Coruscant

Eyes closed, Adrielle worked at blocking out the chaos around her. She sat cross-legged on the floor next to a pillar in the Jedi Temple, as Jedi and Sith clashed all around her, blaster bolts flying past her in all directions. Ignoring that initial pang that always came, she tried to ignore the flood of hatred, fear, anger surrounding her, choosing only to focus on the things she knew to be true.

Soon, the deafening cacophony of feelings became little more than background noise, and she began focusing on more intimate sounds: her heartbeat, her breathing, and the pulse of her blood rushing behind her ears.

VRMM: The sound of a lightsaber that swung by a little too close for comfort.

The oh-so-realistic stench of carbon scoring permeating the floor, pillars and walls around her.

She instinctively opened her eyes to see a Jedi and a Sith locked in combat literally next to her, their blades clashing and twirling. Mid-sequence, the Jedi's lightsaber came swinging right to where her head was.

"NO STOP!" Adrielle brought up her hands, as though they would block the weapon.

The blade's holoimage passed harmlessly through her hands and head.

"End simulation!" she heard Uriel's voice bark—the Temple vanished, and Adrielle was back in one of the training centers of the Dantooine Temple. Uriel marched over to her. "I'm not sure what's sadder. That attempt, if it could even be called such, at staying focused, or the fact that your first instinct at seeing a lightsaber come at you is to put your damn hands up."

"I'm… sorry, Master—"

"What've I said about calling me that?"

"Sorry, Uriel…"

"You block the chaos from your mind, and it holds for a minute at best, before you get psyched out." He unclipped and ignited his lightsaber and held it pointing downward, the tip only just barely touching the floor. "You keep trying to ignore the things that disturb you when all ignoring it does is give it power over you in the long term." He deactivated his weapon and beheld the black scorch mark on the floor, which hadn't been there in the first two seconds he had his weapon out, but after close to ten seconds, the black mark had become more obvious. "The key to internal peace is not to pretend that there is no external chaos. It's to acknowledge that chaos, but refuse to let it soil your internal peace." Uriel paced slowly around Adrielle. When he was behind her, he bent down so his face was just centimeters from her ear. "Unless you believe that the galaxy must somehow change itself… deaden itself, for your consideration, just so you won't have your little headaches anymore?

"No! Of course not, I—"

"Then stop looking to the world outside for your peace—" Uriel straightened. "—and make and maintain your own peace!" He continued pacing around her. "Nothing they have to offer can bring you the true peace you need. Only the Force can do that." He stopped in front of her. "Firstly, lastly, only, seek the Force. With pure intentions seek it. Then, all those other, superfluous things you so crave, they will come to you naturally. Seek the Force, and you will also gain the universe. But seek the universe, and you will lose both. Remember this! Then, maybe one day, you can learn to become an instrument of peace for some other poor bastard who needs guidance."

Adrielle sighed, took a deep breath, and nodded. "I… I think I understand."

"Do you?" Uriel waved his hands, and the lights lowered. "We'll see."

Adrielle closed her eyes.

Obroa-skai

Viah approached the drainage tunnel. The troopers stationed at either side of the entrance stepped toward each other to close off the entrance.

"Step back, Mando," one of them warned, "Authorized personnel only."

Viah rolled her eyes, unseen behind her helmet, as she brought out a clearance chip and presented it. The guard held it up and inspected the content, showed it to his partner, who nodded.

"All right, you're clear per Lord Phagos's authorization. Just try not to make a mes—" He let out an audible grunt as Viah walked straight past through him.

She followed the markings placed by the Sith who had investigated prior, making her traversal a simple matter. In just minutes she found herself in the cavern.

The middle of the cavern was blocked off by four barricades forming a square. Viah walked toward one barricade before vaulting over it into the enclosed area. She looked down. As far as she could see, it was a random spot on the ground. But she'd worked with the Sith long enough to know that their lords never did anything randomly. She put a hand to her helmet and switched her visor's scanning. Sure enough, amidst the unremarkable earth, there were particles of… something, of a foreign material or substance from what made up the rest of the cavern.

She reached down with her right hand and dabbed a finger on the particle mass. Seeing that her gauntlet had taken some of the dust, she used another finger to access the console on her left wrist. A small slot opened at the back of the wrist, just at the base of her hand. She placed her right index finger onto that slot before calibrating her visor once more. If that sample could be matched with her visor's detection tech…

Yes!

Viah glanced behind her. Very faint, but undoubtedly there for those who knew to look, she spotted a trail. She turned and began following it, her eyes now opened.

Dantooine

"How did I know you'd do that?" Uriel remarked.

Adrielle was sprawled on the floor, breathing hard. Her hand was gripped around the trunk of one of the small trees that lined the left wall, but which just moments ago had been the hand of a newly orphaned Theelin girl.

