Claire followed behind Emma as they navigated the crystal caves. Emma was in high spirits, confident she'd find her crystal, feeling the Force was guiding her. Her bestie however, wasn't feeling as confident as the Burgessian girl. She couldn't say when, but sometime while walking a feeling had begun to creep in.

Doubt.

In herself.

In whether she deserved to be here. In whether she was cut out to be a Jedi.

She came to a halt. She crossed her arms and looked down at the floor as more and more questions of her worth plagued and swirled about in her head. She swallowed before managing to get out a small, "Emma?"

Emma stopped before turning to face her friend. "Yeah?" she said curiously, before taking note of Claire's body language. "What's wrong Claire?" she asked in concern.

"I…" she paused, trying to collect her thoughts. "Do you think I belong here?"

Emma blinked as she processed the question. "What do you mean Claire? Of course you do. Why wouldn't you?" Emma responded to reassure her friend.

"It's just that," she looked up to meet the Burgessian girl's eye. "I'm not like you guys. I'm not from a warrior race like Wrath. I don't have a personal stake against the Empire like Havo, Ella, Nuna, Nemo, or even Lan Wu. And I haven't faced a Sith Lord like you."

"Seems like all you really belong here. Like you have a purpose. A real reason to become Jedi. And I'm just the girl from Alderaan that they brought in to fill some space," she said sullenly. She hung her head again and stared down at the floor.

Gentle hands were suddenly on her shoulders. She looked up into her friend's eyes. "You can't think that way Claire. You're here for the same reason we all are. Because it was the will of the Force," Emma told her as she held her gaze.

"Do you really think so?"

"Yes. No doubt," Emma said with a firm nod.

"I don't know," Claire muttered in reply.

"Hey, remember what happened when you went to visit your family on Alderaan?" Emma added.

"Oh that?"


A month or two before the Gathering Claire had requested her masters to allow her to visit her family on Alderaan. They agreed and thus she'd been taken back, happily embracing her parents and sisters after being away so long. Her parents asked very general, very vague questions about her time away, being careful not to mention her Jedi training around her siblings.

Her sisters hadn't been told the reason she'd been away. The less people who knew the better. A simple lie had been used to explain that she'd been visiting distant relatives on Naboo. No one delved too deeply and Claire would give simple answers or find a way to deflect.

During her visit one of her family's neighbors was throwing a party to celebrate their oldest son's successful election, making him the mayor or their small town. The family being quite wealthy was sparing no expense and nearly everyone in town was welcomed to catered event.

So Claire's parents had the whole family dress up in their best attire. Claire was excited as she went through her wardrobe, running her fingers down and across every one of her fancy dresses. She'd missed them quite a bit. She picked out a blue green dress and then helped her sisters with their hair before their parents hurried them off to the town square.

The sun had begun to set. Music and the aroma of gourmet food filled the air. The townspeople mingled, congratulating the hosting family on their son's accomplishment. Claire looked around and smiled at the lit up town square, nostalgia washing through her at the sight. She said hello to her old classmates and peers while also missing the ones on Punjam Hy Loo. She was sure they'd love it here.

As she thought of her Jedi peers her smile faltered as she noticed something. Something she hadn't before. The lack of other species here. She'd never realized just how populous humans were where she grew up. She contemplated why this was. She wondered if the Empire's human centric policies had anything to do with it.

'I'll invite them here,' she thought to herself. After the Empire was defeated she'd bring them all to her home so they could see how beautiful it was.

She continued to follow her parents until her family came to give their hosts their personal congratulations. She smiled and curtsied before father, mother, and son who were all dressed extravagantly. The mother wore a glittering brooch with a large blue gemstone which matched her dress. Claire eyed it appreciatively, admiring the craftsmanship before her parents directed them away so other families could congratulate them.

She cast one last look back at the family to see a stranger walk in front of them and bump into the mother rather hard. The person, likely a man by his profile, stepped back and apologized profusely before stumbling off, perhaps a tad tipsy from the Toniray, Alderaanian wine, being offered in abundance around the square by servers.

