A new chapter! I hope I did a good job writing the duel, as it is the first time I've tried to write a duel. Someone asked why I did line breaks with all the weird symbols. The reason is that I mostly read fanfiction on my mobile device as it is easier to look at my tiny screen and I can leave the fanfiction and start exactly where I left off in the chapter. There is only one problem, normal line breaks don't show up on the mobile app. The line break is rather essential as it signifies a viewpoint change. Back to the story. If I owned Star Wars then I wouldn't have to worry if the upcoming Star Wars movie will live up to its name. Enjoy...
Two lightsabers clashed in between the opponents. The air was tense as the duo entered their intricate and deadly dance and sweat glistened on their hands. The first person to make a mistake would lose.
Luke and Windu stepped back from each other pausing to regain their breath. The real duel had yet to begin. The opponents tested each other, noting the other's weaknesses and strengths. Mace Windu charged forward and officially began the duel, playtime was over. The green lightsaber waited patiently in the hands of Luke Skywalker.
A purple lightsaber swung forward and began to aggressively snake around its opponent. It was met with a calm, green blade which blocked the purple blade strike for strike. The purple blade moved faster and faster, increasing the tempo. Overhead. Jab. Block. Lunge. Cut.
The green blade held still and let the opposing blade slide off it. It moved as an extension of its Jedi's body seemingly having a mind of its own. The tempo increased, but instead of parrying, the blade twisted, and glanced the blows redirecting them harmlessly. Then something changed.
Now the purple blade stayed on the defense as the green lightsaber came forward. The opposing force was nearly overwhelming, threatening to force the purple blade to make a mistake. Upper block. Parry. Guard. The opposing blade was moving too fast and the purple blade was losing its rhythm.
Anakin Skywalker watched from the sidelines in fascination as the two Jedi sparred and flew against each other. He could feel the force around them and they moved with a grace he envied. He turned to his Master and stared at his worried face. Both parties were using their normal lightsabers. A mistake could kill them.
The green blade released the pressure on its opponent allowing him to regain his breath and was on the calm defense again. Moving like water it blocked the first strike and stepped into a block for the second strike. Luke refused to lose any ground, but seemed content to allow the opponent to wear himself out.
Mace Windu could honestly say he would be worried if this was a real battle. Perhaps to the audience, that they had accumulated, he was evenly matched, but here in the spirit of the battle, he knew that he was being played. His opponent counterattacked and seemed to taunt him with the nearness of the blade to his vitals, sparing them by the width of the nail. It had started as a test for the stranger, but now the stranger was testing him and Windu felt like he was failing.
The battle paused and perspiration slid down Master Windu's face as he pressed against the lightsaber. He released and tried to attack. But the blade was already there blocking him. Then the force warned him and he turned to block the next incoming strike to his back.
Luke shifted and faked a lunge forward. His body settled into a steady rhythm. Defend. Attack. Defend. The goal: to improve. As Mace Windu attacked he changed and became older with a mechanical hand. His face was haggard and his eyes told a long miserable story of pain and suffering. A man that had also died a long time ago.
"Hello Luke," called out Mace Windu's voice as the Jedi Grand Master passed the infirmary.
"Hello my friend," he said pausing by his room, "How was your mission?"
"My friend, it was terrible. I spent a month sitting in the snow and convincing the hostile population that I meant no harm."
Luke smiled as he noticed the steadiness of his friend's voice. Luke could tell he was healing, the spark of insanity had left his eyes, but the man did not believe in himself. He went up to him and enveloped Mace in a hug, "It is a long road to healing. Please my friend, take a student. There are so many younglings who need teachers and not enough Knights to teach them. You need a child's innocence and their unwavering faith. A student will help you heal and in return the student will become a greater Jedi."
"For you I will, only you," admitted Windu. The memory went back farther to the first time he had met Mace Windu.
A Jedi and his Padawan walked through the broken city when the Padawan called out in surprise. Luke hurried over to his first student and looked at the man he had found. The force gently pulsed around him. His student looked at Luke in surprise, "He is alive master!"
"Yes. I am afraid he is the only survivor," said Luke. The injured man was transported on a medical frigate while his Padawan tried to use the Force to alleviate the man's pain. The man would wake in two months screaming for a city that had been razed to the ground by some of the old Empire groups. He would cry and scream, but never talk to anyone and looked passed them with haunted eyes. The healers worried for him and said he was a lost cause. They said it would be best to give him what he wanted, peace. But Luke refused, and said he would look at the man himself. When Windu first saw Luke he had attacked him, shouting that he had betrayed the Jedi. Luke refused to leave to despite the medics request and spent every spare moment trying to ease the man's suffering and pain. The healers worried that his presence would disturb the man, yet Luke knew his presence was causing the man to confront reality. He would need to confront reality if he wished to survive and heal. Then one day when he entered the room there was a lightsaber flying to his heart and a new duel began.
