I realized long after writing this that I never actually say the name Akite in this story. But it is about Akite, her sixth and final story. I wrote this between "The Last Laugh" (which is briefly mentioned in this) and "Survivor's Guilt" but held off publishing it so people could get to know her and I could maybe get a follower or two. (Also, it fits into the timeline now.) Still, even if you've never heard of me or her before, you're welcome to read (and review). Please.
The Way it Must Be
I sense it coming long before the first scream. I don't know what it is, but it's coming.
Fear races through me, then fades. Somehow, I can't find it in me to be afraid.
You knew this would come, says a voice in my head. You know that this is the way it must be.
Then, it starts. I feel pain through the Force, tearing the world apart. I hear shouting and screaming growing louder and louder.
But I continue meditating until I find a different sort of death.
Oh, dear Force, not the younglings. What did they do wrong?
But the Force doesn't respond this time.
I pull out of meditation and run outside, looking for younglings. People are running down the hall and yelling about clones.
Clones? I put it together. If the clones are attacking, then we have no chance. There are so few of us and so many of then.
Running towards the crèche dormitories, I pass the foot of the spiral staircase and pause. I remember six months ago – though it seems like six years – when we made Master Windu slide down the banister. And where is he now? I know, instinctively, that he is dead. Yoda is offplanet, so he would have been our only hope. Dead.
I come across a group of younglings. They are crying, terrified. I don't blame them.
"Come," I say. "No one is going to save us. We need to protect ourselves." I herd them into a dormitory. "Don't let anyone come in. Do you understand? Nobody. Anyone who has a lightsaber, stand with me. Everyone else, attack any clones at the door with anything you have."
Panicked as they are, they are willing to listen to a sixteen-year-old padawan. A few older initiates take out lightsabers and stand by the door.
Then, it happens. Something is gone from the Force, something I am familiar with. I sink down to the floor and cover my mouth to hide any sounds.
MASTER!
The weight of my words has come down on me. No one will save us. They are all dead, dying, or ready to die.
I can't move. I lost my first master three years ago, so I am orphaned twice over.
This is the way it must be, says the voice in my head. You know that.
When did I slide into meditation? I wonder and ask, But WHY?
You know why. You know what is happening to the Republic. And the Jedi – they are so sure of themselves. Complacent.
But the war changed that!
The voice ignores my protest. The old must be destroyed before the new can take over.
You sound like Dooku.
Did you think that none of the masters recognize the need for change?
Like this?
I hear blaster fire outside our door. I leap up and grab my lightsaber.
The door is barricaded – no thanks to me, the older children did it – but it doesn't take long before the clones begin to break through.
This is the only way, the voice insists. This is the way it must be.
The world is so empty. All I can feel is myself and the younglings in the midst of one dark presence – yet all part of the voice.
The clones are through. The older children attack with their sabers. In the space of time it takes me to take a deep breath and shed my jumbled thoughts and feelings, a youngling is killed.
My green lightsaber flashed out in front of me and cuts the two clones in the doorway in half. One step forward and three more clones fall. Now, I'm out in the hallway and my lightsaber is everywhere. I'm spinning, jumping, slashing with my weapon. Somewhere, through the green light, I see a blue lightsaber go out as its wielder falls. Everywhere around me, younglings die. Spirit after spirit joins the Force, disappears from my view, and strengthens me.
My death won't be much of a transition. I already am one with the Force.
The source of the darkness is right before me. I stop. All around me are bodies of clones. Far away down the hallway, more clones are coming. A couple of younglings huddle in the dormitory. And he stands before me.
His blue lightsaber is ignited but pointing at the floor. His face is hooded, but his yellow eyes glow from the darkness.
I don't know why he waits. My eyes slowly travel from him to the younglings and back to his eyes.
I see everything through the Force. And I think I see a shatterpoint – Master Windu's gift – and mine. It may not work. But, somehow, it may make a difference.
My finger slides off the on/off switch. I slowly raise my lightsaber hilt. "You were a Jedi," I state. His eyes narrow and he begins to raise his lightsaber. I must do this quickly – yet it cannot be hurried.
I am ready. My lightsaber rests against my body. Perhaps curiosity stays his hand. Tears blur my eyes. I blink them away. The shatterpoint is growing more and more well defined, but I must not miss the moment or it will all mean nothing.
"There is still good in you," I say, and the Force says it with me. He raises his sword.
I see it all clearly now. In a moment, his lightsaber will sweep through the space where I have been. In another moment, he will be staring at the pile of clothes on the ground. In several hours, Master Kenobi will see that pile of clothes and show it to Master Yoda – who will realize that at least one person found peace today.
And, twenty years later, Anakin Skywalker, in the body of the monster he will become, will not have forgotten this – or any of the many other times he will watch a true Jedi calmly facing and accepting the thing that is his worst fear.
Death.
I never thought it would be like this.
I look into his eyes. "Remember this," I whisper.
I touch the button to ignite my lightsaber.
Heat sears through my chest, but I can no longer feel pain. I only have time for one thought. For me, perhaps…
This is the way it must be.
I hadn't meant to write anything after the end, but my first reviewer pointed out that very few Jedi do become one with the Force in this way. Well, that limitation is one of the things that the Prequels did that I hate. I maintain that it is wrong. When did Anakin learn this power? He appeared as a ghost.
You might accept the idea that it was not entirely uncommon for Jedi to do this or you might not, but I hope you enjoyed the story.