A Star Wars Christmas Carol
Chapter One
Obi-wan's Ghost
Obi-wan was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatsoever about that. The death had been witnessed by thousands of stormtroopers, the Alderaan Princess, the smuggler, and the boy that had been with him. Vader saw it himself. Hang it all, Vader did it himself.
Old Ben was as dead as a doornail.
Vader knew he was dead? Of course. They'd been Master and Padawan for years, traveling the worlds in search of a chance to protect the innocent. But that had been before. Before Anakin Skywalker had been killed at the hand of Darth Vader. Before Anakin had turned so thoroughly to the dark side that he was Anakin no more, but a dark monster, only a shadow of what he had been.
Again I must say, Obi-wan was dead.
This must be thoroughly understood if you are to gain anything at all from my ghostly tale.
It was a horrible, black night, in which the wind howled, and lightning crashed on the surface of Coruscant. But it did not bother Vader. He only wanted to get away from this consciousness, to fall into sleep where visions of his fallen Master and the blonde-headed boy that had followed him would be no more. He could still hear the boy's screams as he cut the old man down earlier in the day.
It had reminded him too much of himself when his Angel had died.
Vader had returned to Coruscant, after gaining control of his errant TIE fighter. He stayed in Coruscant center, with the best of accomodations. Still, it did no good to warm him.
As Vader lay down to sleep, he glanced over at the shelf where lay three lightsabers: his own red one, and the ones that had belonged to Qui-gon Jinn and Obi-wan Kenobi.
To his surprise, the inactive sabers suddenly hissed to life.
If you could have seen Vader's eyes behind the Mask, you would have seen two very bright, very wide, very alarmed blue orbs.
The soft, insectlike hum of the three weapons lasted little more than thirty seconds, but to Vader it seemed and eternity. When, at last, they deactivated and rolled back onto the table where he had lain them, Vader sighed.
Must be something wrong with my visual monitors. He thought, and returned to his readying for bed. (It took Vader quite a while to do this, you see, because he had to remove the mask, hook up a manual respirator to his mouth, and somehow manage to lie down without knocking it out. Try to picture this, if you can. I found it quite humorous.)
After his third attempt, Vader finally managed to stay in the bed with his respirator attached, and lay down to sleep.
Presently, a presence (and a very familiar one, I might add) made itself known in Vader's mind. It came from the deck below, but was slowly moving upwards, upwards. Towards him.
For a moment, Vader ignored it. Nonsense! he thought. It's nothing.
But the presence kept coming nearer. It reached the turbolift next to his room. Then, the corridor. Vader's eyes opened wide as he felt the presence right outside his door.
It stopped.
If Darth Vader had the physical ability to sigh, he would have done it. No one could get through the door without his security code. And that's that.
He had thought too soon, for just as his mind formed the words, a pale, blue tinted form stepped right through the door!
It was a calm, peaceful face, one he knew well, for he had long loved this man as a father. But, as I said, that was before.
Obi-wan Kenobi.
Not old Ben Kenobi, the man he had killed earlier that day. No, this was the mighty Obi-wan, with his wise blue eyes and brown, shaggy beard. The man whom he had called "Master". The man, in heart, he had called "Father".
There was a smile on the man's face, and this left Vader feeling even more disconcerted that he had felt when the ghost had walked through his door.
"What do you want with me, old man?"
"Much, my son." he said softly. "Very much."
"Who are you?"
I never quite understood why Lord Vader asked this question. He knew full well who it was...nevertheless, he asked it.
"Ask me who I was."
"Who were you, then?"
With another soft smile, the man answered.
"In life I was your dearest friend, your Master. I was Obi-wan Kenobi."
"Can you sit?" Vader asked nervously, trying to sound superior, and failing. He was not wearing his mask, and Kenobi looked straight into his eyes. It was as if the man knew his soul.
"Yes, I can."
"Do so, then."
Vader asked this question, simply because he knew not whether the trasparent figure held solid enough to sit down. He did, however, and sat in a chair directly across from the Dark Lord's bedchamber. He laughed heartily after that.
"You don't believe in me, do you, Anakin?"
The Dark Lord scowled.
"Of course I don't." he then mumbled, as if he were a small child trying to convince himself of something that was untrue. "And Anakin Skywalker is dead."
Obi-wan laughed again. "Is that so? I don't believe it, just as much as you don't believe in me. So tell me, Anakin," the ghost looked into his eyes. "Why do you doubt your senses?"
