—16—

Tidus was the first off the shot. He lunged forward for a diagonal slash at Lightning's left shoulder. Lightning went from her center-of-being stance and responded with an upwards double-handed-parry. She followed through with her momentum and slung her blade over her shoulder to block Paine's attempt at a double-handed-tomahawk from behind.

Lightning back-kicked into Paine's midsection and knocked her to the floor. Irvine rushed in for a double-handed-swipe at Lightning's back and right shoulder, but Lightning shuffled a few feet diagonally and back flipped. Her right foot plowed into Irvine's head on the way down.

Paine leapt to her feet again, but Irvine staggered to his knees. Dashing in from the side, Tidus wound up for a horizontal slice at Lightning's rib-cage, but Lightning did a double-handed-vertical-block over her left shoulder.

She bent her knees and vaulted upwards. Instead of front flipping, Lightning shifted her weight to the right. Now airborne, with her body perpendicular to her initial stance, she twisted her trunk like a vortex and struck Tidus's jaw with her heel.

Meanwhile, on the observation decks, Yuna accidentally squeezed Vanille's hand. The Archprincess hastily pulled away in embarrassment and whispered, "Sorry!"

Vanille smiled. She understood. She felt just as concerned for Lightning as Yuna did for Tidus. "It's okay," she whispered back.

In the High Council's Box, the masters sat in a row. Celes and Auron were in middle seats with Cid and Kimahri sandwiching them.

"This wasn't the plan, was it?" the female master asked aloud.

"No," Auron responded. "It wasn't."

"She ain't dangerous," Cid said, chewing on his toothpick.

All the masters looked at him. "I don't care what ya'll say. She ain't dangerous." Cid reclined back and crossed his arms over his chest.

"And you're so sure about that?" Auron asked pessimistically.

"Zappy not dangerous," Kimahri added.

"Not you too," Auron replied disappointingly.

"Auron," Celes conciliated, "I expected to see it more your way, but I cannot anymore."

Auron sighed.

Back on the dueling floor, Lightning was pursuing Paine. Paine was seemingly running away from Lightning and charging at one of the columns. Lightning was sprinting so fast that she couldn't stop in time for Paine's unexpected wall run on the column. Paine back flipped over the ex-soldier, and Lightning felt the floor burning under her feet as she stopped. At a terrible price, she felt Paine's purple blade slash horizontally across her back.

Though in excruciating pain, Lightning laterally dodge rolled to the right and reset herself. She watched as her 3 opponents stalked her position.

'I need to get rid of one,' Lightning winced.

The soldier's eyes narrowed on Irvine, who approached her from the middle. She had a risky idea. It wasn't conventional, but she was eager to whittle the count to 2 opponents. She concentrated and waited for an opening. At last, she bolted forwards. Her charge confused the converging party. She became a blur as her weapon became animated.

Within a few feet of Irvine, she gyrated her saber over her right side, swiveled it over her left side, and swiveled it back to her right side. With his attacker moving so quickly, Irvine became disoriented to the direction of Lightning's blade. He anticipated for Lightning to throw a saber swipe, so he put up a vertical block. Lightning, however, deceived him, and once within striking range, the soldier lunged forward and jabbed Irvine under his collarbone.

Lightning's incredible momentum forced Irvine to lose his balance and knocked him backwards. Lightning followed up with horizontal slice at Irvine's hip. Her opponent hissed as he tried to reset his feet. The soldier side-stepped right and front flipped next to Irvine. While airborne, she crossed the hilt to her left hand, and when she landed, she did a swift 180 rotation and brought the blade across Irvine's back.

Irvine toppled to his side, but Lightning back flipped out of the area since Tidus rushed to swipe her. One of the referees went to help Irvine while Lightning's 2 remaining opponents were converging on her.

Paine lunged in for a two-handed-slash across Lightning's chest. The ex-soldier parried the attack, and then dodge rolled left to duck under Tidus's horizontal strike— just in time for Tidus to accidently make contact with Paine's inner arm.

Paine grimaced. "Watch it, asshole!" she spat.

Tidus stifled a laugh, but failed to block Lightning's right-leg-saber-sweep. Despite being off balance, he managed to make a 180 rotation and horizontal swipe across Lightning's stomach.

