This Chapter's a fair bit longer than the rest- sorry!
I figured it was better to get this out of the way all in one.
Yes- this chapter's quite slow, but it does pickup the pace soon, pinkie promise!
'EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES.'
I looked over at Sara-Lea. She was beaming. Padme had made a reappearance. I couldn't believe how much this young Jedi looked like Natalie Portman- and I couldn't believe I hadn't picked up on it before now. Maybe the whole 'Actually meeting a bona-fide Jedi' thing overpowered it.
Her grin changed when 'Padme' was uncerimoniously blown up.
"How Wude!" I quipped, getting only a horrified stare. She calmed slightly when it was revealed the unfourtunate woman lying dead on a landing-pad was Corde. All good then.
I waited for Anakin to make an appearance. Sure enough, she laughed. As the dismal acting got more 'intense', she became more uncomfortable. I always found this movie quite slow, so focused on her reactions. When he argued with Kenobi publicly, she gasped. And, my, she sure did pale when Anakin began hitting on Padme. Imagine her horror when they kissed. Hilarity in the extreme.
"You said I'd like this!" She said, stricken.
"What can I say? I'm a cruel person."
The film continued, as did Sara-Lea's discomfort. Every scene she was cringing. Ha. I stopped internally laughing when Anakin started chopping Tuskens. She visibly paled, stopped cringing, and breathed deeply. It was obviously affecting her deeply. Uncharicteristically, I wanted the scene to end for her sake. It seemed a releif to her when Threepio got his head lopped off. Actually, I think she enjoyed that. She barracked heavily through the final battle, and half-turned away from the wedding scene.
"Please tell me that was the worst of it."
"Worst acting, yes. And I'll let you be the judge of all the other criteria. Up for episode three?" I grinned maliciously.
Mentally scarring Jedi Padawans- who thought it could be so much fun?
'EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH.'
She looked wary from the get-go, seeing the title. It didn't stop Sara-Lea from cheering through the arial battle, and then shouting at Obi-Wan and Anakin for not just letting Palpatine die. She went oddly silent when Dooku was killed. It only got worse from thereon in.
Her face when Padme announced her pregnancy was actually kind of cute- almost as good as her look when Obi-Wan and Anakin started arguing over some trivial matter. She had a hard time dealing with the romance, I was sure, but since she knew how it panned out, I don't think she was surprised. What came next was worse for her.
When the dreams came to Anakin I felt the agony. Why was I being subjected to this? As the film continued, I could almost sense him becoming darker. I wanted to scream out to him, Stop listening to Palpatine! He's the Sith Lord, can't you see it? Listen to Obi-Wan! Trust in the force to save Padme... don't do this!But he would never have heard me. Slowly, I witnessed his good soul become corrupted. He began to scare me in his intensity. Finally, he worked it out. To my relief, he told Master Windu, and even wanted to bring him down himself. That was my grandfather, right there. Then, the unthinkable. For the first time I realised why Jedi aren't permitted to love. He did it for her. I wanted to shut my eyes, to not believe that Anakin Skywalker was going against Mace Windu,but the trecherous eyelids stayed apart, forcing me to watch. With once slice, one of my greatest mentors severed Master Windu's hand. I saw his lightsaber go flying into the distance. I couldn't supress a thought of That's how it got there, until my mind was wrenched back into the horror as I saw Mace die... because of Anakin. I began to tremble.
He swore allegiance to Sideous. For Padme's sake. He cast aside all he knew- all he had learned. He cast aside his Master. His Knighthood. His name. I felt tears slide down my cheeks. So this, truly, was Darth Vader.
Execute order 66.I knew those words. Every Jedi knew of order 66. Everytime it was mentioned my peers would glare at me- whisper my name. I never fully understood why until now. I couldn't tear my eyes from the screen. This, then, was Vader's legacy. The Sith Lord contacted a clone. 'It will be done, M'lord.'
And then Order 66... was executed.
"Obi-Wan!" I shouted a warning, but too late. Decades too late. He fell, him and his varactyl, into the water. I knew he was alive, but still felt pain. I began breathing heavily through my nose, not wanting to believe the horror that played out before me.
