The Second Padawan

Chapter Five

"All clear sir." Captain Rex interrupted our little exchange.

"Nice work Rex." Anakin applaud. "Have some men take care of the wounded."

"Roger that sir, gunships are holding at a secure distance."

The area smelt of burnt metal, as most battle fields did I presumed. I felt through the force, many of our clones didn't make it.

"Too many droids here for them to be renegades, I sense Count Dookus hand in this." Master said.

Count Dooku...

"My Padawan, Dooku was, failed him, I have." I remember Grand Master Yoda telling me.

I decided to not press Master Yoda about it anymore after that. I could tell it was a sore subject and I didn't want to make him delve into his attachment.

I for one, knew attachments could cause you to abandon everything you once held dear.

"Master Haren, when I pass my trials and become a Padawan, will you be my master?" I asked.

"Of course, but a Jedi is to be humble, don't over estimate your abilities and always be prepared." He told me.

He was a great mentor to me, he found me when I was a few years old and took me back to the Jedi temple where I would he trained.

I never knew my family, he told me that my mother was a single parent and worked as a bartender on Jakku. When he arrived for a meditative retreat, he found me tied around my mothers back while she was working.

She knew he was a Jedi as soon as he walked in, and offered him a drink on the house. He denied, apparently, and when he asked about me she gave me up knowing that she would probably never see me again.

"She would live better as a Jedi?" He told me she asked.

I am beyond grateful for my mothers actions, someday I wish to meet her, but attachment is forbidden by the Jedi. Meeting her, I fear, would make me become too attached and lose the way of the Jedi.

I knew Master Haren hadn't been completely loyal to the Jedi code though. I knew he has a romantic interest on Jakku, he would often tell me about this said person, described ambiguously. Apparently they were a great friend, but through the force I could tell he was telling me the truth, but there was more to it.

When I awoke one night, his lightsaber was on my night stand.

Surprised, I took ahold of the weapon and ignited it. It was a dark crimson, which scared me.

Had Master Heran turned to the dark side? I questioned. Deep down, I somehow knew he wouldn't.

Perhaps the pain of living a double life, infected his Kyber Crystal. Leaving this crystal behind, could have represented his abandonment of the Jedi order, his abandonment of me.

I was angry at first, then saddened by the thought of never becoming his Padawan. I confided in Master Yoda.

"Grieve you may, move in my must." Master Yoda told me.

I took his corrupted Kyber crystal and put it into a pendent. I would carry it with me, knowing that it represented a great friend, a father figure. For his hilt, I swapped my Kyber Crystal and put it in the empty compartment in his old lightsaber. This would become my light saber now.

"Liyah?" Ahsoka snapped me out of my train of thought.

"You coming?" Anakin looked at me sincerely. "Is everything alright, if you don't want to go on you can.."