Anabeth: New Beginnings

Chapter 22 - Time skip 4

It had been a week since Yoda had visited. Word of him showing up had quickly spread through the Temple that day, but the second he had left that evening Windu had made an announcement explaining the situation, assuring everyone that Yoda would not be returning anywhere close to soon.

Quietly, Yoda had promised him to send a letter every once in a while to assure them that everything was well. Windu had been very grateful for it, especially since Mundi and the others had chosen to go with Yoda. He still felt responsible for them in some way, and knowing that Yoda would contact them if something was up eased his conscience considerably.

In terms of the embassies for the Confederacy and the Independent Systems, Kit Fisto had been chosen to be in charge of the Raxus embassy. He and a small group of Knights had already left to work with local personell to set everything up for the grand opening.

The embassy on Mandalore was also very close to being completed, and Obi-Wan and Satine were scheduled to leave for the plant tomorrow. They had insisted on throwing a small goodbye party for their friends, and Windu had kindly offered them a room in the Temple to do so, since their apartment wouldn't be able to fit everyone.

So while Obi-Wan and Satine were preparing the party with the help of Padmè, Ana was babysitting Grace. Since she had still had some errands to run that morning, Grace came along to all of them. She would squeal excitedly in Ana's arms whenever they would pass someone in the hallways. And as Ana had suspected the moment she had first laid eyes on Garce, the Kenobi smile and eyes were doing wonders at charming them all.

Now that lunch time was around the corner, she had given her niece back to Satine who was going to put her down for a nap for a few hours, meaning Ana would have some time to eat something and catch a quick break.

For lunch she met with Windu who had brought Plo and Aayla along. She joined them a little late as dropping off Grace had taken a little longer than she anticipated. "How's babysitting so far?" Aayla asked. "She's been a little angel so far. must have gotten that from her mother" Ana joked, making the Jedi at the table with her laugh.

"By the way, where have all of you been this morning? The hallways are more empty than usual, and I could not find a single council member anywhere. Which reminds me, I need some signatures on this". Ana slid a padd onto the table which the three other Jedi began to pass around to put their signatures on the document.

"Don't tell me you forgot what is happening today" Windu only replied. "Satine's and Obi-Wan's party?" Ana tried, however her tone of voice indicated that she was pretty sure it wasn't the correct answer. "I meant the Apprentice Tournament". "The what now?".

"The Apprentice Tournament. It's a dueling tournament for all of the Younglings that passed the trials this year, but have not been chosen by a Master yet. The hope is that if they are given a chance to show off their skills, more of them will be chosen as Padawans, since we really need to work on getting back to our previous numbers now that the war is over. We sent a memo about this out a few weeks ago though" Plo explained.

"Sorry, I must have missed it among the other like fifty memos I get every day. How does it work?" Ana was curious. "We divided the Younglings into groups of four. Within each of these groups, everyone went up against the other group members one by one. The two best ones of each group advanced to the knockout rounds which will start after lunch. It consists of 32 Padawans" Aayla elaborated.

"Feel free to join us. This could be fun for you since you have quiet the eye for what makes a good lightsaber technique" Windu offered. "I just might. I have about two hours to fill until Grace is up again".

It wasn't long before Ana found herself out on the roof of the Temple, sitting beside Windu and Drallig, who had joined them along the way. The architecture of the roof made part of it perfect to host a competition with a larger audience, and there had even been a small stage set up in the center.