The Fortuitous Failure

[Core]

A depthless shadow surrounded her, a room illuminated in darkness, a simulated reality designed to test her. Tiles upon the floor, lit by lights that did not seem to exist, moved and changed with every moment that passed, each tile rising and falling, swerving and tilting in kind, in a mad test of Maya's aptitude of the Force and her athletic prowess. She tumbled off the tile towards another, anticipating the result more with her mind that with her senses, barely reaching it in time before the segment she had just stood upon fell out from beneath her. Not a moment was to be wasted - she sprang to her feet and dove to the left, the tile tilting in unison with her movement. She could feel the Force springing through her legs as she lunged towards... nothing.

Her mind froze at the realization of her mistake, she had been too short-sighted and had become too lax, and she had failed. Diving off the platform into an empty void, she cast her eyes below and lost faith, feeling the invisible floor rising up to meet her. She smacked it hard, the wind in her lungs suddenly gushing out of her. The simulation ended and the tiles slowly returned to their places, the lights flickering on and faceless men and women stared at her from behind their hoods. She averted her eyes, not wishing to look at them as they witnessed her. She had felt so attuned, she could not understand where she had gone wrong. She had felt as though she was on the cusp of success, but now she felt ashamed.

She sighed as the judges of her initiation trial scribbled on their pads and mumbled amongst themselves, paying no attention to their remarks. In her mind she knew what they would say - she was not capable enough to be a Jedi. She lacked the aptitude, the will, and the physical requirements - in short, she knew, she was lucky if she were to become an attendant to the Temple, an orderly fortunate enough to serve the Jedi. She bowed slowly and thanked the revered masters, turning to leave the room and enter the hallway outside.

Maya muttered to herself, becoming aware of her own perspiration. Her muscles began to tense up, and she felt their subtle burning, she had not exercised herself to such an extent in many years. She ignored it, though, the hotness of her own embarrassment overcame any heat from her body. She moved to the lobby and nodded to the woman at the desk there, requesting that her robes be returned to her. Right now, there was little Maya wanted to do more than to go back in time, strive harder to perform better, and to retake the test and succeed. Caught up in her thoughts as she was, the initiate was hardly aware of the presence of anyone around her.

 

[Teynara]

The Trials used to determine one's suitability to join the ranks of the Order had never been designed to be easy - indeed, for many, they were one of the most grueling parts of a young Jedi's early training, a time when pressure was placed upon them with the outcomes clearly defined. Either a Jedi would be deemed suitably apt, and brought into the Temple's confines for training, their old lives behind them, cast aside as new doors opened before them, or but a single door would be opened, and that to usher them away from the Temple, their time appreciated but no longer required. Not everyone is suitable for inclusion into our ranks. It was a sad reality, but given the permanent state of war that existed between the Order and their darker counterparts, it was better to reject a potential student than to admit one who would just die in their first encounter.

The tests weren't pleasant to participate in, nor necessarily pleasant to watch. For every person who succeeds and offers us a glimpse of true potential, we have half a dozen who try with every ounce of their will and yet fail. Teynara had never found it particularly inspiring to watch, but it had been a while since she had spent any time observing the new arrivals, to scope out the potential among them, to have an idea what the next generation of Jedi might look like. And it's always fascinating to meet them before they learn our ways, to learn their personalities and to see where they come from, before they become one of us, she mused. So, here she was, and not entirely regretting it.

Lights illuminated the simulation room once more as another candidate completed her tests. This one had hit the ground rather hard, reality rushing back as the adrenaline drained away and recognition of what had occured no doubt arriving without considerably more force. Her pale blue eyes watching carefully, her senses extended to enfold much of the room within which they stood, Teynara could sense a touch of disappointment, not from the gathered Masters present to assess the students, but rather from the one who was now getting back onto her feet. She sees herself as a failure, perhaps, the blonde Jedi mused, her eyes narrowing contemplatively. Easy to see why. Nobody likes to fall flat on their face in front of others, particularly not before people as intimidating as Jedi Masters, she reflected wryly. Can hardly blame her for wishing she had performed better.

