Star Wars : Tanya

"Not only that, but the force can be very dangerous." He looked over at her. "You can hurt yourself and others very easily if you're not careful, which is why I need you to master the Force as quickly as you can."

...

Tan'ya frowned, but nodded.

"Sifo-Dyas is one of the two men I trust most in the galaxy. He will be your teacher, and you must obey him."

"But why can't I learn from you?" Tan'ya blurted out, starting to rise up. "I- Father, I'm sure Master Sifo-Dyas is a good man, but if you can teach Asajj why can't you teach me?"

"There are two reasons. One is that my work is dangerous, and takes me from one end of the Outer Rim to the other. A padawan isn't just there to learn, but to undertake missions with their master. They face peril, and are expected to fight when the time comes. Daughter, you are simply not ready for that."

Frustration rose inside her, and he could feel her disagreement, but she sat back down with a huff. She took a bite from her asteroid, compressing the powdered snow to ice in her teeth, before swallowing it. After another moment to stew she finally asked, "What's the second reason?"

"...Tan'ya, there are complicated circumstances around your birth. Among them is the fact that as a Jedi, I'm not supposed to be a father.

I think this rule is foolish, short sighted, but… It meant that when you were born, I had to make a promise to the Jedi Council on Coruscant." He considered the best way to phrase this, but he knew his daughter would be upset no matter how gentle he tried to be. "Even when you become a Padawan, I cannot be the one who trains you."

Disbelief and shock ran through his daughter, followed by anger and resentment, before settling on sadness and disappointment.

"It's okay to be sad, daughter. Even angry."

"Im not sad." Tan'ya mumbled. "I'm fine."

A sense of pity filled Dooku, and he reached out to grab her shoulder. He pulled her closer, into a small hug, and she buried her face in his side.

"I understand. I'm not sad." Her feelings in the Force more than betrayed that lie.

"We must keep our promises, Daughter, even when it hurts us."

"Yes, Father."

"Study hard, obey Sifo-Dyas, and when you have become a Jedi Knight, then we can work together."

"You promise?"

"Yes. I promise."

Tan'ya nodded again, pulling away as embarrassment flared inside her.

"Here." Dooku handed her a silken handkerchief. "Blow your nose."

Projecting a mixture of gratitude and mortification in the Force, Tan'ya quickly snatched it up and cleaned her face. She gave a long blow into it, before folding it up.

She considered for a moment, before she realized something and a ray of hope shone in her mind, "I have one other question."

"Ask it."

"What about Serenno, Father?" She looked up at him, smiling hopefully. "As your heir, one day I will be Countess. When… does my training as your heir begin?"

What about Serenno, indeed. Between his family, creating the New Temple, and forming the political connections he needed for a separatist movement, Dooku was so stretched for time he barely thought of his homeworld as anything other than the place his wife and children were. Much of the work of running the County he delegated to his sister, Jenza. She lived there and was less distracted than he was, especially these days.

He glanced at the unfinished fruit asteroid in her hands, and decided that she needed a better treat than that. Motivating her to work harder and smarter would only be a good thing.

"If you are obedient to Master Sifo-Dyas, and it does not interfere with you learning the ways of the Jedi, I will see if your Aunt can introduce you to some parts of administration. If you do well, and if she's confident you can handle it, she may even find some work for you."

Her bright smile immediately made him feel better about sending a child to look at the planetary government. He had no clue why she would want it, but apparently tedious bureaucracy and endless stacks of worthless reports really excited her.

She hugged him for the second time that night, the fruit asteroid flung away and forgotten as bright red slush in the dust.

Well, it was good to know Ky Narec wasn't right about everything, though his advice had proven useful.

Set achievable goals, provide clear boundaries, give explanations why, and offer treats as a reward. Simple.

Perhaps being a father would be easier than Dooku thought.

...

Despite her best efforts, the force wasn't something that came easily to Tan'ya, apparently. They'd been trying for a while, and so far Tan'ya hadn't managed even the most rudimentary telekinesis. Disappointed in herself, and not wanting to disappoint her father either, Tan'ya asked Sifo if they couldn't try another approach.

"No. I know you can do this, now stop trying to think of nothing, that's just another way of thinking of something." Master Dyas said to her. "Instead focus on your breathing. Learn to get the rhythm of it correct."

"But breathing is too easy, I don't have to think of it." Tan'ya complained, opening lidded eyes to peek through her eyelashes at her teacher across the classroom.

