Anabeth: Spark Of Change

Chapter 15 - Mandalore

The tour of the city Korkie gave Anabeth was only brief as the two of them decided that they'd much rather sit down somewhere to talk. They got along splendidly as it appeard that the two of them had a lot in common. Both of them were quiet intellectual, but certainly wouldn't say no to getting their hands dirty if the opportunity arose. They had both had a fair share of drama in their lives and had practically the same sense of humor. But what Anabeth appreciated most about the boy was his imense kindness and the fact that he didn't judge her for her past for even a second.

They talked about Ahsoka which eventually led to Ana telling Korkie about the conversation she had with Anakin about Satine beeing Obi-Wan's so called girlfriend. Korkie burst out laughing the minute Ana had explained the story to him. "What's so funny?" she asked, looking at the boy confused. "It's just that almost a year ago I tried to set my aunt up with a Professor of mine. When she found out she got really mad at me and grounded me for an entire week, saying that it wasn't my business and she could handle herself. I always thought she was overreacting when she grounded me, but it suddenly makes sense now" he explained, making Ana laugh as well. "In all honesty though, it really is quiet obvious when you know it. Just watch them later at dinner and you'll know what I mean" the girl said as they both did their best to stop laughing again.

By the time the sun began to set they made their way back to the palace to have dinner with Satine and Obi-Wan. The two teenagers were seated across from each other with Ana sitting next to Obi-Wan and Korkie next to Satine.
"So Ana, how do you like Sundari so far?" the Duchess asked Anabeth curiously. "It's a lovely city, Duchess" Ana politely answered, making Satine smile in order to surpress a giggle "We're all friends here and we're not in public Ana. Why don't you just call me Satine?". "Of course" Ana responded, making Korkie giggle slightly.

The girl quickly shot him a glare that made him shut up, quiet to the amusement of Obi-Wan. "He's getting the death glare already?" the Jedi Master joked with an amused smirk. "Yes, now stop trying to be Master Skywalker by teasing people or you're next" Ana teasingly threatened, making Obi-Wan sigh in defeat. "Why do I always get the difficult Padawans? What have I done to deserve this?" he mumbled, much to the amusement of everyone else.

"So, what do we have planned for the next two days?" Anabeth decided to change the topic. "Well, you'll be my guests at tomorrow's meeting with the Ruling Council and we have a visit to the academy to listen to some presentations sceduled for the day after that" Satine explained to her. "And you'll be taking a few hours to catch up on some studies on one of those days" Obi-Wan added, earning an annoyed look from Ana. Luckily for him, Korkie decided to use this opportunity to practise his diplomatic skills to save the Jedi Master.

"We can study together then. I have some exams coming up in a few weeks that I need to prepare for" the boy said enthusiasically, giving Anabeth no other choice but to accept the offer. An excited smile appeared on Korkies face "I'll show you the library after dinner then. I'm sure it doesn't compare to your Jedi archives, but the material there should be more than you can get through anyway". "I feel like I've issued a challenge now" Ana replied with a smirk, making everyone at the table laugh.

The meeting they had the next day was one of the most boring yet most informative things Anabeth had taken part in since she became a Padawan. She learned a lot simply by observing the politicians and listening to them, but she was sure that if she were a Senator she would sooner or later die of boredome. Thankfully, a single look at Master Kenobi had confirmed that she was definetly not the only one that felt this way.

The visit to the academy the day after that was luckily a lot more exciting. The students were all very polite, eager to learn and hard working making it easy for Ana, Obi-Wan and Satine to listen to their presentations. For all that Ana knew she could have been one of the many students hadn't it been for the different clothes and the fact that she was taking notes on her pad. Obi-Wan had decided to turn this visit into a task for her and wanted to hear her feedback on each of the presentations later.