Ah yes, I will change the setting on mine as well," he said, and then before he could stop himself, he hinted, "Those are the most peculiar blades I have seen. I had never heard of white lightsabers before."

"Yeah, actually, the only way to get white sabers is to purify a wounded crystal. These once belonged to a dar'jetti who spent a few years trying to kill me before having a change of heart and rooming with me and becoming a sort of friend. When she died, I was able to save her sabers and purify her crystals."

Qui-Gon did not know what to do with that information. Luckily there were young people whose brains didn't take as long to reboot.

"Wait, so Makashi Jar'kai is not your fighting style?"

"You're friends with a dark Jedi?"

"What happened to your original crystal?"

"How do you purify a kyber crystal?"

"Eh eh eh, "Ashla interrupted, holding a hand up to stop the initiates, "You did well with your assumptions about my fighting style, even if they were not one hundred percent accurate. That's the lesson about assumptions: you should always take them with a grain of salt. Now story time later; right now, it's time to fight. You ready, Jinn?"

"Absolutely," He ignited his blade and quickly fell into the opening stance for Ataru. Ashla spun her sabers into a guard position in a reverse grip, which he found curious, and crouched low to the ground. For a minute, they stared at each other, and then he leaped forward. They traded a few blows before their sabers met. She quickly broke away by going into a back handspring. Her foot came up and kicked him in the chin, so he himself used the momentum to go into a backflip. 

When he landed, Ashla had gone into a third back handspring, and was she doing those on her fists? Then before he could adequately stabilize his center of gravity, she leaped forward and jumped on top of him. He was able to lift his saber just enough to block hers from slicing at his neck. The momentum from her jump and from Qui-Gon's block had sent Ashla tumbling over his head; she had tuck rolled and was back on her feet in no time.

"You know," she said as she circled him, eyes roving up and down his body, "usually, I have a guy buy me a drink beforehand."

"Excuse me! "He choked.

"Oh darling," she said, leaping at him, "I'm not that easy."

"What!?"

"Remember this, children," Ashla said, going in for attack again, "flirtation is a valid form of distraction during a fight."

"Wait, what? "He raised his saber to defend himself. Vaguely he noticed the children laughing off to the side.

"Other valid forms of distraction," continued despite the fact that she was still in the midst of a fight, "are critiquing your opponent's fighting style and their fashion sense. If it's a partner fight, then it gets really fun as you can tag-team your critiques."

Qui-Gon made a strategic retreat and did his best to recenter himself. This was not going at all like how he thought it would, although now that he knew her chatter was a distraction tactic, hopefully, he could tune it out and focus on the fight.

They traded a few more blows, and while Qui-Gon was holding his own, he could not figure out her fighting style. One moment he would have her on the defense, and she would fall into Soresu before instantly switching to Djem So, forcing him into defense, at which point she would switch to Ataru. And the way she fought… If he didn't know her sabers were on safety mode, he would have thought she was trying to kill him. He thought he almost had her when he disarmed her shoto blade, but then she used a Makashi disarming technique on him, and he ended up with his blade at his stomach and her blade at his neck. 

"Great fight," Ashla said, disengaging the blades. 

"That was certainly one of the more interesting spars I have ever participated in. We should do it again sometime."

"Yes, we should," she gestured to the side where the two initiates were sitting, "would you care to stay for the lesson?"

"Ah, no thank you. I have things to do."

"Too bad. See you around Jinn," She said before turning around, "all right small people, what were your observations of the spar?" He quickly gathered his robe and left the training room. As much as he would like to get to know Ashla, he did not wish to be around two initiates and their big sad eyes when he inevitably turned them down for an apprenticeship. 

Chapter Text

Ahsoka fell with her back against the door as soon as it closed. Today had been a lot. She ducked her head in between her knees. Kriff. Morai landed next to her and let out a mournful croon with the feeling of melonchalycomfortsorrow, and with that, Ahsoka started sobbing. It was too much. If she had just reminisced about her brothers or had just sparred with Qui-Gon and met Obi-Wan, it would not have been that big of a deal, but all of them together? That was too much for her mental state to handle. Right now, she was just thankful that she had kept it together until she got back to her apartment. 

"You never would have made it as Obi-Wan’s padawan, little one, but you might make it as mine."

"Glad to have you back, Commander"

"Why are you here?"

"I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me."

"I took care of them; they're good as new. Maybe a little better. "

"So you’re actually a Jedi?"

"Ahsoka, you’re making a mistake."

"I AM ONE WITH THE FORCE, AND THE FORCE IS WITH ME."

"All I’ve ever been since I was a padawan is a soldier."

BRHHHKRRHHHH

"Where did you learn to fight like that? / My older brother taught me."

"Execute order 66"

"I AM ONE WITH THE FORCE, AND THE FORCE IS WITH ME."

"Where were you? I needed you. "

"It is the will of the Force you are at my side."

"Anakin Skywalker was weak. I destroyed him."

"I will never let anyone hurt you."

"I AM ONE WITH THE FORCE, AND THE FORCE IS WITH ME."

Ahsoka woke up on the floor of her apartment with a sore neck and a headache. Despite the uncomfortable position, she didn’t have the energy to move. Or well... She rolled onto her back, which was a much more comfortable position. She was done moving. She was now one with the floor. Time passed. She didn’t know how much, just that the square of light on the ceiling from the window had moved since she first laid down. 

