Chapter 2: Found

Luke Skywalker hated this temple. It was a cancer on the fourth moon of Yavin. He had been aware of its presence clawing itself across the forest for years. A dark loathing that he had only felt when he was in a forced sleep by Exar Kun himself. Thinking back on those grave times still sent shivers down Luke's spine. How close his Jedi Academy had come to being a complete and utter failure still sometimes haunted him.

He put his hand on the engraved arch leading into a courtyard. The courtyard was large, and circular. In the center stood a large fountain with crimson water spewing from the centerpiece. Three Sith lords stood, back to back to back. Two had their hoods pulled over their features. The third, facing the archway, had its features exposed. The features of Exar Kun, drawn into a sneer. Those hideous statues clawed at his resolve. Evil nothings were whispered in his ear by the dark side of the Force. He glanced at his wife; she was a pale shade of white and her eyes were wide open.

She heard his voice.

She heard his voice.

She saw his face. His god damned, wrinkly, pale face. His yellow eyes and his rotting teeth. She could smell the scent of his corpsified flesh. He reached a grey, dead arm out to her, the limb protruding from his black robes.

"Kneel." She resisted the urge to follow his commands. To bend to years of training.

"Kneel." Aggravation entered his voice; cracks could be heard as he bent his decrepit body forward. Still Mara resisted. She drew herself, who she was, all that she had learned in the years since the Empire's fall, into a ball tight in her chest, protecting it with all that she had.

"Kneel!" He roared, lunging out of the chair with the dexterity of a 20 year old man. A red blade appeared in his hand as his mind battered the tight ball she had drawn herself into. Her attention was so focused inwards, on protecting her independence from the years of indoctrination, that her physical reaction of drawing her own weapon was just moments slow. She could only watch as the unforgiving red of his blade approached her, ready to split her from head to toe.

Snap hiss. Green. Luke.

Her husband's blade intercepted the red of Palpatine's saber mere inches from Mara's nose. The heat from both blades, and the crackle of their contact overwhelmed Mara's senses. Acting purely on instinct she whirled away from the blades, igniting her own, basking the area around her in a violet glow. Luke kicked his foot out at Palpatine, disengaging their blades, before joining Mara. The violet and purple glows from their weapons battled for dominance of the floor, as Palpatine stalked around the two, his red blade weaving through the air.

"Do you truly believe that he loves you ?" His blade glanced off of the ground, throwing up a shower of sparks that illuminated his rotting sneer. He threw the full strength of his mental powers at her, causing the ball where she'd contained herself to waiver, ever so slightly. But slight was all he needed. He'd found something to work with.

"That he'll never leave you? You, who killed hundreds in cold blood?" Mara could feel her resolve slipping, her faith wavering and her tight hold on herself loosening. Then she felt a slight touch from her husband, which she instantly grasped onto like a drowning man thrown a rope. Suddenly Luke was all around her, filling her with his emotion, his strength, his love. She fed off of his emotions, steeling her resolve once more, and gathering her courage. As one, they approached the Force projection. As Luke brought his blade at him from above, Mara ducked beneath the heavy overhand swing, stepped through his guard, and jabbed her violet blade through the apparition's ribs.

And then she was lying down on a bed of grass, with Luke looking down at her. She reached a hand up, grasped his neck, and pulled him down upon her, leaving a searing kiss upon his lips.

"If only every time you woke up you did that." A weak smile appeared on Mara's face.

"Thank you," She squeezed his hand and sat up, "let's find that kid."

With a firm grip on Mara's hand, Luke pulled her up. "I looked around a bit while you were out. I found something."

"What?" Luke stood and, with Mara on his heels, walked up to the figure of Exar Kun. Luke's hand went to the statue's shoulder, before slowly dragging down its arm. She could feel him applying the Force to every point he touched. When his hand reached Exar's left finger he applied all his strength, and it clicked.

Then the fountain groaned as it slowly pulled away from its other half. The red water, which looked suspiciously like blood, filtered into the opening, revealing a stairway going deeper into the temple.

"After you, Skywalker." said Mara looking cautiously down the tunnel. She could hear the drip, drip of water hitting water.

Luke stepped down into the passage, and looked at the pictures on the walls as he descended. They were all familiar. A shadow, a boy, a wall, fire but then there was an extra picture, one of a beam flying into the sky. Upon closer inspection, he could see that the shadow wasn't truly a shadow. The edges were more pointed than in his dream. A black monster.

"Luke," Mara asked, "hear that?"

They had arrived at the end of the hall. It was a dead end with no other way to go. But by enhancing his hearing with the Force he heard voices coming from the other side of the wall. He nodded at Mara as they both ignited their sabers. The violet and emerald glows hurt his eyes after being in darkness.

They plunged the blades into the wall and the repugnant smell of burning rock and- metal? - filled their noses. Not spending time to ponder the mystery of why they smelt burning metal, both Luke and Mara's blades met with a crackle at the top of the semi-circle they had carved from the ground to the top of the wall. Gathering his strength, Luke pushed the Force into his hand and let it burst into the wall. The segment flew inwards, landing against another wall with a loud crack, before splitting into several pieces. Then they saw him.