Still, not a one of the candidates really understood the nature of these tests. Yes, some were designed to test aptitude with the Force, while others were there to test strength, agility, hand-to-eye co-ordination, intelligence and creativity, and all were there to test patience, mental perseverence and the ability to cope with difficult situations without losing your head. And even, sometimes, to be able to accept failure graciously, to recognise that all sentient beings are fallible. Even Jedi. She paused for a moment, then thought to correct that inner voice. No, most especially Jedi. We deal in critical matters, so our failures are correspondingly larger, and costlier for those around us. Was it any surprise that the Jedi should seek those who could cope emotionally with the stress that might create?

The girl completing her tests offered them a bow and departed from the room, her actions respectful even as her own sense of insecurity started to eat away at her, internally. Not surprising. Not a one of us could honestly say we'd never felt the same way, she thought. Her eyes roved around the room for a moment, looking at the other Jedi as they consulted each other on what they had witnessed, putting their thoughts together so that a decision might be made once the testing regimen had been completed for all the day's candidates. For those who are done, though, now comes the long wait.

Making her mind up rather rapidly, Teynara turned about and walked towards the doors that the other young woman had exited through, the slim metallic doors sliding apart softly at her approach, closing behind her once she'd stepped between the portals. Let's approach this as a Healer now, and put Jedi aside for one moment, she thought, following the young woman out into the corridor. Once the doors had sealed themselves behind her, she walked with a short but firm tread over to the reception desk within the lobby that served as the entrance to the Temple here, encased as it was in a room both tranquil and yet sizeable enough that 'lobby' hardly seemed the right word for it. Practically an internal courtyard.

The girl wasn't hard to spot - she was standing by the desk, speaking to the on-duty Padawan assigned to serve as the initial contact for visitors and those with business in the Temple, those who were not Jedi. And since our candidate friend is among them, that would make sense. Teynara approached her as the young woman was handed a set of folded clothing by the Duty Padawan, probably her own, so that she might change back in to them and be a little more comfortable whilst awaiting the results.

"You looked like you hit yourself pretty hard when you dropped to the floor," Teynara observed conversationally, refraining from introducing herself right away in favour of opening a dialogue with common ground. "You didn't hurt yourself, I hope? If you did, we can easily provide a little medical aid and have you patched up right away." The blonde woman smiled amiably, folding her hands in front of her. "Few people come to the Jedi Temple aiming to end the day more bruised and battered than they were when they walked in, after all," she added gently, slightly amused by the mental image.

 

[Core]

Still thinking about the past and how she could have done better, wondering at what point she should have taken a different action. Her mind was deep in thought even as she struck up a short-lived conversation with the Padawan, she vowed that, if given the opportunity, she'd strive for better results.

Maya had no sooner put on her robe and leaned back up against the counter to continue chatting up the Padawan at the front desk than she had been approached from behind by someone she hadn't noticed anywhere. A dozen thoughts popped through her mind before she even processed the words, not least of which was the resounding thought that it was another Initiate who had witnessed her performance and come to "critique" her.

The words ran through her mind as she turned to face this person, caught up in the moment and failing to realize only a few people would actually have witnessed her performance. "I'm afraid the only thing I've damaged is my dignity," Maya laughed off her embarrassment, swirling a lock of her hair nervously. "I'd rather be leaving here with a few bruises and be a Padawan than I would leaving here with a bruised ego," she said, openly admitting that she believed she had not performed well enough to be accepted. Suddenly it dawned on her, and her face reddened. "You saw me in there?" she asked.

 

[Teynara]

"Dignity is often the first and easiest thing to bruise, but often the most resilient, in my experience," Teynara observed softly, her smile remaining friendly and unperturbed by the young woman's forthright manner. Actually, it's a good thing that she's so honest even with herself - it's easy to walk on pride and act as if everything had gone according to plan, even though it clearly hadn't. The blonde woman was impressed by that much: people often walked around, perceiving reality through those little delusions that were designed purely to fool others around them. Good that she's not projecting that one, or she'd have real trouble getting through the selection process. "It's hard to accept that we don't always perform the way we wish we had, or to acknowledge those times when we truly do make a mistake. That's life, alas."

It wasn't surprising that the girl hadn't noticed her in the simulation room, though: most of the Jedi elected to remain concealed under the hoods of their robes, so as not to attract attention or offer any sort of bias through their expressions. More than once, a candidate had been encouraged by a friendly smile or a subtle nod to think that they were doing well, then were left absolutely crushed once it turned out that their performance hadn't been sufficient to warrant inclusion into the ranks. These days, the more we can do to mitigate that, the better it is for everyone. Not that you could ever truly prevent disappointment - that was all part-and-parcel of the Trials.