What time was it? She should pull out her comm and check. Did she have any missed calls force or messages? Was it the next day? She had plans… maybe… Her armor was digging into her shoulders. She should get up and change. She should shower, and eat, and get a drink of water. She didn’t move. Force, she was kriffing pathetic. She couldn’t even perform basic tasks. Even a child could wash themselves, and here she was laying on the floor like a pile of sentient goo covered in dried sweat and sticky clothes. She wanted Rex. andkananandfivesandechoandjesseandhadchaseandkixandandand

"Ahsoka, are you in there?" A voice accompanied by a knock said somewhere to her right, "You missed your appointment, so I asked around and nobody had seen you since… Oh honey," Healer So-Jon had finally opened the door and had seen the wretched mess that Ahsoka was. She came and crouched down next to Ahsoka’s head. "Can I touch you?" Ahsoka nodded her head as much as she could. She felt a hand rest between her montrals and started gently stroking her head. "There we go. It’ll be okay. What will make it better? What can I get for you, darlin’?"

"Rex," she croaked. She swallowed a couple times and then repeated, "I want Rex."

"Oh sweetheart, I’m sorry."

Ahsoka felt like bursting into tears again, except she also felt so, so empty. Healer So-Jon must have realized the predicament she was in because she started talking while continuing to stroke her head, "I was out and about the other day and came upon this lovely young lady, but her boyfriend, bless his heart, couldn’t pour water outta a boot with directions written on the bottom. So I said to her, "Darlin’ as a Jedi I believe that all life is sacred and precious, but as an Oe’zaarci lady I feel like it is my duty to tell you that dog won’t hunt. Sure, people can surprise you but..." And so Healer So-Jon continued on, filling the air with mindless chatter until Ahsoka dozed off. 

When Ahsoka woke up again, she was lying on the couch, and there was a glass of water with a straw on the table in front of her. She reached for the glass and took a small sip, barely stopping herself from chugging the whole thing. That would not help with her dehydration. 

"Oh, good, you’re awake. How are you feeling? " Ahoska turned her head to see Healer So-Jon sitting in her armchair with a datapad on her lap. 

"I’m fine," she replied. Healer So-Jon raised a brow, "Okay, I feel better than I did a few hours ago." 

"Alright, I am going to go make some dinner while you take a bath and change. Does that sound good?"

"It’s fine. I’ll just sonic real quick. There's no need to go through all that trouble."

"AIIHH!" Healer So-Jon said, holding up her hand, "First, it is no problem for me to fix something for us to eat. In fact, I’ve already got a pie in the oven. Second, sonics are good in a pinch, but the vibrations will most likely be detrimental to your montrals right now. Thirdly, research shows that baths are a lot easier to handle mentally, and they have the added bonus of being more relaxing for most mammalians. So off you get."

Healer So-Jon was correct, the bath was very relaxing, and she didn’t think she had the strength to stand for a shower, let alone a sonic. She lay in the tub, mind and body floating, until the water started to get noticeably cold. She debated just turning the faucet on with her foot or getting out of the tub. That is, until she smelled the cooking food and her stomach pangs became noticeable.She quickly toweled off and changed into a pair of leggings and a tunic. 

"You seem to be doing much better," Healer So-Jon said as Ahsoka entered the kitchen. She was stirring a big pot of something that smelled delicious. "Sit down. I hope you don’t mind, but I absolutely pilfered your kitchen."

"I don’t mind. It smells delicious." 

"I made pasta with some of my award-winning meat sauce. I figured you needed the carbs, and it's simple enough to store if there are leftovers," she said as she came over with two bowls, one placed in front of Ahsoka and the other at the next chair. The larger pot has extra meat, and about half of the meat is undercooked. I know it would be preferable to have raw meat, but the simmering process no doubt cooked the extra meat I added a little bit."

"That’s fine, I'm used to eating cooked meat."

"Well, you need all the nutrients in uncooked meat to be healthy. Don’t forget, I have access to your medical file, and I know the results of all the tests Healer Uldsen has been running."

"Well, thank you anyways. You didn’t have to go through all this trouble."

"You’re welcome, and it was no trouble at all. However, even though I’m not ‘on the call’ so to speak, I can’t help but psychoanalyze this whole situation," She said while gesturing around them.

"What do you mean?"

"Ahsoka, it's okay for you to not be okay. In a short amount of time, you have lost everything you've known and loved and are surrounded by the shadows of those that are the same as those you have known but not. It's like…" She paused, staring off into space, "Do you remember in the creche when the Masters would set up a giant net in one of the training salles and all the younglings would take turns jumping from the top of the audience stands into the net to practice falling safely and catching themselves with the Force?"

"Yeah... What about it?"

"Well, you are like a youngling that fell off the stands before the net got set up fully, and I caught you just like the creche Masters would, but we're going to have to finish setting up the safety net before you can do anymore jumping. You need to find and gather new friends and family to act as your safety net. You may fall before then, but you already have people who are willing to help you. I'm here to always catch you when you fall, so is Healer Olson is always here, and I'm sure Master Yoda would absolutely love to fold you into one of his lineages, and from what I've gathered, you made quite a few acquaintances in the archives and among the shadows who also probably wouldn't mind helping you. The point is Ahsoka, you are not alone."

Morai trilled her agreement from her perch on the window ledge. Ahsoka took a bite of her food to give herself time to think. Plus, the food was really good. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a homemade meal. She took another bite.

"I think," Ahsoka said, swallowing her food, "I think I haven’t yet fully let go of my old life, and I don’t think I will be able to get better, mentally that is, until I move on."

"And what do you think will help you move on?" 

"I think I need to leave the temple. I went to Little Keldabe earlier, well yesterday, and that was fine, but half the time when I‘m here it’s like living in a dream. I’ve been fighting for so long that not being in constant danger is weird, I guess… Like any moment, I’ll wake up to find that I’ve been captured by inquisitors or Vader and they’ve stolen all my knowledge about the rebellion or the remaining Jedi from my mind and now they’re going to torture me until I either fall or die."

