Work Text:
The war meant that many padawans who had previously been expected to be knighted within a year or two were now being knighted earlier – no longer could they afford to take the time to ease into that transition to independence and responsibility.
She hadn’t minded, then. She had long looked forward to the day she would become a Jedi Knight. Even if it was because of the war, she was pleased that she had been judged as capable enough to be knighted early. She had been eager, excited.
Naive.
Smoke covered the battlefield, smothering the sky and their lungs, as the droids marched relentlessly against them, in need of neither. But the smoke didn’t choke her as much as the pain and death she could keenly feel.
She’d felt it before, of course – not every mission had gone well during her apprenticeship, and not every conflict could be resolved. But never at this scale.
More than ever, she wished for her master’s guidance, for his calm words, for his steady presence. She wished she had not been yet knighted.
But she had, and she would have to be that guide for herself and all those she was here to protect.