Disclaimer: as usual, none of those characters belong to me (except for Séléné, but as just appears once, I guess it's not really important…) they're all Mr. Lucas's property, and I'm just playing in his sandbox… I'm not making money with it, it's just made for fun!!!
It's my second fiction, and it's
again translated from French… Thanks Kili!!!! An keep writing, I love what you
do!
Comments and all that stuffs
welcomed at: amy_solo@hotmail.com
Please R&R!!!!
AS
Every journey has a last step…
Her room was dark. Very dark. There was just a tiny ray of pale
light which had managed to force its way through the curtains decorated with
silver stars. Leia held her blanket tight, and curled up in her little bed,
still, listening to the noise of the grown-ups' steps in the corridors of the
Palace. She was afraid, very afraid. And she was alone. In the dark.
With a hesitant hand, she reached for Mr. Sweetie, her teddy bear,
and hugged him.
Something was going wrong, she knew that; Mummy didn't say
anything, neither did Obi-wan, but she was sure of that. She had to know.
She stood up, Mr. Sweetie still snuggled up in her arms, and
climbed the barrier of her bed without any problems, stacking up cushions on
top of one another. Leia was very proud to be able to get out of her bed alone,
but it would be better if the adults didn't know her little secret or they
would find a way to force her to stay in her bed.
Without a noise, she headed toward the door of her room and stood
on tiptoes to reach the handle. If only she was taller! She was certain that
when she turned four, she wouldn't have any problems getting out of here; she
just had to wait a little…
She stood straight a little more and hopped, until she was able to
hang on the handle, and opened the tall pink door. Free, at last! Cautiously,
Leia took a look in the corridor before going out.
The marble was cold under her bare feet, and the little girl
thought a moment of going back in her room to take her slippers. Then she
remembered that once, she had returned to her room, 'cause she had forgotten
Mr. Sweetie, but the door had closed behind her and her mother had come to see
if everything was all right… Too bad for her feet, but she preferred to endure
the coolness of the floor than not to know what was happening…
She had hardly taken any steps in the large path, that she heard
somebody coming. Quickly, she ran and hid in a dark spot, and waited a little.
The footsteps went away, and the young explorer let out a sigh of relief.
She thought for a while; where did she have to go, if she wanted
to know what was happening? The answer presented itself in her mind. The
Council Room.
Mummy always went there when something serious was happening. But
little girls weren't allowed in there, Obi-wan had explained that to her… But
if it was more serious than usual? And if she was careful, they wouldn't see
her…
Furtively, she headed toward the Council Room, watching out for
grown-ups. The door was wide open, and nervous voices were coming from inside.
Leia recognize Obi-wan's, and the one of two other Jedi she knew. The rest was
just a confused hubbub. But why couldn't she hear Mummy's voice?
She didn't wait for the voices to calm down and took advantage of
the unrest to slip into the room. With a beating heart, she ran and crept
behind a wooden panel, then squatted.
"Hush, Mr. Sweetie" she murmured. "Don't make any noise, okay?"
The bear didn't move, but something in his eyes seemed to express
his agreement. Leia nodded her head.
"Good. Now, we find Mummy."
She put her arms around her knees and let her hair wrap around
herself, as much to try to melt away in the shadows as to benefit of the sweet
warmth this improvised blanket offer her.
Suddenly silence reigned in the
room, and Leia was afraid that she had been discovered. But Obi-wan's voice
came to break it.
"There's nothing else we can do for
her," he declared sadly. "The last thing we can do is to hide the children in a
safe place, where the Emperor and their father will never find them."
Nobody said a word, and Leia wondered who were the children
Obi-wan was talking about. Why didn't they want their father to be with them?
It was nasty, and so unfair! Leia didn't understand why they wanted to do that
to children of her age. She clenched her fists, really angry. She never saw her
father, and she knew that she'd probably never see him; she didn't want that
some other little girls and boys knew that! Mr. Sweetie seemed as furious as
she was…
She suddenly realised that all the adults had left, and she
decided to leave too. Thinking she was safe, she left her hiding place
four-legged and stood up. The little girl turned toward her soft toy, which was
still sitting in a corner of her former refuge, and waited for it to join her.
