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-2-

The Jedi Temple

(28BBY)

'For many centuries Coruscant had been the glowing centre of the Republic, a Core World, easily accessible by the Corellian Trade Spine, the Hydian Way and the Corellian Run. It had a population of more than three trillion beings and it was ancient. Its foundations were buried beneath buildings upon buildings upon buildings. It was glorious to behold.'

The Falcon skimmed Coruscant's atmosphere and warning lights flickered on the dashboard. The comm crackled, and a hoarse voice spoke:

'Unidentified space freighter, model YT-1300, alter your course immediately! Repeat, alter your course immediately!'

'Yeah, yeah. Go eat Bantha Poodoo!' I mumbled and flicked a switch on the dashboard. 'Radar detection disabled' flashed on the screen before me. I strengthened my hold on the Force and began the difficult decent to the planet's surface.

Coruscant was stunning to behold and in the distance I could distinguish the unique silhouette of the Jedi Temple, its ziggurat and its five spires soaring into the fading sky.

I navigated my way through the traffic and merged into one of the fast moving lanes. The Jedi Temple now loomed before me, a giant sleeping mass of durasteel and transparisteel. As the traffic moved past, I swerved to the left and headed towards it.

Anakin's shape blurred and faded until he became translucent. Only the faintest shimmer of his outline was visible; a pale blue glow. He was hovering in midair, turning slowly. We were in his small quarters, in the Jedi Temple.

He relinquished his hold on the Force and materialized fully before me, though he continued hovering. He had grown; his light hair was shorter and somewhat darker. And he sported a short Padawan braid.

'I can feel your presence.' He opened his eyes and stared into the empty room.

I laughed quietly 'Hello Anakin.'

'I don't remember your name.' He said. The irritation in his voice was plain to hear.

'You remember everything else?'

He had become arrogant. I could feel it clearly in the Force.

'Yes.' His tone was sour, almost angry. It hurt me to think of what must have happened to the kind young boy I had met on Tatooine.

'They say you've become a great Jedi.' I stated.

'I will be even greater.' He muttered. He dropped to the floor and picked up his tunic, pulling it over his head to cover his bare chest.

'Well, you certainly don't lack determination.' I said, slowly emerging from the Force and he stared at me for a long time.

'You haven't changed.' He stated eventually, keeping his tone even.

'No. You have.' I replied, scrutinising him.

'I'm a Jedi now. Of course I've changed.'

'I liked the old Anakin better.' I sat down on his bed and scanned the room. The floor was covered with scrap metal and broken machinery.

'You're still fixing things.' I said as he sat down beside me.

'Yes.' He said and began prying open the outer covering of a droid. It was a make I did not recognise. 'It makes me forget.'

'And what do you have to forget? What sorrows could a boy of your age possibly have?' I taunted him and he glared at me.

'You have no idea. What was your name?' he asked.

'Cara.'

Anakin nodded as he took in this information.

'Is it time?' he finally asked.

I shook my head. 'Oh no, not quite yet.'

'So you've come to check on me? Come to check if I'm keeping that promise. Well I am. You didn't have to come all this way.' He said angrily and put the droid aside. He glanced down at his hands.

'I miss home.' He said suddenly and glanced up at me.

'I know.' I replied, picking up a piece of metal. 'But this is your home now.'

'Obi-Wan says the same.' He retorted, scowling. 'But it doesn't feel like home. I miss my mother. The Jedi won't even let me speak to her, or send her a message. I want to know if she's alright. I miss her…so much.' He covered his face with his hands.

'I'm a Jedi now. I should be able to control my emotions.' The pain and frustration in his young voice did not surprise me.

'I've been thinking about what you said.' He mumbled after a while. 'I feel so angry. All the time.' He admitted.

'I cannot help you with that.' I stated quietly.

'I try, you know. I try so hard to be a good Jedi, to obey the Jedi Code, but it's impossible! There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no death, there is the Force.' Contempt coloured his voice as he recited the Jedi Code.

'There is a reason I am not a Jedi Knight, Anakin.' I said gently. 'I found the Jedi Code a little too restricting. I left before I got into any more trouble.'

He turned to stare at me. 'You're one of the lost twenty?'

I laughed. 'No. I left the Jedi Order too long ago to be remembered as one of the lost twenty.' I replied.

'What did you do? After you left.' he asked.

'I travelled and I never looked back.' I answered honestly.

'If I didn't already know the answer I would ask if I could go with you.'

His pain was more than I could bear. I had not expected this measure of self-torment, this measure of utter anguish from him at this age.

'Anakin, I told you about your destiny not so that you could torment yourself, but so that you could prepare for the inevitable. It is not in my power to change the future, but I can help you redeem yourself.' I knelt down beside him now and reached out to touch his cheek. His eyes were brimming with tears.

'I don't understand you. I didn't the last time I saw you and I don't now! What do you mean?' The Force pulsed around his being and it was with horror that I felt the darkness that already filled him.

'It is not my place to tell you this, Anakin. I can't.'

He rose and pushed me aside, furious now.

'But you come here, to check on me, to make sure I keep a promise I don't understand and that I apparently won't understand for ages. You honestly expect me to just sit here and listen to all your crap?'

'Yes.'

'Why haven't you come before now?' He finally met my gaze, challenging me to reply.

