Private Crazy Rich Jedi

[Xian Xiao]

Xian opened her mouth to respond, already preparing a perfectly reasonable argument about how there was a significant difference between withholding important information and casually informing someone they were several miles above the ground while they were hanging from a wall.

Unfortunately, the wall had other opinions.

She barely registered the movement before something shot out from the side and caught her squarely in the shoulder. Her hand slipped from the next hold and, for one brief moment, she found herself suspended in space with a look of pure disbelief on her face.

"Oh, you've got to be kiddi—"

Then gravity won.

Xian pinwheeled backward, bounced off one padded section of the course, clipped another protruding obstacle on the way down, and finally disappeared into the water below with a tremendous splash.

For several seconds, there was nothing.

Then her head emerged from the surface, soaked hair plastered to her face as she floated there staring up at the course with an expression usually reserved for personal betrayal.

Slowly, she swam toward the edge and pulled herself onto the platform, water dripping from every part of her clothing. She sat there for a moment, catching her breath while glaring up at the wall as if it had insulted her entire family.

"You know," she muttered while standing and wringing water from one sleeve, "I'm starting to think I got a better education running around the streets of Coruscant than I ever would have gotten from the Jedi."

The complaint continued as she trudged back toward the beginning of the course, completely resigned to her fate.

"At least on Coruscant, when somebody wanted to hit me, they had the decency to stand where I could see them first."

Despite the grumbling, she moved back to the starting position and reached for the first handhold again. Her clothes were soaked, her shoulder hurt, and her dignity was somewhere at the bottom of the pool, but she started climbing anyway.

"Also," she called up toward Noriko, "if you laugh too hard and fall off, I'm counting that as a victory."

Noriko Ike

 

[Noriko Ike]

Xian Xiao

Noriko was listening and then she fell... Xian dropped faster then interest of the planetary governments in the Vitae.... "XIAN NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" She let the words loose from her chest, from her mighty roar and jumped down. "My save." She shouted it and was moving as the water was fast approaching. "CANNONBALL" Her words were coming out as she splashed into the water and twisted around for a moment.. then was coming up as she saw Xian and moved to pull her. "XIAN I SHALL SAVE YOU."

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian had just managed to get her head above the surface and push the wet hair out of her face when Noriko's voice echoed across the entire training area. The drawn-out cry of her name was so dramatic that for one brief, ridiculous moment, Xian wondered if someone had actually died. Then she looked up in time to see her master launching herself off the course. The realization hit almost immediately. Noriko wasn't reacting to a catastrophe. She was reacting to her. Specifically, to the fact that she had fallen into a pool that had been specifically placed beneath the course for exactly that reason.

The resulting cannonball sent a wave rolling across the water large enough that Xian disappeared beneath it a second time. When she resurfaced, sputtering and considerably wetter than she had been moments earlier, she found Noriko already closing the distance with the determination of a rescue worker arriving at a disaster site. The only problem was that there was no disaster. Xian was swimming perfectly well on her own. In fact, she had already been making her way toward the edge before her master had decided to become one herself.

"Master," Xian said as patiently as she could manage while treading water, "I am not drowning." The statement seemed reasonable. Unfortunately, Noriko appeared completely unconvinced by this minor detail. Xian watched in disbelief as her master continued the rescue attempt anyway, forcing her to awkwardly paddle backward to avoid being saved from a situation that no longer existed. "I fell into water," she continued, gesturing around them. "That is what the water is for. You watched me swim. You watched me reach the edge. I was halfway back to the start before you jumped."

By the time she finally reached the side of the pool and pulled herself out again, her clothes were soaked, her shoulder still ached from being knocked off the wall, and whatever dignity she had left was rapidly abandoning her. Standing there with water dripping from every part of her, she looked back toward Noriko and could only shake her head. "You know," she said, struggling to keep a straight face, "I think you might actually be the reason the Force gods of irony exist. Because I cannot think of any other explanation for why I fall into a training pool and somehow end up needing to survive a rescue attempt." Despite herself, a laugh escaped as she turned back toward the course. "Next time, if I actually need saving, I'll try to be more dramatic about it."

