AN and Disclaimer: I don't own them….I'm just borrowing them for a bit. Well Audrey is mine. Anyways I hope that ya'll enjoy this chapter. I go so wrapped up in writing stuff that is going to happen wayyyyy into the story, that I ignored this chapter for a bit. Sorry! But Winter Break is almost here and that means more writing time and less lesson planning! WOOO HOO!

Feedback is always a plus. It makes me smile.

Chapter 10: First Strike

Anakin felt cold.

He hadn't felt this cold in a long time.

At least not since his sister had been taken in the night from him and his mother.

Yet his sister was sitting just across the room from him during some of their lessons. Ever since the disastrous mission to Korriban a few weeks ago – he had felt this cold. And it was during that mission that he and his fellow Padawans had suffered some major blows.

Darra Thel-Tanias had been killed.

Ferus Olin had left the Jedi Order.

Tru Veld, who had been his only true friend outside of Audrey, was now refusing to talk to him.

Then there was the entire situation with Audrey.

Here the Skywalker were fast approaching their 7th year as Padawans and still they argued all the time like they were 10 years old as Obi-Wan would say to him. And usually it was Anakin's fault, as his master would also point out. There was no doubt that this time it was Anakin's fault. He had been the one who had first worked on Tru Veld's lightsaber to begin with. From that point on everything had just gone down hill.

Olin had blamed himself for Darra's death at the hands of Granta Omega, but Anakin knew who Audrey blamed. She blamed him.

That was why Anakin felt cold.

Audrey had once again cut him off from being able to feel her presence in the Force.

Once Master Saesee Tiin had dismissed his class for the day, Audrey quickly gathered her things and left the lecture room and made her way into the corridor, trying to avoid her brother at all costs. Anakin tried to push his way into the hallway to follow her, yet by the time he got out there, she was gone.

"Try the Room of a Thousand Fountains." Master Tiin said, as he left the lecture room. "That has been where she has been going most afternoons if she is not in meditation with Master Windu or Master Yoda."

"Thank you Master," Anakin said bowing before running off in search of his sister.

Anakin knew exactly where Audrey would be in the Room of a Thousand Fountains. Back in a corner there was a small patch of a grass where some wildflowers grew. These wildflowers were similar to ones that Audrey had made necklaces for their mother when she was younger. It had always been a place that Audrey could go and find inner peace. She had told Anakin that a while back. He just hoped that he would find her there.

In typical Audrey fashion – a creature of habit, as Master Windu would call her – she was in her spot. She was sitting in a meditative position, so he slowly moved behind her. At least he thought that she had been mediating

"What do you want?" she sneered as he approached her. She had stood up and turned on him, obviously when she had felt him through the Force.

"I just want to talk. That's all," he said stopping a few feet away from her.

"I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to be near you. Frankly, if you wanted to jump off one of the Temple towers right now, I wouldn't miss you," she said as she continued to glare at her twin brother.

'Kriff. She's still pissed,' he thought to himself.

"But…" he tried to say.

"BUT NOTHING!" she yelled amplifying her voice though the Force. She took a deep breath to calm herself a bit before laying into him again. "Because of your pride, I lost my best friend! You may think that because you are the supposed "Chosen One" that you have some right to do things that others can't do. I've watched you Anakin, since the first day you got to the Temple. I know that you struggled to fit in, but you did. Yet, whenever someone is better than you at anything, you take offense to it."

"I do not."

"Then why didn't you speak up when Ferus thought that he was the only one to work on Tru's lightsaber?"

Anakin didn't say a word. He knew that she was right. "Then what am I supposed to do? Go admit what happened and get sent to the agricultural corps?"

"Try accepting some humility for one. Then understand that you aren't always going to be the best in everything."

"I find that pretty hard to believe."

Audrey raised an eyebrow at him. "Well then, let's just go find out. How about we spar?"

"Bring it on."

Anakin stumbled backwards in an attempt to block a blow from Audrey, but found that she was too fast and more limber than he was. He had no idea that she was this good at sparring. Who had instructed her? Master Windu? Master Cin Drallig? Master Fisto?

Whoever had taught her, Audrey had managed to learn and understand that basic tenets of all of the Jedi fighting styles enough that she easily mixed up her stances and moves. He knew all seven of the fight styles as well, but not as well as Audrey did. And she was even only using her main lightsaber today and not her shoto blade as well. She didn't want to make it too uneven she had said before they had begun.

He quickly regained his footing, but found that her quickly lost it again when Audrey sent a Force push at him and he went flying into the wall of the sparring arena. Before he could stand up, he felt the plasma from Audrey's lightsaber pointed at his head.

"I concede," he said, reaching for his powered down lightsaber that had gone flying out of his hand when Audrey had hit him with the Force push.

