-The Prophecy-

It is now just several days where we left off at the end of the last story. Ben hears of an ancient prophecy that he fears may be talking about him. A prophecy that tells of a Jedi's buried anger that can destroy the Jedi. If it is about him, can he destroy his anger before it destroys everything?

I had just stepped into the throne room when Ryndell and Guild waved me over to a bench. I smiled as I made my way to where they were sitting. "Good morning, Guild. Good morning, Ryndell."

Simultaneously, they said, "Good morning, Ben."

"So where's Tallah?"

Ryndell said, "She'll be down in a little while. She's just in the middle of reading some old Jedi lore."

Guild scoffed and then snickered. "Reading all that stuff will account for nothing when you're out there saving the galaxy."

"Jedi are keepers of the peace, Guild. Not soldiers."

"And to keep the peace, we need to be in top physical form. Reading about the old Jedi won't make someone any stronger."

"Yes, but what good are all of our powers and capabilities if we don't learn how to use them properly?"

Guild just sat there not knowing quiet what to say.

Ryndell started laughing. "Checkmate."

Guild looked at her and smirked a little. "Shut up, Ryndell."

Then we all started to laugh, just as Tallah arrived to sit down with us. "What's so funny?"

Guild only had time to open his mouth before Ryndell interrupted him. "Oh, nothing really. Guild just lost another debate to Ben."

Before Guild could defend himself against that, Master Skywalker entered the Throne Room and everyone hushed up quickly. He took his place at the front of the podium. "Good morning. Today, I want to talk to all of you about a special tool I obtained years ago that allowed me to better understand the Jedi of old." He placed his hand in a pouch on his belt and pulled out a pale blue cube. "This cube holds the knowledge of thousands of Jedi Masters. The Jedi Holocron."

A hologram appeared of an old man with a long gray beard with the classic Jedi robe pulled over his head. "Greetings. I am Jedi Master Roshko Grimbete."

"Hello. I am Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. Do you have anything you wish to share with my students?"

Master Roshko paused a beat and said, "It all began when a group of scientists discovered the mystical energy that came to be called, 'the Force.' A few of them discovered that somehow, they were able to use this energy. And that it gave them great power. They later found that there were others as well who could use it. They got together and decided to only use our powers for the greater good of the galaxy. They understood that with great power came great responsibilities. This was the birth of the Jedi Order. However, there were some among the Order who decided to use it for themselves. For their own benefit. For power. Greed. This began the first was of the Jedi and Dark Jedi. The war raged on for over 100 years. I came to be a Jedi in these times. We fought the Dark Jedi and forced them off into the Unknown Regions."

At this moment all of the Jedi students cheered and clapped, but Master Grimbete raised his hand to silent us. He was not done yet. "The night after we drove the Dark Jedi away, I had a dream that delivered a prophecy. I will share it with you now.

"There is a young man from a galaxy far, far away;

He shall wake up in the Jedi Academy one day.

He will accept his new home with little remorse;

For his, is a world without the Force.

"The Force will call to him like a beacon;

This was the man the Force had been seekin'.

But his training will not be straight as an arrow;

For this bright light will cast a dark shadow.

"The training of the padawan will fly by much faster;

He was born with the knowledge of a great Jedi Master.

But do not be fooled by his calm and gentle part;

For deep within, lies a dark and angry heart.

"The Jedi Order must soften this heart of stone;

Or face the darkest enemy they have ever known."

Master Skywalker nodded. "That prophecy has come to pass. I'm glad to say that we have overcome it. Thank you, Master Grimbete."

Master Grimbete nodded once to Master Skywalker and said, "Yes. Call for me anytime that you need me." And as quickly as he had arrived, he was gone.

Master Skywalker placed the Jedi Holocron onto the podium and said, "There will be time each day for all of you to search and study with the Holocron. It will be here when you need it."

I could hardly pay attention to anything after hearing the prophecy given by Master Grimbete. That prophecy wasn't talking about Anakin Skywalker! It's talking about me!

---------------------------------------------

After class, I was leaving with Guild, Tallah, and Ryndell. They were all talking and laughing, but I wasn't in much of a mood to. Tallah was the first to notice the troubled look on my face. "Ben? What's wrong?"

