"She's too unpredictable." 

"I know what you mean. No restraint. She knows the code, she is strong in the Force, and yet..." 

"Yes. Lyla is gifted, no doubt. But without discipline and inner balance, she will never pass the Trials."

[i][b]Never pass.[/b][/i]

[b]-----[/b]

It had been hours since Lyla overheard these words. She was older than most initiates, she knew that, but she was also very good at some things, better than some Padawan. When the masters told her that she would face her trials soon, she was so happy, so relieved that they thought she was finally ready. And then, hearing her name and these few words shattered all the joy, all her confidence. Her feet had carried her back Thranta Clan's dormitory, back to her bed and not one step further.

She broke down and cried harder than she ever had in these walls. It was like somebody had stolen her dream from her. It seemed so close, just within reach... and now? Would they send her back into the abyss, the depths below Coruscant? [i]No, of course not. They'll ask me to work for the Service Corps.[/i] She had no illusions about repeating the trials. Few initiates had ever been older than 14.
It was all one big mess again.

When the tears finally stopped, all she could do was lean against the wall and watch the sky turn light blue, then yellow, then red as blood. Younglings came and went, some pointed at her and whispered, but she didn't care. Her healthy hand carressed the sleek metal of her prosthetic as she so often did and it reminded her of her secret, her construction, hidden just under the mattress. And that thought filled her with a sense of stubborn determination.
[i]How could I fail the trials? I [b]built[/b] a lightsaber, without any help. Who could do this if they're not meant to be Jedi?![/i]

An idea formed in her head. Impulsively, she stood up, lifted her mattress and took the sleek metal tube into her hand.
"I'll show this to the masters. They have to let me pass when they realize what I..."

That was when the door opened and she heard it: Explosions, blasters, screams, all distant and yet frighteningly close.
Lyla spun around to see her two best friends, the human girl Mara Lynn and the Zabrak boy Eeth Asadi, storming inside, followed by five or six younglings, before they shut the door again. She didn't need the Force to know that they were terrified, all of them.
"What's going on?!"

"Lyla!", Mara called, only now recognizing that she was in the room, rushed up to her and hugged her. "I'm so glad you're here. I thought you might be-"

"They're attacking the Temple!", said Eeth, nothing like his usual collected self.

"Who?" Lyla was getting scared herself and reluctantly broke away from Mara's embrace. "Who is attacking?"

"The clones, I think. We're not sure."

[i]The clones... Why? Why would they do that?![/i]

The room seemed to be spinning for a moment. She could feel it, very, very faintly - the fight that was going on. The lives that were extinguished. 
Lyla looked around the room. She and her friends were the oldest by far. There were twelve others in the dorm. None were older than nine but all of them were scared out of their mind, just like her. She tightened her grip around the lightsaber.

"I have to find one of the masters."

"Yes, we sh-", began Eeth but cut him off.

"No, not we. [b]I[/b] have to find one."

"You can't go alone", Mara said. "It's too dangerous!"

Lyla stepped forward, closing the small gap between the three of them so only they could hear her.
"Look, I know it is and I don't know if I can do this but if whoever is attacking the Temple comes through this door and none of us are here..."
She shot a quick glance over her shoulder. A few of the younglings were cowering in a corner, huddled together. [i]We're only children, all of us.[/i]

Lyla shook her head. "I can find somebody and bring them here. The masters will know what to do. And if run into anybody, I have this, remember?"
She raised her hand, showed them the lightsaber. They were the only ones she had trusted with this.
It took all of her self-control to do it, but she managed to take a deep breath and put on a look of determination.
"I can do this. I'll go and find somebody. It's all going to be alright."
She didn't feel confident at all. And she knew that they looked right through her. But Eeth swallowed down whatever words he wanted to say and nodded. And Mara, cheerful, friendly Mara, paler than Lyla had ever seen her before, hugged her again, more fiercely than before.

"Be careful."

[i]I wish I could just stay, just wait.[/i]
She hugged her friend back and reached out to include Eeth in the embrace.
"Don't worry. I'll be fine. We're all going to be fine."


[b]-----[/b]


The shots and screams were getting louder. For the first time, her inability to feel everything that was going on truly felt like she was blind or deaf. The corridors were filled with an ethereal light, reflected by the purple sky, but she felt so helpless that they might as well have been pitch black. [i]It's fine. I just need to get to the masters' quarters. It's not far. Just a little bit-[/i]

Then she heard them, just around the corner up ahead. Fast steps. Military boots. She didn't need to know what they sounded like to recognize them - they were different from the ones the Jedi or Temple guards wore. And they were getting closer.
Panic rising in her, she looked for an escape, somewhere to hide, but there was nothing. If she ran, they would hear her and she couldn't get away before they turned the corner. And even if she could - they were heading the way she came. If she let them pass, it was only a matter of time until they went to the dormitory.

Her heart beat faster and faster against her ribs and she could barely control her breathing. She was shaking all over, trying desperately to focus, form a plan. [i]I can do this. I can beat them.[/i]
She never had to deflect real blasterfire, never had to hurt or kill somebody. A few hours ago, she had felt desperate because of her trials. How little that seemed to matter now... but if this was how it was meant to end, then she wouldn't face it curled up on the floor. 

She wasn't a Jedi and might never become one but she would protect her friends as best as she could.

With one wobbly step, she stepped around the corner, directly in front of three clone troopers. For a moment, they all seemed frozen in place, surprised, just as confused as she was. But then they raised their blasters, determined to kill the girl that stood in their way.
They were one second too late.
Lyla had reached out with her free hand, looking for a tiny, physical resistance in the air and she found and grasped it, like a door to be slammed shut - and slam she did with all her might.

The clones were tossed against the wall with three pained, surprised groans. Two of them didn't move anymore but the third, the closest of them, scrambled to his feet, drawing his sidearm. Lyla activated her lightsaber, a bright blue lighting up her face, and lunged for him. He fired but to Lyla, everything seemed slowed down, just enough so to turn out of the way. She felt the heat, smelled burned cloth but she barely registered it. She turned back and with that momentum, struck him with her lightsaber, cutting through his side, chest, shoulder. Both parts of him collapsed, his faint sizzle and wheeze contrasted by the gentle hum of her blue blade.

For a moment, she just stood there, staring down at the corpse as the red-hot lines on the armor cooled down. Then, an unbearable nausea overwhelmed her and she barely managed to turn off the saber before vomiting on the pristine floor.
She was shaking again, harder than before and she felt tears streaming down her face but her mind was numb, completely empty. But she forced herself back on her feet. [i]I have to find somebody.[/i]

She took a few steps down the corridor... then stopped. She could hear the other two. They were breathing. She was so close to them that she could even feel them. Lyla activated the lightsaber again and stepped towards one of them. She raised her hand, closed her eyes... but the shaking became uncontrollable and she lowered it again. [i]I can't do this. I know they would have killed me, but...[/i]

It took her a minute but she gathered their blasters to a pile and with one swing, they were a useless, molten mess.
"Just go", she murmured, more to herself than to the unconscious soldiers, "please, just wake up and leave."

Then, she ran down the corridor, back on her way, looking for somebody who could help her. 
She didn't have to look very long: After turning a few more corners, in the hall leading up to the masters' quarters, she saw a familiar face.

"... Enrik?"