That morning I got up and felt like I was back at my home world on some Holiday morning, probably involving presents. That kind of thing never happened at the Temple though, so the exciting and childlike moments are worthwhile.

        I grabbed my large back pack and then closed my quarters for the last time. Those had only been my quarters for close to a year, since my Knight Hood. Then it hit me, I've been a Knight for almost a year. Well, about 9 months. Still, it flew by.

I went to the new quarters  and threw my backpack inside on my half of the room. It was like your quarters as a youngling, just bigger. Each side had a bed with storage up top and a small night table. Then in the center was a sitting table with four chairs. Just to the side of the door was a kitchen area and then a door to the back led to the refresher.

"Brings back memories," I said fondly to myself. All the needless fights I had with my Master over the years, making excuses as to why I was late to training, and getting all sorts of boring reading done. Now I get to create new memories with a student of my own.

Truthfully, I was as terrified as I was excited. I haven't even had a conversation with this girl and I've just completely taken on the task of training her, which if my Master is correct in us being very alike, it will be very difficult.

Being a Padawan must be crazy nowadays. All of a sudden you're thrown into war, fighting for your life constantly, while studying and training in the ways of the Force. Oh, and you're only 15. Boy did I really have it easy.

       
        I made my way back to the same youngling room as yesterday to find the teacher waiting outside.

"Good morning," I greeted with a smile.

He smiled back and then said apologetically,"I'm so very sorry, I do not for the Force of me know why she's so late."

I chuckled,"It's perfectly fine. I know I wasn't always on time when I was her age."

"You two will work very well together," he said after a moment of thought.

I smiled,"I hope so. I have a good feeling about this."

Finally a Pantoran girl came sprinting down the hall, breathing heavily with a huge backpack in her arms.

"What kept you so long?" Her teacher asked with a strict tone.

She caught her breathe and finally replied,"Sorry, I slept too late."

I stifled a laugh remembering how many times I've used that excuse, running down the hall and pretending to be out of breath to strengthen my transparent lie.

"This is Cira Lorus, your new Master," he said as he gestured to me.

I smiled and stuck my hand out,"It's a pleasure to meet you."

She stared up at me, clearly confused, and shook my hand,"It's uh, it's very nice to meet you too."

"It was an honor to teach you Yula, I'm sure you'll make us all proud," The old man said with a true smile before he walked in to start his class.

"Well, shall we?" I asked before heading to the quarters.

She just nodded her head and followed.
I could very clearly sense her confusion.
"Why are you so confused?" I asked as we walked side by side through the bustling halls.

"I don't mean to be rude, I just guess I don't understand it. I mean, I'm very grateful, but why me? Surely Derek is much more skilled than I am," she replied, referring to another boy in her class.

I thought for a second before replying,"Choosing an apprentice isn't a matter of skill or even potential. It's about a good fit, who you'll work best with."

"But again, why me?" She asked once more.

"You're not afraid to ask questions. You're probably the only youngling to have ever asked
why you have to recite the code ever single day. The Galaxy needs your confidence and bravery."

"All I did was ask a question though-"

"-Oh for goodness sakes, I'm complimenting you!" I replied with a slight chuckle, cutting her off.

She laughed and scratched her head,"Sorry, that doesn't happen very often."

"I know the feeling," I said as I smiled at her. She returned it and we made our way to the new quarters.

        When we got to our new room, I set my bag down on my bed. I didn't bother unpacking. I barely had anything to begin with, so what's the point?

        Yula hastily unpacked everything, folding her various tunics of the same color, and neatly placing them in a drawer. They were all a pale blue. It reminds me of Pantora, naturally.

When she looked over and saw that I wasn't unpacking anything she had a very questioning look and asked,"Aren't you going to unpack?"

"There isn't anything to unpack really. Not for me anyways," I said as cheerily as possible despite the fact that it was a pretty grim thing.

"What do you mean?" She further asked.

I sighed,"I've only been a General for a month or so, but I've been in this War since the beginning. At any given moment, you're called somewhere else," I said as emotionless as possible, not wanting to scare her too much.

"What kinda places?" She asked, I sensed worry.

"Well, sometimes it's quarters similar to these, just on a command vessel. Most of the time though, it's a scrappy camp near the battle field."

The expression in her face quickly went from curious to scared. She stuttered for a moment, trying to find the right words,"Will I do that too?"

"Try not to worry yourself. It's nothing you can't handle. Plus, it's my job to keep you safe, and you've got one of the best Jedi in the Galaxy doing the job," I said with a smile and joking tone towards the end.

Her expression softened a bit and I sensed relief."What was it like when you were a Padawan?" She asked rather abruptly as she sat across from me at the table.

I thought for a moment,"Well, pretty similar. Actually, no. Not at all. When I was a Padawan it was a lot of boring work here. Studying politics, rules, and history. Lots of in house saber training and preparation for what they called a 'hypothetically dangerous' situation. Basically, they saw the war coming. It became secret preparation for that. Masters were required to teach students a lot of very certain things," I leaned back a bit and smiled,"But it used to be much better. My Master told me countless stories of her time as a Padawan. That was over 40 years ago. Her and her Master traveled the Galaxy. Learning from other cultures, exploring, learning the ways of the Force in ways current Jedi only dream of. Don't get me wrong, we did travel. A lot. Just not as much."

She then looked at me as if I were completely missing something painfully obvious,"So why can't it be like that now?"

"Ask the Senate that," I replied with a shrug.

"Right... We do serve them. I forget sometimes. My apologies, Master," she said in an almost guilty way. As if apologizing was a common reflex for her.

I smiled a bit,"Don't apologize so much. You have good things to say."

She smiled a little bit to herself and then walked over to finish unpacking.