"You shouldn't be too hard on yourself, though," the Jedi continued, fixing the young woman with a patient stare. "Everyone makes mistakes during their Trials, and it's rare indeed for even the truly natural talents to manifest themselves under the pressure of our test conditions. That's part of why we have them: not to only to assess what you can do, but also to see how you react when you do worse than you expect." After all, it wasn't as though the Jedi were immune to character critique: those easy to anger or frustrate were far less likely to progress through the ranks even if Initiated, and so tended to be weeded out early on. Teynara had always been lucky in that she was good at keeping a clear head.

Even so, she still cringed in remembering her own Trials. The academic assessments for literacy and numeracy hadn't been difficult at all, not for a well-educated woman, but the interview had been difficult and the other tests...far harder. Her touch with the Force had always come slowly, and sometimes not at all, and she'd arrived with little to no experience with wielding those extra-sensory perceptions or any of the more remarkable abilities for which the Jedi were known. In truth, she'd done far worse than she judged this young woman to have done, and yet here she was, years later, a Jedi in her own right. The Order could do far worse, I'm sure.

"Something you'll learn about us is that Jedi are expected to maintain a level head at all times, to practice a level of control over how they express their emotions, and to stay calm even in the most dire of situations. It's only then that we can effectively channel the energies of the Force and use our natural gifts to their greatest potential," she said, her hands gesticulating slightly as she spoke, a counterpoint to the soft lilting tones that served as her delivery. "So we look for this in our recruits: who can keep their head, who can handle pressure, who can walk away without undue anger or frustration when their best isn't as good as they had hoped." She shrugged slightly, as if to say that it was debatable which side of the line that the girl fell on. She has to decide that for herself.

"Anyway, let's not forget our pleasantries," Teynara added with the faintest of grins curving her lips. "I'm Jedi Teynara, at your service," she added, tilting her head forward in a half-bow, respectful but not unnecessarily formal. "I didn't catch your name from the candidate list, so forgive me that I don't already know it."

 

[Core]

Nodding her head as she absorbed every word the Jedi before her told her, she patiently waited for the ending to the conversation that she was expecting - that she had failed and would not be accepted. But the more she listened the more she realized that she had no doubt been too hasty in judging herself unworthy, and that the test may not have been as it seemed. By the time the Jedi had finally arrived upon introducing herself, Maya's heartbeat had accelerated in anticipation - this Jedi had seen enough to leave the Trial's before they were over and to introduce herself to Maya quickly.

"My name is Maya, Maya Sunfighter," she said anxiously as she bowed awkwardly in return, an action she still wasn't quite accustomed to. "I'm sorry I didn't recognize you, silly me! I was just so preoccupied!" She forced herself to stop talking, realizing she was about to fall into a cascade of admissions about her own faults. Quickly shifting back to a happy smile and calming her nerves, she decided that she was jumping to conclusions too quickly again. "Is there anything you need, ma'am? Or, something I missed, something I need to do?"

 

[Teynara]

A raised eyebrow was Teynara's initial response to Maya's words. Although she was pleased by the introduction, the blonde had to wonder how the girl could ever have been expected to 'recognise' her - certainly her choice of attire marked her as a Jedi (for the most part, though she'd never been one to wear the traditional training tunic, pants and outer robe), but even so, that was hardly enough to allow another to recognise who she was. She probably means 'what' I am, though that ought to be obvious by the fact that this is a Jedi Temple and I am carrying a lightsaber. Not a huge leap in logic there, she felt.

Still, Teynara was faintly amused by the awkwardness - it was astonishing enough that the girl hadn't reverted to stuttering yet, but that was to be expected. It's all Adrenaline talking at the moment, the surge created by her exercises, then the thought of failure, and perhaps even the exhilaration at realising that she may only have done badly at the overt test, not the other criteria... She'd seen that often enough to forgive the tendencies towards light-headedness, rapid speech and a confused pattern of thoughts that tended to accompany that. No doubt she'll be a touch more coherent when she's less on edge.

