Endeavor [Complete]

XXIII

Twenty

Ava touched the sabers hanging from her belt. Her fingers ran over the circuit board pattern etched in the surface of the second one. She may have let go of the recordings long ago, but a part of her old friend always was with her. He wanted to become a Jedi, and though he could never achieve it, Ava could. If he couldn't be with her, then his saber would.

She had become as proficient with two as she had been with one in the almost three years since what had evolved into her legendary defeat of the Sith Darth Tyral. Ava herself still never thought it all that extraordinary. She merely took advantage of a distraction and wrenched his saber away. But nonetheless, she had involuntarily been granted a hero status. The Padawan who faced a Sith.

For a very long time, she didn't feel worthy of the praise for a second reason. Even after everything Master Jiron had said to reassure her, she still felt that she had failed herself by attacking out of anger. So many occasions of reminding herself she had finished the fight the way any Jedi should had caused her to convince herself. Now, on the eve of taking the Jedi trials, she no longer felt the guilt.

They had just returned from a particularly successful mission, when Ava was cornered by the Grand Master, Satele Shan, who announced that Master Jiron had recommended that she was ready to face the trials.

Five years of training under Master Jiron. If everything went well, she would be a Padawan no longer. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, feeling the ebb and flow of the Force. The wildlife of Tython. The lives of every Jedi in the temple. The same familiar feeling as when she was only a child. Now, she was to be a Knight.

She was ready.

---

Just as she had been unable to stop twisting her finger around her new Padawan braid, she was unable to stop touching the burned end where the braid used to be, severed by a lightsaber.

It felt strange, knowing she was now a fully-fledged Jedi Knight. But it felt amazing. Already, she was about to leave on her first solo assignment. One she was excited about. Rumors had surfaced that the Empire was present again on a planet the Republic had already cleared them from. Balmorra. The only home Ava had known before the Order took her in. Her memories of the place were faint, young as she was when she left.

She looked up, brushing her fingertips lightly along the durasteel outside of the ship she stood next to. A handsome little cruiser, blue and white. The Endeavor. Hers. An astromech droid named T3-ST followed her around constantly, chattering in Binary. She was grateful to have the companionship, as it was quite different being alone than flying around with Master Jiron.

The ship reminded her of the Syzygy, though designed for only one person. She felt at home aboard it. While the ship was too small to have a lounge, Ava had a little holochess table installed in her quarters. Just wouldn't be the same without it.

"Heading out?" asked a voice from behind her. Ava turned around to see Master Jiron.