The cantina was bustling, oddly enough. Nearly twenty Jedi and a few travelers packed the far too small room, crowding the Padawan and her Master to a side table, doing their best to dine without taking a stray elbow.
"Master, why are we here? There must be less chaotic places to eat."
"Young one, we are here for many reasons. One of which will become apparent."
Padawan Shaantil ducked down quickly, as a stray hand flies over her head. "It was this big! Oh, sorry..." exclaimed the Jedi responsible, barely audible. "So," the Padawan said, "you wish to test my reflexes."
Master Soldin's expression hardly changed. "Fortuitous timing aside, that is not the primary reason you are here. Please, recite the second line of the Jedi code."
Shaantil sighed, ducking quickly again. "Master, you hate the-" Shaantil stopped, as Soldin cleared her throat. "...you dislike the narrowness of the Jedi Code."
"I do indeed, Padawan. Now, recite the second line." Again, no change in expression, nothing at all Shaantil could use to gauge her Master's expression, not that Shaantil really bothered to try anymore.
Shaantil nodded. "There is no ignorance, there is knowledge."
"Indeed. What is the other second line?"
Shaantil lowered her voice instinctively. "Ignorance, yet knowledge."
Master Soldin's eyebrow raised slightly. "You need not whisper, Padawan. The old code is not forbidden to speak."
"Yes Master."
"Interpret the difference."
...she may as well tell me to interpret the difference between black and white... Shaantil thought. "The old code speaks to all existence, of course, and the new code speaks to the ideal Jedi. There is a great deal of ignorance and fear within the galaxy, and it is the role of the Jedi to replace as much of it with knowledge as we can."
Master Soldin stared at Shaantil for a few moments. "In your own words next time, Padawan. You were only a few choice words away from my last lesson to you."
Shaantil winced, then cursed herself for the reaction. "Yes Master."
"Now then. In truth, this part of the code I dislike the narrowness of the most," said Master Soldin, putting the exact same inflection on the words as Shaantil had, causing the Padawan to wince again. "You see, Padawan, ignorance is not only omnipresent, but necessary."
Shaantil frowned. "How can ignorance be needed? Ignorance is what leads to terrible crimes and mistakes."
Master Soldin nodded. "It does indeed. But, that is why we are here. Take your glass."
Shaantil picked up the glass and nodded.
Master Soldin, finally, let a very slight smirk out. "...be less literal next time, Padawan."
"Yes Master." Shaantil put the glass down, keeping her face as serious as she could manage.
The smirk grew a tiny, infinitesimal amount. "What do you know about it?"
Shaantil frowned, and looked at the glass. "It is a glass. Cylindrical shape, made of... glass, with a volume of approximately half a liter."
"Where did it come from?"
"...the bar, Master?"
Master Soldin's smirk did not move the slightest. "Where before that?"
"...we do not create these on Tython I believe. A merchant vessel?"
"And before that?"
"...I do no-" Shaantil began.
"How was the glass that makes up the glass created?"
"...melting sand, I beli-"
"Where did that sand come from?"
"Likely wherever the glass was ma-"
"Planets are big, Padawan."
"...then I do not know."
Master Soldin finally smiled. "And we have ignorance. You are ignorant of the glass' origin. How it got here, how it was made, and who made it."
Shaantil sighed. "...Master, with respect, it is only a glass."
Master Soldin raised an eyebrow. "Did slaves make the glass?"
Shaantil started, then ducked another emphatic gesture. "...I suppose I do not know, Master. I do not believe so, as the Jedi Order would not trade with that sort of people."
"But you do not know."
"No, Master."
"For all you know, Padawan, a slave's pain and suffering went into that glass' construction."
"It is unli-" Shaantil began before getting cut off again.
"But you cannot be certain."
"...no, Master. Would you like me to find out?"
Master Soldin shook her head, taking a sip from her own glass. "We drink from glasses like this every day. We make a great deal of our own supplies here, of course, but when we leave Tython, we encounter millions of objects every moment that we have no knowledge of. It would take a week, at least, to learn every detail of one single object."
"...perhaps, but-"
Master Soldin raised her hand to stop Shaantil. "Padawan, you are aware of the horrors that persist in the galaxy."
Padawan Shaantil hesitated. "...do you mean with the Sith, Master?"
"I mean with it all. Hutt, Imperial, Republic and non-aligned space. How many thefts, how many murders, how many things that are so much worse? It would take an army of statisticians to track even a small fragment of all those things."
Shaantil nodded. "...and we are ignorant of all of that as well."
"We are. We must be. We cannot help them all. While we are sitting in this exuberant cantina, millions of people across the galaxy are having the worst days of their lives. 'Ignorance, yet knowledge', Padawan. We are ignorant of it all, but we must at least know what we are ignorant of."
Shaantil nodded again, seeming to stare at the glass. Master Soldin watched her Padawan with carefully concealed concern, and let out a slight sigh. "...of course, it is not all so depressing."
The Padawan looked up at Master Soldin. "It is not?"
Master Soldin smiled gently, warmly at her student. "What was so big, Padawan?" Shaantil stared at her Master for a few moments, until Soldin chuckled. "Our friend here seemed quite excited about it. You are not curious?"
Shaantil hesitated, and then looked up at the large man, laughing as he spoke to a small group of Jedi. "Sir? What was so large?
The man grinned down at Shaantil. "Why, it was this massive beast, native to the snowy slopes of Hoth! Twice my size, and much uglier! You see, I was out looking for this wreck an old friend told me about..."
Master Soldin smiled gently as she ate. Shaantil giggled at the story, of course, as the explorer no doubt was embellishing and exaggerating and no doubt lying as well, which only made Master Soldin happier. She hoped that Shaantil was seeing through the lies, as she saw through so many other things, and seeing that not all lies were bad.
Shaantil needed that lesson. And her young student's joyous laugh cut through all sorts of guilt that the old Master was feeling, only her own joy remaining.
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...woo yay stream of consciousness writing while tired because you can't give up until the bloody thing is done because you're stupid yay...
