Chapter Text
Sophie felt the familiar buzz of the lightsabers in her hands. She looked across the room at her opponent. His dark green eyes were focused on her through his overgrown blonde bangs. He unclipped his lightsaber from his belt and Sophie braced herself. She took a deep breath as Keefe charged at her, ready to win this time. He had been practicing a lot since their last fight. Sophie thought of her master’s coaching. Feel the force. Use it to anticipate your opponent’s moves. Their green lightsabers collided. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. She was able to predict his moves before he made them, blocking most of his strikes. All of a sudden he switched up, catching her off guard and knocking her down. Swiftly, she clicked the handles of her lightsabers together and swung out her other hand using the force to get him off his feet and give her time to get up. It worked, allowing her to pin him down.
“That is not fair.” Keefe whined as Sophie pulled him up.
“How is that not fair?”
“Using the force in a swordfight is cheating.”
Alvar, Keefe’s master, poked his head into the room. “Jolie needs us in the pit.”
“Master, is using the force to knock someone down during a fight cheating?”
“In a real fight the only rule is don’t die so I’m going to say no.”
Keefe rolled his eyes. “You’re supposed to back me up here. Isn’t that like your whole job?” Alvar shook his head and chuckled as they walked through the halls of the ship. They entered the pit to find Jolie looking unconcerned.
“Check engine light just turned on but we’re really close to the Havenfield temple, I’m going to stop there and have them check it out.”
“The Havenfield temple? The one right next to Brant’s restaurant?” Sophie asked.
“That’s what, the third time you’re seeing him this month? Does the council know about this?” Alvar teased.
“Does the council know about the three girls you’re seeing?” Jolie shot back. Alvar shut up pretty quickly but Keefe sneaked him a fist bump. Sophie could practically sense her master’s eyeroll through the force.
After landing at the shop they told Jolie that they could squeeze her in, but it would be a few hours. Of course, she was ok with that because it meant that she had time to talk to Brant. She called him as soon as she could, telling him to take his break. The four of them walked across the street, ignoring the curious looks and occasional glare that came with being Jedi. They walked into the restaurant and were met with a familiar face, covered in piercings and burn scars. “Brant!” Jolie ran to him and pulled him into a hug. They all sat down and placed their orders. Jolie scarfed down her food and talked to Brant the entire time until she got a holo saying that the ship was done. She seemed disappointed. Jolie and Brant said goodbye and went on their way. That night when they finally got home Sophie collapsed onto her bed and passed out. It had been a longer mission than she was used to, the four of them were gone for over three weeks. It took a few days to get there and then they spent two weeks on another planet in their solar system to help rebuild the temple and keep the Jedi functioning after a storm wrecked the town. They had help brought in from several of the nearby planets.
When Sophie finally came to, she saw a familiar pink-clad figure with a scar over her eye and pointy ears standing over her. Her roommate, Biana Vacker, looked like she was about to burst with excitement. The sun shining through the window indicated to Sophie that she’d been asleep for a while. Sophie slowly sat up, still exhausted. “How long have you been waiting for me to get up?”
“Not important. You’ll never guess what happened!” Sophie had never seen Biana this excited.
“What?” Sophie could hardly keep her eyes open.
“They assigned me to a Master! I’m officially a Padawan!” Biana shrieked. That woke Sophie right up.
“Oh my goodness I’m so happy for you! Who’d they assign you to?”
“Flori. She’s tiny and green, like Calla. I’ve only known her for a week but she’s amazing. She’s really old but she’s so nice, and knows so much. She has taught me so much stuff already. She’s way more helpful than Master Caton.” Master Caton was the one in charge of teaching the younglings at Alluveterre. He tried his best but was often less than helpful.
“I’m really happy for you Biana. I hope you get to go on trips and stuff with us too. Keefe and Alvar and Jolie are great but it would be nice to have another girl my age. Especially the longer ones.”
“I mean Jolie is practically your age. She was barely a knight when she took you on.”
“Jolie’s like 35, she is not practically my age. And she was a knight for like a decade before then.”
“She’s closer than Flori. She’s like 500 or something. Anyway, I’m hungry, let’s go to the cafeteria.”
The girls walked together, laughing and talking about what they’re going to do now that Biana is a padawan. Sophie had known Keefe since she was young, but her relationship with Biana was different. Maybe it was because Biana was also a girl, or because they had been roommates for two years, but she had always admired Biana in a way she couldn’t put into words. She felt like she could tell Biana anything, and it killed her that she couldn’t tell her the truth about her childhood. Or her existence in general. Sophie and Keefe were genetic experiments created by an organization called the Black Swan. Their DNA was supposedly engineered to create the “perfect Jedi,” but Sophie had always doubted that explanation. When they were sent to Alluveterre to start their padawan training, Sophie and Keefe were made to swear not to tell anyone the truth of their creation and upbringing. Sophie wasn’t sure why they had been told the truth to begin with if they had to keep it a secret, but the Black Swan did a lot of things that made no sense to Sophie.
