AN: This chapter is infinitely long, which is why it took so long to get done. Also, the holidays. Also, I got sick. Please enjoy. I need a nap.
Chapter 53: Shroud of Darkness
"You idiots!" Obi-Wan shouted, the gold nearly gone in his eyes as they surrendered to the blood red of the Dark Side, his every muscle bunched and tight, his hands clenched so hard they glowed a faint blue with the telltale warning of lightning crackling under his skin and through his veins. Before him stood Luke and Ezra, their heads bowed and their faces' red, Ezra's from the embarrassment of being yelled at in front of basically everybody, and Luke from sniffling back the tears he was trying desperately to keep from falling. Leia stood back with the rest of the crews of the Ghost and the Umbra, and swore that in all her life, she had never seen her father so angry.
It had been five days since Zeb had been rescued from the moon of Geonosis, five days until they had evaded pursuing Imperials long enough to make it to their rendevous at the edge of Wild Space, five days before they met up with the Star Destroyer Subjugator and the Umbra. Obi-Wan had gotten word that Zeb had been found before he had reached the Arkanis sector and had promptly dropped his ships out of hyperspace to change course for the rendevous. He had spent the remainder of that time hard at work converting the rest of the Imperials, and by the time the Ghost arrived, the crew of the Subjugator served the Shadow King. When they had met on the Umbra for the mission debriefing, Obi-Wan was, in a word, displeased.
"I have spent my life defending you and your sister!" the Sith Lord snarled as he paced before the teenagers. "Your whole lives, everything I have ever done has been to keep you safe and hidden so the Emperor and Vader could never find you, could never discover who you are. And what do you do?" Hard, glowing red eyes glared at the two boys as if daring them to say anything. Neither of them did, and it only seemed to make Lord Lumis angrier. "Ruin it in a moment by letting an ISB Agent get a good look at an unidentified Force user!" He paused, his jaw clenched tightly, the silence oppressive, and when Ezra chanced a look up and found himself staring right into the Sith Lord's gaze, he was certain death was incoming. "And then you let him live to return to the Empire!"
"We couldn't kill him, Father, he needed help!" Luke finally protested, boldly standing his ground when the Sith Lord's gaze pierced right through him, seemingly impervious to the thrashing darkness that Ezra too keenly felt. "He was injured and unarmed. That's murder."
"So what?!" Lumis snapped, and Luke drew up to his full height, still a good deal shorter than his father, but looking just as strong for the strength of his convictions, a blinding light in a tide of darkness.
"I will not murder an unarmed man, he wasn't a threat!"
"There are many ways a man can be a threat, Luke!" Lumis snarled. "And one of those ways is allowing a high ranking Imperial Agent to return to the Empire with the knowledge of the existence of a rogue Force sensitive they have no previous knowledge of!" He fumed for a moment, growing more frustrated with Luke's obstinance, and ran his hand through his hair, hissing in irritation. "If you were unwilling to kill him, you should have captured him!"
The briefest break in Luke's stalwart confidence and the knowing wince Ezra gave was enough to stoke the flames of the Sith's rage, his furious glowing eyes looking quickly over the Spectres, to his daughter, to Cody shaking his head in the corner, to Ahsoka leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and her eyes closed in thought. His teeth grinding together in rage, Lumis growled in barely controlled fury and turned from them to stalk to long viewport in the training room where they had gathered, his arm resting on the transparisteel as he gazed out across the blackness of space to look at the Star Destroyer Subjugator, the new black and red finish upon her hull almost seeming to make her blend in with the dark of space like a silent predator.
"Did not a single one of you think that maybe you should capture the Imperial?" Lumis growled, looking over his shoulder at the people in the room, and the tension within Ezra finally became too great for him to handle as he took a step forward, stuttering for a moment before he found his tongue.
"We didn't have time, the Imperials were coming!" the teenager said frantically, his heart only beating faster when her felt the weight of the Force begin to lay heavy upon him, his tongue suddenly thick in his mouth.
"He was injured," the Sith Lord hissed dangerously. "And unarmed and unable to fight back. Do not even pretend that you did not have the time to throw that man on the Ghost! And you!" he snapped, turning away from the viewport to reel upon the hapless Zeb. "You don't have an excuse! You were stranded with him for hours! You love killing Imperials, and what's more, he aided in the purge of your home world! You had every motive and opportunity to do the sensible thing and kill him!"
