With everything going on in the world, I figured we could all do with a bit of hope right now.
"Hope can be found in the darkest of places, if one only remembers to turn on the light."
Vestara Khai was used to being in something of a liminal space.
No longer by any means a child but not yet a full adult, formerly a Sith and now not quite a Jedi, daughter of a world she both loved and no longer wanted, facing towards an uncertain future with the young man who'd been a sworn enemy six months before, currently stood in a cavern in a world strong in the Dark Side, accompanied by two who shone in the Light.
The rhak-skuri scuttled closer, and dread washed over her.
"Vestara?" Natua asked. The young woman flashed back to a conversation she'd had just the previous day.
"Master Skywalker?"
Luke had turned from the console of the Jade Shadow to face her. His smile didn't quite reach his eyes, but it was still more honest than almost anything she'd ever gotten from Lady Rhea.
"Yes, Vestara."
"Master…can I ask you a question?"
"You just did," Luke raised an eyebrow, and Vestara rolled her eyes.
"You're welcome to ask another," he added, more seriously. His Force presence projected welcome, so she took a deep breath.
"When I was growing up on Kesh, I was always taught that Jedi are weak. They said the Dark Side is stronger, that the Light is no match for it. But…I've seen you and Ben, and Jaina, in action. You and Ben took out our entire strike team on the station. I saw you stand up to Abeloth, single-handed. I didn't think anyone could do that by themselves. So…is the Dark Side stronger?"
Luke nodded, and was silent for a moment. "I asked my old Master that, once. He said no, but it's quicker, easier. Honestly? The truth is that the Dark Side is stronger…in certain ways. And in other ways, the Light is stronger."
Vestara frowned in thought, and Luke's eyes crinkled. "The Dark Side is flashier, Vestara. Conquest, domination, aggression…those are all where it is more powerful. The Light is no less powerful, but it's less obvious. When it comes to growing, healing, preserving, defending, a Jedi is far superior to a Sith."
She nodded her understanding, and he continued. "Destruction, despair, and violence are no more significant, but they're far more obvious. But mastery of the self is the only mastery that matters. Too many beings think that the ability to wield power makes them special. But true mastery comes from restraining your power, using it wisely. That is the essence of the Jedi."
Vestara frowned again, nodding slowly as she digested his words. They were alien to everything she'd ever learned on Kesh, and yet…and yet they spoke to her, in a way she couldn't quite describe.
"So power comes from…not using power?"
"From using power responsibly," he corrected her gently. "Which is easier: to build, or to destroy?"
"To destroy."
"Exactly. The Dark tears down everything it can, but what its servants fail to realize is that in the heart of its strength is its weakness: one lone candle is enough to hold it back."
Luke fixed her with a piercing gaze.
"And love is more than a candle. Love can ignite the stars."
Vestara looked at Natua Wan, who had treated her with more genuine friendship in fifteen minutes than she had experienced in fifteen years on Kesh. She looked at Ben, the young man she had come to love. She thought of Jaina Solo, who had gone out of her way to offer words of comfort and support after killing her father, and of Master Skywalker, who had treated her with compassion, gentleness, and respect after she had given him countless reasons not to trust her.
And she opened herself up to the Light.
It poured into her, over her, through her, like a waterfall, like a plant soaking in the light of the sun, like everything that was good and right and beautiful in the universe. Vestara Khai, Jedi apprentice, raised her arms. The rhak-skuri cried out in her mind, but she paid it no heed. Light burst from her, pouring through the cavern, and the giant, mutated insect scuttled backwards in fear.
You will not have him, she said, or thought—in the Force, they were one. He is mine. And I am his. And together, we are so much more than the sum of our parts.
Later on, Jaina shared with her a quote by Jedi Master Mace Windu: "It is in the darkest night that the light we are shines brightest."
Don't forget to hold on to hope. Stay united. Stay strong.