Chapter 1
Mattie POV:
Mattie Davis had not seen Master Skywalker in years. It felt like it was a lifetime ago when she had been a student at the Jedi Academy. She had even graduated to the rank of Jedi Knight. During her adolescence, she had been strong and impetuous. Now she had to remind herself that she was a grown woman, a wife, a mother of three, and not a Jedi. Unlike her teen spirit, she had matured into a much braver, trusting and loving mother. Her life was all about her family now. Having lost her ability to use the force, she had to rely on natural instincts and learn to accept forgiveness for those things she could not control.
After a fateful event, during which her midi-chlorians (microscopic life forms, when present in enough numbers allowed beings to use the force) were destroyed, and she was left unable to use the force. Unfortunately, she had been expecting, and her child had also been affected. Up until now Josie had not shown any signs that she could use the force. Her midi-chlorian count was borderline the amount required for Jedi training.
Trying to push these thoughts from her mind, she concentrated on getting food prepared for the evening meal. Any minute now Master Skywalker was due to arrive with her eldest daughter Josie, and her husband Owen had not yet returned from work. Her youngest son, Jacob, was playing with his toys in the middle of the kitchen while his sister Emily played computer games. Everything was just about perfect in her mind when the bell rang.
"Is it Josie, is it Josie?" Asked Emily as she came running down the hallway to see for herself.
"It should be…" She began to respond, but no one was listening.
Jacob ran after Emily, and she caught up with them as the door opened. Somehow bypassing her siblings, Josie, her eldest daughter embraced her in a tight hug. This warmed her heart. Her daughter had been away at the Jedi Academy for two months and home just had not felt right without her.
As the doorway cleared she beckoned Master Skywalker inside, her other two children were tugging on Josie and asking numerous questions. The girl finally pulled back from her mother.
"Welcome home, sweetheart."
"Thanks, mom."
Josie stared downward, seeming to force a smile as her brother and sister interrogated her. Was she feeling okay, or was she just tired? It was hard to tell. Nevertheless, she led her children further into the house, instructed Josie to put her things away and told her that dinner would be ready soon. The other two kids followed her, leaving Mattie and the Grand Master alone in the kitchen.
"Bringing Josie home to us was very nice of you, we appreciate it greatly." She began, feeling a bit uncomfortable. Master Skywalker was standing before her, dressed entirely in Jedi apparel. How long had it been since she'd donned a long brown robe? It was hard to remember.
"It was no problem," he replied, taking a seat at the table. "She's a very bright girl."
For a moment, she hung on his words, then realized that he wasn't going to elaborate. She knew that Josie was a smart and intelligent girl, but she wanted to know more than that, more about her time at the academy.
"That's good to hear," Mattie didn't beat around the question that was on her mind "Did she do well in training?"
He kept eye contact but waited before speaking. That was cruelty, if she could use the force then she'd be able to discern his thoughts, whether they indicated her daughter could use the force or not. Her family had waited twelve long years to find out. If Josie couldn't become a Jedi, then Mattie felt as though it was her fault, because it was her choices that led to this.
"I think it would be best to hold off discussing that until Owen arrives."
"Of course," But she didn't agree, knowing the truth now would reduce her fears.
# # #
Josie POV:
After a few minutes of entertaining her younger sister and brother, Josie finally told them that she wanted to change her clothes, but that was just an excuse for some time alone. Privacy had been a rare occurrence over the last couple of months, especially when she had to share the same room with such a hyperactive girl. In between meals, classes, and weekends, she barely had any time to herself.
Now she had all the time in the universe. She would stay home now and live an ordinary life. How depressing. No matter how hard she had tried, she now came to face the truth: she didn't have enough midi-chlorians to use the force, and she would never become a Jedi Knight. Two months at the Jedi Academy were wasted. The only things she'd learned were Jedi history and how to achieve force tricks that she was unable to do. Her parents would be proud of her for giving it a try, but then life would return to normal.
