Chapter 4

Leia awoke rather comfortably when her alarm went off in the morning. She had spent the last few hours pondering on what she had witnessed. But all of that was pushed to the side, waking up. She felt refreshed with a new sense of energy slowly crawling over her. Her muscles relaxed, the stress seemed to drain away and her mind was sharper than usual. She spent some time in bed before finally getting up in the morning. If she was late Alerka would have her head. Leia only had her military uniform and off duty uniform as she hadn't been able to get her hands on civilian clothes. Leia left the room and the strange box lying on the desk still remaining unopened down the stairs to see Alerka was standing at the table. Sipping on a cup of juice, what type of juice Leia still didn't know. But it wasn't really a concern as she looked upon the woman's face which smiled at her. It had that warmth of a mother which Leia looked at her with convocation as memories of last night returned. "Well good morning to you? I've got good news for you and breakfast will be served soon Princess. Then your education begins."

"Good morning," Leia said. "So what's the good news?"

"Well since you are a university student. You don't have to wear your military uniform unless you are participating in a class at the Imperial academy. Or in the presence of a military commander such as the Governor, Tarkin or Vader. But you still have to keep your hair within military standards." Alerka said, "Now then sit down and enjoy. I'll get breakfast started and then we'll get to the real education so until then I won't answer any questions about last night. After we're done you'll receive a tour of the university and then you'll be assigned to your classes. I already know which you're going to take."

"Good to know," Leia said.

Leia sat down at the table looking at the woman who was clearly lost in her own world. The 14 year old knew nothing about her even less now than she had when Leia first started at the academy. It wasn't too long before Alerka had breakfast ready which Leia ate mostly in silence. Then the woman went and pulled out a cup of some sort of liquid. "Try it. It's Vija juice, it's in the same family as the delicacy on Alderaan, but this is far more sweet and much less common. So it's cheap and sold pretty much anywhere in the Galaxy for a few credits. I always drink this to help me manage my stress over the various working hours and terrible conditions I am always in." Leia took the cup and drank it. Alerka wasn't kidding, it was sweet. Perhaps one of the sweetest drinks in the Galaxy, but she could definitely notice the familiarity to Hija. Leia relaxed even more if that was even possible and closed her eyes to enjoy the flavor.

"You're not kidding, this is very sweet," Leia said. "Not bad, it takes time to get used to it, but Vija is not…bad."

Alerka had given her a small tour and even allowed Leia to freshen up. After that the two of them returned towards her room. With that Alerka opened the box which Leia had completely spaced and pulled out two sets of clothes. The first one she pulled out was a long white dress that was more elegant than the ones she wore to events. Leia scowled upon seeing it. Alerka chuckled at Leia, but didn't say anything, just put the dress to the side. The second one was different; it had an identical color scheme to the dress only it appeared to be a lightly built tight suit of armor. It had some strange writing on it that Leia didn't understand and on the back was the sigil of the sword of light surrounded by a group of interweaving hands. "Change into this the droids already took your measurements so it's going to fit you perfectly." Leia protested for a while, but Alerka was firm in her decision.

The clothes were heavier than expected with laced in armor into the fabric. "This is surprisingly comfortable." Leia admitted.

"Indeed that's what they were designed for," Alerka said. "The uniform was created thousands of years ago. To help Temple Maidens due their job and its various roles. The uniform was designed similar to that of traditional Jedi Ceremonial robes only with the color of a Temple Maiden and laced with iron platining. Meaning it was meant to be worn all the time, be able to take hits from rebellious younglings and give you a small resistance to the force. Such as Force Push it was harder to push you forward or push you away. And give you full flexibility of motion to move in combat if the need may arise. This is what you'll be doing your training in, but this uniform is only to be worn when I'm around or in special cases. Now then follow me."