Noriko Ike

 

[Noriko Ike]

Xian Xiao

Noriko looked at her as she was there. Xian was moving... she was obviously suffering a head injury. "Xian no... you broke your head in battle... how terrible. Look at you trying to stumble around, trying to find your master but you move away from me..... How terrible." NOriko was looking at her and moving as she got out of the waterr and fell to her knees. "My padawan, she has lost her mind, it is all over there and over there and over there and over there and over there and over there." SHe was pointing to different places where she looked at it. "Poor Xian she barely had a chance to live, it should have been me who fell, if only she hadn't insisted we train daily."

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian stood there for several long seconds, soaked from head to toe, staring at Noriko with the expression of someone desperately trying to determine whether her master was genuinely convinced she had suffered a catastrophic head injury or was simply committing to the joke with alarming dedication. Neither possibility was especially comforting.

She opened her mouth once, closed it again, then tried a second time before deciding there simply weren't enough words in Basic to address what she had just witnessed.

"I..."

Another pause.

"...I will see you tomorrow."

The words came with the exhausted resignation of someone who had accepted defeat in an argument that had never actually begun. Xian slowly took one cautious step backward, never breaking eye contact with Noriko. Then another. Then a third. The moment she judged there was enough distance between them, she turned on one heel and immediately broke into a run, soaked boots splashing across the stone as she fled the training grounds with every ounce of dignity she could still salvage.

"I'm going to let you calm down!" she called over her shoulder without looking back. "Or me! Possibly both!"

Noriko Ike

 

[Noriko Ike]

Xian Xiao

"Okay have fun yo."

Noriko looked at her and turned back towards the ascent as she rubbed her hands together and surged towards it. Taking another leap into the air to latch onto the wall and began climbing up the wall again with a laugh. Her hands finding the holds she had seen before and kicking off to gain height as the walls moved, shifted and came out at her. Noriko was moving as she had a look over her head to be able to see Xian wanting to go off before she lept off and grabbed a bar extending from the wall with a nod of her head. This was fun when she rotated on it and stepped before leaping up into the air and grabbing another section of the wall.

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian had only made it a short distance before she heard Noriko cheerfully dismiss her retreat. She slowed for a moment and glanced back over her shoulder just in time to watch her master fling herself at the climbing wall again with exactly the same enthusiasm as before. Somehow, after everything that had happened over the last several minutes, Noriko still looked as though she had limitless energy. She caught one handhold after another, swinging between them with practiced ease while laughing the entire way.

Xian watched for a few moments in quiet disbelief before letting out a long, resigned sigh. She was beginning to suspect there wasn't a switch anywhere that turned Noriko off. If anything, physical exhaustion only seemed to make her more energetic. It was both impressive and deeply concerning.

"I don't know how you have this much enthusiasm after getting hit by poles and throwing yourself into a pool," Xian called back, shaking her head as a reluctant smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "But I think you've convinced me that tomorrow I'm bringing a towel... and possibly a helmet."

With that, she gave one last glance toward the impossible climbing course and the equally impossible woman scaling it before continuing toward the palace. "Have fun, Master," she added, a little more warmly this time. "Just try not to rescue anyone who isn't actually drowning."

Noriko Ike

 

[Noriko Ike]

Xian Xiao

"HOw else are you supposed to learn?" Noriko said it while she was moving. "Failure is the greatest tool and teaching aid. It shows a lot more when you deal with it and what you are able to do during it." She said it while she was moving and allowing the force to guide her movements. She was enjoying herself now and Xian was able to head off for tomorrow. Noriko stopping on a platform as it was moving and she scaled another kicking off of it and then higher and higher so that she wouldn't be smashed with a piller as it smashed outwards. Hooking one arm around it to swing herself and keep the momentum of her climb going.

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian paused long enough to look back at Noriko, who was somehow still climbing higher while turning every obstacle into part of the lesson. She wasn't entirely convinced that being struck by poles and nearly launched off a wall was the only way to learn resilience, but she had to admit there was a certain logic to what her master was saying. Failure was memorable. Falling into a pool in front of half her extended family was certainly memorable.

"I still think there are less painful teaching methods," she called back with a faint smile, "but... I understand what you mean." The words came a little more thoughtfully than her earlier complaints. "You don't learn very much if everything goes perfectly. You just assume you'll get it right again."

She gave the climbing course one last skeptical look before turning toward the palace. "I'm going to find some lunch before your training manages to finish me off anyway." There was a quiet amusement in her voice now, the earlier indignation having faded into reluctant acceptance. "After that, I'm going to try reading again. If I survive the book, I'll consider today a success."

