CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: REFLECTION AND REFRACTION

Since I knew I wouldn't have much time in the morning for my match preparations, I decided to spend the rest of the evening in practice and meditation. I also wanted to speak with Kreia, because I sensed she had some final advice for me. When her holocron glowed before I even said a word, I knew this was true.

"Greetings, Padawan," she told me, forgetting my actual title of 'Padawan-in-training'. "Your thoughts?"

"I've almost steeled myself for the fight against Master Voyna, but I said 'almost' for good reason."

"Yes, but not only for the reason of which you're thinking. Close your eyes." I obeyed, feeling my taut muscles relax. It was as if I'd been holding my breath for the past four days, and only now dared to exhale. "You seek to be powerful, especially against your opponent. I respect this desire more than you know. You also wish to be viewed as such by others, and admired. That is why you must win tomorrow. Who would deem you powerful if they watched you laundering uniforms and scrubbing floors, brought low by defeat?"

"Correct." My voice came out low and guttural, making me nearly growl the word. If this was Kreia's way of getting me fired up for the sparring battle, it was working marvelously. "As it stands right now, I'm just some fool who's not even a Padawan yet, gambling five hundred credits away and almost getting slain by thugs. If I duel Master Voyna to a stalemate, though, I'll be someone who's not only worked hard to prove herself, but proven herself victorious. People were watching me as I trained with Sten, and I don't…" Letting out a huge whoof of a breath, I continued, "They didn't look at me like I was an idiot who broke our Jedi rules. They wanted to see how well I would do, and I don't want to let them down as well as myself."

"Then, don't. That's what I'm here to help you not to do, and so I'd like you to meditate with me. Relax." My anger dissipated like evaporating acid, and the blackness of space enfolded me. "Picture Master Voyna." I did, and immediately recoiled. "What do you see? I suspect that you're not envisioning her physical form."

"She's like the sun - hot, blinding, and powerful. I can't stare directly at her for too long, even meditating." Then I had an idea: "Maybe my task in the sparring match is to reflect her power back toward her, like a mirror, and fight her that way. If I meet her every attack with just as strong of a defense, and vice-versa, then we'll be locked into a stalemate. I don't have to overcome her, Kreia. All I must do is earn a draw."

"Pah! Don't be naïve. Voyna is a Jedi Master, and for you, a draw against her is a victory - a major one." Pausing for a moment, Kreia continued, "What if you moved in front of her, impeding her brilliance?"

Sinking ever deeper into meditation, I pictured doing so, but then something strange happened. Without consciously imagining this, my body, as dark as the moon during a solar eclipse, began to lose its opacity. At first it was completely black, but then it became translucent, then transparent. Before long, it was a perfect prism, and the light of Master Voyna's solar essence was refracted into a magnificent spectrum. Never had the colors of the rainbow been so vivid, even indigo, which I'd always found difficult to see. "Kreia," I said, breathing heavily, "I didn't block her light. I've refracted it instead, making Master Voyna's aura even more beautiful. Why? That's not what you're supposed to do in regards to an opponent, but…"

"Wait." Kreia's tone was sharp. "By turning her sun-like majesty into something that even an infant can look at and not come to harm, you have made Master Voyna human, and thus vincible. Congratulations." A trickle of cold sweat ran down my armpit and soaked into my bra strap. "No one can defeat the sun, but a rainbow is such a fragile phantom that can disappear in seconds. During the match tomorrow, forget how strong she is. Forget her title, and all of the prestige that comes with it. Refract her power in your mind, and that way you'll be able to resist and counter it. Have you understood me so far?" I nodded.

Suddenly, a blaster bolt of doubt pierced my brain: "What if we start sparring, and Master Voyna turns into this big, kriffing blur of speed and attacks, and there's nothing I can do except fall on my rear, and -"

"Were those actual sentences, or a single word?" Kreia laughed, and I grinned sheepishly. "If she does, then she's not being fair. She should know you haven't reached that level of skill, and spar accordingly."

I had one more question, but it wasn't at all easy to ask: "Is it true that no one ever beats her in a fight?"

Silence.

"Kreia?"

More dirty, rotten silence.

I thought I'd laugh it off. "Ha, ha! Of course it's not true. Lixivia Falt was just being stupid as always."

Still, in my dreams that night, why did Master Voyna's sunlight even overshadow the scarlet starship?

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, no more dilly-dallying. My next chapter WILL be the sparring match. Place your bets: will Per'dra be able to duel her Jedi Master opponent to a stalemate? Will she fall on her rear? R&R!)