Soara parked the speeder and slid out. Anakin jumped out after her and looked around. The work had stopped for the day. The buildings threw deep jagged shadows over the walkways. There had once been an attempt to keep the walkways clean of debris, but the sweeping had been half completed and footing was treacherous. He waited to see what Soara would do.
Soara did nothing. She picked her way over to a building and looked up at the frame being erected. "Housing," she said. "Coruscant always needs more housing. Amazing that people keep immigrating here. Do you know that building is the biggest industry on Coruscant?"
Was he here for an economics lesson? "I didn't know."
He tilted his head back to follow her gaze, following the durasteel frame of the building. Suddenly a shadow off to his left moved, and a figure leaped through the air toward him. Anakin saw a blaze of orange. A lightsaber!
He just had time to jump back and fumble for his training lightsaber as he felt the sting of the blow against his forearm.
"Got ya," Tru Veld said, grinning. His friend had come at him from the high steel doorway behind him. He bounced back on his flexible legs and saluted Anakin with a lightsaber flourish. He, too, was using a training lightsaber — able to defend, but not to harm.
Confused, Anakin glanced at Soara, his lightsaber in his hand.
"Do you expect your attacker to announce himself?" she asked.
Tru came toward him again. Anakin somersaulted backward and then twisted to come at Tru from the left. He sliced the hem of Tru's tunic.
"Missed me," Tru said, dancing backward. His silver eyes gleamed. He was having fun.
Anakin reversed. His lightsaber hit Tru's. Smoke rose, and Anakin almost stumbled when Tru ducked and rushed at him, surprising him.
Tru might be having fun, but he was serious.
Anakin had barely missed being stung by Tru's blow. He emptied his mind of his surprise at Tru's appearance. He had to concentrate in order to gather in what he thought of as his battle mind. His attention expanded to include everything around him. And yet his focus was now entirely on Tru.
Everything he knew about Tru clicked in and became information he could use.
Tru was a Teevan, and thus his limbs were more flexible than Anakin's.
Tru never played a game he wasn't certain he would win.
Tru's left hand was stronger than his right.
Tru liked to choose the rhythm of the battle.
Anakin moved to confuse and unsettle his friend. He fought aggressively, then stepped back to lure Tru forward. He landed a blow on Tru's arm.
Normally, a Jedi Master would announce points when blows were struck.
The winning blow would be to the neck. Soara did not. He knew she was watching, but he tried not to think about it. Still, he felt her circling, watching them from every angle.
Anakin used the ground. While he moved, he noticed everything — the cables, the blocks of stone, the tiniest pebble on the ground, the hydrospanner abandoned on the top of a block of duracrete. Someone's lunch bucket left on a grassy area by the walkway. He drove Tru steadily backward. Tru suddenly leaped high above and grabbed a pole with only his legs. On his backward swing, he struck out at Anakin.
It was a surprising move, and Anakin hadn't expected it. His eyes gleamed as he leaped to avoid Tru. Tru swung around the pole twice while Anakin dodged, wedged between a half-built wall and a deep pit. He slashed at Tru, who suddenly leaped off the pole and landed behind Anakin.
Perfect. Anakin whirled and drove Tru back onto the grass. Tru's foot hit the lunch bucket and he stumbled. His lightsaber was in his left hand from his twirl around the pole, and Anakin saw it wobble.
It was time for Anakin to move in with the killing blow, the sting of the training lightsaber. All he had to do was step forward and lightly touch Tru's neck.
But he hated to win the battle based on a moment of awkwardness on Tru's part, even if he himself had engineered it. He would embarrass his friend in front of Soara Antana. Instead, he hesitated a fraction of a second, long enough for Tru to regain some sense of balance. Then they fought on.
The moon was rising and they were both drenched in sweat when Soara called a halt. "Let's call it a draw." Anakin slipped the lightsaber into his belt, satisfied. He knew he had fought well. Tru brought out the best in him.
"You can go, Tru," Soara said. "Thank you."
Tru grinned at Anakin. "Good fight. See you back at the Temple."
Soara did not move. Anakin stood, breathing heavily, waiting for her critique. He knew a few places where he could have fought better. She would not say anything that would surprise him.
"I called it a draw, but you lost," Soara said. "And you lost in the worst sort of way."
Anakin looked at her with new attention, surprised. "What?"
"If you want to become great, you must fight without emotion," Soara said. "You obviously have not learned this. You must fight without anger, without fear, without rage. Without ego."
"Without ego? But — "
"No buts. Listen. On Haariden, you made the same mistake. Because you know Darra, you rushed in to protect her. Today you protected Tru. You think you are doing this as a mark of friendship. But you're really doing it to boost your own ego."
"My own ego?" Anakin was astonished.
Soara crossed her arms. "You know, Anakin, things will go a lot faster if you don't repeat everything I say. Yes, your own ego. You think you're a better fighter than your friends. You think you're faster. You think you need to go easy on them. Let me tell you something. You're not better. As a matter of fact, you're a good deal worse."
The words stung. Anakin felt his face grow hot. The evening wind was cool and drying his sweat.
Soara whirled and kicked backward at his hand. He did not even feel the blow, but his lightsaber was suddenly shooting out of his hand and clattering to the stone pavement.
"And another thing," she said. "Never let down your guard."
Anakin picked up the hilt of the lightsaber and stuck it in his belt.
He vowed to himself that Soara Antana would not take him by surprise again.
He would use what she gave him. He would absorb her hard words and her lessons. By the end of this tutorial, he would change her opinion about him. He would be the best Padawan she'd ever taught.
He slipped into the med clinic. The light tubes were powered down to a soft glow. He walked as quietly as he could to the side of Darra's med couch. She looked small and helpless, still hooked up to monitoring machines. Her eyes were closed.
Her mouth curved into a smile. "Hello, Anakin," she said without opening her eyes.
"I came to say good night. Are you feeling better?" "Yes. Much." She opened her eyes and glanced at him. "Better than you look, anyway. What have you been doing?"
"A private tutorial with your Master."