"Not exactly honorable to kill a wounded man, is it?" Zeb growled defiantly, his arms crossed over his chest, and Lumis stared at him for a long moment, his eyes wide and his jaw slack in disbelief.
"Honor?" Kenobi scoffed. "Who said anything about honor?! Were the roles reversed, he wouldn't have hesitated to murder you! And for the record!" he snapped, turning away from the defiant Lesat to reel on Ezra. "I expect Luke to stay his hand when it comes to doing what must be done as quickly and effectively as possible, but from you, apprentice, I expect better! It should have been a small thing for you to slay the man where he lay!"
"That's murder, Father," Luke said coldly, the Sith's attention snapping back to his son, and for just the flash of a moment, Luke thought he saw fear in the gold of his Father's eyes. "We have to be principled, we have to be better than the regime we are replacing or we cannot hope to win."
"This isn't about the Empire, this is about you!" Obi-Wan shouted, the rage in his voice breaking away to reveal fear and desperation like Luke had never seen, and silence fell over the room with the sudden tide of such raw emotions. "This is about keeping you and your sister safe from the people that would harm you! All these years of keeping you hidden, only to have you expose yourself in a pointless, foolish act of nobility!" The corner of Obi-Wan's lip twitched as he repressed the expression of whatever emotion he was feeling from sliding across his face, which made the sneer he settled upon seem less than genuine. "I won't be around forever!" he snapped harshly, bitterly, so much so that the Force seemed to bite at the people who could feel it. "My time is coming much faster than I'd like, and it won't be long before I'm not around to protect you! If you aren't hidden, Luke, if they know to look for you and I'm not there to defend you anymore..."
Obi-Wan choked, a hard knot of emotion swelling in his throat and preventing any further words from slipping past his lips, the furious red that stained his eyes receding to reveal wounded, glowing gold. The twins whimpered softly, both reticent Luke and imperious Leia swiftly stepping forward to go to their Father, only to be stopped when he raised a hand, the gesture saying in no uncertain terms to keep away.
"Father..." Luke whimpered, his voice cracking with the pain in his chest of seeing the Sith Lord's usually concealed fears laid bare, a wide would open and bleeding with no hope of healing it. "Father, I'm sorry. I-I wasn't thinking of myself when-"
"Do you ever?" Obi-Wan growled, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the others in the room and gestured dismissively in the air. "This meeting is over," he snapped. "Leave me."
For a moment, nobody moved, as though they meant to defy the Sith Lord, then slowly, they drew closer together, whispering softly amongst each other for a moment before Hera nodded, reached up to lay a lingering touch on Kanan's cheek before she beaconed for the others to follow her, Sabine, Zeb, and Rex following her out of the room to return to the Ghost. Following the Twi'lek's lead, Cody, snapped his fingers, gesturing for the Umbra's crew to leave and return to their duties, and with a quick, sympathetic look at the three teenagers, he patted Kanan on the shoulder and gave Ahsoka a weary look on his way out. For a long while, it was silent, the six Force sensitive occupants in the room feeling the quivering strain of the Force pulled taut with emotion, the Dark Side growling and snarling and hungering to be set loose.
The tension released when Obi-Wan's shoulders slumped and he leaned back against the wall to slid to the ground, his hand running over his face as he cursed under his breath in Ancient Sith. The Dark Side coiled tightly around him, hissing and angry and warning those present to stay far, far away, though Luke didn't move, remained standing in the center of the room even ad Leia and Kanan moved to join him and the silent Ezra at his side.
"Five days..." Obi-Wan hissed through his clenched teeth, turning his head to look out the viewport at his Star Destroyer. "Five days back with the Empire, more than enough time to share what he had seen..." His fingers drummed absently on the ground as he closed is eyes and slowed his breathing, the fiery wrath of the Dark Side freezing into cold, still anger as the Sith regained control. "Sidious may know by now there is a third Force sensitive associated with the Lothal insurgents. He may know now the description of two unidentified X-Wing pilots. Even if you aren't there, when they hunt the Ghost, your absence will be noted and they will be looking for you.,.." Obi-Wan sighed heavily and hung his head. "One step away from your discovery...so very far away from the complete secrecy you had five days ago..."
"Can we be certain Kallus told his superiors?" Kanan asked, stepping beside the children and gently nudging them to stand behind him. "He was badly injured. Perhaps he's been in bacta since he was rescued. Maybe he hasn't filed his reports yet." Kanan shrugged. "Maybe he didn't want to. From everything Zeb told us, it sounded like they connected. Maybe he will say nothing out of respect for the rebel that saved his life."
