'Your previous master wasn't much cop at lightsabers, was he?'

'Kanan was great.'

'No he wasn't. Look. Ezra, I know you look up to him, and its clear he has taught you very well about how to be a Jedi, but he has not taught you how to use a lightsaber properly. No.' Darys said, holding up a hand, 'don't argue. I know you are very protective of his memory, but you need to let go of some of what he taught you.'

'Which bits?'

'Footwork.'

'Kanan never really said much about feet.'

'That figures. Footwork is important. You have the arms right for each of the positions, but your feet are all wrong.'

'What do you mean?'

'Well. For a start, your heels are touching the ground.'

'They're part of my feet. Isn't that where they should be?'

'No. You should be on the balls of your feet. And lean forwards a bit. Good. Now, the back foot. Move it so it's perpendicular to your front foot. See. Now get the arms in ready position. There! Now that's ready position.'

'But I feel unbalanced. I was much more stable as I was doing it.'

'I know. But stability is bad. The key to surviving a lightsaber fight is mobility. don't let yourself get hit. That means you need to be able to move nearly instantly. Try it now. Move left. And right. See how easy that was? Now go back to your old way of standing and try to move. See. It's harder, isn't it?'

'Yeah. So you're telling me that all I have to do is lean forward?'

'More or less. The key thing is never to let your heels touch the ground. If you have your heels planted you aren't ready to move.'

'Is it that simple?'

'It usually is. A lot of people concentrate solely on the Force when they teach lightsaber combat. A bit too much if you ask me. Biomechanics is pretty important too. Particularly if you ever get into Form IV. It's much easier to perform all those jumps if you aren't asking the Force to do all the work. Though of course it's valuable for each of the seven forms.'

'Seven forms? Kanan only taught me about six.'

'I'm not surprised. The seventh form is difficult to perform without drawing nearly constantly on the Force. To use it you have to skirt the penumbra of the dark side. Plenty of Jedi have fallen that way over the years. By the time I was knighted the High Council had forbidden it to be taught without seeking the express permission of the Council. And there weren't all that many masters allowed to teach it either. And before you ask, I am not allowed to teach it either, so don't ask me.'

'Do you know it?'

'A little. I was training to be an instructor in lightsaber combat. To do that you have to know all the forms. But I have never used it even in a practice bout. The Council did not grant me permission.'

'So you were good at lightsabers?'

'Yes. I was one of the leading duellists of my generation. A recognised master of forms two and three by the time I was knighted. And I've been working on form five a lot too. Developing it.'

'That's impressive. Are you going to teach me your improvements?'

'I hope to some day. But first of all I want to try and work on them myself. The move isn't finished yet, and every time I try it I end up with a blister on my hand. A big one. When I work out how to do it properly myself, then I'll teach you. Now. I want you to spend some time going over the positions, concentrating on keeping your heels up. Over and over again until it's natural for you. Feel free to use the training room whenever you like. If you find yourself getting bored, try and see how long you can hold a position for. Or how quickly you can change through the positions.'

'Is that it?'

'For today, yes. Though I would recommend spending some time practising. Now, do you have any questions for me before I start my own drills?'

'No. I don't think so.'

'Good lad. Well. If you come up with any I will just be on the other side of the room. Do you mind if I put some music on? I find something with a beat helps me with timing when I don't have a real opponent.'

'I'm here.'

'But you aren't ready yet. You need to work on your exercises.'

Ezra looked crestfallen.

'We'll spar someday, Padawan. And soon, I hope. But first I need to break you of your bad habits.'

Darys strode across the room and pressed a button. Immediately out of some hidden sound system some sort of martial music began to play. It had a strong rhythm and a catchy melody over the top. Then, as Ezra was focussing on his exercises, the knight began his own practice. Ezra tried to block it out at first but in the end he couldn't focus on his own exercises any more; Darys' own training was exuberant. With his robes flashing around him Darys leapt forward and backwards, always staying on his toes, his lightsaber moving to parry and block an imaginary opponent before he leapt forwards again to take the attack against his fictitious foe. So this was why Ezra needed to get his weight forward. The fighting he had done with Kanan seemed positively pedestrian in comparison with this. Now Ezra began to see how good the Jedi order of old was. And maybe, just maybe, why Darys hadn't thought Kanan to be much use with a saber in hand.

