Private Crazy Rich Jedi

[Xian Xiao]

Xian stood quietly beside her, staring at the enormous eggs curled safely beneath the sleeping creature's coils while the distant sounds of the others echoed through the pens around them. Even at thirteen, she carried herself with that same guarded stillness she would have years later, though here it was thinner somehow, less practiced. Easier to interrupt.

Her eyes tracked slowly across the massive creature resting around the clutch, taking in the rise and fall of its breathing, the faint twitch of whiskers, the sheer scale of it.

"…An affectionate flying tank," she murmured thoughtfully. "That feels dangerous." There was a pause before the corner of her mouth twitched upward just slightly. "…I like it."

She folded her arms loosely as she kept watching the eggs, her expression quieter now, more openly curious than she usually allowed herself to be around people. Around Noriko, it happened sometimes without her noticing.

"It's weird," Xian admitted after a moment. "Back on Coruscant, everything always felt loud. Crowded. Like people were building over the world instead of living with it." Her gaze drifted toward the distant gardens and the open sky beyond the high paths. "But here…" She hesitated briefly, trying to explain something she didn't entirely have words for yet. "Everything feels alive on purpose."

Not wild. Not chaotic. Connected.

She looked back toward Noriko then, and some of the tension usually sitting behind her eyes softened by simple fascination.

"So they really bond to one person?" she asked. "Like permanently?" Her attention shifted back toward the eggs almost immediately afterward, curiosity overtaking caution for once. "…How do you even know which one is yours?"

Noriko Ike

 

[Noriko Ike]

Xian Xiao

She looked at her and waited a moment. "Because I said so and liked the look of the egg, look at that curve, that composition, feel the warmth. I shall have such a good one and when she misbehaves I shall call her by the ancient name of one that requires discipline." She said it before she was tapping the egg to list. "Oh yes I will little Xian... good Xian, we're going to be the best of friends." She said it with a grin. "I am so going to teach her to do a barrel roll in mid air so that we can fly around... going to be awesome and then we are totally going to dance... a lot." She said it with a look on her face while she was looking at the big one who was there and opened an eye. "Morning Muggie,"

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian stared at Noriko for several long seconds after hearing her casually decide that a massive flying creature was apparently going to be named after her simply because she "liked the shape of the egg." The explanation itself sounded ridiculous enough, but the fact that Noriko delivered it with complete sincerity somehow made it even worse.

At thirteen, Xian already possessed a fairly dangerous temper when pushed in the wrong direction. Fortunately for everyone involved, she also possessed just enough self-control not to immediately shove Noriko into the straw beside the nest.

Just enough.

Her arms folded tightly across her chest as she watched Noriko happily tap the shell and speak to the unhatched creature as if the entire thing had already been decided by the universe itself.

Little Xian. Good Xian. Barrel rolls. Dancing.

The more Noriko continued, the more Xian could physically feel embarrassment climbing up the back of her neck.

"You are absolutely doing this on purpose," she muttered at last, her voice carrying the exhausted disbelief of someone realizing they had wandered into a conversation they could no longer escape alive.

Still, she remained where she was, which probably said more than she wanted it to.

Her eyes shifted reluctantly toward the egg again while Noriko continued enthusiastically planning the creature's future aerial acrobatics. The shell really was impressive up close, smooth and curved with faint warmth radiating through it into the cooler mountain air. Even the massive creature curled protectively around the clutch seemed strangely peaceful despite its size, opening one eye lazily when Noriko greeted it.

Xian glanced toward the enormous beast and then back toward her master with growing suspicion.

"This entire planet is insane," she informed her flatly, though there was far less bite in the words than there should have been.

The corners of her mouth twitched despite herself when Noriko started talking about teaching the creature to dance. It wasn't a smile yet, but it was dangerously close to becoming one.

"You cannot name a giant flying tank after me," Xian continued, trying very hard to regain some amount of dignity before the conversation spiraled even further beyond saving. "And if it hatches already knowing how to do barrel rolls, I am blaming you personally for whatever cosmic mistake caused that."

