KAYLIRA TRAMINO

That night, Kaylira lay tossing and turning in her cot, unable to fall asleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she would see a pair of burning eyes, looking at her with clear lust for power. Then they would be gone before she could see anything more than that.

The Force was constantly watching over her, as it constantly watched over everything, but sometimes she felt like there was a war going on inside her. It was as if both sides of the Force, the Light and the Dark, were vying for her support. But she didn’t want this. She had never wanted any of it…

“You’re different, Kayl. That much is clear to me now.” Ahsoka Tano stood facing her apprentice in the Council Chamber. The rest of the Council was elsewhere, and Master and padawan were alone.

“Master, what do you mean?” Kaylira had asked Master Tano six years before.

“You’re old enough now to be able to process what I have to tell you. You’re not like the other padawans.”

She sighed, rubbing her arm in discomfort. “I know, Master. I try to fit in, but they all look at me like I’m going to set them on fire if they even meet my eyes. I don’t know why they feel the need to keep me at arm’s length!”

Her Master put an arm on her shoulder. “I know what it’s like to be different, Kaylira. When my old Master, Anakin Skywalker, would walk around with me in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, all of the Knights and padawans would plaster smiles on their faces. But I knew that they were all afraid of his powers as the Chosen One, and most of them were afraid of me too, because he was training me. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.

“But that’s not why I asked you here. You’re somewhere in between the Light Side and the Dark Side of the Force, and I don’t think it would do us any good to have you turn down the Dark Path. Even if negative emotions threaten to overpower you, you have to hang on to the Light. And my Powers have almost overpowered me a few times, so I can show you how to do it.”

“It’s all so complicated…I don’t know how I’ll keep away from the Dark Side, Master.”

“You’re strong, Kayl. You can fix this, I know it. You just might be a new Chosen One, if I’m not wrong… and with your powers, you can do great evil or great good.”

“I know, Master. I’ll do better, I promise.”

It was a promise she hadn’t kept.

Kaylira got up, using the Force to make sure she didn’t walk into anyone’s bed and wake them up. She was definitely not going to be able to sleep tonight. A walk would probably help her sort through her confused emotions.

She tiptoed over the floorboards, tracing an elaborate dance pattern; she knew exactly which ones would creak if she stepped on them. At least the five years she had spent in this place were doing some good. It wouldn’t be that great if Force-sensitive ears picked up noises. She wasn’t sure if she wanted comfort right now.

She leaned on the railing, looking out into the far away reaches of space. She could see Cialone from here, and looked out to the small, but dense planet that had an asteroid field and three moons in never-ending rotation around it.

“I want to go back,” she whispered the words that her pride hadn’t let her say aloud in the company of people. “I miss you, Master…”

Kaylira trailed off, and her eyes filled. She couldn’t live like this any more. Five years of almost complete solitude had taken a lot out of her. And now that she knew there was a chance, the burning urge to get back to the New Jedi Order was even more intense. If the Jedi wouldn’t ask her back, then she would be beyond crushed, but she would get over it in time. There were places to go – Coruscant, Tatooine, and remote and removed star systems – where outcasts could meet and stay with others like them. Communities of loners.

She would accept her fate, no matter how it came to her.

Suddenly a blue glow appeared beside her. She jumped, but then it formed into the shape of her old Master, leaning on the railing beside her. “Master…! You have got to stop doing that. You always scare me half to death!”

Her Master flashed a wicked grin. “So she actually admits it… that’s a first. But that isn’t why I’m here.”

“Why are you here, Master?”

“I wanted to be the first to congratulate you.”

*Sorry if my pace for posting the chapters is a little sluggish... I know I used to post something like six a night beforehand... Anyway, I just finished this one and I hope you like it!*