The family would leave the planet soon, and it had been almost six months since their last up root. As long as she could remember, her family moved every six to nine months, and they had never given her a straightforward answer why. Now that she was getting older, she found this secret more compelling than ever. Why did they leave? Why didn't she have enough midi-chlorians? Emily and Jacob had both shown force power at their young ages. Why did she feel as though everyone was keeping secrets from her? She planned to confront her parents tonight while the Grand Master was there, before she resolved to live a hum-drum life, she wanted to know why.
Before she left her bedroom, she had decided that she would remain calm and act mature, that way the Grand Master would see that she could handle whatever he had to tell her.
It was not easy.
Throughout the entire meal, she was on edge, waiting for someone to bring the topic around to her training, or at least something close to the subject manner. No one went there; her dad was rambling on about some coworkers, and Master Skywalker about some of the intriguing creatures he'd met in his lifetime. Nothing they said gave her any hope that they were going to bring it up, so once dessert was coming to an end she looked Master Skywalker in the eyes and spoke clearly.
"Grand Master, I want to talk about my Jedi training." Everyone at the table went quiet; even Emily and Jacob showed some interest in the matter. "What happens now?"
Her father gave the Grand Master a meaningful look; Josie could tell that they were communicating privately, through the force. It made her mad that they could do that and she could not.
"Go help your mother clean the kitchen, and then we'll talk." Her dad said.
Just like that the meal was over. Dad put the younger two in their bedrooms, and she washed dishes as fast as she was able too. Her heart was beating wildly. This was it; her fate would be decided right here, right now, and tonight. She wanted to be a Jedi Knight so badly, she'd do anything. There had to be a way.
When the dinner table had been thoroughly cleared off, and the dishes left to dry, her mother, father and Master Skywalker met back at the table. Josie starred anxiously from her parents to the Grand Master.
"I don't want to make you wait any longer to hear the answer you've been waiting for," Master Skywalker began, "but I do not have much good news in store."
He looked directly at Josie, and spoke to her as if she were the only one there.
"I'm sorry, but you don't have the potential to become a Jedi Knight, because you lack midi-chlorians, you will never be able to use the force." He looked truthfully sympathetic.
Ten pounds of bricks sank to the bottom of her stomach. The Grand Master was serious and she couldn't believe anything other than truth. But why did it have to hurt so much?
"You could still study the Jedi history and one day possibly be a teacher," He continued, "but there are no other career choices available for you in proximity to the Jedi."
Sitting next to her; mom reached out her hand and placed it on her shoulder. Her support and love was not needed. Action and a different result were.
"Is there any way? Please, I want to be a Jedi so badly."
"The life of a Jedi Knight is not an easy path to take, there are many trials and hardships, this is not a life that has been set before you."
"Please, there has to be a way!" She was getting desperate.
"There is no way; but you need not feel insignificant, you should know that there are still many choices for you. To serve the republic you could seek vocation with security services, become a fighter pilot, a medic, there's something out there for you."
"I don't want to do any of those things!" Her temper was rising. She stood to her feet, letting her mom's hand fall away. "Tell me why I don't have many midi-chlorians and my siblings do. Emily can already raise objects with her mind and Jacob can read thoughts. How come they can do that stuff and I can't? WHY?!"
"Because you are not them." Her dad answered simply.
This was stupid; there had to be another reason, why else were they so determined to keep her in the dark about it?
"Well, there's-" Her mom began to speak but dad interrupted her.
"No, that's the end of it. Master Skywalker says that you do not have potential, so you must accept that. Now I think it's time that you go to bed as well."
Looking at the Grand Master to see if he had more to say, and then to her mother, who was determinedly not speaking, she gave up. With a great sigh, she leaned over and hugged her parents, thanked Master Skywalker and then walked down the hallway to the room she shared with Emily. A sudden idea surfaced as she placed her hand on the doorknob; she opened the door, counted to three, and then closed the door. She remained in the hall.
As quietly as possible, she tip-toed back down to the end of the hallway and peered around the corner, her parents and the Grand Master were still sitting there. They did not turn their heads to see her and could not sense her in the force. Like a spy, she stood perfectly still and silently listened in.
