I've Got a Feelin' (DrJake)

[Ghostie]

Burlurp. Burlurp. BURLURP.

Sirens were going off all around Sirius, red lights flashing everywhere. There he was, sitting behind the controls of a starfighter. How Sirius ended up in such a place, he had no idea. Without thinking, he gripped the controls hard and pushed forward, diving. Here, he got a better picture of what was going on. There was a battle, massive in scale. He flew through capital ships, dodging beams and missiles all the way. The siren ended up being a warming, tellimg him there was a missile locked on him. The soonest Sirius figured this out, he rolled over to the side, beginning a run that would hopefully lose those missiles.

Burlurp. Burlurp. BURLURP.

Rain lashed against the windshield as Sirius drove frantically through speeder lanes. He couldn't remember why he was driving so fast, but there he was. Shaking himself awake, he had just seconds to dodge an oncoming medical vehicle, it's sirens wailing away.

Burlurp. Burlurp. BURLURP.

“Ugh...”

Sunlight shone through the only window in Sirius's dorm in the Jedi Temple. He squinted at first, everything appearing as a bright, blurry haze without his glasses. He finally found the source of the noise that woke him up. The alarm clock sitting on his bedside table, next to his glasses and a lamp.

With more force than he meant to, Sirius raised his cybernetic arm and hit the clock swiftly. It shut off immediately, though Sirius wasn't sure if he hit the snooze or not. The clock read 11:31 AM. It was lucky Teer had been letting him do his own thing for awhile after his injury, or he'd be in a hole. And be in it deep.

The young man rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. What did he have to do today? Breakfast, training, meditation... Wait, training. He had promised to meet Lana today for some sparring. Lana Kindari, the Echani padawan he had met last night. He didn;t know what it was, but he kept thinking about her, and the conversation they had last night. He couldn't go to sleep because of it.

Looking back at the clock, Sirius remembered they had set their sparring for around noon. That meant he only had about thirty minutes to get ready. Maybe he would meet her in the cafeteria, or on his way to the sparring area. Sirius whipped the blankets aside and jumped out of bed. He did not want to be late for this session.

Thirty Minutes Later

Sirius jogged down the hallway, passing training rooms and meditation chambers as he put the last piece of toast in his mouth. They hadn't agreed on a room, so Sirius just turned into the last free one in the hall. Today seemed to be everyone's day for training.

The room was well lit with sunlight shining through tall windows on the opposite wall. Equipment lined all walls, everything from exercise equipment to training lightsabers. In the middle there were mats, perfect for sparring on. Now all Sirius had to do was wait, and hope Lana found the right room.

[Dr. Jake]

Ever since her return to the Jedi Order, Lana had developed an interest in her Echani culture that she had never really had before. This prompted her to begin studying the arts of her people.

Having arisen early in the morning, Lana made her way to the archives to consult the age old wisdom of the Jedi. She had only read and saw images of the Echani Arts in action, never practicing them herself.

It wasn't hard to loose one's sense of time while in the archives, especially when so immersed in one's studies. That's why the silver-haired padawan almost exclaimed once she noticed the time: 11:47.

Realizing that she would be late for her sparring session with Sirius, Lana quickly returned the archives to their appropriate places before briskly leaving the library. Her only thoughts while speed-walking through the grandiose halls were of Sirius. About how embarrassed she would be if she was late, or what the Human might think of her if she were indeed late.

Finally, after what seemed like a century, the Echani arrived at the training rooms. She checked the wall chrono; 11:59. Feeling with the Force, Lana sensed that all of the training rooms were occupied. That could mean one of two things.

Either Sirius had forgotten, or he was already there.

Though she was a mere padawan, Lana had always been skilled with Sensing through the force. Again feeling in the Force, the Echani spent a moment analyzing each of the occupants of the rooms. She soon discovered that the one furthest down the hall was occupied by a single person. Sirius she presumed.