Her gaze drifted back toward the egg once more, curiosity steadily prying apart her irritation, no matter how hard she tried to hold onto it.

Then, quieter now and sounding almost annoyed at herself for admitting it at all, she added, "…it is a pretty good egg though."

Noriko Ike

 

[Noriko Ike]

Xian Xiao

"What if your parents had a vision of little Xian and named you after her? The force works in mysterious ways padawan, it moves and flows through the time stream." She said it and stood there with a barely suppressed smile on her face. "It is the only way it seems I will be able to train and not have a stubbornness glaring at me all the time... no matter I am sure we can come up with a better name when I see you. Or I'll still with Xian... then I can send you to bed without supper and go.... No bad Xian... very very bad." She cackled to herself with that and walked around it though to go to the large Dragon. "Muggie has been with the family for generations.. she is a beautiful one."

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian let out a long, suffering sigh as Noriko continued spiraling deeper into her own nonsense with complete confidence, somehow managing to involve destiny, the Force, and hypothetical disciplinary speeches directed at a flying creature all within the same explanation.

At thirteen, Xian still had enough emotional transparency left in her that her reactions showed plainly across her face before she could fully hide them. Right now, that mostly manifested as exhausted disbelief.

"You are impossible," she informed her while watching Noriko move toward the massive dragon with all the confidence of someone entirely certain the universe approved of her behavior.

Still, despite the irritation simmering beneath the words, there was less sharpness in it than there had been earlier. Some of the tension had started bleeding away the longer they remained there among the nests and creatures and open air.

Her gaze drifted slowly around the cavernous space again, lingering on the cousins moving between the pens, the sleeping beasts curled protectively around their eggs, and the distant laughter echoing softly through the high chambers. Everything here still felt unreal to her in a way she could not fully explain.

"My parents left Atrisia for a reason," Xian said after a while, her voice quieter now and more thoughtful than argumentative. "And honestly…" She glanced sideways toward Noriko before folding her arms more tightly across herself. "I think I'm starting to understand why."

The statement carried dry humor, but only partially.

She looked back toward the eggs again, watching the soft rise and fall of Muggie's breathing while the warmth from the nest spread through the cool mountain air around them.

"I didn't even know this place existed until you brought me here," she admitted. "I didn't know there were giant flying dragons hidden in the mountains, and I definitely didn't know I apparently had an entire clan worth of cousins running around."

There was something strange in her expression now, something quieter and less guarded than before. Not comfortable exactly, but trying to understand what comfort might even feel like.

"Back on Coruscant, it was always just…" She hesitated briefly, searching for the right words. "Smaller than this, I guess. Apartments. Traffic. Noise. People everywhere, but nobody really knowing each other."

Her eyes drifted toward Noriko again, narrowing faintly with lingering suspicion.

"Meanwhile, your family apparently lives in a mountain full of dragons and casually threatens to rename them after me."

The corner of her mouth twitched despite herself before she looked away again quickly enough to pretend it hadn't happened.

"I still think naming it Xian is a terrible idea," she muttered. "Especially if you plan on yelling 'bad Xian' across a mountain every time it breaks something."

Noriko Ike

 

[Noriko Ike]

Xian Xiao

"Who says xian is going to be a bad dragon? That is kind of mean trying to prelabel her a trouble maker." NOriko said it while she was looking at the egg. "And I don't know about your parents and why they left padawan, that they did was their reasons. We are family but we do not force people to be here and we have clans on almost seventy planets with extensions of the clan itself." She said it while looking. "But it will be fine, you are here with us now and I am your master and I am like twenty percent cooler then so many of the other masters that you might meet." SHe said it with a grin on her face while stepping back to check the egg and muggie. "See Xian... Xian agrees I am so awesome she is speechless."

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian drew in a slow breath through her nose while Noriko continued confidently speaking on behalf of both the egg and the enormous dragon currently half asleep beside it. At this point, she was becoming increasingly convinced that resisting the urge to argue was itself a form of advanced Jedi training.

Unfortunately, Noriko seemed determined to test the limits of that theory.

