"Destiny"
By EsmeAmelia
AN: Hey, I know it's been ages since I've continued this fic. I've been having extreme technical difficulties, plus this was a hard chapter.
Chapter 25
Aramita didn't return to Roh's house that day, or the next day, or the day after. Although Roh had told the family that she had a tendency to disappear every so-often, they all knew that this disappearance had to do with the baby – there was no sense in suspecting otherwise. Even Roh herself admitted it, since Rianna hadn't hesitated to tell everyone exactly why the baby died.
Han finally grew strong enough to walk on crutches. With Chewie's extensive assistance, they were able to start fixing the Falcon, finding that the damage wasn't as great as Roh had indicated. In just a few days, the Falcon was in working order again – which meant, to the entire family's relief, that they could finally leave this planet.
"Are you sure you want to leave?" Roh asked them at the dinner table the night before they planned to leave.
Han groaned. "I think I speak for everyone when I say we've all had enough of this planet."
"More than enough," Leia added.
Chewie roared in agreement.
Roh let out a deep sigh. "Well I suppose I can't stop you . . . but what about Aramita? Doesn't she need your help?"
Rianna's eyebrows pressed down. "She's the main reason why we're going," she said bitterly, her eyes darting down at her abdomen. She had recovered from her miscarriage physically, but that made no difference emotionally, as she so often let everyone know."If she wanted our help, she should've thought of that before . . ." Her words drifted away, but everyone knew what she meant.
"Yes indeed," said 3PO, oblivious as always to the fact that his topic was sensitive. "After all, if she wants a good relationship with her daughter, she really shouldn't treat her like that."
Roh sighed. "But isn't that precisely why she needs help?"
Everyone stared at Roh with suspicion.
"I mean . . ." the healer continued, ". . . she's always been so good to us. She taught us so much about your world, helped us learn your language . . . I just can't fathom that she would do something like this unless she was in trouble."
"She is the trouble," Han muttered.
Padme agreed with her son-in-law, but always the diplomat, she felt she had to say something to ease Roh's mind. "Roh, Luke and Rianna have a wedding they need to plan. Leia and Han have children they want to see again. It makes sense for us to leave now."
Roh's blue face appeared hurt, yet understanding. "Yes . . . it does make sense from that perspective." She cleared her throat. "Well, I wish you the best of luck tomorrow. I hope you'll come back and visit sometime."
"Not a chance," Han mumbled, though Roh ignored him.
- - - - - - - -
Padme knew she wouldn't sleep well tonight – if she slept at all. She didn't think anyone had slept well since the baby's death. The nightmares that had haunted her were probably affecting everyone else, especially the would-be parents, as was evidenced by the dark circles under their eyes and the generally moody nature that was present in every member of the family. Padme was starting to have difficulty believing that not so long ago there had been such happiness in this very room.
She buried her head under the covers, seeing little purpose in trying to sleep. We're going home tomorrow. That seemed to be the only thought that would offer a shimmer of comfort. Tomorrow they would leave this planet behind, along with all the horrible memories associated with it. Tomorrow all this would be parsecs away.
"Padme?"
For a moment she thought she was dreaming of a voice and wondered why she had fallen asleep so quickly – before she recognized the voice and realized that she couldn't be dreaming because he never spoke as clearly as this except when he appeared. She immediately stuck her head out from the covers.
"Anakin!"
Tonight, however, Anakin's ghost didn't greet her with a kiss, didn't even smile. He wore a solemn expression on his face that seemed directed at Padme, as if he were scolding her for something.
"Padme . . ." he said softly, harshly, ". . . you can't leave yet."
"Why not?"
"Do you not remember?" a gruff voice exclaimed from across the room. Padme's head snapped around, seeing the elderly version of Obi-Wan's ghost appearing. "There is a soul you have promised to help." His voice was unusually stern.
Luke slowly woke up, his eyes widening at the ghosts. "Ben? Father? What are you doing here?" he asked sleepily.
"Trying to talk some sense into you," Anakin replied.
Leia was awake now, sitting up in bed. "We tried talking to Aramita. She wouldn't listen."
"I'm afraid it's gotten a bit more complicated than that," Obi-Wan said, shuffling up to Rianna's bed. "Come come Rianna, I know you're awake there."
Rianna's eyes opened, but she gave no reaction to the ghosts, not even when Chewie roared in surprise. She appeared to be in a stupor of sorts, as if her mind automatically rejected any mention of her mother.
"What's goin' on . . .?" Han mumbled through a yawn, blinking slowly as he raised his head a few inches above the pillow, then abruptly slamming his head back down the instant he saw the ghosts. "Oh, great," he muttered.
