Star Wars_ I, Jedi - Michael A. Stackpole [217]
I nodded my head. “The memory proves it. The writing on the tiles, I recognize it from Yavin 4. It’s of Sith origin.”
The Saarai-kaar nodded. “Our masters had uncovered information about Sith techniques from an antiquarian who had recovered artifacts. They learned that the Jedi had stolen their discipline from the Sith, had perverted Sith teaching and our masters were returning us to the true way. Jensaarai is a Sith word for the hidden followers of truth. As the Saarai-kaar, I am the keeper of that truth. We are not evil.”
Luke shook his head. “In fact you are not.”
I frowned at him. “They were following Sith practices. Are you forgetting Exar Kun and all that?”
“Not at all, Keiran. They were being taught the Jedi way by people who had accepted Sith thoughts and philosophies, but they themselves were not sufficiently developed to be initiated into them. Their masters had not yet found the hooks by which they could be opened to the dark side. And then, after the deaths of their masters, they continued learning, but did so with the orientation of protecting themselves from the Jedi. They dedicated themselves to defense—choosing the correct path for the wrong reasons.”
I shivered. “But with such a hate for the Jedi, they should have come forth and helped the Emperor hunt them down.”
The Saarai-kaar leaned forward, covering her face in her hands. “Again we were betrayed.”
As she sobbed, one of the apprentices—Red—removed her mask. “The Saarai-kaar’s son was of an age to be independent when the Emperor started hunting down the Jedi. Against her wishes, he left here and offered his services to Darth Vader. He was slain outright, and Jedi hunters came here, but never found us. I was but a child then, but I remember the hiding, the fear. Our community kept us strong.”
I nodded. “And when the Rebellion started, you could not join it because it lauded as heroes the very Jedi who had created you in the first place.”
The Saarai-kaar looked up, wiping away her tears. “We are not evil.”
Luke dropped to one knee before her. “No, the Jensaarai are not, nor are they wholly good.”
“What?” Her face sharpened. “How can you say that?”
“It is a simple truth, of which you have part, but you stand so close to it that you cannot see the whole of it. You are fully committed to your community, to your students and they to you and each other. This is what has kept you from the dark side. Even when your people helped Tavira, they did so to protect you and Susevfi. This is good, but it is not the true whole of the Jedi tradition.”
Luke gave her a heartwarming smile. “To be a Jedi is to be committed to the defense of everyone. Our duties do have limits—Nejaa Halcyon limited his work to the Corellian system, except when extraordinary circumstances called him beyond it. When he did come forth, he was willing to sacrifice his life for others. Here you have not been open to those calls, those sacrifices, and this has limited your access to the Force and all it offers. I have an academy that could teach you or some of your apprentices about this grander Jedi tradition, if you wish.”
“It is an offer I shall consider.” She shivered. “Could I have been wrong all these years?”
I smiled at her. “Not wrong, not at all. You did what you felt was right to save others from being hurt. That is never wrong.”
My Jedi Master rose. “It is very right. We can just make it more so. Keiran, he is the product of one Jedi tradition, and me, I am born of yet a different one. You and your Jensaarai are just part of a third. If you will permit it, we would welcome you into the greater Jedi tradition of service so that all of our ways, woven together, will make us so strong we can never again be torn apart.”
EPILOGUE
The next time I saw Luke was about three days later. I met him in the Governor