She was nervous. Lana had always been reasonably confident, and rarely anxious. But something about this boy made her heart beat a little faster...

She knocked on the door to the sparring room and opened the door with the push of a button. The metal conduit opened, revealing the slim form of a Human Jedi. Sirius.

"Hello."

[Ghostie]

Sirius heard the metal door open and close behind him. He hadn't been reaching out with his senses, but he already knew that it was Lana, arriving almost right after he did. Sirius spun around to greet the newcomer. The first thing immediately noticeable was Lana's silver hair. It shone brilliantly with the sunlight coming through the windows.

Why are we here again? Oh yeah... sparring. That's right.

“Hey.”

Was all Sirius could muster up. Something had happened to his stomach when he saw Lana. It felt like it had tied itself in a knot. Was this nerves? Why was he so nervous? He could slay akuls, duel dark Jedi, dismantle war droids. What was a simple sparring session compared to those things?

It was true, he wanted to impress Lana. And he liked her, liked her quite a bit. But it was different than if, for example, Vance or one of Sirius's other friends were here. Lana was special. Not to say Vance wasn't special, Vance was Sirius's closest friend.

More he thought on it, the more it confused the Padawan. A somewhat awkward silence followed. Sirius was caught, he didn't know what to do next. Just hop right into things? Seemed like the best option.

Sirius whipped his saber off his belt and dialed down one of the many knobs. Sparring may hurt, but it wasn't suppose to kill. Though, Sirius admittedly dialed his saber further down than normal. He didn't want to hurt Lana.

“So, where do you want to start?”

[Dr. Jake]

Lana noticed Sirius staring for an extra moment when she entered the room. Her first thought was, "Do I have something on my face?"

By the time she realized that her face was more or less in tact, Sirius had outwardly recovered from the initial shock or confusion, whatever it was. He asked her where she wanted to start. That was a good question.

Saber combat wasn't exactly Lana's forte, but she could make due with her Soresu. Her real gifts were those unseen. Diplomacy, telepathy, sense, her skills were definitely that of a Sentinel or Consular, far from those of a Guardian.

Saying nothing, the Echani Padawan drew her own silver cylinder, which was already set to a training setting. Igniting the cyan blade and grinning, she spoke up.

"How about here?"

Lana gave the other Padawan a moment to ignite his lightsaber before taking a Soresu stance that would have made her old master proud.

However, the girl wasn't as focused as she would have liked to have been. Every time she reached into the force, or focused on an attack pattern she would notice something about the boy.

His brown hair, his fair complexion, his eyes, it seemed almost...dreamy to the Echani girl.

[Ghostie]

Sirius knew quite a bit about saber combat. Perhaps more than anyone else his age. He didn't like to go flaunting it around, but with the masters he had, both present and past, it was hard to not know a lot about combat. So Sirius knew Soresu when he saw it. Master Kellar would often use it while sparring just so Sirius could 'Go to town' as he called it, so Kellar could examine what Sirius knew.

Kellar wouldn't let Sirius stop until he was panting.

Soresu. Defensive form. Nothing will happen until I attack.

Sirius walked to the center of the room to join Lana. He ignited his bronze blade to join the already low sound of buzzing coursing through the room. Sirius assumed his usual Djem So stance, Blade high above his head and bent back, knees bent, ready to spring. It was an unorthodox stance, but it worked.

How can I attack Lana? I don't think I could in a real situation...

Then common sense popped up in Sirius's head. Just imagine a dark Jedi. Sirius didn't think it would work, but he tried anyways. In his mind, her cyan blade slowly turned red, her features darken and her eyes changed. While nothing happened in the physical, it did help Sirius to get in the right mindset surprisingly.

He started with the simplest of things. Sirius sprung forward with an overhead two-handed blow.

[Dr. Jake]

Her friend seemed to pause for a moment once she ignited her saber, but it wasn't long until his own sprung to life. Sirius wasted no further time in charging her, taking up a strong Djem So stance.

