9th Transmission: Walking a mile in another Jedi's shoes [Action/Voice]

[thefinaljedi]

Groaning, Luke Skywalker rolled over in the warm sun of an early morning. Sitting up, he squeezed the bridge of his nose, blinking all around him. He was out by the lake, and he was still in Luceti. All he could remember was being woken from sleep by a loud banging at his window, and then blackness. Something felt off, that was sure, but he wasn't sure what. Shakily, he got to his feet and dazedly made his way over to the lake.

As he...looked into the lake, her jaw dropped, eyes widening. A female face stared back with the same shocked look, clad in New Feather garb. A familiar face, that of Grandmaster Sunrider, greeted him. To his further surprise the reflection began to speak, echoing through his mind. When it finished, things were a lot clearer. And so was her mind. Turning away from the water, Nomi Sunrider stared at the journal on the ground in front of her. Deep in the back of their mind, Luke Skywalker nodded in agreement. There wasn't much else to be done, if Luke was to be in control it would tax both of them. He knew she'd slipped him into a trance to spare him the pain of experimentation, and now she was willing to take his responsibilities until whatever the Malnosso had done could be undone.

Taking the journal, Nomi opened it up and Luke sent out a message in a distinctly...female voice. They agreed that not everyone needed to know what was going on...at least right away.

[Voice]
"Greetings residents of Luceti. This is Luke Skywalker, and...I'm having a bit of a situation. I was taken by the Malnosso, and I'm feeling a little weak. I am out by the lake, and if anyone could bring a spare suit of clothing, some water, and some pain killers I would be in your debt."

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[Action]

Later that afternoon, and all week, Luke/Nomi can be found around the village. Its pretty weird, even for a Jedi, so...expect lots of confusion and mostly to be speaking to Nomi. Feel free to poke at them throughout the week, just denote a day.

Comments

[averybadfeeling]

[... Okay, for the record, Yoda was never that scary.]

"... Perhaps, but love was what made him vulnerable."

[And Obi-Wan blind.]

[thefinaljedi]

[The good news is she isn't Yoda. The bad news? She's stronger with the Force and more adept at reading people.]

Because he was forced to hide his love.

[She doesn't want to say you guys are fools, but...]

[averybadfeeling]

[He likes Yoda. Yoda was just sort of quirky and zen. Also slightly adorable.]

"It is because he was desperate not to lose her. Because he was unable to accept that their love was, like all other things, a transitory and fragile affair- always bearing the possibility of loss, which must be dealt with and accepted."

[thefinaljedi]

[She has a feeling she'd like him too]

Master Kenobi, Anakin was young. You cannot fault him, especially when the very rules the Order lived by tempted him in the first place. By forbidding love, and marriage, one places a taboo on it that makes it all the more enticing and blinding. If Anakin didn't have to hide it, then it would have turned out quite differently. As it stands, the fear of loss is amplified by the taboo nature of the feelings.

Love is not a path to the Dark Side. Misunderstanding and a conservative culture of the denial of sentient nature, however, is.

[averybadfeeling]

[And there, we see perhaps the first hint of genuine defensiveness from Obi-Wan in this conversation.]

"... I never faulted him. Never."

[thefinaljedi]

No, that was a general statement about the passion of youth.

[No, she knows that. However...]

You fault yourself, don't you?

[averybadfeeling]

"The-"

[He bites down on the almost reflexive 'The fault was Palpatine's and his alone.' Somehow he suspects he won't be able to sell her on that.]

"... I was tasked with protecting and guiding him. I was unable to defend him, and blinded to the extent of his emotional pain."

[He almost turns a bit bitter- a strange, alien emotion from his voice and his face, and one that sits poorly on it.]

"By love."

[thefinaljedi]

You were tasked with guiding him. And you, who have deadened yourself to your own emotions, were unable to understand what was going on?

[She shakes her head, sadly]

The fault was Palpatine's, not yours. He was beyond you, the spider preying on Anakin's fears and on your own blindness.

Master Kenobi, can you recite the Jedi Code laid down by Master Odan-Urr

[The Jedi Code...shouldn't have changed]

[averybadfeeling]

[Beyond him. The knowledge was not comforting, especially as Yoda himself had said the same thing. He was not incompetent, he was inadequate.

Incompetence, he could have fixed.]

"... Of course, every Jedi learns it prior to their Knighthood."

[His voice becomes a bit distant, as if what he is saying isn't his own words, or a quotation, or even a recitation, but part of his very world- the words by which he lives his life.]

"There is no emotion, there is peace
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge
There is no passion, there is serenity
There is no death, there is the Force."

