I would have put this up earlier, but my document manager wasn't working:) Enjoy and review!
THE FORCE IS WITH ME! Very much so. For only a few chapters ago, I was hoping to hit 100 reviews, and now, I see we're going on 200. How can I ever thank you guys?
Well, how about two chapters for the price of one? This chapter is extremely short, so I decided to write two for you guys to thank you. YAY!
And plus, I'd like to finish up this story before I begin my summer reading project, which, I'm afraid, may dwarf Fan Fiction. I'll probably end up away from this site all of August, but I'm thinking July may be okay, with some rough spots. LOL. We'll see what happens.
Just know that you guys are AMAZING. ABSOLUTELY AND UNQUESTIONABLY AMAZING.
Chapter 8
Over the course of the next few months, Leia's galaxy seemed almost perfect. She enjoyed more civilized diplomatic missions as an official ambassador for the New Republic, and she actually successfully brought some worlds out of their Imperial cloud and into the light of a growing democracy.
She enjoyed the company of Han, the man she loved without question, no matter how much of a nerfherder he was; Luke, her beloved brother whom she felt eternally connected to in the Force, and the mysterious character of Skye Nairn.
Leia wasn't sure what to think.
Even though Leia remained highly untrained in the ways of the Force, she found herself learning from Luke and Skye in between missions. Luke had even gone as far as to help her to construct her own lightsaber. Her blade was a dazzling blue, much like Skye's, and Luke's before Bespin. Skye had acquired a new sparkling cerulean saber after he lost it on Escarte.
Her senses in the Force also grew more precise and unambiguous. She mediated with Skye and her brother, and learned to listen to the flow of the Force in the present.
With her newly polished senses, though, Leia could feel that something was amiss. She wasn't sure of exactly what, but she knew that it had something to do with Skye.
Luke didn't seem to notice it at all, which added to Leia's suspicions. Luke and Skye seemed to become very close, and Leia smiled at the sight of the two men engaging in a sparring match, which usually ended in them both collapsing on the floor in fits of hearty laughter.
And all the while, she found herself becoming quite attached to Skye Nairn.
This was welcomed, yet she was a little wary, all the same.
She loved Han unconditionally and passionately, and over the next few months of time, found herself falling into depths of love she once thought unattainable. Even though she was still the slightest bit reluctant to break through her arguments and banter with him, she found herself enveloped in many more kisses and embraces, and the most interesting part of it was: Leia didn't try to break away. She melted right in; greedily accepting Han's offerings.
She loved Luke for obvious reasons as well. Her brother seemed like a part of her, as Han was, but the bond she shared with Luke was unexplainably different. The Force connected a brother and a sister in extraordinary ways, that she doubted even the wisest Jedi Master could hope to sort all out.
Then, there was Skye. She had taken to calling Skye "Master", for he had accepted her plea for training and she had become his apprentice of sorts. Luke told her that back in the days of the old Jedi Order, apprentices were known as padawan learners. She was bemused and intrigued by the new information that came to her through the Force and through Luke and Skye.
At first, Leia had wondered what Luke would think about her decision to learn under Skye. For reasons unbeknownst to her, Luke hadn't even questioned this choice, and had wished her well.
Skye, she was sure, was keen about teaching her.
And she found herself pining to learn more after every session; though her pleas would usually be met by a warm smile and a verdict that decreed rest, meditation, and patience.
Leia hated to be patient. But she learned to contain her protests and eager objections and to obey her Master. She found herself growing and shaping into her ultimate role in the galaxy and the whole process both delighted her and left her perplexed.
She learned slowly but surely to fight with a lightsaber and to use the Force in ways that seemed to impress her Master; something she continually began to do.
In the end, she found herself wanting to. Wanting to please him. Hoping to make him proud.
This mystified her even more.
She felt an great, yet unexplainable type of love toward Skye; one that she found herself pondering day in and day out.
At first, she wondered if she was going insane.
She wondered if it was because of her ultimately looking up to him for guidance and thinking of him as a role model.