"I did not say the dragon would be a troublemaker," Xian replied carefully, putting noticeable effort into keeping her voice level despite the growing suspicion that her master enjoyed provoking her far too much. "I said naming it after me and then threatening to scold it across an entire mountain was a terrible idea."

Her eyes narrowed slightly as Noriko kept going, especially once the conversation shifted toward family and clans scattered across dozens of worlds. The scale of it still felt difficult to fully process. Xian had spent most of her life thinking her world was small and disconnected, limited to whatever apartment, temple, or training room happened to surround her at the time.

Now, apparently, she had cousins on seventy planets. And dragons. Normal people did not casually discover things like this.

By the time Noriko proudly announced herself "twenty percent cooler" than most other masters, Xian had reached the point where her expression settled into the deeply patient look of someone surviving entirely through self-restraint.

"That is not a measurable statistic," she informed her flatly.

Still, there was less heat behind the words than before. Some of the sharpness had softened while they stood there among the nests and creatures, worn down little by little beneath the warmth of the mountain air and the strange sincerity woven underneath Noriko's ridiculousness.

Then came the final betrayal.

"See Xian… Xian agrees, I am so awesome, she is speechless."

Xian closed her eyes briefly. Not in anger. In endurance.

When she opened them again, she looked toward the giant dragon curled protectively around the eggs and pointed lightly toward it as though appealing to the creature directly.

"Muggie," she said with complete seriousness, "I need you to understand that I am trying very hard to be respectful right now."

The dragon blinked lazily back at her.

Noriko, predictably, looked entirely too pleased with herself.

Xian let out a long sigh before folding her arms again and looking away toward the rest of the nesting grounds, though the faint twitch at the corner of her mouth betrayed that some dangerously small part of her was starting to enjoy this despite herself.

"…And for the record," she muttered after a moment, "I still think I should get some say in whether something gets named after me."

Noriko Ike

 

[Noriko Ike]

Xian Xiao

"It is totally measurable, twenty percent more measurable. You got to unlearn what you knew before you met me Xian, you need to do because there is no try and we have years of this still. You get to name your own when you turn eighteen so you will have to learn responsibility and how to be professional. That will require training and discipline.... talent and dedication and one day you can get your own buddy and name them whatever you want." She said it while looking at her padawan and she had a grin. "Just think five more years and you too will be able to have one and maybe your own ship huh.. chance to travel around the galaxy see the sights... help the people and fight injustice and imperialism to bring freedom and peace to the people."

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian folded her arms a little tighter while Noriko continued speaking with the unstoppable confidence of someone who had never once paused to consider whether the things coming out of her mouth sounded ridiculous to anyone else. The worst part was that she sounded completely sincere as she said them, which somehow made it much harder for Xian to stay genuinely irritated for long.

"You are not helping your case by inventing percentages," she said, though the resistance behind the words had softened into something closer to exhausted tolerance than actual annoyance. Arguing with Noriko was beginning to feel like arguing with the weather: loud weather, bright weather, weather that insisted on assigning her embarrassing nicknames while looking delighted about it.

Her attention drifted back to the egg resting safely beneath the massive dragon's protective frame while Noriko launched into a talk of responsibility, discipline, professionalism, and, eventually, having one of her own someday. At thirteen, five years felt impossibly distant, almost abstract in the way adulthood often did when people spoke about it too casually. Old enough to choose her own companion. Old enough to travel the galaxy freely. Old enough to have her own ship and make decisions without another master standing over her shoulder, shaping her into someone she wasn't sure she wanted to be.

The strange part wasn't the idea itself. It was the certainty in Noriko's voice.

She spoke about Xian's future as though it were obvious she would reach it, as though there had never been any question she would survive long enough to become those things. Most of Xian's life had felt temporary and conditional, measured in lessons, transfers, and expectations, always preparing for the next upheaval. Thinking five years ahead had never felt practical.

But Noriko talked about it as if it were inevitable.

As though, of course, Xian would still be here. Of course, she would grow older. Of course, she would someday have her own companion, her own ship, her own place in the galaxy.