"Understandable. Some of that may be a symptom of your PTSD as well. What else will help you move on?"

"I need to spend more time with people I knew," It looked like Healer So-John was about to interrupt, so Ahsoka quickly elaborated, "I know if I have a bad day I might slip and mess up my backstory, or I might overwhelm myself again, but I need to separate initiate Kenobi from my grandmaster, and I need to get to know Qui-Gon for himself and not through stories told by my master and grandmaster, and I need to meet Master Dooku in order to separate him from Darth Tyranus."

"That does make sense," Healer So-Jon said with a thoughtful look on her face, "but maybe start with small doses, and if that is unattainable, I want you to comm me or someone else you trust in case you fall apart."

"And what about leaving?"

"The idea does have merit, but until I confer with Healer Uldsen, I want you to stay on planet. Let’s say once a week, maybe twice, go on excursions: visit museums, find new or old places to eat at, and return to little Keldabe. After I talk with Healer Uldsen, we’ll see if there are any on planet missions you can do, and if I think you’re doing well mentally and you get cleared by Healer Uldsen, we’ll see about getting you on a mission off planet in a couple of tendays from now. Sound good?"

"Yeah, that sounds good." Ahsoka said, while mentally making plans of all the places she wanted to visit.

"Alright, I know you slept most of the day, but your brain is tired, so I’m going to take my leave and you are going to meditate and go to bed. Sound like a plan?" Before Ahsoka could answer, Healer So-Jon continued her spiel, "Good. Have a great night. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Ahsoka inhaled deeply, as Rex had taught her. In for four, hold for six, out for eight, "From now on, I want you to call me Ashla."

"I can most certainly do that."

Ashla smiled.

Chapter Text

 Dooku did not know what his Master was up to, but he knew that troll had some sort of mischief planned. He knew that Yoda had wanted Qui-Gon to watch the upcoming initiates tournament, and nothing anyone said would change his Master's mind, so he had planned to take Komari on a very long mission very far away. Except it turns out he had mysteriously been taken off the mission roster and placed on the lecture circuit. Nobody knew how it had happened and when he asked the suspected source of the problem, the only answer he got was 'mysterious ways the force works.' and 'good for you and young Komari it will be. Never see you, I do.' So when his Master found him in the archives and invited him to dinner, he was almost certain there was an ulterior motive behind it. He debated his options before deciding to not mince words. 

 "What are you planning, Master?"

 "Always so suspicious, my Padawan." "With good reason to. Now, what are you planning?"

 "A Master once lost to us has returned."

 "Yes, I have heard of this mysterious Master Tamah. What of it?

 "My many greats grandpadawan she is. The last of her lineage I am. Support she needs returning to the temple after so long away."

 "I doubt that is the only reason, but I have heard many interesting things and would like to put a face to the mysterious figure."

 "Good good, too long it has been since a proper lineage dinner we have had."

 "Wait Master, what do you mean proper lineage dinner?" Yan said, pivoting to face his Master, but the little troll had disappeared. Blast.

 In the days leading up to the dinner, Yan had started researching the new mysterious Jedi (It was not stalking, no matter what Komari said), and the best way to research another Jedi was to subtly ask around the temple. Yan was privileged enough to have friends in high places, so at his weekly book club meeting with Madam Nu (No Komari, it is not a gossip session. It is merely two friends discussing interesting and relevant facts and how they relate to temple life), he asked after the new Master.

 "I hear you have a new helper in the archives."

 "Oh yes, Master Tamah, She is truly a delight."

 "It must be rough going from the field to the slower pace of the temple."

 "Oh, I don't know about that. I don't know if I have ever meant someone who has worked so hard in the archives without being an archivist. Last week she went through an entire book from the Mando-Sith wars and translated it into basic, and then she apologized because she is only fluent in a niche dialect of the modern language, so her translation is not the most accurate. Then, she apologized for not spending enough time on the translation because she was spending so much time in the halls of healing, and she didn't want to remove such an old artifact from the archives. She is truly amazing. I hope I can snag her for when we inventory the Holocron vault. There's a few that I want her to interact with, and there's probably even more in there that she would be able to glean useful information from."

 So, Yan didn't learn much about Master Tamah from Jocasta other than all the work she had done in the archives, and apparently, she was a frequent visitor to the Halls of Healing. Luckily his bi-weekly meeting with Sifo-Dyas that happened whenever he was in the temple was the next day. (It's not a tea party Komari.) 

 "It seems Jocasta is almost smitten with the newly returned Master Tamah."

 "Ah yes, Master Tamah does seem to be making waves, and it is no surprise that Jo has been hoarding her in the archives, not with all the knowledge she has from living in the outer rim for so long."

 "Yes, I have heard much about her, and with as much as I've heard, I'm surprised I have not meant her yet."

 "Well, she keeps busy catching up on things with not being in the temple for so long."

 "Yes, it must be hard making the adjustment."

 "Oh, you have no idea," Sy said with a twinkle in his eyes, and after that, he refused to answer anything else about the mysterious Master.
 Yoda would, of course, be no help, so Yan didn't even bother asking him. Yaddle was just as bad as his Master. Mace just grumbled something about shatterpoints, painkillers, and coco cake. Even the quartermaster left him with no information other than that the mystery master was 'a breath of fresh air' and had brought him some special spicy candy. Yan was getting desperate. So desperate, in fact, that he almost went and asked Qui-Gon when he heard that the two had recently sparred, but eventually decided that he could make do with the information that he had. (I am not too cowardly to talk to Qui-Gon. Now go do your homework Komari. No, I am not brooding over the 'failed relationship with my former padawan' go do your homework.)