"I'm of the same opinion," Ahsoka said softly from her place by the wall, all gazes on her as she slowly made her way toward them, her datapad in hand, and tapped the device to a small podium near the circular patter on the ground indicating the limits of the full body holoprojector.
"Even if that's true, he is a threat and a liability," Obi-Wan hissed. "He must be neutralized. And if he doesn't have this streak of honor you and Kanan are so inclined to attribute to him, I can't murder my way out of this problem, killing him will not make the people he has told unlearn what they have been told. The damage has been done."
"I agree he must be dealt with," Ahsoka said absently, her fingers running over her datapad and syncing it to the podium, the holoprojector blinking to life with the soft blue glow of the transmission field, the lights around them dimming, and she turned to the others, a smile on her lips as she motioned for silence. The projection field jumped with static for a moment as Ahsoka's encrypted security was applied, the image of Fulcrum appearing before them as the Togruta assumed control of the Umbra's communications, and after a moment, she placed her call. They only had to wait a moment, the Fulcrum symbol slowly spinning as the call went through, and it faded into a burst of pixels, reshaping and reforming into the image of a young man, his face stern and his demeanor serous, sporting a brown Corellian-cut field jacket and a versatile A280-CFE blaster in the sniper configuration slung over his shoulder.
"Fulcrum," he said, saluting swiftly and standing at attention. "This transmission and my location are secure."
"I'm glad to hear it, Captain Andor," Ahsoka said calmly, her datapad on the podium running her voice and image through the program that would distort her voice and conceal her identity, and Kanan leaned over to look at the display, a slight smirk on his face as he watched the Togruta work. It felt good to finally be on the other side of the mysterious Fulcrum transmissions. "Did you complete your mission?"
The stoic expression on the Captain's face faltered for a moment before he stood up tall, his shoulders back and his head held high, like he was bracing himself for a reprimand. "There were...complications. The Imperial freighter was in the F'tzner system, as you said, but I...failed to acquire the supplies."
"We needed that cargo, Captain," Ahsoka said with a frown, and Andor stiffened, sudden anger flashing across his face.
"Well the cargo the ship was listed to be carrying wasn't there, Fulcrum," he snapped, exhaling hard through his nose, his brow drawing together in frustration. "Our intel was bad, or something was switched, or more likely, the Empire forged the shipping manifest to hide what they were actually transporting!" He was still for a moment as he silently fumed, and Ahsoka leaned in, watching her agent's face carefully. It was unlike stoic, stalwart Cassian Andor to show such strong emotion. He was angry, but not at her. This was about the mission, and Ahsoka stayed silent to give the man a chance to process and silently seethe. "They were transporting Wookies," Andor finally said quietly. "Slaves, Fulcrum."
Ahsoka quickly looked over to Obi-Wan, the Sith Lord having risen from his spot to draw closer, the same knowing look on his face that she knew she had on hers. Behind her, she could hear Kanan gasp, a quick look shared with his Padawan as his jaw clenched tight and grim realization on his face. They had, in their own way, all arrived at the same conclusion. This was no accident, no misunderstanding, no one time event. These Wookies were slaves, just a few of many, and in light of the Empire's major, secret project, the construction modules around Geonosis, the extermination of the Geonosian people...it suddenly became much more clear exactly how the Empire was keeping this project secret. Built on the backs of slaves meant no payment, no labor costs to alert the Senate, no discrepancies in the accounting.
They were drawing closer, so close that Ahsoka could almost see it now.
"Did you manage to liberate them, Captain?" Ahsoka asked somberly, and the hologram shifted from foot to foot, readjusting the strap of his blaster.
"Yeah. Brought them to one of the moons we've been scouting for a base," Andor said quietly. "I'd have gone to Kashyyyk, but...you know what a hell that is." She did know. The forested, beautiful homeworld of the Wookies had been utterly destroyed by the Empire, and they maintained a hold on the system so strong that even the most reckless of the rebellion's agents would venture near. It made sense now. If the Empire was drawing a slave labor force out of Kashyyyk, of course the system would be locked down to keep it secret.
"Good work, Captain," Ahsoka said softly, her fingers running over her datapad as she took notes and keeping an eye on Kanan. She's have to ask him what he knew, what he had seen, to allow him to reach the same conclusion she and Obi-Wan had. "I have another mission for you. One of the utmost importance."