I looked at her and honestly didn't know what to say. "I'm not sure, Tallah. There might not be anything wrong."

Guild said, "Then why are you worrying about it? Forget about it until you know you have to worry about it."

Granted, Guild made some sense. But this wasn't a time to sit back and relax. "I can't, Guild. It might be too important. I'm sorry guys, but I need to be alone for a while. I'll be back to meet you at the evening meal." Without waiting for a response, I ran off and didn't stop until I reached my room.

When I got there, I shut the door behind me and sat down on the stone floor. I took a deep breath and allowed myself to be absorbed by the Force. Searching in my mind and heart for any feelings that could be dangerous for a Jedi. I have to know if I really have anger inside me. I always though I let go of my anger a long time ago, but the easiest thing in the world to do, is to fool yourself.

I searched my mind for two hours and came up with virtually nothing. I don't feel anything bad. Just an old longingness to belong somewhere. Which I've already done here. The worst I'm picking up is a touch of spitefulness for being cheated out of so many gifts of childhood. Sleepovers, birthday parties, true friends. And I sense a desire to want to prove that those who hated me were wrong. But is that enough to become the worst enemy of the Jedi?

I took another deep breath as I opened my eyes and came back into awareness. If it's there, I can't find it. But I still have this feeling in my gut that I'm the one in the prophecy. I guess there's only one person to go to.

---------------------------------------------

Master Skywalker sat back in his chair, taking it all in before he looked back up at me and said, "And you believe that that prophecy is about you?"

"You have to admit that there are a lot of similarities between me and the man in the prophecy. My training is going much faster than the other students. You said so yourself that you've never had a student learn things so quickly."

"Yes, but do you know how many Jedi have been trained since the time the Force was discovered? Possibly millions. Do you think that there's never been other students who've learned things as fast? Or faster? I still believe that the prophecy was about my father."

"But he specifically said that they came from a world without the Force. Anakin Skywalker came from Tatooine. It just so happens that where I come from...the Force doesn't exist. How many places do you know about that are like that?"

Master Skywalker was silent for a long time before he spoke. "Ben, if what you're telling me is true—and I'm still not too sure...then I suppose we have to find out for sure. Tomorrow morning, you and I will go to the one place that will test you against the Dark Side. To reflect what's inside you."

After a moment, I caught on and nodded. "The Dark Side cave on Dagobah."

---------------------------------------------

That evening, I walked into the cafeteria. When I got my tray of food, I made my way to my friends. They were all sitting down quietly, looking concerned. As usual, Ryndell was the first to break the silence. "Ben, where'd you go? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry I ran off like that. It was an emergency. You know that prophecy we heard today from Master Grimbete?"

Guild said, "The one about Anakin Skywalker? Yeah..."

"Well, I don't think that prophecy was about Anakin. I think it's about me."

Tallah responded with, "You? There's nothing dark or angry about you, Ben. Just yesterday, you stepped on a bug and you felt guilty about it. How could you become the greatest enemy the Jedi have ever faced?"

"I know that. I just can't ignore my feeling on this. And I've convinced Master Skywalker of the possibility. Tomorrow morning, he's taking me to Dagobah."

Ryndell asked, "What's on Dagobah?"

"A cave that's strong with the Dark Side of the Force. It shows you what's in your heart. And it can give you the most important of lessons. During his own training, Master Skywalker entered it. The only way to know for sure is to enter the cave."

Guild asked what I could tell they were all thinking. "And...what if the prophecy is about you?"

"Then...Master Skywalker and I will have to figure it out from there."

---------------------------------------------

Master Skywalker and I got up very early the next morning to get our ship ready for take off. He had put Master Streen in charge of things while he was gone, as he usually did. We were in the docking bay loading our supplies into our ship, not speaking very much. We both saw this as a very serious moment and weren't up for much conversation. That was just fine with me.

"Hey, wait for us!" I recognized the voice immediately. Guild.

I turned around to see Guild, Tallah, and Ryndell racing down the docking bay towards us. When they reached us, Ryndell said, "After you left last night, we all agreed that we wanted to come with you."

