Epilogue
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Anakin and Obi-Wan were waiting when Masters Yoda and Yaddle exited Jameh's quarters, leaving Pilae to care for her friend."Resting well she is," Master Yoda said, "But the days ahead, hard will they be."
"Who will teach her now, Master Yoda?" Obi-wan questioned. They all knew how difficult it would be for Jameh, now bereft of her long-time Master and friend.
"Much yet to learn she has. Teach her I will." Master Yaddle said as she stepped forward.
"Hmm! Learned a Jedi's hardest lesson she has," Master Yoda leaned on his walking stick. "Grow from it she must. Yes, grow from it." Then he and Yaddle made their way down the hall, leaving Obi-Wan and Anakin.
"It seems so pointless, Master. Why did Miyaie seek revenge against Jameh when Jameh had done nothing to her?" Anakin asked as they walked through the Temple later that night.
"Well, my young apprentice, that is the way of the Dark Side: hatred, revenge, destruction. When her family died, Miyaie thought that revenge was all she had to live for and the only person to take it out on was Jameh, even though Jameh had had no part in the war. Just as Jameh lives to be a Jedi, so Miyaie lived to destroy her." Obi-Wan explained to Anakin, his brown robe folded about him as though to keep out the darkness.
"The Sith depend on the Dark Side for their being and reason, for with the Dark Side does indeed come great power. But that power will, in the end, destroy. It is no respecter of persons." Obi-Wan's voice fell as he remembered his Master Qui-Gon Jinn's death at the hands of Darth Maul and how Obi-Wan himself had avenged his Master at the risk of his own soul.
.......................................................................................Several days later, after the funeral, the Jedi Order gathered in the Great Hall to honor Master Newan Zeklar. Jameh sighed and smiled at Pilae who touched her hair gently, now tastefully cut by her own hand. Then, bearing her Master's lightsaber, Jameh strode to the front of the assembly to place it in a holding of honor and to be accepted by Master Yaddle as her Padawan.
After gently placing Master Zeklar's lightsaber in a case bearing an inscription to him, Jameh placed her hand over her heart, stepped back, and bowed in respect to her Master's memory. Then, turning to Master Yaddle, she bowed again, signifying her gratitude at being accepted as an apprentice to the kindly Jedi.
Perhaps Master Zeklar had been right; perhaps all would be well…someday.
THE END........................................................................................
Dedication
To Sean, Stephen, and Rusty, who insisted on my watching Star Wars and adamantly asserted that Yoda wasn't just a "creepy little green hermit".
Do i get my lightsaber now, Masters?