The ex-soldier staggered a little but reset for Paine's incoming, lateral-underhand-cut. Lightning's blade made a vertical-block and the ex-soldier spinning-back-kicked the silver haired warrior, and then back flipped to dodge Tidus's two-handed-slash.

Lightning crossed her saber over her body and sliced along Paine's knee. While the silver haired warrior was down, Tidus charged in with a two-handed-tomahawk-strike. The ex-soldier's saber-hand was still recoiling when she brought her left palm up to the path of Tidus's saber and conjured a Force shield. To everyone's astonishment, Tidus's movement was completely frozen in midair.

The audience gasped.

The time it took for him to reset was long enough for Lightning to laterally flip over Paine's body and swipe over her shoulder blades while the silver haired girl was getting up. A referee came to aid Paine, as Lightning back flipped and shuffled to the center of the floor, with Tidus in pursuit.

Lightning advanced with a two-handed-tomahawk-strike. Tidus parried her attack, but the soldier pressed forward with another tomahawk strike. Tidus parried, but this time, he forced Lightning's blade down and trapped it to the floor with his saber. In that brief increment of time, he stepped forward and shouldered Lightning.

She was off balance but recovered quickly enough to parry Tidus's diagonal slash. The duelists struck again and parried. Once more, they struck and parried. Lightning lunged in for the jab, but Tidus batted it away. He tried to horizontally slice Lightning's left arm, but she rotated and vertically blocked it behind her back.

She leaned in and back-fisted Tidus's jaw. He staggered, and Lightning snap kicked him in the midsection. Tidus went flying backwards, but Lightning moved so fast that he was never out of her range. Tidus was close to the row of columns. He reset himself and shuffled laterally. He rotated so that the columns were on his left. Lightning pursued him.

In the High Council's Box, Auron and Cid were arguing.

"What you say ain't true!" Cid said.

"I'm telling you, she'll turn on us. She's too aggressive," Auron replied.

"Plenty a' Jedi are aggressive. 'Cludin' you, old man."

"Who are you calling an old man, old man?" Auron responded defensively.

"Gentlemen," Celes placated. "Let us not turn on each other first."

Auron dialed down his tone before saying, "She had more burns coming into this round than any of her adversaries. She's reckless."

"She'll be all right. Just give her a chance to train up!" Cid urged.

"I do agree," Celes added. "She needs to learn defense."

Back on the dueling floor, the two finalists slashed and parried. Tidus was being directed back by Lightning. They slashed and parried. He stepped back again. Once more, they slashed and parried. This time, Lightning vaulted diagonally and kicked off the column. She front flipped over Tidus, and whilst in transition, she sliced across his back.

Once her feet touched the ground, she somersaulted forward to get out of strike range. She crouched low but didn't turn around. Something dawned on her— both duelists had 2 burns. They were dead even.

Immobile, Lightning closed her eyes. She listened. Everything around her, all the sounds: the deafening cheers of the booming crowds, the rustling of her opponent charging at her from behind, the unique humming of the lightsaber in her hand . . . everything grew silent. The only resonating noise was her thudding heartbeat.

But soon, even the sounds of her heart grew silent. Everything was muted. She could no longer hear. With her eyes still closed, she could no longer see. The only sensation left was her ability to feel.

And she felt the midi-chlorians speaking to her, telling her, in that split second of time, to trust her instincts, to trust the living Force inside of her. It wasn't until that moment that Lightning truly believed . . . she could be a Jedi.

She rose to her feet.

With Lightning's back to him, Tidus practically launched himself at her. His saber was fully extended as he lunged in for the jab. The crowds gasped . . . so certain that victory had been determined.

Everyone was unprepared for Lightning to do a 90 degree pivot and fade— just in time. As Tidus's momentum kept bringing him forward, Lightning snatched the top part of his saber's hilt. She whirled him around, pulled his blade over her shoulder, drove in, and tripped his body over her back.

On his way down, Lightning had pried his blue saber from his hand. Tidus winced as his spine crashed against the stone floor. Lightning towered over him. She crossed the two blades near the blonde's neck. Tidus put his hands up in defeat.

"Winner!" exclaimed Auron's raspy voice.

Lightning deactivated the sabers and handed Tidus's back to him. He accepted it and was surprised to find that Lightning didn't retract her free hand. He hesitated, but then, he gratefully accepted her offer as she pulled him back to his feet.

