Chapter 2
The doors closed
and Dawit was racing down the hall to the dormitory. She went straight to her bed and
pulled out her gear. She started to quickly undress from her Jedi clothes. Rummaging
through her gear Dawit found her clothes from Anyota. They were even drabber than the Jedi
apparel, but they were comforting and familiar. Quickly, she rummaged under the bed for
her other personal items. Dawit stuffed them in her gear and turned to find Obi-Wan. He
was two years older than her, and at least six inches taller. His eyes wandered over her.
They lingered at her gear.
“Are you going on a mission with Master Nefra?” Obi-Wan asked.
“Haven’t you heard? I’m being thrown out of here.” Dawit
yelled. Obi-Wan showed no emotions, not even surprise. “Aren’t you happy?
You’re finally getting rid of me, the one
who can’t seem to learn or do anything
right!” Dawit’s angry voice and thoughts filled the room. Obi-Wan winced.
“Can’t you mimic your emotions away or something? You’ll give all of
Coruscant a headache.”
“It’s called Illusion. Or hiding, whichever you prefer.” Dawit hotly
replied.
“Why are you so hateful?” Obi-Wan asked.
“Maybe because I never really fit in. I never got anything right.” She said sarcastically.
“You could have left at any time.”
“And I would have broken Nefra’s heart. I was like a daughter to him.
Maybe that’s why he never really reprimanded me. I always got away with too
much.” Dawit said it as if no one else was there. Obi-Wan took her lightsaber off its
loop. Dawit snapped out of her trance and grabbed his wrist, twisting it. “Let go of my lightsaber!” Dawit yelled
at him. He undid her grip with a small motion of his hand.
“I can do that too!” she said as she threw him to the floor. He still
held her lightsaber. Dawit concentrated and called her lightsaber back to her. In an instant, it was ignited and pointed at
Obi-Wan’s throat.
“If you’re dismissed, you’re not allowed to keep it.” Obi-Wan
said calmly. Dawit flicked the blade off and helped Obi-Wan up.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. There’s just been
too much going on today.” Dawit’s blue eyes filled with tears. “I, I have
to catch a transport to Anyota.” She began to rummage through her bag for the credits
her father had given her four years ago. He’d said,
“If being a Jedi doesn’t work out,
this should be enough to get you home.” Now Dawit was going home. It was an empty
home, but a home nonetheless.
“Dawit wait. Maybe you should hear what the council has to say first.”
Obi-Wan said, pulling Dawit out of her thoughts and closer to him. She twisted out of his
grip and said,
“I know what they’re going to say. They’re going to say that even
though I show promise, I can’t control my emotions. Everyone knows that.”
Obi-Wan pushed her an arm’s length away and said,
“I’ve always wanted to know where Anyota is. I’ve never heard of
it.”
“It’s not on any trade routes. Anyota is next to the Dagobah system, in
the Outer Rim. You can’t detect anything because of the amber mines.” Dawit
turned to go. She hesitated and added, “I’ll stay to hear what the council has
to say.” Obi-Wan’s eyes lit up. She sensed genuine happiness from him.
“If you see Garret, tell him I’ll be in the mess hall.” Obi-Wan said as he walked out the door. Dawit was
left in the empty room.
She changed back into the Jedi robes
and used her mimicry ability. Obi-Wan would meet
Garret. No one had ever suspected that she
and Garret were one and the same. Not even Yoda had sensed anything wrong when Garret was
interviewed for apprenticeship. Dawit made Garret the same age as her. Yoda had said
Garret was too old for the training, but Garret was accepted with less trouble than Dawit.
Dawit was a loner, an outcast because of a mistake long ago. Garret was strong,
controlled, and everything Dawit couldn’t be. Not even Obi-Wan seemed to notice that
she and Garret were never in the same room together. Recently it had become harder to
separate them. Dawit constantly had to divide her time between Nefra and Garret’s
master, Hanyic. Luckily, Garret’s lessons were in the morning and Dawit’s
lessons were in the afternoon. Nefra rarely
traveled, so Dawit could always assume Garret’s identity and go on missions with
Hanyic. Nefra always believe her excuses. She almost always said she was making an amber
run to Anyota. Her reasoning for that was it was diplomatic. She had to convince the
Pirates to let her get the shipment in. From personal experience she knew very few pilots
were willing to do the Anyota Amber Run.
