AN :
Hey ;)
New week, new goals! Let's play a little game, if we hit 120 Power Stones today, I'll bless you with an extra chapter. But if we reach 200, guess what? "Double release!" That's right, two chapters, back to back.
So basically, your next update is in your hands. No pressure… ;)
...
Still slightly worried, Tan'ya quickly sent a message to M8-ID via her compad, asking the droid to make sure he made it to his bedroom that night. Then she went to join the family in her father's private study. Passing back through the party hall she saw that after the gift exchange most of the families had cleared out.
The Jedi of the New Temple, who had initially seemed particularly tense seemed to have relaxed a bit, and were scattered across the room chatting with the remaining guests. Jedi Master Yaddle seemed to have a small crowd of them with her, and they were all engaged in some apparently very engrossing conversation.
Jedi Knight Ky Narec was talking to Obi-wan and Asajj, demonstrating the different dueling advantages of a lightsaber with a curved hilt, as opposed to one with a straight grip. Tan'ya had yet to master Shii-Cho, let alone graduate to knighthood, so it was all a bit above her head for the moment.
As she left the hall and made her way up stairs to the study in the central tower, she received a ping M8 confirming that Sifo had made it to his room. Relieved, Tan'ya pushed open the door and stepped into the room. Her father and Master Yoda were both seated, sitting in slightly tense silence while waiting for Tan'ya and her mother to arrive.
"Did Sifo like your gift?" Dooku asked her.
"Tears of joy!" Tan'ya replied, feeling a small amount of pride. He was a bit drunk at the time, so probably the most receptive possible audience, but he'd been so happy that he hugged her. It was practically the only time Tan'ya had seen or heard of a Jedi doing that, honestly. Only her father was ever so affectionate. Sifo must have really loved her gift.
Dooku nodded, smiling slightly. "I thought he would like that."
"Knew about his work, did you?" Yoda asked.
Tan'ya found her seat. "I was his typist. He dictated the book and I wrote it down."
Yoda hummed, and leaned back against his chair. "Capable of that, few younglings are. Talented, you are."
"She is." Dooku agreed. "Sifo has been training her well."
"Agreed you did, not to train her yourself." Yoda said. "But the worries I have of you, I also have of Sifo."
"The reason you gave for me not to train her, was not that you disapproved of my views." Dooku replied.
"What was the reason?" Tan'ya cut in. "I… know that you agreed Father shouldn't train me, but why?"
"Strong attachments are dangerous for a Jedi." Yoda answered. "The force mirrors our feelings back to us. Grief, healthy and natural, becomes despair. Anger at those thought responsible. Fear of losing loved ones again. Hatred of those who might take them away. A great test of any Jedi, losing a loved one is."
"But Master, you're eight hundred." Tan'ya pointed out. "And you told me you train the Temple's younglings. Surely you've lost more loved ones than… practically any sentient alive?"
The room fell silent, and Yoda's expression changed. For that moment he looked like a sad, lonely old man.
"Tan'ya, that's a very personal question." Dooku warned.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude." Tan'ya said quickly.
Yoda held up a hand to forestall her. "Fine, it is. Many times, that question has been asked. A test I've faced many times… Accept it, I have. My species, long lived. Long ago, understood that I would grieve many times in the future. Practiced, I have become."
For a moment Tan'ya felt sorry for him. It could not have been easy to raise up so many children, to see each and every one of them inevitably die and fade from memory. The record of them would still exist, but the relationships they had and the real experiences they shared would all disappear in time. It occurred to Tan'ya that as a living historical artifact Yoda would be a treasure trove of knowledge.
Thinking of the inevitable passage of time, her eyes drifted over to her father, sipping at his brandy. He was already in his seventies, and in absolutely incredible shape for such an old man, but inevitably his health would wither away. Would his mind go first, or his body? Eventually, Tan'ya would have to help her mother bury her father.
It was a sobering realization.
Looking back across the room, she noticed Yoda watching her sadly. He didn't say anything, but for just a moment he opened his mind to her and shared his feelings. Understanding, assurance and peace.
What was the old saying? When times are good, children bury their fathers. When times are bad, father's bury their children.
Yoda had buried countless children.
Tan'ya offered him her own meager assurance and understanding, and the master gave a shallow nod before breaking off the connection. An entire conversation had been had, without a word spoken between them at that moment.
The door opened, and Tan'ya's mother came in followed by a droid pushing a hover dolly. "Sorry, I'm late. I just put Madale and Kenth to bed, and he was being difficult."