"You've done everything we've asked of you so far, Maya," the Knight remarked calmly, her expression serene but for the slight touch of amusement that showed only in her eyes and the ever so small twitch of her lips. She really needs to relax. Teynara reached up with her slender right hand and placed it on the girl's shoulder, projecting just a touch of calming energy, refraining from applying the level of energetic sedation she might apply were they in a Medical Bay. "The question remains as to whether or not you think you've done everything you could ask of yourself," she added.

A gentle nudge with her hand indicated that the girl with the hazelnut hair should accompany her back down the corridor. Not back the training rooms, though, I think, she decided, instead electing a change of scenery that would be much more conducive to promoting a little calm. The Jedi walked with a steady, firm pace, not too quick nor too slow, sufficient to allow Maya to take in their surroundings as they walked, but not so slow as to hold up traffic. "If you're worried about your performance, though, you shouldn't be. You held yourself together and tried to listen to your instincts, with nothing else to go on. That's what we hope to see, at least in that test."

Their walk took them into one of the Temple's indoor gardens, a large open area brightened by artificial light and coloured wonderfully by greens, reds, pinks, whites and a greater array of shades produced by the flowers, grasses and trees that had been lovingly planted here, a tribute to life arrayed in a way that was designed to provoke thought, aid meditation and promote a peaceful atmosphere.

"There's one part of your tests yet to come, however," Teynara informed the girl in a pleasant tone, keeping her voice calm in order not to provoke any panic reaction, such as might be displayed if someone were thinking that everything might be a test. It usually is around here, but not in this respect. "I'd like to know more about you. Who are you? What brings you to us? And what is it you hope to achieve here, were you to be brought into our ranks?" All important questions, as far as Teynara was concerned. And something we all need to know - motivation is just as important as any ability a candidate might demonstrate.

 

[Core]

"I don't think I've done everything I can, ma'am," Maya replied honestly, her blue eyes looking towards the blonde Jedi Knight before her. "I've only just started understanding the Force, and I don't think I'll ever do everything that I ask of myself."

Pausing for a moment to collect her thoughts, Maya took heart in the notion that she had not performed as poorly as she thought she had. She had apparently pleased this Knight with her performance, her own tenacity and drive had outperformed her body, and she had shown that her spirit would push further than her body could, at the very least. She had, in fact, committed herself in every way to her test and had not second guessed herself or paused for thought of how ridiculous she may have looked as she performed each test. Several of the tests she had even excelled at, she wagered.

Still, she could tell that the Jedi was being careful to not stoke her ego, but at the same time not frighten her, and she measured her response accordingly - she knew that the Jedi were about self-control and restraint, and if she were to take this next test, as the Jedi suggested, she would need to exercise such skills.

"Well," Maya took her time to respond to the question posed by the Knight Teynara, collecting her thoughts and composing them into an organized structure, "I was born on Corellia, but my mother died in childbirth so I never knew her. My dad raised me aboard a starship, he said I was a mischievous kid but smart." She paused again, recalling her father, wondering if he would be proud of her. "He died, along with my brother, at Saleucami. Until then, I was studying government and history at a university and trying to find a job. But, I don't know - when I was told that they had died, I could only think that I had done nothing with myself in comparison. They fought for a idea bigger than themselves, freedom and a voice. I wanted to join the Jedi because they, too, defend those ideas." As a student of political science she had always been the idealist, believing in the very best of people and of government, understanding that the present may not match her ideals but believing that it was the intent of a republic that was the most inspiring - a government for the people, regardless of where they came from.

What do I hope to achieve? the thought gave her reason to pause. The question would be easy to answer for anyone else, but Maya was not quite sure. "I'm not sure, ma'am. I just feel that this is where I'm supposed to be, I don't know why. I've always known I've been connected to the Force, and I just feel like I can help people with it. Other people, they give up so much, they're brave and they give up their lives to help others," she said, the lingering sense of loss associated with the death of her family was distant but still vaguely present. She paused, unsure where she wanted to go with her thought. "I want to understand myself, I want to know where I fit in in this galaxy, and I want to help people," she said resolutely, as if it were her final answer.

 

[Teynara]

"You can just call me Teynara, by the way," the young Jedi mentioned conversationally, preferring to lose the high formality that was often observed within the Temple grounds. She'd never been one to be called 'Master' anyway, and usually asked even the students to refer to her by name. The rest of the time, she went by 'Healer Jeralyr', if someone wanted to be formal within the Temple grounds, or 'Jedi Jeralyr' during diplomatic missions, when it was important to observe the protocols. "We can get pretty formal around here, but I've never felt that conducive to development. We're all a family here, so 'Master', 'Sir' and 'Ma'am' are just a way of separating me from you, and you from the others," she added calmly.

