Return to the Temple
Two Years After Return of the Jedi
In the skies of Coruscant, air traffic was proceeding as normal. Dozens of lines of speeder cars floating through the sky swiftly carried their passengers to their destinations. Some cars were big. Some were fairly small. Occasionally, there would be a speeder bike zooming through the traffic, but those were rare. Even rarer were large freighters like the one that carried two Jedi of the Old Order back to their first home. Even still, the Tardis Mark II flew right through the lanes of traffic, its pilots avoiding all of it as they headed toward their own destination, a place that was different from any other place the other cars were going.
These two Jedi were going back to the Jedi Temple.
Ever since the Galactic Republic and the Old Jedi Order fell to the machinations of the evil Darth Sidious, the Jedi Temple on Coruscant had laid empty, devoid of any and all life for two-and-a-half decades, a symbol of the Empire's power and ruthlessness. The Empire had been defeated and gone for about two years, its remnant a sad, broken shell of its former self. Since then, a New Republic and a New Jedi Order had been established, the two organizations working closely together in order to strengthen themselves and keep the galaxy safe from ever experiencing the horror of the Galactic Empire again.
Leading the New Jedi Order back into prominence were the four Jedi who helped immensely to stop the Galactic Empire's reign of terror: The human Jedi known as Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Jennara Oswin, and the Gallifreyan Jedi Grand Master known as the Doctor. Luke was initially hesitant to create the New Jedi Order, but the other Jedi managed to convince him that it was the right thing to do.
It was Jennara and the Doctor who were taking the pilgrimage to the Jedi Temple in the Tardis Mark II. The Doctor, now nine hundred thirty-eight years old, was wary about going back to the Temple. So many memories existed within that place for him, some of them good, some of them bad. But he realized he had nothing to fear at all. Jennara was with him. With her by his side, the Doctor could do anything.
The Temple had fallen into disrepair since its ransacking at the hands the Galactic Empire. The Doctor knew that, after twenty-five years of less-than-frequent use, the landing pads built into the Temple's systems wouldn't work. Instead, he and Jennara landed the Tardis Mark II right outside the Temple's main entrance. The ship rumbled upon its landing, as if sensing its pilots' anxieties. Both Jennara and the Doctor could sense each other's wariness about entering the Temple. They gripped hands resolutely and activated the landing pad, which opened with a hiss. Hands still gripped together, the two Jedi stood and walked out of the freighter.
The Doctor and Jennara gazed upon the sight of the decrepit Jedi Temple, unused for twenty-five years, and were suddenly sad. Memories were flooding back to them both, the Doctor especially. He sifted through over nine hundred years of memories, nearly all of which took place in that Temple. He imagined what more memories would come to him as he walked those empty halls.
"Ready?" he asked Jennara, who gripped his hand tightly.
She didn't answer, but instead gave his hand a squeeze, indicating that she was indeed ready. The Doctor squeezed her hand back, and together, the two Jedi of the Old Order made their way into the home that they had vacated for twenty-five years.
Hand in hand, the Doctor and Jennara carefully treaded up the stairs leading to the main doors of the Temple. It occurred to the Doctor that this must have been the path that Darth Vader and the 501st Legion had taken when they stormed the Temple and massacred the Old Order. Even twenty-five years later, the Doctor could feel the footsteps of the soldiers as they marched up the steps with dark intention for the people they were supposed to serve under. He could feel the hate burning through time from a man he recognized as Darth Vader. Jennara shivered imperceptibly beside him. Even now, two years after Darth Vader's redemption and death, the Doctor could still feel the fear with which Darth Vader's memory gripped her. He squeezed her hand again, and they journeyed further toward the main doors of the Temple.
The Doctor knew that Darth Sidious had posted guards at the Temple to protect it from invading Jedi, but the guards had probably abandoned their posts when the Empire was defeated in the Battle of Endor. Since then, the Temple was completely deserted, as opposed to only unused. There were no blasters, shock pikes, cortosis swords, or whatever else the Empire had used to keep Jedi away from the Temple to greet the two visitors as they reached the main doors of the Temple.
