...Hi. No, you're not meant to really know who this story is about, though clever readers may be able to guess well. It is, obviously, about one of the lesser-known (but still well-liked) characters, one you might not even have seen in RotS. Then again, you might have.

I know it's short, but it's meant to be. Just a one-shot, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!Enjoy your read!

A Second Chance

She felt pain.

This was unusual, unwelcome, and altogether impossible. Death was not painful, though getting there had been. Joining with the Force didn't hurt. She wasn't sure how she knew this, but she did.

The logical conclusion, then, was that she wasn't actually dead.

But she remembered dying. She remembered…being fired upon, by her own troops. She remembered, before falling herself, that distantly she had felt the deaths of others. Strongly, she had felt the death of her Master.

She could recall, as more of a vague feeling than an actual memory, being one with the Force. She knew it, knew she had died.

But there was the matter of breathing, which she noticed with sudden clarity she was doing. Breathing was something the dead didn't do. She wasn't sure if this was meant to be a comforting thought or a terrifying one.

The next thing that came to her was feeling. Aside from feeling pain, she knew she was lying on hard, rather lumpy ground, and something…plantlike…seemed to be doing its best to…well, to overgrow her.

All this was without opening her eyes; she didn't know if she even could. It seemed beyond her ability to even keep concentrating on breathing. Never mind that most people didn't have to concentrate.

She was grateful, then, to be alive. She wasn't sure how it had happened, but it was an immense relief. Being alive was almost certainly better than being dead.

Memory flooded her. The living Force had allowed—such a soft word for harsh feelings—her to feel, though very distantly, the deaths of other Jedi. Something had turned dark in the Force, something powerful…and Jedi had begun to die. All over the galaxy, one by one.

The strongest feeling—strong enough to give her pause, to make her hesitate, and thus to seal her own fate—had been at her former Master's death. As a Jedi Knight, she wasn't supposed to truly feel attachment…but her Master…

No. Now, she wanted to be dead. What good would life be, without the rest of the Jedi? Without her home—for surely the Jedi in the Temple had been slaughtered, as well?

No. That wasn't right, either. Whatever had kept her alive…she preferred life to death. Living, one could make a difference, take action. Dead, one could only be dead. Given the options, she would take the former without hesitation.

And there were bright points. Jedi who lived still. She could see them, in an almost dreamlike way—they were there, but she knew the slightest change in anything she did might send them beyond her perception.

It was an odd perception. Here, in her mind, it was dark, but comfortingly so—a deep blue tint that might have matched the night sky of Coruscant, were it possible to see the night sky of Coruscant. It was a soft darkness, a calm one. She found she didn't mind it here, and all at once she knew she had been here before. She entered this place often, usually before calling on the Force to do as she asked.

The clone troopers entered her thoughts next. They had turned on her, fired on her. She had been taken completely by surprise, and that bothered her even more than their treachery. They should not have been able to catch her off guard.

She didn't miss the irony of it all, either. Gunned down by the very people she trusted with her life. The very people she had once tried to save. It was almost amusing.

In fact, she realized, she was laughing. It was quiet, painful, but she was laughing aloud, into the endless night.

You are amused.

What? …What are you?

This second chance is yours alone, Jedi Knight. Use it well.

What little conversation there had been ended just as abruptly as it had begun, and once again she was left with the night.

Dark eyes opened to view that night, the moonlight filtering through layer upon layer of translucent plant life. Slowly, deliberately, she rose to her feet, pushing away the light layer of plants that had begun to cover her.

She stood for a moment, simply surprised. Her injuries were gone, barely a memory. Her lightsaber was in its place at her side. Around her and through her she felt life. She hadn't noticed before…or perhaps she had noticed, but she had become accustomed to it. Now, it was unfamiliar, but very strong.

This was more than a second chance, she thought. This was the greatest gift. But she had also been charged with using it well.

She wasn't sure how to do that, just yet. First she had to get off this planet—other clone troopers might still be around. She had no knowledge of what standard day or time it was, but she did have knowledge of where to find a ship. Concealing her Jedi traits, in the event that she needed to do so, would be easy enough.

She chose a direction and set off purposefully. This would be her new beginning. Her Master and most of the other Jedi were dead, but she knew the place where those remaining would go. She would join them there.

After that, it would be in the hands of the Force.