Tolight

Obi Wan looked down at his adversary. There had been no choice. Although not a Sith, the man was clearly Dark Side and strong in the Force. Just not as strong as Obi Wan.

The Apprentice stood at the top of the stairs. The waves of anger rolled through the Force and nearly crushed him with their weight. Sith tattoos decorated her body and fairly pulsed with dark side power.





Images flooded into Obi Wan's mind: Being taken from Ryloth, being tortured and abused every day, being forced to provide entertainment for her master and his associates.

Obi Wan realized the anger was not directed at him. It was for her master. And as she saw him lying at Obi Wan's feet, stuck down by the Jedi's lightsaber, her anger broke.

The Sith markings faded and her lightsaber fell to the ground. She was a Lethan Twi’lek, barely more than a child. She fell to her knees and great sobs shook her body. Obi Wan approached her slowly, still unsure of which way this particular pazaak card was going to fall. By the time he reached her she had collected herself and was once again in control of her emotions. She stood and bowed to Obi Wan.

“Thank you, Master Jedi. You may be expecting me to attack you but you have freed me from a life of torture. Are you hurt? I’m somewhat skilled in Force healing. Or perhaps you’d like some other entertainment”.

She stepped forward and reached up to his face.

“No”! Obi Wan jumped back, “No, no, child. You don’t have to do that. You don’t ever have to do that again”.

She smiled weakly, “I’m sorry, it’s just habit. I… I don’t know what I’m going to do now”.

Obi Wan smiled warmly, “Come to Coruscant, to the Jedi Temple. You are already trained in the Force and I can feel it is strong in you. You’ve been lead down a Dark path but we can help you find the Light”.

“You mean… I could be a Jedi”?

“When you learn to let go of your anger, yes, and you’ve already taken a big step today”.

The shuttle touched down on the landing pad on Coruscant.

“I’d like to change my name, a new name for a new me”.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">“What name would you like”?

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">“Bastila Gruffloater”.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">“After Bastila Shan? That’s a great name, it feels right for you. But what’s a Gruffloater”?

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">“I don’t know, someone said it when I was little, before I was taken from Ryloth. It made me laugh”. <p style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; padding-bottom: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; border-top: medium none; border-right: medium none; padding-top: 0in; mso-border-bottom-alt: wave windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">“That’s perhaps the best reason for name I’ve ever heard”.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">Master Yoda nodded in thought and spoke softly, “Wise choice you made, Master Kenobi. Worth saving, she is. Strong in the Force, yes. Forever will she struggle with the Dark Side but strong enough for the fight, she is. Her red lightsaber she wishes to keep, as a reminder of the dark path she has turned from. Allow this, the Council will. But cautious we must be. An inappropriate suggestion to Padawan Tano, she made. A heart attack, Master Skywalker almost had”.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">Obi Wan thought he detected a slight trace of laughter in Master Yoda’s voice but he wrote it off as shock due news about his new padawan learner.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">“Yes, “continued Master Yoda, “cautious we must be, much chaos she could bring. Learn self control, she must”.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">Obi Wan found Bastila in the shop, tinkering with an old astromech droid. It had the characteristic white body of the R2 series but it’s appendages and attachments were pink. The droid beeped as Obi Wan approached.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">“Hello, Master Kenobi. This is Six. She says she’s been down here for ages but nobody pays attention to her. I’m the first person to clean her up in… a long time. And she’s never been memory wiped”!

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">“Well, I imagine she’s developed quite a personality. I actually approve of that in droids, especially astromechs”.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">“Do you think Master Skywalker would let R2D2 share some data with her? I mean, can I keep her”?

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">“Well, I don’t think anyone else has claimed her so I’m sure you can keep her. Astromechs make wonderful companions for Padawans”.

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">“Padawans? You mean…”?

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt">“Yes, Bastila, you’ve been accepted. You are now my padawan learner”.