A few seconds ago, Sirius was her friend, someone who she liked. In that moment however, he became her opponent. Lana forgot all of her feelings for just that moment, concentrating on the charging Padawan.

Her strategy would be one of resilience and defense, wearing down her opponent until his own defense was weakened. She would have to be very conservative with her blocks and parries, as Sirius was quite handy with his lightsaber.

Before the bronze blade of Sirius's lightsaber came down upon her head, it was deflected to the right by a quick blur of cyan. Then, almost as quickly as it struck, the blade returned to its defensive position.

Lana had to admit, the blow was a bit stronger than she had anticipated. She would have to work twice as hard to claim this victory.

[Ghostie]

Lana seemed to be a somewhat seasoned Soresu user. Sirius's blade was deflected to the right the soonest he made contact. He wasted no time in turning her deflection back into an attack however. Sirius brought his blade down from it's perch, diagonally slashing at Lana's thigh.

Sirius kept both hands on his saber. That was one of the more important things he saw he needed to do. With both hands on his saber, he had more control and strength behind his attacks. It allowed him to stay on the offensive easier, also crucial to saber combat. You always wanted to keep up the attack. Act, not react.

Teer Ka would be happy Sirius was taking her lessons to heart, at least.

[Dr. Jake]

In response to Sirius's diagonal attack, Lana flipped the saber, holding it upside down and angled upwards. She took the full force of the attack, blocking rather than deflecting. With the blade being the only barrier between the bronze saber and herself, she pushed upward. Struggling against the superior strength of her opponent, the Echani was able to force the other lightsaber up, causing the other padawan to strain.

Realizing the opportunity she had, Lana was able to muster a considerably powerful force push. She aimed the brunt of the force on the ground in front of her in order to propel her backward and out of the reach of Sirius's saber. It wasn't meant to harm her opponent, but may have caused the slightest bit of disorientation.

The Echani leaped back a few meters, nothing impressive, but more than enough to spare her from the inevitable saber attack. Lana urgently returned to the Soresu neutral stance, wondering if the passiveness of the form was irritating Sirius yet.

[Ghostie]

Sirius saw the value in Soresu now. He was frustrated, but this one time, it was in a good way. Sirius saw Lana's Soresu like a puzzle, or a hard piece of computer code, something to crack. Once there was one hole, one mistake, you exploited it. Then there were many more cracks.

Sirius was ready to strike again from high right before Lana used the Force to propel herself back. Sirius had thrown up his cybernetic arm to shield himself, but he felt no push or pull from the Force. Instead, he opened her eyes to find her landing a couple meters back.

Sirius brought his saber high again and back into his unorthodox Djem So stance. He had not expected to get this far in the sparring. It was time to approach combat a different way. Something to let him have the upper hand. And Sirius had just the idea.

He rushed forward with another two-handed overhead attack. But while their sabers met on high, Sirius aimed a kick at Lana's midsection with his right foot, holding nothing back.

[Dr. Jake]

Knowing that absorbing the full force of Sirius's attacks would wear her down, Lana did her best to dodge instead of block. Unfortunately for her, Sirius's attack was too fast. The Echani brought her lightsaber up just in time to block the overhead strike, barely able to hold it off. Just then, she sensed her opponents foot approaching her side, but again, she was too slow to avoid the attack.

The force of the kick knocked Lana to the ground, but thinking quickly, she rolled forward. That was made a bit awkward by her ignited blade, but somehow the Padawan managed to escape the dangerous arc of Sirius's blade yet again.

Understanding that her time was short and thinking quickly, Lana gripped a trio of foam balls arranged neatly on the other end of the room with the force and threw them towards her opponent, hoping to buy her some time.

The silvery haired girl realized for the first time she was breathing hard. Sirius was proving to be quite the duelist, far superior to her in the area. Thinking like a consular, Lana realized that she would not be able to attain a direct, outright victory given her skill and form of choice. Her only hope was to draw the encounter out until Sirius tired, or to do something decisive.

