Jedi Temple, Coruscant, 39 BBY
The Jedi Temple had many meditation rooms of various sizes spread throughout, available for anyone looking for a place to meditate or have a private conversation. Komari and I had commandeered one of the smaller ones for our practice sessions.
We spent most of the time meditating, trying to focus our minds and let any emotions flow through us into the Force without lingering.
Komari was improving by leaps and bounds after I started to push peaceful feelings into her and nudge her thoughts back on track whenever I felt her mind beginning to drift. I was starting to think she might have some sort of attention deficit disorder.
For my part, I had a breakthrough when Komari suggested I try looking deeper into her mind instead of trying to shut her out. Her idea was that it would be easier to master one part of my ability if I had a better understanding of all parts. It worked, and now I didn’t sense more than surface feelings unless I was actively trying to see more.
I don’t think she realized the massive amount of trust she showed me with that suggestion, but after that, I noticed we had started to develop a Force bond.
Komari wasn’t available every day since she had Padawan duties that sometimes took her away from the Temple with her Master. Once Dooku heard what we were doing though, I noticed their absences became fewer and shorter. He even joined us a few times.
This was both a boon and a detriment.
On the one hand, his insights and experience with the force helped me greatly. Despite his potential capacity to fall and betray the Order, he was one of the greatest Masters of this age. If I managed to prevent his fall, I hoped he would get a seat on the High Council. His disillusionment with the current state of both the Republic and the Order could become a remedy to help mend some of the many problems plaguing both.
On the other hand, his presence was a constant distraction to Komari. She hid it well, but with my hypersensitivity, I could easily sense how her focus wobbled whenever he was around. One day when it was just the two of us, I broached the subject.
“Komari,” I started hesitantly and she looked up at me curiously. “You know this infatuation is only holding you back, right?”
I sensed a brief flash of anger, but she quickly deflated and answered me. “Yeah,” She sighed. “I know. It’s just been growing in me since he became my Master, you know? And it wasn’t until we started practicing together that I started to see how foolish it was.”
She fiddled with the hem of her robe, her gaze fixed on it as if to avoid mine as she made a self-deprecating scoff before she continued. “I was so focused on getting praised by him and becoming a Knight he would be proud of I didn’t see how I’m missing half of what it takes to be a Jedi.” She scoffed again. “Komari Vosa, the great Jedi Knight that needs a child barely four cycles old to teach her the basics of being a Jedi.” Her words were dripping with sarcasm.
Insecurities I had been sensing in her for a while were climbing to the surface as her depression was now deepening. As she was starting to despair I instinctively flapped my wings and flew forward to wrap my arms around her in an embrace. She was briefly surprised as I started pouring reassuring and loving feelings through our nascent Force bond. I had first approached her with the hope of changing the fates of her and Dooku, but over the last year, I had grown to love her like a sister.
“You are a great Jedi! You are the first to treat me like a person, a Jedi, rather than just a child with strange ideas. You realized your flaws, and are working to rectify them. You realized how we could help each other and made the offer without hesitating. Compassion, insight, wisdom, and humility. Those are the most important traits for a Jedi, and you have them all in spades! I am proud of you, Master Dooku is proud of you, and you should be proud of yourself too!”
She could sense the sincerity of my words through our bond, and after a few seconds of shocked surprise, she wrapped her arms around me and returned my embrace. I could feel the hollow of my neck become a little wet as she cried silently into my shoulder.
I didn’t know how long we just sat there embracing each other, but eventually, her emotions calmed down and she spoke softly. “Thank you, Anika. I needed that.” From what I could sense, it was almost as if she had become a new person. As if our embrace was the cocoon needed for the caterpillar to undergo metamorphosis and emerge as a butterfly.
There was still a twinge of uncertainty, but her mind was more focused and relaxed than I had ever felt it. She had a humble confidence so different from the false arrogance she had projected when we first met that if I didn’t know any better, I might be convinced this wasn’t Komari Vosa at all.
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She drew back and wiped her eyes as she looked at me with a kind smile. “How are you so wise even though you are so young? Even Master Yoda would be impressed.”
“We are about the same size, maybe that’s the key,” I replied with a playful smile.
She laughed at that as she stood up, still holding me in her arms.
“Indeed. I think this is enough for today though. I must speak with Master Dooku. Come now, sister. Let’s get you back to the crèche.”