Sifo's lips twitched up at that, amused. "Close your eyes, I can sense your reactions."

With a sigh, Tan'ya did as instructed. "This meditation stuff seems like nonsense. Sitting there doing nothing achieves exactly that, doing nothing."

"You're not the first to think so, but that's okay. For many Jedi, meditation doesn't come instinctively, but it's useful to know." Sifo murmured gently. "Strong emotions can make it difficult to use the Force. Meditation can help us clear our mind, and focus on what's happening right now."

He had a softly spoken, meditative voice and honestly, it almost made Tan'ya feel like going to sleep.

"No, don't sleep." Sifo said. "You might not remember it, but I met you years ago when you were much smaller."

Now that he mentioned it, Tan'ya did think there was something familiar about the man. "You… were a babysitter."

"That's it, you're remembering… I'm sharing my feelings with you, can you feel them?"

"...I think I can." Tan'ya's mind was racing as she searched for the connection he was talking about, and found a strange, alien feeling of familiarity there. It was similar to what she might feel for Mother or Father, but… different somehow. Like it didn't really belong to her. "Is… that you?"

"Yes, you've found me. Those are my feelings." Sifo said. "And I can feel your mind, too. It's very strange, you're not like other children."

A strange jolt of panic ran through Tan'ya. Was he going to find out about her past? Suddenly it seemed shameful to be a grown man in a child's body.

"No, that's okay, don't panic." Sifo spoke up soothingly. "Just focus on my feelings… That's it, just relax, let go of your worries. In time you'll learn that everyone's feelings are different. They have a uniqueness to them. One day you'll be able to tell people you know apart from the texture of their feelings in the force. There it is, let your frustration melt away. Curiosity is good, but hold your questions, focus on my voice and breathe out."

Tan'ya felt her pulse slow and she drifted back down under his voice.

"Perfect, you're doing great." Sifo reassured her. "Did you know that you've been using the force for years now? Almost from the minute you were born."

Dimly, somehow Tan'ya realized he was right. How she knew that she didn't know, but somehow it was there.

"It's so natural for you, like breathing, that you don't even notice you're doing it. Other children your age are clumsy, they trip over all the time. Not you, you climb to high places and never lose your balance. You use machines that no one taught you how to use, like a datapad, and taught yourself to read and write. Your father told me about it. He told me about those reports you like writing. The force flows through you, and shows you how to do these things."

No it didn't. Tan'ya knew how to do those things as holdovers from her previous life.

"Ah, now I sense doubt. You don't believe me." Sifo smiled. "Okay, let me show you. Let's find the right memory together. Remember when your parents were away, and I was there to take care of you? We ate sweet mince together."

Unbidden, the flavor of dried, shredded fruits appeared on Tan'ya's tongue.

"That's it. Can you hear that sound?"

"...It's raining." The hairs on the back of Tan'ya neck began to rise. "It's raining really hard. It's a storm."

"Exactly." Sifo said. "It was the wet season. And where were we?"

"...In the throne room." Tan'ya chewed the mince and swallowed. "Beneath the stain glass window. The green one with the crest on it."

"And what did you do, Tan'ya?"

"...I opened the window, because I wanted to touch the rain."

"But how could you open the window?' Sifo asked. "It's so big, and you're so small, but you opened it. How did you open it?"

"...I just did." Tan'ya could see it now. The green beams of sunlight broken up by rain, filtering down through the panes. There were small splotches of water in her father's throne room were the rain quickly squeezed through the open window. Her back felt warm, someone was carrying her. "It was too far away, so I just reached out and opened the window."

"How?" Sifo asked. "How did you?"

"With… the Force?"

"That's right." Sifo said. "Right now, in this room. You know where the door is. Open it."

Tan'ya reached out somehow, and felt the ghostly sensation of something that wasn't there brushing against her skin. She raised her hand, reaching out until the cold metal of the door handle was in her palm. There was the sound of metal rattling in its socket, and with her eyes closed Tan'ya closed her fingers and turned her hand.

There was a loud bang and Tan'ya leapt to her feet, shocked out of concentration to find the door frame ripped out of the hab-block. The durasteel had fold lines running through it like spider webs, like a ball of paper someone had crushed up and folded back out again. The whole thing had fallen inwards, flat onto the ground with an ear ringing clap of metal on duracrete.

"Well done!" Sifo clapped. "We're going to have to focus on teaching you control, but well done."

Huh… Maybe this Jedi voodoo crap would be easier to master than Tan'ya thought?

...

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