Playlist:

❶ "He's Here for Us"—Rogue One OST

❷ "Finn's Confession"—The Force Awakens OST

⊘ Silence

❶ The rain fell in sheets, drenching the area around Luke, but he pushed back the droplets with the Force. His sapphire blue aura burnished in the downpour.

Standing a few meters away in the center of a glade, Naluma shivered, soaked. The rain plastered her hair to her scalp, her uniform saturated and her boots squishing as she shifted her weight.

"Let the storm flow around you. Just you and the Force. Concentrate."

She slammed her eyes shut and furrowed her brow, but the rain continued to pelt her.

"Focus, Naluma, you can do this. Just like your mental shields, build a wall with the Force. Let it envelop your skin."

A violet fringe glowed around her, darker near her head. "I'm trying."

"Do."

"I know. Do or do not." She sneezed as a rumble of thunder and a crackle of lightning ignited in the distance.

The purple glow strengthened.

"Good. Now push it out just a little further. Exhale. There. Hold it."

She stood like a statue.

"But breathe. This should become natural to you. Just breathe."

Another rumble and crackle, this time closer.

"How much longer?"

"Until the storm passes." Luke reveled in the rain, not even a dribble breaking his shield. The datapad in his hands dry.

A few minutes passed with Naluma's shield phasing stronger and weaker. The storm intensified as the thunderbolts approached.

"Form IV, Drill 8."

She grabbed the hilt of Luke's lightsaber from his belt and ignited it. Her purple aura doused for a moment and then flared again as she started the eclipse orbit procession to her right. She followed with a polar jump while rotating the blade around her body and landing in a drop stance with her fist clenched near the ground.

Drawing the saber from the mud, she pulled her left arm to the side and lunged toward an imaginary opponent in front of her. She yanked back and thrust again, ending the motion with her blade above her head like a scorpion's tail.

"Great form. Hold your shield."

Holding the lightsaber above her head, she rotated it outward and then struck parallel to the ground across her waist. The movement ended with Naluma in a harmonious balance, stretching forward with her left arm, countered with her leg extended behind her.

After a beat, she pivoted with the sword at waist level, parallel with the ground, until she whipped it back. Using the momentum, she jumped back with a high leap and assumed the Ataru ready stance—legs wide and knees bent, torso facing right, blade high and perpendicular to the ground. She held her stance for a five-count, still as a monument, unphased physically.

Luke let a smile slip.

For her last sequence, she began an eclipse procession while spinning 180 degrees. She stopped the saber when it aligned with her back. Pushing off with her right leg, she jumped and pivoted another 180, landing on her left leg while kicking an imaginary opponent with her right foot. She brought her body back to the ready position, both feet on the ground, saber still behind her.

Luke flicked a few fingers across his datapad. Metal bodies glinting, a half-dozen training spheres rose behind him and shot at her. "Again."

Naluma bounded from the muddy trail over the branch four meters high. She landed in a crouch and ignited Luke's saber. With a few quick crosses from her blade, the Padawan deflected a dozen bolts from the remotes—the last ricochet striking the sensor off one of the spheres. It swerved into a thundu tree before falling to the ground.

She pointed the lightsaber at another, then swiped to the left. One of the remotes altered its course and careened into two others like a game of sling ball on a Hutt barge.

He let his mind wander as a wave of drones flew in behind her. This past month has flown. He grinned, his broad smile hurting his cheeks. She's progressed so much. Saber. Athletics. Force-work. He flicked his fingers toward the surrounding trees. Especially the Force-work. She's not even thinking about it now. It just responds to her call. Even the weather shield.

Staying on the alert, she held the saber low and tensed her legs.

She senses it. Just like she senses everything now. But is it enough to keep her safe?

Clanking reverberated through the woods. Grinding gears and blasts shot wildly through the foliage just beyond the edge of the glade. Luke caught a quick glance of his father watching from a thundu tree across the clearing. He nodded to the ghost, who returned the gesture.

Always watching. Hope Naluma doesn't spook if she sees him.

Naluma's back tensed as seven derelict Clone-War-era B1 battle droids staggered into a loose circle around her. A tactical T1 droid with a square head directed the group. Luke hung back behind a tree punching in commands on his datapad.

The T1 spoke with its metallic filter distorting the syllables. "Activating strategic control circuits."

The rusted bipedal droids with oblong heads lifted their E-5 blaster rifles and fired at the Padawan. "Attack."

The rest of the squad replied, "Roger-roger."

With a grunt, Naluma charged them, swiping the green lightsaber in an arc, deflecting each bolt. Using a somersault to evade the blaster fire, she leveled the weapon in a short swipe, decapitating three heads. Sweat glistened on her brow, and dark patches appeared under arms and down her back.