But Claire noticed that after he meandered back into the crowd, the brooch was no longer where it had been. She stared for a moment to confirm that the brooch was indeed gone before her eyes widened in realization.

There was a pickpocket about.

She looked around for her parents to realize she'd abruptly stopped and her family had continued on. With her by herself she narrowed her eyes and pushed through the crowd in the direction the thief had gone.

She weaved her way through the mass of people while keeping an eye out for him. After a few minutes she caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye. She followed, muttering low apologies as she brushed by other people and honed in on the thief slowly making his way to the edge of the crowd.

A few people suddenly blocked her path, a few rambunctious young men who'd probably had too much to drink as they linked arms and laughed jovially together. It took Claire a few moments to finally make her way around them and when she did she saw the thief making his get away a table of food between him and herself.

She dashed forward while spotting a bulge from underneath a large overcoat. She figured it was his bag of stolen goods. With a quick movement of her hand she grabbed hold of it with the Force before yanking it back.

From underneath the man's coat a small sack fell and hit the ground. When it did it opened letting Claire spy a small assortment of jewelry shining from within.

"THIEF!" Claire shouted as she dashed forward. She leapt onto the table before leaping off, clearing a distance that was likely a good ten feet between it and the man. The man had managed to collect his pilfered bag of goods and stood up when Claire landed before him. As he balked in shock Claire dropped and with a sweep of her leg she sent him to the floor.

As the man was trying to recover she quickly snatched the bag away from him. The man stood up while people were already coming to see what the commotion was. Desperate to recover his bag and flee he directed his focus on Claire. The girl dropped the bag to the floor behind her before kicking it away. The man had already lunged when she'd so done but Claire was fast enough to react.

As the man's left hand came to grab at her she quickly threw up her right arm and knocked it away. Her left hand came up next as she threw a solid palm strike to his jugular. The man staggered back as his hands came up to his throat. He spent a moment gasping for air before he was tackled by some of the men attending the party.

The man was held down as the town police were alerted. He was arrested and the items were returned to their rightful owners. Claire was asked about her wellbeing to ensure she hadn't been harmed by the man and was then thanked by hosts and victims of the crime.

Claire beamed in pride while blushing a little at the attention as a toast was given on behalf of her bravery.


"See?" Emma said to her friend. "You stopped a criminal. Just like a Jedi would. Could a normal girl from Alderaan do that?"

Claire blinked. She hadn't thought of that. Now that she did…"You're right," she said as a smile came to her face. "You're absolutely right. I caught a criminal."

She took a step back, but held her smile. Her doubt was gone and her confidence soared.

"I'm not just some girl from Alderaan. I'm a Jedi in training. The Force brought me here. All I have to do is trust in it."

"Exactly. Trust in the Force...and yourself," Emma added in agreement.

"I will," Claire said with a nod. Suddenly a bright light began to shine down the tunnel over Emma's shoulder. Claire's eyes widened as a soft whistling sound rang in her ears, emanating in the same direction at the light.

"My crystal!" she shouted in glee. She took off in a sprint, rushing by her friend who followed after a beat.

Claire skidded into a new cavern to the sight of a stalagmite in its center. From the tip a bright orange light shine and a song moved through her. Claire was mesmerised as the song drew her forward. Step by step until she was before it. She raised her hand.

Emma came into the room to watch as her friend plucked an orange crystal from the stalagmite tip.

"You did it Claire. You found your crystal," Emma said in congratulations.

Claire was silent, still in awe as he stared at the crystal resting in her palm. Her focus was finally drawn as a hand fell onto her shoulder. She looked into the face of her friend who was smiling at her.

"Good job Claire. Now you better head back," Emma suggested.

"Yeah...but what about-"

"Don't worry," Emma interrupted. "I'll be alright. Just got to find my crystal now," she said, still very confident.

Claire nodded before going back the way they'd come. Emma watched her go before looking down another tunnel connected to the room.

She instinctively knew that was where she was supposed to go.

How?

She trusted the Force.