Chapter Text
Prologue: Talk of the Future
A bond forged in trust is the strongest of its kind.
For once, it was a slow day at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. With the increasing number of battles currently being waged and, inversely, the dwindling amount of Jedi present, the place looked like a ghost town. It was just another reminder of her own departure, a moment looming in the future without a set date but steadily pressing in as the war moved outward. Katooni dreaded that thought, one that seemed to have taken up permanent residence in her mind. It was buried so deep, yet always resurfaced when she had an ounce of stillness. Today, armed with the first free time she had been given in months, her dread seeped into her feet, making even her steps feel heavy.
“I can’t believe Master Yoda gave us the rest of the afternoon off,” Ganodi was saying. She walked beside Katooni, the two girls taking the familiar path from their dormitory to the courtyard on the east side of the building. Katooni could hardly believe it either, but she wasn’t one to argue with the order of a Jedi master. Especially one that afforded her with a much needed break and social interaction.
Training for the younglings was becoming more difficult. As Katooni and her class moved closer towards the date of their Initiate Trials, everyday proved to be more tiresome than the last. Katooni was often nursing bruises and sore muscles while she studied Jedi history late into the evenings. She and Ganodi had been quizzing each other non stop, much to the irritation of their roommates. By the time she finally fell asleep, she was being shaken awake for morning lessons. As for her friends, well... Katooni hardly saw them. Her social life seemed to begin and end with the back of Petro’s head lately, which she was stuck staring at during most of her lessons. If Ganodi didn’t, quite literally, live with her, Katooni was sure she would never see the girl.
“It’s about time we have a break,” she said to Ganodi, nodding to a Jedi in passing. “I’m starting to dream in different languages.”
Ganodi snorted. “That’s your own fault. You should have taken flight lessons, like me.”
The Rodian was probably right, but Katooni had always been more interested in exploring different forms of communication than piloting ships. Although, after weeks of studying, she was beginning to regret that interest.
The pair finally made it outside and Katooni’s spirits lifted the instant she felt the warm sun on her skin. Often chained to her desk, the young Tholothian had a tendency to forget her body needed fresh air. She turned her face into the wind, letting the breeze rustle her robes, and spotted the rest of her friends as she did so. It was so rare to see them all together, she almost had to blink just to make sure they wouldn’t disappear. But Zatt, Petro, Gungi, and Byph were as real as ever and seemed to be making the most of their free afternoon by... sparring?
Petro had his lightsaber up, blue light washing across his face. From a distance, Katooni could already tell his opponent was less enthusiastic. Zatt stood opposite of Petro, his own green lightsaber ignited. It was clear from the frown on his face that Zatt would rather be doing anything other than sparring with Petro, but Katooni suspected the other boy hadn’t given him much of a choice.
“Only you would train during your free time,” Katooni called as she and Ganodi reached the group.
Petro turned to face her, probably ready with a smart remark, but Zatt saw his opening and took it. The Nautolan thrust his right hand forward, knocking Petro off balance with the Force and sending him stumbling to the ground. The other younglings snickered, all looking down at Petro. Zatt put his lightsaber away, moving to quickly offer Petro his hand and pull him to his feet.
“No fair,” Petro whined, strapping his own lightsaber to his belt. “I wasn’t ready.”
Zatt shrugged. “Hey, I didn’t want to spar anyway. Katooni’s right, we have the day off. Can’t you just give it a rest?”
“Jedi padawans don’t get days off from the war.”
Zatt rolled his eyes. “Find another partner, then.”
Katooni knew that was the end of it. Petro and Zatt annoyed each other to no end, but all the other younglings knew they were inseparable. If Petro couldn’t drag Zatt into something, he usually wouldn’t do it. Petro proved her right a moment later when he sat down in the grass, resigning himself to relaxing. Katooni and Ganodi dropped down beside him, joining the rest of their friends on the ground. She fell onto her back, eyes on the clouds. Katooni could see the lines of traffic moving slowly across the Coruscant sky and was, for once, glad to be on the ground.
“Do you think that’s true?” she asked. “Padawans don’t get days off?”
Zatt’s voice came from behind her. “Probably. With the way this war is moving, I doubt anyone gets a break.”
“Don’t know why we’re in such a rush then,” Ganodi said. Katooni had to agree. She had wanted to become a padawan learner for years but, as the time crept closer, the youngling was beginning to worry. She had seen the war first hand and Katooni wasn’t confident she would be able to keep up. Padawans on the front lines were responsible for more lives than their own, a weight Katooni wasn’t ready to carry.
Petro sat up, his face coming into view. “Oh come on, don’t tell me you haven’t been thinking about who your master could be. I know all of you are itching to become padawans.”
“I’m ready,” Gungi said in Wookiee, sitting up beside Petro. “I want to get out of this temple.”
“See, Gungi gets it,” Petro said. “I want to be the padawan of Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and fight alongside him against the evil General Grievous!”