With a small wave over her shoulder, Xian continued on her way. She was still damp from her unexpected swim, her muscles already beginning to complain from the climbing, and she suspected tomorrow would introduce a whole new collection of bruises. Even so, the afternoon ahead sounded pleasantly simple. A meal, a dry change of clothes, and a quiet corner somewhere in the palace where she could wrestle with a book that, hopefully, would be considerably less determined to knock her into the water than her master had been.

Noriko Ike

 

[Noriko Ike]

Xian Xiao

Noriko stood at the top and she looked down as she.... couldn't hear anything after ascending before she waas moving off towards the side of the course. Looking at the ones there as she ran at it and jump going into a slide. The water making it easier to go down as she built speed. "WOOOOOOOO" She shouted it and was excited... a little reward for successfully climbing up and then getting to go down towards the pool with her hands up and enjoying the moment. Then she was splashing into the water itself with a cheer before she was in the water and coming up into the bottom area with her droid there to use a blow dryer.

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian left the training grounds with one last glance over her shoulder just in time to see Noriko throw herself down the massive slide with both hands in the air, shouting triumphantly before disappearing into the pool below in an explosion of water. She stood there for a moment, blinking at the spectacle.

"...She's going to do that every time, isn't she?"

The question was directed mostly to herself. She was beginning to suspect there wasn't a single activity on Atrisia that Noriko couldn't somehow turn into an adventure. Shaking her head with the faintest hint of a smile, Xian continued back toward the palace, deciding that she had experienced enough excitement for one morning.

Lunch was quiet, which suited her perfectly. She ate at an unhurried pace before returning to her room with the book she had been trying to work through since arriving on Atrisia. Settling into a chair near the window, she promised herself she would make real progress this time. She managed several pages before rereading the same paragraph twice, then a third time, her eyes growing heavier with every line until eventually the book slipped slightly in her hands.

The room was peaceful, the afternoon breeze drifting gently through the open window while distant sounds from the palace grounds blended into a comforting rhythm. Without ever making the decision consciously, Xian's eyes closed. The morning's climbing, the unexpected swim, and Noriko's relentless energy had finally caught up with her, and before long she had fallen fast asleep with the book still resting across her lap.

When she finally stirred again, warm orange light stretched across the room. The sun had dipped low over Atrisia's horizon, painting the palace in shades of amber and gold as evening quietly settled over the grounds. Xian blinked several times, looked down at the book she had every intention of reading, and let out a long sigh.

"I read... almost none of it."

She closed the book anyway, deciding that perhaps surviving Noriko's training had been enough learning for one day.

Noriko Ike

 

[Noriko Ike]

Xian Xiao

Noriko shook the water off of her and her long hair was whipped around with a look at cornhusker as the droid was there with her. He offered the blow dryer setting for her hair and her clothing with a nod. "SO where did Xian go?" The droid spoke as she gave a nod. "You know I don't actually know what you are saying right, I just make up something keep.... so thank you for telling me that little Xian decided she needed to go and she was letting herself relax." She said it and the droid beeped while they were going into the hall with a grin on her face before she was heading into the mess hall for some snacks.

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian stirred slowly as the last rays of sunlight slipped through the window, painting her room in warm shades of gold and amber. For a few quiet moments, she simply blinked at the ceiling, trying to remember where she was and why a book lay open across her chest. She glanced down at it, sighed, and carefully marked the page she was almost certain she hadn't actually finished.

Then her stomach growled. Loudly.

Xian looked down at it as though it had personally interrupted an important thought. "Right," she muttered to herself. "Lunch." A brief pause followed before the realization caught up to her. "Only lunch."

Apparently, climbing walls, falling into pools, escaping overenthusiastic rescues, and then sleeping through most of the afternoon had not been an adequate substitute for dinner.

She slipped out of her room and made her way through the palace corridors toward the dining hall, following the familiar sounds of conversation and the increasingly welcome aroma of food. It didn't surprise her in the slightest to find Noriko already there, helping herself to snacks well before the evening meal had properly begun. Xian stopped beside her chair and regarded her master for a moment before allowing a small smile to form.

"I have reached the conclusion," she said as she picked up a plate, "that your training burns an unreasonable number of calories. Therefore, I am officially blaming you for how hungry I am."

