Anakin was curious. He knew that he did not know what was normal in the Jedi, even after five years of being one, due to his late arrival to the temple, but he was fairly sure five year olds going on the Gathering and being in the middle of a huge surge in the force could safely be said to not be normal. And all Yoda would explain was that Tanya had an interesting trial during the Gathering, apparently one that required his presence to help her back out of the cave.

Deciding to gather up his courage and confront her, he began going to the area of the ship's cargo hold she had claimed as her space. He had been by a few times on the trip to Illum to see how she was doing, but all she seemed to want to do was read something on her datapad. Now Anakin was not a fan of reading, finding it difficult, but he could manage. He could even understand the appeal, he liked tinkering with machines to understand how they worked, but there was a limit to how much one could put into a hobby at a time, wasn't there?

Stopping when he saw her, Anakin found that apparently Tanya agreed with him as she was not currently reading. She was meditating in mid air while focusing on a ball of light in her hands. A ball that was changing colors and shapes. Whatever it was that she was doing did not seem to please her though, if the ugly scowl on her face was any indication.

"What are you doing?" Anakin asked, curious about this new Force power his master had not mentioned before.

"Trying to use the force to make a flashlight," Tanya said after she picked herself up off the ground after being startled out of her meditative stance, Anakin having quickly moved to help her up with an apology.

"Why are you doing that?" Anakin asked, not seeing the use when flashlights were easy to come by and their lightsabers could be used as one in a pinch.

"While I was in the cave, my flashlight stopped working, so I made a little ball of light to see with, but being able to direct the beam of light can be useful, but I can't figure out how to get it to go one way."

"Could you maybe reflect the light? Like what they do in flashlights?" Anakin suggested after a moment of thought.

Tanya scrunched her face in thought as she brought up her hand and summoned a ball of light, before creating what looked like a shiny come around it. It worked, directing the beam out of the opening in the cone.

"Hm. Thank you, I think I might have a few ideas for this," Tanya said before facing Anakin and bowing to him.

"Uh, no problem," Anakin said with a bit of nervousness to his voice, unsure how to handle being bowed to. "Hey, could you teach me that floating thing you were doing? I, uh, joined the Jedi late and my Master hasn't taught me that yet."

"Sure. You know how you pick up objects with the force?" Seeing Anakin use the force to pick up her datapad with a raised eyebrow, Tanya nodded. "Well, do that, to yourself. Just wrap yourself in the force and lift. Just don't squeeze too hard or throw yourself too fast until you get comfortable with it."

"That's it?" Anakin asked, surprised at how simple it seemed.

"Yes. Takes a lot of focus, but I am sure with practice it will become easier."

"Ok. Thank you," Anakin said before leaving to go practice, thinking that he would have to ask Master Obi-Wan about why he didn't teach him something so cool if it was so simple to do.

—-

The trip back to the Temple was fairly uneventful, although I did have to hear the other initiates yammer away about the Apprentice Tournament coming up. I wouldn't have to worry about it though, in order to participate you had to pass your initiate trials and have built a lightsaber. Which I have just done.

Shit. I was going to get my ass kicked. Most of the participants will have been training their lightsaber technique for years longer than I have and none of them will have needed to be personally tutored by the Battlemaster to get a decent form. I have to practice. I have to show I can be a good padawan. If I am not chosen as a padawan, then I would either be kicked out of the order or sent to the service corps. If I got kicked out, I would be stuck living on the streets, trying to survive. The service corps was a bit better, I would have a temple funded house, but I would be stuck doing a life of manual labor farming or some other low end job with no hope of a relaxing position.

If I became a padawan, then I could eventually advance to a Master and get an easy job that required little actual work but had enough respect attached to it that I could basically have a working retirement with plenty of down time for whatever I decided to do as a hobby. Like the librarian. Show up, organize a few things, help anyone who needs assistance researching something, and have all the time to read and relax. Not as good as what I might have been able to achieve in my previous life, but a comfortable future for this one and one where my hobbies would be entirely paid for by the Jedi temple with some excuse of it helping to learn about the Force or being for some other research.

Picking up the datapad that I had dropped in realizing my perilous situation, I put it away and grabbed my lightsaber to run through my katas. It wasn't a perfect substitute to sparring as far as getting better at fighting, but maybe if my form was good one of the knights or masters watching would decide I showed enough potential and take me on.

Igniting my blade, I watched as the purple beam slid out from the shiny chrome colored emitter shroud that reminded me so much of the tip of a finely crafted fountain pen. Apparently the color reflected some aspect about the Jedi it became attuned to, but there was no deeper explanation given, so I didn't understand why mine was purple while everyone besides the Battlemaster had green and blue. Apparently there was either something about me that was the same as the Battlemaster or it was due to Being X's meddling.

I chose not to think too deeply on it as I began to move through the steps of the first kata, moving slowly and deliberately as I made sure my feet were aligned appropriately and my hands guided my blade correctly, every step of the kata taken with a slow, careful, nearly meditative breath. Each movement carefully taken so my form was as flawless as I could do it. Then I began the second kata, with the same care, slowly moving through each kata before beginning again at the first and moving a bit more quickly, slowly working my way through the katas, repeating the process faster and faster until I was moving at a reasonable speed for combat.

I spent the entire day like that. And the entire next day, only stopping for meals and sleep.

On the third day, we made it back to the temple and I had to put the training on hold as we went back to our normal lives at the temple, the only difference being a few of us had a little extra weight sitting at our hips and I had a new concern on my mind.

—-

"Ah sister, so good of you to arrive," Depa Billaba said, giving Sar Labooda a light hug.

