Disclaimer: I don't own either Star Wars or the Five People You Meet In Heaven.
a/n: I got this idea from the book The Five People You Meet In Heaven, only I've adapted it for the Star Wars Universe. It actually is a really good book that you should read sometime.
The Five People You Meet in the Netherworld of the Force
By: Kell KaNugget
Chapter 1
"You're coming with me. I can't leave you here. I've got to save you." I could hear the urgency in my son's voice as he pleaded to take me with him, to save my life.
"You already have, Luke," I said. I smiled at my son. "You were right about me. Tell your sister…you were right." I could feel myself getting weaker. I only had a few more moments of life left.
"Father, I won't leave you!" but Luke's words fell upon deaf ears. I was dead.
I awoke with a strange feeling. I felt youthful and, dare I say, human. And to my surprise that was because I was youthful and human. I was in another body. By the Force! I thought. My new body was small, like the body of an innocent child. Had I transferred into a child's body, thus destroying that child's life? Was I still a murderer?
I shook my head refusing to believe it. Looking around my surrounding I noticed I was in a forest near a swamp. I ran to the water and leaned over it, trying to get a better look at my reflection. I touched my face in shock. It was me, only it was the child version of me. I couldn't be older than ten.
I looked at my arms. Flesh! I felt my legs and gripped my tight muscles. How was it possible?
"Just as I remembered you," someone said. I jerked because I hadn't noticed anyone around. I turned to see a face I hadn't seen in over three decades.
"Qui-Gon," I whispered. He nodded as I lost all emotional control and ran to him. I wrapped my tiny flesh arms around him and he held me tight. "By the Force, how?" I asked.
Qui-Gon ended our hug and knelt down to my level. "Welcome to the Netherworld of the Force." The Netherworld of the Force was the place where souls went after their physical ones died.
"So I am dead?" I asked. I was still getting use to my high prepubescent voice. It sounded strange. "I never imagined it was like this…why am I child?"
"I am the first person you'll meet," he told me, ignoring my question about my body, "You will see five people who have influenced your life, or who's life you have influenced."
I flinched at that. I had changed a lot of people's lives, but not in a good way. "So this is where I get the big lecture?" I asked, "Where people scream, and rant and rave at me. Where they torture me like I did to them? And then I got to Chaos."
Qui-Gon began to laugh.
"Ah, this is Chaos. The ranting and the raving and the torture." I rolled my eyes, "Come on, I know the Force can do better than that."
"Ani," Qui-Gon said to me still smiling, "Do you really believe you belong in Chaos?"
I thought about it. Chaos. Hell. Did I belong there? Of course I did. I slaughtered billions; that tribe of Tusken Raiders, the Citizens of Alderaan, countless innocent strangers, and worst of all countless loved ones. I deserved to feel the pain and suffering of each individual that I had killed, and even then it wouldn't be enough.
"You were the choose one, Ani," Qui-Gon said to me. He stroked my hair. I felt tears welding up in my eyes. I was acting like I was nine again. "You were suppose to bring balance to the force."
I remembered Obi-Wan's words from Mustafar. "You were the Chosen One! It was said that you would, destroy the Sith, not join them. It was you who would bring balance to the Force, not lead it in Darkness." I expected a similar lecture from Qui-Gon.
"It has taken longer than we expected and you may have made some mistakes, but you, Anakin, have fulfilled the prophecy."
"What?" I asked flabbergasted. I pushed myself away from Qui-Gon and out of his grasp. What kind of Sith trick was this? I didn't destroy the Sith; I became one!
I looked around my surroundings once again, expecting the forest to shift into the fiery pits of Chaos. No transformation occurred.
Qui-God stood up. He was so tall and stood with such grace. A soft smile appeared on his lips once again. "You killed Darth Sidious. And in doing so, Anakin, you killed Vader. The Sith are no more."
I looked down at my feet and pondered this. "But all those people I killed," I said quietly, "Killing one monster doesn't redeem me from my crimes."
Qui-Gon walked away from me and deeper into the forest. I assumed he wanted me to follow so I did. We walked for a really long time in silence and I began to doubt Qui-Gon wanting me to tag along. Finally we stopped at a lake. It was beautiful. Across the lake was a beautiful city. I recognized it. It was Theed, just as it was when I was a little boy. I thought about Padmé for a second, something I had not allowed myself to do for many years.
"The things you did were so horrible, Ani," Qui-Gon said. He would not look at me this time. "But the force has forgiven you. Now you must learn to forgive yourself."
"I always wondered," I said, "If you had trained me, if you had been my master, would I have still fallen to the dark side."
"Is it worth the effort to wonder?" Qui-Gon asked, "You can't change the past, only hope for a better future. The future has changed for the better because of your actions, Ani." Finally Qui-Gon turned to me. He knelt down on one knee again and placed his hands on my shoulders. "Obi-Wan was a good man. You need to stop blaming him and take responsibility."
"I know what I am responsible for," I said, shaking Qui-Gon's arms off of me. I took a step back away from the man.
"He didn't fail you, Ani," Qui-Gon said. I didn't want to believe him, but I knew it was true. I couldn't blame Obi-Wan for my mistakes. "He did a better job training you than I could have ever done." I looked at Qui-Gon and I saw tears in his eyes. I ran to Qui-Gon again and hugged him. "Forgive Obi-Wan," he said, "But most of all, forgive yourself."
With that I felt Qui-Gon begin to fade from my arms. "No!" I yelled. I couldn't lose him again, not after I lost so much already. I was dead, without him who was going to guide me through the Netherworld? I squeezed harder but soon I was just hugging myself. I began to sob and yell his name. Then the forest around me began to consume me.
I began sinking into the ground. "No!" I shouted, "Qui-Gon, help me! Somebody help me!" Maybe Qui-Gon was wrong; maybe was going to end up in Chaos. My body sank more. When my legs were underneath and I tried to push my body up with my arms, but my hands just fell through the ground. Soon all of my body was underground except my head. "Qui-Gon!" I managed to yell one more time before the ground covered my head. And then there was nothing.