"Because your senses can decieve you," he mumbled. "You shouldn't trust them."
The ghost gave Anakin false-surprise look. "So you did listen to me. Why do you doubt the Force, Anakin? Doesn't it tell you I'm here!"
"Anakin Skywalker is DEAD!" Vader yelled. The ghost of Obi-wan Kenobi seemed unaffected.
"You didn't answer my question, Anakin."
If Vader had not been restrained by his respirator, he would have thrown his lightsaber at the apparition. It would have done no good, of course. He was already dead.
"The Force tells me many things," he finally answered. "You could be a dream. I have seen you many times in dreams."
"Yes, I know." Obi-wan said with a chuckle. "If you had continued your training with me I would have shown you how to do that."
"How to do what?"
"Project yourself into other's dreams, of course! You don't think those dreams were accidents, do you?"
"Get out of my head, old man!"
"I'm sorry, Anakin. I can't leave you until I've delivered my message. I told you I had much to speak with you about."
"So speak, then, and begone."
"Always to the point, weren't you, Anakin?" Obi-wan ignored the annoyed look on Vader's face and continued.
"I've come to speak to you about freedom Anakin. The freedom of a second chance."
"Second chance? What do you mean?"
"A second chance at life, Anakin."
"Speak plainly, old man!"
Obi-wan's cheerful demeanor vanished in an instant, so fast that it left Vader with a chill in his skin. Obi-wan spoke, in a deep voice.
"Anakin," he began. "Do you remember the winter holidays you used to celebrate with your mother?"
Vader swallowed. "Yes."
"And Christmas with Padme?"
"Yes, continue."
"It is Christmas again."
Vader blinked. He had not noticed. Indeed, he had not noticed in a long, long time. He had no need to notice.
"Your point, old man, and quickly!"
"In the next four nights," the ghost continued. "You will be visited by four spirits. If, at the end of those four nights, you have not changed, the you are truly unreachable. You will be doomed to an eternal torture. "
Vader stared at him with cold blue eyes. "Nonsense."
Obi-wan shook his transparent head and smiled, murmuring under his breath. "May the Force be with you." He said, and disappeared.
Vader blinked, and for a moment wondered if it had been a dream. He muttered "Nonsense." under his breath, before trying to get settled in his bed again.
Chapter One
Obi-wan's Ghost
Obi-wan was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatsoever about that. The death had been witnessed by thousands of stormtroopers, the Alderaan Princess, the smuggler, and the boy that had been with him. Vader saw it himself. Hang it all, Vader did it himself.
Old Ben was as dead as a doornail.
Vader knew he was dead? Of course. They'd been Master and Padawan for years, traveling the worlds in search of a chance to protect the innocent. But that had been before. Before Anakin Skywalker had been killed at the hand of Darth Vader. Before Anakin had turned so thoroughly to the dark side that he was Anakin no more, but a dark monster, only a shadow of what he had been.
Again I must say, Obi-wan was dead.
This must be thoroughly understood if you are to gain anything at all from my ghostly tale.
It was a horrible, black night, in which the wind howled, and lightning crashed on the surface of Coruscant. But it did not bother Vader. He only wanted to get away from this consciousness, to fall into sleep where visions of his fallen Master and the blonde-headed boy that had followed him would be no more. He could still hear the boy's screams as he cut the old man down earlier in the day.
It had reminded him too much of himself when his Angel had died.
Vader had returned to Coruscant, after gaining control of his errant TIE fighter. He stayed in Coruscant center, with the best of accomodations. Still, it did no good to warm him.
As Vader lay down to sleep, he glanced over at the shelf where lay three lightsabers: his own red one, and the ones that had belonged to Qui-gon Jinn and Obi-wan Kenobi.
To his surprise, the inactive sabers suddenly hissed to life.
If you could have seen Vader's eyes behind the Mask, you would have seen two very bright, very wide, very alarmed blue orbs.
The soft, insectlike hum of the three weapons lasted little more than thirty seconds, but to Vader it seemed and eternity. When, at last, they deactivated and rolled back onto the table where he had lain them, Vader sighed.
Must be something wrong with my visual monitors. He thought, and returned to his readying for bed. (It took Vader quite a while to do this, you see, because he had to remove the mask, hook up a manual respirator to his mouth, and somehow manage to lie down without knocking it out. Try to picture this, if you can. I found it quite humorous.)
After his third attempt, Vader finally managed to stay in the bed with his respirator attached, and lay down to sleep.