"I'm ready, Fulcrum," Cassian said tersely, fishing for his own datapad and swiping his fingers across it to prime it for receiving the information package from his informant, which Ahsoka quickly sent to him.
"This," Ahsoka said as Captain Andor received and opened the files, "is ISB-021, Agent Alexsandr Kallus. He is currently stationed at the Imperial headquarters on Lothal and is tasked with hunting the rebels of the Lothal insurgency. We believe he may potentially be sympathetic to the rebel cause."
"Are you kidding me?" Cassian asked, his eyes widening as he looked up from his datapad. "This is a recruitment mission?"
"It is," Ahsoka said with a nod. "I don't need to tell you what an advantage it would be for us to have a high ranking Imperial Agent working as a Fulcrum agent. Be careful, be thorough, and be certain."
"I will," Andor promised, frowning as he flipped through the information on his datapad. "The file on this guy is really light. I can still do it, but it makes it more difficult. It'll make this take longer."
"I would suggest you speak to Minister Tua," Ahsoka said swiftly, her fingers moving over her own datapad. "She worked closely with Agent Kallus for some time, she should be able to fill you in on any of the details you feel you may need, and then some. She is a valuable resource. I suggest you use it."
"I'll do just that, Fulcrum," Cassian said, making a quick note on his datapad before he closed it and tucked the device into a pocket in the lining of his jacket. "And if this Agent Kallus isn't receptive?" he asked, and Ahsoka was silent for a moment, her eyes drifting between Obi-Wan and the three teenagers standing close together.
"He has come into possession of some very incriminating information," she said slowly. "If you are unable to recruit him, kill him."
"I'll do my best to secure this agent for you," Cassian said with a nod.
"Tread carefully, Captain," Ahsoka said softly, her hand on the podium controls. "Fulcrum out." She shut off the holoprojector, the image of the Captain flickering off as the lights in the room brightened. "If he's already spoken, there's nothing we can do," she said quietly to Obi–Wan. "But if he hasn't, we'll get him before he does. Cassian is one of the best of my agents. With any luck, we can turn this around to our advantage."
"Last year, we intercepted an Imperial freighter transporting Wookie prisoners," Kanan muttered, his voice low and serious as he stared at Ahsoka and Obi-Wan. "I didn't think too much of it at the time, but with what we know now, and with this second ship filled with Wookies..." Kanan shook his head. "This is no coincidence. The Empire is pressing Wookies into slavery."
"You're right, they are," Obi-Wan said absently, his hand stroking his chin as he stared at the ground in contemplation, a sneer on his face as he hissed and brought his attention up to the others in the room. "Have we made contact with Nightswan yet? He is on this trail as well, is he not?"
"That's what we understand, yes," Ahsoka said quietly. "We've traced his insurgency to Scrim Island on Batonn, there's an Imperial garrison there that they've taken over, and it seems like they're gearing up for a major assault." Ahsoka sighed heavily. "But Nightswan wasn't there. I still believe his headquarters are located on Batonn, but he's keeping himself well hidden, or he has an alternate base off-world. I'm close, Kenobi, but I'm not certain his rebel cell will join with us. They are distrustful to the point of paranoia."
"I don't care if they join our cause, I care about finding out what information he has," Obi-Wan said. "Together, we may have enough to find the damn thing." The Sith growled deeply, his teeth clenched tightly together as he shook his head. "Sith Hells, I haven't been so blind since I was a Padawan, the Force has never been so uncertain. I need my vision back, I need clarity..." He sighed, his focus drifting to gaze out into space. "I need more time, there is so much I have yet to do..."
"You said we'd go to Lothal..." Leia quietly ventured, finally breaking her long silence and stepping forward, her twin and Ezra at her heels. "You said you may find your answers there."
"I very well may, yes. There is...something. Something there that keeps drawing us back. For some time now, our paths have begun and ended on Lothal, all our roads lead us right back..." Obi-Wan sighed and shot the teenagers a suspicious, hard glare. "If there are answers to be had, I may well find them there. And given how dangerous Lothal may be to you two right now, you are no longer going to be accompanying me."
"What?!" Leia gasped in outrage, looking back at her brother with hopeless betrayal written on her face, and she scoffed as she looked back at the Sith Lord. "Father, just because Luke is soft and won't murder a man doesn't mean I should suffer! At least take me with you!"
"You shouldn't go alone, Father," Luke quietly agreed as he stood beside Leia. "It's dangerous, as you said, and with the visions you've been having, you should have back-up just in case."
"See?!" Leia said firmly. "Even Luke thinks I should go with you!"