A battlescene flashed up. Ki-Adi-Mundi fought bravely with his troops... and then against his troops. 'Master!' I cried out even as he was shot again and again in the stomach. He never had a chance.
Then, such a beautiful planet. An equally beautiful Jedi walked through the overgrown flowers. I recognised her instantly. "Aayla Secura..." I breathed. She sensed it, but had no time to draw her weapon. She was shot in cold blood, ruthlessly, after she had become one with the force, they kept shooting. It was the worst kind of betrayal. My tears came thick and fast now. I barely saw Yoda through them- barely saw the ships that shot down Plo Koon. I couldn't see anything anymore. I could hear more explosions- I knew other Jedi were dying.
I was suddenly aware of a presence beside me. Lycire put a comforting arm around my shoulders. I slowly wiped my eyes with my raggedy sleeve, just in time to see the worst thing I have ever seen. A youngling put his trust in Anakin. Asked him for advice. He was so small- so innocent.
The hum of a lightsaber, the flash of blue.
Vader's legacy was this. To destroy Anakin Skywalker. To become... what he never was.
To kill Jedi.
Masters.
Knights.
Younglings.
The arm tightened, but still the images flashed onward.
Bail Organa- the grandfather I never met- came to the flaming, smoking Temple. My heart ached to see my home like that. The Stormtroopers turned to him, blasters primed. Then, just as I had heard from the Masters, Zett Jukassa leaped towards them. For a moment he looked like any other Jedi- cool, calm, confident... winning. But a shot got through. The padawan fell, joining his elders in the living force.
I heard, as if from far away, a discussion between Yoda, Obi-Wan and Bail. They were discussing the return to the ravaged Temple. Return they did, only to find the murdered younglings. Obi-Wan found the security files. His face reflected my own as he looked apon his former Padawan.
It barely registered when Sideous grasped control of the senate. When liberty died with thunderous applause.
It was decided that Yoda would confront Sideous. Obi-Wan would have to face Vader- for he wasn't Anakin. This was a different man. Padme didn't believe that. I felt her inner conflict. Anakin was, well, Anakin. Anakin would never commit such heinous crimes. She sought him out.
Mustafar. Vader broke Padme's heart. He tried to kill her. For a moment I thought he had. Even that arm couldn't comfort me throughout the duels. Seeing Vader, so warped, so dark, was torture. When he burned, I saw Obi-Wan's pain, felt it. I echoed the feeling.
Before I knew it, My mother was being born, along with my uncle. She managed to name them before she died. Tears came again, somehow more heartfelt than ever before. Vader was rebuilt, put into the suit that he would wear for the rest of his life. The mask came down, and the last shreds of Anakin Skywalker died with the lies of the Sith Lord.
Padme's funeral was solemn, black admist a world of colour. Her children were split up, Leia to Alderaan with Bail Organa, Luke to Tatooine with Owen and Beru Lars.
The credits rolled. Lycire wrapped her other arm around me. "It's okay."
I looked up. "No- It never has been, never will be."
"I'm sorry for showing you-"
"I needed to know." I wanted to thank her, though she'd never understand why. "It wasn't Anakin." She got it.
"Next movie?"
"Yeah."
I felt bad for Sara-Lea. Her obvious discomfort, her tears, everything. I released her from my uncomfortable hug. I'm not a huggy sort of person. Maybe showing her the films wasn't a great idea. But she had said she'd needed to know. Maybe it was good... bollocks. I was probably mentally scarring the kid. There was only one way to fix it. Okay, there were several ways, but it sounds more dramatic if the course of action is singular.
'EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE.'
She took to this one a lot better. Not the start, though. She shuddered at Vader... and at C-3PO. How strange. When Leia appeared, Sara-Lea got her first look at her mother's signature style; Cinnamon Buns. My comments went over her head, obviously. As the droids were blasted into space, she attempted a joke. "So that'show you get rid of Threepio."
"You don't like him?"
"What with his constant Oh my!-ing and the like, no."
The tension lifted slightly. She smiled all through the scenes of Luke with his uncle, and grinned widely at Ben. "Now that's the Obi-Wan I know."