The thought settled somewhere unexpectedly warm beneath all her caution, enough that some of the tension eased from her shoulders as she listened to Noriko describe future adventures that sounded half heroic mission and half complete disaster.

"You make it sound very easy," Xian said at last, her voice quieter now, more thoughtful than argumentative. "I do not think I have ever really planned that far ahead before."

Her gaze lingered briefly on the enormous dragon before returning to Noriko, calmer despite herself. "I spent so much time trying to figure out where I was supposed to fit that I never really stopped to think about what I actually wanted later."

The honesty slipped out before she could stop it, but once spoken, she didn't take it back.

After a moment, the faintest trace of dry amusement returned to her expression. "…I still reserve the right to choose a less embarrassing name than 'little Xian,' though," she added. "And if I ever get my own ship, I am absolutely not painting it in whatever colors you would choose."

Noriko Ike

 

[Noriko Ike]

Xian Xiao

"Neither have I, I haven't even planned how I am going to distract you so I can run off to go and pee while still maintaining my cool master status." She said it putting her hands on her hips. "Now come, we can't spend all the time distracted in the stables... we have running to do and you need to learn how not to make the woman who commands a portion of the fleets outside of emergencies annoyed with all of us." She said it while turning around and took odd at a run towards the palace where she would be able to go around with a laugh on her face for the moment. "Come old Xian to the padawaan cave."

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian stared at Noriko for a moment as her master casually announced that she had not planned her own future either and was currently more concerned with maintaining her cool master image while figuring out bathroom logistics.

That was somehow both reassuring and deeply concerning. Mostly concerning.

"You command fleets," Xian pointed out as she started after her, breaking into a jog rather than matching Noriko's immediate sprint. "I feel like there should be a plan somewhere between that and running away to pee."

The comment followed Noriko down the path while Xian shook her head and continued after her at a much more reasonable pace. The palace grounds blurred past around them as cousins and attendants moved about their own business, entirely unsurprised by the sight of a Jedi Master sprinting off toward some new adventure with all the enthusiasm of a child who had discovered sugar.

At the mention of annoying, powerful admirals and fleet commanders, Xian's expression immediately became suspicious.

"The fact that you phrased it like that makes me think you've already annoyed her yourself," she called ahead. That seemed far more likely than Noriko was probably willing to admit.

When the older woman declared, "Come old Xian to the padawan cave," Xian let out a long sigh that suggested she was already regretting this. "I am not old." She paused. "And I am only jogging until I am worn out." That part was delivered with complete seriousness.

"You people can continue doing your ridiculous ten-mile runs after that if you want. I will happily return to my room, sit somewhere comfortable, and enjoy not suffering." There was a small pause before she added: "I am beginning to suspect that half of Atrisian culture is just finding increasingly creative ways to make yourselves tired."

Even so, she continued jogging after Noriko, maintaining a steady pace while trying very hard not to smile at the laughter echoing ahead of her.

Noriko Ike

 

[Noriko Ike]

Xian Xiao

She was moving and got back to her room as Xian was still follow and she held a hand out. "Stop... bathroom time." She waited a moment as the door opened and side walked inside like she was dancing as her makie droid came down and stayed at the door. Emerging a few minutes later with a nod. "And yes atrisians like to maintain physical fitness. children from the age of eight are trained to exercise and at eighteen they enter military service mandatory. It gives Atrisia a standing army on the planet of several billion soldiers as we have many enlisted and much more in reserve. That the Lady Unaga is able to command and direct a third of the fleet after the emperor, empress and chamberlain. THe admirals don't have to fully follow orders but they need some good reasoning."

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian came to an immediate stop when Noriko held up a hand, watching with an expression that suggested she was not entirely surprised by what came next.

The side-step into the room somehow made the entire announcement even more ridiculous.

She stood quietly beside the waiting droid while Noriko disappeared for several minutes, taking the opportunity to catch her breath after the run and straighten the sleeves of her clothing. The mountain air was cooler here than she was used to, carrying the scent of stone, cedar, and distant gardens through the halls.