That got Katooni to sit up. She turned to look at Petro, shaking her head at him. Katooni had already faced Grievous once, and she didn’t care to relive the experience. No, her future held something different, she was sure of it. It wasn’t shocking to hear those words from Petro, though. Her friend always seemed to crave a fight, something Katooni had never understood. It had been months, but Petro hadn’t shut up about their encounter with the Commander of the Separatist Droid Army. His retelling of their gathering had gotten so outlandish, other younglings were beginning to doubt the whole thing happened all together.
Zatt laughed. “Oh, I would love to see you as Master Kenobi’s padawan. You’d last, like, five minutes.”
Petro shoved Zatt and the two went rolling, each attempting to pin the other to the ground. While the two boys tussled, the conversation about the future continued.
“I don’t care who my master is,” Ganodi said, eyes still on the sky. “As long as I can get up in the air.” For as long as Katooni had known her, Ganodi had always vowed she would be a pilot. She preferred flying to saber training, something that had gotten her in trouble with Master Yoda more than a few times.
Byph fiddled with the lightsaber strapped to his belt. “Don’t you guys ever worry about things changing?” he asked.
Change. That was a concept Katooni had been grappling with recently. As much as she wished to share Petro’s excitement for the future, there were just too many unknowns. She liked her life as it was right now: surrounded by her friends in the Jedi Temple on a beautiful afternoon. Becoming padawans was the natural next step, but such a change would send the six younglings to opposite ends of the growing war. There was no telling how many moments she would have like this anymore. But that line of thinking often led to a spiral, so Katooni tried to push the thought away before it could swallow her whole and steal this perfect day away from her, too.
Petro clearly didn’t share her concerns. Having pinned Zatt down, he returned to the group. “Things always change, Byph,” he said. “But these are good changes! Come on, who do you want your master to be?”
Byph hesitated for a moment, considering. Then he spoke in his usual Ithorese. “I’ve always liked Master Secura.”
Petro clapped him on the shoulder. “Just picture it,” he said, spreading his other hand out in front of him. His voice changed pitch, as if he suddenly became a podracing announcer. “Byph is fighting with Master Secura alongside me and Master Kenobi. Ganodi is piloting the ship, ready to pick us up for a speedy escape. We’re fighting well but the droid army is closing in. Suddenly, reinforcements arrive! It’s Master Fisto and his padawan, Gungi!”
Gungi gave a soft roar of appreciation, nodding his head for Petro to continue.
“We take out every droid and complete our mission: capturing General Grievous! Once back aboard the ship, Grievous is subdued by Zatt, the tech wiz! Zatt takes Grievous apart piece by piece, turning his droid parts into scraps.”
Zatt rolled his eyes as the other younglings laughed, but he was smiling.
Petro continued his story. “And then, the amazing Katooni-” but he stopped, suddenly turning to look at her. “Wait. Katooni, what does your future look like?”
Hearing Petro say aloud the question she had asked herself countless times was unsettling. She tried to imagine herself in a year, then five years, then ten years down the line, but it was impossible. For Katooni, she couldn’t see an end to the war in sight. She wished they could all have a normal padawan experience, but normal no longer existed. These days it was do or die and Katooni had the eerie feeling, as she looked at the faces of her five closest friends, that not all of them would survive.
But she wanted them too. And maybe they all could in Petro’s idea of the future.
“And then,” she said, picking up the story. “I meet you all here at the temple with Master Plo. We deliver exciting news: with your capture of Grievous and our capture of Dooku, the war has come to an end. The Masters take Grievous, well... what’s left of him,” she said, looking pointedly at Zatt. “To prison. And the six of us come to this very spot to celebrate and swap stories.”
Her friends clapped. Petro grinned at her. “We’re all remembered as the padawans that ended the Clone Wars,” he said.
Silence settled as the end of the story hung in the air, and Katooni knew they were all returning to reality. Byph’s worried expression was back, and even Ganodi looked restless, pulling at blades of grass. Katooni knew, deep down, that worrying was pointless. Time would continue as it was determined to do. She just had to hope the six of them would be allowed to continue with it.
“Hey,” she said, desperate to hold on to the optimism that was fading fast. “Let’s do it.”
“Do what?” Gungi asked.
Katooni smiled slightly. “Come back here,” she said. “When the war ends, we’ll all come back to this spot to celebrate. Deal?”
She knew the unspoken would not go unnoticed. There was a good chance they wouldn’t all be sitting here, when the time came. But talks of the future are often exempt from the crushing weight of reality, especially those shared between children in war. And fantasizing about a life for all of them safe from this uncertainty was healthier for the mind than the alternative.
They all nodded. “I’m in,” Petro said. “And I bet I’ll beat you all here.”
With something as normal as a Petro challenge to cling to, the group returned to its usual dynamic, the energy from earlier resuming as if nothing had happened. Byph and Gungi reverted back to their argument about the most effective lightsaber grip, and Ganodi turned her attention back to the sky. But as Zatt punched Petro in the shoulder once again, Katooni caught the human boy’s gaze. He held it for a second, eyes softening. In an instant, Katooni knew even Petro shared her worries. But he had hope. Hope in the future. Hope in the Jedi. Hope that the war would end.
Maybe hope could be enough for Katooni as well.