Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. I only own my OCs Cas Andé, Tani Kenobi, Niobé Skywalker and Sehr, as well as the plot surrounding them.

2. One braid that changes everything

Cas spent one of the worst evenings of her life that day. In retrospective, as she couldn't remember much of the night the Jedi Temple had been obliterated, it probably was the worst.

One could argue that it wasn't so bad. She had been invited to an informal dinner hosted by Leia for the return of her twin-brother and his daughter. Were invited only the closest people to the Skywalkers: Tani and Leia herself, obviously; Cas; Sehr – who looked like he'd have preferred reading a Sith anthology rather than being there – Chewbacca; Rey; Lieutenant Connix, and Poe. The last two looked like fishes out of water, but Cas expected that they had known Luke Skywalker before he went into hiding, for they were both obviously intimate with Niobé, who they had been seated next to. In Poe's case, one might even wonder if they had not been communicating for the past fifteen years, for it sounded like they hadn't been apart one second.

The "Finn incident", as Cas had decided to call it, had not been mentioned by anyone present, and Tani herself had told her adoptive daughter that it was understandable that Niobé, having only had her father for company all that time, had acted so violently when meeting someone who reminded her of a traumatic episode in her life. Cas was not convinced.

She had seen to Finn's good treatment herself, bringing him to the infirmary and checking with the medics if any permanent damage could be expected after such a long time suffocating. They had been cautious, but hopeful. Finn should spend a few days, maybe a week, in a bacta suit, and he'd be in ship-shape. Rey had hurried to her friend's side as soon as she heard, and for the rest of the afternoon, Cas and her surveyed the dark-skinned soldier in silence.

Cas had decided, therefore, that she didn't like the Skywalker girl. So she spent the majority of that dinner glaring at Niobé's profile as she talked and laughed with Poe. Something angry and powerful was settling in Cas' stomach, and she didn't like the feel of it at all.

"You are jealous, my dear," came the voice inside her head after a particularly nasty pang of anger settled in her heart.

Cas looked around, trying to find whose voice it was, for it hadn't been Tani's. She was also slightly scared to have been open in such a way that someone had managed to reach inside her thoughts without her noticing. She was surprised to see General Organa staring at her with a small smile.

Cas knew how such conversations worked. In theory. She tried "Jealous of whom?" and it apparently reached its destination.

Leia smiled wider still. "I don't think there is anything other than brotherly love and respect between Poe and Niobé. They have the same age, you know. They were each other's playmate." She raised her glass at her, and Cas ignored the loud chuckle of Poe two chairs down from her.

"I'm not jealous. To be jealous, you need to feel things. I don't feel things for men like Poe. Ever."

She left the table then, unsettled by this new string of developments. She had conversed with Leia Organa through means of a Force-bond she ignored was there in the first place; had apparently mastered the theory of mental conversations quite quickly despite her being unable to do anything Jedi-related for more than a decade; and was jealous of her somewhat-sister.

She liked none of those odds.

Excusing herself from a 'family dinner' asked for subtlety and a good amount of lying. Both were Cas' speciality, and she had mastered the art of lying to her mother's face quite convincingly over the years. Not that Tani would have tried to see through her words anyway, as she was entranced by her husband's every move. It was sickening almost, especially since Master Skywalker himself didn't seem to be overly happy at being reunited with his beloved.

So Cas just pretexted that she was going to check on Finn, at which point Rey also stood and offered to join her. Cas accepted without issue, for she liked the younger girl and anyway, she was going to check on Finn eventually.

"That was one of the strangest experiences of my life," Rey said a few moments after they'd left the table.

Cas looked at her and chuckled darkly. "Yes, definitely."

Rey remained silent for another turn in the base's many corridors, then asked in a small and almost shy voice, "Do you think Master Skywalker will agree to train us?" and Cas had to stop in her tracks.

Her Force-sensitivity told her that Rey was afraid of being rejected. It was nothing new, since that feeling had appeared when they had both met each other for the first time also. So she shrugged and tried a hopeful smile. "I'm sure my mother – I mean, Master Kenobi, will be able to convince him."

Rey smiled, and they continued they trek towards the infirmary.

After a night spent reminiscing some of Cas' worst nightmares – including a night of red buzzing and fire eating at a Temple – she woke to the gentle caress of her mother's hand in her hair.

She started until she noticed Tani sitting on the edge of the bed and smiling down at her the way she had done when she was still a little frightened girl.

