A Gentler Approach

Mar went to the crying girl and put his hand on her shoulder. He wasn't used to showing compassion, it was a skill he was still working on but at the moment it seemed like the appropriate reaction to give to Serenity in this instance.

"It sounds like you just had a nightmare. Sometimes a dream is just a dream. And given your recent losses and difficulties it's understandable that your mind is trying to process everything. And on top of that, your new master is a former Inquisitor. I'm sure you're still unsure about that. Take time to process these feelings. Don't fight them. The more you try to bury those emotions the more they fester. This, if anything, is why emotions like anger and fear lead to the dark side.

"Because they don't get acknowledged and felt, and we can't process them and put them aside until we actually allow ourselves to feel them." He looked Serenity in the eyes. "I know you fear those emotions, but look at the damage it causes you to deny them their time in the sun. Ponder on this fact, my padawan, why are so many Sith former Jedi? I am a rare example of someone who fell onto the path of the dark side before the light ever became an option. Many of my fellow inquisitors were former Jedi, fallen to the dark after a lifetime of repressing their emotions. They revel in the freedom to the point of over-indulgence, giving into their dark urges.

"I always found their rampant cruelty as unrefined... childish... Cruelty for the sake of cruelty itself is distasteful. Yet can you blame them? They denied themselves for so long that they feel the need to act on their darkest impulses as often as they can."

He sighed. "I know you fear the dark side, and I can even understand why, however, know that the supposed paths to the dark side are not the emotions we feel, but how we choose to act on them."