She also noted her side that had been kicked. It didn't ail her presently, but Lana knew what would come of it in the morning.

"Wow, I think I'm beginning to break a sweat!"

[Ghostie]

Sirius had achieved the desired resulted of his kick, but Lana was more agile than he gave her credit for. After she had said she was more of the diplomatic type last night, Sirius had under-estimated her skill in combat. She was now proving him wrong.

Guess diplomats need to protect themselves as well.

Lana dropped to the ground when Sirius kicked her. It hadn't been a full blow, she had attempted to dodge and he hit her side instead. He swung his bronze blade down, expecting a swift end to their spar. But just then his Echani opponent rolled to the right. Sirius's saber hit the ground, leaving a burn mark.

Sirius closed in again, but he heard something behind his back. His senses told him there were three objects headed his direction. Spinning around, Sirius saw three of the foam balls used for telekinetic exercises headed his direction.

"Wow, I think I'm beginning to break a sweat!"

Sirius would've normally laughed at such a remark. He loved a good joke, no matter the situation. But he had zoned out, completely focusing on combat. He was using his intuition, his feelings, and the Force. He wasn't thinking or paying attention to anything besides the Force and the two sabers in front of him.

Sirius slashed the one foam ball that was in the middle. Then using the momentum off the swing he spun around and ducked, swinging at Lana's legs. He used the Force to speed things up, increasing the rate at which Sirius spun around. The other two foam balls sailed harmlessly over his head. At least, harmlessly for him. He quickly lost track of the exercise equipment.

[Dr. Jake]

Grimacing when her tactic failed, Lana prepared to block Sirius's retaliation. However, in the last fraction of a second before his strike, the Echani realized the speed and power of the Human's attack. All she could do was jump, the lightsaber of her opponent grazing past the sole of her boot.

The padawan's nose twitched at the smell of burnt rubber, but she had no time to analyze the odors of the room. Realizing her opportunity, Lana made a diagonal slash aimed at Sirius's exposed right shoulder. Soresu counter strikes were few and far between, and the Echani realized this. Knowing that she would need to make this one count, Lana used the force to augment her speed and power, hoping the blow was enough to at least weaken her opponent.

[Ghostie]

Sirius had succeed in grazing Lana's foot. A graze, of all things. Not enough to end the duel, weaken her, or even hurt her if her boots were tough. This was all he could get out of with all the effort he was putting in? Now Sirius was growing frustrated.

He came up out of his spin, standing up. But halfway through standing up, Sirius felt the all too familiar burn and dig of a lightsaber in his shoulder. It was a glancing blow, but it still stung. This went along with all the sweat his body was creating from this spar, the first he noticed of it, but there was a lot of it. The blow made him stagger, but he didn't fall over.

Lana had been the first one to land a blow. This irked Sirius even more. How was his Djem So not holding up? He didn't know Soresu could be so aggressive.

Sirius wasted no time in disengaging, but rather reengaged the moment he was standing upright again. He came around with an uppercut to the right. Soonest he hit his mark though, he broke his left hand off of his saber and came around with a left punch.

[Dr. Jake]

Frowning at her indecisive blow, Lana prepared to go on the defensive. She was beginning to grow weary, and knew that she had to do something decisive soon. But the Echani was no fool either, she knew that Soresu would only prolong combat further. However, it would be suicide, or whatever the sparring equivalent was, to attempt to face Djem So with simple Shii-Cho.

The padawan was just quick enough to catch the arcing blade of her opponent's saber as it raced to her head in an uppercut. Unfortunately for her, she had no way to avoid her fellow padawan's left, her right, attack, which struck her square in the jaw. Lana recoiled in shock and pain, reflexively falling backward.