"Where are-" Alerka didn't respond to Leia just moved towards the basement of the house. Leia followed the woman for someone as old as her; she could be quick if she wanted too. With that the two of them entered into a small basement which was filled with a bunch of junk in various boxes and other assortments. With that Alerka lifted her left hand and a hidden doorway revealed itself to them. Leia looked at the woman with increasing curiosity.

The two of them stepped inside while the door closed behind them and Leia was now deeply curious. Who had this in their home? All of the questions from last night were rushing over as the feeling in this room was strong. Wrapping itself around her like a warm blanket Leia felt stronger than before. The room was a secret hidden dojo with a wide massive mat, open space and even fluorescent light. Gray painting was covering the wall as this place was hidden underneath her house, but what caught Leia's attention was what was on the wall. On the far end of the room was a giant symbol painted in gold. In the center of the picture was a sword of light similar to the one found in the flag in Alerk's office on Coruscant or the white uniform that Leia was wearing on the back. Surrounding by two phoenix-like wings surrounding it. Alerka slowed to a crawl and moved towards the wall. She placed her left hand on the wall and touched its smoothed surface. Alerka closed her eyes, "So what is this? Why is-" Alerka cut Leia off from asking all or any of her questions.

"Do you know what this symbol means?" Alerka asked her.

"No," Leia said. "I've never seen this before. Is this supposed to be something important?"

"This symbol means everything to me, Leia," Alerka said. Leia looked at the woman she never used her real name in the last 4 months since Leia started studying under her. "You could never truly understand how much it means to me as a Temple Maiden. But this symbol is one of the greatest symbols ever created and sadly it's been lost to time. Relegated to the edges of forbidden and illegal history. No one, not even the smartest or most historical knowledge beings in the Galaxy truly know where it came from. Its origins, its true meanings and reason it was chosen has been forgotten and will never be discovered. As with the destruction of the Jedi archives on Coruscant during order 66 any hope of discovering its origins is now fully lost to time. And no one knows why it was chosen either. But what has not been forgotten is what this symbol represents."

"And what does it represent?" Leia asked.

"This is the symbol of the Jedi Order," Alerka said with a smile as she looked over at Leia with a smile. "This symbol Leia is over 25,000 years old and has been used by the Jedi Order since its founding. No one knows where the Jedi came from. I've heard Tython, Jeda, Ossus, but that's for philosophers and historians to debate. Neither of which I am. My point is millions of Jedi Knights have lived, served and died in honor under this very banner. It at one point was seen throughout the Galaxy as a symbol of peace and justice through the Galaxy. For thousands of generations the Jedi served the galaxy by defending the weak, protecting the innocent studying and unraveling the mysteries of the Force. It was an honorable place to be a Jedi, but not an easy one. Jedi were as flawed as you or I. They served the Galaxy, defended the Republic and protected life itself. Guided by the wisdom of the Jedi High Council, serving and gilding the Galactic senate. They were peacekeepers."

"For thousands of generations they served the Galaxy all through the Golden Age of the Old Republic. They weren't perfect and when conflict arose with the Separatist. The Jedi like so many times before took up arms to protect the government they had protected for so many generations. For 3 years they took up arms in defense of the innocent thousands of Jedi died throughout the bloody years. So many innocent lives lost. In their prime before the war there were 10,000 Jedi Knights and then one day the war ended. Count Dooku was killed during the battle of Coruscant. General Grievous was defeated on Utapau. The Separatist council was destroyed by Lord Vader and then in a single moment it all ended. Order 66 was issued and the Clones who had served loyal alongside their Jedi Generals and Commanders turned on them and killed them. And all the survivors have been hunted down by the Empire to near extinction. Almost 25,000 years of history erased in the span of a decade."

"Why?" Leia asked.

