Chapter 8 - An Inseparable Bond
"For the things that cannot be"
~*~
Two weeks after her first lesson with a lightsaber, it was time for Aurelia to move into the higher-class padawan dorms with Anakin. With an extremely late start in her Jedi training, she broke the record for being the fastest Jedi padawan learner in the history of the Jedi Order. With Aurelia as Anakin's new partner as padawans, the Council suggested that she move into his dorm which was much larger than her previous room. Both padawans were most appreciative and excited about this decision and they moved her in just a matter of days.
Aurelia and Anakin slept on opposite sides of the room and had their separate desk spaces. Aurelia had several pictures of her home in Sleadia hung on her wall. The green pastures of Ulesville, soft and luscious. She had photos of her friends and family, all thanks to the Republic's records who had filed most of them from their Earth secret research station in Ireland. It gave her a sense of peace and tranquility while she was so far away from home. All of her memories came rushing back. All of those lovely years when she was just a child with a free spirit. She remembered when she was 8 years old, her and her friends reenacting The Princess Bride in the woods off the bluffs to the East of the castle. They'd run between the trees and fight with wooden swords the guards had carved for them. They'd say their lines, of which "as you wish" was Aurelia's favorite. Imagination ran wild in those woods, which they had dubbed "The Brocéliande Forest" after the forest that Merlin resided in. Aurelia remembered her rich memories in her family's library which was diverse in culture. She read about the French, American, British, German, and Russian cultures, all of that were similar but different in many respects. Some of those memories were the highlights of her childhood.
Anakin didn't have many mementos to cherish but he did have a few. One was a necklace his mother had given to him before he left Tatooine to become a Jedi. He wasn't allowed to wear it, as the Council was afraid he'd linger on an attachment to his mother, but he hung it on his wall so that he went to sleep every night thinking of his mother. Aurelia thought it was a sweet thing to do, expressing to him her thoughts on the Jedi attachment rule. He agreed with her on many of her thoughts which brought them even closer.
Aurelia never told Anakin her thoughts and feelings for their Master. She wouldn't dare tell a soul. But neither would Anakin of his infatuation with the Naboo Senator, Padmé Amidala. They had their secrets but Anakin wouldn't be able to keep them from Aurelia for long.
It was one late night after harsh training against each other when the both of them were sound asleep. Aurelia usually had dreamless sleep when she wasn't having tossing nightmares of the day she was kidnapped two months prior. However, this night she didn't have a dreamless or a nightmarish sleep. It was a dream, or rather a picture, of a beautiful young woman. She had long wavy brown hair around the sharp yet soft features of her face. Her dazzling auburn eyes spoke wonders from her kind expression. Her clothing was rich and elegant, deserving of a royal or a politician. Aurelia had never seen this woman before, nor in any picture or even mentioned. So why was she appearing now? Why such an elaborate picture?
The feeling wasn't her own, something she had grown to notice more and more as Anakin and she began to grow closer as partners. They shared a special connection that no Jedi was known to have. A bond that connected their emotions and thoughts. The Jedi Council warned that the bond was dangerous but Obi-Wan defended their case, arguing that the bond could be useful in the right sense. The Council reluctantly agreed with him, allowing for their partnership to continue. But that didn't stop the random emotions that would wash over her in the middle of the night, waking her up, only to see Anakin asleep within his own dream. Just like this night.
Aurelia opened her eyes and pushed herself up in her bed. The woman's picture still circled her head, wondering what she could mean to Anakin if it truly was an image from Anakin's mind. She turned toward him, watching him peacefully breathe softly in his sleep. She wish she didn't have to wake him, but she needed answers.
She threw the covers off her and padded over to his bed. With a squint and rough push, she nudged him awake. He was groggy as he rose, but didn't jolt like usual in the mornings.
"Aurelia?" He yawned. "What's up?" Aurelia sighed and took a seat on the edge of his bed. Anakin took notice of her wary expression, cognizant of her hesitation seeping into his senses. He fixed his position next to her, his eyes looking meaningfully into hers. "You can tell me, Aurelia."
She smiled at him with a slight nod, then pursued her thought. "Anakin, were you dreaming about a girl?" She asked him bluntly.
Anakin stared at her, stunned. Whenever she could see something he was dreaming or thinking of, she always stated it bluntly, not dodging around the bush. It was something she had been doing for a while, but he never got used to it.
Flustered, Anakin shook his hands before her with a red blush growing on his face. "Aurelia! Why do you keep probing my mind? It's invasive!" He shouted at her, pushing her away.
Aurelia laughed, laying back on his bed while he hid behind a pillow. "It's not like I can help it, Ani! You continuously keep your mind open at night. Your dreams waft over to me, sometimes. It's as if you were cooking up something and the smell fills up the room, you know? Well, I guess it's only me that can catch the scent of the dreams..." She trailed off, noticing Anakin peering at her from behind his pillow with his brows furrowed. "What?"