"For ridiculing you earlier . . . I'm sorry," Tidus said ashamedly.

"Round 5 will commence in 10 seconds," Auron informed.

Lightning nodded in acceptance to Tidus' apology.

"How about a rematch?" Tidus asked in a friendly voice. "You know . . . after handling the small fry first?"

"8."

Lightning grinned. "Sure thing."

The two finalists made their way to the center of the floor as Auron continued the countdown. Lightning and Tidus stood back-to-back with their saber hilts clutched firmly in their hands. The fallen Irvine and Paine were now pacing to the center of the floor.

"Everyone's gonna' be after you, ya' know. I hope you've saved your energy," Tidus uttered.

"2."

Lightning snorted. "Let them come," she replied coolly.

"1."

The reverberating echo of sixteen barriers opening signaled the finalists to activate their weapons. At first, the footsteps sounded like whispers, but in mere seconds, the faint noises became thundering rumbles as twenty-eight Jedi Initiates came storming in.

Meanwhile, on the observation decks, Vanille and Yuna were holding hands—comforting each other—and showing their concern for the safety of their loved ones.

"At least they're helping each other now," Yuna whispered.

"I can't even believe this, ya'!" Wakka said stridently. "For those of ya' at home, you' missin' one hell'uva show! FLOCKA."

In the High Council's Box, the 4 masters watched interestedly as the 32 Initiates engaged in combat. They were impressed by Lightning's performance, especially because they all underestimated her.

"I've been thinking," Celes stated, "no Jedi Knight could train Farron . . . She'd be too much. After watching her, I doubt any Knights would even consider taking her as a Padawan, but even if there were, I couldn't support it."

"Why?" Cid asked.

"She needs a Master with experience," Celes replied plainly. "If she is to be trained, one of us would need to do it."

"Yes, those should be the conditions," Auron agreed. "Farron needs to learn to defend, not to attack."

"Zappy is natural Form 4 user," Kimahri noted.

Celes snorted "Yes, she is," and crossed her arms. "Perhaps you should do it, Auron? You could monitor her closely. "

Auron shook his head. "I already made a promise to an old friend . . . He asked me to train his son when he was ready."

"I see," Celes replied.

"I wouldn't be a good match, anyway," Auron added. "I'm a predominant Form 5 user. She needs to learn more control not more aggression." He cleared his throat. "You'd be a good option, though, Celes. Your Form 2 focuses on precision and fluidity. Farron needs that," he suggested.

"I think she needs something a little more than technique," Celes replied. "Her inability to remain passive and defend herself, instead of always attacking, is her biggest problem."

The Council looked down on the arena floor and noticed how Lightning's tunic was singed and seared from the strikes she's taken. She had 2 burns with 6 Initiates left dueling.

"Kimahri think," the Ronso interrupted the silence, "Cid be one to train Zappy."

The High Council looked down the row to stare at the blue master. Cid crossed his arms and chewed on his toothpick. Cid cackled lightly at Kimahri's suggestion. "Oh, yeah?" Cid mused. "What makes you think that?"

"Cid teach Fran to control Force Fury," Kimahri looked at him. "Cid teach Zappy to control aggression."

"He does have a point, Cid," Celes swirled her tongue in her mouth. "After all," she added, "you're a predominant Form 3 user. Your defense is better developed than any of ours. If anyone can teach her control, it's you."

Cid focused back to the Arena floor. Lightning had just successfully flipped over an opponent and delivered his 3rd burn. Cid's eyes narrowed. The master knew that he was the only option.

Cid bit the inside of his lip. "I'll do it," he whispered. "She can be my apprentice," he said.

"Very well," Auron approved. "Find her after the Tournament. Tell her to get fixed up. Stay in the Meditation Chapel as long as necessary. When she's ready, we'll be waiting."

"—Yeah, yeah, I know the drill," Cid interrupted.

Auron scowled.

—16—

After Lightning served Tidus's 3rd burn, she dropped to one knee and grimaced. From start to finish, she held nothing back, and now she was out of breath. The cheers were earsplitting, and the crowds were rowdy out of their seats.

