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Soon enough all three girls came out, with Padme also dressed in a bathing suit, a slim one piece. As the boys looked at her she flushed a little, but not a lot. It wasn't the first time she'd been dressed like this around boys, after all. It was just the effects of those emerald eyes of Harry's on her.
"Let's get swimming!" Kass shouted, breaking the somewhat awkward silence and heading out the door with a will. Mak laughed and followed her, with the other three trailing behind them.
Walking beside her friends, Padme chuckled, looking between the padawans. Hearing this, Aayla nudged her with a shoulder. "What?"
"It's just, you are all so different from what everyone thinks about the Jedi Order! I wouldn't be ablt to tell if you were Jedi right now instead of regular young people," Padme explained.
"Regular, ordinary? Those words aren't in our vocabulary," Aayla said, linking her arm with Padme's. "Though admittedly, coming from the fourteen-year-old queen of the very planet we're currently on, I don't think it means the same thing as it would from most people."
"Point taken, but you are still different," Padme said, now looking at them all closely.
"We are, and that's in part because we're padawans; we're not actual Jedi yet. And we're very different from most of the Order in a way. It's hard to explain the difference between the Old Oath and New, but the Old Oath really just…allows for more emotion, I suppose, as well as for relationships at all."
Padme's paused, biting her lip once more in the way that Aayla felt looked rather cute on her. Seeing it for the first time, Harry had to agree, though he sent a comment to Aayla, "Should I be worried that you find other girls cute?"
"Only if you don't, Harry!" she replied with a mental giggle, causing him to mentally raise a finger like he was acknowledging a point. He still thought that Aayla was the prettiest, no, the most gorgeous girl in the Order, but he couldn't deny that he had noticed that Padme and Zule before her were both attractive as well.
"I did some research into the Order after the last time we talked in person," Padme said hesitantly. "I know that attachments aren't allowed. I remember the conversations on Tatooine on that score, but I want to know why the Order put such a rule in place, and if anything bad will happen to you two if your relationship becomes known throughout the Order?"
"Nothing bad will happen to us, though I'm afraid it will be many, many years before Jedi are openly allowed to have attachments other than us," Harry said with a sigh. "We have a mental connection, Padme," he said slowly. It wasn't like this was a big secret, not like his transfiguration abilities or other powers, but it still felt odd to share it. "It was forged when were very young and facing a bit of a threat at the time."
Ahead of them, Mak and Kass had paused in their walk and moved back to them as Harry began to explain, interjecting their own memories of the Bando Gora's attack on the Explorer and the construct that Harry had conjured up. The description of the massive Jedi Knight made of solid light made Padme gasp, and she looked at both of her friends fearfully as the tale wound to the part where they both collapsed from Force exhaustion.
"Something happened during that," Aayla said. "Something we've learned since was based on my empathy powers, the link I forged to Harry to help him power his construct. But it isn't something we could re-create. It's been there ever since, and yes, we did have to hide it from the Order for many years. But thanks to Master Yoda putting the framework in place, and Master Fay and Master Vos backing us up as well as Harry's rescuing me, we were able to convince the High Council to let our bond remain in place. That's why we were on Coruscant that one time, to meet with them."
"Mak and I, we have a sort of understanding," Kass said softly, taking Mak's hand. "We're not going to act on it, not until we're Jedi Knights, but it's there. If we have to, we would be willing to leave the Order, but we won't. With Aayla and Harry's example, we'll fight to have the same rights to have a relationship that they do, regardless of their bond."
While Padme suddenly worried about being a fifth repulsor, Mak nodded firmly. She looked between them all, but Aayla quickly shook her head, allaying Padme's concerns that they would make her uncomfortable or unwanted.
After that, Harry began to speak again, explaining why the Reformation had been allowed and why it had been permitted to remain in place, in his opinion. The Senate politics aspect of that Padme understood easily enough, though the internal Jedi politics took her aback, having firmly believed before this that Jedi were above such divisions.
By that point the four teens had reached the edge of the lake, and without a word Kass let go of Mak's hand and dove in. The others watched for a time then her head appeared, followed by a hand. "Come on in; the water's fine!"
Laughing, Aayla leaped in after her friend, with Padme following quickly as the boys shucked off their shirts. Padme turned after walking into the water, only to stop and stare, taking in the image for a moment. The two boys were among the most fit she had ever seen. Even some of the boys in the images she had found on the local net her parents would probably not approve of paled in comparison. Harry was slightly thinner in the shoulders and slightly taller, but his core muscles looked to be a little better than Mak's. Both boys, however, were very attractive, and Padme took a moment to memorize this image before turning away.
The boys swiftly dove into the water, racing forward together. From deeper in the water Kass laughed and joined them, leaving Aayla and Padme behind. Aayla, for her part, simply floated on the water, smiling up at the sky with Padme joining her.
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