A treasure house of knowledge (open)

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei walked down one of the large hallways in the temple. He had never been there before and was very impressed. The best part was that there was so much to learn. Wei smiled and fell on the floor, laying flat on his back, looking at the cieling. Life was such a happy thing.

[Navaria Tarkin]

A shadow rose over Wei. The light from the ceiling panels made the figure cloaked all in black that peered down at the five foot, six inch vantage point.

But the familiarity came quick as his eyes adjusted and the voice of his Master hit his ears.

"Why are you laying on the floor in the Temple?"

No malice was heard. No reprimand. Just ... confusion in that quietly accented voice.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei smiled up at his teacher. "Master Navaria! I was thinkin. Mostly about Jedi and how we act and do things. I'm learning a lot."

Wei laughed slightly. "I was hoping to find some material on moving things with the Force. Not using Force boosting, but levitating and sliding things around. That, and I was thinking about what Jedi REALLY do."

[Navaria Tarkin]

"And you felt that this knowledge would come into your being through the floor?"

The tiny corners of her mouth twitched in a delightful grin that could not be fought.

"So ... enlighting your teacher. What have you found that Jedi really do?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei watched Navaria smile. "Well, Grandpa says that when you get things to think about, just think about them. I'm on the floor to think. It just feels natural to lay down."

Wei crossed his legs at his ankles. "Well, I realize that Jedi are more than just protectors of people. We are also caretakers, in a sense. Father and mother figures. I learned that one taking care of a little kid."

Wei sighed. "I learned that sometimes being a Jedi means not fighting, but instead, talking about problems and listening."

Wei looked at Navaria. "What do you think?"

[Navaria Tarkin]

She nodded.

"Yes. You are correct."

Her eyes lit up in joy that Wei understood this.

"Not all battles are won with the sword."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei saw his master's approval in her eyes. "You never got to meet him. He was some kid. Now he is with a Sith. His new mother."

Wei thought some more. "And being a Jedi sometimes means making other people happy, even at the expense of your own happiness."

[Navaria Tarkin]

"We cannot force those to walk to path of Light. In doing so, your ward would have run off against your permission simply to defy. As in a child's nature."

With three steps forward, Navaria ended up by the wall to see Wei from the side.

"Sometimes we must sacrifice our own feelings and sometimes we let them guide us.

We are not perfect, Wei. Thoughts and feelings can be controlled but no matter what, the pain will always be there. It is in not letting the pain control you that matters."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Yes, ma'am. I know." Wei had dealt with the pain and it no longer bothered him like it had before. Wei in fact, hoped the best for Aiden.

"Master? Are Sith able to feel things like love and happiness?"

[Navaria Tarkin]

"Actually. Yes. They can."

Navaria saw it all the time within the confines of the Sith Empire.

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Really? But I thought that all Sith were full of hate and evil. And all they did was get angry and hurt people." Wei's voice was like a child's. A confused, innocent child. "That's what I have heard others say."

[Navaria Tarkin]

"And that too. For some, the Sith can use all their emotions to make themselves powerful. But those emotions we define as love, happiness is perverted into what they believe is love and happiness for themselves."

She smiled at Wei, eyes catching the light that the shone brightly.

"Trust me. You do not want what makes a Sith happy. And you do not want to convince yourself that the lust you felt was really love."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Lust?" Now Wei was even more confused.

[Navaria Tarkin]

She raised a brow.

"You do not know what lust is?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

"I was told that it is a purely physical attraction toward a person. That when you lust after someone you want them for only their body. You want them to be a puppet more than a person. In lust, you only see in a person what you want to see, instead of what is really there."

Wei smiled slightly. "Grandpa always said to see what is there."

[Navaria Tarkin]

"Your grandfather was a wise man. That is exactly how a Sith sees love as you just described."

[Wei Wu Wei]

"I wonder what that Sith lady thought when she decided to take in Aiden."

Wei raised an eyebrow at his own question, then shrugged.

[Navaria Tarkin]

"Who knows, Wei. Only she does. Best to not let your thoughts dwell on the boy too much, otherwise it will consume you."

She looked at her pupil curiously momentarily.

"Unless you are planning to do something about the boy?"

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Nothing I can do. I don;t know where she took him. All i can do is pray for his well being."

Wei rolled onto his side to better see his master.

"Maybe one day I'll have a child of my own. And maybe I'll have a wife."

Wei smiled. A family would be nice. Wei's family was on another planet. He missed them sometimes, but training and hanging out with his friends, and his ladyfriend Ange took his mind off of those things mostly.

[Navaria Tarkin]

"That is all you can do. Pray that the Force is with him."

Her cheerful mood became somewhat dulled by the mention of marriage and children. Navaria's own love life was rather a mess considering who it was that she just had to fall in love with.

And then there was Slayn. After their inadvertant mental link was created, the Dark Jedi was suffereing without her, and strangely, Navaria thought of him often.

But were the two situations so different? She was first with Luke but because of the life bond with Daleethria, had found love with Sanis .... Something easy to do as Luke became missing ... possibly dead...

The same thing had happened with Slayn. Their mental link was so strong that sometimes his own emotions overpowered hers. It required hours of meditation to cleanse her mind of his presence but even then, there was still that residual effect.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei noticed a sudden change in the air. Wei had always been able to notice people;s changes in spirit, even without the Force. "Master, I get the feeling that there is something wrong in your heart. Like you miss somebody."

[Navaria Tarkin]

"Eh?"

She blinked, Wei's voice bringing herself back to the present.

"Oh ..."

A pause.

"I was just remembering the past and wondering about the future."

Navaria smiled in spite of herself.

"Nothing to be troubled about."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei wasn;t so sure, but if Navaria didn;t want to talk about it, Wei was not going to press the subject. "Being a Jedi means giving up alot, doesn;t it?"

[Navaria Tarkin]

Wei wasn't buying it but at least he was polite enough to not press the issue. Navaria was greatful.

"Yes, it does Wei. And the giving never stops. Our life is to serve others and the Force."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei smiled. "My family never had much to offer. I remember going for days without money of any kind. We would offer out our services in exchange for food. Except in that one village, where they thought if I got upset, it would storm."

Wei's brow furrowed at that thought. Then he laughed as he remembered all the presents he had recieved. Wei thought he still had most of the little trinkets, but he wasn;t sure. "I wonder what did happen to those things..."

[Navaria Tarkin]

"Well, perhaps that is something for you to reflect on."

She added.

"I bid you farewell, Wei. I was on my way to complete some of my duties and as the old saying goes, duty calls. It was a pleasure talking to you outside of training."

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei listened to Navaria's retreating footsteps and thought on what it was that he was supposed to be thinking on in the first place. Wei decided not to think about it, but instead to just let his mind sit idle for a while. The thought would reappear sooner or later.