I just smiled and let her carry me, enjoying the feeling of closeness.
It should have been embarrassing considering I had the mind of an adult, but in this new life, I was still a child after all. Maybe my body affected me more than I thought.
----------------------------------------
The next day, Komari didn’t show up. Instead, Dooku came to see me.
I was both surprised and curious when he invited me to tea in his chambers but accepted happily.
As we walked in silence, Dooku was being his usual stoic and unreadable self, but I could vaguely sense a combination of pride and confusion in him.
A year ago I would have clearly sensed his feelings and even his surface thoughts, but after all my practice that was no longer the case. I still could if I opened my mind and allowed it, but one of the reasons I practiced so hard to reach this point was because it was incredibly intrusive to read someone's mind, so I didn’t. Even sensing the slightest hints of the feelings of a Jedi Master was nothing to scoff at though.
He led me to what I assumed was his chambers and invited me in.
His room was as spartan as one could assume from a Jedi Master. There were a couple of seats for meditation, a wardrobe, a table and chairs in the corner, and a boiler for brewing tea, but little else. I could see a door which I assumed led to Komari’s room, but it was closed.
“Please, sit.” He gestured towards one of the meditation seats as he went to brew some tea.
I did, and he soon sat down on the other one after handing me a cup of tea which I sipped appreciatively. Despite all their power, knowledge, wisdom, and insight, the Jedi’s most refined ability was tea-brewing.
We sipped at our tea silently for a few moments before Dooku finally spoke. “Komari asked me to inform you that she won’t be available for a few days as she completes her Jedi Trials.”
I sat in shocked silence for a few seconds before an honest grin spread across my face.
“That’s great! You must be proud of her.”
I sensed a flash of said pride from him as he replied. “Indeed. I had been worried about her for a while but in the last year she has improved immensely. Last night, she approached me and we had a conversation that convinced me she was ready for the Trials. I suspect I have you to thank for that.” He had a glint in his eyes as he looked at me.
“She had some things holding her back,” I said. “She had a breakthrough last night. I might have given her a push, but she worked through it on her own.”
He looked at me with a warm smile, but before he could say anything further, his communicator beeped.
His face turned into a slight frown as he looked at it.
“My apologies.” He said as he typed something into it. “An acquaintance of mine has failed to rapport in and I have been searching for clues as to his whereabouts.”
Something about that made the back of my head tingle.
I blinked and suddenly, I didn’t see the wizened old Master before me anymore. Instead, I saw a pale young woman with a shaved head, tears flowing from her eyes as she was supporting the head of a middle-aged man clad in Jedi robes lying on the ground.
I blinked again and the vision was gone, but I knew what I had just seen; Ky Narec and his Padawan, Asajj Ventress.
“Rattatak,” I said.
Dooku looked up from his communicator. “Excuse me?” There was some curiosity in his voice, but no judgment.
“Knight Narec is on Rattatak.” I said and Dooku’s eyes widened. He hadn’t mentioned his acquaintance’s name after all. “His ship crashed and his beacon isn’t working so he is stranded.”
Dooku studied me for a long moment with intense eyes before he spoke.
“You had a Vision.” He said. “I wasn’t aware you had a strong enough connection to Ky that the Force would let you see his whereabouts.
I shook my head. “I have never met him, but I have a really strong connection to the Force, and I seem to have a particular gift for sensing things. Maybe you mentioning him gave me enough of a connection, I don’t know. But I know he is on Rattatak.”
Dooku seemed a little doubtful, but the certainty I had in my words when speaking seemed to convince him. Enough to make him confirm them at least.
“I will have to investigate this then.” He said and stood up. I followed his lead. “I’m sorry to cut this meeting short, but if Knight Narec truly is stranded on an unknown world then this is a matter requiring some haste.”
“While I don’t think he is in any immediate danger, Rattatak is a savage world, and he is not alone,” I said with a frown as we walked towards the door. “It’s no place for a child, so the sooner you find them the better.”
His eyes narrowed even further as we exited and the door closed behind us. “If anything comes from this, I will keep you informed. Can you make your way back to the crèche on your own?”
I nodded. “Yes, Master Dooku, I will. May the Force be with you.”
We bowed to each other before he began a brisk walk down the corridor.
As I turned to walk in the opposite direction, towards the crèche, my head was spinning. Perhaps I could manage to change two more destinies before my fourth Life Day!