"Thanks Ryndell, but I'm not so sure that that's a good idea. We're not exactly going to a paradise resort. And if things do go the way I think they might, it's not going to be very pleasant."

Tallah said, "We understand that. That's why we want to go. In case things do get rough down there, we'll be right there. No matter how bad things get, friends can always help make things better."

Friends. For most of my life, I never thought that anyone would actually consider me a friend. I looked over to Master Skywalker and said, "Would it be all right if they came along, Master?"

Master Skywalker smiled a little. "As long as you don't have a problem with it, I suppose so."

Guild, Tallah, and Ryndell all said, "Thank you, Master Skywalker."

"You're welcome. But listen carefully. Ben was right. Dagobah is no resort. It has no cities, no technology. Nothing. It's a swamp. The only thing it has are lots of wild animals. And many of them are very dangerous. We all have to stay close together and be mindful. Understand?"

"Yes, Master Skywalker."

"Good. Now, why don't all of you help load up the supplies?"

Within the hour, our ship was loaded up and in the air. A few minutes later, we left Yavin's atmosphere behind us and entered hyperspace. I was quiet as took a seat in the cockpit. Well, the time of my greatest test yet is coming. All those years watching Star Wars, I was sure that I would've never gone to the Dark Side if I were a Jedi. Now I'll finally know.

---------------------------------------------

A few hours after entering hyperspace, Master Skywalker left me alone in the cockpit to go meditate.

I just sat in the co-pilot's chair, not doing much of anything. It felt like I had a 10 pound weight in my stomach. I don't see how this could prophecy could not be talking about me. It was describing me in every line.

I leaned forward and buried my face in my hands. It's not fair. I actually find something that I'm the best at. But now because of this, it looks like it's never going to happen. No matter what I do, no matter how I better myself, no matter where I go, my past is always there to ruin things.

"You're scared to enter the cave."

I raised my head and turned to see Tallah standing there. "I'm not scared. Not really. What I face can't really hurt me."

"No, I can tell that you're not scared for your life. You fear the possibility of not becoming a Jedi Knight. You fear the power that you feel inside of you. To not be able to control it. You fear becoming a second Darth Vader."

How could she know so much about me? "Yeah...I guess I do fear those things. Master Skywalker has dedicated his entire life to restoring the Jedi Order. If I am the one destined from the prophecy, I'd fly a ship into a sun before I'd give myself the chance to destroy what so many have worked so hard to build."

Tallah walked up to me and knelt down. She took my hand and said, "You're forgetting the last part of the prophecy. 'The Jedi Order must soften this heart of stone.' To me, that says that there will still be hope for that student. No Jedi is destined one way. All Jedi are destined for either great good or great evil. It can still be fought off."

"I'm not so sure if I could fight it."

"You won't have to fight it alone. Master Skywalker will be there. And Guild and Ryndell. I'll be there, too."

I brought my eyes up to look at her's. We stayed that way for a moment. I've never really been all that great at things like this.

You don't have to think. Just do.

I leaned my face in closer to hers. A moment before our lips met, I heard the hissing noise of the door to the cockpit open. Tallah let go of my hand and we both pulled back.

I turned my head to see Guild come in. "Oh, there you guys are. Ryndell and I were wondering what happened to you two." He looked at both of us and saw that Tallah's face was bright red. "Uh, did I walk in a few seconds too early or too late?"

Tallah got up to her feet and walked quickly out of the room without saying a word. After she left, Guild turned back to me, giving me the Rodian version of a smirk. "So what was going on in here?"

"Nothing. We were just talking," I lied. The hyper-drive began to beep at that moment. Thank God. An excuse to get out of here. "We're coming up on Dagobah. I better go get Master Skywalker."

---------------------------------------------

As the ramp to our ship slowly lowered to the ground we all walked down onto the ground, looking around at the new environment we were all on. It was Guild that said what I could tell Tallah and Ryndell were thinking. "Phew...what died here?"

"One of the greatest Jedi Masters who ever lived, Guild." We all turned around to see Master Skywalker walking up behind us. "Of course, since he didn't leave a body behind, he wouldn't leave a smell, either."