When Noriko finally emerged and launched directly into a discussion of Atrisian military structure, Xian simply fell into step beside her again and listened.

Really listened.

The numbers alone were difficult to fully comprehend. Several billion soldiers. Mandatory service. Vast fleets stretching across systems she had never even seen. It was a scale of organization far beyond anything she had personally experienced before.

As Noriko continued explaining the chain of command, the admirals, the fleet structure, and Lady Unaga's authority, Xian found herself filing the information away carefully rather than interrupting. There would be time for questions later. Right now, she was still trying to understand how all of these pieces fit together.

After a while, she gave a small nod.

"I understand."

The answer was simple and respectful, lacking the skepticism she might have shown earlier in the day. Whether she fully agreed with everything was another matter entirely, but she was beginning to recognize that Atrisia operated according to traditions and responsibilities that had existed long before she arrived.

For now, learning seemed more useful than arguing.

So she walked beside her master through the palace halls, quiet and attentive, absorbing the lesson while trying to make sense of a world that somehow felt larger with every hour she spent there.

Noriko Ike

 

[Noriko Ike]

Xian Xiao

"Good." Noriko said it and offered her a wide smile with that. "Cause it only slightly gets more complicated after that, each continent of Atrisia based on its size has individual regions and areas. Some more then others and some less. The Kyushi for instance only have one major city for an entire continent but they live within the shadow towers. SOmething from well a long time. Dating had it before the je'daii orders formation and the Chi-Oni said it was always on the world from the Ancient Atrisians." She said it. "But from there we are able to have the two armies, a portion of all cities defense force forms the Atrisian royal army while others are local defense force... and they are overseen by a Sansin. We as a clan have some status as we provide our own army for both as well as invaluable trade. Both on planet to facilitate at the mouth. Where the White Pearl of House Ike is and here where many offworlders venture first. Lady UNage oversees all clans of the family, all branches spread across the worlds and continents so if you need anything we have family able to provide."

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian listened as Noriko continued outlining the layers of Atrisia's government, military, clans, cities, and continents, and what felt like an ever‑expanding lattice of responsibilities that all somehow connected back to someone important. At first, she tried to follow every detail, tracking the distinctions between defense forces and royal armies and Sansin oversight, but somewhere in the middle of it, she quietly accepted that she would probably need several years, a map, and possibly a tutor before any of this made complete sense.

Still, she listened. That part she could do.

By the time Noriko reached House Ike's influence and the reassurance that family could provide whatever she might need, Xian's expression had settled into one of polite concentration… though the faintest glimmer of mischief had begun to surface behind it.

She glanced sideways at her master.

"I thought you had Sor‑Jan's card to take care of anything we need."

The question was delivered with perfect sincerity or at least a very convincing imitation of it. She held the innocent expression for a beat before adding, with the same calm tone:

"You make it sound like there are entire networks of family members spread across worlds and continents, but every solution I've heard so far seems to involve borrowing Sor‑Jan's credits."

A tiny smile tugged at the corner of her mouth before she looked forward again, as though she hadn't just said anything at all.

"So should I be memorizing the structure of the clans…" Her dark eyes flicked back toward Noriko, bright with quiet amusement. "…or just learning who has access to the credit card."

Noriko Ike

 

[Noriko Ike]

Xian Xiao

"Well yeah Sor-Jan makes a lot of credits and to avoid questions like why are you eating out every day nine times or why did you invest in an expedition to land craft on the sun or deep ocean boxing research to punch an ocean. I use Sor-Jan's credit card proper." SHe said it when she was looking at Xian. "Families ask why you are paying to research landing on a sun or punching an ocean and call it a scam. Like those Alderaanian princes in holomail... they are dethroned and need some support and so I give them Sor_jan's account information to get the big pay out once they take power." SHe made a point of holding her hands up. "I think I know when I am being scammed."

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian stared at her.

For a moment, she genuinely was not sure which part of that explanation she was supposed to react to first. The expedition to land on the sun. The research project dedicated to punching an ocean. The fact that Noriko apparently received scam holomails. Or the fact that she responded to those scams by confidently giving away someone else's account information as if it were the most reasonable solution in the galaxy.

