The ancient Massasi Temple stood in the view not far from the academy, located right near the remains of an old New Republic airbase. The war of the rebellion and the Empire had ended over 400 years ago, and the remaining imperial forces still in control were long ago eradicated. The old stories were told and retold so many times before, that Live only thought of them so. Just stories.

His own mother, so far away, had told him stories of the rebellion, and how everything had come into being. He remembered the stories of the legendary Luke Skywalker, and his companion Han Solo. All the stories about the terrible Lord Vader, and about how all these events had come to pass. All about how the galaxy became what it was on that day. To shorten history into a single sentence… Everything got worse as time progressed. Live was living in dark times. Half of the star systems are thick with crime, where rape, murders, kidnappings are now part of the accepted happenings of daily life. Too young to understand, he just tried to figure out why everybody didn't just apologize and be friends. He also wanted to be back home, with his mother and father. These men just came, and they took him away from his mother and father, and now they promised he could be a Jedi, but he didn't care! It didn't matter to him if he ever became a Jedi or not, he just wanted to go home.

What was that man saying anyway? Live hadn't been listening, he'd been too busy looking around the room at all the other soon to be Jedi. Most were a lot older than he was. Many of the initiates were adults. Nearly all of them were aliens. There was one of the human subjects that caught his eye however.

She was just a little girl, very small. She was even smaller than he was himself. Small, with tanned skin, and dark hair, she looked afraid of something. Her eyes were wide and nervous, darting quickly from place to place, never staying in one place for long. Her eyes suddenly locked onto his own for a few seconds, and he could see her gray-blue eyes clearly before she quickly looked another way. She seemed reluctant to meet his gaze. Very shy, he thought to himself. She was resuming her frantic search around the room, and Live looked around at the other students.

They all seemed to be listening to what the instructor was saying. Live heard something about being the distant grandson of Luke Skywalker or something like that. It really didn't matter to him very much.

The girl caught his eye again, this time she was staring straight at him, but she shied away as his eyes locked on her. He moved closer to her, maybe he could talk to her; get something to say to her. Learn her name at least.

He just stood next to her for a few seconds, and she purposely avoided looking directly at him. He just stood and waited for her to give way.

While he waited he noticed that she took small glances in his direction, just barely noticeable. She was afraid of something, was it him? He decided to speak up.

"Hello? I'm Live. What's your name?"

She jumped up as if startled. And she looked at him with scared eyes. She just stared at him for a moment, he long dark hair falling to her waist, she came up to his nose in height. She didn't look much younger than he was, 4 or five sounded about right. She still didn't answer.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He said to her reassuringly.

"I know…" She muttered lightly, her voice soft, she trailed off.

"What's your name?" He asked her still gently.

She looked at him for a moment more before answering him. "Leila. I'm Leila Falton, and I came from a farm somewhere."

"You were a farmer?" Now that he had her talking he wouldn't lighten up.

"My mommy and daddy were, I'm 4.All I did was clean up the house."

When she didn't give a sign of continuing, he asked her, "Where are they now?"

Fear spread across her face as she said "The thunder clouds, ships and fire from the sky. They are looking for me." She started to tear at her eyes." Don't let them find me. Keep me safe? Please?"

Live wasn't sure what he could do, but he couldn't tell her no. "I promise that nobody will hurt you."

Leila looked at him, pain showed visibly under her eyes. She than wrapped her arms around him, and held him close in an unmistakable hug. He could do nothing but stroke her hair.

She broke off away from him, wiping tears from her face. He wasn't sure what he should do, or how he could make her feel safe when he was so afraid himself. There was nothing he could do, but let the Jedi master talk about things he wasn't interested in, and just wait for whatever happened. He tried not to notice Leila take his hand into hers.

The men hadn't stopped talking for quite some time now. They were talking about where he should be placed. He was to be assigned a master, the Jedi escort he'd been given explained to him.

"They are trying to find the master that's right for you." He continued, "You see… every master had their own way of teaching what they learned, and due to your test, they are trying to decide who would teach you the best."

Live wasn't really interested in all of that, he distinctly heard Leila's name more than once mentioned between them.

"Why do they keep talking about Leila?" Live asked.

The Jedi looked at him strangely for a second. "She tested identically to you, they are arguing about whether you are both to be given the same master, or kept separate for your own protection."

"My protection?"

"Yes. You see, she wont talk to anybody. In the weeklong trek from her home planet to here, she hadn't said a word to anybody, except you. They fear she may keep silent if she is allowed to stay with you… or it could help her eliminate her fear. There are also… other dangers of keeping her near you."

"What? What dangers?" Live demanded.

"You wouldn't understand… but you may become jealous when she surpasses you with the force." He told Live shakily.

"Why would she surpass me?" Live asked.

"She has the highest mediclorian count since Lord Vader's time. It is possible that she could be the most powerful Jedi ever." He explained to Live.

However, Live was unmoved, "She wont be. She's younger than me."

"You know very little about the force initiate. You will learn though."

Live didn't believe it, he would be the most powerful Jedi ever. She would be right under him. He wont let anything hold him back.

The Jedi had finally stopped talking, and they faced Live.

"It has been decided. Come with me, and we will fetch Leila. You are to be trained with Master Yalmara."

Whoever that was didn't matter, so long as Live got to be with Leila, and that was really all he cared about. He wasn't sure what it was about Leila that he liked so much.

The Jedi stopped before a door, and knocked on the silver metal a few times. When the door opened a woman appeared.

"Has she said anything to you?" The Jedi asked.

The woman shook her head. "Just one word, Live. I couldn't figure out what it meant."

"It's the boys name" The Jedi master said nodding in Live's direction.

The woman nodded and disappeared into the room, she emerged a few seconds later, escorting Leila with her. Leila looked positively terrified, her blue eyes wide open with fear. Her eyes widened further at the site of Live, and than shrank back to a normal size. She suddenly grew more comfortable, and moved closer to Live, and she managed a smile. Meek, afraid, but a smile.

"Come." The Jedi demanded, and they followed.

They arrived at a door, and the Jedi punched a code in, and allowed the door to open. "Your master has been alerted to your presence by now. Make yourselves comfortable and wait. Master Yalmara will be here shortly. Show your master respect at all times. They know what they're doing."

He turned around and left as soon as they entered the room. They were left to stand and wait for their fate.