0 ABY
The quietest part of the command ship was devoid of life and in the main cargo bay. That's where Luke found Kal meditating in silence. The air hung still as Luke awkwardly walked through the stacks, finding Kal in the center of the room. He stood near her while picking at his jacket. He didn't know what to do. Should he say something? Should he clear his throat to grab her attention? Should he just wait for her to finish meditating?
In his eyes, she looked like an angel when she was calm and at peace. The harshness in her expression had disappeared. He almost didn't want to disturb her. But he had done so simply by entering the vast room. She could sense his presence from the moment the hatch slid open.
Kal wanted to laugh. Through meditation, one could see and feel everything connected to the Force with heightened senses. Luke's inner turmoil stirred amusement in the young bounty hunter. Despite being tempted to let his conflict continue, she slowly opened her eyes, blinking a few times to let them adjust to the overhead lights. Though dim, the lights shined on the young man that stood before her. A month had passed since they had met, but he had already grown so much, not really physically but emotionally and mentally.
The death of Obi-Wan Kenobi still haunted both of them. Luke had lost his friend, his mentor. Even though he had only truly known him for a short time, the wise old man had opened his eyes to a broader universe and told him about his father. But Obi-Wan was actually Kal's father. Her heart and soul felt as though there was a piece missing. Meditation helped fill it. His presence was always nearby. Sometimes she could hear his voice and it made her feel whole again. They hadn't been the closest family, but they were still all each other had left.
Now Kal had Luke and Luke had Kal.
They were the oddest pair. Kal, ever stoic and sarcastic, and Luke, ever optimistic and hopeful. While Han and Leia continued to snap at each other, Kal and Luke slowly opened up to each other more. Kal let herself relax in his presence and Luke confided in her. And now that things had calmed down with the rebellion and the Rebel fleet relocated to the Pantora system, it was time to train Luke in the ways of the Jedi. Kal had to. For her father.
Waving her hand at the floor in front of her, she said, "Sit."
Luke's eyebrows creased, but he listened anyway. She was the master after all. If Luke wanted to learn, he had to listen to her. Though he did think she'd teach him how to wield the saber-like her father had started on the Falcon. But that hadn't been how she learned. Meditation always went first. As much as she hated it growing up, she recognized the necessity as she grew older.
"Close your eyes," she ordered. "Breath deeply, in and out." Her calming voice helped Luke's tense muscles relax as he sat on the cold cargo bay floor. "Stretch out with your feelings. Feel the Force flowing around you."
Luke didn't quite understand how to do that, but he had done it with Ben guiding him. He knew he could do it with Kaleena guiding him, too. They weren't much different from each other, right? Different approach but similar teachings. Right?
For a few minutes, they sat there together in silence. Occasionally, Kal would speak the same directions. Breath. Clear your thoughts. Reach out. Trust in the Force. Luke quickly grew frustrated. Kal quickly realized they were more similar than she had originally thought.
Obi-Wan certainly knew how to pick the angsty, impatient padawans. Then again, he had been one as well with Master Qui-Gon.
Kal had the limited experience of two different teaching styles, and they were for different ways of life. The only thing she had known for Jedi training was patience and serenity. The only thing she had known for bounty hunter training was passion and ferocity. Both approaches fit the profession they were meant for despite spitting out an opposite disciple. Kal hadn't fit either completely. Too strong-willed and intense to be a good Jedi. Too cautious and caring to be a good bounty hunter.
As their legs grew sore from sitting on the cold, hard hangar floor, Luke slowly peeked open his eyes. Kal was too tranquil in his eyes. It didn't suit her. While he appreciated seeing the young woman doing something other than frowning, glaring, or smirking, he secretly yearned for her expressive nature. The stoicism belonged to her father.
Without lifting her eyelids, Kal asked, "Why are your eyes open?" Luke panicked. He hadn't thought she'd be able to sense such a small change. Kal's eyes snapped open as she raised an eyebrow. "Well?"
"I. . ." Luke sighed and shook his head. "I guess I just don't understand why we're meditating."
A smile tugged at the corners of Kal's lips. "If I had to spend nearly my whole life spending each morning meditating, you can handle a few minutes," she assured. "I hated it, too."
Luke's eyebrow's pinched together. "Really?" Then why did she continue to do it?
"Every morning, before we would start lessons, my dad made me meditate," Kal recalled. "It is meant to help clear your mind and strengthen your connection to the Force. You either love it or you hate it, but it is necessary. Some Jedi were able to use powerful Force abilities through meditation. It also allows Jedi to see visions of the past, present, and future. Nothing is impossible with the Force, but you have to be open to it, be willing to use it, and be guided by it. That can be achieved through meditation."
The young Skywalker's eyes were wide and filled with wonder. His knowledge of the Force was incredibly limited. What he knew had come from Ben.