Padme could already sense that trouble was brewing. "What do you mean, more complicated?" she asked in the calmest voice she could muster.
Anakin stared at her, looking hesitant to reveal anything.
"Yes, what do you mean?" Leia asked.
Obi-Wan continued to face Rianna, putting a hand on her head. "Rianna, do you know your mother's story?"
"She was a Jedi who got kicked out because she loved my father," Rianna mumbled as coldly as if she were reciting a history fact.
"That is only the barest of the facts," Obi-Wan replied.
"Like I care," Rianna grumbled, sinking down under the covers.
"Both your parents were very young when they met," Obi-Wan continued, ignoring the fact that Rianna hadn't asked to hear the story. "Your mother was a padawan learner on a mission to Naboo with her master. With the Clone Wars raging on, she was thankful to be on a peaceful mission for once."
"What was the mission?" Luke asked.
"The new Queen wanted a Jedi or two present for her coronation," Obi-Wan explained. "That was where Aramita met a young junior officer named Gerado Trenn." He looked intensely at Rianna, whose eyes barely showed above the covers. "They were both sixteen."
"Wait a minute," said Padme. "Are you saying that Aramita never actually finished her Jedi training?"
Obi-Wan nodded. "No, she never did. She abandoned the Jedi Order to marry Gerado when she was still a padawan. She never took the Jedi trials." He stroked his beard. "Perhaps that was what made her such an easy victim."
"Victim?" Rianna said in a hushed voice.
Anakin looked warily around his observers, his eyes darting from one person to the next before settling on Rianna. "I know you remember how Palpatine's spirit tried to take you, even though you keep trying to forget it."
Rianna sank under the covers.
"Is that what's happened to Aramita?" Padme exclaimed.
"No," said Anakin. "Something worse." He gently grasped Padme's face with his specter hand. "Remember how I stepped inside your body once?"
"Of course," said Padme. "I was glad to let you do it."
"Exactly, you allowed me to do it willingly." Anakin was staring coldly at her. "In order for a spirit to successfully possess a body, the body must be willing to let it enter." Once more he turned his attention to Rianna. "If a spirit tries to possess an unwilling body . . ."
All the mortals seemed to hold their breaths at the same time – for several moments, no one spoke or made any sort of sound.
"What happens?" Padme finally asked in a hesitant whisper.
Anakin looked extremely hesitant to reveal the answer, but Obi-Wan spoke for him. "The two souls compete for control over the body." He looked down, as if this were an incredibly taboo subject among the dead. "The invading spirit drains energy from the inhabiting spirit like a parasite. If the invading spirit isn't driven out . . . it can lead to complete insanity."
Han's eyes were wide with suspicion. "So you're sayin' this whole attracting Palpatine's ghost thing runs in the family??"
"I don't know," said Anakin. "Perhaps she attracted him because he wanted someone who knew how to use the Force but hadn't learned how to resist the dark side. Plus, she's living on a remote planet where it's unlikely for anyone to see her losing her sanity. In any case, that distress call she sent wasn't a lie – it was real. She knew she was being overtaken by something, but she didn't know what. It was frightening her enough to seek help from anywhere . . ." He looked knowingly at Rianna. ". . . even to risk her daughter's life so the help would stay here."
"She caused the Falcon's power to go out??" Rianna shouted.
"That's it, she's dead," Han growled.
Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at the pilot. "You may not want to say that."
"Why not?" Han said in a disinterested manner.
Luke quickly intervened. "So . . . who was it that actually killed our baby – Aramita or Palpatine?"
Both ghosts were silent for a few awkward seconds. "It was . . . Aramita," Anakin finally said, "but listen to me, you have to understand what she was going through – what she's still going through."
"Oh yeah," said Han, rolling his eyes, "she's possessed by an evil ghost, that makes it perfectly okay for her to kill her own grandchild."
"Quiet, Han," Leia snapped before turning to the ghosts. "She thought Palpatine would take the baby, didn't she?"
Obi-Wan nodded solemnly.
Luke sighed. "So what do we do? How can we help her?"
"Nevermind helping her," Rianna said sharply. "How do we help my father?"
Anakin put his hand on his future daughter-in-law's shoulder. "She won't be able to see Gerado so long as Palpatine's spirit is inside her. Furthermore, as Palpatine's soul slowly eats away at her soul, he becomes stronger. If he isn't stopped, he'll soon have complete control over her body – and then he'll be able kill as he wishes."
Padme struggled to keep her breath under control, tried not to think about how the kind inhabitants of this planet would be the first ones eliminated. "How can we stop him, Ani? How?"
Anakin fidgeted slightly, as if dreading the answer. "We're not entirely sure . . . but most likely . . . Aramita's body will have to die."