"How could I stay away when a member of the High Council personally suggests I take a look at this year's batch of padawans to be?" Labooda asked with a wet grin. "Seriously though, you must have some reason for calling me here."

Depa nodded in agreement. "I do. There is an initiate the council thinks you would be a good fit to take on, more I will not say until you have a chance to see the initiates in action."

"There must be something rather special about this initiate if the Council is meddling in their placement.

"There are a few, and we can discuss them if you decide to take them on, but I want to be clear that the Council merely thinks you would be a good choice, we are not going to require you to take her on and will accept another taking her on with no issue."

Accepting her sister's words, Labooda turned towards the ring where the matches would take place in where Battlemaster Cin Drallig stood to begin explaining the tournament format.

"The tournament will be a single elimination one versus one format. The order of the matches had already been chosen and the winner of each match would be the first to three burns on their opponent. Any questions?"

A small blonde human girl wearing robes of dark browns that made her pale complexion look almost ghostly white raised her hand. Being given a chance to speak she asked her question.

"Where is Master Windu? I thought he was going to be here."

"Master Windu is currently busy with his duties as Master of the Order, but he should be by to watch the final rounds of the tournament."

"Oh she knows Master Windu, at such a young age?" Labooda asked, remembering her encounter with Mace Windu at that age. "Must be a story there."

"There is." Depa agreed, giving no additional information.

—-

Master of the Order? The Master of the Order has been helping me with my lightsaber form. I have to win. If I don't win the tournament, then I will embarrass him. He is basically the CEO of the Jedi and no one will respect an employee that embarrasses the CEO. And if I have no respect then I will not be chosen as a padawan and after having embarrassed the CEO the Jedi will not want me working for them at all and will most likely just kick me out to the streets.

Ok, focus. It will be fine. There are 32 of us, so with single elimination I just have to win five rounds. And it is just to three burns each round, so all I have to do is touch my opponent three times with my lightsaber. Simple. Very simple. Just fifteen touches of my lightsaber to people bigger and stronger and more experienced than me. I can do this.

—-

"Ah, the first match of the tournament. Lebit is favored to win the tournament." Depa said, indicating a kiffar boy that was already showing the signs of the strength he would one day possess with better defined muscles than the other children.

"Yet by your tone, he does not seem to be the one you want me to pay attention to." Labooda suggested, beginning to look towards his opponent.

"True, I believe she is scheduled for the last match of the first round, so if they are to face off, it will be in the finals."

Looking around, Labooda's eyes eventually came to land on the young blonde girl who was currently staring down the Rodian girl that was to be her first opponent, rather than watch the match.

"The blonde one?"

Depa nodded. "Young Miss Degurechaff came to the attention of the Council about a year ago and a few of our members had kept a close eye on her since. We expect interesting things in her future, but we believe teaching a light hand in directing her may be for the best."

"Hence why you are trying to get me interested in taking her on instead of actually asking me to do so." Depa's nod was all the confirmation Labooda needed as they turned back to watch the tournament progress.

—-

When it came time for Tanya's first match, she and the Rodian stood opposite each other in their ready stances, the green bladed training sabers activated and humming in hand as they waited for the match to start.

With the start, Tanya made the first move, quickly going in to close the distance. The Rodian gave a smirk as she trusted into what looked like a large opening in Tanya's form, the smirk disappearing quickly as Tanya deflected the thrust down and out of the way before countering with a thrust of her own before sweeping the blade into the older girl's leg, tripping her up. Tanya followed the larger girl to the ground, reversing her grip on her saber to stab where the Rodian's heart would reside with a downward plunge, before quickly getting up and with a swipe, tagging the Rodian girl for the third and final time in the neck.

It was the shortest match of the round, taking barely five seconds from the start to the end. Tanya turned off her training saber and helped her opponent up before the two bowed to each other, the larger girl's face stuck in a daze as she tried to come to grips with how quickly she lost while Tanya turned her attention to her next opponent, ignoring the way all eyes seemed drawn to her and the sudden increase in tension in the room from the other fifteen remaining combatants.

—-

"That was not Shii Cho." Lambooda said after a moment, looking to her sister.

"No it wasn't."

"Mind explaining what that was? Because that looked suspiciously like Form Seven."

"That would be because it was Form Seven."

Lambooda gave her sister a very unimpressed look.

"Specifically, that was her showing her abilities in using the Vaapad variant Master Windu has been teaching her."

"She knows Vaapad? What else are you not telling me sister? Why does she know Vaapad? Why the interest from the Council."

"Later, my dear sister, the tournament is still going on."

Labooda just gave a nod, letting the topic drop. For now.

—-

The rest of Tanya's matches went similarly to the first, with the remaining initiates paying increasing attention to her moves, trying to see something they could do. By the semi-finals, her opponent was shaking in his boots, unsure what to do against her. Trying his best, he managed to withstand her onslaught for the longest so far, at fifteen seconds.

Then it was the finals. Lebit vs. Tanya. Lebit was focused, calm, and ready. He showed no nervousness at facing the one who had gone through all her opponents like little more than wet flimsies.

Tanya stood ready, a determined look on her face, ready for this final match.

The match began Lebit in a defensive stance taking on Tanya's assault and reflecting her blows before countering, Tanya parrying the counter before giving her own riposte.

Lebit was showing that Tanya was not the only one with knowledge of a style besides Form One, utilizing his own defensive Form Three to counter Tanya's aggressive Form Seven.

—-

"I'll take her on as my padawan." Labooda decides out loud, not needing to see how the final match plays out.