"Why do always talk with a type of poetry that should only be found in books?" He mumbled through the pillow.
She made a face. "I don't know. Why do you dream about beautiful girls and not tell me about it?" She smirked. Anakin opened his mouth to retort but instead found it useless to attempt it. Aurelia sighed and moved her legs underneath her, pointing her attention to her friend. "Anakin, let's compare notes and see if we're thinking of the same girl. K?" She suggested, playing with the comforter of his bed. She glanced up to him when he only mumbled, to which he nodded back to her. "The girl that had appeared in my dream only came to me looking like she was from a photograph-"
"Photograph?" Anakin interrupted, his brow furrowed.
Aurelia looked at him with the same puzzlement. "Anakin, a photograph is the same thing as a picture. On Earth, photographs are paper versions of pictures taken by cameras." She paused to ponder something. "Are the only things on Coruscant that are made from paper the books in the library?"
Anakin nodded. "And those aren't even completely paper. The paper is made from a special type of thread spun by a luminescent insect in the lakes of Naboo. That's how they get their glowing appearance. Plus, they're very durable so the books can survive a great deal of damage if anything should happen to them."
Now it was Aurelia's turn to stare at him like a deer in headlights. "You know, I never took you one to know fun facts like that." She snorted.
His eyes narrowed at her. "Is that a bad thing?"
She smiled kindly. "No. Not at all. Just...it's cool to know you like random facts like that."
Anakin relaxed his eyes and replaced his pouted lips with a smile. "Thanks." They stayed in a comfortable silence until Anakin remembered where they were before this little detour. "You were beginning to describe the girl that appeared to you." He reminded Aurelia.
She nodded. "The picture. Right. The girl was in a photograph. That's right. It was like she wasn't my memory. It was a memory of someone else, most likely yours. On top of that, I could feel that it wasn't my own dream that was on my mind. It was like our bond had acted up again. So that's how I knew that I needed to let you know about your open dreams."
"Okay, thanks for letting me know. But what did she look like?" Anakin pressed.
Aurelia looked toward the ceiling in thought, twirling her small padawan braid between her fingers. "Well, she had long wavy brown hair, auburn eyes, and was dressed in rich clothing. She seemed to be from a higher class." She turned to him, her eyes sparkling in fascination. "Does that match your description?"
Anakin nodded, his padawan braid bouncing up and down. "Yes. That's her."
"Who is she, Ani? Why do you keep thinking about her?"
He sucked in a breath between his teeth before sighing one last time. "You must promise me not to tell a soul. Not even Obi-Wan." Aurelia nodded, shifting her body to sit on her legs, and grabbing a pillow to hug, coping Anakin. He breathed again and stared at her with the most serious expression she had ever seen. "Her name is Padmé Amidala, the Naboo Senator. I met her ten years ago when she visited Tatooine with Obi-Wan and his old master, Qui-Gon. Their ship was grounded and needed a part so I helped them get it by winning a podrace. In return, they freed me from slavery and took me with them to become a Jedi."
"And that's when you left your mom," Aurelia mentioned, solemnly.
Anakin's head dropped, nodding. "Yeah."
"Do you think about her a lot?"
"Yeah."
Aurelia placed a gentle caring hand on his shoulder. "You're not alone, you know."
He raised his head in question. "Huh?"
"I lost my parents when I was 17 years old by an assassination. Shot in their own car. I wish I could've said goodbye, but they left this life before I could give them one last hug, one last kiss, one last 'I love you'. I know what it feels like to miss someone close to you and to wish to see them again." She smiled through her teary eyes. "But I believe you will see her again soon."
Anakin smiled. "You really think so?"
"Yeah! Of course!" She pushed out her thumb from her fist, giving him a thumbs-up.
"Thanks, Ari."
"Of course, Ani. Come here." Aurelia opened her arms toward him, to which he complied with a thankful embrace. "I'll always be here, Ani. Don't you ever forget that?"
~
"Really?! Like right now?!" Aurelia jumped excitedly up and down next to Obi-Wan as they walked the halls of the Jedi Temple.
Obi-Wan chuckled, placing a hand on her back. "Yes, Aurelia. You've earned it."
A week after some more extensive training with Anakin, Aurelia was finally on her way to becoming a full Jedi padawan, graduating from her youngling teachings. The first step past this threshold is the creation of her personal lightsaber. She'd have to travel to the planet of Illum with other younglings to proceed in the Gathering ceremony. And, this just happened to be her first trip out of the atmosphere of Coruscant. After her rescue, she hadn't left Coruscant or even the Jedi Temple. The Council had voted for that to be the best decision for her.
Aurelia wouldn't have been so pleased that others were making decisions for her in any other situation, but for the time being, she was alright with it. Even though she had learned so much about the galaxy and the Republic, she still felt out of place and unable to make her own decisions in a vast world she was only beginning to know. She just assumed that the Council knew what they were doing and went along with what they advised. Besides, if Obi-Wan was okay with their decisions then it should be fine, she figured. But she still had a tinge of rebellion beginning to boil under her skin with the lack of control she had. Though she was learning to suppress and redirect that emotion, she still held onto it, knowing from her Earthly studies that suppressing anger and zealous emotions would eventually lead her to the Dark Side.