The silver-haired girl caught herself before falling, but the lapse in concentration allowed Sirius's lightsaber to overtake hers. The silver canister was freed from her hand, landing several meters away. Realizing the futility of retrieving the weapon, Lana took a step back and smiled the slightest of smiles.

"I suppose you are victorious..."

Though she outwardly expressed defeat and surrender, the Echani still had a few tricks up her sleeve.

[Ghostie]

Sirius felt the punch connect, and Lana stumble backwards after it. He did feel bad about hitting her like that, but the first thing he learned about dueling was that everything was fair. Just cause he was a Jedi didn't mean he had to fight fairly. In his mind, there was no such thing as 'Dirty Fighting'.

His saber came up and knocked Lana's own blade out of her hand. Sirius wasted no time in getting his saber up and pointed right to the middle of her chest, ready for a killing blow if it was a real duel. Something seemed off though. She gave up that easily, after fighting so hard? Sirius would've at least attempted to get his own saber back had he lost it.

"I suppose you are victorious..."

“Then you yield?”

[Dr. Jake]

"Well...No."

The Echani grinned a fraction of a second before, aided by the force, she swept her legs under Sirius, hitting his left leg and forcing it out from under him. Wasting no time, and once again augmented by the force, Lana leaped up and body slammed her opponent.

Though Sirius had a good twenty-five pounds on her, the force of the attack coupled with his imbalance were enough to topple the padawan. Lana tried her best to keep him pinned to the mat, awkwardly straddling the boy with her arm under his chine, not quite pushing on his throat.

Her icy-blue eyes met his, and they softened as she looked into his eyes. Lana knew that she liked Sirius, as in he was pleasant, but what she felt now was different. The feeling was an alien, strange sensation for her. She had never really liked anyone like that before, but she really liked Sirius.

All of a sudden feeling awkward and self conscious, she broke eye contact and got off of the boy, using the force to retrieve her lightsaber. All of a sudden, Lana felt embarrassed and wouldn't look at the Human in the eye.

"I'm...I'm sorry."

[Ghostie]

Lana's foot swept Sirius's front leg out from underneath him faster than he anticipated. In fact, he hadn't anticipated anything. He thought the duel was done, now that she didn't have a saber. Who in their right mind would take on a lightsaber wielding opponent unarmed? Sirius could've admired that she didn't give up, if he wasn't so angry.

Sirius was more than frustrated now, like he had been. Even without a lightsaber and with the duel almost to a close, Lana still didn't come down. What did he have to do, short of wearing himself out? He had always been one of the better duelist his age, and had practiced against Soresu.

Lana landed on top of Sirius in a body slam, knocking the wind out of him. She was quick, getting his jaw trapped under her elbow so he couldn't move his head. Sirius's saber had since clattered away, dropping it from his fall.

Sirius was outright pissed, and he wasn't afraid to show it. With a scowl on his face, and grinding his teeth, He was getting ready to throw Lana off by lifting her arm off his throat and using the Force to propel her back. But that was when their eyes met. Sirius's expression soften when he saw her eyes, icy-blue and bright as could be. They were strong, yet beautiful at the same time.

Sirius was stunned for a moment, unsure of what was happening. But Lana quickly climbed off of him. Propping himself up his elbows, Sirius just looked at her for a minute, and then remembered what was going on. Sparring.

Well, he didn't feel like doing that anymore. Lana apologized, probably for her deception. Sirius wasn't sure. He stood up, and summoned his saber to his hand with the Force.

“So, uh... I don't feel like sparring anymore. How about you?”

Sirius quickly changed the subject.

“You almost had me. Why give up such an opportunity?”

[Dr. Jake]

Wiping the not-so-feminine sweat from her brow Lana continued to awkwardly stare at the ceiling as Sirius recovered from the attack. The boy was angry, which would have amused her usually, but now she was just feeling confused.

