Heart of the Jedi by Ardavenport (G)

[seremela2.livejournal.com]

The end of the month, so here is my last rec - and for that I want to take you all to the Jedi Temple itself, to catch a glimpse of the life the Jedi live, of some of their training methods and above all: the importance of their lightsabers.

Fandom: STAR WARS
Characters: Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, other Jedi; gen
Length: this story has 18 chapters, but they are all very short; so not too long
Author: Ardavenport
on LJ: no, as far as I know
Author Website: her stories are on The Force.net and Fanfiction.Net
WARNINGS: none

Why this must be read: To me this story depicts the life of a Jedi truer than any other story I've read in this fandom. There are a lot of wonderful stories out there, but most are about missions, misunderstandings, etc. while this story gives us a peek into what it means to be a Jedi day to day, what their training tries to accomplish and what it is that makes a lightsaber. And how masters keep training those that need it, because it's a matter of survival, but also because there is something deeper, more meaningful to it.

Utterly riveting.

 

Excerpt:

Qui-Gon watched Obi-Wan initialize the design for the new saber, his advice for where to begin unspoken. The sharing of the first lightsaber was. . . .

. . . .already lost for him and Obi-Wan.

Qui-Gon recalled his previous two Padawans attentively listening to his instructions about the design. Xanatos, his apprentice before Obi-Wan, had been especially eager. Qui-Gon forced himself not to shrink from the memory. Though Xanatos had fallen to evil and was dead now by his own actions, after trying to kill both him and Obi-Wan, the building that first lightsaber was still a good memory. Qui-Gon had ceased to allow Xanatos to hurt him; he would not banish any reminders of the promising young Jedi that he had once been.

The screen images had not changed, the ready signal on the glowing initialization blinked yellow. Qui-Gon turned his head.

His blue-gray eyes all questions, Obi-Wan sat looking up at him, waiting for him to speak.

A gentle smile on his lips, Qui-Gon turned back to the new design.

"Do you wish to rebuild the original one, as it was?" he asked.

Obi-Wan stopped to think a moment. "I don't know. I. . . . was wondering what you thought of it."

"Hmmm." Qui-Gon looked over the design; it was plain and functional, reliable and sturdy. The creche Masters did not seem to encourage creativity in lightsaber design. Qui-Gon supposed that this was sensible instruction for Initiates who may not be chosen to be Jedi, or if they were, might have Masters who had their own opinions about their Padawans' lightsabers.

Qui-Gon had absolutely no opinion, good or bad, about the design on the screen before him, except that he would never build one like it. And he hoped Obi-Wan would create one with more. . . . personality.

"It is. . . . practical," he stated with a shrug. "But the choice of lightsaber must be determined by you." He nodded toward Obi-Wan. "A lightsaber is not just a tool of a Jedi's power. You feel the Force through the blade; it is part of you. And the Force and the lightsaber choose the Jedi as much as the Jedi chooses them." Qui-Gon laid his fingers on the bottom of the display.

"Do you feel as if this lightsaber chose you?"

Obi-Wan's eyes looked toward the glowing screen, yellow lines on black diagramed the interior next to the display of the saber's exterior.

"No," he finally answered.


The Heart of the Jedi


And this concludes me driving the van this month. It has been fun to share some of my favorite stories with you all; I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I do. And by doing this I realized once again how many great stories have been written in this fandom. (Now if only some of those wonderful WIPs were finished!!!! I would love to rec them or see them recced here!)