Her mouth opened. Closed. Opened again. Closed again.

The expression lingered as they walked, leaving her looking very much like a fish that had somehow flopped onto dry land and was now attempting, with limited success, to understand the circumstances of its own existence. She turned her head toward Noriko, then away, then back again, as though checking whether her master was truly standing there or whether this entire conversation was some kind of stress‑induced hallucination.

Her mouth opened a third time. Nothing emerged. There simply were not enough words available to her.

Eventually, she lifted one hand and pinched the bridge of her nose, holding the gesture for several long seconds as if steadying herself against the sheer absurdity of what she had just heard. When she finally lowered her hand, she stared straight ahead with the solemn, resigned expression of someone watching a natural disaster unfold in slow motion and realizing there was absolutely nothing they could do to stop it.

The silence stretched on.

By now, it was becoming increasingly clear that Xian had reached a level of disbelief so profound that it had temporarily disabled her ability to form coherent sentences. For someone who normally had an opinion about everything, it was probably the strongest reaction she could have given.

She opened her mouth one last time, paused, closed it again, and simply continued walking beside her master while quietly reevaluating every life decision that had somehow led her to this exact moment.

Noriko Ike

 

[Noriko Ike]

Xian Xiao

Noriko looked at Xian and gave a nod of her head. "Your silence speaks volumes padawan you are so impressed by my forward thinking and planning... You have only realized not only is your master pretty, smart, capable, talented, awesome, strong, powerful and twenty percent cooler then Sor-Jan... you have also been able to add future seeing witch to the pile of titles that I have and control." She said it while she was walking with a small skip to her step for the moment. "I am prepared for many of the things now and we shall have our morning training session adjusted... I think today we can skip the running, we'll pick that up tomorrow but today.. today we can dodge."

 

[Xian Xiao]

Xian walked beside her in silence for several long seconds, listening as Noriko confidently interpreted her complete lack of response as admiration, respect, astonishment, and apparently confirmation of future‑seeing abilities. At this point, she was beginning to suspect that her master could hold an entire conversation without assistance from another participant, and the truly alarming part was how well she managed it.

When Noriko finished adding yet another collection of titles to her already absurd list of accomplishments, Xian glanced sideways at her with an expression caught somewhere between confusion and resignation. She was not even sure which claim she would challenge first. The future‑seeing witch. The twenty percent cooler than all the other masters. Or the implication that silence automatically counted as agreement.

Fortunately, Noriko changed subjects before Xian had to decide.

The mention of skipping the run earned a small flicker of relief. That part, at least, sounded reasonable. The relief lasted exactly until Noriko announced they would be dodging instead.

Xian frowned slightly. Not because she objected. Because she genuinely had no idea what that meant.

She continued walking for a moment, watching her master's unusually enthusiastic stride, before finally giving in to the inevitable.

"What is dodge?" There was a brief pause. Then, with complete sincerity, she added, "Because the way you said that makes it sound like dodging is a thing." Her eyes narrowed, suspicion growing with every step. "And the way you have been explaining Atrisian culture, I am becoming increasingly concerned that it actually is."

She looked Noriko up and down, trying to determine whether she should be preparing for something athletic, something dangerous, or something that would once again defy all known logic.

"I would like to know whether I should be expecting a training exercise…" She paused, the silence stretching just long enough to make her concern obvious. "…or an assassination attempt."

Noriko Ike

 

[Noriko Ike]

Xian Xiao

"Xian you don't attempt assassination... you either succeed or you fail and most who fail go to the morgue." She said it but was walking and went into the courtyard with a look. "As for dodging.. there is an art to it. when someone throws a punch, dodge, when someone fires a blaster or arrow or force destruction phsere... dodge... when someone tries and kill you... you kill them right back. Yo" SHe said it and the courtyard itself was something that people could see... the cousins were there and some were firing blunt arrows as others were wielding sabers on a high bar. It let them balance before one dodged and missed landing back on the beam and fell into the water below.