Star Wars : Tanya

35 BBY

Tan'ya walked alongside droids working on Liana temple's construction site, her lip shivering in the planet's morning chill. She surveyed her surroundings, searching for the classroom she was supposed to begin her Jedi training in.

After a few minutes of searching she finally found it, a standard hab-block secluded between two warehouses, kept slightly above ground by a set of duracrete blocks. The word 'classroom' hastily stenciled on the door completed the building's makeshift look. A far cry from the luxurious palace this body was used to... And exactly what she needed to start whipping it into shape.

Finding the door unlocked, she stepped inside, to be welcomed by the same cold that accompanied her outside, as well as the sight of a teenage girl sitting in the middle of the classroom's front row seats.

She was tall and thin, with only a small amount of silver hair on top of her head. Something about the shape of her nose and chin conveyed a strange impression. That and the grayish pale skin indicated she was some kind of alien.

She was dressed in brown robes that were pulled tight around her so that only the white sleeves of her shirt were visible. The purple eyeshadow she wore combined with the shortness of her hair and oddly pallid complexion gave her something of a punk rock persona.

The girl looked at Tan'ya, amusement tugging at the corners of her lips. "Hello there."

"Hello." Tan'ya replied, nodding politely at her before pulling the door shut behind her.

On the table in front of the teenager was some kind of flimsy rag, but Tan'ya wasn't tall enough to see what it was about from where she was standing.

"Wanna see?" The girl offered.

Tan'ya nodded.

It turned out to be a small printed out book, with a diagram on it of a lightsaber's internal components. "Do you know what this is?" The teen challenged.

"Of course." Tan'ya's cheeks puffed out as she huffed. "A lightsaber."

The girl smirked. "That's right, and I'm going to make one, just like your father's."

For a moment Tan'ya wanted to know how this girl knew who her father was, but on a small worksite like this it was reasonable to assume everyone would know who she was. After a moment, Tan'ya decided the best thing to do was introduce herself.

"I'm Tan'ya Serenno. Nice to meet you."

"Hello Tan'ya. My name is Asajj Ventress."

After that Tan'ya took a seat, but Asajj seemed to have lost interest in her lightsaber manual at this point. "How old are you?"

"I'll be five soon."

Asajj chuckled at that, but Tan'ya didn't get what the joke was. She was starting to feel a little nervous.

"That's a cool cape. It looks just like your father's." Asajj continued.

"That's how people on Serenno dress." Tan'ya suddenly felt oddly defensive. In her first or second life someone who wore a cape would be bullied relentlessly by their peers, and deservedly so, but it was normal in this galaxy, wasn't it? "I mean, the nobility do."

"It looks fabulous, dear, really it does." Asajj promised her, holding back giggles and not doing a very good job of it.

Tan'ya tugged at the silver threads that clasped the Serennoan cape to her shoulders, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

"Oh, it looks cute, darling." Asajj tittered. "I promise, it's very cute."

That did not make Tan'ya feel better even a little bit. No, now wasn't the time to feel shy. Today her father was going to begin her training to be the next Count of Serenno, beginning where he did in his own career by training as a Jedi.

Tan'ya could not have less interest in hokey old religions, but this force stuff was clearly real, and training in policing and diplomacy did seem useful if she was to keep law and order on Serenno. If she had to play along with some mumbo jumbo to develop foundational skills in telekinesis, well she could do that.

It was also a great chance to impress Father. Once he saw how excellent she was as a Jedi, he was sure to trust Tan'ya with greater responsibilities. So the goals for the day were simple: Be an excellent student.

In her first life Tan'ya had gone through high school and university, and from that she remembered one very simple truth: Always be friendly with your senpai. They had done the same course before you, so they had all sorts of advanced knowledge to soak up. Plus it would never hurt to network with people who were likely to go into the same field of work as you. Connections were essential in the cutthroat world of business.

"So… how has my Father been as a teacher?" Tan'ya tried to take on a conversational tone.