"What—"

The headless droids did not miss a beat. They continued their attack, closing their semi-circle.

She opened her mouth and then closed it. Her eyes narrowed and she focused on the three remaining remotes.

The three converged onto one of the B1s, smashing its head from all sides. Sparks shot form the antennae, and the battle droid wobbled. Electrical currents washed across its head. "Uh oh," it said before falling to its knees and toppling over.

"Move beyond the drills, apprentice. Anticip—"

"I know. Use the Force."

Shaking her head, she gritted her teeth and attacked again. She pivoted, blocked, deflected, sliced. Sparks and droid parts flew around the glade. Naluma speared the droid behind her in the chest. It creaked and flared before collapsing to the forest floor.

Luke winced. That's going to set us back a few.

As the thunder rumbled almost above them now, the lightning momentarily blinding them, the three remaining droids cornered her against a massive tree trunk. Luke saw only a green blur.

The Jedi Master thought to himself, Come on. Figure this one out. You can't win this way. Not against the command unit.

She huffed now. With no place to go, she gripped the saber parallel to the ground and pushed out with her hands. The droids flew backward a couple of paces. One fell to the ground, while the other two wobbled. Pulling the saber over her head, she sliced diagonally through the middle droid's torso.

With a leaping spin, she pulled the sword through the right droid at his waist. She huffed.

Naluma closed her eyes as the droids closed-in. With no place to go, she gripped the saber parallel to the ground and pushed out with her hands.

While one's torso and head toppled to the ground, she attacked the command unit on the left.

The T1 with the cube-like head drew his vibrostaff from over his shoulder, the tip glowing with white-hot energy. The droid slashed it at her head, but she blocked it with an upward swing connecting with the glowing headpiece. Naluma leaned back and sliced at the larger droid's head. He pumped his crackling weapon upward and blocked the attack.

The droid shuddered in clunky movements, trying to keep up. But he was no match for her Force-powered swipes.

Naluma feigned a cross attack and slipped in a reverse cut, slicing a molten gash in the T1's alloy body. Smoke poured from the inside, gears screaming, clawing metal-on-metal. She Force-flung the vibrostaff across the glade, the weapon tumbling end-over-end before sticking in the trunk of a fallen tree.

With a pivot to gain momentum, she skewered the droid through the chestplate and kicked him to the ground.

A crack of lightning struck the center of the grove, blasting Luke, Naluma, and any droid bodies against the surrounding trees. Luke shuddered and quaked on the ground. He clenched his teeth and willed it away, but the smell of the ozone permeating the rain set it off. He moaned and struggled as the tremors overtook his body.

Shutting his eyes to keep out the rain and the mud, he strained against the darkness overtaking him. He thrashed in the mud, immersing himself in the filth. "No. Father, please."

He wasn't sure if anyone would hear him until Naluma hovered over his body. Her firm hands pulled him close to her chest. She rocked him as her hands found his back.

"Luke, you have to help her."

He lifted his head from her shoulder. His father's specter stared at him. "Father."

"Hush. I'm here, Luke."

"No, Father's here. Can't you see him?"

Naluma shook her head.

"Quick, grab his hands, Padawan."

"But I heard that." She clutched her master's hands, wrapping them in hers.

"Together, lay it on his heart. Send the light straight to the darkness."

❷ Luke groaned when the first beams hit. He arched his back and fell backward into the mire.

Naluma wouldn't let go. "Luke!"

"Keep going. Don't stop until it's gone."

The Jedi Master thrashed once again as his father phased out. Luke focused the Force, sucking it in from the trees, from the rain, and even from the next crackle of lightning behind him. He shuddered and gasped. "One ... more ... time. Almost gone."

When he gripped her hand, his blue and her purple auras merged, bursting forth in radiance. He could not ignore the veritable click he felt as they became one in the Force. Together they lanced into his body. He arched his back once more as sparklers raced across his skin. His eyes rolled into the back of his head while he quaked.

With a pulse of indigo luminescence arcing from his chest, he let out an agonizing scream. His body collapsed, draining the color from his cheeks. He breathed for a few seconds, but did not move. "We did it."

Naluma nodded at the almost question. "Yes, it's gone. It's finally gone."

He lifted his left hand to her cheek and rubbed it. A slight smile crossing his face, he said, "I can't believe it. The darkness is gone. You did it."

She shook her head. "No, we did it. Together."

Luke nodded, gazing upon her with reverence as he reveled in the strengthened bond. "Thank you."

Did you know ...

● I found a great resource for lightsaber training and choreography: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN3IsywwpbvOMkkCD2TFMAA

Tell me what you think ...

● Where do you think Luke got those battle droids?