yay finally off tattooine!

XX

Darkness. Hides me, lets me cry. I welcome the darkness into my heart. I welcome it into my life.

I vaguely hear footsteps and suddenly realise I'm lying on a comfortable bed. There's a beeping in the background, and the sound of droid servos whirring.

I hide in shadows so I don't have to face them again in my dreams. I dream about everything else, but at least I can hide from them.

Cold metal fingers poke at my wrist and I jump. What's going on here? A mechanical voice calls something out, but I don't hear it. I assume it's not to me.

It's nice lying here. No need to worry about life, about pain, about the Tuskens getting in and smashing up my stuff. Escape from reality.

Someone's leaning over me. I open my eyes blearily and a male face swims in my vision, a very handsome male face with full lips and long silky hair.

Maybe realities not that bad after all.

"Are you OK? Do you need anything?"

He's asking me. He's really asking me.

"I… I'm fine. Where am I?"

"You're in the medical facilities on Yavin in the Jedi Temple"

"Wha… Jedi Temple? Why?"

He looked grim.

"There was a fight in the cantina. A… rouge Jedi was there. He…"

"Hurt me with his lightsabre"

He laughed.

"Well that is one way to put it I suppose. It must hurt to have your hand cut off"

I stared in shock.

"Cut my… hand off?"

I turned to look at my hand, but it didn't look any different to normal. He chuckled.

"Other hand"

I twisted to the other side where a droid was making notes in its flat mechanical voice.

"Patient is conscious and talking normally. Seems to be no memory loss, would have to conduct further tests to be certain. Movement…" I reached out and punched it in the chest. I get wholly annoyed by droids. "…appears to be just fine. Showing hostilities…" He laughed and gestured at it to leave. Ever the droid, it obeyed without question.

"So you don't like droids, huh?"

I snorted derisively.

"They get in the way of everything, and alleviate blame" He looked curious.

"Alleviate blame? How so?"

"The tech assistant gets in trouble because the hyperdrive won't work. He blames it on the droid maintenance officer, who in turn blames a droid with degenerating programming. The captain doesn't know who to believe, and is sick of the web of intrigue. It's someone's fault and someone needs punishing, but whom? The tech assistant who's job it was in the first place, the droid maintenance girl who programmed the droid that helped him or the droid? Surely it's not the droids fault, it's only programmed. It has to be someone's, so both get punished!"

He laughed.

"Never thought of it that way, I'll admit. Where did you come from, cutie?"

I stared at him. Cutie? He thinks I'm cute… Oh my gosh this isn't possible.

"Err... Outer Rim, travelling starship"

"Travelling in the Outer Rim, that sounds good fun. Ever been to Corusant?" I nodded.

"Got a network of contacts in the underground from my parents"

His brow crinkled and I supposed if he was a Jedi he could feel my pain.

"What happened to your parents?"

"They died" I said simply. I knew he wanted to know details, but it was too painful to talk about them still. He nodded, seeming to understand.

"I understand. It hurts to lose someone we love" He paused for a second and I looked at him curiously. "While I was treating your infection, you healed faster than you should have with such a bad wound. It prompted me to ask a Council member to look at you and assess you for Force sensitivity. He said you were… very strong" I gaped at him. Me, sensitive to the Force? Me? "And, err… we're short on Jedi at the moment. Still building up our ranks. We were wondering… that is the Masters were wondering… if you wanted to join us"

I've been asked to join the Jedi. What would Mum and Dad think? Surely they would be proud of me, unless they knew I was Force sensitive all along. Is that why we never visited Jedi planets? They were afraid to lose me? They needn't have worried. I wouldn't have deserted them. But now I'm going to join the Jedi, and make a difference on the galaxy.

I smiled as I went to sleep.

XX

pleaz R&R as always