Meditation is an important part of the Jedi religion. It helped the members keep to one of the core tenets of emotional control while also helping the indoctrination become a core part of the members' beliefs. It was also a great way to relieve stress from worry and focus the mind, making utilizing the force far easier. If not for the litany of benefits that meditation was documented to actually have from my past life, I might have been a bit more skeptical of the Jedi's insistence on regular meditation on just about every topic for every reason.

As it was, I mostly just found it a little excessive. There was no need to spend quite so much time meditating to receive the benefits, but I was not going to complain about being allowed to sit around and do basically nothing. Although, right now my meditation was to calm my nerves for the upcoming meeting I was about to have with Master Mace Windu.

After being informed he was Master of the Order and not the Battlemaster like I had thought, I sat down to look over who had what positions on the High Council and a few other important roles in the order. I hadn't done it prior because I was an initiate, basically I had an entry level position in the order with a long probationary period as I went through the training course and learned my job responsibilities. That was as far from the CEO as one could get. Or so I had thought.

I had not taken into account the Jedi community focus where everyone in the order was considered important and worth helping and that they take it seriously. To the point even the CEO will help out a low level employee learn the basics of lightsaber combat.

Having rectified the issue and memorized each person on the board of directors, so to speak, would help me when I inevitably ran across their paths.

Now I just needed to calm myself down for the meeting I was about to have. I must have disappointed Master Windu so badly because when he had sent the message about the time of our meeting, he mentioned it was going to be for our last training session for some time. I had tried so hard in that last match, but my opponent was too skilled in defending against my strikes, never leaving much of an opening for me to take advantage of. I just could not manage to beat him and win the tournament.

Hearing the door to the training hall open, I look up to see the grim visage of Master Windu as he steps in. Steeling my nerves, I prepare myself to apologize for failing to live up to his tutorage.

—-

Sar Labooda was a careful Jedi who found that researching a problem before facing it would often result in being able to come up with novel methods of solving the problem. Her current problem was how to handle and train her new padawan, which required looking up as many of the records that she could of said padawan.

There were very few records, Tanya being the youngest padawan in decades, but what was there was very illuminating to Labooda.

Tanya was born on Coruscant to a waitress and speeder bike mechanic. The pair were having financial difficulties at the time and instead of wanting to spend as much time as they could with the newly born child, they turned her over to the temple for the promise that the temple would take good care of her. Not that the Jedi would do otherwise, every sentient life was precious and worth protecting, but parents often are irrationally emotional about such things.

It was noted in her file that Tanya was a rather fussy baby for a long while before slowly settling down into a very quiet toddler. So far, nothing too out of the ordinary, but it was beginning at the time she could walk on her own that an increasing number of irregularities began to show. A thirst for reading, particularly historical and economic related literature, a shyness around her creche mates uncharacteristic of most children around those they literally had been growing up around since practically birth. And then there is her schoolwork, always highest marks in academic and physical areas while her emotional development was, not stunted but highly irregular. She could identify emotions and even had very impressive control over her emotions, but her ability to identify the causes of different emotional states seemed to be a chance cube's throw on whether she would get it correct.

All the other younglings her age at least got the answer correct at least three quarters of the time, but Tanya could just manage half the time. To add to this, Tanya seemed entirely incapable of actually sensing emotions. No, she relied entirely on body language and facial expressions. Her capabilities in using the Force were on par with her fellow creche mates, although her application in those abilities tended towards more creative approaches, and she could certainly sense the Force, but when it came to actually understanding what others were feeling, she was going off entirely what she could observe with her more mundane senses.

Labooda began to suspect that Tanya had a non-standard connection to the Force, a handicap that would have to be worked around. Making a note for herself later, she decided it might be best to work on Tanya's strengths for now and work in moments to help her with her practically civilian understanding of the people that surround her. She may never be able to reach a true mastery of being able to feel the emotions people try to hide so hard with a brave face and bland comments, but she should be able to see through such masks and be able to tell something is off about the situation.