 Which led to him and Komari showing up at Yoda's front door with a bottle of wine, food papable for humans, and far less information than he would like; however, he knew he had a lack of information, so he was prepared to not be surprised at anything weird that happened. That is until his former grandpadawan, Feemor, answered the door when they knocked. He stared. Feemor stared.

 "Awkward," Komari sang, "Hey Fee, good to see you. Is Ace here?" That seemed to snap them both out of their stupor.

 "No, he's on his first solo mission," He said as he moved aside, "Do come in. I was unaware that anyone else would be joining us tonight."

 "Really, can you expect anything else from Master Yoda?" Komari said, flouncing past Feemor with their casserole dish, "Hello, Master Yoda! We brought a side to go with the swamp stew."

 "Very good. Set the table, will you?"

 "No problem, it will give Master Yan and Fee time to catch up."

 "You know Master, when you said lineage dinner, I did not think," Yan started to say before he was cut off by another knock at the door, but before anyone could open it, the door was flung open by none other than Qui-Gon Jinn, and Yan just couldn't help himself, "I know I taught you better manners than that Padawan."

 "Master Yoda," Qui-Gon said slowly as his eyes flicked to Feemor, Yan, and Komari, "I was under the impression that it would just be us during our bi-weekly dinner."

 "Very old I am," Yoda said, leaning heavily on his gimmer stick, "forgetful about which days my lineage prefers to visit." Nobody seemed to believe him as all three of them raised an eyebrow, and Komari failed to turn her snickering into a cough. Any argument was cut off with another knock at the door.

 "Please tell me that's not Rael," Qui-Gon said as Feemor went to open the door only to reveal… "YOU!" Qui-gon pointed at the newcomer.

 "Me," said a Togruta, whom he could only assume was Master Tamah, "Master Yoda, this is not what I had in mind when you asked me to dinner and 'lineage bonding.' although, I don't know why I'm surprised."

"Wait, wait, hold up, since when are you a part of our lineage? "Qui-Gon asked. 

 "manners, "Yan said, "I know I raised you better than this Padawan."

"Well…technically, I'm not part of this lineage, but considering my lineage is basically all dead except for Yoda, I guess he decided to adopt me into this lineage."

"You can't just join other people's lineages!" Qui-Gon said incredulously. Yan was about to scold his padawan again, but Master Tama broke in before he could.

"Listen, just because you're upset that I want our spar doesn't mean-"

"Technically, you did not win."

"You surrendered; that was the rules of The spar either until someone surrendered or was knocked out."

"You broke the rules of sparring etiquette!"

"Our lightsabers were on the lowest setting. What else do you want?"

"You used dirty tricks and won dishonorably."

"Nuh-uh, I didn't even try to bite you once or punch you in the groin!"

"Just because you didn't pull out the dirtiest tricks in the book doesn't mean that your tricks still weren't dirty."

"Don't blame me for your sheltered and wimpy fighting style."

"Aruto is not wimpy!"

"I didn't say Aruto's wimpy; I love Aruto. I said you're wimpy. It's not my fault you've never been in a real fight before."

"I get sent on some of the most dangerous missions!"

"Well, I don't know how you've survived this long then. I would have died before knighthood if I fought like you."

"That doesn't even make sense!"

"Yes, it does!"

"No, it doesn't!"

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

"CHILDREN!" Yan yelled, breaking up the fight. Komari and Feemor looked disappointed that their entertainment had been interpreted, "That's enough. You may have a rematch later as civilized people." He was going to continue with a lecture on manners, but Master Tamah snorted and tried to stifle a laugh.

"I'm- haha- I'm sorry," she said, trying to control her laughter, "it's just you sound so much like my great-grandmaster."

"Well, he must have had good taste."

"Oh yeah, the fanciest, most evil person I know, knew, with the best manners too!"

"I'm sorry, what?" Surprisingly it was Feemor who asked that and not Qui-gon.

"Well, I never officially met and fought with him like my master and grandmaster did, and he's dead now, so… anyway, I brought kofta," She finished her rambling by holding up a covered dish.

"Introductions first," Yoda said from his perch, "Master Ashla Tamah, meet my Padawan Yan Dooku," Yan nodded his head in greeting, "his padawan's Qui-Gon Jinn and Komari Vosa, and his grandpadawan Feemor." Feemor nodded his head, and Qui-Gon suddenly became very interested in the floor. "Lineage, please meet Master Ashla Tamah, my great-great-great-grandpadawan she is. Away she has been for quite some time, yes."

"Pleasure to meet you all." she paused, "well, except you, Jinn. I've already met you, although I never knew you were such a sore loser."

"I am not-"

"You really beat Master Jinn," Kamari asked, "he's like one of the best duelists in the order."

"I mean, maybe if it was a real fight and not a friendly spar, he might win."

"That was not a friendly spar," Qui-Gon added.

"Oh my gosh," Master Tamah said, tilting her head back to stare at the ceiling in exasperation, "Not this again."

"What's kofta, Master Tamah?" Feemor asked before the two masters could start bickering again.

"I'm glad you asked knight Feemor," she paused, "Do you have a last name or family name?"

"No," Feemor said, blushing, "I come from a small, rural planet that uses epithets and monikers instead of family names, so I would probably be known as Feemor the Jedi or Feemor Goldentop."

"Huh, interesting. I know a couple cultures that are similar, but not to the extent of not having family or clan names," She said before remembering that he had asked her a question, "Anyway, kofta is a traditional dish from Tatooine. Many other desert planets have a similar dish, some even share the same name, but this particular recipe comes from Tatooine."