"Come on, Mr. Sweetie, we're
leaving…"
The head of the little bear fell on his chest, and Leia raised her
shoulders.
"Come, you coward, or I come and get
you!"
As Mr. Sweetie didn't make a move, she went back behind the panel
and took him in her arms.
Luckily for her, grown-ups were a little absent-minded tonight,
and they let the big door open… She chose not to think about what would have
happened if she had been trapped inside. Mum wouldn't certainly have been
happy, and Ben even less…
Lugging her teddy bear, Leia decided
to go into her mother's room. They would know that she could get out of her
bed, but something was really wrong tonight, and she was scared. When she
passed her head in the corridor to verify that the way was clear, the little
princess felt raised in the air and cried out in surprise.
"Hey, you little girl, weren't you
supposed to be in your bed a long time ago?"
Leia raised her head and met Obi-wan's worried look. The Jedi
Master's voice was tinged with melancholy, and he looked drawn, as if he hadn't
slept since in a week.
" Eer… Was really thirsty" Leia
lied. "And Mr. Sweetie's afraid when it's dark, so he wanted to go out.."
Obi-wan smiled sadly, and hugged the child.
"Is that true, Mr. Sweetie?"
He seemed to wait for an answer, and Leia stood up in his arms.
"Well, I see… But why are you afraid
of darkness, Mr. Sweetie?"
"You can speak with him too?" Leia asked with a astounded voice.
"Please wait a second, Leia" the Jedi murmured before talking to
the teddy bear again. "I think I can solve your problem, Mr. Sweetie. When you
go to bed, I'll leave a small light on, all right? That's good…"
Obi-wan turned then toward Leia, who was watching him chatting
with her soft toy as if it was something normal.
"Of course I can speak with him,
Little Lady! Why do you ask?"
"No, no… for nothing…"
He had again one of those sad smiles he seemed to have very often
these days, and embraced her again. Leia said nothing, but she was very
disturbed. The only adult that listened to her and understood her, except her
mother, was acting in a really strange way tonight.
"Ben, can I go and see Mum? Mr.
Sweetie don't want to sleep if she hasn't wished good night to him… Can we go
and see her, please?"
"Leia…"
His voice, so controlled and confident usually, became suddenly
hoarse, and the little girl felt that her mother was personally involved in the
matter that perturbed everyone.
"Obi-wan, where's my mum? Where's my
mum?" she repeated, staring at him wide-eyed because of the fear and the
surprise.
The Jedi took a deep breath, and stared at the kid with his blue
grey gaze.
"Leia, there's something I have to
tell you… You're a big girl, aren't you?"
The princess nodded silently, wondering what he was going to tell
her. Anyway, that seemed very important, and serious.
"Good… Very good…" He stopped, as if
he couldn't find his words. "Leia, your mother is not well… She's ill – very ill
and… Little Princess, you… you know what Heaven is, don't you?"
As he was going to go on, she interrupted him. She was little,
yes, but she was not stupid and she knew what he was trying to say, but she
didn't wanted to hear it.
"No. No, I don't want."
"Leia…" he tried to reason with her,
with his soft voice that made her feel like crying. "Leia, your mother will go
to…"
"No!" she cut him, trying to get
free of his embrace. "No! You're a liar! That's not true!"
She screamed, and started to cry.
"Let me go! You're not my friend!
Daddy!"
Obi-wan seemed as overwhelmed by sorrow as she, and tears were
shining in his eyes. Leia struggled by dint of kicks, clawing, biting, like a
wild little animal, so that she managed to escape from his arms, and she began
to run toward her mother's room, forgetting Mr. Sweetie in Obi-wan's arms.
The Jedi called her many times, but she refused to turn round,
running faster on the rough and cold floor. She had to see her mother, to prove
to herself that Obi-wan was wrong, that he lied to her. Mummy was all right,
she knew that. She would never have left her, even if she was not always a good
girl, and she did some stupid things, 'cause her mum loved her, and she often
told her.
Or perhaps she was having a bad dream, and she would soon wake up
because Mummy would have heard her cries, and she would have come to take her
in her arms, hold her tight, and dispel the nightmares. Leia would stay
snuggled up to her, and she would have breathed in her perfume deeply, as she
always did when her mother came to kiss her good night.