Maya's story was an interesting one - although Teynara felt a pang for the girl, having lost her family under such circumstances. At least I know mine are both alive and happy, and that helps me to stay focused on what I have to do here. I don't have grief to distract me, Teynara thought, though in truth, the Jedi were all trained to accept death as part and parcel of the cycle of life: death was a way of ensuring that life could exist in good balance. Without it, populations explode, food becomes scarce and suffering becomes an epidemic, rather than something we strive to reduce or remove. At least the young woman wouldn't come to the Order burdened by her attachments, not torn between duty to family and duty to the Jedi, as unfortunate as her circumstances were.

The drive to help people, well, that was a plus, but also a small problem as Teynara saw it - ultimately, many of the more idealistic Jedi found themselves on the wrong side of the issue at times, simply because they couldn't accept that they only had the resources to help so many. It caused a good deal of internal strife within the Order: that sense that we could be doing more than we are, the concern that we never truly do enough, and yet should be able to. Some simply couldn't accept that there were limits to their capabilities, and that evil couldn't - and, more controversially, shouldn't - be stricken from existence. That's when we start seeing real issues cropping up.

"Some would say that you just said the magic words there, Maya," Teynara offered with a touch of amusement in her voice. "The Jedi Way is very much a matter of understanding yourself: what provokes you, what you feel inwardly, what you project outwardly. We learn these things to develop a level of peace within ourselves, and only at these times do we touch the Force." It's nowhere near that simple, of course, but it would take a hundred lifetimes to fully understand the Force, and even then, you'd be wrong if you thought you knew it all. "You'll get put through the grinder here, for sure: you'll bend, you'll break, you'll get put back together again. Jedi have to survive a lot of emotional turmoil and even physical pain to do our duty, and that's a sacrifice you'll have to accept as well. Can you do that?"

Not that Teynara was looking to scare her, but it was very rare that a Jedi ever managed to achieve the truly peaceful life that was considered the 'ideal', because ultimately the real world intruded (usually with a turbolaser or ten) and forced the Jedi to face the dangers, the turmoil and the unrelenting fact that those who tried to good would always be countered by those who felt it better to let a little chaos into the mix - and some even posited that this was a natural reaction, the Force's way of keeping everything balanced. Possible, but that's for those who think good and evil are tangible, rather than a matter of perspective. Maya had to learn fast that there were risks to being a Jedi - and in ways that extended far beyond the physical.

"Anyway, let's bypass the lecturing for a moment and skip to the important part," she said softly, a smile apparent on her face. "We have rules regarding candidates to the Order: they can only be initiated if they pass a battery of formal tests, or if they're apprenticed directly by a Jedi with the authority to train a student one-to-one," Teynara remarked, wondering why she was acting so impulsively on this occasion. Only problem of working so closely with the Force: it tends to poke and prod you with intuitions, and you often just have to go with your gut. "If you think you're up to it, I'd consider invoking my right to initiate you, unless you'd rather see how your test results turned out," the blonde offered, her smile turning a little wry.

 

[Core]

"I'm sorry, ma'am," she said without catching herself, "I was just raised on 'sirs' and 'ma'ams'." She didn't lie, she'd even grown accustomed to calling her own father 'sir' from time to time, being raised in a military family had a way of changing ones vernacular in the presence of authorities. 'Ma'am' was as respectful and familiar a term she could use as any other, and yet she knew that the Jedi Knight herself was raised under an entirely different circumstance, no doubt.

She was afraid that perhaps the Jedi Knight had misunderstood her grief as potentially a liability, a possible hole that could pull her through the Dark Side, and indeed it very well could be. But Maya considered it a boon, when she looked back on her father she had only fond memories, and though she missed him there was now nothing left in her life for her truly to risk attachment to, to truly compromise her principles for selfish gain.

"Teynara," she said, trying the word out and convincing her mind this was the best term to refer to the Jedi Knight with, "I am willing to undertake any task put before me." Her words were spoken sincerely, albeit naively. In truth, Maya had no real notion of what trials she would face, but there was no other path she would rather tread.

