A Certain Point of View/Part 13

"Saw the conference, we did," confirmed little Master Sarno, a green-skinned Jedi of a tridactyl race Narasi had never actually heard named. "Spoke well to your people, you did."

"I hope I didn't overstep, Masters," Tirien said.

"Not at all," Master Godogon assured him. "The people need heroes, and you're obviously one of theirs."

"You should seize such opportunities when they present themselves, Tirien," Master Thifrieu advised. "Winning the hearts and minds of those out in the galaxy is of great advantage to the Republic. Even those outside our borders may nevertheless be more resistant to persuasion by the Sith."

"Strong is your gift with words, Tirien," Master Sarno noted. "Afraid to create such opportunities, you should not be."

Narasi saw her master's brow furrow just a little, his eyes tightening, before he smoothed his expression and nodded in acceptance. The four Council Masters looked at her.

"And you're to be commended, Padawan Rican," Master Thifrieu said.

Narasi bowed. "Thank you, Master."

"I'm sure young Ayson will be a wonderful addition to the Order," Master La'altac added; Narasi could see the genuineness of the words in the Caamasi's gentle blue eyes. "We'll do everything in our power to make him welcome here, as I know our fellow Jedi will."

Tirien bowed his head but said nothing, and after a moment Master La'altac said, "May the Force be with you both."

Narasi bowed, but Tirien did not move, and Master Godogon frowned. "Is there more, Tirien?"

Tirien looked at her, then gestured toward the door with his head. Taking the meaning, Narasi was happy to oblige; much as she was both eager to return to the field in earnest and supportive of her master, she was not yet quite ready to help him take on an entire Jedi Council at once. Besides, he had proven his way with words; if he needed her help, he would have asked for it.

Exactly how Tirien's impromptu press conference had beaten them back to the Crescentia Narasi was not sure, but the Praxeum Councillors were not the only Jedi to have seen it. Several Jedi smiled at her, Yan Razam clapped her on the shoulder, and Slejux actually stopped her to chide her for upstaging Tirien with her superior stage presence. Not all the looks she got were encouraging, of course; Milagro still shadowed the Crescentia for good and ill. But it felt better now, knowing that Tirien had reached his breaking point with enforced sulking.

She had some downtime, so she popped into the library, wondering if she could pull aside a translator droid enough to practice some Huttese. She sensed a group of younger students in quiet reading, and another batch up in the observatory, learning about the stars.

"Is Ayson here, Master Coreski?" she asked the librarian on a hunch.

"Your new Pantoran friend?" he asked. "He is."

Narasi dithered around the shelves until the Initiates came down from the observatory. Ayson was near the back, lagging around a Mon Calamari girl.

"Did you have a good lesson?" Narasi asked.

He nodded morosely. "I guess."

Narasi knelt down. "What's up, buddy?"

"I miss Daddy."

He came over for a hug, and Narasi gave him one, then gently steered him back. "It's tough sometimes," she admitted. "But you have a lot of new friends to learn with now."

"Nobody here is like me," he complained.

"Neither am I," Narasi pointed out, brushing her large ears. "But we're friends, right?"

Ayson looked as thoughtful as a four-year-old could manage at that perspective. "Huh. Yeah.  You're my friend!"

"And we may not look like you, but we're all like you, because we're Jedi. And now you are too." Narasi smiled, then looked at his face more closely and rolled her eyes. "Did you have your face in your hands, Ayson?"

She put her palms to her cheeks, deliberately squishing them up until he giggled. She took his palms, looking at the yellow spots, and clucked her tongue. "You've got your clan marks all smeared. Here…"

She licked the tip of her index finger and wiped some of the smudges, cleaning up the lines on his face paint as best she could. Several of the Jedi hadn't known quite what to make of that this morning, and a few had suggested he leave the paint off as an early exercise in abandoning attachment. Then Tirien had applied the marks himself, and the debate had ended abruptly there.

"Don't squish your face, little Jedi," Narasi intoned seriously, then winked and smirked.

"Yes Master," Ayson said, bobbing his head.

Narasi recoiled in surprise, but the Jedi minding the younglings called him over, and he ran off. Narasi was still kneeling there when she sensed Tirien coming to her side.

"Bit jarring the first time, isn't it, Master Rican?" he asked dryly.

"It's just 'cause he's new," Narasi said, her cheeks red as she rose. She remembered that age herself; respect was important, so everybody wearing a lightsaber was 'Master' to a youngling. Lowering her voice, she asked, "Did the Council…?"

She trailed off as Tirien frowned. "My good publicity seems to have earned some indulgence from them." His eyes tightened back into that scrutinizing gaze Narasi couldn't quite understand. "They were…amenable to persuasion that Jedi like us exist to serve the galaxy and its people, and we can do that best as warriors."

Narasi grinned, though she tried to contain it when Tirien gave her a look. But his yellow eyes shifted back to Ayson after a moment and his expression morphed to introspection. "You're good with children. I never knew that about you."

"I…well, we haven't been around many, I guess," Narasi pointed out.

"For all we've been through, I suppose there's still a lot we don't know about each other."

Was there more than a casual observation there? Narasi felt her normal internal tension, but it was not quite as intense as usual, her ribs not seeming to squeeze her lungs as much. She forced herself to relax after a moment, keeping her eyes on Ayson as she said, "Well, I'm not ready to be a Master yet, so we've got time to learn."

One of these days, she told herself, and this time it felt a little less like a lie.