Skye told her that a Master-Padawan bond is very strong and hard to sever, and that he and his Master, Kenobi, had been extremely close. And this provoked more wonder...
Kenobi was dead. A spirit of the Force.
Leia was fascinated by the existence of Force spirits and speculated about them once with Skye.
He had told her about Jedi deaths, and "becoming one with the Force." She learned that death is inevitable, but the Force can grant you a type of immortality and you can forever subsist within the Force itself.
Her apparent indifference toward her abilities with the Force had vanished, replaced by an ardent yearning to find out more and more.
She was engrossed.
And all the while, she allowed herself to marvel in the personage that was her Master, but contained her curiosity.
But she didn't restrain her mounting affection for Skye, and didn't conceal his caring for her either.
She came to understand the beauty of a relationship through the Force, using the ones surrounding her as examples.
Han, Skye, and more...
Soon, Chewbacca returned from another visit to Kashyyyk. Mala, his life mate, had been feeling a little under the weather, but apparently she had healed up nicely. Greeting him was a jovial occasion, as expected, and there was many a day that she would find her friends spending an afternoon together. Perhaps Han and Chewbacca would lounge around in the Falcon, or Skye and Han would tinker endlessly with the ship until she finally told them to stop.
Life living at the Rebel base was both entertaining and relaxing. While she worked herself hard in her studies of the Force, she also enjoyed priceless downtime with others.
The situation in general that the Rebellion was in seemed to brighten as well. Mothma shared a safer comm discussion with Prime Minister Yanul of the Escarte Commerce Guild. She told Leia that progress was being made, but she hadn't swayed their beliefs significantly yet.
As long as there was hope, Leia believed that the Force would help peace to return to the galaxy.
And hope seemed to spread like a contagious disease when she was near the ones she cared about.
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Anakin sat cross-legged athwart from Leia, both Jedi entranced in the Force. Their eyes were closed, and yet each could read the other a little bit with each dive deeper.
Anakin found himself carefully prying apart and analyzing the woman that was Princess Leia.
He searched her, reading her clearer than he could recall reading a Force-sensitive being before. Perhaps it was their connection, or perhaps they truly shared an unbreakably strong bond as father and daughter...
Leia remained profound in a bottomless swim through the currents that were the Force, and Anakin felt a gush of pride as he considered how far she had come.
Taking a stride deeper within the Force, Anakin could peel apart Leia's true self.
Love. It shone brightly and endlessly within Leia's soul.
Hope. Leia's ever-rising confidence in her beliefs...
And then, Anakin came upon the troubles.
Fear. Hatred. Anger.
He felt a small sweeping sensation of darkness and shuddered, for he had not felt the Dark Side to this extent since his rebirth.
He spoke aloud. "Tell me what it is that you fear, Leia."
Leia broke away from her private thoughts slightly and latched on to Anakin's connection.
Anakin waited as she found the words.
"I'm afraid that...that no matter how hard we try, we fight a losing battle, and that all I have fought for will dwindle into meaningless history... I fear that I'm losing what I have struggled to attain all my life..."
Beneath the hope, the darkness lurks, and Leia's optimism fails her.
"And what is it exactly that you fear you will lose? What, in truth, have you been searching for?"
Leia seemed to straighten with certainty. "Peace, freedom...democracy..."
Anakin stopped her. "Have you considered what you've tried to attain on a personal level, Leia?"
Leia paused. "I want to live a fulfilling life, I guess."
"Look deeper."
Leia struggled with her answer. "I want...I want to have a real purpose, I suppose. I want to do something very meaningful."
"Think of all that you have already completed. Is that not meaningful?"
"Of course it is...but..."
"But no matter how much you do, you always feel like you can achieve more."
"Yes." Leia said firmly.
Anakin waited for her to continue, but she seemed to fumble with the words she wanted to say. "But I...I'm not sure if..."
"There's more." Anakin stated. It wasn't a question.
Leia seemed to wince, but spilled out the truth in a rush of emotions. "I'm also terrified that someday...that someday I may lose the ones I care about... that I may lose Han, and Luke, and you..."
