Foreword: This is the first story I've posted here so bare with me here. The story is set in the future of the Star Wars universe (at least how I think it will be).
Disclaimer: As always, we (fanfic writers) pay homage to George Lucas. May he forgive us while we borrow his galaxy and creations.
WHERE STARS MAY LIE IN WAIT
Bryen Norse gripped the controls of the ship, closed his eyes, and waited to die. Nothing happened. Well, there wasn't nothing happening. The ship crashed down through the canopy of the jungle and somehow roughly lodged itself between a few massive trees. But it wasn't death.
He opened his eyes and looked out the now shattered, shatter-proof cockpit window at jungle foliage. And lots of it. Bryen unbuckled his safety harness carefully, and fell against the controls. Obviously the ship had paid little attention to proper landing procedure during it's crash landing.
Cautious that the ship could fall at any moment, Bryen moved carefully toward the ship's rear. His work partner and friend, Nora, sat dazed at the communication controls where she had desperately been trying to reach someone. A glance at the shorted station and Bryen could tell that it would never work again. He helped Nora away from the station and outside, through the conveniently torn hole in the hull of the ship.
"I don't think we'll be flying away for awhile," he said to Nora as they rested on the top of the ship for a moment, despite the danger.
"We'd better check-out the rest of the ship," she suggested.
"Keep your blaster powered-up and com-link on. We don't know what lives here," Bryen said, "I'll check-out the rest of the ship. You can gather emergency supplies from the ship, and we'll meet back out here on the hull." Nora nodded.
Twenty minutes later, they met again on the hull.
"Well?" Nora asked.
"She's never flying another millimeter," Bryen answered unhappily, "How about the supplies?"
"We're alright for a month, but we'd better find a way out of here by then," Nora replied. Bryen nodded.
Something in the jungle moved nearby. Bryen froze.
"What was that?" he asked Nora.
"I don't know. I don't think I want to find out either," she replied.
It moved again.
"I'm going to find out what it is," he said, drawing his blaster and clambering across the hull of the crashed ship toward the back.
Holding his blaster tightly, he aimed it at the piece of jungle where the noise had come from. There was a scrabbling noise, then nothing. Bryen was about to turn back when something fell from the trees above and landed in front of him. The creature, he quickly realized was a young woman approximately Nora's age.
The young woman rose up from her defensive crouch and held her long sharpened spear in a threatening manner. Bryen looked at the woman with great interest. Her hair was bluntly cut at shoulder length, and her clothes were old, ill-fitting, and out-of-date, she wore no shoes or stockings. She maintained her defensive stance also.
She made eye contact with him, then glanced down at his blaster. Oh! Bryen placed the blaster on the hull of the ship, and gave the young woman an empty-hand gesture. "Do you understand Basic?" he asked slowly.
"No, I speak Bocce. Of course I understand Basic," she answered sharply.
Bryen was a little bit shocked.
"So what happened? You crash?" she asked, peering over his shoulder at the ship.
"Uh...yeah. My partner and I had a drive failure and crashed," he answered. "Drive failure? What's your name?" she asked.
"Bryen Norse," Bryen replied.
She glanced up at the canopy. "It's getting late. Get your partner and anything you might need overnight. You can stay with me," she said.
Bryen scrambled off, debated whether they should stay or not with Nora, then they returned with enough gear for overnight.
"This is Nora," Bryen introduced. The nameless woman nodded.
"Geez. You'd think I didn't have a house to live in with all that stuff you're carrying. Ah well. Follow me," she said.
"What is your name?" Nora asked.
"Ashla," she replied. 'That's a strange name,' Bryen thought.
"So Ashla, it must be awfully lonely living alone with no one to talk to," Bryen said as they moved carefully through the trees.
"What gave you the impression I am alone and have nobody to talk to?" Ashla asked.
"Well, the way you practically dropped on me..." Bryen said.
"I assumed you were a yskkry, an annoying predatorial creature," Ashla answered.