After they had gotten to the cafeteria and grabbed their food they saw Keefe and Alvar, who looked like they were in the middle of an intense discussion. Alvar saw the girls walking towards them and waved.
“I heard the good news. You’ve got a master now?”
“Yep! Flori, she’s amazing.”
“Congrats Biana!” Keefe grinned. “You coming with us on trips now?”
“I hope so.”
“Well for now we’re scheduled for the soup kitchen this afternoon, will you and Flori be there?” Alvar interjected.
“I’ll ask.” Biana was surprisingly excited to work the soup kitchen because it would be her first shift as a padawan and not a youngling.
Of all the community service the Jedi did, the soup kitchen was Keefe’s favorite. They got free food, he got to talk to a lot of people, and it gave him time to hang out with Sophie and Biana. It was also one that Fitz could join. He hadn’t seen Fitz since he got back, and he was hoping that he would have responded to his holo but had no luck. Keefe figured he was probably just busy with school.
“Keefe, do you ever wonder about your family?” Sophie whispered abruptly as they served roast pomork.
“I don’t know, what do you mean?”
“Like your biological parents. I know Jedi are usually separated from their family but everyone around us at least knows who their parents are. Biana and Alvar both see Fitz and their parents regularly. Jolie knew her parents when she was little, before they died. Who are our parents? What if we have siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins?”
“Your parents are two random people who donated DNA, and mine are two people who experimented on and gave up their kid. As for anything else, who knows.”
“They’re not just random people though, they’re our family. Their blood runs through us.”
“An altered version of their blood. Besides, you know Leto is never telling us who they are.”
“Do you ever think about figuring it out?”
“Not really. What brought this on anyway?”
“There’s this family that comes in every time we serve in this kitchen. A mom, dad, a two year old boy and a baby girl. Every time. Seeing them all together, poor and struggling, but so happy makes me wonder why anyone would give that up.” Their conversation ended there, neither of them having anything more to say.
What Sophie didn’t tell Keefe was that the couple reminded her of her and her boyfriend, Fitz Vacker. Jolie was the only one who knew about them because Jedi aren’t allowed to date. Romantic relationships are a form of worldly attachments, which restrict your connection to the Force and can interfere with your work as a Jedi. Jolie didn’t exactly approve of Sophie dating Fitz, but she knew she couldn’t say anything to Sophie without seeming like a total hypocrite. Sophie hoped that she and Fitz could be like Jolie and Brant one day. They seemed like they had the perfect relationship. Or at least as perfect as it can be for a Jedi. Sophie debated telling Keefe the truth when Biana snuck up on them, making Sophie jump. She had no idea how Biana managed to do that.
“Ok, now that I’ve told just about every regular I’m a padawan I’m ready to swap. Either of you want to serve the potatoes?” Sophie decided neither of them needed to know about her and Fitz. Not yet anyway. She agreed to switch with Biana. She could use some time to think.
Meanwhile, Fitz was at home trying to tune his parents out. They had started trying to talk to him about the “Vacker Legacy” and he could not have been less interested. He already had a lot going on and he did not need this too. His dad kept trying to explain it and no amount of protesting would change his mind.
“Fitz, we need to talk about this. You need to know what your future entails.”
“No, you want to talk to me about the future you planned for me before I was even born.”
“I didn’t plan for you to be the heir but since your brother and sister are with the Order, they cannot inherit it.”
“Maybe you should have thought of that before you sold your kids to a cult.” Fitz didn’t mean to raise his voice but he was tired of pretending everything was ok. Before he said anything else he’d regret, he shut himself in his bedroom, slamming the door on his way in. His siblings were Biana and Alvar. His parents had moved to Alluveterre when Alvar was young. A Jedi had reached out to them, saying that they could feel that he was strong with the Force and they should consider letting him train with the Jedi. They wanted this for him but didn’t want to have to give up contact, so they moved to a small town on another planet where they can get away with breaking the rules more. His parents never talked about it but he suspected they paid a lot to do all this. When Fitz was born he was not Force sensitive, so his parents assumed that what happened with Alvar was an isolated incident. Then Biana was born, and she had the gift as well. She was also scouted, leaving Fitz to be the only one who actually lived at home.
He was a weird combination of an only and middle child. He was expected to get good grades in school and be the golden child of the family, but his achievements were also ignored in favor of his siblings. His father’s talks about his legacy felt like constant reminders that he was the only one born without the gift. Even talking to Sophie was difficult because the Jedi Order was her entire life, and he was always aware that he was the only one on the outside. He knew being in the Order wasn’t all fun and games, but sometimes he wished he could just be a part of it. He knew that Sophie and Keefe had gotten back from their trip today and had been avoiding their calls. They would want to hang out and he didn’t know if he could handle another reminder that he was never going to be one of them.