"Absolutely not! Have you forgotten your training? Has your mind been corrupted by the Sith?" Kara's former master scolded her.

"She needs us, Master," Kara pleaded. "She needs the Jedi."

"You have lost your mind, and in doing so, your connection to the Force."

"Quite the opposite."

"You ask me now to send our troops into battle to rescue a Sith? Kara, I fear you have been influenced in ways even I could not have imagined. How can you ask this of me?"

"She needs me."

"I know she is your student and that you care for her, Kara, but your attachment to her has made your mind weak! You must leave her behind. You know the right thing to do. Why do you turn towards Darkness?"

"If right is leaving, I would rather be wrong," Kara told her master harshly. "And if loving her means that I have to suffer, then I will be the martyr, and love will be to blame. She is my healing."

"You suffer from your own emotions," her mentor asserted. "Not from love. You are blinded by them."

"I am enlightened by them."

"You are—"

"You are wrong."

"The Force—"

"I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me. The Force is strong in her, and - as you once told me - it flows through all things, including me. The Force leads me to her now."

"She bends the Force to her will, Kara, as you bend your emotions into a lust for power."

Blinking several times to clear her thoughts, the younger Jedi replied, "Power? You think I seek power?" When her mentor didn't speak, Kara continued, "This is about love, Master. You have always trained me to reject attachments that interfere with my obedience to the Force. But this... this is the Force, pulling me to her."

"Pulling you to Darkness."

"You don't understand."

"What exactly don't I understand?" the older mentor challenged.

"Lena has pursued peace and found it in me."

"Kara, she is your student.And I have taught you better than to let your emotions blind you!"

"Perhaps it is you who is blind, Master. Emotions do not rule us. They fuel us. My love for Lena has given me a clarity that I have never experienced. You say that my emotions blind me, but it is the denial and rejection of your own that veil the truth from your eyes."

"Kara. I'm warning you. You must let her go. The darkness—"

"I told you. She has pursued the path of peace."

"What do you mean?" Kara's master asked, finally taking the time to consider her pupil's words carefully.

"She destroyed the Kyber crystal in her saber. She surrendered to the Force and allowed it to flow through her. She has defeated the Emperor."

"She what?"

As calm and resilient as the stars surrounding them, Kara answered, "Lena Luthor has used the Force to remove the Emperor from power."

"He is dead?" her mentor asked in disbelief.

"No," Kara asked, allowing the faintest hint of a proud smirk to curl her lips. "He lives. She showed him mercy. He is in the custody of the Resistance."

"Impossible."

"Anything is possible, Master. Lena has proven that."

"Your pride corrupts you, Kara. You—"

"I am proud of her, yes. But that emotion is secondary to my love for her."

"This 'love' you speak of..." the older Jedi began, tone suddenly softened. "What makes you so sure that it aligns with the Force? What makes you sure that you are not clouded by lust?"

"You were wrong, Master," Kara sighed with a sad smile. "Love is the most powerful element of the Force. The most powerful element of peace. Without it, nothing thrives but Darkness. You once told me that fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. And hate leads to suffering. Did you not?"

"I did..."

"I taught Lena the same. And now she has taught me more. The Jedi Order ascribes to peace and oneness with the Force. What, Master, could be more in line with this principle than love itself? What could embody our values more than that?"

"Attachment is blinding, Kara, like all emotions. Rejecting it allows us the freedom to feel the will of the Force."

"Love is what moves our Jedi Order to seek peace, Master. Why do so if not for a love of all beings?"

"Because peace is a state of balance in the Force that must be restored, and it is the calling of a Jedi to ensure that this comes to pass."

With a sad sigh, Kara shook her head in disappointment at her teacher's lack of understanding.

"You must look deeper to truly see."

"Reject her, Kara. I warn you now. This path you turn to now... it will lead to Darkness."

"After all you've taught me, and all I have learned from others, I have discovered that nothing could demonstrate my devotion to the Force than my love of Lena, and my love for others. 'Love' is not the same as the 'attachment' you fear. Raging against the realities of life - such as the inevitable death of all beings - is what brings suffering, not the love of others."

As Kara spoke these words, she noticed her mentor's eyes widen slightly in surprise. Her own eyes filled with hope, she placed her hand on the older Jedi's shoulder, not breaking the gaze.

"Please, Master. Look with another set of eyes. See from a new angle. I know that if you listen closely, the Force will speak the truth of my words." When her master's expression faded from one of disappointment into one of gentle skepticism, Kara asked of her, "Trust me, Master. Trust that you have taught me not to blindly follow, but to think critically and to listen well to the pull of the Force. Allow me to do this. Help me. Help her."

"I will not."

"Master—"

"But I will provide the supports you need."

Mouth hanging open from shock, Kara asked, "Really?"

"I gave all of myself to you and your training, Kara. I have never doubted you, until this day. I have heard your words, and I fear I was wrong to doubt you, even now, as you speak words that reject everything I have taught you. I have asked you to trust me, but I have not done you the same courtesy."

"T-Thank you. Thank you, Master. And please... hear me when I say... I do not reject your teachings. I've embraced them fully. But the Force has led me a step further, and I wish to bring you with me."

"I trust you, Kara. My young padawan. Then the brave Jedi Knight. Then... the wise Jedi Master."

Kara found herself unable to hold back the dam of tears that streaked her cheeks as she embraced her teacher, just as her own padawan had done so many years ago.

"Thank you," she repeated. "Thank you."