Presently, a presence (and a very familiar one, I might add) made itself known in Vader's mind. It came from the deck below, but was slowly moving upwards, upwards. Towards him.
For a moment, Vader ignored it. Nonsense! he thought. It's nothing.
But the presence kept coming nearer. It reached the turbolift next to his room. Then, the corridor. Vader's eyes opened wide as he felt the presence right outside his door.
It stopped.
If Darth Vader had the physical ability to sigh, he would have done it. No one could get through the door without his security code. And that's that.
He had thought too soon, for just as his mind formed the words, a pale, blue tinted form stepped right through the door!
It was a calm, peaceful face, one he knew well, for he had long loved this man as a father. But, as I said, that was before.
Obi-wan Kenobi.
Not old Ben Kenobi, the man he had killed earlier that day. No, this was the mighty Obi-wan, with his wise blue eyes and brown, shaggy beard. The man whom he had called "Master". The man, in heart, he had called "Father".
There was a smile on the man's face, and this left Vader feeling even more disconcerted that he had felt when the ghost had walked through his door.
"What do you want with me, old man?"
"Much, my son." he said softly. "Very much."
"Who are you?"
I never quite understood why Lord Vader asked this question. He knew full well who it was...nevertheless, he asked it.
"Ask me who I was."
"Who were you, then?"
With another soft smile, the man answered.
"In life I was your dearest friend, your Master. I was Obi-wan Kenobi."
"Can you sit?" Vader asked nervously, trying to sound superior, and failing. He was not wearing his mask, and Kenobi looked straight into his eyes. It was as if the man knew his soul.
"Yes, I can."
"Do so, then."
Vader asked this question, simply because he knew not whether the trasparent figure held solid enough to sit down. He did, however, and sat in a chair directly across from the Dark Lord's bedchamber. He laughed heartily after that.
"You don't believe in me, do you, Anakin?"
The Dark Lord scowled.
"Of course I don't." he then mumbled, as if he were a small child trying to convince himself of something that was untrue. "And Anakin Skywalker is dead."
Obi-wan laughed again. "Is that so? I don't believe it, just as much as you don't believe in me. So tell me, Anakin," the ghost looked into his eyes. "Why do you doubt your senses?"
"Because your senses can decieve you," he mumbled. "You shouldn't trust them."
The ghost gave Anakin false-surprise look. "So you did listen to me. Why do you doubt the Force, Anakin? Doesn't it tell you I'm here!"
"Anakin Skywalker is DEAD!" Vader yelled. The ghost of Obi-wan Kenobi seemed unaffected.
"You didn't answer my question, Anakin."
If Vader had not been restrained by his respirator, he would have thrown his lightsaber at the apparition. It would have done no good, of course. He was already dead.
"The Force tells me many things," he finally answered. "You could be a dream. I have seen you many times in dreams."
"Yes, I know." Obi-wan said with a chuckle. "If you had continued your training with me I would have shown you how to do that."
"How to do what?"
"Project yourself into other's dreams, of course! You don't think those dreams were accidents, do you?"
"Get out of my head, old man!"
"I'm sorry, Anakin. I can't leave you until I've delivered my message. I told you I had much to speak with you about."
"So speak, then, and begone."
"Always to the point, weren't you, Anakin?" Obi-wan ignored the annoyed look on Vader's face and continued.
"I've come to speak to you about freedom Anakin. The freedom of a second chance."
"Second chance? What do you mean?"
"A second chance at life, Anakin."
"Speak plainly, old man!"
Obi-wan's cheerful demeanor vanished in an instant, so fast that it left Vader with a chill in his skin. Obi-wan spoke, in a deep voice.
"Anakin," he began. "Do you remember the winter holidays you used to celebrate with your mother?"
Vader swallowed. "Yes."
"And Christmas with Padme?"
"Yes, continue."
"It is Christmas again."
Vader blinked. He had not noticed. Indeed, he had not noticed in a long, long time. He had no need to notice.
"Your point, old man, and quickly!"
"In the next four nights," the ghost continued. "You will be visited by four spirits. If, at the end of those four nights, you have not changed, the you are truly unreachable. You will be doomed to an eternal torture. "
Vader stared at him with cold blue eyes. "Nonsense."
Obi-wan shook his transparent head and smiled, murmuring under his breath. "May the Force be with you." He said, and disappeared.
Vader blinked, and for a moment wondered if it had been a dream. He muttered "Nonsense." under his breath, before trying to get settled in his bed again.