"Hm?" Asajj looked back over at her. "Oh, no. Master Dooku isn't my teacher. My teacher is Jedi Knight Ky Narec."

Ah, Tan'ya thought. So this is homeroom, then? The Temple was so small right now that dividing the students up into separate years was pointless, when the students would be leaving to spend the day with their assigned Jedi. This was just some kind of roll call, to make sure everyone was here.

Tan'ya couldn't help but wonder where everyone else was, though. She kept expecting the door to be opened and a few more students to come through, but nobody did. She waited there for fifteen minutes or so before finally the door swung open with a bang that startled her.

Her father stepped through the door first, followed by two other men that Tan'y didn't immediately recognise. One she might have described as East Asian in her previous lives, but that geographic region had no real equivalent in this galaxy. He had slanted eyes and dark hair with a few grays mixed in, and stood about half a head shorter than her father.

His hair was tied in a small topknot, exposing his forehead. The last man through the door appeared caucasian, with blue eyes and brown hair tied back into a ponytail. Interestingly he had tattoos on his face, intersecting lines on his chin and at the sides of his nose.

"Asajj," Dooku addressed her first. "As Master of this Temple I have ascertained that though only in an informal capacity, Jedi Knight Narec has overseen much of your training as a youngling, and you are now ready to begin learning as a padawan. You are ready to craft your own lightsaber."

Asajj looked thrilled, and Tan'ya assumed that such an event had some religious significance. It was good of Tan'ya's father to recognise her equivalent qualifications, especially if she worked hard for them.

"Tan'ya." She straightened in her seat as Father turned his gaze to her. "You are the New Temple's only Youngling. Until we recruit more you will remain Master Sifo-Dyas' sole charge. You will be respectful to him."

It took Tan'ya a moment to understand what exactly he had said. The Master of the Temple had turned away and began to address something when a word fell from Tan'ya lips like a leaden weight. "Father." Everyone in the room turned to her at the same time, and she instinctively shrunk down. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she said in a voice that sounded smaller than she intended, "I thought you were going to train me."

Count Dooku regarded her for a moment. "No, I'm to be Master to Padawan Asajj."

"I can continue training with Master Narec." Asajj stood up, scraping her chair on the ground as she did.

"Knight Narec is going to be leading our recruitment efforts, directing the other Jedi knights in finding other force sensitives." Dooku replied to her. "You will be learning from me directly."

"...But Father, if Asajj wants to go with Narec-"

"Master, I've learned so much from Narec-"

"Enough. The decision is made." Dooku cut across both of them firmly, baritone voice cutting through theirs in the tight confines of the room.

Ringing silence hung in the air.

"Master, if I may." Narec spoke up to Dooku. "Perhaps I can explain to them why this is necessary?"

There was a pause, before Dooku inclined his head slightly to the Knight.

Narec turned to the two students. "Asajj, it has been a great honor to teach you until now, and I will always be here for you. This isn't an end to us learning from each other, just time for our relationship to move to a new stage. I will advise you, I will always be happy to see you, but we're Jedi now.

Strong attachments are inappropriate. Master Dooku saved us from being stranded on Rattatak, and has taken us in even when the Temple on Coruscant was opposed to it. He is the greatest Jedi I know, and he can teach you more about being a Jedi than I ever could. This is not a punishment, this is a great privilege. You would do well to see it as such."

After a moment Asajj nodded, sitting back down. She didn't look happy with the arrangement, but seemed unwilling to fight it.

Narec then turned to the temple's newest Youngling. He paused for a moment, searching for what to say.

"Your father isn't abandoning you, he's doing what's best for you. Your father is a very busy man, constantly traveling, negotiating, and working all the time, but Master Dyas is a great Jedi in his own right, and he will be able to focus all his time on training you. I'm sure this is a shock to you, but you need to be strong if you are to be a Jedi, will that be fine?"

Tan'ya nodded her head, not quite able to bring herself to disagree. It was only natural, right? Father was a busy man, and someone else was perfectly qualified to teach her. There was no need to be upset just because her father didn't have time for her.

…Father didn't have time for her.

...

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