Noriko Ike

 

[Noriko Ike]

Xian Xiao

Noriko looked at her while she was eating and shrugged. "I mean you blame me for everything else what is one more thing Xian." She said it and went back to eating as the food was there and she still ate. Before she was finishing and stretching out her arms. The grin remained on her face for a moment as the droid came by with dessert which she was able to get. The sweet creams there on the plate as she was getting a spoon and using it to get smaller bites with a grin to herself as severral other cousins were coming back in.

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian glanced up from her plate as Noriko casually accepted yet another accusation with complete confidence, then looked toward the dessert her master had somehow acquired before anyone else. She considered pointing out that Noriko seemed remarkably skilled at giving people reasons to blame her for things, but decided it probably wasn't worth the effort.

"I suppose consistency is an admirable quality," she said instead, the corner of her mouth lifting into a faint smile. "Besides, if I stop blaming you for things, you'll probably assume something is wrong."

She shook her head with quiet amusement before returning to her dinner. "Enjoy your dessert, Master. You did earn it... somehow."

Noriko Ike

 

[Noriko Ike]

Xian Xiao

"That or think you have grown more emotionally mature." She said it and took a bite of the sweet cream with a smile as she was excited with it and enjoying it. "I know I wouldn't mind not being blamed for some new horror and new prroblem. It might be a refreshing change of pace, that doesn't burden me into wanting to work out because the alternative is to stand around and be completely depressed because my padawan secret wants to torment and punish me for taking care of her and being part of her family."

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian looked up from her plate, chewing thoughtfully before swallowing. She studied Noriko for a moment, trying to decide whether her master genuinely believed all of that or was simply entertaining herself again. With Noriko, the answer was almost always both.

"I never asked for the family part," she said honestly. There was no anger in her voice, only the quiet observation of a thirteen-year-old still trying to understand a life that had changed very quickly. "I already had you as my Master. Then we came here and suddenly I had cousins, an entire clan, and people telling me it's all my culture too."

She lowered her eyes to her dinner for a moment, absentmindedly moving a piece of food around her plate with her fork.

"It seems like a lot of responsibility for someone who only found out any of this existed a little while ago." A faint smile appeared despite herself. "I'm still trying to remember everyone's names. Now apparently I have several thousand relatives."

The smile lingered just a little longer before she looked back at Noriko.

"I'm not saying it's bad." She shrugged lightly. "I'm just saying... it's new."

Noriko Ike

 

[Noriko Ike]

Xian Xiao

"You do not have several thousand relatives, you have several hundred thousand." Norriko said it as she was there. "And yes, it is new, but using that as the sole reason why you blame and get upset and act out all of the time doesn't do much to endear. We have been here and you haven't even tried to ask the name of one cousin. I have had to introduce you and you just don't try." She shrugged though and rose up to give more of her dishes to the droid. "It is all about choices padawan and the best choices aare to have some connection in the galaxy. Otherwise you will just become another crab in the bucket."

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian blinked at Noriko for a moment, the correction about the number of relatives almost making her forget everything else that had been said.

"Several hundred thousand?" she repeated quietly, as though somehow saying the number aloud might make it sound less overwhelming.

Then the rest of Noriko's words caught up with her.

"That is absolutely not true."

There was no anger in her voice, but there was unmistakable hurt. Xian rarely argued with her master, which made the response all the more noticeable. She set her fork down and looked toward the dining hall area where several of the younger cousins had been sitting the day before, lifting a hand to point in their direction.

"I was making friends yesterday with those cousins over there."

Her hand lowered again as she looked back at Noriko.

"I don't know everyone's names yet, but I've been trying. You only ever seem to notice the things I haven't done." She hesitated before continuing, choosing her words carefully. "Sometimes it feels like you only see the things you don't like and assume I'm doing everything else wrong."

Xian looked down at her plate for a moment, her voice quieter now.

"I'm still learning how all of this works. That doesn't mean I'm not trying."

Noriko Ike

 

[Noriko Ike]

Xian Xiao

"Only because when I try and get your to do something you stomp your feet, tell me you aren't going to do it." She said it with a look while she was there though and looked over at the cousins she had been talking about. "Mugi, Pavarti and Kyo are their names." She said it with a small look. "And I don't focus on what you do wrong, I focus on what you don't do when I am trying to teach you." She only shrugged her shoulders for the moment, allowing herself the small chance though while she stretched her limbs outwards with a smaller pop pop pop sound that was comig out with the smaller look. Then she was reaching down towards her toes.