Mace Windu noticed the change in style immediately. His opponent had settled deep into the Force and had become absorbed in his thoughts. Part of Windu was envious at his skill to not even have to focus on the battle. He prayed to the Force that the man in front of him didn't forget that this was a duel and not a battle. The Force blast caught him off guard and he flew to the back wall.
A shaky Mace Windu stood up and frowned. He charged, hoping, irrationally that he could break the man out of his trance. Unknowingly, he began to copy a dance that happened many years in the future.
Luke blocked the incoming strike and felt the Force hum in danger. The man in front of him was an expert with the lightsaber, but his body was weak. Luke called on the Force to calm the man and played purely defensive.
Windu growled softly, the man's defenses were impenetrable. Shaking off his confusion at the calming waves of the Force he felt, he strengthened his attacks.
The lightsaber seemed to snake past his defenses ready to draw first blood. Too late its owner realized the trap. Luke Skywalker shut off his lightsaber and his opponent stumbled off balance.
Mace Windu stared in fascination at the lightsaber which had moments ago resided in his hands and now lay in his opponents hands.
"Are you okay," Luke asked softly. Looking up to the usually hooded face, Mace stood shocked at the familiar face that had revealed himself. The hood had fallen off. Luke stared at him blinking, slowly hands reached to his head to confirm the absence of the hood, "Well, I guess I don't have to worry about wearing a cloak now." He looked at the foreign lightsaber in his hands and tossed it to Mace Windu, "I am so sorry about the fight, your fighting style reminded me of someone I once knew"
Bowing he left the room and Mace Windu wondered exactly who his previous opponent had been and why he had sought to disarm. The spectators began to leave the room in puzzlement. Mace Windu turned around as he heard the soft tapping of Yoda's gimer stick.
Master Yoda walked over to him, "What conclusions have you drawn or are there only new inquiries to be made?"
"Master, I can draw no conclusions except that this man could destroy us easily if he so wished, but I do not believe him to be an enemy, although his resemblance to Skywalker is disturbing." He bowed to Yoda, "Goodnight Master." Yoda frowned as the usually respectful Master hurriedly left the room.
Anakin Skywalker had been one of the first people to leave the room in search for Luke Spaceflyer. He personally didn't know how he felt about a person wearing such a similar face to his. Standing outside the doors, he looked around the halls as he tried to see where Luke might have gone. Anakin had to admit that Luke was different, he had an unique outlook on life. There was something about Luke that drew Anakin in. Perhaps it was the way that Luke seemed to always know that something was troubling him or the fact that he felt as if he should have known Luke his entire life. He walked down a hallway tentatively but didn't see any sign of Luke. I will find him though. "Hello Anakin" said someone behind him. Whirling around in surprise he found Luke leaning on a pillar, "What are you doing here?"
Luke looked at him bored, "I am leaning against a pillar. This pillar is especially wonderful because it has such a nice temperature compared to the other ones I have found," he paused and began more seriously, "In all the excitement about my arrival, my lodgings seem to have been forgotten, you see I don't seem to have a place to rest for the night."
"You can stay in my room for the night" offered Anakin hesitantly.
"Why, thank you, but I would hate to steal your room"
"No, I have another place where I can go." Starting to walk down the hallway he thought of Padmé, his beloved wife. He entered his room silently, deep in his thoughts. Luke walked over to the bed, glancing around the Spartan and dusty room,
"So who is the lucky girl?"
Anakin snapped out of his reverie and stared at Luke in shock, "Excuse me?"
"It is alright if you do not wish to speak of your love life, but if you don't want to make it obvious at least make the room look like it is lived in, not a forgotten storage closet. Your expression reminds me of a certain scoundrel when he was thinking of a princess," Luke replied calmly, "Was there something you wanted to ask me?"
Shaking his head to dispel certain thoughts from his mind Anakin stared at Luke and the words left his mouth before he noticed, "Why do you look like me?"
"Well I can not be sure as I haven't studied genetics intensely. Perhaps we are related distantly. But it isn't my place to say anything because I am not qualified, perhaps you should take your inquiry to a medical droid?"
Anakin looked at Luke in disbelief. He has Padmé's chin and her nose. Stop, this is creeping me out. That person is from the past and has no relationship to myself or Padmé. It can't hurt though to ask a medical droid though. Anakin stood at the doorway and prepared to leave when another thought entered his head, "Do you ever have visions of the future?"
A tired sigh came from Luke, "Visions are tricky things and can be manipulated. The first time I had a vision and acted on it, I nearly died," Luke walked over to the window gazing outside, "I saw a vision of my friends in danger and despite my Masters pleas and warnings, rushed to save them. They were fine and my actions put them in danger. Had I delayed, would my vision have come true? I don't know." Luke walked up to Anakin, "Remember this though, the vision I had of my friends was a trap. It was all a ruse created by a Sith Lord. Visions are there to give us wisdom and warnings. There is no point on dwelling on a vision, sometimes it will never come to pass and it will not make sense until the time for it has passed. The visions one receives allow us to make better choices when the time comes, but until then, do not dwell on them."