Was she awake or sleeping, she didn't know anymore, but she
continued to run until she found her mother's bedroom in the large corridors
that seemed to gobble her up. When the door was in sight, she stopped and
rubbed her eyes with her tiny fists, to erase the tears. She didn't want her
mother to know that she had just cried because of Obi-wan; after all, she loved
him a lot, and she didn't want him to be punished because he had said something
bad.
She knocked, and waited for someone to open to her. Usually, like
when she was afraid of thunder or monsters that were hidden under her bed, she
came in without waiting, because Mummy was already sleeping…
But tonight, Leia was sure that she was awake; with all that
restlessness, her mother was probably up for a long time. One of her mother's
maidens opened the door; she didn't see the little girl immediately. As she was
going to go back in the room, she looked down and finally noticed her presence.
Leia rewarded her with an angelic smile, to be sure that the young girl would
let her in; it always worked. Even so, the young maiden hesitated, and
considered once more the saintly face of the Princess.
"Night! Mummy's here?" she said with
another smile that could have melted a glacier. Leia frowned as the girl didn't
answer, and put her hands on her hips with a determined face. Suddenly, a voice
came from the back of the room… "Séléné, who is it?"
Leia's heart leaped in her chest; it was her mother's voice, but
so strange, so weak!
"Your Highness,…" Leia didn't wait
for the maiden to announced her, and threaded her way between the woman's legs
to run toward the large bed. When she was able to see her mother, she stopped
dead.
Her mother, the great Amidala, the invincible Warrior Queen, the
wise and determined senator, the one who reassured her when she was afraid, the
one who comforted her when she was sad, who read stories for her, who sang
lullabies for her, her mother was lying in the middle of a large bed, making her
look more thin than a porcelain doll. Her cheeks, so colourful in the past,
flushing at a phenomenal speed, were now pale; her long hair, usually bright
and impeccable, was untied, spreaded out around her like a wreath; but above
all, her eyes, that were in Leia's memory so bright, sparkling and mischievous,
like her own eyes, seemed now weary, tired and reflected a melancholy that Leia
had never seen in her.
Her whole body shaking, she remained still at several meters away
from her mother, contenting herself to observe her, too shocked to be able to
speak.
" Leia…" her mother whispered so
softly that Leia had the feeling that each word cost her a terrible effort.
"Leia, come here…"
The young woman asked her silently to sit beside her, and the
little girl obeyed, trying unsuccessfully to hold back her sobs.
"Mummy… Mummy, what's the matter?"
the little Princess whispered with a miserable voice.
Her mother stare at her for some long seconds, her gaze lost in
another world. Obi-wan's arrival saved her to answer.
The Jedi put his hands on the little
girl's shoulders, but she freed herself by a lively and bad-tempered move. As
upset as she, perhaps hurt by that gesture of rejection, Obi-wan moved
backwards a few steps, staring at the queen lying in the middle of her death
bed, so immense in comparison of the tiny woman it was accommodating.
Once more, he was stunned by the intensity of the wave she created in the Force field, even when she was so weak. Perhaps it was a part of Anakin's strength she had absorbed in a way, during their short marriage, before the young man was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force… Anyway, her presence, for a Jedi, was brighter than a star, and he already knew that Leia had the same bearing… and she already had a fabulous potential, for a child of her age. With a wave of sorrow, he thought to the little boy, Luke, who just like his twin-sister, could one day become an exceptional Jedi, if he had the chance.
His eyes had closed themselves to hold back his tears, and he
opened them again to contemplate the sight of the young queen, hugging her
child, the one who hadn't been taken away from her…
"Mummy" Leia murmured between two
sobs, "Don't leave me alone…"
"You're not alone, Little Lady"
Amidala answered with a voice hardly more audible than a whisper. "You have
Ben, your friends, Mr. Sweetie… and you know I'll always be with you, darling…"
"You'll be an angel?"
Obi-wan bit his lip, and saw the young woman blinked several times
for not to cry… She had told him of her first meet with Anakin, again and
again, with the same tenderness and passion in the back of her eyes, the voice
full of sorrow and regrets…
Are you an angel?
