Quest for the Hidden City (Star Wars: The High Republic)

by George Mann

she had told Rooper that she would rather be a shield than a sword, to always choose to stand guard and protect rather than fight.

Rooper had always seen the living Force as a melting pot of shimmering colors, each life, no matter how large or small, contributing to the overall pattern, the shining glow.

The Force is with me. I am one with the Force.

Where the living Force usually appeared to Rooper in the form of bright, swirling colors, when she closed her eyes and reached out across the dark planet below, everything was washed in muddy browns and suffocating grays.

“Sometimes I have trouble letting go,” said Silandra. “But you should never think that I doubt you, Rooper. Quite the opposite. I lost someone, a long time ago, and learning to let go was very difficult. But it was necessary. One day you will come to understand that, in training a Padawan, the master learns as much as the pupil. Perhaps even more.”

“I intend to make a pilgrimage to Jedha,” said Silandra. “When circumstances allow. It’s been many years since I observed the Season of Light and looked upon my reflection in the kyber mirrors beneath the Dome of Deliverance. I think it might be time.”

Jedi were taught to deal with loss, but that didn’t mean they didn’t feel it.