"I didn't say that..." Luke said flatly, glaring at his twin. "I think you should take Kanan and Ahsoka."
"Kanan and Ahsoka..." Leia repeated, her voice tight and angry as she glared at her brother. Luke was unaffected by her displeasure, nodding curtly and keeping his eyes on his father.
"And Ezra," Luke added. "He's the one that first had the vision. It would be a mistake not to bring him along."
"We'd be happy to go with you," Kanan said, laying his hand on his Padawan's shoulder. "Though, if I may, Obi-Wan, I think you might want to take the kids with you." The Sith Lord glared at the Jedi, a wide, bright grin on Kanan's face as he laid his hands on Luke and Leia's heads. "The trouble started because your kids are brash, irresponsible and shortsighted."
"Hey!" Leia snapped, batting the Jedi's hand off her head and glaring at him. Kanan merely shrugged.
"Like Ezra," Kanan added in his lazy drawl, a smirk tugging at his lips when the Padawan crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. "The point is, maybe they're not ready to be sent out on their own, but more than that, if the Empire thinks there's another Jedi associated with our group, they're going to dispatch the Inquisitors."
"All two that remain," Kenobi grumbled. "More likely than not, they would send a Sith Lord with them."
"Even better," Kanan mumbled. "They can sense us in the Force. So long as there are Inquisitors and Sith Lords serving the Empire, the Jedi in our ranks puts our rebel cell at risk. We attract them, and they know where to look for us. That's why you started hunting them, isn't it?"
"It is..." Obi-Wan said suspiciously. "But that seems to me like more cause to keep my children behind. They are an uncertain element, but the Inquisitors know exactly how to find you and your Padawan, and the Sith are always hunting me."
"True," Kanan agreed, "but I think that no matter what's on your tail, the safest place in the entire galaxy is right next to you."
"Until it is not..." Obi-Wan ground out bitterly. "Until Sidious comes for me and makes that vision a reality, and I don't know when or where that will happen. Do you not trust that my children will be safe in Hera's care?"
"Oh, please..." Kanan scoffed. "There isn't any place in the galaxy safer for kids than with Hera. My question for you, oh mighty Lord of the Sith, is if your kids will stay with Hera. I half suspect them to run off on their own, and then where will you be?" Kenobi's eyes darted quickly to the twins, wide-eyed and smiling innocently, and he scowled, his lips curling up in a sneer as he looked back at Kanan.
"If it is a matter of sensing them in the Force, than staying close to you will draw the Inquisitors to them. Luke and Leia are practically invisible in the Force."
"Is that a chance you're willing to take?" Kanan asked gravely. "Do you really want to chance that they won't be sensed by Maul? By Vader?" Obi-Wan was still for a moment, his breath held as he stared down the Jedi, and he reached out through the Force to find the waters dark and murky when they had once been so clear. His gaze drifted to the twins, their eyes wide with fear and apprehension, to Ezra, who couldn't keep the concern off his face when he looked at Luke, to Ahsoka, ever the silent observer, and finally back to Kanan, confident and certain, so like the Jedi Knight he never became.
"Alright..." Kenobi sighed, running a hand over his tired eyes ans smiling ever so slightly when he watched the twins quietly celebrate with Ezra. It would be good to be with them as often as he could, now that the end was so near. "Perhaps they may learn something as well. But if something happens," he said firmly, pointing a finger at the twins and then at Ahsoka by the wall, "you will obey my orders without question. If I say run, you do it. Ahsoka, if Sidious, or Vader, or any of them ever show up, you are to leave me and take them to safety."
"Father, no!" Leia said, giving voice to the moment of panic that passed between her and her brother. "We can't just leave you to die if-"
"You can and you will," the Sith said firmly, his voice holding no room to contest his orders. "This is not up for debate. You two will come with me on all my missions from now on, you will stay close, and I will keep you safe, and sometimes, that means staying behind so I may shield you while you run. In that event, Ahsoka will become your guardian, and you will do as she says."
"They will not come to harm with me," Ahsoka said somberly, giving the Sith a respectful nod before she looked at the twins. "You have my word, Obi-Wan. No matter what, they will come to no harm under my protection."
"I know they won't, it's why I asked you," Obi-Wan said, sighing as he sat cross-legged on the floor, his hands settling on his knees as he closed his eyes. "Someone please tell K2 to set course for Lothal. I have much to meditate on before we arrive. Be certain you are ready by the time we reach Lothal."