Guild stammered over his next words, obviously embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Master. That's not what I...I mean...I didn't intend any disrespect to Master Yoda."

"There's no apology necessary, Guild. Master Yoda forgave my rudeness to him when we first met. So I'm sure that he wouldn't think anything of your words." Master Skywalker put down the large box that he was carrying and looked at all of us. "I think we'll all eat something before we begin what we need to."

I looked around at the clearing that we were in and noticed the familiarity of it. I looked around and saw a fallen mutilated hut that had more almost completely composted. "This was the hut that Master Yoda lived in, wasn't it?"

Master Skywalker looked more than a little surprised. "Yes, Ben, it is. How did you know?"

I couldn't very well tell him, 'Well, I saw it in The Empire Strikes Back!' So thinking quickly, I just blurted out, "Well, I can just feel a very powerful aura from there. It could only be from as powerful a Jedi Master as Yoda."

"I on, Ben. Get something to eat. You're going to need a full stomach for where you're going today."

---------------------------------------------

I stood outside the Dark Side cave. A huge rush of cold came over me. A sense and aura of death followed. I could almost hear Master Yoda's words, "That place is strong with the Dark Side of the Force. A domain of evil, it is. And in you must go."

I felt a hand go to my shoulder and the voice of Master Skywalker say, "No matter what it is that you face in there, remember what you've learned. Hold true to yourself and you will succeed."

I took a deep breath and entered the cave. When I reached the end, I stood there waiting. A beat later, I heard the sound of a lightsaber ignite behind me. Its red glow filled the cave.

I slowly turned around to face my test. But what I saw was nothing I had suspected. "Josh...what are you doing here?"

Josh was wearing the usual snide expression he usually had on his face. "Do you think you're the only one who can enter this world? Ignite your lightsaber so I can beat you again."

"I don't have a lightsaber yet."

"Really? After all this time? My master said I was ready after a week. That'll make this all that much easier. I guess you'll just always come up short when it comes to facing me." Josh began to approach me with his lightsaber held high.

At that moment, I began to feel a forgotten emotion. Rage. My heart began to thump harder. My teeth gnashed together as my jaw muscles flexed. I felt my blood boiling. "A Jedi is never without a weapon, Josh. One even more powerful than a lightsaber."

"Yeah? What's that?"

I allowed myself to smile as I brought my right arm up with my hand open. "The Force!"

As I slowly began to clench my hand, the hilt of Josh's lightsaber began to crush until it finally exploded in his hands. Josh let out a scream of pain, looking down at his burned hands. With a turn of my wrist, the bones in his arms snapped like twigs. He let out an even larger continuous scream of pain. But I wasn't done yet.

I lifted my now clenched left hand level with my right and drove them forward. The sound of snapping returned. This time from Josh's legs. He began to fall to the ground, but I wouldn't let him.

"On your feet!" I used the Force to keep him up, but not for long. I drove my right hand forward again and launched his back into a tree. I never knew if the next snapping sound I heard came from the tree or Josh's back. However, my anger was still not satisfied.

Josh had just barely hit the ground before I leaped on top of him and began to throw punches into his face and body, using the Force to increase the speed and strength of my hits.

It wasn't long before Josh's face and body were practically flattened. My clothes were soaked in his blood. My thirst for revenge finally quenched, I sat there staring down at his mangled face.

But his face began to change. It slowly became the face of another man. One who symbolized evil more than anyone else ever did, living or dead. The Emperor!

I leaped off the body and stood up, just as it began to rise up into the air and change into a blue spirit. "Excellent! Your anger burns brightly inside you! With you as the new Dark Lord of the Sith, you will bring the Jedi to their knees!"

"I'll never join you, Palpatine!"

"Join? Dear boy, you have killed in anger. You have already joined the Dark Side. There is no turning back now."

"Never."

"You do not believe me? Look at yourself."

I hesitated before I looked down at myself and jumped. I was now in all black. My clothes were similar to the ones worn by Darth Vader. I looked back up to the Emperor who was now smiling. "And that's not all. Look at your face."

