Everything will be right
Chapter Three
Master Yoda was small and green. Revan knew how fearsome in battle small things were. They were also harder to hit than larger foes. He wondered thus why Master Yoda had asked him to spar with him.
Jedi didn't usually find sparring a pleasant pastime. Sure, sure, they used it to train their Padawans, but generally, Jedi Masters didn't spar all that often. They trained by themselves, letting the Force guide them through their motions.
Sith sparred, a lot. They fought to the first or to the last blood; either they murdered their training partners or their training partners murdered them, if they were weak.
"Test your skills, I wish," Master Yoda had said, his voice light and calm. Revan hadn't found a reason to disagree. To him, it just felt like yesterday when he battled Sith and tried to save the Republic.
So they met in the sparring chambers of the Jedi Order of Coruscant, and after a gentle bowing on both sides, they ignited their lightsabers.
It was a spar, but what it taught went beyond the mere sparring: it taught self-control, patience, and mercy. The lightsaber could and would kill if used improperly; it would hurt and harm the training partner. That was why Jedi sparred; they were not training their swordsmanship, but their emotions.
Revan was right.
Master Yoda was small and green, just like his lightsaber.
He was also fast.
It was like having a fly buzzing near you.
It was a very lethal, very disquieting, very plasma-wielding fly.
The lightsabers met in the mettle, but whenever Revan tried to apply strength, Master Yoda would simply let the attack flow and slide inches away from him. He was water, unbreakable and ever moving.
Revan sighed as he twisted his wrist gently, redirecting a blow meant for his side.
It wouldn't have hit anyway; there was no passion, or anger, in Master Yoda's blows. Slowly, he began to feel a light Force pressure on his hand. In the middle of the battle, moving his hand just a few inches to the right or the left than intended could be fatal.
He nullified the attack, and then smiled.
Master Yoda brought his lightsaber up and held his ground as a massive wall of force pushed against him, making his robes flutter as a light sheen of dust rose from the ground.
Revan's left hand was up; it called the force by his side and pushed it in front of him like a wave. His right hand dropped his lightsaber, which began to spin and move following the movements of his now freed hand.
Yoda ducked, falling into a crawl as he held his lightsaber up and narrowed his eyes, before bringing his other hand up to counter his wall of force.
The moment he did that, the green Jedi jumped in the air, aiming to strike down near Revan. Revan's lightsaber returned into its owner's hand a split-second before, and both blades met as sparks flew.
Revan pushed the Master away from him, and both stared at one another, winded just slightly.
"Good you are," Yoda said. "Hold back, you do."
"We are sparring," Revan replied.
"From the Dark Side you returned," Yoda said. "In your actions, it reflects it not."
"I don't understand what you're trying to say, Master Yoda," Revan said, frowning.
"There is no passion in your moves, no desire to win. A Jedi spar, this is."
"Yes?"
"As if you never Dark were," Yoda said.
"And?"
"Understand this, I do not," Yoda said. "The Dark Side corrupts, those who fall, they change. Their actions no longer Jedi are. Power they seek, death, misery, and I do not understand. How turn back you do and not a Sith still be?"
There was silence in the training chambers. Revan turned thoughtful for a moment, and then he simply answered.
"Wouldn't that depend…on the person?"
Yoda's ears twitched for a moment. "The person?"
"Some people are brash," Revan said. "But they are not evil. Some people are prideful, but they are not evil. Some people are selfish," he added, "But they do no evil. Why should having the Force change that?"
"The Force, a great responsibility is," Yoda said.
"Yes, but how is it different from a soldier and a gun?" Revan replied. "How is it different from a Mandalorian and a blade? The gun by itself, the blade by itself, they are not evil. They can be used for evil, but they are not," he closed off his lightsaber. "The hand guides the gun and the blade."
"Slave to the hand, the Force is not," Yoda replied.
"What if the gun could speak?" Revan retorted calmly. "What if it had thoughts, and emotions? What if the blade could cry when it felled an innocent, and be proud when it saved a life from a monster?"
"Not as simple, the Force is," Yoda pointed out.
"Maybe it is," Revan replied, "And you complicate things too much," he added. "Those who choose to bow to the whims of the Force and use it as an excuse to do terrible things are not worthy of being Jedi. The Jedi is a man, he must recognize this, and understand that the Force is not an excuse for everything he does. Only then, when he understands that, can he truly call himself a Jedi."
"To the Force, we must let go our emotions. To be Jedi, serenity one must achieve."
"But you fear," Revan said gently, looking at Master Yoda. "You fear what is to come. You fear the emotions you should instead understand. You hide your head in the sand, and in doing so, you fear them and let the Dark Side softly, gently, slowly grow within you until it erupts and there's nothing left but anger, and you lash out then."