The Doctor placed his free hand on the door, a behemoth entryway that stood over a hundred feet tall. He pushed on it gently, and the door creaked open, its massive hinges straining from the lack of use. He sensed Jennara's awe as the doors opened. She hardly remembered the Temple, the Doctor realized. She had only been eight years old when the Temple attack had ripped her from her home. Such a short time to be in such a serenely beautiful place.
The two Jedi moved forward into the main hall of the Temple, where the Doctor had seen bodies of children strewn about one of the hallways, cut down by lightsabers. They could have been no older than Jennara was at that time. The Doctor felt some of his tenth incarnation's righteous anger resurfacing, mixed with some of his own incarnation's. Even after such a long time, he could still feel the darkness permeating through the air of the halls where so much death had taken place.
"I can feel them screaming," she whispered. "All the Younglings."
"I can, too," said the Doctor. "Do you want to leave?"
"No, no, it's okay," said Jennara, though there were tears in her eyes.
"Alright," said the Doctor, and the two Jedi walked silently through the empty halls, taking in their surroundings as they moved.
The Doctor and Jennara happened upon a hallway. For them, it was the most important hallway in the universe. This was the hallway in which the Doctor had first sensed Jennara through the Force. The Doctor gazed around the floor, feeling as though it were yesterday that he had come upon this hallway, when it was littered with bodies, young and old, Master and Padawan alike. All of them were dead, but even still, the Doctor had sensed the life among them, the life of Jennara. Every day, the Doctor thanked the Force for bringing them together, even though it had done so amidst so much death.
"This is it," said Jennara, remembering the events of Operation: Knightfall full-force. "This is where Master Kcaj died."
"I know," said the Doctor, squeezing her hand gently as she walked slowly forward.
"It was my fault that he died," sobbed Jennara, her voice breaking as fresh tears flowed forth from her eyes. "If I hadn't distracted him-"
"He would have died anyway," said the Doctor. "Very few Jedi survived the attack. The ones who did survive, minus us and Obi-Wan, died shortly after the attack. The Force had a plan for all of us, even Master Kcaj, and his part was an important one, but it ended with the attack."
"What was his part?" asked Jennara.
"Without him, you wouldn't have begun your training as early as you did," said the Doctor. "You might have been with the other Younglings when they perished, meaning we never would have met, and I would never have learned to love again. Master Kcaj helped to bring us together, Jennara, and I couldn't be more grateful to him."
Jennara smiled broadly at the Doctor, hugging him tightly as she finally came to terms with her childhood trauma at last. It had taken a while, certainly, but she made it, and the Doctor couldn't have been more proud of her than in that moment.
"Thank you, Doctor," said Jennara, a huge smile still illuminating her face.
The Doctor smiled back at her, then walked through the hallway, heading toward the one place he didn't want to go. Every single synapse in his brain was telling his muscles not to move his body toward that place. His muscles, too, were screaming in protest. But his hearts, his blasted hearts, were trumping both his brain and his body. He needed this. He needed some form of closure.
He needed to visit the Council Chamber of the Old Order one last time.
Jennara looked at the Doctor, and he could sense that she knew where he planned to go.
"Do you want to be alone?" she asked carefully.
The Doctor was silent for a long moment.
"No," he finally responded. "I don't think I should ever be alone for too long."
"Okay," said Jennara.
She took his large hand in her own small one, holding it tightly as they left the hallway containing Jennara's traumatic experience and walked through the Temple corridors. They were silent the whole way, and the Doctor could have sworn that he heard the echoes of a time long gone, a time of darkness and despair, a time of hope despite the feeling of hopelessness.
The Doctor shook himself out of his brooding. He and Jennara had reached the elevator that led to the Council Chamber. The door was open, as if waiting for them to come home. It was beckoning the Doctor to return, and despite the protests of his body and his mind, his hearts won out again, leading the two Jedi into the elevator. The door slid closed, and the elevator slowly ascended the High Council Tower at the southwestern portion of the Temple. The elevator groaned as it rose higher and higher, straining from lack of use. The Doctor wasn't worried, though. He trusted in the Force, and this was where the Force was guiding him. It would not let him down, not now.