"You wear your emotions on your sleeve," Uriel continued as Adrielle returned to her spot in the center of the room, "Dangerous. The whole purpose of this training is for you to find your personal balance, yet here you are literally throwing yourself out of balance purposely."

"That's not—"

"That was the fourth scenario you've gone through," Uriel interrupted, "and the seventeenth overall. And here you are, still getting duped? Even a youngling would've figured it out after at most the third try!"

"I know, it's just…" Adrielle looked down. "I was in control for most of it, I really was. Until… until I saw that child." She looked at Uriel. "She's real, isn't she? Her tragedy was real, just like all the other scenarios these simulations are based on. A real orphan. And me passing is for me to ignore her?"

At that moment, Uriel saw her with opened eyes. And sighed. "Damn it, so that's what it's about."

"Please, Uriel," Adrielle started, "They're all I can think about, the worry is driving me insane, if I could just—"

"And risk exposing this temple to the Sith?" Uriel scoffed. "Why don't we take a trip to the other side of the planet, where the ruins of the original Dantooine Temple are? Ruins because our forbearers were careless and arrogant in their security."

"You don't know that."

"I don't know the history of this temple?"

"No, I mean you don't know that it'll be a danger!"

"Security recklessness aside, this is the very thing we're trying to equip you against!" He took a couple steps toward her. "Attachment, anxiety, fear of loss—"

"Says the guy too afraid to make a single unencrypted call because that will be the one things that'll doom this place?"

Uriel bent down to face her. "At least," he sneered, "my concerns are about things that are real instead of holograms." He straightened and turned his back to her. "You're literally ruled by a fear of nothing." He gestured dismissively. "We're done today. No further instruction can possibly help you."

Adrielle opened her mouth to—

"That. Is. All," Uriel declared.

She closed and pursed her lips tight until the curses and insults behind them simmered down and eventually evaporated.

She heard Uriel laugh bitterly. "Trust me, I've been called worst."

Adrielle felt a wave of revulsion and violation wash over her. She swiftly got to her feet and left in a haste.

When the door slid shut, Uriel let out a sigh. He hadn't even tried to read her; she virtually all but shouted her thoughts at him, whether or not she had intended to. She's an open book, he thought. Even a Moraband acolyte would be able to mind trick her. Hell, even in her first year under me, Janiah was never this inept!

He shook his head. Two days already, and no progress. At this point, he had begun to consider the possibility of a scenario in which she would never gain control over her new abilities. In which case, what should have been a boon to the Jedi, to the Republic, to the galaxy, would suddenly become a severe liability.

The question was: How do you neutralize a liability that is still a living, breathing person?

. . .

The petal was in shreds.

Adrielle let the shreds scatter into the small pond at the center of the main hall as she reached for another one. It was the only thing she could think to do to occupy her hands—and hopefully by extension, eventually her mind. Once she could get Uriel out of there.

"Heya!" a voice called from behind. Adrielle turned to see Shy'reena coming toward her to join her at the railing. She leaned forward, mirroring Adrielle's posture, sans flower. "Rough day?"

Adrielle's sigh said everything it needed to.

"Figured." Reena reached down to pick up a stone, which she tossed into the lake. "Look, speaking as someone who's known him for just about all our lives, just… don't take anything he says too hard. I know he might come off as a massive jerk… because he is a massive jerk…"

Adrielle let out an involuntary laugh.

"…and he'll be the first one to let you know. But, it's just because for him, he's never had to go through that struggle that the rest of us have. You know…" Reena turned to face Adrielle. "The struggle to figure out just what in the stars we were put in this galaxy for. To him, and majority of his kind, the Jedi path is all he knows. He never had the benefit of a biological family, or parents, even before the Jedi found him. As far as he's concerned, Orrickos is his father and the Jedi are his family. So understandably, sympathizing with the crisis you're going through right now is just a tad bit difficult for him."

Adrielle frowned, as she turned to face Reena in turn. "What do you mean 'even before the Jedi found him'? He was a war orphan?"

Reena grimaced, signifying she may have overshared. "Damn it, sorry Uriel… Yeah, he is. But you'd need to get the details from him. I've already said too much, and he's not too big on sharing personal things."

"Oh don't I know it," Adrielle said drily as she went back to shredding her fourth petal.

Reena looked around quizzically. "Huh. Weird. Just realized, you're the only one here besides the reception droid. Usually the Padawans or Knights clear out after I've shown up, if only to not have to put up with the 'distraction I inevitably represent,' to use Uriel's precise words."

Adrielle glanced at Reena, in her grey top with a black jacket over it, her black pants which to be fair could've afforded to be a bit less tight, with matching knee-high boots. "Distraction? I mean, you have good style, but I think my outfit when I first came here was more risqué than anything I've seen you in."