No. He wasn't supposed to be getting distracted. Kanan would be embarassed. He was supposed to be focusing on his own footwork. So Ezra resumed, changing positions in time to the music. That kinda helped having that beat there. With Kanan he had found the basics, well, boring, but this was nearer being fun. It wasn't that Kanan was a bad master. No. Kanan was the best master. He was his master, and he always would be. But there might just be something to be learned from Darys.

Ezra began to become lost in his exercises, focussing in on the way his feet moved. The focus felt good. Like he was getting back towards his old self. Like he hadn't really been since Kanan had died. Suddenly, the music stopped. Ezra looked around to figure out the cause and as surprised to see Darys just standing there, watching him go through the motions, a broad smile on his face.

'Well done, Ezra. You've made real progress today. Do you want a quick spar to finish off?'

'I don't think I can compete with you.'

'I would be surprised if you could yet. But you will someday. You have my word on that, Ezra. You are a quick learner. And strong in the Force.'

'Thank you. And what happened to not using my name?'

'You earned my respect. I was expecting an ill-disciplined half-trained padawan. You are much more than that.'

'But I don't have a lightsaber. Just this metal rod.'

'I know. I know. But I have an idea for that too. Once we refuel on Charis III, our next stop will see us finding you a new kyber crystal. I promise you, Ezra. In the mean time, there's plenty of blaster pistols in the armoury.'

'Darys?'

'Yes, Ezra?'

'I was thinking about Kanan. And about the code. He told me Jedi aren't supposed to from attachments. Does that mean I am a bad Jedi because I still miss him?'

'No. The attachment thing is not strictly part of the code. It's more… intepretation. As provided by the High Council, so you will appreciate it's not entirely bad advice. But still, you can feel somewhat attached to people and things. The important thing is being able to let go. Being able to accept loss. Feeling sad at the loss of a friend. Or family, well, that's only natural. And for some people it's unbearable. They get pushed over the edge by it, they start blaming anything and everything for their loved one's death. That is the path to the dark side. Others are more capable of forming attachments but keeping themselves in the light of the Force.'

'So the fact that Kanan and Hera were romantically engaged didn't make him a bad Jedi?'

'No. From what you have told me about him I suspect she helped make him a much better Jedi. He was able to let go when the time came. He allowed himself to give up his life and her presence in his life when it mattered.'

'Thank you. I do still miss him. I wish he was here with me now, in person, not just as part of the Force. But I think I am ready to start moving on.'

'Don't move on too fast. Let his spirit guide you. He is part of the Force now. If you are lucky, you will be able to sense him from time to time.'

'Do you ever sense anyone in the Force?'

'Not often. But occasionally when I am practising I think I can feel Mace Windu in the room with me.'

'Was he your master?'

'Oh no. I wasn't so illustrious as to be picked by Master Windu. But he always kept an eye out for me. Gave me the odd hint here and there about how to improve my technique. It's been nearly twenty years since I last saw him, but I don't think a day goes by when I don't miss him. And I don't think that makes me less of a Jedi. It's perfectly natural to feel emotions. Sadness, happiness. All of it. I don't think you have to suppress all feeling to be a Jedi. Just control your emotion. Make sure that your head always rules your heart. That's the key.'

The months passed as the ship rattled slowly through hyperspace. Every day Ezra practised in the training room, and before long Darys allowed the two of them to spar properly. It was almost fun. It was definitely hard work. Every time Ezra improved enough to overcome what the other Jedi did, Darys introduced a new move or technique. That they were only sparring with metal rods didn't help either, as Darys seemed to believe that meant that they were free to hit each other as hard as they liked. "It'll help you learn" was all he had to say when Ezra started to complain about the bruising. Though perhaps he had tried to soften the blows a bit more.

'Haha!' Ezra yelled, excited to have gotten his first blow in against the other Jedi.

'Nice one! You're getting better. But don't get cocky. You're nothing on some of the great masters of the old days. There's always someone better than you out there. And that better person is still me.' Darys said, soundly proving the point by beating Ezra in the next ten practice bouts before calling an end to the session.

It was a hard life. Repetitive too. Tinker with the ship, eat, sleep, practice sparring. It almost came as a relief to Ezra when they began to approach Charis III and they had to start working out how to perform the fuel raid. Now that was something that Ezra loved. It reminded him of the days he spent with his adoptive family aboard the Ghost. And somehow, it made him feel more like he and Darys were family. Perhaps it was just because they had the same home planet.

Yawning in bed one evening, Ezra promised himself that he would ask Darys what his surname was. Perhaps they were distant cousins or something. Ezra soon fell asleep, softly snoring through the night.