Alderaan - Love and Intrigue

With the vendetta called off, Layne thought it was time to get back on the whole 'master & padawan' wagon. She'd given Tyche some time and space to reflect on things these past few days... but she had no idea how *much* time was needed or appropriate. And the girl needed to work on her stance, and a Jedi couldn't always afford the time to reflect on matters while not being shot at or otherwise endangered anyhow, so they might as well work on training.

"You're gripping it too tightly," she said, observing the kata her padawan was working through. "Ease up."

She complied with her wishes, but not overly enthusiastically.

She ran the girl through a few more sets before finally stopping and addressing the lack of enthusiasm.

"That's enough for now," she said, finding a rock to sit on, "...fighting isn't exactly something you get to do only when you're in the mood for it, and so maybe training shouldn't be like that either... but... you clearly have things on your mind still. Are you ready to talk about them?"

"Yeah, I just... I just don't feel like it. I got nothing on my mind," she said with a frown.

Layne allowed the Force to connect... but found there was too much Dark Side energy flowing around them to make it a worthwhile endeavor to tap into the power. Besides, they *could* just talk.

"Are you sure? You look like you do."

She didn't push yet. Didn't focus the conversation; hoping that instead Tyche would set the pace herself.


Sense Emotions: 2eF 2 Dark Side

"I guess, maybe. Just, I am tired of being angry," she said.

Well, if this was her being tired of being angry *in general*, then she was figuring it out faster than Layne had done. Or maybe she was just tired of being angry, *right now*.

"And what have you been angry *at*?"

"It's not specific, just tired. I am angry, it didn't help when House Rist came and broke my arm. Just tired," she said.

"Really just want to help people, why does it matter?"

She shrugged. "When you don't know why you're angry in the first place, you can't figure out how to *stop* being angry. When I was your age..."

*god, could she really say that sort of thing already?*

"...I was angry all the time too. Angrier than you, even. Angry at everything and everyone, myself included. But, slowly I narrowed down all the different reasons why I was angry. Took me a long time, and maybe I haven't chased them all down just yet. But I think I got the big ones. So much stuff happened to me, was done to me, and I hated everyone for it. But mostly, I hated myself for not being able to stop it. For letting it all happen. I had to realize and accept that none of that stuff was actually my fault, before I could move past it."

"..."

"...helping someone else is what started me down that path. So you got that part down already, at least."

She considered things for a moment, then decided to share everything with Tyche; everything that had happened after they had split up. The stuff on Delaya, the *why* of it all; why they think they're doing it. The anger they have for the Jedi and Sith both.

"...It may not seem like it right now, but we can help a whole lot of people if we stop this cabal's efforts here."

“But still meditation and reflection got me thinking… I fight because I thought it was the only way to fix things, but I would rather not. Because it just hurts people, or others get hurt trying to hurt us. Violence begets violence,” she muttered.

“If we have to, we have to. You like being a badass whatever, but that’s not me. You’re a good teacher, doing good. But I am not sure I wan to do good in that way.”

"You think I fight because I want to? That I do things this way because I like it?"

"Seems like it," she said. "It works for you, I guess."

"It does work for me. But that doesn't mean I *like* it. Every bad guy I scare into surrendering by seeming like too much of a badass for them to handle, is one I won't have to fight. And if I *do* have to fight them regardless, then the advantage is mine. They'll be unnerved, and the fight goes quicker and I have an easier time forcing a conclusion where the least amount of people get hurt."

She sighed. "It's true though, besides all that... sometimes I goad people into picking fights with me instead. But there's always a greater purpose to it, not a personal one. Sometimes, in order to fix things, we have to do things that might at first seem to make to make them worse. I make people angry and upset so that they'll trip over themselves and reveal nefarious plots. Have them make mistakes that we can then capitalize on to save the day. I know that may not seem like how a Jedi should do things, but sometimes the ideas in our heads and the reality of them are different. "

Layne wasn't very good at explaining this stuff, she was starting to realize. Or at least she was risking accomplishing nothing more than rambling, and she let out another sigh.

"I don't want you to misunderstand why I do the things I do. But, I also want you to understand that whatever the case is, *you* don't have to be me. I am training you to fight not because I *want* you to fight, but because I want you to live, and help others live, when the time comes that you can not avoid a fight."

She shrugged and said, "Got it." She resumed her practicing.

Layne stood there, not really knowing how to proceed. Clearly there was friction that had to be addressed somehow... which she *thought* she was doing... but apparently padawans; or kids in general; aren't a problem you can just 'solve' by saying a few words.

Was she being *too* permissive? Too 'hey, I want to respect your feelings'? Not *enough*? Should she just track down a force wound and tell Tyche to close it up and feel the wonderful peace and oneness with the universe that made Layne join up with the Jedi in the first place?

*What was it going to take to make this work?*

She practiced for another fifteen minutes before taking a seat and drinking some water. She said, “We almost done?”

"Do *you* feel you're done?"

Maybe *this* was the technique to use?

"We do still have time before we're meeting with the others to discuss everything that's been happening."

"I guess I can do some more lightsaber training," she said after some thought and worked on her form.

Huh... it seemed to be... working?

Maybe I'm not so bad at this after all?

Layne would assist of course; helping to shore up Tyche's basic understanding of Shii-cho and other forms of lightsaber combat to the best of her abilities; trying to do so without being too in her face about it.

She was competent but she didn't have a passion for it.