“Hi Master Lasah!” you say as she walks through the door.

“Good afternoon, Xena. What do you have there?”

She looks at you, tilting her head in curiosity. Master Corr has left the room, allowing you to safely keep your eye open. Therefore, you finally have the chance to actually get a good look at Master Lasah.

Master Lasah is on the shorter end of the spectrum, but still towers over you simply due to your age difference. She wears the standard set of Jedi robes and inner tunic, but also dons a small mask to cover her own eyeless sockets. You suppose that if you were to hide your tail and horns, you could possibly pretend to be a Miraluka as well, so long as you had a mask to hide all three of your eyes.

The downside of Force Sight, however, is that it seems Master Lasah cannot see your new, beautiful sticker. After much deliberation, you decided to draw a cute little skull — one with three gaping eye sockets. You also modeled it a bit after the skulls you saw on the pillars. One of the eye sockets is empty and open. Another holds a glowing red cybernetic orb. The third and final one is full of twinkling stars.

Admittedly, your drawing isn’t very good — all scratchy and messy. It’s not like you’ve done much art in the past, and your arms are still recovering. You tried your best, though!

Your explanations to Master Lasah results in the slow nod of a wise woman. Either that, or she’s just confused. Maybe she’s unfamiliar with modern art? Do Miraluka even make art if they can’t see? You’ll ask later.

“Are you ready for your lesson?”

“Yeah!”

“Then let us begin.”

Master Lasah sits down next to the bed on one of Master Corr’s rolling chairs. She leans forward and places her hand on her shoulder, then starts to cycle the Force through and around her.

“Can you feel that, Xena? Close your eyes, and tell me what you see.”

“It’s… Well, I can’t see it. Not anymore. But, I can feel it. The Force moves when you call it.”

“Yes, very good. Your connection with the Force is clear. Many Younglings still struggle to merely sense the Force, let alone manipulate it. Their emotions, young and in flux, cloud their feelings to the truth — that the Force is all around, and all within. There is no need to force it… No pun intended.”

“Master, aren’t emotions the same as feelings?”

“Hmm. Yes, and no. Let me back up a bit before I answer that question. The Force is ephemeral. Everybody’s perception of the Force is different in minute ways. What does the Force feel like to you?”

“A blanket. A heavy sheet, wrapped around me, yet not. I can sense the Force around me through the push and pull on the ‘fabric.’ But, manipulating it can be difficult; just like trying to grab an object on the other side of a blanket. I used to be unable to sense the Force within me too, but then I figured out that it’s because all the warp-stuff inside me kind of just… smothers it. Now, I can use my warp-eye to see it all clearly, and it’s getting easier to distinguish the Force from the layers of warp with my Force-sense.”

“You can see the Force?”

“Yeah, but only with my warp-eye open.”

“But you have seen it. You know what you are looking for. This will hopefully make it much easier. It is your job now to fundamentally change the way you sense the Force. You must shift your perception to align more with how you see it with your eye, but also retain the capability to sense it all around.”

“That still sounds hard.”

“Indeed. And that is why I am here to help you. Now, let me return to your question regarding feelings and emotions. Oftentimes, it is true that the two terms can be interchangeable, but for our purposes as Jedi, we shall divorce the two definitions. I suppose an example is the best method for explaining this.

“When we say, ‘trust your feelings,’ what does that tell you? It does not always mean trust your emotions. No. It often refers to that ‘gut feeling’ that you may have — your instinct. The knack, as they call it in some professions. In this case, your feelings are simply your sense for what is correct. This is what I mean. Allowing the Force to guide us means to allow it to guide our feelings. This base method is the simplest means for us to open ourselves to its influence and guidance. However, emotions, if unchecked, can override our feelings. If we give in to our emotions, we fail. We do not allow the Force to guide us on our path. Instead, we find ourselves lost, or even worse, hijacking the Force for our own means.”

“But, don’t we already use the Force?”

“Yes, but not in that way. We ask it. We request of it. We make our desire known to the Force and it obliges. Those who follow the Dark Side instead grab it by the horns and steer it, or even drag it where they wish it to go.”

“So, the key to it all is just to be polite?”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Master Lasah gives a small chuckle at that.

“Yes, that is correct! But even so, sometimes the Force simply does not listen. Sometimes, it does not oblige. Sometimes, it closes its proverbial ears and turns away. It is at those moments when you will question your trust in it.”

“I’ve had that happen.”

