Kennera

The ancient Sith temple on the planet Krant was not a normal destination for a group of children on a field trip, especially not for children who were Force sensitive and in training to hopefully be Jedi one day. But Rey was not a normal teacher and the galaxy she and her students currently lived in was not the same galaxy where Jedi lived by the hundreds just 50 short years ago.

It had taken Rey a great deal of thought and time to prepare for this trip. Preparation had included many visits to the temple by herself, where meditation was ten times harder than on her current home of Ajan Kloss, and a great deal of discussion with her assistant instructors, Finn and his wife Rose. Not to mention support from her husband, who while still working on Naboo for the New Republic, was in contact with her at least every other day.

So, this trip had finally come to pass, and now she stood inside the small temple, watching her nine students ranging in age from 5 to 16 standard years sit in a circle on the floor in the center, with Finn standing at ease by the door. She slowly walked around the outside of the circle, feeling the tension emanating from the children. Not one of them was comfortable here, and for that she was glad, but there were a few in particular she wanted to keep her eye on more than the others. She had only given them a small amount of time to prepare for this trip, as she hadn't wanted them to start getting anxious and worried about it. Slowly she walked, her gaze flitting from one child to the next as she talked, carefully touching their minds so subtly that they were unaware of her connection.

"Close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing. You're safe here. Finn and I are here to help if you need it." She had taught them all about the Dark Side, of course, but book learning and experience were two very different things. "The Masters of our more recent Jedi history would not look kindly on what we are doing today," she told the children. "They believed the Dark Side should be avoided at all costs. That no child should ever be exposed to it during their training. But I believe that to be wrong. In fact, I believe that was the beginning of their end."

She glanced over at Finn. He was a student, too, in a way. Though not extremely powerful in the Force, his connection to it was strong enough that he had been a great help to her in her training. She could tell he also felt the dark pull of this place, but his eyes when he met her glance were calm, focused. She had no worries about him. He had survived the First Order, which had been darkness incarnate. A Sith temple was not a big deal for him.

"The children that were trained to be Jedi in the later years of the Order were indeed never exposed to the Dark Side," Rey continued. "Therefore, they never learned to recognize its subtleties. Its nuances. In and of itself, the Dark Side is easy to recognize. Powerful. Frightening. But when it's under the control of someone with great skill, it can be very slight. Almost invisible. And very seductive. Because the Jedi of that last age had never felt the Dark Side as children, they could not recognize what was right in front of them until it was too late. Darth Sidious manipulated them and warped them and finally destroyed them." The name of the Sith Lord came out of her mouth much easier than his given name. She refused to say that name. "What you feel in this Temple is the same subtle power that Sidious used," Rey said softly. "Can you feel it?"

She saw nine heads nod. They were still nervous, but trying not to show it. "Now, open yourselves up to it," she said. "Slowly. Don't let it push inside forcefully. Invite it." Deep breaths were taken and she felt a few powerful surges of fear. She pinpointed them and pushed her own Light toward them, offering support. "No worries, it will not drive out your own Light. Not unless you want it to." And that was what they feared, she thought. They had heard the stories. Stories of good men and women, trained Jedi, who fell to the Dark Side. She had tried to let them know it wasn't something that would happen all at once. It was a gradual thing. A process. While it was all the same Force, the different energies couldn't be changed back and forth with the flip of a switch. "Now, feel it. Recognize it. It's still a part of the Force. You must not let it control you; you need to be able to control it." She paused. "You will find yourselves tempted in the days and years ahead. Don't think you won't. You need to understand that balance is achieved not by destroying the Dark, but by keeping it from controlling you. The more you ignore its existence, the more likely it will find a way to influence you in the end, either by dominating you or destroying you."

She touched one mind after another, observing how each child was reacting to the connection to the Dark and offering support to help ease the fear of it when needed. After only a few minutes, she continued. "Now, push it out. Imagine that wall of light we talked about. Build it up between you and the dark and push. Don't shove it. Don't offer it any reason to resist. Just gently push." She kept talking as she felt the gradual lightening of their minds. Taking control of the thing they feared gave them confidence. Her youngest student, a human girl named Isaias, was the first to succeed, and her eyes popped open in amazement as she looked at Rey. Rey smiled back at her. She had always known this child had huge potential and strength.