"So you're not alone?" Nora confirmed.
"That's right. I live with my twin brother," Ashla replied.
"How'd you get here?" Nora asked.
Ashla paused, "Come to think of it, I don't really know. Well, it doesn't matter." She continued climbing.
They had reached Ashla's residence, which Bryen could best describe as a tree house, an actual house built in the trees. There were objects about that hinted that someone had come from off-planet, if not Ashla and her as-yet-unseen twin. Several datapads rested on a shelf out of the way, a throw rug lay on the floor, and cookware occupied the kitchen.
After leaving their things where they were to sleep, Ashla had set Bryen and Nora up with bowls of a stew that Bryen didn't trust.
Shortly he heard the sound of laughter, and Ashla came in with a young man who looked very much her twin. "Ashlan," she introduced, "This is Bryen Norse and Nora Thei. Bryen, Nora, this is Ashlan, my twin brother," she said.
Then Ashla turned to her brother and said, "And I thought they were yskkri. So I dropped down by Bryen right out of the trees and he's absolutely scared stiff. You would've thought I'd pulled my lightsaber on him!"
Bryen coughed. "Excuse me," he said, "But did you say you have a lightsaber?" "Yeah, we both do," Ashla said, pointing to herself, then Ashlan.
"Are you Jedi?" Bryen asked.
"Well, in beliefs and practices yes. In training, no," Ashla explained, "Our mother trained us, but she wasn't a master."
"But your mother is a Jedi? Where is she?" Nora burbled.
"Yes, she was. She's dead though," Ashlan said.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Nora apologized.
"Don't be. We aren't. She's with the Force now," Ashla replied.
Bryen nodded. He had heard similar sentiments from Jedi before. Meeting Jedi came with the work Nora and he did, on the Journal of the Whills. He forced several more bites of the stew down, then inquired where he and Nora were going to sleep. Ashla brought out the extra hammocks and hung them. Though the sun was barely setting at the time, everyone started getting ready for bed. It had been a long day.
Three weeks and a call on the ancient comm unit the twins had scourged up later, and all of them were picked up by a rescue ship. The twins had opted to leave after learning where Nora and Bryen were headed, Coruscant. Even they knew about Coruscant, or at least they knew what their mother had told them and what was on the datacards they had.
Coruscant was awe inspiring...from orbit. Walking down the ramp to the landing pad tarmac, Ashlan remarked, "We left a jungle and went to another one. The only difference is that this jungle is metal and technology, and the other was natural and biological."
It turned out that Nora and Bryen had friends among the Jedi there, and through them arranged a place for Ashla and Ashlan to stay. Nora and Bryen had been given several days off before they had to start working again, and while Nora had family to visit, Bryen was free and offered to show the twins around. In addition to a crash course in how to use almost everything, Bryen showed them to the major venues of Coruscant, with an emphasis on political and Jedi interests. It wasn't likely that they would be visit the blob racing stadium or the sabaac gambling emporium. Amazingly at the end of the first day, they still remembered questions about the common research library and the Journal of the Whills building, the first places they'd visited.
After two and three days, respectively, Ashla and Ashlan were guiding Bryen around Coruscant. Including to places Bryen had never seen, let alone knew existed.
Now that they were settled in, the Jedi eagerly curious to meet the two Force-strong individuals who had come from abroad. Ashla went ahead and arranged a time when she could meet with one of the Jedi masters.
Ashlan was lured from his room by the delicious smells coming from the kitchen. Changing, he was still pulling on his tunic as he emerged from his room. "What're you making?" he asked his twin.
"I didn't make anything," his sister answered.
She looked up from the news broadcast toward him.
Ashlan frowned, "Then what smells so good?"
"You know how Mom would tell us about all the delicious types of foods we never had. Well, I remembered her saying something about flatcakes with syrup. So I asked the food dispenser for it, and personally I don't see how Mom could stomach plain flatcakes after having these," Ashla said, "You should try some."