"That boy has far too much energy." Dooku smiled, shaking his head.
"You were the same." Yoda said. "A more rambunctious child, the Temple has not seen before or since."
It would be beneath the Count's dignity to roll his eyes, but Tan'ya was sure in that moment that he came close. She smiled, and spoke up, "Did father get in trouble often?"
"Constantly." Yoda harrumphed, then pointed his cane at Tan'ya. "Take after your Mother, you must. Too well behaved, you are."
"Oh, Tan'ya has her moments." Athemeene said. "The incident with the Trade Federation picket was exactly like the sort of thing it sounds like my husband would have gotten up to once." After relaying the story of Tan'ya
"Heard this story, I have not."
Athemeene quickly told the tale, and as she did Tan'ya found her cheeks growing pink with embarrassment. At the time it hadn't seemed like a strange thing at all for her as the heir apparent to inspect her world's defenses, but the way her mother framed the story and the way Yoda chuckled through it while her father smiled fondly left Tan'ya feeling strangely self conscious.
After that story, Yoda told one about how Dooku broke into the holocron vault on Coruscant as a boy, which the Count then one upped by telling his old teacher of various escapades he did actually get away with. Including the time he and Sifo hijacked a speeder to see the undercity, and returned it before anyone found out. Athemeene settled into the couch next to her husband, before taking a sip from his brandy glass, and shared some stories about the things she got up to with her sisters when she was younger.
Tan'ya listened with interest, pleased that everyone was getting along so well. It hadn't been what she wanted to talk about, but she was having a good time anyway. "Can I have some errera wine?"
Dooku and Athemeene exchanged glances. Eventually her mother suggested, "We can water it down and let her have a small cup."
Tan'ya found she didn't like the drink too much. After being fermented, native errera fruits became rather bitter. A nice grape wine from Earth would have been a lot nicer, but she didn't think those were present in the Galaxy far away.
Drinking with the old 203rd had been wonderful too. After a hard day of fighting, the taste of a sugary Germanian beer never failed to hit the spot. Visha had been always been an amusing drunk, prone to sleepiness, while Weiss had a tendency to get louder and louder as the night went on.
Blinking and rubbing sleep from her eye, Tan'ya lay down on the couch, using the armrest as a cushion.
She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them to find a blanket had been draped over her. Who put that there? She wondered, before closing her eyes again.
...
The morning after, everyone but the Jedi were still sleeping in. Only Dooku, Ventress, and Ky were there to say goodbye to the Coruscant Jedi.
Never before had Dooku celebrated Life Day, but he was surprised to find that he'd enjoyed it. He was more surprised to find he'd enjoyed his stubborn old master's company. He and Yoda had practically been at loggerheads for years now, every holocall with each other stretching their patiences to near breaking. It could only be called passive aggressive when they weren't yelling at each other outright.
But somehow, Dooku found a small trace of regret in himself as he said goodbye that morning. He'd miss the little green fool, as strange as it was to realize.
Yoda said to Dooku in a lowered tone, "Approve of the New Temple, I do not. But if anyone can make it work, it's you." Then he hesitated, before adding, "A good child, Tan'ya is. Raising her well, you are." Of course, Yoda couldn't help but take a parting shot at his former apprentice as he headed up the ramp. "Neglect your other children, not!"
Of course Dooku wasn't going to neglect Kenth or Madale. Reaching out in the force, Dooku found his two and a half year old son starting to stir awake. Kenth was surprised and confused, at something. Dooku was curious at what, until to his shock he felt his son awkwardly, clumsily reach back to him in the force.
Two force sensitive children born to the same family was just incredibly unlikely. The likelihood of it happening was absolutely astronomical, and clear evidence that the force was at work in his family. Surprised, and slightly worried, Dooku hurried to the side of his still dreaming daughter Madale, and felt her mind through the force.
Perhaps unsurprisingly at this point, Madale's mind just barely brushed against his as well, and Dooku shook his head in disbelief.
Jedi weren't supposed to have children, but it had been known to happen. Among ten thousand members of the Order, inevitably a few young men would find their way into a brothel.
The children born from such a union were known to be more likely to touch the force, but not massively so. Ki-Adi Mundi in particular had multiple children due to his species' need for fathers, and none had been strong in the force.
Despite the strange situation, Dooku felt a surge of fatherly pride. Clearly the Force itself intended great things for his family.
...
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