"Abilities like what?" he asked.
Pursing her lips, Kal raked her eyes over the boy in front of her. She hadn't noticed before, but his eyes practically glowed blue. "Well, it depends on which aspect of Force powers you're looking at." At the confused expression overtaking his face, Kal continued. "The Jedi Order divided all Force abilities into three aspects depending on the way the Force was focused on when using them." Her continued explanation didn't help him understand better.
Kal sighed and donned an earnest look as she thought of how to describe it. Her father had at least been a Jedi Master when teaching her. He also had experience training a padawan prior to her, though Kal in no way thought of Luke as her padawan.
"Okay, the first thing you have to learn about the Force is the aspect of Control," she began. "Control is internal, focusing on a Jedi's ability to recognize the Force within themselves and use it."
Luke nodded. "That's why you start with meditation."
A small smile threatened to develop. "Exactly. Control centers on the ability to control your own body and it must be constantly practiced. It's where the basics of all disciplines of Force begin. With it, you can actually prolong your life or avoid the natural decay of the body."
"Wow, really?" Luke asked, his eyes sparkling and his mouth grinning.
"Yes. Now close your eyes and meditate." Luke happily listened with a new sense of excitement for the task at hand. "Feel the Force flowing through you. Focus on it. Let it calm you. Let it energize you. Feel all the possibilities."
As Kal stretched her legs out an hour later, Luke gazed at her thoughtfully. He had one last question before they broke for the night. It had been bothering him for a while, and if he didn't ask then, he didn't know when he would get the chance to.
"Why do you always say 'Force-user' or 'them' when talking about the Jedi?" he wondered. "I mean, aren't you a Jedi, too?"
The bounty hunter slowly stood tall, holding her head high and shoulders back as she turned to face Luke. He wanted to take back the question at the sight of her expression. It was the same one she wore when she had seen her father again. Clenched jaw. Strained eyes. Tempered anger.
"There's more than one kind of Jedi. The sooner you learn that, the easier it'll be."
She tried to walk off, but Luke kept pace with her. "But that still means you're a Jedi, even if there is more than one kind," Luke pointed out.
"It's not the same," Kal spat, not wanting to continue the conversation.
One of Luke's many qualities included his inability to drop something. "What kinds are there?"
Kal stopped walking and faced Luke. They hadn't even reached the cargo bay door and he had already chipped away at the wall she had attempted to put up with the onset of his question. "First, there are the Jedi. They follow the Jedi Code and are part of the Jedi Order, or were. Dark Jedi are the ones who have fallen from the Light Side and been corrupted by the Dark Side. Sometimes they're confused with Sith. But the Sith only use the Dark Side and have their own Sith Code."
With his eyebrows scrunched together, Luke asked, "Why are Dark Jedi and Sith sometimes confused?"
"Only two true Sith can be present at a time." Kal waved her hand to dismiss his unspoken question. "It's something they came up with. Anyone else is just a Dark Jedi following their teachings."
A moment of silence passed through the two. Luke had one last question, and this one he wasn't sure he wanted to ask. "So, what are you?"
The shakiness of his voice did not go unnoticed by Kal. She could sense his conflicting feelings, the same as prior to the training. He knew she wasn't evil. Through the Force, he felt the goodness in her, but at the same time, she had only given three options. Good, mildly evil, and pure evil. And she had claimed she wasn't a Jedi.
"The Gray Jedi deviate from the code and can tap into the Dark Side, but aren't corrupted by it. Some are members of the Order, some aren't. That's what I am."
Most of the crew had gone to their quarters and tucked in for the night by the time Kal found herself in the engine room of the command ship. With all of the engineers asleep or working on other parts of the ship, the engine room was empty. Other than the constant hum of the engine, it was devoid of sound.
Kal found it to be relaxing as she stretched her legs out in front of her and leaned back on her arms. She closed her eyes, letting her muscles loosen. The silence was rare on the ship or anywhere in the rebellion for that matter. So rare that Kal's relaxation was interrupted.
"Hey, hunter," a deep voice called out.
Tilting her head backward, Kal looked at Wedge as he strolled over from behind her. "Shouldn't you be asleep?" she asked, staring at her friend upside down.
"I could ask you the same thing." Wedge plopped down beside Kal. "Long day?" Kal groaned and laid fully on her back, Wedge snickering at her. "That bad, huh?"
Kal sighed, staring up at the ceiling of the engine room as she used her arm as a pillow. "It wasn't bad, per se."
"You can tell me."
The bounty hunter gazed up at Wedge. He stared down at her from his seated position next to her with a sincere expression. Friendly and approachable Wedge, always willing to help. "It was just some resurfacing of memories," Kal assured.
Wedge didn't believe her, with good reason. But he didn't say anything, instead choosing to lay down beside her, backs pressed against the cool hard metal of the ship.