The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Nine

Chapter Eight: Sabi's News/ Ahsoka's Counsel

LEIA ORGANA

The young Princess of the planet Alderaan, Leia Organa, sat in front of one of the mirrors in her chambers, holding obediently still. The careful fingers of her governess and one of her two mostly companions, Sabe Yanarrie, finished braiding her hair into an elaborate hairstyle that was traditional to Alderaanian society.

"There," Sabe said, smoothing a last lock of her charge's chocolate-brown hair into place. "You're all set, Milady."

"Please, Sabi!" she said, turning around. When she had been a little girl, unable to pronounce 'Sabe', she had grown accustomed to calling her that. "How many times have I told you to call me Leia? You're one of my closest friends!"

"I only called you that when you were younger, Princess, because I didn't want you to think that it was your name. It isn't proper for a lady of the court to be addressed by her first name by a servant," Sabi said, pushing a stray curl from her forehead. "We've had this conversation before."

"And we'll have it again and again until you start calling me Leia," the Princess said stubbornly.

Sabi sighed gently. "Very well, Mila– Leia."

Leia looked at her hair in the mirror, running a finger carefully over her governess's excellent work. Leia normally hated people doing her hair, as she'd had some rather unpleasant experiences concerning her auburn locks at the hands of her aunts as a child. She preferred to do it herself, but Winter, a close friend of hers, and Sabe were allowed to do it for her. They only other two people permitted.

"Thank you, Sabi," she said. "It looks lovely."

"It was a pleasure, miss." With that, she bundled her out of the room. "Now come along, we can't keep your father waiting! Several important guests will be arriving shortly, and we must be there to greet them."

Leia let out an exaggerated sigh. For the most part, the callers that her father had were as dull as an old vibroblade. They weren't very interesting to talk to.

"There will also be a girl about your age with them," Sabi added, and the Princess's face lit up. This was an unexpected bonus.

Somehow, something told her that these visitors would be different.

AHSOKA TANO

 Ahsoka stood beside Kaylira in the common area of the New Hope, waiting patiently for the ship to land. She glanced at her Padawan through the corner of her eye, and the girl's fearful expression worried her.

Ever since she had found her on Tatooine all those years ago, Kaylira had manifested a mild case of anthropophobia, or the fear or the company of others. It had taken the subtle persuasion of Jedi mind tricks on more than one occasion to get Kayli to trust new people – but, thankfully, her senses weren't that attuned yet, and she was still able to convince the girl that they were not a threat.

"Master, I– I don't think I can do this," Kayli whispered anxiously.

"You'll be fine," Ahsoka soothed, carefully layering her words with the Jedi power of persuasion. "Bail Organa and his people are simply friends you haven't met yet; they're not strangers. There's no need to be afraid of them."

Slowly but surely, the thirteen-year-old began to calm down. Ahsoka felt bad about using her abilities to this extent, but she had promised herself that she would tell her when she was ready for Knighthood. By then, she hoped that Kaylira would overcome her discomfort when in the presence of people she didn't know.

"O-okay," Kayli stuttered. "I'll try my best."

"Do, or do not, there is no try."

"What does that mean?" she asked, a confused expression on her face. "I don't understand, Master."

"It's something that a very wise Jedi of the Order during the Republic – Yoda was his name – always said. I had trouble understanding it myself for a long time, but, as I got older, I think I managed to grasp at least part of what it means.

"If you say that you're going to try to do something, then your heart isn't in it. Indirectly, you're setting yourself up for failure. You need to have the determination to see it all the way through – even if you consider it to be beyond your capabilities. Oftentimes, we'll try to stop halfway if we feel that we don't have the will to continue. As Jedi, it's our job to see past that."

"But how?"

"You will know when you are calm, at peace," Ahsoka said. "Although I understand the concept, I think that I speak for everyone when I say that I have trouble living by it. When you're older, it's easier to understand."

Kaylira said nothing, looking away in thoughtful silence. Ahsoka put a reassuring hand on her apprentice's shoulder, and they shared a smile. "Now come on, Kayli. It's time to get going. And besides, this will be fun! Bail Organa even has a girl close to your age you can talk with, if our conversation bores you."

And so, with a quick check to make sure that her lightsabers were safely on the belt of her maroon combat suit – there was no harm in being prepared, after all – they walked out into the hallway.

*Princess Leia and Kaylira have mixed feelings about meeting one another. Will Kayli manage to get over her social anxiety? What news awaits our heroes on Alderaan? And who was the man from Ahsoka's dream? Were they a Sith, or something else? You'll find out in the next thrilling chapter of The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano!

Hello all! What did you all think of Ahsoka's explanation for the 'Do or do not' philosophy? I hope that it was clear enough!

An interesting note: there are two references to The Empire Strikes Back in the chapter. One of them was pretty obvious: 'Do or do not, there is no try', and the other was from another one of the scenes where Yoda's training Luke. I'm slowly starting to bring UAAT closer to the Original Trilogy and SWR.

This chapter is dedicated to busterluv for her comment on the last chapter. It really made me smile :)

So I'll try to get the next chapter up soon... Bye!

Discover that your father is actually the person you hate most in the galaxy and may the Force be with you,

Sharron