In fact, the whole movie up until Mos Eisley went without comment. There was a small gasp when the crispy-barbecue-Lars-homestead was discovered, but nothing major. Until two, little words. 'Chewbacca here'.
"Chewie!" She almost squealed with delight. I couldn't suppress a snigger. Chewbacca led the party to a small table with a very familiar occupant.
"Dad!"
She was beaming ear to ear. I flashed quickly on my reaction last time I saw my father. Something along the lines of 'I have nothing to say to you' etc. 'You're dead, right? Thank the gods for small mercies. And big ones, like your death.' That sort of Sara-Lea liked her Dad a bit more than I liked mine. She was a little shocked when her Daddy dearest killed Greedo, but that was just funny.
What was also funny was Sara-Lea's reaction to Luke giving the Falcon the noble title of 'A piece of Junk'.
"It's not junk! That's the fastest ship there is!" She went off ranting, using almost exactly the same spiel Mr. Ford was currently performing. As soon as she noticed that, she shut up.
Alderaan blowing up, despite the old graphics and stuff I don't understand, affected Sara-Lea deeply. I remembered what she had said about her name, so bit back a joke about Anakin finally winning a fight with Ferus. What was happening to me? I hoped I wasn't going soft. She said a few names under her breath, Organa chiefly among them.
As the Falcon was pulled into the Death Star, her mood became even more somber. She didn't lighten up until they found Leia. She laughed at her father asking a Stormtrooper how he was, and then defending his shooting of the comm panel, putting it down to the boring subject matter. "Ha!" Was her answer to 'Aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?' It was refreshing to have her in a good mood. She laughed again when Han ran screaming towards some troopers... and then ran screaming away. Her mood darkened again when Ben got chopped. She even called out to him. The fierce battle with TIE fighters was ample cheering up for her, though. When they arrived at Yavin 4 she listed off some of the Rebel's names. I rolled my eyes. After getting a little snippy with her onscreen father for doing a bunk, she began barracking again during the assault on the Death Star. When the Falcon reappeared, she whooped. Quietly and controlled, but it was a whoop.
She sat straight and proud as her family was awarded medals. Lovely. Cheesy. Shudder time.
'EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.'
Hoth. Desolate except for one thing; the rebel camp. Sara-Lea loved it. She was enraptured from the very beginning, cringing when Luke was whacked by the outer-space-yeti-wampa, smiling sadly when Ben appeared in his blue-ghosty-form, and throroughly enjoying Han's 'rescue'.
For some reason the sight of a bacta bath made her shudder. I resolved to quiz her about that later, along with the threepio thing.
The nerf-herder comment went down well. Laughter ensued, basically. 'I'd rather kiss a wookiee'- 'I could arrange that.' was the clear favourite. But the best moment for me was when Leia leaned down and gave her brother a more-than-brotherly-sisterly-love kiss. Sara-Lea fell off the back of her chair.
"What?"
I couldn't help laughing.
"But- they- no- what? No!" She blabbered meaninglessly. I could barely hear her over my own laughter, until eventually I almost joined her on the floor. Pale, she pulled herself back onto her seat.
The movie continued. She had developed the annoying barracking habit further, calling out individual names. Almost totally ignoring the prescence of Vader, she grinned when Han had to evacuate 'the comittee.' She giggled when the Hyperdrive failed, but was clearly annoyed at Threepio being right. When the Falcon entered the asteriod field her knuckles turned white with anticipation.
"Here's a clue, Skywalker. He got out of it okay." She gave me a whitering look, which I completely ignored.
The next scene, on Degobah, got a good chuckle. I could only imagine what it seemed like to her- doubtless she had only ever heard of Yoda in a reverent tone, the wise and powerful, yadayadayada. Yet here the wrinkled muppet was, whacking Artoo with his walking stick. She was blatant in her frustration at Luke not recognising him, though.
When Han and Leia got 'sidetracked from their repairs', Sara-Lea looked away. I understood, kind of. I wouldn't want to see my parents like that- apart from the whole slight-necrophilia thing, it just wouldn't feel right. Luckily, Threepio ruined the moment.