Audrey pulled her blade away from his face and powered it down as Master Drallig entered the sparring arena. "Well done you two! You both need to work on some form work, but well done in deed!" the Jedi sword master said.

"Thank you Master," Audrey said with a smile, bowing a bit before turning to leave. She didn't say a single word to Anakin.

Slow to get up, Anakin thanked Master Drallig as well and left. He had to admit that his ribs did hurt a bit from where Audrey had slammed him against the wall with that Force push.

He found Audrey waiting for him in the hallway. "Well?" she asked.

"So you beat me," he said shrugging it off. "That doesn't prove anything."

"Humility, Anakin. That is what you need. Find that then maybe you can except that you were beat by a girl," she said turning and walking away from him.

"Hmmm, troublesome this is." Yoda said as he and Audrey sat in mediation later that afternoon. This was something that they had done weekly since she had become a Padawan and her brother had joined the Jedi order as well.

"What is?" Audrey asked.

"Future path becoming clear."

"Mine?"

The Jedi Master nodded. "Interesting this is. Special you will be. New training for you will soon start."

Audrey wondered what Master Yoda meant. She was just about to ask if she could tell Anakin, but she was beat to the punch.

"tell no one," he said. "Inform Master Windu, I will."

"Yes, Master," she said nodding her head.

"Now tell me why you have cut off your brother from your presence?"

She sighed. "I'm tired of hearing that he is the best a everything. I tried to show him humility today through sparring practice but I don't think that it got through."

"Surprised you will be."

'Stupid Audrey. This is her fault!' Anakin thought to himself as he tried to sleep later that night. His ribs were still killing him from his sparring session that afternoon. The hit he had taken from his sister hurt worse as the day continued. Now, several hours later, he couldn't breathe right – let alone sleep.

there was a knock on his bedroom door before Obi-Wan entered. "I know that something is bugging you. What is it?" he asked.

"I can't sleep," Anakin said in a quick breath before taking a huge one."

"Nor can you breathe. Come on, better get you to the Halls of Healing and checked out."

Anakin sighed as he struggled to stand up and change from his sleeping clothes to his robes. This was the last thing he needed – to be admitted to the Halls of Healing because of a sparring session!

"Just a few cracked ribs, that's all," the Jedi healer Orewen Trigual said asked as he poked and prodded Anakin's ribs. "How did you sustain these? On a mission?"

"Sparring my sister," Anakin mumbled.

The Jedi Healer smiled. "Comes with the territory of sibling rivalry. Not the first time I've seen it in Padawans. Nor will it be the last."

Obi-Wan stood off to the side while Anakin was getting checked out. "So what does he need to do to recover?"

"A few days bed rest. It might hurt for a bit, but keep your ribs wrapped to allow them to heal."

Mentally, Anakin groaned as Obi-Wan threw him a look that meant, 'Watch you thoughts young one!'. He sighed again. This wasn't what he had wanted when this day had started. All he wanted was his sister not to be mad at him. it was going to be a long couple of days.

A few days later, Anakin was allowed to rejoin his fellow Padawans back in class. But instead of 'Welcome Back!' or 'Where have you been this time?', his classmates all gave him odd looks or there were the occasional snickers behind his back. He managed to catch a bit of the conversations going on around him.

'Did he really end up in the Halls of Healing because of a fight with his sister?'

'I heard she broke bones.'

'Whatever it was, she must have done a number on him since he was out for a few days,'

He slumped down in a chair in class and sighed. He should have known that secrets don't stay secrets in the Jedi Temple for very long – especially around Padawans.

"So is it true that Audrey broke all your ribs?" Tru asked, sitting down next Anakin.

"No, she just cracked a few. But it hurt like hell."

"Sounds like it."

That was when class began. Anakin looked up a few times from taking notes and noticed that his sister was watching him intently – almost as if she was trying to figure out something. Whatever it was, Anakin would have to find out later, because as soon as class was over – Audrey was gone.

The rest of the day, Anakin kept getting odd looks from the Padawans around his age along with hearing whispers behind his back. He wanted to confront whoever was telling the lies about what happened between him and Audrey. Frankly it was none of their concern what had taken place or even what they were fighting about. This was a sibling thing – something that he would work out with her.

Hopefully.

During his last class of the day, Galactic History, he was so fed up with all the rumors that he was about to lash out at the first person who said or thought anything about them. But before he could say anything, he felt a calming warmth take over him.

He knew this warmth. Audrey had opened back up their Force connection.

'Don't lash out. Be humble and accept what happened. They'll forget about it in a few days.'

Anakin smiled to himself as he heard Audrey's voice in his head. A few seconds later, she sat down next to him. "Thanks sis," he said.

She smiled at him as she took out her data pad for class. "Just remember who won at sparring," she said.