"Fear," Alerka said. "The only thing Emperor Palpatine is so afraid of is losing his power. He will stop at nothing to destroy all references to the Jedi and eliminate all force sensitives. Anything that possesses a threat to his power he will eliminate. Because the Jedi are the only thing in this Galaxy that can overcome his power. The only thing that can threaten him that's why you don't learn about the Jedi. Emperor Palpatine makes it illegal and uses the Empire to eliminate their existence. But it has only been 15 years since the Clone Wars Leia. Many of us knew the Jedi personally, some of us even trained and lived alongside them. Some of us have knowledge. Forbidden, illegal, dangerous, but knowledge knows the less. And I'm the only one with knowledge of the Force, the Jedi and their history. I possess knowledge of them that not even Darth Vader or the Emperor knows."

"What kind of knowledge?" Leia asked.

"Patients," Alerka said. "The hardest part of any journey is throwing the first stone. It is always honorable to gain knowledge, but sometimes it can be dangerous. And in this case it's dangerous, but for you it's necessary."

Leia watched as the woman lifted her left hand and the symbol of the Jedi disappeared. It slid away to reveal a hidden cabinet system that was empty and devoid of almost anything except for a few rocks and a metal cylinder about the size of her forearm in length. Alerka pulled out some rocks that were lining the shelves and placed them some distance away from Leia. Then she walked over to them and sat down with the rocks crossed her knees. "Now then close your eyes Leia," Alerka said firmly. Leia obeyed out of blind curiosity what this woman was trying to accomplish. Closing her eyes Leia listed the world around her. "You are the center of the storm. Your body is the conduit in which the Force flows through you. It is all around you and all you have to do is simply listen to it. Push me forward Leia not physically simply focus on me and push me forward. Only using your mind."

Leia spent some amount of time imagining the woman flying through the air or sprawling backwards with nothing happening. "This is pointless." Leia said frustrated at the entire point of this exercise Alerka just rolled her eyes. The woman chuckled as if this was funny to her which only added to Leia's frustration.

"Do or do not. There is no try," Alerka said. "That's what Master Yoda used to say to all the Younglings in the temple. Just do it Leia. Don't think about it, don't doubt yourself, just push me using the Force. I will only explain it to you when you finally do it. It's quite simple. If it takes us 3 years for you to do this then we're going to spend 3 years doing this until you manage it. I've seen children younger than you use the Force; this is basic."

"I don't see how-" Leia got cut off again.

With that Alerka picked up one of the rocks and threw it at her. "Shut up and push me already. I want to move on to other things, Leia. We have less than 3 hours to do everything that I want to do." Leia looked at the woman and tried again imagining pushing the woman forward and failed as nothing changed. Leia's frustration went up as she was trying to do something that was absolutely stupid. Pushing someone with your mind? Leia just shook her head at the thought this woman had truly lost the plot. With that Alerka picked up one of the rocks and chucked it at her. "I said hurry up princess we don't have all day."
"Shut up," Leia said. "I'm not going to do something that's this stupid."

"Child no one is here, but me and you. Just do it already," Alerka said. Slowly thinking up something and Leia rolled her eyes. "Fine then, but you see no one leaves this room until you push me with the Force."

"Well since you asked," Leia said, annoyed and attempted to rush towards the woman. Who simply side stepped with her feet turning this into a dance as she would pick up one of the rocks and chuck it at her. Which only further enraged Leia at this woman who would move away before Leia could even get close. Then she would stop which Leia would charge only for the woman to side step pick up one of the rocks and chucked it at her again. Leia clenched her fist so tightly as the woman coined this game and started taunting her. "Stop it, I said stop it!" Leia screamed loudly as a sudden burst of energy swirled her body and exploded outwards. As if trying to defend her whatever this was, it was something needed and suddenly the rocks and Alerka went flying backwards. Leia watched as the entire world went flying as this new found energy source flowed through her body. Alerka stood up from the ground laughing at her as Leia looked confused at the sight she just witnessed.

"That is the Force," Alerka said. Leia looked at her hands, "That energy your feeling right now..is the Force. All I had to do is get you to stop thinking and just do it. And there is so much more to learn…"