The elevator screeched to a grinding halt. The doors slid open again, and the Doctor carefully walked down the hallway leading to the chamber of the High Council, Jennara with him every step of the way.
At last, after what seemed like an eternity, the Doctor and Jennara finally reached the door to the chamber of the Jedi High Council.
"Ready?" asked Jennara, looking up at the Doctor's face, obviously trying to read him.
The Doctor kept his face neutral, impassive, as he uttered one word.
"Geronimo," he said quietly, and he opened the door, stepping into his old home once more.
What greeted him was a place of serenity, of peace, of complete calm. Were it not for the rest of the broken and beaten Temple and the feeling of death all around him, the Doctor would probably never have known what had happened here. The High Council Chamber was beautiful, hauntingly so. The Doctor felt death in this place as well, but he sensed something he didn't expect. He sensed the screams of children in this place. This beautiful chamber was the sight of a massacre of Younglings, all of them cut down by lightsaber, by Darth Vader himself. The Doctor felt a surge of anger, but he calmed himself. This was not a place of anger. This was a place of serenity.
He walked to the center of the chamber. Jennara let go of his hand, leaving him to himself as he gazed around the High Council Chamber. Some of the seats in the chamber seemed to be illuminated in an almost heavenly light from the Coruscant sun. His own seat was glowing with an ethereal luminosity that he couldn't quite describe accurately.
The Doctor moved forward, toward his own seat. He gazed at it, smiling as though he had reclaimed a lost friend. He turned slowly, and carefully sat down in his old seat.
The familiarity with which his Council seat greeted him nearly brought the Doctor to tears. He was back. After twenty-five long years, he was back. He smiled through his tears, which had begun to flow down his face.
"I'm sorry," he said to nobody in particular. "It's just..."
"I know," said Jennara, smiling at him and crying a little as well.
The Doctor sat in his Council seat. He just sat there for a good ten minutes, thinking about his life, all the experiences he had had in this chamber. So many memories were here. His memory of his election to the Council. His promotion to Grand Master. His friends who served alongside him for nearly nine hundred years. Now, every single one of his eleven incarnations had spent time in this hallowed hall, this peaceful sanctuary. Now, he was content. He smiled as he stood, and both he and Jennara heard a voice call out to them.
Welcome home, my friends, said the voice of the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn, who had accompanied the Doctor on his travels for three decades after dying in battle on Naboo. The Doctor and Jennara smiled even more broadly than they had before, and they ran to each other, wrapping one another in a huge hug that lasted several long seconds. When they separated, the Doctor kissed her on her forehead, then whispered in her ear a deep secret that he had never told anyone before.
"There you go, you see?" he asked rhetorically. "I just told you my name. I've never told anyone my real name, not since I took the title of the Doctor."
"I like it," said Jennara, smiling, "but I prefer Doctor."
"Me too," said the Doctor.
And they exited the Council Chamber, then the High Council Tower, then the Temple itself, all the while hand in hand. At last, the two Jedi, the Doctor and his beloved Jennara Oswin, had conquered their demons and come to terms with their own haunting pasts.
And all was well.
All was well indeed. Thought this was going to be the end of the saga. Was wrong entirely!
I had this idea not long after finishing Return of the Jedi. The whole Doctor's-name thing was something I wanted to include near the end of Return of the Jedi, but either I never got the chance to, or I just forgot. Either way, I think what I have is fine as it is. Anyway, what did you think of this here one-shot, Star Wars (Starring the Doctor) Return to the Temple? Leave your thoughts in a review! I do read them!
Next week, we'll be starting "Adventures of the Doctor," and then, that's it. No more Star Wars (Starring the Doctor)! Unless, of course, I feel inspired to write more after viewing the epicness that I'm sure Force Awakens will be. Might happen. Might not. I don't know. We'll have to see.
Next Friday: The Adventures of the Doctor begin.
And that's about it for this short author's note. Until the next volume, my friends!
blade0627