The Padawan Who Saved Him Ch.9

Kal was walking through the temple garden with Ahsoka, talking about their past adventures.

"...and that's how Anakin taught me to 'make' a docking bay in a ship if you can't find one." Ahsoka chuckled.

Kal laughed, "Your master sounds like an...interesting person."

"That's one way to put it." She sat on an old stone bench, patting the seat next to her so Kal would join her. When he sat down she continued. "So, how's temple life?"

"It's alright, I get the feeling that most of the padawan our age don't exactly trust me yet."

"What makes you say that?" She turned towards him, hoping nothing would happen to ruin his probation.

"I can sense it, they really don't want me around, especially that Mirialan girl who works in the Medical Corps."

Ahsoka furrowed her brow in confusion, "Wait, are you talking about Barriss?"

"Yeah that's her. You know her?"

"She's my best friend. What makes you think she doesn't like you?" she asked.

"The way she looks at me makes me feel like I'm getting ice water poured down my back." Kal shivered.

"I'm sure it's just your imagination. Barriss may seem overly formal and a bit distant but she really great once you get to know her." she assured him.

"Okay, if you say so."

"Oh yeah. There's something that I wanted to ask you."

"Hmmm?" Kal replied as he chewed on a blade of grass.

"When we fought before, I got a weird feeling and I had trouble moving. Master Skywalker said the same thing. What's up with that?"

Kal pulled the grass out of his mouth. "Oh yeah, that," he pulled out his lightsaber, "That's because of the kadjemite crystals in my lightsaber. They reduce the grivity around me and cause my opponent loose their footing." he bragged.

Ahsoka looked at the weapon in amazement, "Wow, I've never heard about them before."

"They only grow on my home-world. They also make it easier for me to move so it seems like I'm a lot stronger and faster than I really am. Makes me force jump better too."

"Sounds like it comes in handy." Ahsoka grinned at him.

He put the weapon back on his belt, "Yeah, it's saved my life more times than I can count." he smiled, remembering his past adventures.

"You mentioned your home-world a second ago, where is that?"

Kal brushed his hair back, "It's a small planet named Sardere, a little ways past the outer rim."

Her eyes widened, "Wait a minute, past the outer rim? I didn't think there was anything out there."

"Yeah, it's not an easy place to find unless you're wanted."

"What do you mean?"

"The planet has a presence in the force, if it doesn't want you to find it, it confuses you and makes you fly back the way you came."

Ahsoka leaned forward, this was unbelievable. "That's amazing. How did you're ancestors find it?"

Kal started stroking his chin like he was trying to remember something. "If I remember right, they were a group of refugees who traveled through space after their home-world was destroyed. They were being followed by the people that destroyed their home so they couldn't land anywhere. They were out of food, water, and their life support systems began to fail."

Ahsoka was on the edge of her seat, like a youngling being told an an adventure story.

"Suddenly they all felt something calling out to them, telling them where to go. They found a small planet just beyond the edge of the star-map and claimed it as their home. Their pursuers never found them, they'd been turned away by the planet's mysterious power. Over the next several thousand years, more and more refugees arrived from all kinds of worlds, now we have a diverse, thriving population."

"That's a great story," she said.

"They taught it to all the kids in school. What about you? Tell me some stuff about you."

Ahsoka was just a little embarrassed by his interest in her life. She looked up at the sky, just now turning orange as noon became evening, "Well, I was born on Shili, when I was three I was discovered by Master Plo Koon. He brought me to the temple where I was trained. When I was fourteen I graduated to padawan and placed under Master Skywalker."

"Lucky you." Kal joked.

"Yeah, I was. When I first arrived, He didn't seem too keen on having a padawan but over time we learned to work well together. Since then we've been on a lot of adventures together, there's no jedi I would have rather trained under than Anakin."

Kal sat there, staring at her with a smile on his face as she reminisced about her past.

When she looked over at him and saw how hard he was looking at her, she blushed. "What?"

The new (probationary) padawan snapped to attention. "Oh, sorry." there was a small silence where the two didn't speak out of embarrassment. "Hey Ahsoka, Yoda's been teaching me about the Jedi Code, but some of it's a little confusing," he blurted out.

Ahsoka was glad the awkward silence was over. "Which part?"

He looked over at her, "That part about attachment, what's up with that? I've seen the jedi masters talking to each other and calling each other friends, but the code forbids attachment. So I'm a little confused."

"Oh that" she'd had trouble with that too when she was still learning. She was a little shy on the subject considering she was currently having trouble with an attachment of her own, which by the way, she still hadn't told Kal about. "Well it doesn't mean you can't have friends, just that you have to avoid becoming so attached to something or someone that you can't let go because that can cause you to lose control of your darker emotions"

"Oh, I guess that makes sense but..." he paused and his face became a little less bright. "that seems a little sad doesn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Just letting go? Never being able to become really close to anyone? I don't think I could do that."

Ahsoka couldn't say anything, she just stared at the ground. What can you say to something like that? Especially when she was becoming even more attached to Kal the more time she spent with him.

"Ahsoka,"

She looked over at him.

"Has there ever been anyone that you've been attached to?"

Ahsoka jumped slightly and her marks went from white to hot pink. "W-well I guess you could say I've had some problems with that one in the past. First there's Master Plo Koon, then Anakin, Rex, there was a boy on Tatooine named Kidd," Kal's eyes narrowed at the mention of another boy, however Ahsoka didn't notice. "But that ended when the mission was over, we're still friends though. I guess you could say I'm not very good at following the rules." she smiled a bit sadly.

Kal smiled back, "Don't worry about it, jedi are the galaxy's protectors right? But without something to care about, what are you really protecting? You'd have no motivation. At least you know who you're trying to protect,"

Ahsoka seemed to perk up after hearing that, "Um, Kal. I almost forgot to tell you. There was another person that I've become a little attached to." she turned away from him, feeling like her face was on fire and her heart was going to explode. 'Come on Ahsoka, just say it. It can't be that hard can it?' she thought.

"Oh really?" Kal teased. He was pretty sure she meant him but wanted her to let her say it herself first.

"Yeah, well I..." she forced out the words as she wondered if normal girls had this much trouble. "I haven't known him that long and we didn't really meet on the best of terms but somehow, I found myself thinking about him more and more." she looked over and he was grinning at her.

Kal had moved across the bench put his arm around her. "Go on,"

"I guess what I'm trying to say is...I really like you, and if you want, maybe we could be..." But she was interrupted by a pair of lips against hers. At first she was surprised but began to enjoy it, then she pushed him off when she remembered they were out in the open, "Kal, careful. If we get caught your probation is over!" she whispered harshly.

"Sorry. Guess I just got excited. Can you blame me?" he laughed.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. Truth be told she was just as excited as he was. "It's okay, just be more careful from now on."

"Alright," he leaned in and whispered into her ear, "at least until I get you alone." before walking away.

"W-what are you saying? Kal!" she blushed and followed him.