She deeply respected the Jedi Council, but she was quickly observing how they functioned. They did not like to dwell on sensitive topics, and they hated the use of emotions of any kind. Aurelia wondered where that stemmed from. Why were the Jedi ways so deeply rooted in the doctrine that attachment is forbidden? It was an oxymoron. On one hand, any closeness or attachment to anyone was forbidden because it could lead to fear and eventually to hatred and the Dark Side. But on the other hand, the padawan-master relationship is an attachment that is 'okayed' by the Jedi Order and is very beneficial. Aurelia continuously pondered that idea, repeating the nonsensical rule. She shook her head at it, dismayed, but made a promise to herself. She would never forget her Earthly upbringing and the importance of family and friends and even a lover. Even if it was an attachment, the everyday relationships that anyone encounters are not something to be thrown away just for some rule. And she wasn't about to let that go. Even if they meant she'd have to keep her overall motives a secret from the Council, and possibly Obi-Wan. It wasn't something she wanted to do, especially with something as important as the Jedi, but it was something she was willing to do.
Despite her pestering thoughts and private dispute about the Jedi rules, Aurelia shook them out of her mind and continued happily down the hall at her Master's side. Her heart was like a playful beating drum, something that reminded her of the festivals the town below the castle would host. Her hair was down, laid around her shoulders and down her back, but was put together neatly, rather than her normal curly mess. Aurelia always dismissed Obi-Wan's request to tie up her hair during training, warning that it could get in her way. She took too much pride in her natural Gaelic genetics to do so. She improvised with the volume of hair, but in doing so created her own style of fighting. And it was a style that Obi-Wan was impressed with, enjoying the outcomes of her training with Anakin. Though it took her a couple of weeks to get used to fighting against him, she managed to defeat the headstrong padawan using only the Force and her hands.
That training session was the first time Aurelia had a breakthrough with her power since she had taken control of it. She had hammered Anakin to the floor after a swooping push of the Force. Anakin even admitted later that it was one of the most powerful uses of the Force he had ever experienced. It was a bit frightening to Aurelia, seeing how much power she wielded and how much damage it could inflict. And in that moment of fear, her eyes began to glow gold. She hadn't noticed it until Obi-Wan had mentioned it to her when he saw her tremble. Her eyes were two flaming balls of golden fire, something that Obi-Wan confessed he had only heard in legends. It was the raw power of the Force channeling through physically. Aurelia could sense that what he said was true, feeling the power course through her body with each pump of her heart as the blood circulated throughout her body. It was like the Force was one with her. They had consulted the Council again, but Master Yoda felt that it was an improvement and a step forward. Though her power was more than anyone could imagine, at least one out of the entire Council believed that it was an improvement, though it did not seem like one.
Ever since then, Aurelia had gotten better at controlling her power, differentiating between too much and too little control. But regardless, her eyes would still be that golden flame.
Obi-Wan and Aurelia approached the landing port off of the Capital building within no time. Master Yoda had already rounded up many of the graduating younglings near the boarding ramp of a CR90 Corvette ship.
"Good morning, Master." Obi-Wan greeted Master Yoda with a slight bow in respect. Aurelia did the same beside him.
"Good morning, Master Kenobi. Good morning, Princess." Master Yoda responded, giving Aurelia a nod and a reassuring smile. She smiled in return, her freckled face lighting up in bubbling excitement. Master Yoda turned to the group of younglings and grabbed their attention by tapping his wooden cane on the floor. "Attention, younglings. Attention. We have our last graduate, Princess Aurelia."
The younglings all turned to Aurelia with bright faces and were awed at her presence. "Good morning, Princess Aurelia. Master Obi-Wan." They all greeted in unison. They nodded to them as well.
"Everyone, we have. Go, we shall." Master Yoda announced, being the first one into the ship, leading the rest of the younglings. Aurelia smiled widely as they all walked in, her master at her side with a proud expression on his face. She looked up at him beaming, which caught his breath and took it away from him. She radiated with beauty and confidence, proud and excited that she had gotten to this point in her training, though this possibility had only presented itself not even half a year ago. It was all surreal to her that she was at this point in her life, and to Obi-Wan that she had learned and improved so fast. They both gave each other a happy glance and walked into the lounge room together.
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A/N: I'm back! We're almost to part 2, I promise. More ideas keep coming to me and sometimes I can't seem to stop writing. I think I have one more chapter before I move on, but who knows. It just depends how long the next chapter will be and how much I am able to cover. I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible but we'll see. I hope you guys like Aurelia and Anakin's little bonding time and their developing friendship. Thank you all for reading.
~ 6/20/22
- 3155 Words