Ashlan nodded, got a plate of his own, and sat across from his sister. "So what are you doing today?" he asked.
"Today, I'm meeting with Master Dom at the Jedi Temple. You know, they haven't seen you there. I'm sure some of the healers would be interested in your techniques," Ashla said.
Ashlan shrugged, "Nora was offering to take me to the Imperial gardens today."
"Ooooo, sounds like a date," Ashla teased, good-spiritedly.
"It's not!" Ashlan protested.
"Is it? Come on, own up to it, Ashlan. You're smitten about her," she said. "Alright. Maybe a little," Ashlan admitted.
"Well, I've got to go. I'll probably see you this evening," Ashla said, getting up and bussing her dishes.
Ashla carefully sat down in the chair across from Master Dom.
"Hello, Ashla," he said.
"Master Dom," she replied.
Master Dom appeared to be an older human. His short blonde hair was peppered with gray, but his voice was still strong and commanding.
"I have been wondering. Do you have a last name?" he asked.
"My mother's last name was Rese. I never knew my father," Ashla said. Master Dom seemed to assume that that meant her mother had not been married, and indeed did not know who her father was.
"Where are you from?" he asked.
"I've lived all my life on Ysullis XIV," she answered truthfully.
"I didn't know that there was a colony there," Master Dom said.
"There isn't," she answered.
He blinked and got a peculiar look on his face. "You're trained as a Jedi. Who trained you?"
"My mother."
"So she was a Jedi?"
"Yes." Which meant little of consequence, Jedi were quite numerous.
"Was she a Jedi Master?"
"No."
Master Dom nodded at this answer, assuming she was undertrained for the title of Jedi Knight.
"You speak of your mother in past tense. Is she dead?" Master Dom asked.
"She is one with the Force, yes," Ashla answered.
"How?" he asked.
"My mother had Riensky Syndrome." Master Dom nodded.
"You are fully human?" he asked.
"I am," Ashla replied.
"You would not be adverse to my testing your abilities with the lightsaber," he motioned to the hilt hanging on her waistband.
"Not at all," she answered.
Ashla had procured her mother's marmalade-colored lightsaber because it was of finer quality than her own. Her own chartreuse one was awkward and tended to overheat.
"In here?" she asked.
"No, elsewhere. Outside, if that is alright with you," he said.
"Outside is fine," she answered.
They left what Ashla couldn't quite call his office and went to an outside balcony overlooking the government district.
The Jedi Master drew his lightsaber from the belted waist of his robes. Igniting the brilliant cobalt blade, he took up a defensive stance. Ashla followed suit with her own lightsaber. He started with simple maneuvers that Ashla could block without her Force-sense at all. As the parries became harder and more complicated, Ashla slipped into her Force-assisted ability to detect where a move was going to come before it came.
After fifteen minutes, though it seemed much shorter to Ashla, Master Dom withdrew his blade and shut it down. "You are most proficient with the lightsaber," he said.
Ashla nodded, as she used the Force to help control her breathing.
"I have never seen anyone make this skill as quite a form of art as you do," he said, "Tell me, how do you predict where I'll strike?"
"I just let myself go about in the Force. Not so much stretching out, as just being there in the Force," Ashla answered.
"I believe the other masters would be interested in seeing you as well. Would you agree to come to a meeting of the Inner Council?" he asked.
"I would most certainly come," Ashla answered, "Would it be alright to bring my brother, if he is free?"
"Your brother?" Master Dom seemed confused.
"I guess, I sort of forgot to mention I have a twin brother," Ashla replied.
"A twin brother, you say?"
"Yes, he's much more a healer than I am. I told him that you would be interested in seeing him, as he has never learned from a Jedi healer before," she said.
"The healers would, no doubt, be interested in speaking with him. Is there a way I can get in touch with you when I've arranged a meeting with the Inner Council?" he asked, and they turned to go back in the building.