Anakin ignored the certain sense of accomplishment he felt to know that Leia loved him to that extent and zeroed in on her fear.
Fear of loss is a path to the Dark Side. Yoda's words echoed softly through Anakin's mind as he came to the realization that if Leia were to fall, it would be for reasons similar to his own.
The hatred, he knew, was for Darth Vader, but little did Leia know, she had taken a step onto the path the Sith lord was born unto.
Anakin sighed mentally. "You must let go of your fears, Leia. Do not let them dominate your life. Allow them to sink away."
"But one cannot be asked to stop loving! It cannot be done!"
"True as that may be, you must know when to let your love fall beneath what is destiny. It's hard to know, Leia. The Dark Side can be very tempting to a strong loving heart. Love may not necessarily blind you, but it can have its effects on important decisions you face. "
"But love can help you as well. It's a good thing, isn't it?"
"Indeed it is. Compassion is essential to life, Jedi or otherwise."
"Then how do I know what to do?"
"You must learn, Leia. Act on instinct, but also keep the future in mind and act thoughtfully."
Leia sighed, and Anakin knew that Leia's fear was quite like his own had been, quite hard to conquer.
He could almost hear the dragon hissing within Leia. All things die, Leia. Even stars burn out.
Anakin was flooded with understanding. The battle ahead for Leia would be a difficult one, and would ultimately decide her fate, and Anakin's.
Anakin privately swore to do all he could to help Leia to choose the correct paths.
"That will be all for today, Leia." He said slowly, standing up. Leia followed suit, a small yawn escaping her system. Anakin laughed. "Get some rest."
"Yes, Master."
And Anakin watched his daughter leave, waiting until she closed the door to his quarters and the lock clicked behind her.
Then, he reached out into the Force, calling.
"Excellent, you have done Anakin." Came Yoda's praise. "Very proud of you, we all are. Leia, a true Jedi, she is starting to become."
Anakin replied softly. "Thank you, Master."
"Confirmed, we have, that Luke, the threat to your identity, he was."
Anakin sighed in relief. "Well, at least that's cleared up. Luke's agreed to keep my secret, in hopes that Leia will understand why he did later."
He felt a wash over dread come over Obi-Wan's presence.
"What is it, Master?" he asked.
Anakin felt the look Obi-Wan sent him rather than saw it. His eyes were full of tired sadness. "Anakin...the technology we used to send you into the living...has been...stolen."
"Stolen?" Anakin cried. "By who?"
"We don't know, Ani." Padmé spoke at last, and by her voice, Anakin could tell she was biting her lip.
Anakin let the news fill him. Yoda spoke. "Still have, we do, the prototype of the device. Works, it does, but only temporarily."
"You mean...if you were to send someone else through the portal...they wouldn't stay?"
"Only about a week, it would last." Yoda shook his head. "That's why sending, we are, your wife."
"What?" Anakin yelped in surprise. "Why?"
"I want to come, Ani." Padmé said slowly. "Though I cannot express my true feelings, I am eager to finally meet Luke, Han, and Leia."
"But...you'll just die...after a week!."
"No, I won't let it come to that. I'll return early, through the aid of Obi-Wan and Yoda. My departure will appear quite practical. We will make it appear as if I have left and arrived in my Nubian starship."
Anakin smiled. "I've given up trying to argue with you. I suppose it's fitting, for Leia and Han are aware that I am married."
Padmé grinned. "And Mothma's having a gala in two days in Leia's honor. I couldn't possibly miss that."
Anakin agreed. "Of course, milady." Padmé had to giggle.
Obi-Wan called out. "In the meantime, be careful, Anakin. Until we find the thief, you and Leia, not to mention Luke, are in immense danger."
"Of course."
And he detached himself from the communication, mind reeling. Padmé was coming in one day, and the portal's inner technology could be anywhere...
Anakin rolled onto his bed and attempted to fall asleep.
You could choose to review this separately from the next chapter, or review them both at once; I really don't mind either way. Just be sure to let me know what you think! Thanks!