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“The Luke Skywalker. That hotshot, one-in-a-million pilot.”
“General Syndulla. Pleasure to meet you. I come not as a pilot.”
The General frowned. "So I assume you're here for a Force matter." This was a pilot who came and went in the known galaxy. She knew the source of his interest was right in her playpen, shaking a wooden rattle imbued with carved quotes of Rylothian good fortune.
“Skywalker, you’re here… to collect a Jedi.”
“Not quite. We have to check first if she wants to be one.”
“Why this early? Can a baby choose?”
“Well, in the old Order, it is said that babies do choose when they’re tested by the Order. But nothing is set in stone.”
She was curious.
“How strong is she?”
Without instructions, she scooped the little one from her playpen and placed her on the floor.
He knelt down and held his finger out. The child, with a smile, grasp the Jedi's finger, as if he was a familiar uncle.
“Very strong.” He did not stand up, but waggled his fingers so the child could make a game out of catching them.
She didn't tell Skywalker that when her womb was full, she felt stirrings, a sharpness of her surroundings, surges of anxiety or joy whenever her crew was in proximity, a torrent of emotions that were either just maternal anxieties or this energy--that Kanan had called the Force--flaring up her maternal anxieties.
“Yes, like her father.”
“I regret I never met him.”
A wave passed through the General’s face.
“I regret he never met her.” But she wondered if the Jedi could perceive the twitch of an unvocalized secret playing in her expression.
“Thank you, for allowing this visit, General.” But Skywalker did not rise because the child still had him in her grip and it seemed the Jedi wouldn't leave unless the child choose to let go. It seemed it would be impolite if he broke away.
The General couldn't help but to mutter, “She… she’ll choose. She’ll grow up. I’ll tell her about you, her father, but in the end, she decides her calling.”
“And that’s wonderful. This Order that I want to restore… it has to do right. She’ll choose when she’s old enough. And she’ll very much will remain in contact with you if she chooses the Order.”
“But if she chooses to stay with me, out of Jedi affairs…”
“Then that’s also a great decision, General."
Realizing she could acclimate to constructing Jedi-esque proverbs, she said, "Yes, because Jedi or not, Force-sensitive or not, anyone deserves options in their fate.”
And Skywalker's head gave a brief bow at the General, before returning his attention to the little innocence playing with his hand.
The General knelt down, joining the new Jedi at the floor, to hold her finger out to the child. The child let go of the Skywalker’s finger in favor of grabbing her mother’s hand. And somewhere in her belly, within the hollowed womb, the General knew her child had already made her choice.