A Glimpse of the Future
Thomas Terrazas

"Breathe," Luke Skywalker said as he looked upon his new apprentice with a sigh. "Just... breathe. What do you see?"

Luke watched the boy's face swim with confusion as he replied, eyes shut, facing away from his uncle.

"I... darkness," Ben exclaimed, his closed eyes widening behind pallid eyelids. "Just... darkness."

Luke nodded; he'd expected this from the beginning. But he was not afraid.

"Reach out, focus," he said as he touched his hand to his chin and crossed his arms. "Search your feelings."

Suddenly, Luke felt it surge up through young Ben like a hot wave. The anger. Ben bit down, the muscles in his neck straining with effort. Luke could see the blue veins against his pale skin, bulging, threatening to burst free at any moment.

"Concentrate," he goaded. "You must learn to clear your thoughts!"

"I'm... trying," the boy replied, his hands opening and clenching shut. "There's something else."

Luke nodded. "Light," he said, sure in his assessment. But the welling of Ben's contemptuous rage did not dispel. It almost became unbridled, like a wild horse running free across the plains of Naboo.

"No," Ben replied. "A man... a mask. He's only breathing."

The boy gasped for breath as if he'd been sucker punched in the stomach. Luke, startled, took a quick step towards his nephew. He placed a hand on his shoulder, shuddered and stepped back. He felt it too. A presence he'd not felt whole since his first battle on Bespin amongst the clouds. Cold. Mechanical. He could hear the creaking of gilded joints staggering in the darkness. Could feel the cold sting of the carbon freezing chamber.

He could hear the breathing too.

It was then that Luke realized that Ben's eyes were wide open, but that the boy saw nothing besides the cold shell of a man who offered no comfort or joy, only pain and self-loathing. The dark side.

The steel floor that Ben sat upon cracked, and his hair flew out behind him as if blown by a heavy wind. Chairs and gadgets were thrown about in all directions, forcing the Jedi Master to duck away and fall on his backside.

"Stop!" Luke shouted as he propped himself up, but Ben was beyond hearing.

And then it was over. The room returned to the way it was, all except for the cracks in the floor.

Timidly and with great care, Luke allowed himself to stand and approach his nephew. Young Ben sat in the same seated position, a stoic statue from behind. Luke wasn't sure he was even breathing until he heard the telling sniffle of a stifled sob.

"Ben?" Luke asked.

The boy turned around slowly, letting his thick black hair flow away naturally instead of the dramatic flipping Luke had become used to. The boy's eyes were blood shot, ringed in red, but Luke saw no traces of the telling yellow he had heard of from Old Ben many years ago.

"It was him... wasn't it?" The boy spoke, his voice hoarse, making him sound ages older than he was. "My grandfather."

For the first time since the fall of the Emperor, Luke felt utterly powerless. He took another tentative step, and then another, noting the boy's unwavering gaze until he at last stood beside him.

"No," he said. "Your grandfather was Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight and a good man."

"Darth Vader," Ben said aloud almost to himself. "That's who he became," he continued, looking up at his uncle.

Luke nodded.

"Tell me about him," Ben said.

Luke narrowed his eyes. "It would be best to speak about that..."

"I want to know," Ben shouted. "I have a right to know!"

"Do not let your anger take hold of you, Ben." Luke raised his voice in response, quieting the young Jedi and causing him to turn away.

Luke hated this part. The training. He'd learned from the greatest Jedi to ever live. He'd learned to control his power and use it to protect the ones that he loved. It had taken him awhile, and he had been impatient. Perhaps some of that impatience was simply part of who he was.

He calmed himself, and knelt beside his nephew, who had at this point crossed his arms. Luke noticed the tear streaks on the young boy's face. Had they been there all along?

"I forget sometimes," he said calmly. "That you aren't just a Jedi, or my nephew. You're a person.

"And I'm sorry."

Ben turned to face his uncle and saw real genuine care in the aging Jedi's smile.

"I'm sorry too," he mumbled. "I was frightened."

"To feel fear is natural," Luke said, rising. "But you mustn't allow fear to take hold and control you. Fear leads to the dark side."

"Is that how he fell?" Ben asked.

Luke nodded and said, "My father feared the loss of my mother. It drove him to betray his friends, and led to her death anyway.

"If you take anything from this vision you had," Luke continued. "Understand that just because we are of the same blood, doesn't mean that we have to turn out like those who've come before us. We can choose our own path."

There was a long pause before Luke extended his hand and Ben took it and stood, his head only just coming up to Luke's shoulders.

"You're getting taller every day," Luke said, rustling Ben's hair. "Pretty soon you'll be taller than me. Maybe even as tall as Chewie."

Ben laughed a short, stifled choking laugh and Luke grinned from ear to ear.

"Alright, let's get back to it," he said as Ben retook his seated position in the Jedi training hall. Luke watched the boy's frame rise and fall with heavy, deep breaths and said

"Breathe... just breathe."

And he heard the mechanical breathing of his father.