He shook his head. "Acknowledge emotions, and then accept them. If you fight them, they'll grow stronger. If you refuse them, they'll grow stronger. One mustn't let go, and neither must he ignore. He must accept."
"Passion leads to the dark side," Yoda said. "Slippery the slope is."
"There is no slope, Master Yoda," Revan replied. "That is where the teachings fail. There has never been a slope, a push, a pull, a secret desire to do evil or good, or anything else. There have always been men and women, human beings, twi'leks, aliens and more."
"The Jedi teachings, strong have held," Yoda replied calmly. "Lie they do not."
"But do they address the faults to correct them, or just to make sure they are not made?" Revan replied.
He clasped his lightsaber to his belt. "The old Jedi order, the one I served in, gave me a trial once. In that trial, a Jedi Padawan turned dark, tried to kill her master and then fled into a grove in Dantooine. I went there, but never did I once lift my blade in order to kill her."
Yoda's ears twitched.
"Why not?"
"Because beneath her anger," Revan said, "Beneath her hatred of the Jedi, beneath each spiteful word and each horrible strike she made…she was a scared child. She didn't need to be put down. She needed to learn compassion, acceptance, and love. She needed to find her place in the universe, her spot, and her reason to live. I gave her that chance," he brought a hand to his chest. "And she became a member of my team, when we struck at the heart of the Star Forge. She became a dear friend. She repented, and she accepted her actions and tried to redeem herself."
"Enough," Yoda said. "Enough heard, I have," he shook his head firmly. "Meditate on all of this I must."
Revan inclined his head to the side. "Qui-Gon suffered the loss of a Padawan to the dark side, didn't he?"
Yoda's eyes widened, and as he looked straight into Revan's eyes, the man nodded once. "I suspected as much," he continued. "It was the only reason he'd be hurt by my words on redemption. If…If I looked around, how many other padawans would I find, murdered by their masters, because they saw no other choice nor mean to bring them back to the light?"
Yoda's ears drooped down.
"Many, too many," he whispered.
"The child, the one Qui-Gon brought," Revan spoke. "I have not talked with him, but if he is to bring balance to the force…I'd like to speak with him."
"Ask me, why you do?" Yoda said, blinking as he stared. "Not a prisoner, are you. Free to talk to Padawans, you are."
"Even after my last words?" Revan asked.
"Because of your last words, especially, speak you should," Yoda said. "The past of the Jedi Order, we not know much of; answers you can give, knowledge lost. From the Dark to the Light, and the Force sent you. Deaf to its intentions, we are not."
"You're seeing too much in it," Revan pointed out. "You shouldn't choose me as that kid's teacher until the time where you're sure I am the best person for the job, and not just because I'm conveniently the one the Force sent through the wringer."
Yoda chuckled. "Strange is it, that your words go such ways, yet against the Jedi order you are not. Understand you, I cannot. Maybe never, will I."
"The first step on the road of understanding is to admit ignorance," Revan replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
They walked out in silence, Master and Knight, their movements smooth.
"A test for you, I have," Master Yoda said suddenly. "At length, I thought about it."
Revan nodded.
"Qui-Gon's wish is for his apprentice, the child to be," he continued. "He is of a slave the son; we Jedi, our family abandon when we enter the order, but—"
"You want me to free the boy's mother from slavery to give Qui-Gon and him peace of mind," Revan replied.
Yoda's ears twitched; an amused expression was on his face. "Indeed. Qui-Gon's padawan, ready for trial is. With you, I will send. His trial, to become a Knight will be. Yours, to show me if a Master truly you are."
"Uhm," Revan turned thoughtful. "I understand."
Obi-Wan Kenobi
There was something strange in the Jedi who had saved Master Qui-Gon. Of course, he knew he was just venting off his doubts and what not, but really, he had never heard of a Jedi with a red lightsaber crystal. The way he kept to himself furthermore and how he moved with a purpose that he could hardly comprehend…it was all off and bizarre, really.
It wasn't infuriating —no, he was a Jedi, Jedi didn't dig 'Infuriating'. Still, there was something off about the man.
The fact he would be overseeing his trials rather than Qui-Gon was also another point that stuck badly with him; but he had to let it go. He had to let. It. G-
"Is something the trouble, Padawan Kenobi?" and there his voice came through the air. He wasn't far away anyway; they were inside the cockpit of a starship headed towards Tatooine, where his trial would take place.
"I do not understand what the trial will be," he answered back.
He spared me a glance, a passing one, and then he spoke again. "You're angry your master is not overseeing your trials, right?"
