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“ Tiv!” Luke shouted, not slowing down as he almost knocked over a human knight who had been carrying a stack of datapads up to his nose.
“ Be careful Padawan! What would your Master think?” The knight shouted after him, the boy not slowing down in his dash to get wherever he was going.
Luke raced down the halls, ignoring the yells of various knights and Masters telling him to slow down. The Temple was more crowded than usual, with the start of the Convergence, where all the Wandering Jedi and Jedi who were on missions came home. There were a few, mostly Shadows or Jedi in very delicate situations who wouldn’t be able to make it, but the vast majority would make it home for the five day ceremony.
His sister and her Master had been gone for almost two weeks dealing with a succession dispute on Denon, but they were coming back for the Convergence and were due to arrive in the next ten minutes.
Leia and Master Windu would be spending the week with their lineage, which overlapped with Luke’s, Master Windu and him both being padawans of Master Yoda. Their lineage was big, even if it did have a few… holes in it. Of his Master’s padawans, Master Windu, Master Mundi, Master Drallig, and him would be there. Master Yoda had had so many padawans through the centuries that it would be impossible to have them all over on day 2 of the Convergence.
Master Hett would be the only one not there as he was undercover on Tatooine, sowing dissent against the Hutts. But Master Averross would be there for the first time since Luke had become a Padawan almost three years ago. The man was usually in Wild Space and often forgot the date or even where he was.
Luke entered the hanger, avoiding the Jedi and Clone waiting for or greeting their loved ones who were arriving from a mission. He saw Knight Dume with his padawan, Ezra Bridger standing alone in the hanger waiting for Master Windu. He ran over to them and threw his arm around Ezra.
“Waiting for Master Windu?” Luke asked, poking his friend in the head.
“Yep.” Ezra said, ignoring Luke’s pestering. “Heard anything from Leia yet?”
“Yeah, she commed a few minutes ago.” He responded. “Said they just left hyperspace.” He glanced around. “Where’s Master Billaba?” He asked, not seeing the Chalactan Master anywhere.
“She’s helping Master Feemor prepare the younglings for the play they’re putting on.” Calab responded, grinning. “Master Windu isn’t here so Master Feemor decided that my Master is the next best thing.”
The knight, being blind, was one of the best Jedi at sensing people in the Force, so it surprised no one when he tugged on his padawan’s braid and said, “They just broke the atmosphere, they’ll be here in a few seconds.”
The small Jedi ship touched down in the hanger and Leia jumped out the second she was able to. She hugged Luke and started to tell him about the mission they had been on. Since she was training to be a Counselor, most of her missions were diplomatic. Luke’s were a hodgepodge of a whole lot of things since Master Yoda was needed for everything.
Master Windu greeted them a lot calmer, bowing to his lineage members and Padawan brother. “I heard my Padawan is running the younglings theater?”
The younglings' play was as good as every year. In which to say it was terrible but extremely cute, there were no tears like last year, but one of the Togruta younglings had lost a fang and thought it was absolutely necessary to show Master Junda, jumping off the stage to show off her bloody baby fang and bleeding gums.
Afterwards, the Jedi moved to the largest Refectory in the Temple, seating about half of the Jedi present. Before the War, there had been over 10,000 Jedi, but now there were only about 6,500, many dying or leaving. He knew that these holidays often saddened many of the old Masters, seeing the empty halls still not filled almost 19 years after the end of the Clones Wars, but the Force still sang when the Jedi returned home.
Padawans and younglings gathered in lines, with a few younger knights, waiting to gather huge plates of food for their lineage. Ezra, Leia, Nogak, and him gossiped as they waited in line, Nogak chattering on about everything around her. Being the youngest, she was babied a bit by the rest of the padawans in their lineage, but she didn’t mind, sometimes even enjoying the attention.
They gathered the food, taking care to not leave anyone out, because even though their lineage was mostly humans or near-humans, there were still a lot of dietary restrictions. They wouldn’t only sit with their lineage tonight though, that was for tomorrow, where they would all gather in Master Yoda’s apartments and cook for each other, just as long as they kept Knight Tano away from the stove. Today everyone moved about, taking food from different tables, spending time with their larger family. They would spend time with friends and their old Clanmates, sharing stories of the year and congratulating the younglings of their performance.
Master Yoda would be a little sad today as well, his request to the Senate to allow the former Count Dooku to spend the five day holiday in the Temple once again denied. He knew that many of the Jedi agreed with the Senate about the former Sith and from what Luke had heard, he thought he might agree as well, but still his Master missed his former padawan, having forgiven him almost instantly.
The togruta youngling from the play rushed up to Luke, recognizing him from his shifts in the Creche, proudly showing him her fang, now stored in a little, transparent bag. She ran off before he could say anything, showing her tooth to another group of Jedi.
He dropped off the food at the table where Master Obi-Wan and Master Feemor were, they thanked him and he bowed to them, before running off in search of his clanmates.
Luke spent the evening moving between different Refectories, spending his time with as many people as he could, before Master Yoda came to fetch him, telling him, “Sleep you need and carry me you must.” He passed out the moment his head hit his pillow, knowing he was going to be awakened by being tossed out of bed with the Force the next morning.
The next morning started with Luke being unceremoniously thrown from his bed onto the floor and him and his master cleaning their small apartment in preparation for their lineage dinner. This included moving everything off the table, finding old pots and pans to cook in, cleaning said pots and pans, putting away datapads and stacks of flimsi away, hiding books that Master Yoda had had for centuries so no one would be able to take it back to the archives, and finding semi matching and mostly whole plates and cutlery to eat off, all while Master Yoda sang, very loudly, songs that had been popular six centuries ago, completely out of tune.