I brought my hand up to face, expecting to feel flesh. But what I felt was cold steel. I knelt down quickly and looked in a puddle of muddy water to look at my reflection. But what I saw was the mask of Darth Vader staring back at me. I put my hands on the mask and tugged at it. "It won't come off!"

"Of course not. This is your new face."

"No!" I began to tug even harder at the mask and helmet, but they refused to budge.

"Do not fight it. Embrace it. This is your destiny. A destiny of great power. You will succeed where Darth Vader failed. You will extinguish the flame of the Jedi Order...You will kill Luke Skywalker!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

I finally gave up trying to remove the mask and fell to my knees. I heard the Emperor begin to laugh. And it began to get louder and louder. The noise went into my ears and began to feel like having nails driven into my skull.

I buried my face into the mud to try and escape the piercing laughter, but there was no escaping it. It kept getting louder and louder. The Emperor's voice was now in my head. You will bring the Jedi to their knees! You will succeed where Darth Vader failed! You will kill Luke Skywalker!

I felt my spirit and energy fading away. I poured the last of my strength into one last scream. This time for help. "MASTER! ! !"

Suddenly, everything went quiet. I lifted my head out of the mud and looked around to find that I was alone again. I looked down at myself to see me in my old clothes. They weren't soaked in blood anymore. Just covered in mud. I brought my hand to my face and felt no mask. Just my face.

I failed...How could I have failed that test any more completely? I slowly got back up to my feet and began my walk out of the cave. It was only out of sheer will that kept me on my feet. I felt as if a strong wind would knock me off my feet.

I left the cave with my head down to the ground. Too ashamed of myself to face them. For having failed the test so completely. I didn't see them, but I knew all of their eyes were on me. Too shocked to say anything, I knew that they felt what I had done. I heard Master Skywalker walk up to me and stop right in front of me. He didn't say anything. He just stood there, allowing me to feel his stare. I felt no anger or resentment. Not even so much as a touch of annoyance. Just a yearning to understand. To want to help.

How can he possibly not be even a little upset? I have the potential to destroy everything he's dedicated his life to. He should be angry. He should be telling me that my training is over. Why won't he? It all became too much for me to handle and any strength I had remaining in my legs left. I fell to the ground and just sat there. It was a long moment before I found my voice.

"I don't understand, Master." I finally brought myself to look up at him. "I know what the Dark Side is. I can identify it from the light. I know not to use it and I don't want to, but...when it came time to deny it, I..." Tears began to well up in my eyes and I turned away to hide my tears.

"I know, Ben. I know."

"It was like I was standing to one side watching myself do all those things. Trying to stop myself, but I couldn't. It was like I had no control over my mind and body."

"That's why the Dark Side is a path that must never be taken."

"I wonder if that's how Darth Vader felt."

"That's a definite possibility. But you are not Darth Vader. I want you to understand that right now. No Jedi is destined for evil. Or good."

"Yes, Master."

"Good. Now, together we can face your Dark Side and try and overcome it. But that depends on you. What is it that you want?"

What do I want? There's only one thing that I want. Just one. "I want to be a Jedi."

---------------------------------------------

"Remain calm. Think peaceful thoughts. Passive...Good..."

Master Skywalker and I were sitting on the ground, facing each other. He was teaching me new meditating exercises to remain at peace. It had been a few days since that moment in the Dark Side cave.

"I want you to remember the emotions you felt just before giving in to the Dark Side. Remember them, but don't relive them."

I brought my memories back to that dark moment. I could still here Josh's words as clearly as I heard them then. Or were they my words? "I guess you'll just always come up short when it comes to facing me."

Oh really, Josh? Let me see...who kicked whose ass??

"Careful, Ben. Remember them. Don't relive them."

A little upset with myself for forgetting, I took a deep breath and calmed myself again. Going back to the feeling of passiveness. Once again, I brought myself back to the moment of rage. This time, not giving in to it, but observing it.

What I sense is obviously rage. But what caused it? Could it be that maybe I was trying to prove my worth? Trying to show him that he's no better than I am?

I slowly came out of meditation and opened my eyes. I took a deep breath and let it out before Master Skywalker asked me, "Do you believe that you're beginning to understand the source of your anger?"

"I think so, Master."