Her blue saber indented into the stone ground. She leaned against it for support and pushed herself back up. Once to her feet, she deactivated the weapon. She panted heavily and swayed over to exit the final confrontation chamber. Officials and medics were bustling around the floor. Many congratulated her.

She couldn't hear well. She only detected bits and pieces of Wakka or Auron's voice over the sound system. She could only smile and nod if someone tried to shake her hand.

She desperately needed rest.

—16—

As spectators began filing out of the Arena, Yuna's entourage waited patiently in their seats for their hover chariots to arrive.

"Princess," Vanille summoned.

"—Just Yuna," the Archprincess insisted with a smile.

Vanille was flattered. Yuna wished to be addressed by name instead of title. Due to their emotional bonding during the Tournament, Yuna no longer felt that being referred to as 'Princess', by the red-head, was appropriate.

"Yuna," the red-head whispered, "What'll happen to Lightning now?"

"She'll be approached by a Jedi Knight or Master who wishes to make her their apprentice," Yuna answered gently.

"Does every Initiate get to be an apprentice?" Vanille inquired.

"Not always. In those cases, the Temple offers them service jobs. It might seem like a poor choice compared to being an apprentice, but actually, a job in the Jedi Service Corp is highly coveted by most ordinary citizens."

Troubled, Vanille asked, "What if no one chooses Lightning?"

"Don't worry. Yeul's urgency is compelling to the High Council. The Masters may not like Yeul interfering, but they know she's only persistent because this must be very important."

"How long does an Initiate have to wait for a Master's offer?"

"It depends. Usually it takes a day or two, but occasionally, they'll be approached right after the Tournament."

"I see . . . Yuna, can I ask you one more question?" Vanille whispered, worried that she was pestering the Archprincess.

"Vanille," Yuna smiled reassuringly, "you may ask as many questions as you'd like."

The red-head grinned appreciatively, then she asked, "Did Yeul mention what I'm supposed to be doing while Lightning is in Jedi training?"

"She did, but you must forgive me," Yuna shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not allowed to talk about it yet. For now, I would like you to remain in my Palace as a royal guest. Would you object?"

"Of course not!" Vanille jovially responded. "I am grateful."

"We're happy to have you—"

"—The chariots are here, Princess." Cloud informed.

Yuna looked back to Vanille and kindly beckoned. "Come. Many people are eager to meet you."

Vanille blushed.

Eager to meet me? Vanille wondered.

—16—

In the preliminary training chamber, Lightning sat in a corner with her back against the wall. Her hearing was restored. She felt a little weary, but not like she did earlier. The adrenaline wore off, and she started feeling considerable pain at her wounds.

Her lower body remained unscathed. Unfortunately, this meant 6 burns were concentrated on her back and torso. Not to mention, she endured multiple unarmed punches and kicks.

What am I supposed to do now? No one told me? Lightning thought.

Jedi were clearing out of the preliminary training chamber when Master Cid spotted Lightning sitting all by herself. He deliberately walked over.

"Congrats, champ," Cid greeted casually. "Mind if I sit with ya'?"

Lightning was puzzled at first but recognized the Master from earlier, "Sure," she responded nonchalantly.

Cid exhaled as he slid down the wall to join Lightning. He wasted no time getting to the point. "I'd like to offer ya' an apprenticeship."

Lightning's looked at him with earnest, "Really?"

Cid cleared his throat and replied, "With your permission, the Council thinks I should be your mentor."

Lightning's mind was racing. Her weariness was no more. She considered Cid's proposition as being one step closer to rescuing Serah.

Still in shock, Lightning replied, "Thank you. This means a great deal to me . . . . . . . . Master."

Cid chuckled and reached into his robe pocket. He pulled out a folded, blank piece of parchment and dropped it on Lightning's lap.

"Great. Now, get yourself over to the Sector of Service. Take a lift to the Halls of Healing," Cid instructed. "I set ya' up with Aerith. Once she fixes ya', get her to stamp this paper. I'll be waitin' in the Meditation Chapel when you're done."

Lightning looked blankly at her new mentor. "Master, why do I need her to stamp a blank piece of paper?"

Cid grinned. "I don't trust you'd get yourself fixed up if I didn't have some way of trackin' ya'. Don't gimme' that look. GET TO STEPPIN', Padawan!"

Lightning grumbled, stood up, and trudged for the Halls of Healing.