She bit her lip and twirled her hair, however, at the prospect of waiting for her results. Though she considered it distinctively possible that she had performed better than she thought, she did not want to take chances, especially when a Knight had already approached her. It would be almost insulting to refuse this woman in the off chance that she had passed and would be selected for any other Knight. "I would be happy to train under you, ma'am."

 

[Teynara]

Hah, well, that explains a lot, Teynara thought, doing her best to restrain the chuckle that might otherwise have issued from between her lips, provoked at the thought of this young woman being a military brat, as they used to call them. She doesn't seem anything of the sort - neither the uptight, highly disciplined type that was raised as though in a barracks herself, but nor the shy, submissive type, aversive to violence but yet shaped by those who are not. It was an interesting psychological contrast that Teynara had observed in a few children that had been brought into the Order, but it looked as if Maya confounded those stereotypes and was something all of her own. That's a good thing, of course.

Still, it wasn't actually funny when you considered it all in context: after all, the girl's family was gone now, and their military background would be responsible for much of that, so it wouldn't do to go making light of the subject, so Teynara did her best to keep that particular response underwraps. But you still have to accept that you were amused by it, blondie, she admonished herself. Part of their training among the Jedi required that all in the ranks learned to observe their own thoughts and acknowledge them, even those darker ones that spoke of derision, mockery, anger, jealousy. The key is not to act upon it, or allow yourself to express it, remembering that a Jedi is to be a beacon of positivity in a world that might otherwise be consumed by darkness, she reflected calmly, allowing a wave of tranquility to wash over her once more, that feeling usually provoked by a moment of pure rationality.

"Don't worry, I don't make a habit of setting ridiculously hard tasks or pushing my students to the very limits of their endurance," Teynara noted, returning her mind to their conversation once again. She knew that some Jedi felt that it was best to train their students using that aforementioned approach, but she'd always found that to be very discouraging, because ultimately being pushed time and again meant that even your best was never enough. "You'll be the one setting the limits of your training, not I," she remarked enigmatically, as if that simple sentence was explanation enough. "And be warned: I prefer to teach in the field, as we go. Expect to find yourself out of your depth often," the blonde finished with a wry smile.

Her training had been in similar form, although she hadn't had the guidance of any single Master to help her find her way. Truth be told, I probably trained myself more than most, with a little help from my friends, she thought, picking up much of what was required of her on the way, as situations required her to. My abilities developed when they had to, not when I wanted them to, and it all came from understanding that I was not good enough as I was to survive some of the things that came my way. That was a sad realisation, but it was one that had spurred her forward, and now, here she was, preparing to do the same thing with a new member of the Order. The sole difference is that she'll have me there to make sure she doesn't go too far over her head. That was something at least.

"That's not something we need to deal with now, though," the Jedi remarked. "You're at the start of your journey, which means there are preliminaries to be dealt with, tedious though they are. We need to get you kitted out, and I'll need to issue you with a weapon," she observed, though that last part was spoken with just a little distaste, Teynara herself preferring to stay as peaceful as possible - battle was the resort of the uncivilised, and she'd never had a problem making her thoughts on that known. "Let's go and find our Quartermaster. They'll have what we need. Then we'll go from there," she finished, giving the girl a little nudge on the shoulder to prompt her to start walking once more.

 

[Core]

"Weapon?" Maya blurted out as she followed the Jedi Knight. She'd had minimal training with such things, only what she'd learned from her father on how to handle blasters, and absolutely no training in swords if you discounted make-believe sword fights with her brother that involved rusted metal pipes and a fair few bruises. Still, Maya could not deny that she was excited as she followed the Jedi Knight - she had been stuck in classrooms her entire life and had learned so few skills that could actually be applied to anything other than a diplomatic negotiation, and even then learning about politics did not always translate into making politics. What little she'd learned of a lightsaber in her training as an initiate had not stuck well in her mind, she couldn't understand how the template motions and maneuvers could possibly translate into a fight.

"I'm ready, m--Teynara," she said as she followed her new master out of the cloister and towards who knew where, eager to shed the skin of an Initiate and take a spot within the Order. She didn't quite understand how, but she could sense that Teynara had been caught herself brooding on her own past, but Maya knew better than to pry. She flashed the blonde Jedi a friendly smile everytime she looked at her, her readiness and willingness to move on was evident.