"Oh no, not that distraction!" Reena laughed, "I think he meant the whole 'causing undue disturbance in the Force around here' thing. Especially for the little ones, when they're used to the tranquility slash monotony of this place, anyone who isn't like that would cause ripples, kind of like the stones I've been throwing in this here pond."

Adrielle nodded in understanding, before it dawned on her horribly. The other Jedi had left before Reena came in because for once, Reena wasn't the distraction in the Force. She sighed.

"Sometimes I wonder if coming here was a mistake," Adrielle confided. "I can't help but think that I'd be doing them a much bigger service leaving them alone for me to deal with this problem on my own than staying here and burdening them." No sooner had she finished that sentence, than an epiphany occurred to her. She slowly turned her head toward Reena again. "Reena…" She began, "You're a smuggler… meaning your ship probably has an encrypted comm system, right?"

"Well, yeah," Reena answered in an of course I do tone.

"And if you make a call in space, covering your tracks is as easy as jumping away right after, right?"

"Well there's a bit more to it than that, but yeah the general principle still hoooooo—why?"

Adrielle leaned closer to Reena. "May I ask a favor? And if anything happens, we'll just say I made you."

Reena raised an eyebrow. "Go on…"

. . .

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Uriel yelled as he sprinted down the hall that led to the hangar.

Sure enough, when he got there, the Drowning Mermaid was nowhere to be found. He reached in his robe and pulled out his tracker: one of only three that Reena had distributed among herself, Uriel, and Karmus Jysed, so that in the event her ship were compromised, whoever was in the closest vicinity or more available could retrieve it. But sure enough, as Uriel could see, Reena had disconnected his.

He knew the only option he had, and groaned in frustration over it because of what it meant. Swallowing his paranoia (and a little bit of pride along with it), he brought out his comlink and called Karm.

"Karm! Come in now!"

A moment later, Karm's voice came through: "Uriel? What's wrong?"

"I need you to check your tracker for the Mermaid, give me its exact location and keep me updated as long as you can, hopefully Reena won't remember to turn yours off."

"Uh, sure, no problem." Karm's confusion was palpable, but he continued on. "… okay, I think I got their location…"

The Cademimu Sector

Uriel's fighter dropped out of hyperspace, just klicks away from where the Mermaid was sitting. Hoping against hope, he opened comms and waited.

Close to twenty seconds later, he heard Reena's voice: "This is Captain Shy'reena of the Drowning Mermaid, responding to lone Jedi fighter."

"Shaft it, Reena," Uriel growled, "What in the actual hell are you thinking, seizing a key asset right out of Jedi jurisdiction?!"

"Oh, sorry," Reena replied coolly, "Didn't know this was an asset. Thing is, when I saw her at the Temple a couple hours ago, all I could see… was a person. Weird, that."

Uriel bit back his retort, re-centered himself, before answering calmly. "Reena… Captain Reena… On behalf of the Dantooine Jedi Temple, I am formally requesting the return of our…" It took him a couple seconds to find a more fitting term. "…ward, to our care, in the interest of affording her the maximum protection." He briefly considered adding the typical veiled threat at the end, but decided against it.

A couple moments passed before Reena's voice chimed in: "Sure, no problem! You have permission to board."

The Drowning Mermaid

Uriel strode into the cabin, where he saw Adrielle at the main holocomm, with the image of two humans—a man and woman—which flickered out as he approached, but not before he was able to catch an "I love you" from one of them.

He came up behind Adrielle, as she was hunched over the console, her back to him. He stood and crossed his arms over his chest to wait for her to turn around.

"I'm sorry," she said faintly. "It was my idea. I made Captain Reena do it. But, I did make sure to wait until we were far enough away from Dantooine to make the call."

Uriel stayed standing with arms crossed. "Be that as it may, since you claim all responsibility, you'll take all the penalties. Your next three days will be strictly monitored, spent only in training or your quarters, no more."

"I understand," she replied.

"Furthermore, you are on cleaning duty for the Mermaid as compensation for inconveniencing her."

"Hey," Reena cut in, "No, that won't be necessary, you don't have to—"

"Yes," Adrielle said, "I understand, Master Baylan."

Uriel growled as he grabbed her by the upper arm to turn her around. "Damn it, what did I tell you about calling me—" He stopped at what he saw.

Adrielle Lunan, standing before him, her gaze cast down to the floor. Her eyes still damp from when she'd had her holo conversation, but beyond that, just a solid, obstinate… peace. Her eyes were focused on the floor, but showed no signs of wavering. Uriel placed a hand over her head and felt for her. In response, all he felt was a definitive sense of tranquility, contentment, and inner harmony: the first time ever since he first met her that he'd gotten that from her.

I'm afraid everyone has a different source or means of balance.
Once again, Orrickos indeed knew best.

Uriel moved his hand from hovering over Adrielle's head and placed it on her shoulder reassuringly—approvingly.

"Come on, let's head back home."