Tatooine,  10 years after Return of the Jedi

    "There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge...." As she drifted off to sleep aboard her ship, the Stryker, Yasmin Sahia could once again hear her grandfather repeating the Jedi Code, and feel herself as a four-year-old child chanting with him....

    The mists cleared to reveal a little dark-haired child sitting out on a mesa in the scrublands of Beraigne with her grandfather, a strong wind whipping around them. "But Grandpa, why do I have to be afraid of the Dark Side?"

    Chuckling softly, he replied, "Fear is of the Dark Side, too."

    "But WHY?"

    "Child, all I can tell you now is to be very careful to never use the Force when you're angry, or afraid; the Dark Side will then consume you... eat at your soul, until nothing is left but darkness. It'll take away all you love."

    Yasmin nodded, determined to make her grandfather proud by never touching the Dark Side of the Force.

    ...the mists gathered once more, only to be rent apart by shrill screams. All around Yasmin, the air vibrated with the bone-grating thrum of lightsabers. She could hear them crash against one another, crackling, sizzling. Her grandfather's jade-green blade clashing with a darksider's amber one... the deadly golden fire slashed across her grandfather's torso, from his left shoulder to his right hip....

    There is no passion, there is serenity....

    "NOOOO!!!!"

    There is no death, there is the Force....

    The darksider whirled towards her. A cruel expression twisted his rugged features... a loathsome dark fire burned in his coal black eyes.

    "Ah, little Jedi child... you are now mine!!!"

    "NO!!! You bad, bad man!!!!!"

    His maniacal laugh resounded. "We shall see. Come. Take your grandfather's weapon. Fight me. Give in to your anger. Avenge your grandfather's death! Take the power that is rightfully yours!"

    Disregarding her vow, the child seized her grandfather's lightsaber, ignited it as she had seen him do so many times, and charged towards the darksider, drawing strength from her fury....

    "Yasmin! Don't!" A familiar voice echoing in her head, apparently unheard by the darksider, checked her rampage.

    "Grandpa?"

    The darksider snarled at her, bestial rage exuding from him. "You think your grandfather can help you now? You are as weak-minded as he was! Die for your folly!" He rushed towards her, saber poised for attack....

    "Yasmin! Run! Go to the nearest docking bay and hide aboard the first ship going off-planet you find! But don't let that bad man kill you! You must live to become a Jedi. Our Order must NOT die!"

    The child knew her grandfather was right... she should run to the nearest docking bay. It wasn't too far--she'd run farther than half a kilometer before without a second thought. With one last backwards glance at where her grandfather's empty flight suit lay, the child closed down her grandfather's saber and ran for her life, the darksider's bellows of fury following close behind....

    ...Yasmin sat bolt upright in her bunk. Her hair fell about her shoulders in complete disarray. Her violet eyes remained unfocused as she glanced around the cabin, to make sure she was aboard her ship, in Mos Eisley, rather than back in her dreams. Panting for breath, she clutched the sheets tight about her. She glanced towards the chrono next to her bunk; it read 03:00.

    Damn... haven't had that dream in a long time. Why did it come up now, I wonder....

    "There is no coincidence."

    For a split second, Yasmin glanced around, certain that she'd heard her grandfather's voice; she heaved a sigh as she realized it was merely her own memories, triggered by her dream. A fresh pang of grief sliced through her... a feeling she'd thought long since dead. Why? Why did he have to die? A single tear rolled down Yasmin's fine-boned face, quickly and harshly wiped away. Thinking about the past wouldn't save her hide when she made the Kessel Run. It wouldn't bring in the credits needed to survive. It wouldn't help her avoid Imperial ships. Grief was for weaklings. It was an emotion that, like many others, she couldn't afford to indulge in. Get a grip on yourself, girl... you don't get some sleep, you sure as hell ain't gonna be in shape to do ANYTHING. Settling back into her bunk, Yasmin pulled the sheets up to her chin and closed her eyes.

    "There is no emotion, there is peace."

    "Shut up, Grandpa... I can take care of myself."

    "There is no passion, there is serenity."

    "Leave me alone!!!" She yanked a pillow over her head to shut out that voice, but it continued to echo in her mind.

    "Yasmin... our Order must NOT die!"

    "Grrr...."

    "Be very careful to NEVER use the Force when you're angry, or afraid...."

    Yasmin managed a bitter laugh at that; she hadn't touched the Force for years, nor did she want to. Besides, that stuff was all just some hokey religion--wasn't it? She sighed wearily. Why couldn't the past just die and leave her to get on with her life? Why this irrational sense of responsibility? Damned old man pounded that Jedi crap into me but good... and I bought right into it!!!

    Gradually, Yasmin fell into a troubled, fitful sleep, her grandfather's voice echoing in her mind. "There is no ignorance, there is knowledge... there is no passion, there is serenity...."