The woman's arms tightened around her daughter, and she tried to
smile, but her tired face wouldn't even have deceived Leia.
"Yes, Leia, an angel… And I'll always be looking after
you… always, my lovely Leia…"
Her voice seemed to fade, and Obi-wan believed one second that
everything was over; but the young woman's chest was still raising at the rate
of her jerky breath. Leia sat down on the floor, next to the bed, and her
mother's hand landed in her long brown hair, before falling softly on her
little shoulders .Leia sniffed, and held her mother's hand against her cheek,
then seemed to fall asleep.
Obi-wan move forward then, and looked for the queen's gaze. She
had a tender smile for her daughter, then her look fell on the Jedi Master who
had trained her husband… and failed. He wasn't sure if she had a grudge against
him, but he felt horribly guilty; all of what was happening was his fault. He
stared at Amidala, who had undoubtedly suffered more than any other during this
war, whose husband had become one of the greatest tyrants in history, and whose
son had been taken away from her. He stared then at Leia, who would perhaps
never know her brother, and who was going to lose her only family. He had a
thought for little Luke, on Tatooine, who wouldn't even have known his mother.
He missed Qui-Gon, and Anakin, the young man he knew, his friend,
his padawan. As if she was able to read in his mind, Amidala raised a hand, and
smiled, a frank, friendly, warm smile, a smile that shook up his heart and made
him feel more guilty than ever…
"Obi-wan" she said, her look
strangely confident and resolute. "There's something I must tell you…"
The Jedi sat on the bed, taking care not to wake up the dozing
child. He took the hand she held out to him, and kissed her on the forehead.
She had been a part of his life, as Qui-Gon, Anakin and Leia, and he deeply
loved her. The first time they met, he had known she was incredibly wise, brave
and totally devoted to her people; he had always immensely respected her, and
had learnt to know little by little the young girl that hid in that armour of
bravery and determination.
The young woman, even if he still saw her like the
fifteen-years-old young girl he had known, shivered, and he came back to
reality.
"Obi-wan, promise me you'll take
care of her…"
The Jedi silently nodded, and waited for her to go on.
"And, if… if you see him again… if you
can make him return to the good side… Please tell Ani I love him, and I always
will, even from up there…"
Holding back his tears, he acquiesced, and she let out a relieved
sigh.
" Obi-wan… Luke… Tell him… tell him his mother has always loved
him… and I'm sorry… for everything…"
"No… It's me… my fault… I'm sorry…"
"Don't be… It had to happen like
that… Destiny is stronger…" She stopped and smiled sadly. "Last night, I had a
dream… Strange dream, you know?…Like a… a premonition, a Jedi vision… I saw
Leia, and Luke… They weren't children anymore, they were almost adults… and
they were together, happy…And I'm sure they'll be…"
"So am I..."
The silence reigned, then Leia suddenly raised her head as her
mother let out a painful moan. Obi-wan knelt beside Leia, and put his hand on
those of the mother and her daughter. Amidala watched them and smiled once
more, as she saw that her child would have someone to take care of her and to
love her.
Leia stood on tiptoes, but she wasn't tall enough; the Jedi helped
her, and she kissed her mother on the cheek. "Love you, Mummy…"
"I love you too, Leia… Forever…"
The Queen gave Obi-wan a knowing look, and he remembered what he
had promised to her, a moment ago…
"There is no emotion," he began to
recite with a husky voice, "there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is
knowledge. There is no passion ,there is serenity."
He stopped, and raised his eyes to her. She encouraged him by a
soft squeeze on his hand; he swallowed, then nodded.
"There is no death… there is the Force…"
She let out another sigh, but this time, it was a sigh of relief,
and happiness; she wasn't afraid of dying anymore, now that she knew that Leia
and Luke would be loved, and that they would meet one day, so she slowly closed
her eyes…
Leia didn't move, then softly sniffed before
letting out one of her strident howls. Obi-wan took her in his arms, hugged
her, repeating to her that he loved her and he would always be with her, as
much to sooth her as to feel less lonely, then he let himself fall on the
floor, sitting before the bed in which Amidala was resting in an eternal sleep.