"I left my comm number at the front desk," Ashla said, pausing before she continued down the hallway to the lift. "I want to thank you for sparing your time," she said.
"Oh, finding the time wasn't a burden. Getting to meet you was actually a pleasure, Miss..." he trailed off.
"Rese is fine," Ashla said.
"Miss Rese. I hope to see you again," Master Dom continued, shaking her hand. Ashla smiled and shook his hand. He seemed like a nice man. Open-minded and courteous.
* * *
It was several weeks later by the time Master Dom had gotten around to arranging a meeting with the Inner Council. Ashla and Ashlan had dressed nicely, but not in Jedi robes. Ashla had pointed out that they were going before the Council so that the Council could determine if they were deserving of their titles.
So it was that Ashla and Ashlan sat quietly in the council chamber. The meeting had started out fine, but somewhere along the way the discussion had headed off on a downward slide, and from there it had snowballed.
Ashla sat, her disbelief that the grand Inner Council could fall to such bickering, second only to her despair that the conversation was tainted of the dark-side. Ashlan seemed flustered and a bit set-back, but quite unaware of the way the masters' conversation (or should it be argument?) was headed.
Abruptly, Ashla couldn't take it anymore. "Stop it! Stop it all of you!" she shrieked. She waved her hands vaguely at the congregation of Jedi. Suddenly, they could no longer move or speak, left to watch Ashla break down in tears.
"It's evil. It's all dark," she sputtered. In the silent room, it was audible to all. Tears trickled down her cheeks, and Ashla brought her hands up to her face.
Ashlan took notice of Ashla's 'spell'. Seeing her sputter and cry, he reached out through the Force, and touched the one spot in her mind that would negate him from her 'spell'. He should well know how to get out, Ashla had only frozen him time and again when they were younger until he had learned to unfreeze himself.
He rose from his seat, and walked over to his twin sister. "Oh, Ashla don't do this," he mumbled, putting his arm around her shoulder.
"But it's so frustrating!" Ashla sobbed.
"Sadness and frustration are of the dark-side," he remined her.
"So are lust and corruption," Ashla replied. She breathed deeply, seeking out her peace with the Force.
Ashla quietly let go of her grip that had frozen everyone.
"Sorry," she said to the Jedi.
There were some grumbling among the Jedi.
"I think that we should be leaving now," Ashlan said.
Ashla nodded, and followed her brother.
Standing in front of the main entrance to the Jedi Temple, Ashlan and Ashla parted ways. Ashlan was going by Nora's workplace to see if he could aid her any, and Ashla had decided to just head back to their quarters. She rubbed the bridge of her nose with a thumb and forefinger. The council meeting had gone absolutely horrible. Oh, it was just awful.
An adolescent girl wormed her way up beside Ashla.
"Are you Ashla?" she asked.
"Yes," Ashla answered, turning toward the girl.
"My name is Briana Solo. My mother would like to talk to you," Briana said, "Come on. My mom's waiting."
"Wait," Ashla asked as she got tugged along the walk by the girl, "What does your mom want to see me about?"
"How should I know? She's my mom, she doesn't have to explain her motives to me. But she's been following whatever happens to you since you've come to Coruscant," Briana said.
Briana pulled Ashla along to an older woman who stood nervously waiting in the middle of the walk.
The woman smiled, "You got her right, Briana. Thank you, dear. You can go now." Briana smiled politely, stepped away, mumbled a happy yes-word, and tore off.
"What's going on here? What do you want with me?" Ashla, now utterly confused, asked the woman.
"I am Lucerene Solo," the woman introduced herself, "And I see why you might be confused. Come with me, I'll explain."
"Lucerene, I'd like to find out what's going on," Ashla pleaded. She began to follow Lucerene.
"I was once friends with a Jedi Master. He was a very good man," Lucerene said.
Ashla was quiet.