"Good. That's enough for today. But remember to remain at peace."

"Yes, Master." We slowly got back up to our feet and began to walk to the ship. I wanted to go lay down for a while and think.

When I reached the ramp, I heard Guild, Tallah, and Ryndell talking about random thing. When I stepped into the ship, they all quieted down and looked at me. They'd all been a bit edgy around me these last couple days. I couldn't say I blamed them. I smiled weakly as I waved to them and kept walking to go to my bed.

Before I got very far, I heard Tallah call out, "Hey Ben, were are you going? Come on and sit down with us."

I turned around to look at them. I nodded as I walked to the table and sat down next to Ryndell. She asked, "So how are things going with Master Skywalker?"

"Well, I guess they're going all right. But pretty slow. I'm not really sure what it is that I have to do."

"According to Master Skywalker, you have to confront your anger and defeat it."

"Yeah, I know that. But how will I know if it's defeated? I thought I let go of it years ago, but I hadn't. I just buried it and pushed it my subconscious until it erupted beyond control. How will I know if I do it again?"

"I'm not sure if that's a question anyone can answer, but you."

"Yeah...I was kind of afraid of that."

---------------------------------------------

It was late that very night and I was just laying in my bed thinking. I just couldn't sleep, so I decided to go outside for a little while.

As the ramp lowered to the ground, I walked outside into the swamp. Actually, it didn't look quite so bad at nighttime.

It wasn't until I reached the ground that I noticed Tallah sitting down against a tree, looking up at the sky. Without turning her head, Tallah said, "Hi Ben."

Her senses are getting a lot better. "Hi Tallah. You couldn't sleep either, huh?"

"No. There's been a lot on my mind lately." She looked over at me and smiled, a bit embarrassed. "Oh...sorry."

I let out a quiet laugh and shrugged as I went over and sat next to her. "No big deal."

"Ben, can I ask you a question?"

"I suppose so. What is it?"

"Well...you don't meet many people who are against violence as much as you are. But when you were in the Dark Side cave, the emotions that we all sensed pouring out of you..."

"Yeah, I think I understand where you're going with this."

"It was like pure anger and hatred. But at the same time, there was pain. Like you were suffering all of the pain you gave to your test."

"Well, I kind of was."

"I was wondering what it was that you faced? What could you have possibly had to go up against that would spark so much hatred in someone like you? I mean, it's okay if you don't feel comfortable telling me—"

"No, it's all right." I sat there for a moment trying to think how to explain it all. Finally, it began to pour out from my heart through my mouth. "It was someone from my past. Someone who in many ways, stole a lot of my life away from me. He was the first of many who made my life miserable. It got so bad that eventually, I just completely shut down. My life turned into a single routine. I'd drag myself out of bed in the morning, go to school, put up with everyone's crap without attempting to defend myself, go home and in several hours I'd go to sleep to do the whole thing again the next day. That was my life for around eight years. Eventually, I came to a point where I thought I had accepted it and put it behind me. But I guess I was wrong. It was just buried and forgotten. Until just a few days ago. When he came at me, I couldn't stand letting him win again. Especially when I always knew that I was stronger than him."

"Why are you so certain that it was him that you were facing?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, how do you know that it wasn't you; all of your collected fear and anger together, coming together as an amalgam—the original source of the emotions? But that's only a theory. What's more important is what it means to you."

"I don't know. But you definitely gave me something to think about. I'm starting to feel tired. I think I can sleep now. How about you?"

"I'll come inside in a little while."

"Okay. Good night."

"Good night."

I got back up to my feet and climbed up the ramp into the ship and got back into bed. I fell asleep shortly after lying down. It was then that I had a dream that changed everything.

---------------------------------------------

I began to thrash and turn in bed as I relived that dark moment in the cave. After it was over, I jumped awake and sat up, sweating and breathing hard. When I had time to sort everything out, I smiled. I understood everything then.

I jumped to my feet and ran into the main room, where everyone was sitting down, getting food ready for breakfast. "I get it!"

Master Skywalker looked up at me and said, "What do you get?"

"Everything. I had a dream that hinted me to what my test meant." I looked over at Tallah and smiled. "With also some extra help." Tallah smiled back at me.