"I wasn't aware Tatooine was known for its cuisine or is it something you picked up on your travels?" Yan asked."

"Actually, it's a family recipe from my Master. He commed his sister-in-law and asked for his mother's recipe after he took me on as his padawan learner."

"Your Master knew his birth family?" Yan asked

"My lineage has always been pretty nontraditional."

"Like you're one to talk, Master," Qui-Gon snorted.

"Anyway," Master Tamah interrupted loudly before another disagreement erupted, "It's a versatile dish, and I didn't know who would be coming, how many, or what food there would be beside swamp stew, so these four on the left are mine, heavily seasoned and very rare try them at your own risk, these ones in the middle are made as traditionally as I could with the spices and herbs I had on hand, and the ones on the far right are made with minimal seasoning for those of you that can't handle the heat."

"Chit chat long enough we have. Sit down; time to eat it is." Yoda said, and so with very little fuss and only a minor amount of bickering, the four masters, a knight, and a padawan found their seats on the floor cushions around the table.

Chapter Text

Ashla wasn't quite sure what to expect when Yoda invited her for dinner and lineage bonding. Even then, having her entire direct lineage (and then some) in Yoda's living room didn't quite make the list of things she suspected. Maybe one or two of them, but not all of them. So, after setting her dish down, she sent a quick comm to Healer So-Jon that she would probably need a check-up later that night or in the morning. Under Yoda's instruction, everyone settled at the table with a plate of food with minimal fuss.

“Forget my famous soup do not,” Yoda said, passing around bowls of swamp stew that anyone in his lineage was familiar with.

“Oh yes, how could we have forgotten Master Yoda's infamous swamp stew," Qui-Gon Jinn muttered. Ashla took a spoonful of the stew in front of her. It didn't smell the best, but it was only polite to try it.

"Not bad Master Yoda, " Ashla said, taking another bite, "the frog has a certain something to it. I don't know what it is, but it's pretty good. And I would have added more crustaceans instead of all the extra leafy greens," halfway through her stew she noticed everyone staring at her. "What?"

"You like Master Yoda’s stew? " The girl, Komari, asked slowly as if unsure.

"Yeah… like I said it could use some more crustaceans or frog meat, but it's certainly not the worst thing I've ever eaten. Not even close."

“Hmm, finally, a lineage member with good taste,” Yoda said with a grin.

“Master Yoda, you know perfectly well that humans do not have the right organs to digest this food properly,” Dooku stated.

“Actually,” Ashla interjected while polishing off her bowl, “ My master would have probably greatly enjoyed this stew. Of course, he also liked eating live bugs, which grossed other people out, but… you know,” she offered with a shrug only to be met with baffled facial expressions and silence.

“No,” Qui-gon said after a moment, “We don’t.”

“Oh well, my master always said bugs are really good once you get past the wiggliness, and you know beggars can’t be choosers, so you gotta eat what you can, while you can when you can because you never know when osik will hit the fan.” Ashla looked up from her bowl to see a table full of blank stares. After several seconds of silence, Ashla was debating what to say that would break the awkwardness and not add to it when someone beat her to it.

“So, can you tell us more about your duel with Qui-Gon?” Komari asked.

“She cheated,” Qui-Gon said before she could even open her mouth.

“Not this again,” Master Dooku added, reaching for his full glass of wine and the bottle.

“Technically, I did not cheat,” Ashla said, and then continued, before Qui-Gon could interrupt her, “I just had a much different apprenticeship than you.” That seemed to stop any rebuttal from Qui-Gon, but just to be safe she decided to further explain.

“From what I gathered from my brief interactions with you and your Master, you had a very traditional padawanship when it comes to saber work. Like reading Illustrated Practical and Theoretical Fencing Treatise of the Modern Jedi and Saber School cover to cover several times during your apprenticeship kind of traditional. Am I right?” She received nods from Qui-Gon, who looked shocked, and Komari who scowled. “And there’s no problem with that,” she said, specifically in Dooku’s direction, “it's just I had a far more unconditional apprenticeship than most."

"How so?" Feemor asked, speaking up.

"My first-day training with my Master in lightsaber forms before we even started, he told me snips, as Jedi we need to do our best to preserve all life as possible, but you are a child, and the people we face do not care that you are in training or about the preservation of life. So, when you fight you win because if you don't you will die. From now on you do what you must to win. Throw sand, punch below the belt, use your nails and teeth, do whatever you must to win, and if you are outclassed and you know you will not win you survive. There is no shame in making a strategic retreat. Taking another life is horrible, but if the choice is between their life and yours. Choose yourself and live to fight another day.”

“That is horrifying,” Feemor stated with wide eyes.

“Maybe,” Ashla said, shrugging, “But I’m still alive. Many others who were in my situation can’t say the same.”

“I think that’s even more horrifying.”

“Well, that’s life. Anyway, back to Padawan Vosa’s question, I quite enjoyed sparring with Master Jinn. He is quite talented though his talents were developed more towards one-on-one spars and temple tournaments and not in modern warfare.”

“I don’t know whether or not to take that as a compliment or not,” Qui-Gon said.

“It could be both or neither. We were both trained by our masters to survive the situations they thought we would be most likely to face. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Very true Master Tamah.”

“Your Master thought you would need to flirt to win fights?” Qui-Gon asked incredulously.

“No, my Master couldn’t flirt to save his life, not even with his own life partner. It was my grandmaster who taught me to flirt. Mostly by example. He tended to flirt a lot with his evil lineage aunt.” Ahsoka took another bite of her food. It really was good. Then she noticed the silence. She looked up to see everyone staring at her. Komari broke the silence.