[thefinaljedi]

Have you considered the meaning of these words, Master Kenobi?

[She smiles as she asks the next question, her lips pursed in absolute bemusement. He was a good, earnest man, and she was enjoying this debate.]

And...do you remember who it was who held the conclave on Exis Station, and shared Master Odan Urr's words with the Jedi Counsel?

[averybadfeeling]

"Emotion is a temporary and ephemeral state, and indulging it creates imbalance. Thus, we should seek to free ourselves from emotion and seek peace. That is precisely where I derived my views on the subject from, Master Sunrider-"

[Oh.

Wait.

... Oh.]

[thefinaljedi]

[And then it all came crashing into place. The ancient Jedi placed a gentle hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder, a mischievous grin flickering across her lips]

Master Kenobi, I feel that perhaps you should sit, and I can explain what my mentor meant by the first line when he penned it.

[Before she goes on, she'll give you a moment to recover]

[averybadfeeling]

"... Of course."

[... He hasn't felt so much like an overconfident padawan in decades. He'll just be sitting down now.]

[thefinaljedi]

There is no Emotion, there is only Peace.

[Nomi repeats the line, gently stroking her chin as she walks back and forth]

This isn't to say that you should banish emotion. That is apathy, and apathy leads to complacency. My master intended for that line to be understood as to not banish emotions, but to accept them, while exercising restraint. It doesn't mean to free yourself from emotion, it means to accept emotion but not allow it to cloud your judgment.

If you seek to divorce yourself from emotion, then you are no better than a droid. Odan-Urr was one of the most compassionate, emotional people I've ever met, but he was always at peace. He knew so much, and he loved so much. But he never once wavered from the Light Side.

[averybadfeeling]

"... I would consider compassion to be a motivation, not an emotion. I can act out of compassion without becoming emotionally invested- I simply seek to aid those in need because it is what I know must be done, though I may never see the person I aid again.

And the objective- by the teaching of the modern order- is not to repress emotion, but to learn to process it without allowing it to control you. Much as you said."

[He is no longer as insistent, however- it is a role he has not taken with any single individual in many years, but not one he fears or is ashamed of. He is a student again, seeking to understand.]

[thefinaljedi]

Master Kenobi, compassion is not an emotion, but it leads to emotions. Feelings of goodwill, if you understand my meaning. It should not be about duty, helping others, it should be about love. Love for life, and love for retaining the sacrosanctness of life. Being ALIVE is a glorious gift, the gift of the Force.

Attaching yourself to others with love, platonic and romantic, is not wrong. It will not lead you down any dark paths. It will, in essence, free you from your current emotional trouble. You are wound tightly, and if you will but open yourself there will be no emotion, you will be at peace.

[averybadfeeling]

[... What she says makes a great deal of sense, he won't deny, but there is still one problem.]

"... That would be true, were it not for the ephemeral nature of connections. Were I to allow myself to become closer to others, to develop attachment to them, and it brought me peace... I would become dependent upon them. In so doing, I would begin to fear losing them- as Anakin feared losing Padme."

[thefinaljedi]

Have you forgotten the last line of the Code? There is no Death, there is only the Force. The code is in the order it is in for a reason. When one loses someone, as Anakin did, one must remember this. They return to the Force, and in doing so become one with everything. The Force permeates all life, and is the collective will and strength of all living things.

Anakin was unable to understand this, and so it lead him astray. His lack of understanding of the final line drove him to break the other three tenants of the Code.

[averybadfeeling]

"But in indulging the attachments, it becomes more difficult to accept the final tenet. Emotions are not rational. They override reason."

[thefinaljedi]

Only if you let them, Obi-Wan, or they are manipulated by an outside force. And even then, you should never expect to perfectly master your emotions.

[She gives him a grave look]

And emotion is rational, it is predictable, and one can learn what to expect from oneself in a situation if they experience emotion. By learning to control them you MAKE them rational. That was the meaning of Odan Urr's teaching.

[averybadfeeling]

"Perhaps I do not have faith in my own ability to remain in control of my emotions, should I indulge those attachments."

[thefinaljedi]

And perhaps you are too fearful of your own inability to control yourself. The attachments I'm speaking of will keep you in check.

[averybadfeeling]

"Caution with regards to one's limitations is not the same as fear."

[thefinaljedi]

It is when it is unfounded. Master Kenobi, you are a most wise, controlled, and ordered young man. Far more so than I was at your age. I think you can let yourself rely on Luke, Anakin, and Doctor LeBlanc a little bit more than you do.

[averybadfeeling]

[Did she just...

... Oh. Well. Um.]

"... I appreciate your confidence, Master Sunrider."