Dawit stepped in front of the mirror.
She was now Garret. Garret was modeled after her father. Garret had short brown hair and
gained four inches. Dawit could never change her eyes. It was something that she never
figured out how to do. She had to put herself in a man’s frame of mind. No longer was
she Dawit, her, or she but Garret, him or he. Garret turned to leave and realized that he
still wore Dawit’s lightsaber. He threw it in the pile of clothes in disgust.
“What a careless move.” He
thought as he picked up the blade he constructed. He
turned it on. The orange blade hummed. Garret
turned it off and clipped it to his belt. He headed for the mess hall. He ran into Nefra in the hall.
“Hello Garret. Have you seen
Dawit? I really need to talk to her.” There was a sense of urgency in his voice. Dawit was about to be trapped in her own lie. As
Garret she said,
“I saw her run off. She looked
really upset. Dawit always shows too much emotion. I'm surprised she hasn’t been
kicked out yet. With all respect Master Nefra.” Garret said with confidence. Nefra
turned pale then red.
“I think she is as good as
anyone of you! I need to find her. Which way did
she go?” Nefra said revealing more emotion than Dawit had ever seen him show to
anyone.
“She went towards the docking
bay.” Dawit had to deceive Nefra for the time being. Now Garret had to make an
appearance in the mess hall. As Garret, Dawit was calm and collected, never showing
emotions. A rumor had started that Dawit and Garret were ‘involved’ with each
other. It was whispered that they avoided each other not only because of the rules, but
also because of the awkwardness of conversation.
The mess hall was crowded and noisy.
Aliens and humans from all over the galaxy came to train here. To leave their families and
start a new life. A life that would lead to the protection of the galaxy. Obi-Wan called
to Garret and woke him out of his trance. Garret walked over to the round table where
Obi-Wan and his other friends sat.
“Did you hear that Dawit is
finally getting kicked out?” Fian said. Fian’s gills puffed in and out with
excitement.
“That nerf-herder? She always tries to be better than everyone. It
gets real old, real fast.” Makatosia said as he slurped up his meal.
“Yes, I did. She told me she
hasn’t heard the official verdict, but she thinks she’s getting kicked
out.” Obi-Wan said.
“I just ran into her master,
Nefra, he was worried and looking for her.” Garret said to no one in particular.
“She left? Dawit said she’d
stay to hear the verdict. We’ve got to find her!” Obi-Wan said as he jumped up. Dawit’s heart started racing at the thought
of Obi-Wan worried enough about her to start a search party.
“You go on ahead and save her
and brake all the rules along with it.” Fian said as he rolled his eyes.
“Obi-Wan, you know better than
to talk to the females. What happened, all of a sudden Dawit’s a full Jedi?”
Makatosia laughed.
“I don’t think that
splitting up the males and females does any good.” Garret said. Dawit knew that they
were trained the exact same way, except the council was afraid of love. Yoda thought that
love clouded up one’s senses and ruined their intuition with the Force. Dawit knew
from experience that love didn’t do any of that, unless you let it.
“Garret what the heck is wrong
with you? I got this strange feeling when Obi-Wan said he wanted to rescue Dawit. Are the
rumors true? Are you two, ‘involved’?” Makatosia said with food in his
mouth. He let out a belly laugh and slapped Garret on the back.
“As a matter of fact we’re
not. You’re getting too emotional.” Garret said, controlling Dawit’s
bottled up anger.
“He’s not getting too
emotional. That’s Dawit’s job.” Fian said as he came to Makatosia’s
rescue.
“While you three are going to
arguing, I’ll go look for her.” Obi-Wan said.
“Wait, I’ll help you
look.” Garret said. Dawit needed time to reverse back to her normal self.
“You two love birds go search
for her all you want. You’ll probably end up fighting over her.” Makatosia said
laughing all over again. Obi-Wan and Garret left the mess hall and walked down the
corridor to the dormitory. Suddenly Obi-Wan
grabbed Garret and pushed him up against the wall.
“All right Dawit. We’ve all
had a good laugh. Now change back from Garret.”