The next big reaction was due to the correspondance of Vader and Sideous. I won't go into detail, but it involved a lot of shuddering and dramatic looking-away.
Throughout the Jedi training, the escape from a space-slug and all that jazz that happened leading up to Bespin, Sara-Lea was barracking. She clearly recognised Lando, but stayed quiet. Until Vader arrived. Upon Han's torture she had an unreadable look on her face, as when Luke left to attempt a rescue. She saw her father frozen in carbonite- if I saw that I'd have laughed in his terrified face, but she actually liked her father. Takes all sorts I suppose.
The lightsaber duel hearalded more goddamned barracking. I was glad when Luke's hand bailed out on him, fallng into the abyss. It sure shut her up. The famous scene played out, mocking the girl who sat and watched in horror. I tried not to laugh again.
The rest of the film was over quickly. The escape from Bespin and the new hand, the plan for Han's rescue, and finally the soppy meaniful look out into the distance scene.
"Just a pity they fixed Threepio, really."
I was beginning to like her.
'EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI.'
Sara-Lea's reaction to Vader was getting boring. Small gasps, sad looks, all that jazz.
The Tatooine sequence went down mostly without comment, although she was visibly sickened by Oola's plight. She wasn't fooled by the Boushh disguise- she recognised her mother instantly. Again she looked uncomfortable in the soppy 'Someone who loves you'defreezing scene. Luke's failed rescue cued more of that lovelybarracking, which continued right through until Han was safely rescued and they were off Tatooine.
She was silent through Yoda's death, but called out "Now you get it!" When it finally dawned on Luke that the beautiful girl he'd smooched was, in fact, his sister. Awkward.
She nodded at the rebel's plan to defeat the Death Star take two. I guessed she was familiar with it anyway. Nothing much happened until the team landed on Endor. She was enraptured by the speeder chase, and cooed at the miniature bear-shaped fuzz that was an Ewok.
"Wicket!"
I rolled my eyes.
Catching sight of my disdain, Sara-Lea shut up. For about five minutes.
"They think he's a GOD? Ha!"
She was off again. She didn't rake too kindly to the idea of her family being sacrificed, I suppose. It all turned out okay, of course, and during the banquet Luke told Leia. Sara-Lea watched with fascination as Leia tried to remember her mother.
It was obviously painful for Sara-Lea to see Vader talking to Luke.
"A son should never have to see his father like that," she whispered.
"You should meet my Daddy Dearest. Almost beats mask-face over there."
I recieved a horrified look, and sent back my own of pure innocence.
Alas, then there came the return of the barracking. There was silence as Sideous tried to corrupt Luke, but cheering and whooping- controlled, of course- during the battles. The foremost of these was the one involving big, flashy lightsabers. She smiled triumphantly at Luke's defiance, even in the face of mortal peril.
"Hate to burst your bubble here, Skywalker, but he's not being brave. That's just stupidity."
"He's a true Jedi!" She hissed back at me.
"He's a true ass." I muttered.
My piont was proven in Luke's face whilst writhing on the ground, consumed by force lightning. Meaningful close-ups of Vader's not-quite-a-face ensued.
"Come on, Anakin! He's your son! Anakin, please!" This was a new type of barracking, more heartfelt and soppy. It turned back to the usual boisterous kind when the Sith went diving down the reactor shaft.
She actually cried. and i mean criedwhen Anakin died. I wasn't too cut up about it- after all, he hadn't been that nice a person. Yeah yeah yeah, redemption and all that sort of fluffy bunny stuff, but still!
Of course there was a good reaction to the end. Death Star blown up- yay. Luke cremating father- not so great, but give it a yay for cinematic moment. Han and Leia together- yay. Empire completely owned- yay. And then-
"Force-ghosts!"
"What?"
"Look- Force-Ghosts!"
"Oh, that's what they're called. I always thought they were just 'blue fuzzy dead people'."
Sara-Lea's eyes rolled as the credits did the same.
"You've got much to learn-"
"My young Padawan." I grinned.
She really was starting to like her. Unknown to her, the young Jedi felt the same.