“Yes, it happens to everyone, but rest assured for it still remains and will return to you when you truly need it. The Force is always there — well, except when it is not. I would rather not speak of that matter at this moment. Let us return to the main topic. You can trust in the Force. You should trust in it whenever possible, but when you find trouble, you can also trust in your training. As a Jedi, you are given many tools. Use them when you are in need. The Force knows when you already have enough help.”

She shifts in her seat and stops cycling the Force. You open your eye and watch as she elegantly folds her hands into her lap.

“Master Lasah, how did you learn Force Sight?”

“How did you learn to read? You practice. You learn to make sense of shapes and associate them with sounds and meaning. For Miraluka, it is our main sensory method and is almost like instinct. For you, though, like I have said, this will be a long process. Now close that eye again. Look. Listen.”

≡][≡ ⬦⬦⬦ ≡][≡

“Where’s everyone else?” you ask Tera.

You feel her shift around at the foot of the bed, the scratch of her pen pausing for a moment. For some reason, only she showed up today to visit you.

“Master Lasah is giving a talk today! Something about her experiences with CorSec and various police forces.”

“So why aren’t you there?”

“Well, it would be sad if I’d just left you alone, right?”

“Thanks, Tera.”

“Mm.”

The pen starts moving again.

…

“Hey, Xena. What do you think about Master Lasah?”

“Hmm?”

“You’ve talked to her the most.”

“I’ve talked with her twice.”

“That’s two times more than me.”

“...I guess she’s a bit weird.”

“You’re a bit weird. I’m a bit weird.”

“Ugh. Fine. She kinda talks weird. She — what’s the word? — enunciates. She enunciates every word. I don’t think I’ve even heard her use a single contraction.”

“Don’t make fun of the way people talk, Xena.”

“I’m not! That’s just an observation.”

“But you called her weird.”

“Fine. I’m sorry.”

You sit in silence for another minute, trying to put to words your actual thoughts on Master Lasah. She truly is a bit strange, but Tera’s also right — you’re just as weird as her. Maybe even more so! So, what is it that seems so off about her?

Ah, right. The way she acts versus the way she feels.

“Tera, you know all that stuff about emotions? Everything about serenity and whatnot? I think Master Lasah takes it to the extreme.”

“How so?”

“Everybody’s got desires, right? And everybody’s got emotions. We’re supposed to be able to distinguish the light from the dark and not let the Dark Side take us. Sometimes, we’re told to just suppress or hold away our emotions. Other times, we’re told to just find understanding between ourselves and the cause of the emotions. Earlier today, I was talking with her and I asked her about feelings and emotions. She said that when we’re told to trust our feelings, or reach out with our feelings, it’s just about trusting our instincts. I’m not sure she’s totally right about that.”

“Is there something wrong with that? It kind of makes sense.”

“No, there’s nothing wrong with it. But, I think she’s missing something. The Force reacts to everything, right? And, the Force responds most strongly with emotions. That’s why the Dark Side can be so scary — emotions like sadness and anger are pretty strong in and of themselves. Do you remember way back, in some of Master Yoda’s teachings, he talked about compassion? Serenity and compassion; both are important. Focusing on our emotions can allow us to better link with the Force, but it’s also really important to keep track of what we feel and not let it affect us.”

“Okay, that makes sense to me.”

“That’s just what the Masters have been teaching. I’m not finished though. What’s weird about Master Lasah is that she’s able to completely ignore her desires and her emotions.”

“Isn’t that what you were just saying though? She’s just not letting her emotions control her.”

“No. Well, maybe. I dunno. There’s something just missing. It’s like she’s just not even acknowledging her own emotions sometimes. She doesn’t own her emotions, even the positive ones. It’s as if, when she needs to make a decision, she completely detaches from herself.”

“Hmm. But is that bad? That’s just accomplishing the same thing.”

“Yeah, but… I don’t know. It just seems off.”

The two of you sit in silence again. You listen to the soothing sound of Tera’s pen until finally she stands up and triumphantly says, “Done!”

“What is it?”

“It’s a masterpiece!”

“Uh… huh. What did you draw?”

“It’s you!”

“And how does it look?”

“I just told you. It’s a masterpiece!”

“Let me see it.”

“Alrighty! You can open your eyes— uh, eye, now.”

“...”

“Good, right?”

“It took you that long to make this?”

“Hey! I was listening to you talk. You were distracting me! So, is it good or what?”

“Better than what I can do.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“Hey!”