It was late afternoon when the rest of their lineage trickled in, Obi-Wan and Nogak were first, Nogak happily chatting with Master Yoda as the two stood on stools to reach the counter, cooking an egg dish that the young Jawan loved.
Knight Dume and Ezra were next, Ezra immediately telling his master how to prepare some cake the two had planned.
Master Mundi arrived with a stack of data pads for Master Yoda.
Master Mace, Master Depa, Master Drallig and Leia had brought what seemed to be a soup that smelled savery and made Luke’s mouth water. Leia quickly joined him in peeling tubers for pancakes.
Master Feemor arrived, paint in his hair (courtesy of working with younglings) and was laughed at and herded into the fresher.
Master Rael and Ahsoka were late as always, Master Rael looking like he had just crawled out of a dumpster and Ahsoka with a laugh and a pat on the twins’ heads.
They spend the rest of the afternoon preparing food together, cramped in the small kitchen, tripping over one another, barely keeping anything from spilling.
They sat at the low dining table, pulling extra chairs from neighboring apartments (“Return them we will.”) Conversation flowed easily among the Jedi, food shared, and stories told. Luke marveled at his family, even just this small part of it.
Since Luke had become a padawan, he had seen so much more of the universe. Younglings didn’t leave the Temple much as they were easy targets for slavers and other folk who wanted to get their hands on a Jedi. But with all he had seen he would never find a place that was more his home.
On the next day, Luke stood alone behind one of the waterfalls in The Room of a Thousand Fountains. There was a small stone outcropping, covered in moss where he liked to meditate. Today though, Luke wouldn’t only be meditating.
He lit the small candle, its flame protected from the water surrounding him and set it into the stream.
“ Im tumi tamah kerai’yth, ji xai enoah Dai. ” He whispered to himself under his breath, pushing the candle forward in the water, until it flowed under the waterfall, flame still burning, into one of the large fountains.
“Ready to lose Luke?”
“Says the girl who I’ll be beating today!”
Watching the Skywalker-Amidala twins duel was a sight to behold, the two evenly matched in skill and power, but using completely different styles and forms.
Blue and green blades met and they were off! Dancing around each other, neither seeming to have an edge.
Leia seemed more controlled in her movements, fighting with a combination of Makashi and Vaapad, one arm behind her back, like a fancy Serreno fencer, but lashing out like a snake whenever she had an opening.
Luke, on the other hand, preferred Ataru, his style reminiscent of a streetfighter (As Master Obi-Wan delighted in reminding him), not above kicking his sister in the chest and sweeping her legs out from under her.
The two moved around the sandpit, blades clashing. To an outsider, it might look like they were trying to kill each other, but every Jedi in the room could feel the joy and humor radiating between them.
They seemed to be at a stalemate before Luke, right as Leia was about to strike him, fell to the ground, sweeping his sister’s legs out from under her. Unable to brace herself while in a forward lunge, Leia lost balance and her brother pulled her lightsaber out of her grip.
“Do you concede?” Luke asked, grinning down at her.
Leia playfully glared at him, dusting her tunic off. “I concede.”
Luke pulled her up to her feet, handing her her lightsaber. The two bowed to each other, leaving the small arena to the next pair who wished to duel.
“What did you write down on your flimsi?”
“None of your business.” Leia said, slapping her brother’s hand away from the small piece of flimsi she had. Luke had proudly shared his goal of learning Shyriiwook well enough to not need a translator.
Her brother and his Master spent a lot of time on Kashyyyk, with Master Yoda knowing many of the Chiefs on the planet, especially Chief Tarfful, so she was surprised he hadn’t learned it completely, but he already knew Huttese, Basic, Dai Bendu, Mando’a, and Bocce, so Leia did have to give him credit.
It had taken her a lot longer to figure out what to write though, but she had settled on finally figuring out moving meditation. It was something they were all taught in their first year of padawanship, some younger if they had trouble with other forms of mediation, but she had never been able to figure it out.
But it was a good skill to have, even if she didn’t use it. Someday she would have a padawan of her own and would need to teach them all the forms of meditation. But still, she was a little embarrassed that she hadn’t learned and didn’t want to show her brother.
“Come on Leia! Please?” Luke begged, running in front of her. He was taller than her, which was strange because all through their childhood they had been the same height and then, at fifteen, he had shot up and she had stopped growing. It was a little annoying because she had always insisted that she was the oldest. They didn’t actually know who was the oldest but Leia was sure it was her.
“Back off.” She snapped. “Go burn your flimsi and leave me alone.”
“ Helio .” Luke said, guilt in his voice, knowing he had pushed her too far.
“It’s not that serious.” She sighed, taking his hand. Then she hit him across the back, propelling him forward with the force. “Now go! Scram!”
Luke laughed and ran off towards the fountain with the waterfall he was so fond of. When they were little, Luke and her tried to count every fountain in the room, but they always seemed to lose count, new fountains appearing and old ones disappearing and ones that they were sure had been gone the day before, back again. In the end though, they had just asked Master Nu.
She went over to her candle, still burning in a small, mosaic fountain. It was one of the fountains that looked like a fountain, many being more like lakes or ponds, but she liked this one. The bottom was reflective and the water an unnatural blue. It shined that it was made of pure sapphire and the water was always pleasantly warm.
She sent her flimsi alight, the flame almost brushing against her fingers. The flimsi burned quickly, marking the end of the Convergence.