# # #
Mattie POV:
The children were finally put to bed, and Mattie's tolerance was wearing thin. They had not been entirely honest with Josie. No one had openly lied, but avoiding telling her the truth about why she couldn't use the force needed to be explained. Mattie herself no longer had midi-chlorians; she was pregnant with Josie when the incident had happened. It wasn't her daughters' fault. She needed to understand this.
Her husband disagreed. He didn't want their children to have another reason to hate the Sith, in fact, he avoided talking about them all together. It was as if Mattie never had any connection with them at all. At times she found that annoying. After a brief discussion about the matter, she moved on to what was more important, what was on her mind.
"This isn't just about Josie; it affects our whole family because it might have been her, but now it can't be, so Emily must be the one." She was talking directly to her husband, who did not want to talk about this, but she insisted. "Surely you've felt her power in the force, and she's only eight years old!"
"We can also feel the force in Jacob, but that still doesn't explain anything." He argued.
"Mattie, you come from a very force sensitive family." Said Master Skywalker. "If Josie could use the force, we would have recognized it before now."
"So, is Emily the one?"
That was a scary thought; the very fact that either one of her daughters would or could inherit the blood lineage was disturbing. It was upsetting enough that she had to pass on the heritage to one of her unsuspecting daughters.
"I sincerely doubt it. Emily is strong in the force, yes, and she will be trained, but I am sure that she's not the one."
"Maybe her children then? Or Josie's? Is that a possibility?"
"That is uncertain. However, that will not prevent others from trying to make Josie's potential tested." The Grand Master looked directly at her. "The Sith will stop at nothing. You must remember that you were uncommonly strong in the force at that age and yet, they took their chances and still got hold of you. Josie doesn't have the force to protect her; she will be an easy target."
"That's just it; she can't use the force, end of story." Owen stated.
She honestly hoped so, but the Grand Master had a certain look on his face, as if he were trying too hard to conceal his emotions on the matter. No, there couldn't be anything more to be said on the matter. Her daughter couldn't use the force and she never would, as he had already said; it was impossible. As much as she'd like to extend believing that, he opened his mouth and proved her wrong.
"Actually, that's only the beginning of this story."
He looked straight into her eyes, and Mattie didn't require the force to realize that she wasn't going to like what was about to be revealed. While he tried to keep her gaze, she turned away and stood up. Running her fingers through her hair, she tried to calm herself, she didn't know anything yet, now wasn't the time to get upset.
"Go on," She turned around to be polite, but remained standing. "Tell me everything."
What she heard next was so short and uncomplicated; it was hard to believe that any of it was so. Master Skywalker explained how he had been spending a lot of time away from the Jedi Academy, trying to pick up on Sith rumors, intelligence as to what they were currently working on. Low level Jedi Knights were mysteriously disappearing without any logical reason, and none of them had yet shown up.
"The Sith have been doing experiments on force users, mostly Jedi, in the end, they are killed. I began to pursue their path, although it wasn't easy, I began finding the bodies of those missing people." He listed names of the planets he traveled to, the people he talked to and tried to contact, slowly gathering information until he came to a conclusion. "I have but one explanation; the Sith are working on a method to distribute midi-chlorians."
"That's never been done before, why would they even try?"
Her husband was right this time; she had done the research before, and there was no way to transfer midi-chlorians. The fact that the Sith were currently conducting an extensive series of tests to make this possible was disturbing. Though, not as much as what Master Skywalker said next. During his time learning about the Sith's experiments, he stole a copy of their plans, which explained everything they'd done in considerable detail. He suggested that midi-chlorians could be extracted from one individual and injected into another. It was a delicate procedure, both bodies needed to share the same blood type. He was particularly concerned about all this, and began to make his own safer attempts. They had all been successful.
"Why are you telling us about this, Master?" She finally asked. "You would have no need to try to achieve what the Sith are doing unless you knew someone who was in need of attaining the force."
"Are you saying that you're doing this for our daughter?" Asked Owen.
"No," The Grand Master replied. She felt that it was a good time to sit down again, and was glad she did. "I'm working on collecting a significant amount of midi-chlorians to give to you, Mattie."
