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Most initiates did not spend a large amount of time on Coruscant. Most were given their early Jedi training in enclaves on more nature-filled planets, like Dantooine or Telos IV, to allow them the room to grow and develop as children. While Coruscant and its Temple had many great things, it wasn’t always the best environment for children.
Melyn, however, was not like most initiates. Recognised at a very young age as particularly gifted in the Force, she had always received special training to match her advanced skills. Generally, she stayed with the rest of her peers, but it wasn’t uncommon for her to be brought to other enclaves for weeks at a time for this specialist training.
Now, Melyn was on Coruscant, receiving training under Jedi Master Ven Zallow. She hadn’t known him for long, but it was clear to her that he was greatly skilled, and for the past few days she had been wracking her mind for something she could do to show that she appreciated his time and education.
Then, as if the Force itself was gifting her with exactly what she needed, Master Zallow’s droid, T7-O1, had told her of a specific fruit that Zallow loved, but had not been able to find on Coruscant.
With a goal in mind, Melyn’s search was on. Technically speaking, she wasn’t supposed to leave the Temple without supervision - but this wouldn’t be the first time she had snuck out, and anyway, at ten years old she thought that she was old and mature enough to go to the market alone.
A few of the merchants recognised her as a Jedi, greeting her warmly and asking her friendly questions, like what she was looking for and if her Masters knew she was here. After informing them of her mission, they were more than happy to point her in the right direction, though Melyn suspected that they may go behind her back and tell her Masters about her activities.
Still, she’d deal with the consequences later, and just hope that the fruit would be enough to earn Master Zallow’s forgiveness, as well as to thank him for his kindness.
Melyn rounded a corner, scanning the stalls for any kind of fruit, when she felt a sharp pain in her heart. She stumbled forwards, catching herself on the wall beside her as another wave of pain washed over her, fear and anger and grief and fear and fear and fear fear fear .
She struggled to catch her breath, only dimly aware of some concerned passersby trying to speak to her. She didn’t know what was happening, all she could feel was that something was wrong , and it… was getting closer.
The ground began to shake, and those concerned passersby began to shout and scream. Melyn managed to pull herself from the fear in the Force just in time to see the world around her explode.
.
When Melyn woke up, she felt nothing. She sat up quickly, and her vision went black, and this time she felt when her head hit the ground she had been laying on. She stayed laying there with her eyes tightly shut, eventually squinting them open and blinking until her vision cleared.
She sat up again, slowly this time, and looked around. She was sat on the cold floor of one of Coruscant’s underlevels, but she couldn’t say which one. There were people packed in around her, sitting and laying on the ground, and it was only when she looked more closely that she saw that nearly every single person had some sort of horrific injury - burns, broken limbs, missing limbs… she realised, with a turn to her stomach, that some of the people laying down didn’t appear to be breathing.
It reminded her of one of the holovids from the front lines that Sorra had stolen, except this wasn’t some far-off, wartorn planet. This was here. Coruscant. The heart of the Republic.
Had there been some sort of accident?
“Um…” Her voice was quiet, and for once she sounded unsure of herself, “what’s… happening?”
“Awful things,” Someone spoke in reply, and Melyn looked to her side to see an old woman, eyes lost to age, with bandages wrapped around the top of her head, “they’re saying it was an attack. The Empire came for us.”
Melyn shook her head on instinct, “It can’t be. They’re negotiating peace on Alderaan.”
“Aren’t you the informed one?” The woman said, a tired sound to her voice, “Don’t you go worrying about these things. You’d best think about yourself. I bet your parents wouldn’t be happy if you went and worried yourself sick; leave us adults with the politics.”
“You don’t understand. I’m a Jedi.”
The moment the words left her mouth, there were eyes on her. The old woman frowned, but stayed silent, and before Melyn was given the opportunity to wonder what her expression meant, there were people around her talking.
“You’re a Jedi? A real Jedi?”
“Don’t be ridiculous - she’s clearly just a child.”
“Is it true that there are Sith here? Are they going to kill us?”
“Please, Jedi, my wife is hurt, please help her.”
“Your wife? My son is hurt! Help him !”
The people’s voices became louder and more insistent, and Melyn shrunk back from them, starting to feel panic growing in her chest. It was all too much. She didn’t understand what was happening, and she just wanted it all to stop . And, then, it did.
The people fell silent. A horrible, frightened hush came over them, and slowly Melyn came to realise that the ground was shaking. She wondered if the old woman had been right, and that the Empire was releasing another orbital bombardment on them, until she slowly came to realise that the shaking wasn’t coming from above. It was coming from her.
Horrified with herself, she took a breath and tried to center herself in the Force. The light of the Coruscant temple was missing, but the light within herself was burning brightly. She just had to focus on the glow and let it wash over her. She felt her body relax, and her mind came after. When she turned her attention back to the cowering people, she felt calmer.
“I- I’m sorry if I frightened you,” she spoke, and the people listened. She had never been in a situation like this. She wasn’t sure what to do, but there was no one to ask. She set aside her own fear and focused on the people.
“I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t know if it’s the Empire of the Sith and I don’t know what’s going to happen next. I’m… not even a Padawan yet, but… I have been training, and I do know how to heal. I don’t know how much good it will do, but I can try. It just has to be one at a time, please.”
And, to Melyn’s great surprise, the people responded. One at a time they came to her, showing her their injuries, and one at a time Melyn worked, healing what she could and numbing what she couldn’t heal. Her mind slipped into the Force at some point, as she fell into a trance and continued her work to provide a spot of light on an otherwise dark day.
.
The blockade of Coruscant lasted for two long, awful days. Much of Melyn’s memory of those days was lost to her. All she could recall was the fear of the people and her single-minded focus to heal what she could.
Eventually, the Empire left, and Melyn walked alongside the people she had sheltered with to the surface. News spread quickly, then, but finally hearing about exactly what had happened, about the total destruction of the Coruscant temple and the deaths of all of those she had previously trained beside - including Master Zallow - didn’t make Melyn feel a thing.
Even as Master Syo knelt at her level, solemnly telling her that the vast majority of Jedi on the temple had died, that life would change for them going forwards, all Melyn could feel was a detached numbness.
Instead of crying or screaming or declaring her fury at the Sith who had brought this destruction upon them, all Melyn could think to say was, “Can you teach me how to heal?”
And as Syo looked down at her, a sorrowful expression on his face, all he could think to say was, “Of course, young one.”