"Before he was departed, he left me with something, and very important instructions. Mild Force-sensitivity still runs in the Solo bloodline, and he said, when the time came, an interesting young Jedi would come to my attention that would remind me a great deal of him. I was to give this to that Jedi," Lucerene said, and pulled something from the pocket of her tunic. She handed it to Ashla.
"Is this a holocron?" Ashla asked.
"That's what I thought. But it's something like a genetic-coded message cube. I couldn't get it to work, but he said that the young Jedi would be able too. Pray I shall not intrude on your message, but if you could like to contact me again, here is my comm number and address," Lucerene said, pressing a piece of flimsy into Ashla's hand.
Ashla stood flabbergasted, as Lucerene blended into the crowd.
Ashla settled in a seat in her room. She held the message cube in one hand, and pressed an index finger to the genetic recognition pad. The tiny light on the cube flickered a reluctant green upon finding her the recipient of the message. The holoprojector in the cube whirred to life, and a figure of a man appeared. He was dressed in traditional Jedi attire, and projected a warm, confident attitude from his posture. The man was older than her or her brother, though he looked strikingly like Ashlan.
"Hello, my child, named of the Ashla," the man said.
Ashla paused the recording.
'Hello, my child?' Could this man be her father? Her mother had said her father was a Jedi and that he had decided their namesake. She continued the message.
"I am sorry that I could not watch you grow up, or aid you in your training, though I know your mother will do an excellent job of this. I can only hope you may succeed where I have not. The Jedi Council is terribly corrupt, probably more so by the time you are hearing this. I suspect that there is only one person behind it, though the rest of the council would never notice them. This person needs to sought out and removed from the council. Your mother and I shared the same opinion upon this. She has, no doubt, passed them on to you.
You, my child, can find this person, and save the Jedi. The path you take will not be easy. But the fate of our family is never easy, as the Ashla determines.
I am unsure as to whether you are my daughter or my son, for I never had the chance to hold you or determine with which of you destiny lay. Please extend my sentiments to your twin. I wish I could have held you just once. Alas, that was not to be. I have left my lightsaber with my friend, Lucerene Solo, from whom you received this message, and it is for you. Tell her that Lerane left you this message and that his wife's name was Tanya Rese. Do not indicate that I am your father or that she is your mother. And be very careful to whom you tell who your mother is. Some will still remember her and associate her with me. This message is self-erasing after one playing, so no one can implement you, your twin, and I. Good-bye, my child. Ashla be with."
The hologram clicked off and disappeared. Ashla sat in stunned silence as the cube blip-blurped and erased her father's message. She'd have to go to Lucerene and get her father's lightsaber. It was the least she could do. What a tremendous task had been placed before her.
Ashla shook her head. Now was not the time, nor the place to get philosophical.
She placed herself in front of Lucerene's door and rung the buzzer. The door was opened rather quickly, and Lucerene gestured for her to come in.
They sat down in the foyer, and Ashla said, "Lerane left me the message. His wife's name was Tanya Rese. He said he had left me his lightsaber."
Lucerene nodded, "I'll be right back."
She returned quickly with a standard-size lightsaber hilt in her hand. She passed it to Ashla.
Spiraling it between her palms, Ashla found the perfect grip on the hilt. The hilt was a piece of organic-looking flowstone in a chalky grey color. A metal ring had been welded to the bottom of the hilt, so it could be clipped to a belt. Seeing no obvious switches, Ashla knew that the lightsaber must be activated by the Force.
Reaching out she turned on the blade and gasped. Suspended in the air, the blade was a milky crystal color and deceptively uninteresting. But held in the light the blade created dozens of tiny rainbows across the floor.
"It always was a beautiful one," Lucerene said.
"This isn't beautiful, this is gorgeous!" Ashla exclaimed. She took a couple of experimental swipes at the air, then took up a defensive stance before turning off the blade.
Lucerene sighed, "You remind me of Lerane so much. And just then, when you were practicing, I'd seen Lerane do that so many times..."
Ashla clipped the lightsaber to her waistband, and turned to the older lady, "Thank you so much for seeking me out. The message was very important."