I was brought back to reality when Master Skywalker asked, "What happened in your dream?"

"I was in the cave reliving the test. Even though I knew against it, my body redid all of the violent things I did. At the end, I was covered in blood on top of him, when the face changed."

Guild piped up saying, "Into the Emperor."

I looked at him and shook my head. "No. Not this time. In the dream, after the face changed, I was sitting there staring back into my own cut- up, mangled face." I looked back to Master Skywalker and said, "I think you can understand the chilling effect of that, Master."

"I have a pretty good idea."

"I realized that I wasn't facing him. I was facing myself. My own fears and anger. And I realized that releasing those emotions into battle will only destroy myself."

"It seems you've learned a lot about yourself, Ben."

"I want to enter the cave again, Master."

"Are you sure? The point of the test is only to learn the lesson, which you've already done."

"I'm positive, Master. I want a second chance."

---------------------------------------------

A few minutes later, I found myself back at the entrance to the cave. I felt those same cold rushes of darkness as last time, feeling nervous but not nearly as much as last time. Now I was ready. Armed with new knowledge.

I took a deep breath and entered the cave. When I reached the end, I stood there waiting. A beat later, I heard the sound of a lightsaber ignite behind me. Its red glow filled the cave.

I slowly turned around to face my test. This time, knowing what to expect. "Josh."

Josh was wearing the same snide expression as last time. "Ignite your lightsaber so I can beat you again."

"I don't have a lightsaber yet."

"Really? After all this time? My master said I was ready after a week. That'll make this all that much easier. I guess you'll just always come up short when it comes to facing me." Josh began to approach me with his lightsaber held high.

I repeated my same words as last time, but now with different meaning behind them. "A Jedi is never without a weapon, Josh. One even more powerful than a lightsaber."

"Yeah? What's that?"

I allowed myself to smile as I brought my right arm up with my hand open. "The Force!"

Using my thumb and middle finger, I flicked at the air and Josh suddenly tripped, falling face first into a puddle of mud. His lightsaber extinguished as it fell to the ground and rolled away from him. Josh brought his face out of the mud and got up on all fours, looking up at me. His attitude had immediately changed. Even with mud all over his face, I could tell that he was shocked, humiliated, and ashamed all at once.

I laughed quietly as I walked up to him and squatted down to his level. "You aren't Josh. You're me. My collected fear and anger that I wasted so much of my time to focus on." I stood back up and looked down at him. "Well, I'm releasing your presence from my soul. Leave me."

The image of Josh on all fours looking up at me slowly began to vanish. I was alone in the cave again. I took a deep breath and felt an intense rush of power enter me. Now that the anger had left my heart, I felt more strength enter me than I thought was possible. I walked out of the cave with head up high and saw everyone smiling. Tallah, Guild, and Ryndell all ran up to congratulate me on what I had accomplished.

Master Skywalker was smiling too, but he also had his arms crossed and his head crooked to one side. "I'd have to question your method of using the Force to trip someone."

I remained smiling and shrugged. "Well, I've known for a while now that he spent so much time harassing me to boost his own ego. I knew that by bruising it a bit would end the confrontation. And isn't a bruised ego better than a dead body?"

"You have interesting wisdom for someone so young."

"Thank you, Master."

"So do you believe that you've conquered your own Dark Side?"

"...No, Master."

"No?"

"I don't believe that a Jedi ever conquers their Dark Side. It's something that we do everyday. Every morning, we must consciously turn our backs to the Dark Side. That's the price and the burden for our power."

"Perhaps you've learned more than I anticipated. It's time to go home."

----------------------------------------

Many hours later, we left hyperspace and saw Yavin IV off in the distance. Strange. It's not my home, but I still have this feeling of being gone for a long time and finally coming home.

Once we entered Yavin's atmosphere, I saw the pyramid shaped Jedi Academy poking its head out from the tall ancient trees that surrounded it. I can't wait to start my training again. I know that I still have a lot to learn before I'm a Jedi Knight, but I'm going to have a whole lot of fun getting there.

TO BE CONTINUED.

Coming up next is...An Elegant Weapon.