'Because I did not see the need.' I said slowly.

'Great, but perhaps I needed some answers! Your stupid riddles are like a dark shadow hanging over everything I try to do! Why can't you give me some straight answers?'

'I can see this was a mistake. I am sorry for wasting your time. Goodbye Anakin.' I vanished into the Force.

'Don't run away from me, coward!' He shouted after me, and I hurriedly left the small room. I cast a last glance over my shoulder to see him sitting on his bed, his hands covering his eyes. He seemed so young and yet old beyond his years.

I came and went as I pleased over the next few years. I would sometimes have to wait many weeks before Anakin returned from his adventures, but I did not really mind. The Jedi Temple of the Galactic Republic was vast and held many secrets that required exploration. It was thus that I became quite acquainted with the labyrinth that made up its core. The Room of a Thousand Fountains was particularly fascinating and I spent many hours walking amidst the exotic plants, watching the many Jedi. It had been a long time ago that I had learnt the Jedi arts, but I had learnt them from the very founders of the Jedi. The difference was astonishing. But the changes in Anakin were far more fascinating still. I would spend hours sitting beside him, speaking of the past and sometimes the future. He would ask so many questions and I would try to answer him truthfully. And in turn he answered many of my questions. It thus happened that we became fast friends. It saddens me to admit, even now, that I was one of the few people Anakin truly trusted and I was by far the only one he kept no secrets from.

Six years had passed and I found myself once again on the Core World. I was sitting in the High Council Chamber. Anakin sat beside me. It was dark outside.

'Do you come here often?' I asked gently, my hand resting on his shoulder.

'When I need to think. When my head goes all fuzzy and I need to clear my thoughts.' Anakin stood up and walked to one of the large viewscreens. He leant against it and glanced down at the planet's surface. I joined him there.

'It's beautiful.' I murmured, watching the traffic rush by.

'I feel like myself up here, when the whole world is so far below. It's like flying.'

'I have a place like that. Far from here.'

'Show me some day.' Anakin murmured and then span me around. He twirled me in the large open space, across the beautiful flooring. I brought the dance to an end, by raising my hand.

'Anakin, why did you call me now?' I had dreamt of the young Jedi over and over again these past few weeks. I had seen him then as vividly as I saw him now and he had called my name repeatedly.

'I needed someone to talk to. I didn't think you'd come.' He said, his voice low, intense. He dragged me towards the comfortable seats used by the Jedi Masters in their sessions. I could not help but marvel at the change that had overcome him. Darkness no longer radiated from every aspect of his being. He was filled with light.

'I think I'm in love.' He mumbled suddenly, grinning.

I laughed lightly. I had been expecting this.

'Could this have something to do with a charming senator from Naboo?'

Anakin started and I chuckled. 'You forget that I am no Jedi, Anakin. I won't reprimand you for showing emotions. Padmé Amidala?'

Anakin looked puzzled. 'How'd you know?' he asked.

'It was a reasonable guess, I suppose.' I laughed lightly, but my heart hurt. I tried to remind myself that it had to be this way. It had to. There was no other way. It was her destiny as well as his.

'I can't help it. I think I fell in love with her the moment she walked into Watto's shop. I thought she was an angel and every time I see a picture of her she's become even more beautiful! And she's such a good person, better than I could ever be. Maybe…' he hesitated and glanced at me. 'Maybe she'll save me from the dark you predict.'

Hope reverberated through his words and I could not bear to deny him what little of it he could muster.

'But I don't know what to do, Cara. It's against the Jedi Code. I will be expelled from the Jedi Order! But I love her. She's all I live for.'

I stood up and glanced down at the planet-wide city once more.

'And she loves you, Anakin. You need her and she needs you.' I said this so quietly that he could not have heard had he not been standing right behind me.

It was the way things were meant to be, I reminded myself sadly.

'But Master Liana, is it true that Anakin Skywalker killed Senator Amidala? If he loved her so much, why did he do that?'

'And Master, were you really friends with a Sith Lord?'

Cara Liana laughed lightly at the astounded faces looking up at her. She tousled Dran's hair affectionately. He sat beside her today, his hand clasped around a wisp of her silken robe.

'The Power of the Dark Side is all consuming, Younglings. But no, it was Darth Vader who killed Padmé Amidala Naberrie, not Anakin Skywalker. There is a fundamental difference. As you know, Anakin was trained by Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and he himself said that Anakin had been murdered by Darth Vader. That much was certainly true.'

'And Sala, you ask if I was friends with a Sith Lord? Well, the answer to that question would be yes. I have known many Sith Lords. But Younglings, you must remember that I have lived for a very long time. We now have the year 129,110 after the Battle of Yavin, and I was born on Tython 27,911 years before that historic battle.' Cara paused briefly, granting the children the opportunity to absorb this information. 'Now, children, it is time for lunch. Off you go!' Cara waved them towards the cafeteria. She was about to follow them, when the High Master fell in step beside her.

'So, they have finally persuaded you to part with your history.' He chuckled.

'Well, it is a story you are familiar with. I felt the time was right to speak of it to them.'

'Yes. It is a good story. I would not object listening to it once more myself. I will join you tomorrow.' The High Master left her standing before the doors to the cafeteria. She glanced at the Younglings. They were laughing and talking joyously.