PISHOO!

PISHOO!

Sweat beads across my brow as I swish my lightsaber back and forth, deflecting blaster bolts from the army of training droids blocking my way. The droids are shooting at maximum speed, leaving me struggling to keep my pace and my skin. Master watches me, her face serene, and she has no eyes for me to read her thoughts from.

If even one hits me, I'll be off to the infirmary for a week.

I peel back dry lips to speak after deflecting three more bolts. "Master," I rasp. "Too... fast."

"Because you think of the lightsaber as an extension of your arm," Master replies curtly, her voice as smooth as her veil.

I frown, dodging a stray bolt. I dare not look away for fear of the bolts. "Is that not what I am supposed to think?"

"No," Master says, as if I had just asked her whether I was a boy or a girl. "You have to think of it as your arm, that you are trying to catch the bolts with one lasered finger."

That is a new perspective. Miralukans do fight differently with a lightsaber.

"You built that lightsaber; you are connected to it and the crystal it hosts. The Force and you are one, and so it must be between you and the lightsaber as well."

I am one with the Force... and my lightsaber.

I try to implement the idea, finding it much easier to pretend that I am catching shooting stars with a long fingertip rather than think of them as deadly bolts to deflect.

PISHOOM!

I swing my lightsaber in an arc, successfully deflecting four incoming bolts.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Master nod.

"Carry on."

I push forward, the green laser in my hands singing as I twist my wrists this way and that, placing my trust in my lightsaber. I let the Force guide me, allowing it to lead my movements and control my footwork. Once it has become my very instinct, my mind wanders elsewhere, recollecting yesterday's revelation.

"You expect me to believe that you are a cat?" I folded my arms, skepticism burning in my gaze at the boy next to me. "And that the entire Radulan clan is too?"

Haris's round eyes bore into mine, and there was no hint of mischief or malice in them. He shrugs.

I blinked back at him, not quite knowing what to say. A staring contest ensued, and the two of us sat on the worktable's bench whilst squaring off.

Finally, Haris broke eye contact. "You want me, to show you?"

I blinked again. "Now?"

Haris nodded.

"Sure. It won't hurt?"

"A little bit." Haris stood up and flexed.*

His head fell back with a resounding crack, followed by more cracks from his spine. Haris dropped to the ground, rapidly decreasing in size. His arms grew shorter and his body hair morphed into fur. His hands balled into fists and his knuckles separated to reveal claws.

I watched in a mixture of awe and horror as his feline mogrification continued.

Haris's ears moved up and became increasingly cat-like. His thighs bent to take on the form of hind legs and a tail extended from his spine. Sleek black fur descended upon his body like water, covering every inch of him as his clothes became too large for his current size.

Haris the black cat tilted his furry head towards me. "Meow?"

I did not speak Feline, but I took that to mean: "Believe me now?"

"Okay, Mat Kucing, you were telling the truth. Are you going to change back?"

"Meow." Haris nodded, using his mouth to pick up his discarded yet intact clothes from the floor. He padded to the front of the worktable, and I respectfully turned to inspect my newly-finished lightsaber.

I could hear the cracking of bones, but I did not look over the worktable, focusing entirely on running another check on the interior of my lightsaber.

The door to the facility slid open, startling both of us.

"Joelle." Kela walked towards us obliviously, waving her lightsaber hilt. Haris and I were too stunned to react.

"I heard from Immorri that you were finishing your-" her friendly voice halted and her eyes widened. "What is he doing here? A-and in that state?"

I blinked at her and my mouth dropped open. On the other side of the worktable, I felt Haris freeze.

Kela gasped and ran out of the facility without looking back.

I turned my head just in time to see Haris peeking from his side of the worktable. His eyes were haunted and his face was flushed, if one looked closely. Judging from his current position, he wasn't dressed at all.

Haris pointed a finger at where Kela had stood, the shock branded on his face.

"She saw everything."

I fend off the urge to smile as his stunned expression comes to mind, my hands still deftly handling the lightsaber.

The bolts slow to a stop.

"Master?" I swivel to Master, my lightsaber still raised and poised to deflect more bolts.

Master holds up one hand. "That is enough for today. You may rest. We will resume tomorrow. Hopefully we will soon be assigned to a mission that will allow you to expand your knowledge of the Force."

I retract the blade with the push of a button. "Yes, Master. Thank you for today's lesson."

I turn and begin to walk away, but I stop at the sound of Master's voice. "You were distracted today. Skilled, but distracted. Be mindful of your thoughts, Joelle. They betray you."

I suck in a breath, alarmed, but I recover quickly. "Of course, Master."

I rush back in the direction of the dormitories, trying my best to clear the thoughts in my head.

☆☆☆

KNOCK!

"Kela, are you there? It's me, Joelle." I open the door to find my three friends gathered in a circle on Kela's lower bunk.

All of them look up to face me with surprised stares. I enter and close the door behind me.

Lee-Ara clears her throat. "Yesterday-"

"You-" Immorri interrupts, incredulous.

"I wish I hadn't gone in!" Kela wails, her hands shooting up to cover her face.

Lee-Ara nods, empathetic. "She can't get the image out of her head."

Immorri jumps up. "What were you two doing in the facility yesterday? Kela saw-"

"I don't want to talk about it!" Kela slams both hands to her ears, completely out of character. I move to sit beside her on the edge of the bunk. "We can talk about something else." I suggest.