“I think I need to get my ears checked because there is no way I heard what you just said correctly.”

“What do you mean?” Ahsoka asked. She hadn’t said anything that wasn’t true. All she had said were facts. The sky on Coruscant is Blue. Tatooine has two suns. Skyguy and Senator Amidala were the worst-kept secret. Master Kenobi flirted with anybody who had a pulse. All simple facts. Everyone else at the table seemed to have trouble connecting the dots. Feemor opened his mouth as if to say something, closed it, and then reached for the bottle of wine.

“A lot to unpack your statement is.”

Ashla thought about that, and I guess for people who weren’t surrounded by war it might be a lot. Healer So-Jon had said that her experiences and the people she had previously surrounded herself with had set her mindset to something many others would have trouble relating to. Healer So-Jon also made sure to reassure Ashla that it would take time for her to readjust to her new normal, but still, this seemed like a pretty normal thing everyone had crazy lineage members. Maybe she should ask.

“Doesn’t everyone have crazy or weird lineage members?”

“I mean yeah,” Komari said, “Force knows our lineage is a kriffing mess.”

“Komari!” Dooku interrupted, “Language.”

“What? It’s true. Between Rael and Nim and Xanatos and that whole situation and …other things. You gotta admit our lineage is far from normal, but flirting with other lineage members is still way kriffing weird.”

“That may be true, but there is no need to use such crass language,” Dooku said. Feemor passed him the mostly empty bottle of wine.

“I guess I can see your point,” Ashla said, tilting her head, “but Assaj was a part of the dar’jetti lineage, not the Jedi lineage so I don’t think it’s quite the same. Also, she was a few years younger than my grandmaster so there also wasn’t any super weird age-gap.”

“Uhh, what about the fact that she was evil?” Komari went on.

“She reformed. We were roommates for a bit.”

“Wait a second,” Qui-Gon butted in before Komari could ask more questions. “Is this the same evil roommate who had tried to kill you multiple times and then died so you purified her crystals?”

“Hhmm. Once fall to the Darkside forever will it dominate your path,” Yoda said adding his two credits.

“Okay, first of all, Qui-Gon, you got that all out of order. She tried to kill everyone a bunch, then reformed, and then we became roommates. Second of all, that's not necessarily true Master Yoda. I know plenty of people who have fallen to the dark side and then come back to the light. Not that that is what happened to Assaj as she was more gray than light when she died and was still using her bleeding crystals at that point, but she was no longer going around torturing people with Sith devices and flesh-eating bugs. In fact, she stopped murdering people and just stuck to assassinating corrupt politicians and oligarchs, so that’s got to count for something.”

“I still don’t think,” Qui-Gon started to say before Ashla interrupted.

“Oh look, my mind healer is calling,” She said, holding up her silent and still comm, “I’ve got to go take this. Qui-Gon hit me up when you want to spar again. Yoda, see you next week. Dooku, Feemor, Komari, nice to meet you.” She grabbed her spicy kofta and headed to the door. “We should totally do this again. Bye.”

Chapter Text

 The occupants at the dining room table sat in stunned silence. 

“Well, that was a thing that happened,” Komari said, deciding to break the silence.

“This kriffing lineage,” Feemor murmured, draining the last of his glass of wine.

“Enjoy conversing with Master Tamah I do. What she will say, I never know,” Yoda added.

“I, for one, want to hear more of this duel now that the conversation is less likely to devolve into squabbling,” Master Yan said with a pointed look at Qui-Gon.

“There’s not much to tell. She offered one-on-one training to a couple of initiates, and she had heard of my saber skills and asked me to spar for educational purposes. She uses two blades that are curved like those used for Makashi, but she has almost no set form. She easily slipped from Aruto to Djem So to Sorusu and back. She was also unafraid to use hand-to-hand combat and spent almost the entire fight either talking to me or the initiates.”

“You said she flirted with you,” Feemor prompted.

“Apparently, it’s a valid form of distraction,” Qui-Gon shrugged.

“I want to know more about the evil lineage aunt and the incestuous relationship with Master Tamah’s Grandmaster,” Komari said.

“Really Padawan, must you be so facetious?” Master Yan asked with the same pinched look he got when he was stuck listening to her talk about the plot of her latest holodrama fixation.  

“It sounds more interesting than talking about her and Qui-Gon’s different expectations for a spar. Especially since she is no longer here,” Komari said, defending herself.

“Why did she have such unconventional training Master?” Feemor asked Yoda.

“Most of her training in the outer rim it was. Very little time in the temple she spent. First time home this is since her knighting.”

“Well that at least explains why it seemed she was about to kill me even with her sabers on training mode,” Qui-Gon said sullenly.

“But all padawans need to visit the temple at least once a year for practicals,” Komari cut in.

“Very unconventional Master Tamah’s training was. Many exceptions made for her there were.”

“But why was her apprenticeship so unconventional? Why hasn’t she come home before now?” Komari couldn’t help but ask.

“Very dangerous work master Tanah and her Master did. Very dangerous. Last of her lineage she is. More friends she needs says healer So-Jon.”

“I could not find any of her mission reports on file. In fact, her personal file is slimmer than some initiate files,” Master Yan prodded.

“Master, did you stalk Ashla?” Qui-Gon questioned.

“No, I merely…”

“Yes, he absolutely did,” Komari interrupted, “He was so frustrated that he got almost no information from his gossip sessions, that he considered comming you when I told him that I heard Depa, who heard from Kit, who heard from another Padawan that an initiate told their creche master that they saw you spar with her.”

