Elor watched as his friend Pel practiced alone in the sparring chamber. The frail Kel Dor rarely sparred against other Padawans; his congenitally weak constitution made him inferior in lightsaber combat to almost all his peers. Instead, he seemed to regard the use of his saber as a form of moving meditation, a solitary pursuit. The arc of his double-bladed lightsaber was beautiful to observe as he danced through the empty room.
The Kel Dor's physical shortcomings were a result of an illegal genetic experiment carried out by a group of renegade Kel Dorans two decades before. The objective of the experiment had been to create a new breed of Kel Dor who, unlike the rest of their species, would be able to breathe oxygen, freeing them from the necessity of wearing methane breathing masks when consorting with most other races. Pel was the only infant that survived the experiment, and while it succeeded in the sense that Pel could indeed breathe oxygen, he had been feeble and wracked with illnesses his whole life. The Jedi Order had taken him in after a group of Jedi located and destroyed the illegal genetics facility. Pel had not left the confines of the Jedi Temple since then, as his tenuous physical condition made it difficult for him to travel safely.
But what he lacked in body strength, Pel more than made up for in sheer Force ability and native wisdom. The Kel Dor's squidlike visage hid a compassionate soul and an innate understanding of the Jedi Code. He was the darling of Master Yoda, as Elor and Tomet were favored by Master Windu. In Force skills and inner equilibrium he was unsurpassed by any of his peers. Thus, when Pel requested access to the Jedi files on the Sith for use in building his double-bladed lightsaber, the Masters allowed it with little hesitation. As with all other things, Pel took the creation of his lightsaber, not as a simple mechanical exercise, but as another test of his concentration and willpower.
Pel, Elor, and Tomet had been best friends for as long as anyone could remember. The three Padawans together held the best talent of any of the young Jedi currently in training. They were an odd trio—Elor and Tomet's rascally behavior and frequently unorthodox interpretations of the Jedi Code often pained the more straitlaced Pel. Nonetheless, they had stuck together throughout training, even after they were all accepted by different Masters.
Now, as Elor watched Pel's perambulations through the practice room, he wondered how long it would be before he saw his friend next. He had hoped that Master Yoda might have sent Pel with them on their mission to the Imokor Sector, but the diminutive Jedi had mentioned nothing of Pel. Perhaps it was a test of their non-attachment; a Jedi, after all, should not cling to friends or loved ones, especially when the friend is another Jedi.
The sound of Pel powering down his lightsaber startled Elor from his reverie. Placing the saber back in its sheathe, Pel turned to face Elor where he stood in the doorway.
"I will never get used to you doing that," Elor said with a grin.
"If you paid a little more attention to your surroundings, you might not find it so difficult to sense the presence of others yourself," Pel replied with equanimity.
They stood in silence for a moment.
"Tomet and I are leaving."
"I felt it," Pel said simply.
"We're being sent on a mission. Gathering intelligence in some forsaken corner of the galaxy. I don't know when we'll be back. A long time, probably."
"When do you go?"
"Tomorrow morning."
"I see." There was another long pause as the two young men looked at each other.
"I'll miss you," Elor said finally.
"I'll miss you too." They embraced. "Don't worry, my friend. I think the Force will bring us back together before long."
.
.
.
Pel couldn't sleep. There was a turmoil within him that he was unable to quell. He tried to meditate, but still he could not find the inner peace that usually came to him so easily. After several hours of tossing and turning, he came to a decision. Leaping from his bed, he donned his Padawan's robes and headed to the Observatory.
Deep in the lower levels of the Temple, the Observatory was a vast, domed room, empty save for a ring of fountains around the outer rim. The ceiling of the circular chamber was actually a gigantic holoscreen, onto which could be projected a view of the sky from any area in the known universe. The name of the room's architect was lost to time, but whoever it was had been possessed of a fine sense of irony; despite being situated hundreds of feet below the surface of Coruscant, it was the only place on the entire polluted world from which one could see the stars.
The room was hushed and dark. Above, the sky was black and dusted with brilliantly white stars. Pel did not recognize any of the constellations. He began walking to the center of the room, where he knew Master Yoda would be found.
Before Pel was halfway there, he heard Yoda's voice echo softly from ahead of him. "Up so late, my young friend?" A gentle light filled the middle of the Observatory, revealing the Master.
"I could not sleep tonight, my Master."
"Nor could I, Pel. Believe I do, that the source of your disturbance is the same as mine."
"I think that it is, Master Yoda. That is why I came looking for you."
"Know you did, that I was here?" Yoda inquired.
"I sensed you, Master. Your presence is not hard to detect."
"Not for you, perhaps," Yoda said. "But as sensitive to the outside world as you are, your two friends are not."
"No, Master." Pel was quiet for a moment, struggling for words. Eventually, "Master, I think you know what I am going to say."
"I do. But say it yourself you must."
Pel inhaled deeply, then let out the breath. "All right, Master. I wish to go with Elor and Tomet on their mission to Imokor." He stopped, expecting Yoda to interject; but the Master simply gazed at him, silently saying, Continue. "I do not ask this because I am afraid of being separated from them. You know that I am aware of the danger of attachment. But...I have to leave the Temple. Someday. Soon. Weak as I am, I cannot stay here all my life."
"Why not?" Yoda finally interrupted. "Many Jedi there are who spend their lives in the Temple. Warriors and diplomats, not all can be. Teachers and historians we need as well."
"But I cannot be one of them, Master." Pel turned away suddenly, looking upward at the false sky above them. His voice wavered, uncertain. His back to Yoda, he said, "I have lived in the Temple all my life. And it has been...good. I have become a whole person here, despite the innate divisions of my genetic code. But I cannot continue to be a whole person unless I leave. Unless I put what I have learned to use. Elsewhere." He turned back to Yoda. "Do you understand me, Master?"
The tiny green Jedi bowed his head. "Understood this I have, for a long time. Choose I would not, to lose all three of my favorite students at once. But selfish I was to try to hold you here."
Pel seemed almost frightened by his unexpected success. "Then...I can go with them?"
"Your guidance, they will need. Calmed by your wisdom, their brashness must be." Yoda pointed upward at one of the brightest stars above. "Your destination, that is."
Pel crouched down to bid Yoda farewell. As he did so, Yoda put his hands on Pel's shoulders. "Moved all three of you are by a strange destiny. Protect you from it, I cannot. Count on you, I must, to keep the others safe. My wisest pupil."
Pel lowered his forehead to touch the other's, a rare gesture of intimacy with the most venerable of the Jedi.
"Fly in the morning, your ship does. Now go prepare." The stars winked out as Pel departed.