"Let me know if I can ever do anything for you, my dear. For Lerane to give you his lightsaber, he must trust you greatly. And his friends are my friends," Lucerene said.
"There's one thing you can tell me before I leave. I get the feeling Lerane isn't around anymore. What happened to him?" Ashla asked.
Lucerene sighed. "Lerane was a noble man. And he had a very noble cause that led to his death. He saw faults in the Jedi Council that could break it apart. He sent his wife away, and secretly told me that he had sent her away with their newborn twins to keep them safe. He began speaking out and that got him into a heap of trouble. Publicly, it was said he died in an airspeeder accident, but I know he really must have been murdered by someone on the council," she said.
Ashla shuddered.
"Thank you," she said as she left.
As she lay in bed (or rather a hammock, beds were still too strange for her), Ashla began to formulate a plan. She would have to go to at least several more council meetings before she could determine the person responsible for the corruption. And she had to be careful. No one must be able to implement her with her father, or that would the death of her.
Clanam Wis stood in the dark room. Today he had come very close to being discovered. He must be more careful.
The centaur clacked his back hooves quietly. Wait. What was that sound? Had someone followed him?
Clanam Wis turned about.
"You hide yourself well, Dark Jedi," a voice spoke from the darkness beside the door. It sounded young and feminine. Clanam Wis hoped she was as inexperienced as she was young.
"Unfortunately not," she spoke, stepping from the shadows.
She was a young human, dressed in a loose tunic and leggings. From a belt at her waist hung an odd cylinder-shaped object that must have been her lightsaber.
"I'm not responsible for the corruption of the council," Clanam Wis said.
"Not the total corruption, but you are a part of it," the human said.
"I have seen you about the Temple. Who are you?" he asked.
"I am Ashla, daughter of Tanya Rese," she said.
"Daughter of Rese... then your father was..." he trailed off.
"Yes, he was my father," Ashla answered, reading the answer from his mind.
She stood tall, shoulders squared, and faced Clanam Wis. "You will withdraw from the Council and leave Coruscant," she said.
"And if I choose not to?" he asked.
"Then I will force you to. I will finish my father's wish to restore honor to the Council," Ashla replied.
"And if I tell the Council who your father was?" Clanam Wis threatened.
"Then I will track you down and kill you. And so the Force help you that I will do it mercifully," she replied.
Clanam Wis shuddered. She could do it too. Kill him and stay on the light side. The expression of the human's face stayed passive and calm.
"I will give you one day. By this time tomorrow you will no longer be on Coruscant. If you are..." she trailed off.
Clanam Wis nodded. He knew what she would do. For the first time in all his dark years he feared a Jedi. Feared for his life, and the dark side was offering no solace.
Ashla sighed. It was not fun or easy to manipulate a Dark Jedi into complying. She had first noticed him about the Temple, and he detracted from her efforts to find the corrupt person on the council.
With him gone, the search would be a bit easier.
Ashla leaned back in her chair. There had to be a connection. Who was still on the council when her father had been? There were only two Master k'tPal, and Master Athain. Master k'tPal was not the corrupter, she'd have felt it the first time he'd spoken in the council. Master Athain, the quiet, non-partisan member of the council. It had to be him.
Once she knew who she was after, Ashla could not be deterred. It was early afternoon, and he would be at the Temple. Locating Master Athain was the easy part. Then she had to confront him.
She left herself quietly into the conference room he was in.
"Master Athain?" she asked.
"Yes, who is this?" he replied.
"Ashla. I wish to speak to you," she answered.
"Could you pick another time? I have prior commitments," he responded.
"No, there is always time to help the council," Ashla said.
"The council sent you?" Athain asked, getting and heading for the door.
"No..." Ashla started.
"Then I have no time for this child. Please arrange a time to meet with me later," he said, exiting the room.
Ashla followed him out and down the hall.