“It is not stalking, and my visits with Masters Dyas and Nu are not gossip sessions,” Master Yan scolded, “I was merely gathering information about an unknown variable. Something both of you should work on doing before a mission.”

“Is that what we’re calling the rumor mill now? Maybe Ace and I have been away from the temple too long,” Feemor said. Master Yan’s scowl deepened.

“And don’t tell me the rest of you weren’t curious about the new, mysterious master that seems to have appeared out of nowhere!” Master Yan went on, completely ignoring Feemor.

“Yeah, and I did what any normal person would do. I checked the Padawan gossip network,” Komari said.

“I literally got back two days ago. I didn’t hear about her until I met her,” Feemor added.

“I’ve been too busy dodging the initiates with their tiny, squishy faces and their big, soulful eyes. I swear they get smaller every year,” Qui-Gon said, miming squishing something. 

“Not too busy apparently since you sparred with her in front of a pair of initiates,” Komari snarked.

“Qui-Gon, are you scared of children?” Feemor asked.

 “First off, I only did that because one of the initiates had Ashla’s bird, a really beautiful convor, and she asked me, and the initiates were right there with their little tooka eyes, so I couldn’t just say no! Second I am not afraid of children, but you know this time of year all the initiates close to aging out are looking for a master, and then they look at me with sad eyes. I can’t raise a padawan! Look what happened last time!”

“Gee thanks,” Feemor muttered.

“You were already basically a full person when I got you!” Qui-Gon exclaimed, “ All I had to do was supervise, and whenever you had a question all I had to do was ask myself what would Master Yoda say and then translate that into normal speech.”

“That makes so much sense,” Feemor said as he thought about several questionable things Qui-Gon had told him in a new light.

“Ruled by fear you should not be for to the dark side it leads. Take a new padawan and conquer your fears. Perfect initiate I have in mind.”

“If you’re so desperate for this child to join your lineage why not ask Master Tamah?” Master Yan asked.

“On medical leave she is. No Padawan and no Missions until cleared by Mind Healer So-Jon she is.”

“Wait,” Qui-Gon interrupted, “Are you telling me that I would have a permanent excuse to never have a padawan that not even Master Yoda could work around if I went to the mind healers?”

“Yeah but for them to ban you from having a padawan you would also probably be put on a mission ban and thus be grounded to the temple,” Feemor pointed out.

“That sounds awful. I’ll just keep hiding.”

“The great maverick everyone,” Komari announced while cackling at her Padawan brother’s expense.

“Face your fears you should, Do no good hiding will.”

“Once again, I am not afraid,” Qui-Gon said, starting to lose the Jedi cool that he was infamous for in diplomatic circles. “I'm just not a good teacher, but it makes my heart sad when I see the little, tiny people with their sad eyes when I tell them no. A Jedi should recognize their weakness, and mine is wanting to take care of pathetic life forms.”

“Force Qui-Gon I can't believe you just called children pathetic life forms like they’re  some stray alley cat.”

“While that may not be the most articulate argument,” Master Yan interpreted her, “I do have to agree with Qui-Gon. His mastery is in the Living Force in what is happening in the here and now. Which is all very well and good on missions and dangerous situations, but it is not the best when rearing a child that needs routine and structure.”

“I do have to agree with Master Dooku,” Feemor added, “By the time I became Qui-Gon's Padawan I had already developed my sleeping, eating, and working habits. If it wasn't for me or Master Tahl the only thing that would be in Qui-Gon's kitchen cupboards would be a couple boxes of tea and extra fertilizer.”

“I was better about food, meals, and stuff with Xani!”

“Yeah, but Xantos was a brat, and if he was hungry, he would let you know. Who knows what kind of personality this new kid would have.”

“Strong connection to the cosmic force initiate Kenobi has balance each other out they will.”

“No offense, Master Yoda, but that sounds like a terrible idea. I mean, I can see that working with a knight or even a senior Padawan, but not with an initiate.”

“Offended I am. Seen it, I have a great team they will make.”

“What happened to the future is always in motion?” Master Yan asked, but continued before anyone could answer him, “And who's to say forcing them into a master-padawan pair will make them a good team. Surely, if you saw it in the Force, then the teamwork will happen naturally.”

“Your sass, I need not, Padawan.”

“And that’s my cue,” Feemor said, draining his fifth glass of line, “I’m getting out of here before it’s my turn for the lineage bullying.” 

“Weak,” Komari fake coughed into her hand.

“Maybe, but if you want, I can tell everyone what Ace saw you doing in the archives two days ago.”

“Nevermind, bye Feemor, have a good evening.”

“That’s what I thought. Have a good evening everyone,” He said, exiting before anyone else could say anything. As soon as the door slid shut Master Yan turned to her.

“Would you care to elaborate on your study session in the archives several days ago?” He asked with a raised eyebrow. Komari gulped, she was going to be in so much trouble.

Chapter Text

There was one week left until the initiate tournament, and Obi-Wan Kenobi was in his last training session with Master Ashla Tamah. Over the last few weeks, he had learned so much from her. She had helped him with physical aspects of his training, like perfecting his Shii Cho forms and teaching him the correct way to throw a punch. They also worked on more theoretical aspects, like discussing the different situations where it is appropriate to draw one's lightsaber and when to keep it hidden. Sometimes he liked to pretend that he was a Padawan learning from his Master, and they were getting ready for a mission. Then he would feel guilty because she was not his Jaieh, and he was not her Padawan, and it was wrong of him to take advantage of her kindness. Still, he could dream, and he would miss their time together. However, Bant was sure that Master Ashla was going to ask him to be her Padawan, but she hadn’t asked yet, and he was running out of time. So he plucked up his courage, and during one of their water breaks, he squared his shoulders and prepared to ask a question he had asked more times than he cared to count.