Still unable to make eye contact, the Echani walked over to find her robe. Feeling warm from the sparring session, she just folded it and hung it over her arm, the white appendage acting as a coat rack. She heard him speak, and inwardly shook her head. It was quite obvious that she didn't want to spar anymore.

Nonetheless, she spoke as if nothing strange or unusual was on her mind. She finally worked up the nerve to look him in the eyes.

"No, not really. Did you have anything else in mind?"

There were few things Sirius could have said that would have embarrassed her more than his next statement. But still, it caused her to ask herself: Why did I get off?

Jedi were supposed to be compassionate, but emotionless and unshakable in combat. What the padawan demonstrated, however, was the emotional restraint of a junior high girl. She found that unacceptable.

Though she wouldn't admit it to herself, Lana knew exactly why she had stood down. She cared for Sirius far too much to ever hurt him, sparring or not.

"Um, I don't know." she lied, abusing her diplomatic prowess with a perfectly fabricated friendly, but not too friendly, look. Quickly changing the subject, she asked," So how about some fresh Coruscanti air?"

[Ghostie]

“There's nothing fresh about Coruscanti air.”

Sirius smiled at Lana, making somewhat of a joke. Coruscant was all city, nothing very fresh about it. Unlike a place like Shili, which was full of life. Sure, Coruscant was home to billions of beings, but Shili was actually alive.

Lana asked if he had anything else in mind. To tell the truth, Sirius really hadn't thought ahead. She wanted some fresh air, so that sounded like a plan. Which gave him an idea. He gathered his cloak and saber, putting the robe back on.

“There's this great courtyard with a view of the Manarai Mountains. C'mon.”

Sirius led the way out of the training room. It was a short walk and a turbolift ride to the courtyard. Still the middle of the day, the courtyard should be somewhat deserted.

The turbolift ride was horrible though. It was akward, standing there next to Lana for that long and not saying anything, not making eye contact. He was still sweating, though not from the sparring, mostly from nerves. He had to admit to himself, he liked Lana. Sirius thought she was beautiful, and she had a great personality.

However, they were part of the Jedi Order. Feeling like this about someone, having attachment, was strictly against the Code. Sirius always wondered why. Could this truly harm his chances of being a Knight?

The lift finally opened to a small courtyard with a couple of benches. But what dominated their view the most was the twin peaks of the Maranai Mountains. The last two mountains left on Coruscant, they were always visited and viewed by the populace. Restaurants on repulsors floated close to the snow covered peaks, and speeders zoomed by as close as they could get, probably tours or something else.

From the view Lana and Sirius had, they could see the whole of both mountains. He walked up to the railing and leaned against it. The midday air felt great, and the view was good.

“So, fresh Coruscanti air?”

[Dr. Jake]

All Lana could do was follow her fellow padawan after his proposition. She followed in step, entering the turbolift with him. That was when it got uncomfortable. Sirius just stood next to her, saying nothing and refusing to make eye contact.

She was, in a way, relieved. He was just as unfamiliar and uncomfortable with theses...feelings as she was. That made Lana feel a little less self-conscious. Yet, the turbolift was filled with an air of awkwardness.

The Echani was frustrated with herself. She was supposed to be ever composed, diplomatic, and professional. Now she was acting like some Corellian school girl with a crush.

To distract herself, Lana admired the Coruscanti skyline, visible through the lift window. It truly was a majestic sight, millions of people going about their daily business, each with their own unique story. They each had their own goals, memories, and loved ones.

She heard the control console beep, and realized that they had reached their destination. After what seemed like a century, the doors finally parted and the courtyard lay before them.

If the Coruscanti skyline was majestic, the Manarai Mountains were breathtaking. The two enormous mountains stood in stark contrast to the surrounding cityscape, their beauty and majesty far surpassing that of the million skyscrapers that surrounded them.

"Sirius, they're beautiful."

An urge deep inside her told her to rest her head on the Human's shoulder. She resisted, such an action would be severely frowned upon, not to mention uncomfortable.