"Ma?" Cas asked in a muffled voice before shaking the sleep off her features. "Is something wrong?"

Tani shook her head, but the look in her eyes was nothing good. It was as if she was trying to memorize Cas' face, as if…they'd soon be apart.

The realisation made Cas sit up and gasp. "You are leaving!"

Tani didn't ask how she had guessed, and also didn't try to deny it. "Luke wants to go back to his world. He wants Niobé and I to go back with him. To be a family again." Cas started feeling the dread of what was to follow wave over her, but her mother soothed her fear with a gentle stroke on her cheek. "Yes, you have guessed right. He does not want to train either you or Rey. He vehemently refused, and we spent the entire night arguing over it. He will not be bulged. But I don't mind."

"You-" Cas started, anger seeping over her now. The woman she had called mother didn't mind leaving her behind to go play family?

"Cas," Tani interrupted her trail of thoughts, "I don't mind because I know you are destined to stay here. You have a bigger part to play in the Resistance than I thought, but I saw it… I saw you. And you will be a thousand times more useful here than on a pitiful island somewhere no one knows about."

Cas gently pushed past her mother and stood, wrapping a robe over her thin nightshift. She was trying to fathom all that had just been said. Her mother was going to leave her, but she had seen that she was meant to be there, and that she'd be useful? That she'd be…a hero?

"What are you intending to do with me?" she finally asked, not daring to look back at Tani.

"Leia," she simply said, and waited until Cas looked at her quizzically to carry on with her plan. "Leia will teach you all you need to know." Tani stood also, and came to take her adoptive daughter's hands in hers. "You have felt it as I have, your powers have grown since we left Naboo. You are still new to this all, but she will be able to help. She is strong with the Force in ways I am not. She will teach you," she smiled, "how to reach me from afar. So we can talk still."

Cas smiled. "So we can talk wherever you are?"

Tani nodded. "I also have decided to finally claim you as my Padawan. Which I haven't done since we arrived here and I apologize for it." She paused and her brow furrowed. "I didn't understand the implications of it before, but now I do." Her eyes locked onto Cas' again. "If I claim you as my Padawan, and you claim me as your Master, you will have power here. You will have the same power, the same influence, as Leia herself. This means that whatever happens, you will never be pushed aside, and everyone will always have to listen to you."

Cas computed the information, and immediately, something rose to the surface of her feelings. Fear. "But…what if what I tell them to do is dangerous, or wrong?"

Tani caressed her daughter's cheek again, pride seeping in her gaze. "I trust your judgment darling. I know that you will reach inside and know what is right. And Leia will teach you how to know."

Silence. Cas stared at her wall, although it was not the iron panels she could see. No, she could picture the command bridge of a ship she had never seen before. She could see herself standing there, people looking at her expectantly as she pondered on a decision. She was not sure she liked the idea of having responsibilities yet, but if Leia was there to help, then maybe…there was hope.

Tani smiled again. "You can feel it, don't you? That it is what you have to do?" Cas nodded. "Then say the words, and I will braid your hair."

Cas stared at her mother, eyes prickling with tears, remembering a time when she had been just a child, merely six years old, and Tani had sat beside her on her cot on Yavin IV, and her fingers had played in her hair as she herself said "I claim you as my Master of the Force. I will listen to your teachings, I will learn the ways of the Light, and I will surpass who I am now to become who I will be."

Tani bowed the head, and answered "And I claim you as my Padawan in the Force. I will teach you the ways of the Light, I will respect you, protect you, and help you surpass who you are now to become who you will be."

Then she moved behind Cas, placing most of her hair to the side and finding a longer strand than the others close to her right ear. She swiftly braided the hair there, binding it with a thin piece of leather that came from her own attire, and sealed it with the Force.

"This braid will come off only when you are to be Knighted. Until that day, it will serve as a reminder of who you are. And you are mine."

Cas whirled around, a toothy grin on her face that made her look ten years younger than her twenty-seven, and she hugged her mother.

"Thank you Master."

A/N: Here are the first two chapters. To be honest, I didn't at first expect Cas to become a Padawan. I made clear in the first instalment that her powers weren't fully developed, but after some research, I found out that it could have been explained by PTSD. She blocked out her powers because of what happened at the Temple. Also, it made sense that she'd need a 'promotion' to not be pushed aside when her mother left. So there you go! See you soon with the rest!