"I had a vision of my mother dying and I was told to ignore it. When I finally got a chance to check on my mother… she died in my arms… and I"
"Killed them all. A blue lightsaber separating heads and bodies. Turning on the children. That was my vision. Did I understand it then? No, do I understand now? Yes. Had I acted on my vision I may have done something ridiculous such as being suspicious of my students. My suspicion could have led them to such an action. But have you asked yourself Anakin how long Tusken raiders usually keep their victims alive? People are hardly ever rescued because they are already dead. The Tuskens take captives to milk them for fluids, but with every moment of their captive lives, the more water he or she consumes. They are usually dead before the attack is finished. They are always dead within the next few hours. Why was your mother different Anakin? Was your vision just a trap, like my first vision? Goodnight Anakin" Luke smiled at him gently and began to move around the room to get ready for bed.
Anakin swallowed, "Goodnight" and left to hurry over to Padmé's apartment. He needed to see her, to hear her to calm his mind and the voices of doubt within him that questioned everything he believed in.
The Force watched its chosen one as he began to create changes. Already the changes were rippling across the spider web of time. Its scar wouldn't be healed, but the process could begin. It wanted to interfere and reassure its chosen one as he went to bed and grieved for the one's lost in his life. The Force felt saddened by the way his mind screamed in agony as he mourned all those he had known. The boy, as he was just a boy to the Force's immortal life span, who would never age. When he discovered that he would never age, never die, he would probably rage against the Force for denying him peace. Oh, the Force wished it could weep for him and the suffering he would still have to endure. It had interfered as it could, prolonging lives of his non-Force sensitive friends, yet they died. Leia had been the easiest to slow down her aging. Her bond with Luke naturally slowed down her aging as it tried to allow her to live with Luke. A twin should never have to watch the other twin die. The bond wasn't enough though and so the Force had intervened slowing her aging down even further. But even aging slowly means that at one point, one will have to die. The Force swarmed over the sleeping man as he dreamt of his past and soothed his injuries. For some reason, he had never chosen to regrow his lost hand when the technology became available. The Force wondered why. Perhaps it reminded him of his father and youthful foolishness. An idea came to the Force, it had already led Yoda to the future, in hope to help its chosen, but perhaps he could let the two twins have one last goodbye before Leia moved on. Perhaps. Until then the Force needed to find a way to ensure that its chosen would have the peace he wished after he healed the scar. It was only fair. The Force cared about balance and for balance to be achieved, things had to be fair.
In another time, Luke's Padawan exited her meditation giving a content smile; she was a knight, officially. Dea Iola gave a small sigh and she searched through the Force for her Master, former master's, Force presence. Her eyes opened in panic as she couldn't find it. She tried settle her racing heart, thinking of the ancient Master Yoda she had met. He had known Luke, but how could Luke be gone? Leaving the meditation room she began to run with a sense of urgency. Stopping an elderly Jedi, "Master Luke is gone!" The Jedi tried to calm her, "It will be alright miss, we will find him"
A couple hours later a meeting began and an old Jedi Master quarreled with another on how to proceed. Luke Skywalker's former Padawan stood in the center of the room worrying. She gasped when Leia Solo entered the room scowling.
She stood by the door for a couple minutes until her patience came to an end and she shouted, "Enough!" Guiltily the other Jedi Master looked around. Leia glared at them all, "We will find my brother, but quarreling won't get us anywhere," turning to Dea, "Report." The Jedi Masters listened as she began to recount her meeting with Yoda and finding out that her Master's Force presence was gone. The Jedi took on a determined air and even though Leia wasn't a Jedi, she joined the planning. No one would ever dare to confront her when it came to her brother. They would find Luke Skywalker, even if they had to break the laws of physics. The laws were meant to be broken after all.
Oblivious to events elsewhere, Luke slept and Darth Sidious plotted. Neither was aware that certain events were being set into motion which would be giving them both migraines due to a certain loyal twin and astromech.
Well once again something unexpected happen such as Leia deciding that being a Princess requires having some attention. Despite that, I find it hilarious that in the last chapter I asked if you guys wanted shorter chapters and rolled out my longest chapter so far. A couple more chapters and we should see the Chancellor's rescue. The next chapter should include the aftermath of Artoo's surprise and maybe more background, as well as some of Luke's problems. I had actually meant to include more background story in this chapter, but it didn't fit that nicely in. I hope the fight scene wasn't too confusing with the viewpoints changing and incorporated flashback, but I felt that it gave the best angle and allowed for some background information. Is there any one's viewpoint you particularly wish to see? Thank you to all the people who followed, favorited, and reviewed. It always make my day seeing that my story is appreciated.