"I bet Master Nituth Giwol taught you some really good lightsaber-wielding techniques," Lee-Ara adds, supporting me.

"No, we are going to talk about yesterday," Immorri says firmly. "If what happened is what we think it is, then you need to be reminded of the Code."

"Presenting Kela-D-2," Lee-Ara announces in a sing-song voice, hands gestured to Immorri.

"The Code?" I knit my eyebrows, staring straight at Immorri like she had grown lekku. "I know the Code, I live by it. Nothing happened yesterday. I was assembling my lightsaber and Haris needed a change of clothes."

"A change of clothes," Immorri repeats in disbelief. "In the lightsaber crafting facility?"

I shrug as impassively as I can muster. "The Temple does not have rules about where one can have a change of clothes."

"And he just happened to change in the same room you were in?" Kela cries hysterically, evidently eavesdropping despite her hands over her ears.

I dip my chin slowly, at a loss for words.

"Joey," Lee-Ara tsks in sympathy. "I could fib better than that when I was five."

I stick to my statement. "I am not fibbing."

Kela opens her mouth, presumably to shriek something, but Immorri intervenes. "We can ask Haris himself tomorrow, but right now, I think it is best that you keep a distance from each other."

"Just in case," Lee-Ara adds. My eyes narrow at her. "I thought you were the one pushing us together."

Lee-Ara's blue eyes glance at the ground sheepishly. "It was fun at first," she admits. "But if we are all going to become Jedi Knights, that is not going to work out."

"So we will stay away from the Unclothed One," Kela declares, as if plotting a mad conspiracy.

Lee-Ara and Immorri both bob their heads in agreement, and I join in.

"Okay."

☆☆☆

"It's not funny," I say, blocking the blue-lasered attack. I yank my lightsaber back, twisting as Haris tumbles forward, laughing. "And keep your voice down. The courtyard is not soundproof."

Haris raises both arms to the night sky in surrender and switches off his lightsaber, struggling to contain his chuckles. "You told them I was having, a change of clothes?"

"What else was I to say?" I defend myself, tucking my hilt to my waist. "You appearing naked in front of Kela did not leave me with much choice. She's mentally scarred by the experience, thank you very much."

I settle down against the Great Tree, an ancient Force-sensitive uneti tree planted in the courtyard at the heart of the Jedi Temple. Haris plops down beside me.

"I would have thought, that you would tell them the truth." Haris sounds grateful, although when I swivel to look at him, his face is tilted to the stars above.

I sigh. "That would have been the better option. Now they think I am breaking the Jedi Code."

"The Jedi Code?!" Haris splutters, eyes finally darting to me. "Why would you be breaking the Code?"

I spread my fingers out, ticking them off as I recite the simplified Code.

"Emotion, yet peace.
Ignorance, yet knowledge.
Passion, yet serenity.
Chaos, yet harmony.
Death, yet the Force."

Haris inclines his head in acknowledgement, confusion seeping to his face. "I know the Code too," he insists. "But how are you breaking it? If the Code opposed werecats, no one in my entire family would have been sought out to join the Jedi Order."

A good Jedi he is, but an even greater blockhead he is as well.

"They think we..." I wave my finger back and forth between us, allowing the unspoken words to fill themselves in Haris's head. He frowns at first, and I pray that I do not have to explain it to him.

Then his eyes bulge in understanding.

"They think we...?" He copies my action, and now both of us are wagging our pointers at each other. I dip my chin, completely serious.

Haris's eyes grow wider, and unmasked embarassment creeps into his features. He folds his legs up and leans onto his knees. "Oh."

I have no idea how to respond. Should I say something?

Instead, I glance up to the pitch-black night sky, peppered with delicate stars like the white tattoos on Kela's face.

"Kenapa tak bagi tahu, Jo?"

"Hmm?" I keep my eyes focused on the sky.

It is as black as Haris's feline fur.

"Why didn't you, tell them the truth?"

I take a deep breath and spin to face him. If his gaze had made me uncomfortable before from afar, then it is more unsettling in close proximity.

"The Radulan family is both prestigious and mysterious. I don't think they want what seems to be their biggest secret to be known to all of Coruscant." I round on the boy next to me. "You could have lied to me too, you know. You did not have to tell me your family secret."

Haris bobs his head, grinning dorkily. "Ye, but I could trust you, my Wildcat. The Force told me."

I poke him with my elbow, trying to ignore the nickname. "I might defect to the Dark side, you never know."

Haris recoils and shakes his head. "You would not."

"I think Darth Joey has a nice ring to it."

Haris springs to his feet, drawing out his lightsaber. "Do not joke of such things."

Despite his serious face, I notice the sheer delight in his eyes, bright as the stars around us. I jump up as well, pulling out my lightsaber. "Fight me, young Radulan."

PISHOOM!

Our lasers clash, and the two of us begin a deadly tango, swiping at each other with energized light. The blades, both green and blue, swirl across the courtyard as we leap, duck and slide to the rhythm of lightsabers slicing through the air.

I remember Master's lesson, applying them into our private combat practice.

Think of the lightsaber as your arm, not as an extension of it.

Needless to say, I became the victor for the next few rounds until we both collapse to the ground in sweat and laughter under the stars of the galaxy.

A/N: Psst! Remember the asterisk (*) just now? Oh, you forgot? Let me remind you:

Haris stood up and flexed.*

The asterisk continues here:

*like Afiq.

-_- Please tell me you got that reference.

Signing out,

- Scarlet