“Master Tamah, are you going to the tournament?”

“I don't know," she said, cocking her head in thought, "To be honest, I hadn't thought of it. The last time I went to the initiate tournament was when I participated in it. Maybe I will, but there's a possibility I'll have to be the point of contact for a few missions soon.”

“Oh,” Obi-Wan said, plucking up his courage to do something that Bant had been begging him to do since that day in the refractory, “Master Tamah, would you consider taking me as your Padawan learner?” She froze for a moment before turning to the observation area.

“Kawa’kai, Come sit with me for a moment,” This was the part he was dreading. The part that he had fooled himself into hoping wouldn't happen. The part where the kind and wonderful Master Tamah would reject him like everyone else had. He had fooled himself into believing she liked him as much as he liked her, and now he would have to deal with the look of pity as she turned him down.

 “Do you know why I keep my sabers on training mode even when doing katas by myself or when sparring with other Masters?”

“You told Master Jinn that it was your healer's orders,” Obi-Wan said, unsure of where she was going with this line of thought.

“Yes, you see when I returned to the temple, I had been gone for a very long time on very dangerous missions. Because of this, there are times my mind forgets where and when I am, so for mine and other people's safety I keep my sabers on training mode in case my mind thinks I'm fighting enemies.”

“Oh,” Obi-Wan said, still confused.

“It is also for this reason that I am unable to take on a Padawan learner until my mind healer, and the council of reassignment both agree that my mind has healed.” 

“Oh, Obi-Wan repeated, much more dejected.

“I also don't think it would be fair to you,” She continued. Usually, when Masters rejected him it was because of him, but occasionally they would say something like this that they weren't ready to have him as a Padawan. “There are so many things about you that remind me of my grandmaster whom I love and miss very much, and it wouldn't be fair for me to look at you and see him. You are your own person, and I would hate to bury parts of you to try and fit you in the mold of my grandmaster.”

“Oh. Okay.” This wasn't unusual though usually the masters said they didn't want to compare him to their former Padawans or something like that. This was the first time he had been compared to a grandmaster though. 

“Obi-Wan, Kawa’kai, look at me,” Master Ashla said. He looked up dreading the pity he would find. Only he didn't. She looked grave and serious.

 He had only seen her look this way one other time when he saw her talking to Master Tholme when he was wandering through the archives reshelving all the datapads he, Bant, and Garren had been using for a project.

“Listen to me Obi-Wan. You will be a great Jedi Master. The path you take to get there may not be conventional, but you will get there. I only hope that I will be able to help you on your journey as a Master, teacher, mentor, or friend.”

“How do you know? Master Yoda always tells me the future is in motion and not to dwell on it.”

“That's because Master Yoda is more connected to the Living Force, but he's also not wrong. History is full of people bringing about the event they tried to prevent.”

“Then how can you know I'll be a Jedi Master? I'm not even a good initiate, let alone great.”

“I know because I know you. You may have a temper, and you may not be the best in astronavigation, and you may have trouble connecting to the living force, but those are all things that can be learned. You have a kind and caring heart and a spine made of beskar which is much harder for someone to learn.”

“Still doesn't change the fact that no one has picked me and I'm almost thirteen,” He skulked. 

“The Force will find a way. I was fourteen when I became a Padawan, and my Master didn't even choose me. Master Yoda just put me on a supply ship to the outer rim and said take these to your Master. Skyguy was not thrilled when he found out the Padawan escorting his supplies was his Padawan.”

“That's horrible,” Obi-Wan couldn't imagine being assigned to a Master who didn't even want a Padawan. 

“Eh, it was rough at first, and I did a lot of stupidly reckless things to prove that I deserved to be out there, but we worked well as a team and loved each other like siblings. His death broke my heart.”

“I'm sorry. I can't imagine losing one of my crèche mates”

“I shouldn't have unloaded all that on you, but you have once again proved my point by empathizing with me. The moral of the story is that the Force works in mysterious ways called Master Yoda, so I know you will be a Jedi Master. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“And if for some reason your thirteenth birthday passes and no one has snatched you up like the precious jewel you are, I’ll come rescue you from your corps posting as soon as I can and sprint you off to Corellia or Jedha or maybe even Mandalore and get you trained up as a proper Jedi Knight. Now break time’s over we'll do that last set a few more times and then we can spar for a bit.”

“How did it go?” Bant asked as Obi-Wan sat down with his friends by their favorite pool in the room of a thousand fountains.

“She said she can't take a padawan, and even if she could, she wouldn't take me because I'm too much like her dead grandmaster.”

“But isn't she already acting like your Master by privately training you?” Garren asked.

“I guess it’s different; since her Mind healer lets her do it but not take a Padawan. Point is though that I’m never going to be a Jedi Knight.”

“That’s not true! When we did our vocational discernment meditation a couple of years ago the Force pretty clearly showed that you would be a knight,” Bant defended.

“Yeah well, maybe things have changed. After all, Master Yoda always says that the future is in motion and not to put our trust in visions.”

“ Or maybe the reason she’s helping you is because she knows you’ll be a good knight, but she can’t train you so she is doing what she can to make other masters look at taking you.”

“I guess. She did say if nobody picked me she would take me to another temple for training, but I thought she was just being nice after turning me down.”

“Don’t worry Obi-Wan, everything is going to turn out just fine, and if Master Tamah won’t break you out, then we will!”

“Yeah!” Garren agreed.

“Thanks, you guys are the best,” Obi-Wan said with bittersweet tears in his eyes.