One by one, her students opened their eyes, breathing deeply in relief at having pushed out the heaviness caused by allowing the Dark Side in. Rey grinned at Finn when Temiri's eyes opened and a huge smile spread across his face. She saw Finn take a deep breath and relax. Finally, there were only two who still had yet to come out of the meditation. Schulyler, her one Caamasi student, and Raseyn, her oldest and newest student. She let herself touch Schulyer's mind, giving the 9-year-old a gentle push with her own Light Side energy. It was all the girl needed, and she soon opened her eyes in triumph, looking at Rey with thanks. Rey then focused on Raseyn.

Raseyn was the one student she had been a bit worried about bringing here, but she felt that at his age he needed to be pushed a little harder than the younger children. He was already 16, essentially an adult, and had only been with her for two months. His father had brought him to her, begging her to take over his studies, as he had become afraid of his son's power and where it was heading. Rey had felt no darkness in the young man, but she had felt that power, and she knew it needed direction. While she was uncertain if she could help him become a Jedi, she knew she needed to insure he didn't become something dangerous to himself and others.

Raseyn had had a good upbringing. Parents who loved him and cared for him the best they could while living off the land as farmers on Lah'mu. Though his mother had died when he was only eleven and he and his father had been on their own since, Rey knew that his early upbringing had been beneficial for the positive direction of his Force abilities. The fact that he was one of three of her students who had no immediate family member with Force sensitivity was also interesting. She pushed gently into his mind and found him struggling. The Dark was calling him, as it once called her, sensing his lack of experience and understanding. His 'wall' of Light was fading, but he was still trying. She added her own light to that wall and could feel its imaginary glow build. She felt Raseyn bolster himself and she saw the light brighten even more. She encouraged him to push, and he did. As she felt him strengthen, she backed off. He had to do this himself. She could give them a boost, but they needed to finish on their own. And he did. Breathing hard, he finally opened his eyes and met hers with gratitude.

She smiled and nodded. "Perfect," she said softly, so as not to disturb the silence that surrounded them. "That was only an inkling of what the Dark Side can do if you let it in. Control. That is the key. Not ignoring it. Not pretending it's defeated and gone. It will always be there, but you can master it. And that is far different than letting it master you." She paused, then clapped her hands suddenly, making everyone in the room, including Finn, jump. "Let's get the hell out of here!"

Laughing with the sudden ease of tension, her students jumped up and headed for the door, where Finn stepped aside and ushered them through. Just outside waited the Millennium Falcon and her owner Chewbacca, as well as Rose and R2-D2, ready to take them all back to Ajan Kloss.

"That went well," Finn told her as the last student passed through the door. "It looked like Raseyn was having some issues, though."

She nodded. "More from lack of experience than anything, I think," she agreed. "He was still fighting it when I helped. And I only helped a bit. He finished on his own."

"Good," Finn said with a grin. He liked the kid. Raseyn reminded him of himself.

"Thank you for being there to help me if I needed it," Rey told him.

"Yeah, I don't know what help I could have given you, but I was ready for anything."

Rey laughed. "Well, my experiment was a success, I think," she said as she turned and used the Force to close the temple door behind them. "I hope my theory is correct and it helps them avoid falling to the Dark Side in the future."

"I think it will definitely help," Finn said.

Suddenly, a wave of nausea came over Rey and her gut clenched. She stopped short and hunched over. Finn turned toward her, startled.

"What's wrong?" he asked, a bit panicked. After all, they were still next to the Sith temple.

The wave passed and Rey stood straight. "Nothing. I'm okay." She started walking again. "Probably stress from this trip," she told him softly, as they were nearing the Falcon's ramp.

"Well, you're going home now," Finn said with a comforting hand on her shoulder. "And now you can get ready for your honeymoon. Finally."

"Yes," Rey said with a smile. Only three months after the wedding, she thought sarcastically. "Finally!"