Sar Labooda went back to her research to look over the saved copies of Tanya's school work, and she could tell that one of her eyebrows were raised. Having read through a number of civilian reports in her time researching for missions and reports, Labooda could confidently state that what Tanya had turned in was equivalent to University Graduate. One that finished school by working hard over having spent their parent's money to make it through. The diction was articulate, but clear. The prose was concise, yet illustrative of the point. And every single one has a number of citations for any facts given, with very precise location information within the work being cited.

Knight Labooda was very interested in the coming meeting to formally meet and be introduced to her new padawan; the explanations she was promised from the Council should prove most compelling.

—-

Master Windu was not one to enjoy spending time in the company of children. This was due to the expectations children often have on adults, the expectation of being played with and entertained and every question answered. Telling an adult no when they are being a bother was often an easy thing to do, but children were far trickier, with their begging eyes and often not willing to accept no as answer. When adults didn't accept no, Windu could smack them around a little or use a little mind trick on them and be on his way depending on how he felt at the moment. When it came to children, smacking them around was heavily frowned on by nearly every society that exists and children often had unusually strong wills that required more power to use. And even then, children could still prove oddly stubborn.

This leads to his lack of excitement for when he volunteered to train Tanya initially. His vows to help others would always override his personal discomfort in dealing with others and Tanya needed the help. Her anger and frustration was frequent and while she could keep it under control, the strength of the emotions worried Windu and he felt the best bet was to give her a way to direct at least some of it out of her to reduce the amount she needed to control and release into the Force. It was a fine line using your emotions and staying within the light side of the Force, but during their discussions while training Mace became increasingly sure Tanya would not fall, power not being a true desire.

No, she seemed to want two things and was concerned about how to achieve it and all Windu could do was help her on her path. The first of safety was easy enough to achieve, with training she would be able to protect herself and those around her. The second was trickier because it was not a problem with training or access, it was a problem with her perception. How does one get someone to realize they were already a part of and an accepted part of a community when they are blind to the openness of those around her?

Clearing his emotions, Mace Windu prepared himself for his final Vaapad lesson. Possibly the last of his life, the number of candidates he felt capable of learning the style, utilizing it effectively, and not falling to the dark side being so few it seemed more like a rounding error than an actual number.

Stepping into the training room, Mace Windu felt an oncoming headache forming as he saw Tanya practically prostrate herself in front of him.

"I am sorry Master Windu."

What has she done? Why would she be apologizing to him? Children took the strangest things so seriously, what could it be?

"All is fine. Perhaps before we begin, we should discuss what concerns you so, first."

Master Windu sat down in a relaxed position on the floor as Tanya sat upright.

"I embarrassed you after you have spent so much time helping me learn how to use a lightsaber."

"And what was the point of embarrassment that you caused?"

"I could not defeat my opponent in the tournament."

Just a problem with what she believed was expected of her.

"Lebit was the expected winner of the tournament. He was the most advanced student in lightsaber combat of his generation, the most physically fit and besides you, the only one to have begun learning a second form. That you managed to pierce through his Form Three to draw the match is rather impressive."

"Form Three?"

Mace Windu looked at the young girl in front of him and felt the headache form. She was so young that there was still so much she needed to learn. And if the precise time period they suspected she was reincarnated from is correct, there might have only been one form of lightsaber combat.

"Yes. Form Three, Soresu. It is a very defensive focused form that requires a great deal of stamina. The variant of Form Seven, Vaapad, is a highly offensive and aggressive focused form that also requires a great deal of stamina. That you managed to defeat all your previous opponents so swiftly actually gave you an advantage going into the finals from having exerted yourself so much less. Lebit's matches had lasted longer and while he won his matches, he paid for it through his exertion.

"If you had faced him in the first match, he would have likely won, Soresu being probably the best counter to Vaapad."

"So you are not upset because you did not expect me to win?"

"Yes. Now, let us get onto our lesson. Today I will be teaching you the final kata and then you will be meeting your new Master, young Padawan."

"Yes Master Windu."

The two stood up and took their starting positions, their purple blade igniting as Mace Windu began running them through the kata slowly, making slight corrections as necessary.