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- It's been three days, it's time for you to choose.
Asajj squinted warily at the Jedi Master. How could it be otherwise? He was nothing to her. Trust had to be earned, and he was not Master Ky, he was a stranger, it was unfair for him to demand her respect and submission without having shown that he was worthy.
The Jedi, who had introduced himself as 'Master Windu' as if that was supposed to mean something to her, had called her 'Padawan' before she had even introduced herself and demanded to see her Master. But her Master, her 'father' was not there, he had been dead for weeks already, and Asajj's response had greatly surprised the Jedi. Asajj didn't know if she could believe the fact that the Jedi in the Temple of Coruscant had believed Master Ky Narec to be dead for over a decade, she was literally seventeen years old and he had raised her, loved her and trained her since before she could walk, and... they hadn't been looking for him. If they had been looking for him, they would have known he was alive, fighting crime. If they had come for him, the frail old human would still be alive.
In a way, it was their fault that he was dead, and the faults of one were the faults of a whole community.
'For it takes a village to raise a child,' his father used to say, which was why he was always as blameless as possible even when it was hard, because he wanted to do good through good deeds, for her Jedi Master, her guide, the way to win mattered as much as the victory, winning by perverting a fight and its ideals was not winning.
He was so good, so gentle, while she... Asajj had always had the ambition to take revenge, the second his heart had stopped beating, she had known that she could not let his death go unpunished. She was going to kill them all, she was almost ready to act. And now this Jedi was here, looking at her hair, shaved in mourning and the lack of evidence of her formal training. She had cut her Padawan braid when her Master died, tying it to the human's wrist to burn it with him on the funeral pyre she had managed to create for him. Their bond was as eternal as the Force, but the Force was witness to it... she missed him so much.
Her father had been secretive about some things from his past but he had always spoken appreciatively of his time in the Temple and had always been loving and tolerant with her, he was wonderful...
What would her father have wanted?
He wanted the best for her, that she do the right thing, the just thing, and he himself felt distrust for the politics that did not protect the people and generally prevented the Jedi from even wanting to get involved when it was too delicate...
On the other hand, if they had all abandoned him, they had made him the exceptional man he was before his death, and the Jedi had made Master Windu who had come in search of a Jedi rumored to be in trouble...
Asajj looked around her, at the remnants of a life that could no longer exist and the beginnings of a miserable emotional life of revenge, fear and pain. Hate. The Dark Side.
He would have wanted better for her.
Her decision was obvious now that the Force was sending her such a clear sign, perhaps it was even his Master's proposal through the Force.
- "I won't call you Master," she warned, for her Master was her father.
- Call me Professor, that will do.
The trip to Coruscant was shorter than she thought it would be, her first trip between two planets... it was both frightening and exhilarating, she couldn't wait to do it again.
A blond teenager of about fifteen was walking towards a hangar and hesitantly stopped in front of them, unable to pretend he hadn't seen them even though he obviously wanted to.
- Master Windu.
It was aggressive, bordering on disrespectful, even Asajj could tell it.
- Padawan Skywalker. He is Master Qui-Gon Jinn's Padawan.
It was... it was respectful, a little tired and annoyed but respectful nonetheless.
A good Jedi does the right thing despite what he might want for himself...
She had done the right thing.
- Who are you?
- Asajj Ventress.
- "My new Padawan," Master Windu clarified, earning a surprised, betrayed and angry look from the human.
He seemed incredibly emotional and very negative for a Coruscant Jedi.
- "I thought I was too old," the Padawan called back, barely containing his indignation.
There was a story there.
- She's old, and probably weak! He continued with insistence.
The young human was the one who looked weak, and Asajj wasn't even sure she could stay with such a welcome. She hit the arrogant jerk in the face and gave him a frank and quick kick in his ankles. He fell with a scream.
Behind her, Master Windu sighed.
- You'll probably get along fine with Depa, my first daughter. With Jon... I don't know, he's still very introverted, but he should be fine. Come on, let's make you an at least semi-civilized Jedi.
- Does that mean I can stay half wild?
- "Half wild and totally yourself," Master Windu allowed with an amused smile, and a cheeky look of amusement on a man of that age passed over his face. "And I warn you, you're in for a hard time. Welcome in our family."