His training regime was the most difficult experience of my life. He told me to rest, to sleep! Instead of rushing around full of energy I spent my days lazing under trees and rocks, Hanny and her bunny kin flopping all over me, chittering delightedly as they drained me of the Force, causing me even further fatigue and weariness. At the end of every day, while the sun's alpenglow changed the verdant plains into fields of gold, Joe stood before me and raised his hand ever so slightly. This was his command to move, so I did. I danced wildly for him, lightsaber darting redly in the dusk, body moving with the fluidity and abandon of a river that breaks its banks. When night touched the stars I would cease, and retire for further sleep. I spent a fortnight in that manner. I watched the grass grow ten inches as I folded my hands beneath my head. I counted the hours until my next dance. I even came to know Hanny's forty-two family members by name, sight and scent. It wasn't that hard – their voices were in my head.
And slowly, as I felt the Force whispering placidly through myself, the grass, trees and sky, so did the bunnies become less interested in me and preferred the blades of grass to my shoulders. Then, only then, did Joe begin the next stage.
"Do you remember the Light Side Code?"
"I have no power, I only have choice. Choice unlocks my potential. My potential sets me free. Freedom brings responsibility. Responsibility brings the Force. The Force will redeem me."
"Yes. This galaxy knows not peace and death is everywhere. Battered and broken, the galaxy mistakenly gropes for power, whose corruption further exacerbates its sad condition. The Light Side is not about power or peace. It is about using the Force as it is meant to be used: for the redemption of this galaxy from the terrible darkness that grips it."
"What is that redemption, master?"
A smile of pathos beyond my comprehension touched that kind face.
"It is… not of this life. I am sorry, Sar-Salan. As long as there is life there will be a search for power, which inevitably results in ruin and death. Only when the search for power ends… only when mortality takes on immortality, is the redemption complete."
"You mean… those who are redeemed, live forever?"
"I am what I am, am I not? You saw Jen's mother, whose spirit flows evenly with the Force. This crude matter," he poked my shoulder, "This does flow even with the immortal, invisible Force. Why else are you subject to pain, to suffering, to death?"
I closed my eyes. It was so difficult to accept.
"You mean… I can never be good enough as I am now?"
The tone of his voice carried with it the weight of his burden.
"That is the way of the Light Side. This is what I have lived with for a millennium. This is the truth I carried while falsehood ran unbridled everywhere around me."
"Now I understand," I sighed, "Now I understand why the Council is so vague about everything. Now I understand why the Jedi have such blind faith in the Light Side. Considering the harsh reality of the truth, they prefer to follow what they can't understand!"
Joe bowed his head.
"How sad it is, indeed, that blind lead the blind."
His gaze was urgent as his words.
"You must make at least one understand, Sar-Salan. After my endless life, you are the first I have gotten through to! If only the seed of truth can be planted, it will flower in time."
"Yes, my master."
"Please, call me Joe. That whole 'master' thing implies that I possess more power than you."
"You can hurl Corellia into its star if you wanted."
"What good will random displays of power do?"
"Other than impress the snot out of everyone?"
He rolled his eyes to the zenith.
"Further the cycle of death!"
"I apologize. I still think in terms of power."
He brought out his lightsaber, those fatherly eyes achieving laser focus.
"Well, you will be thinking in those terms until you die. Life is a struggle; of course, we can't escape that absolute fact no matter how philosophical we are. Only in the next life will we be concerned with peace and all those happy ideals that utterly escape our physical grasp."
I bared my own blade.
"Right you are, Joe. Now let's dance."
"Don't step on my feet."