More Than Just A Padawan

Chapter One: A Hard Day but a Fun Night

     "Harder, Padawan!" My Master yelled at me. I had been working all day, but I still wanted to please her. I worked with all of my might, running through her training course. I tried to do it perfectly, maybe then she would be proud. Actually tell me that she was. After hours of training, I did it in record time with no mistakes. She didn't say anything about it. I was sweating profusely, and my breath came in heavy gulps. I felt my heart beating faster, and harder than it ever had. But none of that would matter if I could just hear the four words from my master. I'm proud of you.
      "Good," my Master finally said.  That's it. 'Good'. Nothing else.
      "Thank you, Master." I was still panting so hard I could barely get the words out. I finally start breathing normally...kind of. "May I have a break now?" I asked, my voice quiet and somewhat shy. I was a little scared if I'm being completely honest. Who knew what my Master would answer?
      "A break? You've barely done anything!" She seems angry. I didn't mean to anger her-I never do. I just don't usually know what will tick her off.
      "Yes, Master..." I whisper.

      "You're late." This made me jump.
      "I'm sorry, Master Luminara kept me working more than usual," I reply. He seemed to understand this a little.
      "You are already so amazing! Why does she make you train so much? You put everything into it!"
      "Well, I have to. Every Jedi does. If we didn't train then how would we get better? My Master is just helping me prepare for my future," I defended...the entire Jedi Order really.
      "Okay, okay. Still not admiting it, got it," he replied. This confused me.
      "Not admitting what?" I asked.
      "In denial too, okay then. And before you ask, I'm not gonna tell you. You gotta figure this one out on your own."
      "But-"
      "No buts, you're on your own for this one. Oh and, by the way, can I come in?"
      "Oh, oh I'm so sorry. Of course!"
      "Thanks." He clambered in through the window that we had been talking through, and into the apartment I shared with Master Unduli. I was just hoping she didn't walk in on us-though we  had already had something planned for that.
      "Uhh, Luminara isn't anywhere around here is she?" he asked, rousing me from my thoughts.
      "No, she's in a council meeting. She shouldn't be back for at least an hour." I had quiet trying to make him call her Master Unduli months ago.
      "Ugh, who would want to be in a meeting that long? I think I'd die." He grabbed a piece of fruit and bit into it.
      "I hope to be on the council one day. And maybe even be a Jedi Master!"
      "Okay then, you do you I guess. But do you really wanna torture someone as much as your Master has to you?"
      "Well...I would teach differently I suppose. But she is a good Master, and I will be strong in the ways of the force once she has finished teaching me."
      "Okay, okay. Anyway, you ready for our day of fun?" he asks me. "Or, evening I guess. Considering the time."
      "Oh Asher, you know I'd love to! But my Master has requested I clean the apartment-then I need to train. Maybe tomorrow?"
      "Come on Barr, you've been pushing it forward for weeks. I've been waiting for this for ages! Every day you have something Luminara has told you to do. I think it's time you do something you want to do. When was the last time you did that?"
      "Well, I had many days to do as I please before joini-"
      "That doesn't count. I meant since you joined the Order and had Luminara as a Master."
      "Well, there was that time when...umm...well...I'm sure there was one."
      "Yeah, just keep thinking. I'm sure it will come...eventually. Same as praise from your Master."
      "What do you mean? She tells me I'm doing well all the time!"
      "You can't hide it from me. I know you want to hear praise from her-proper praise. Not just 'good', or...has she even said anything else? And before you answer with something like "of course she has!" I want an actual time and word for word what she said." I was silent. I couldn't think of anything. I knew he was right, I hadn't done anything I had chosen in a long time. Not since I started training under Master Unduli. I also had never heard real praise come out of her mouth-at least, it wasn't for me. But, that didn't mean she didn't love me...did it?
      "Okay, I'll do it. But just this once-and I need to be back before it seems suspicious." Asher smoothly climbed out the window. I was about to follow when I realized something.
      "I still need to do some chores, Asher. If I don't, she will be disappointed in me. If you help me we can get it done faster..." He quickly jumped back through, going straight to the cleaning cabinet. His enthusiasm earned a chuckle from me.
      "Asher Yuri, at your service," he proclaimed with a clumsy bow. This made me laugh even harder-especially when he tripped over his own feet and fell headfirst into the pial of rubbish I had collected earlier. In the end, I was rolling on the floor and had to clutch my stomach. He popped his head up, smiling slightly. I suppose he was just happy to see me laughing so hard-even if he had to fall into food scraps (among other things) to do it.
      "You...you do realize that you'll have to clean that up too right?" I ask between gasps for breath while still laughing.
      "Yeah, I realize that," he had a slight chuckle in his voice. His raven hair was incredibly oily, but he didn't seem to mind.

      "We're done!" I exclaim after about thirty minutes.
      "You sure? That seemed less than usual," Asher replied sarcasticlly. I just shrugged at this.
      "Maybe it's cause we were enjoying ourselves too much we didn't notice it all." This was certainly not true. Although we had had many laughs, the chores were brutal.
      "Uh-huh, definitely a possibility."
      "We're missing the most important point. We can leave now!" This brings the sparkle back into Asher's dashing green eyes.
      "Let's goo!!" He exclaims, opening the window which we had shut mid-way through cleaning.
       "It's raining!"
       "Perfect! Wash off all the grime." Together, hand in hand, we ran into the rain. I eventually broke off to dance, the rain soaking through the clothing I had changed into before cleaning. The water soaked through my clothes and into my skin in seconds, but I didn't mind. It was refreshing after the hard day I had had. And Asher seemed to be enjoying it too-and not just because I was.
     "Where you wanna go?" He asked me.
      "Surprise me!" I yelled. He thought for a few minutes, before dragging me into the misty, wet night.