"You know why I'm here," Ashla continued. "Twenty years ago my father tried to stop you. And you killed him."
Athain stopped and turned to face her, "You are his. I did not realize this. But there is nothing you can accomplish now. He's dead."
"But you don't deny you killed him," Ashla said.
"I don't," he replied, starting to walk again.
"I seek not revenge, but to cleanse the council, Athain," Ashla called, following him again.
She felt the darkside ebbing and flowing within him now. He would take this to a fight.
He went to his office, and she waited outside. When he came out again, she spoke up, "You will depart from the council and Coruscant, Athain. Or I will make you."
He turned, "How could a puny, youngster such as you defeat a Jedi Master? I have received far more training."
"You've embraced the darkside, you are no longer the honored Jedi Master you were," Ashla said, carefully she unclipped her lightsaber from her belt.
"If that is what you wish," he replied and grasped his as well.
Ashla's snap-hissed into existence, and Athain's followed suit. Blade met blade, and Ashla took up the defense. She was a little surprised at the ferocity of his attack. She had never dueled with a dark-sider before. He seemed to have little sense though, and Ashla drew from the light-side to keep up a winning defense.
Though she was normally very aware of her surroundings while in a fight, Ashla was not aware of the glass door until Athain pushed her through it. Momentarily stunned, she lay on her back in the glass.
"Will you end this foolishness?" Athain asked, towering over her.
"It's not foolish," Ashla said.
She wrapped her legs around his ankles and knocked Athain down.
Stumbling up, she retrieved her lightsaber with the Force and turned it back on. And registered that they were now on one of the lower balconies.
Athain was furious now. He drove at her harder and Ashla had to work harder to just block the parries. Just for a moment, she devoted a piece of herself to seeing if anyone had felt the burst of the darkside. And in that moment, Athain cornered her up against the railing.
"I shall have to kill you now," he said, "Sad. You are much like your father was. Strong, honorable, a do-gooder. And as it was his undoing, so shall it be yours."
Before he could bring his blade around though, she flipped off the balcony. Athain leaned forward. Surely she wouldn't have killed herself.
Below, Ashla scrambled to hold onto the smooth sides of the temple. She looked up and saw Athain gazing down, searching for her in the glare of the sun off the temple. And yet she drew no pleasure as she watched her lightsaber fall slowly down from where she had thrown it before flipping over the railing, come down and slice into the man's back. It was not something she had wanted to do. It had been required.
She closed her eyes and concentrated on calling somebody to get her off the side of the temple. It wouldn't be a bit of good if she slid on down into the depths of Coruscant and was never seen again.
Ashla leaned on the balcony rail and looked out toward the Imperial Palace, which shone in the sunset. Beside her, Ashlan stood with Nora, his arms wrapped around her waist. They made a beautiful couple, Ashla thought, even though she still teased her twin about it.
She heard the door to the balcony slide open and several people came out. Ashla turned to verify who it was. She was correct, it was Master Dom and two of the other masters on the council, Master Etterikk and Master Ollew.
"Ashla, the Council meeting has just dismissed. We would be pleased if you'd accept our offer to become a member of the Council," Master Dom spoke.
"The Inner Council?" Ashla sought verification.
"Yes," Master Etterikk said quietly.
"But I'd have to be a master..." Ashla trailed off.
"The Council has agreed that you are worthy of the title. More worthy than some of those on the Council who let this happen," Master Dom said.
Ashla sighed. This was more than she had expected. Being a master was a great responsibility, and a great honor.
"And if I do not accept?" she asked.
"That is your right, but the title will remain," Master Dom said.
"Then I will accept," Ashla said. Ashlan clapped her on the shoulder, and smiled at her.
"I must ask what your last name is. It is traditional to use your last name with the title of Master," Master Ollew said.
"My last name," Ashla said solemnly, "is Skywalker."
THE END
Sort of, there's more to the Ashla's life story if anyone's interested. I can also send you the whole geneology on Ashla's family if anybody wants it.