grace requires nothing of me
It was odd.
Efret could admit as much.
The strength of the connection she and Corazona von Ascania had formed and the time they had known each other was inversely related, at least at present and from her perspective, but that itself wasn’t what was strange. Strong bonds could grow between any two beings, forged by time and often also tribulation; sometimes, though, their rise avoided explanation. There was a quality, or maybe a few, to Cora that had drawn Efret in closely, quickly, like a planet capturing a rogue object hurdling lost through space. They had been through quite a bit together too, from their visit to Efret's former enclave on Taris early on in their friendship to their exploration of Deep Well to their cooperative work as Jedi councilwomen.
What Efret wouldn’t admit, at least not as readily, was that she considered Cora like a mother to her.
That a Jedi would relate to another her junior in both years and expertise so deeply was the almost-inexplicable part.
After all, masters were supposed to become like parents to knights, padawans, and younglings. Efret had probably filled those shoes for many on Coruscant and beyond, but she found those same shoes empty for herself.
She had a birth mother, of course; Ierran Nalle-Farr, a woman whom the Force told Efret was alive and well in Province Bepru on Lorrd. Even in the ever-shifting tides of galactic conquest, the Farrs’ homeworld seemed destined to be caught between Darksider territories. Thus, it hadn’t ever felt safe enough to visit her family, and that was not the sort of thing it seemed to her like a Jedi should chance.
And though Efret hadn’t seen Ierran for more than two decades, a certain familiarity hung about Cora. It eluded full explanation. Maybe part of it was longing for a surrogate for that specific kind of connection that she had been forced to leave behind.
Yes, that was it. That was what had brought her to the Jedi enclave on Ukatis. She hadn’t arranged her visit, but she hoped that she’d be welcomed here nonetheless. As she walked through the overgrown campus towards the main building, nerves and wonder mingled, fluttering, in her chest.
The fire that the Galactic Alliance had carried might have been snuffed out, but embers from it still smoldered throughout the High Republic and beyond. Efret knew one such hearth to be Shiraya's Sanctuary on Naboo. Though she had only been there once half a year ago, she was able to feel its heartbeat from where she had retired in Lake Country. It was strong and steady, the makings of another great foothold of hope in the galaxy.
Here, too, the Light still shone.
She only dared to hope for herself that the Jedi here—and least of all Cora—didn't consider the former Chief Curator to be an apostate for resigning before the Fall, or worse, a traitor with foresight she hadn't shared.
