Drabble #22

[matril]

Yay! My parents are coming today! They should be getting here in about two hours. We've been teaching Emma "Grandma and Grandpa." I hope she recognizes them from the pictures - they'd be delighted if she called them by name. :)

Padawan
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"Master, I don't see the harm in it."

"Forbidden by the Code, it is," Yoda answered sternly. "Enough of a reason, that should be."

Dooku glowered, staring out the window at Coruscant's glittering skyline. Then he turned with a swiftness that made his padawan braid swing around his head. "Why do we even need a Code at all, Master?"

Yoda gave him the look he reserved only for the severest of reprimands, but Dooku was past the trusting stages of childhood when that look from Yoda had been enough to put him in line. Rather than be cowed by his Master's expression, he simply glared down sullenly.

"Really, Master. Tell me what's so all-important about this Code we follow so slavishly."

Yoda sighed. "Discipline. Self-mastery. Order. These are the things that hold the Jedi together." He fixed Dooku with a steely stare, and Yoda's padawan relented at last and knelt beside his master. "Otherwise? Laziness. Self-indulgence. Chaos. Such were the ways of the Sith. The ways of the Dark Side."

Dooku shuddered and rose, looking pensive. "I understand that, Master," he said slowly. The heat had left his tone, though he still seemed troubled. "It's the specifics of the Code I don't understand. Why such harsh restrictions? And the regulations." He looked earnestly at Yoda. "Why, the way the Code works, if a child sensitive to the Force isn't discovered practically at birth, then he'll have to go through his whole life untrained. It's not fair. It might even be dangerous."

Yoda looked up at him appraisingly. "Valid points, these are. Thought long on this, you have." He smiled kindly. "But remember this. Also thought on this, the Council has. A long time. Far longer than you have had time to think on it."

Dooku ducked his head, reddening. "I suppose so."

"Do not dispute the wisdom of the Code," Yoda told him gently. "It has been tried and tested. Watched the Order through the centuries, I have. My faith in the Code, not without reason it is."

"Yes, Master." Dooku ventured an apologetic smile. "It's hard to think how long the Order has been around."

"Very young you are still," Yoda said indulgently. "Knowledge you have already. But when you are older, wisdom will come." He could imagine Dooku as an old man, steeped in wisdom and experience. Perhaps even a member of the Council. But for now, he was simply glad to have him as his Padawan.
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Comments

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

Alas, it doesn't go quite that way.

Very interesting drabble.

[matril.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I find myself much intrigued by the chain of Masters/Padawans - Yoda to Dooku to Qui-Gon to Obi-Wan to Anakin. Something Yoda said to Dooku as a child could have a rippling impact all the way down to Anakin. Who knows?

[sonetka.livejournal.com]

Yes - one of those tiny links in the chain that Fate is forging. BTW, is it officially canon that Dooku was Yoda's padawan? If it is, I can't help wondering why Yoda always seems to get such rebellious apprentices :) - OK, so Qui-Gon didn't become a Sith apprentice or anything but he certainly, uh, bends the rules more than a little.

Speaking of which, I thought you might be amused: the other day, I was passing by Smith's near Trolley Square at dusk, and noticed that on one of the lighted signs, the M had burned out. Yes, it was "Sith's Marketplace". I couldn't help wondering if they offered robes and light sabers at a discount :).

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

Just in case you need a double-bladed lightsaber for Christmas!

And during their duel in AOTC, Yoda refers to Dooku as "my padawan."

[sonetka.livejournal.com]

Ooh! Could it be red on one side and green on the other?

[matril.livejournal.com]

Hee! Funny how a single letter can change the entire meaning.

Oh, and Dooku also mentions that Qui-Gon was his apprentice, when he's trying to tempt Obi-Wan to join him.

[sonetka.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the reminder - I'd totally forgotten all the apprenticeship talk. (Christopher Lee has such a wonderful voice that I tend to just let it wash over me and not get all nitpicky about what he's actually saying :))

[matril.livejournal.com]

Heh, and I've forgotten that not everyone has watched the prequels fifty times, to the point of memorizing every line. :D

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

There seems to be a maverick streak that runs all of the way down to Luke, despite Yoda's best efforts ;). Obi-Wan turned out to be the one Jedi who stuck to the book the most often but even he had his unorthodox moments.

[matril.livejournal.com]

Ah, but it was that maverick streak that allowed Luke to save his father, where the straitlaced Jedi would have had him just kill Vader.

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

That's true. Anakin had been Darth Vader for only a few hours and Yoda's like, "Kill the sonofamidichlorian!"