Obi-Wan took a deep breath. "Apologies, Master Drall. I…"
"Revan," he replied. "My real name is Revan."
"Master…Revan," better not to ask when he had changed his name, and why the Jedi Order had found it acceptable to let him leave their custody. "I am not angry. I am just…perplexed."
"Of the level of trust the Jedi Council put in me, or of the fact you are nervous because of your trials?"
Obi-Wan remained silent for a moment. "Both."
"Well, the Jedi trials are easy."
"Many fail them," Obi-Wan pointed out.
"No," Revan replied. "They fail at being decent beings, I suppose. The only way to fail the Jedi trials is to actively try to act like the worst of Sith. A Jedi is calm, collected, and always tries to help others. Be on your best behavior, and you will pass the trials. If you're still in doubt, then simply never use your lightsaber to solve conflicts. That works too."
Obi-Wan blinked. "If it were that easy, training wouldn't be—"
"It is that easy," Revan said gently. "You just need to stop overthinking things. Is it something you lot decided over the course of centuries? To overthink? You don't need that. Be good. Be nice. Be happy. It's not that hard to get, is it?"
"Be…happy?" Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, happiness," Revan said with a sigh. "Mind you, I'm sure this probably isn't a part of any Jedi teaching…but being happy is a good thing, isn't it? So long as you're happy, you clearly aren't going around murdering innocent folks for blood or because you wish to have some sort of Force connection to the deceased."
"A what?"
"My apprentice," Revan dismissed the issue with a wave of his hand. "But the core concept remains. Act like a good person, be a Jedi. Act like a murderous and fanatical monster, be a Sith."
"You cannot oversimplify the teachings of the Jedi in such a way!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, only for Revan to look at him as if he were stupid.
Obi-Wan ground his teeth. "You can't."
"Why not?"
"Because it's not done."
"Why?"
"Because that's not what is taught."
"Why?"
"Because…are you going to keep asking me 'why' until I stop answering you?"
"No," Revan shook his head. "I'm going to keep on asking until you either realize what you're saying is foolish, or you find a way to convince me that I'm wrong. That's how a conversation works. Two sides, two arguments, the one with the better argument wins and, if the other is a mature person, the other one concedes and accepts the reality of the better argument."
"You're impossible," Obi-Wan grumbled.
"I do the impossible," Revan remarked with a shrug. "It comes to term that I should be impossible too."
Obi-Wan quieted down, looking over the console. "We're about to land on Tatooine," he said. "Last time Master Qui-Gon and I were here, we encountered quite the trouble."
"Ah, Tatooine," Revan acquiesced. "I remember their hunting lodge."
He looked thoughtful. "I wonder if it's still standing."
The spaceship landed at Tatooine's docking bay number three, and Obi-Wan was glad there would be no impromptu crash-landing.
The moment they stepped off the docks, an official looking man walked towards them, a Datapad in hand.
"The docking fee will be of two hundred credits, sirs," he said crisply.
Revan inclined his head to the side.
"We do not need to pay the docking fee," he waved a hand in dismissal towards the dockworker.
"Of course sir," the human replied, writing on his Datapad. "You don't need to pay. Have a pleasant stay in Tatooine."
Obi-Wan looked at Revan with a glare.
Revan simply looked back at Obi-Wan unfazed. "He was trying to rip us off. It was fifty credits last I checked."
"It's two hundred credits, it's a standard fare all across the galaxy," Obi-Wan retorted crisply.
Revan blinked.
"I see. Well," he shrugged. "Never paid a docking fee in my life, and I'm not going to start now. Let's go, knight-to-be."
"Y-You just can't go like that!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, hurriedly following behind Revan. "You've got to fix this!"
"I do?" Revan remarked, a smile on his face. "Why don't you fix it?"
"What?"
"I said: why don't you fix it? You saw a wrongdoing happen in front of you, didn't you? Now, fix it."
Revan shrugged and kept moving. "Move along, Padawan. We don't have all day to get ourselves where we need to be."
Obi-Wan took a deep, calming breath. This was clearly part of the trials.
Clearly.
The moment he opened his eyes again, Revan had disappeared from his sight in the chaotic streets of Tatooine…just as his Credit-Chip had.
Obi-Wan most Un-Jedi-like groaned.
"Now where the hell did he go? He's impossible to work with! Really!"
Author's notes
Dum-De-Dum.
Who really ever paid the docking fees? They didn't even give Dark Side points if you didn't.
Fun fact for Anon: Look at the Wiki, then come back. Indeed, Yoda does not believe anyone can return from the Dark Side. Don't trust me. Trust the Wiki.