The Force Helped Me Find Myself.

Chapter 15

That break was great. The other breaks we had during the year were hectic, trying to catch up with family, getting things ready for the next term, and trying to get enough rest to be ready to be back. This break was different. I had a lot more time to rest and recover. I was able to get to know Kiry better and Eron's siblings as the three of them spent a lot of time together. And I got a lot of training done with Eron and Emmi.

We would train together every three days or so, working on some force abilities and our lightsaber skills. I was still exercising every day on my own. Eron and I spent time studying the old texts on lightsaber styles and we were trying to learn each one and then get better at the one or two we preferred. Emmi had decided quickly that she preferred to be balanced with her lightsaber style, she didn't want to be in battle if she could avoid it, but she wanted to be prepared. She learned the 6th Form of the old styles, and she was learning to use the force with it, moving objects around while training. Eron much preferred the power of Form 5, and I preferred the defensive style of Form 3, both of us would work on things from Form 1 and 4 but we had our focus. While I watched Eron practice, I was surprised by how much stronger he became as he trained, physically strong. He was able to generate a lot of power from the moves to the point where I could feel the power of the strikes from the wind he generated.

I was getting much better with my footwork and more precise with my blade movements. I made sure I would practice more than just defending and I was able to attack if needed. I was learning how to use my speed and athleticism to counterattack. I wasn't able to generate anywhere near the power of Eron, but I was able to move quickly and accurately to land my attacks.

The three of us would practice simple duels at the end of each session. Emmi struggled against us early on but as we worked, she got closer to us, and her use of the force made things increasingly difficult for us. Eron seemed to improve the quickest early on, maybe because he was learning a form closer to his natural fighting style or because the movements suited him better, but it was hard for me to compete with him early on. By the last session, I was back to a similar position concerning Eron to where I was at the end of last year. He would struggle to get through my guard, and I had gotten much better at deflecting and redirecting his attacks so that he would tier quickly. We didn't try to defeat each other but it was fun trying to keep up with each other and to be able to switch from defence to attack and back within one stroke or one step.

As always, all good things must come to an end, we had to go back to the academy. After hugs and a few tears from our families, we were on the train. We just relaxed, napped, meditated, and chatted during the trip. After one stop close to the capital, I could feel a nervous young person who had just gotten on the train. I thought they might be a new student so I reached out with the force, trying to offer a warm, comforting, and calm feeling for them so they could relax and maybe find us on the train. Emmi and Eron joined me in this endeavour, and we hoped they would find us. A few minutes later we heard a knock on our cabin door. I answered and saw a small and nervous young man with sandy blonde hair and large eyes.

"Hello, how can we help you," I asked as welcoming as I could.

"Um, hi. Um, I thought I felt something coming from this cabin and I was hoping that you were academy students too. Um, if I'm bothering you, I'll go."

"No, wait," Emmi said quickly. "You're right. We were hoping you would find us. Come on, grab a seat. I'm Emmi, next to the door is Josy, and sitting on the other seat is Eron." Eron waved.

"Um, hi," he said walking in the door. "I'm new to the academy this year. I'm Alox, it's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," I said. I was sensing something different, something that was familiar to me, but I didn't want to put him on the spot. "Alox, can I ask you something?"

"Um, sure, ok, yeah, ask away."

They were so nervous. "I'm going to ask you something and I promise it's not anything more than to make sure I refer to you correctly, ok." They nodded. "Good. I'm wondering what pronouns you prefer to use. How do you want the world to see you?"

He looked at me for a moment, eyes wide with surprise and fear. "I'm not sure what you mean, I'm a boy."

"Ok, that's fine. Now I'm going to tell you something but I'm asking you to keep it to yourself until we get to the academy, ok." He nodded again, slowly this time. "Great. Now I've not always looked like the young woman you see before you. I've always felt like a girl, but society told me something different."

"She's always felt like a girl inside," said Emmi smiling.

"Yes, Emmi and I became friends when we were young partly because she could feel the girl I was. I'm now myself all the time, at the academy and everywhere else. But I didn't start until I finished my younger school. Do you relate to that?"

The look on his face went from surprise to a smile. He looked at the other two for confirmation which he got from both of them. "WOW, that's cool. I understand that completely. I've only been looking like a boy all the time for a month. I'm glad I met someone else like me."

"Me too," I offered a hug which he accepted. "Have you met Master Ali?"

"Yes, they knew I was a boy as soon as we met. I didn't know how they did that, but I was amazed."

"They did the same thing to me. Later on, I was meditating, and I found my true self. She wasn't in the best shape but with Emmi's help I managed to set her free and I've been myself ever since."

He just nodded and smiled. I'm sure something similar happened to him. Just then an announcement came over the train. "Bugger. I better get my stuff. See you soon."

"Yes, see you soon."

He took off quickly, leaving me with a smile on my face.

"What are the odds of that," asked Eron.

"I'm not sure. The force can do some strange things. I'm glad I could help him."

"I'm sure we'll see a bit of him this year," said Emmi. "I'm happy to help him as much as I can."

"Me too," said Eorn. "I'm sure he'll appreciate some help from a more experienced guy, you know, for guy stuff."

"I'm sure you could do that well," I said. "He's probably going to be happy to have a big brother." I smiled at Eorn, and we had a little laugh.

We got off the train, met up with the others, and went back to the academy. I was looking forward to seeing what this year would bring.