The next morning I awoke when something fuzzy snuffled my ear. I yelped and was on my feet instantly, reaching for my lightsaber that wasn't there.

"Chi chi?"

There was a purple rabbit sitting at my feet, looking up at me with wide black eyes. I blinked.

"What in the galaxy are you?"

"That's Hanny. She has a large family."

I had slept outdoors; as I was accustomed to… another habit I couldn't break from my former master's training.

"What are rabbits doing here?"

Joe petted Hanny, who twitched her whiskers, staring fixedly at me.

"They're Force sensitive bunnies."

"Bunnies?"

"Yes, bunnies. Her sister is sitting on your head."

"Wha?"

My hand reached for my hair and was nipped. I jumped four feet in the air and the rabbit came tumbling down to be caught by Joe.

"Hey, be nice to Sarah. Her brother's on your shoulder."

"GAH!"

Another violet bunny fell off me and sheltered behind Joe.

"You're not very good with animals, are you? There, there, Jake, he's not going to hurt you."

"Oh my gizka, the bunnies!"

Over twenty of them poked their little heads and large ears out from behind the tree trunk where I had slept. Eyes shifting side to side, I stepped slowly back.

"Get them away from me."

"But they're Force sensitive. They feed off the Dark Side."

"Why the Dark Side?"
"Why not? You don't see bunnies hopping all over the Council, do you?"

"Chi chi," agreed Hanny.

"I'm sensing her thoughts," I said with something near hysteria as her family hopped around me in a fuzzy dance of merry glee.

"Yes. She lives in the mountains near here, which probably explains her purple fur as camouflage."

"I don't care. Get them away from me before I Force them!"

Joe chuckled.

"Oh, ye of little knowledge. They are Force immunes."

"You've got to be joking."

"I do not joke. They feed off the Force. The Dark Side is like candy to them."

While the bunnies climbed onto my arms and head he casually strolled by.

"As long as you worship the Dark Side, you'll have Bunny-ism."

Now I knew why Revan and her kin traveled in outer space and rarely touched ground. Groaning with the furry weight of bunnies hampering me, I followed Joe.

"Is there any other way to get them off me?"

"Yes. Either you seek medical help, or you ask them."

"I will not debase myself to converse with animals!"

"Your problem."

Bob and Alice were giggling at me from the windows of their hut. Growling and grumbling beneath my breath, I turned to the largest bunny sitting on my boot.

"Hanny… get off me."

"Chi chi," she prompted.

I sighed.

"Please?"

"Chi chi!"

They scampered to wherever Dark Side bunnies go. I flopped on the grass, relieved of the fur and chattering that still haunted me.

"The bunnies… the bunnies!"

Joe stood over me.

"Well, get up. Let's start your training."

"What training?"

His foot prodded me in the ribs.

"You're not getting any younger. Stand up!"

Muttering, I complied. In the morning light, his face took on an almost luminous radiance that was not of this world. He handed me my lightsaber, which I took gladly and swished around, the red trail humming softly.

"The Force. The blade. The Jedi. All are one."

Out of his robes an archaic lightsaber leaped into his hand and ignited. A beam of pure white pulsed before my eyes. I stood back, the grass around him rippling. The raw power I felt… it made my own bloodthirsty saber tame in comparison. But more than that was the presence of its wielder. He twirled it as effortlessly as air, balancing it on the palm of his hand.

"Without the Force, a Jedi is a helpless babe. Without the Force, a lightsaber is no better than a laser cutter. The Force drives both to become a singular being of immeasurable potential."

He leveled that ethereal blade at me. Though yards apart, I could feel it burning in my chest.

"I have seen planets annihilated by a single Sith Lord. But I tell you, the Dark Side is a corrupted and necessarily incomplete bastardization of what the Force can be."

"It controls the galaxy now," I retorted, "Revan will win the war."

"She shall. But another will always rise. Such is the nature of the Light Side, it needs only one to effect its will."

"Why don't you do it yourself?"

He retracted his white blade.

"My time is at an end. Though I seem young, I am weary. This galaxy needs a leader who is of the current generation, not an old critic like myself. I will not live long enough to ensure the Light Side will be upheld."

"You want me to lead a galaxy."

"No. I want you to give it hope. Now strike me."

"Pardon?"

"Strike me with your lightsaber."

"You are defenseless."

He laughed.

"Young one, you have not yet begun to understand the basics of defense or attack."

"Very well."

My blade cut a path across his chest. His robes parted, but his skin did not.

"I swear that I hit you."

"You tickled me."

His warm eyes hardened.

"Strike me, Padawan! With all your hatred and rage, strike me down!"

I lunged into a forward thrust that could have penetrated a metre of plasteel with ease. The point halted on his chest, and my momentum caused me to crash into him.

"Reckless."

He held the lightsaber blade. I will never forget that image. He held the wrong end of the lightsaber and took it from my hand!

"You should be dead! At least your fingers should be on the ground!"

Warmth returned to his eyes as he chuckled.

"The Force ebbs and flows continuously within and around us, nearer than breath, further than stars. Do you honestly believe that any mortal weapon compares to it?"

"But that's impossible! Not even the most prolific Force user can withstand a lightsaber edge!"

"That is true. Now you understand how far removed I am from this world. I am more Force than I am flesh."

He returned my lightsaber.

"That is why I entrust all to you, Sar-Salan. You are of the flesh. You can understand what people feel without placing yourself above them. You are one of them. I am not."

I surrendered. I had seen too much to continue being proud, too much to even think that I knew anything at all. I bowed to him, my new master.

"Then train me, Joe. If I am to be redeemed in the ways of the Light Side, then redeem me, empower me!"

He placed hands upon my head in benediction. My mind sang with revelation.

"There is no power, there is only choice. Through choice, you unlock potential. Potential sets you free. With freedom comes responsibility. With responsibility there is the Force. The Force will redeem you."

I stood, mesmerized. My master smiled.

"That is the Light Side Code."