They muttered their acceptance of the orders they were given, and Ahsoka and Kanan gently herded the excited teens from the room, leaving Obi-Wan alone to delve deep into the Force and try to make sense of the shadowed, blurry images that he could barely see.
"The last time I was here, I was so drunk I could barely stand..." Obi-Wan said as he looked up at the high stone ceiling carved from the rock that stretched high up into Lothal's sky, just another stone in another rocky outcrop that became so much more to those with the talent who knew where to look. This place had seemed untouched, unchanging from the way they had left it the last time they were here over a year ago. Tracks still lay cut on the dusty ground from where the drunken Sith Lord had been unceremoniously dragged, footsteps still stood evidence of Kanan's nervous pacing, and everything else just as they left it, down to the grim skeletons of former Jedi that lay within.
"Last time I was here, Grandmaster Yoda appeared to us," Kanan said, his voice low to keep the sound from echoing. "Do you think he will again?"
"He certainly could," the deep, ghostly voice of Qui-Gon echoed around them, the Force spirit materializing in the air before them, and the Sith Lord groaned, giving a hard roll of his eyes as he shoved his thumbs into his belt and stalked away, muttering curses under his breath loud enough to be certain that those present heard his displeasure. "The Force here is clear. Strong. Ideal for even the living to transcend their mortal shells."
"Does that mean there's no danger here?" Luke asked the spirit quietly, stepping up toward the ghost with a light, easy smile on his face.
"There is always dangers in places like this," Qui-Gon said quietly with a slight shake of his head. "Just because this place is of the Light doesn't mean it is without perils. The Force is always testing us. They would not be tests if there were not risks."
"But no Sith Lords," Leia said, and Qui-Gon smiled at the girl as he nodded.
"Other than the one in the room...no."
"The Sith need not be here to be present, Jedi," Kenobi said scornfully, glaring at the spirit before he turned away and looked through the door that led deeper into the Temple. "I shouldn't have to remind you that it was here that Ezra saw Darth Sidious in his visions, and from the way he tells it, Sidious saw him too."
"But if you believed this place to be so dangerous, you wouldn't have brought Luke and Leia with you," Ahsoka gently pointed out, and Kenobi stiffened, his jaw tightening as he curtly nodded.
"You're right, it isn't the place," Obi-Wan muttered, his gaze drifting back down the darkened hallways beyond. "In theory, Sidious could see them from anywhere. I don't know how he found Ezra, or what it was that drew his attention to him. But in all these years, so far as I know, the Force has protected Luke and Leia. They haven't been seen. If they had, Vader would have been relentlessly hunting them."
"But if Kallus reports what he saw..." Kanan said quietly, and the Sith's hand clenched tightly, the smooth, warm flow of the Force suddenly becoming bitterly cold with his anger.
"It won't matter where they are..." Kenobi muttered.
"But he knows you," Ezra ventured nervously when Luke tensed beside him. "You were his student, right? He knows what you feel like, he knows how you find you, and he hasn't."
"Hasn't he?!" the SIth Lord snapped, the teenager drawing back slightly with the sudden surge of anger. Kenobi sighed, ran his hand over his face, and leaned back against the wall. "My apologies..." he muttered softly. "You're right, of course. Sidious does not have perfect sight, or all would have been lost long ago. The Force remains a mystery, even to those who have long ago been called Masters, and never forget that I am considered a Master myself, and I have learned concealment from the best, and I have taught Luke and Leia how to slide through the waters of the Force without causing so much as a ripple upon its surface."
"So...what are you worried about?" Ezra asked innocently, and a small, sad smile touched Obi-Wan's lips as he looked at the three teenagers.
"It is one thing to move silently when nobody know you are there, but an entirely different matter to do so when the hunter knows there's prey about. Even those who move with perfect stealth leave their trace upon the Force, even if it is slight." He sighed heavily, his hand running through his hair as he pushed off the wall and slowly strode to join the rest of them, his hands clasped tightly behind his back. "I will, of course, do everything in my power to keep out presence undetected. I am not an easy man to detect in the Force, and my sphere of influence is not insignificant."
"And we do not know if we are being hunted," Ahsoka said quietly. "If Agent Kallus hasn't shared what he has seen, it's unlikely that they would be anymore vigilant than they have been in the past." She shrugged. "And even still, I doubt Sidious would concern himself with a single unidentified Force sensitive when he has you to contend with. It's been over fifteen years, and we haven't been discovered. Power may have made him arrogant. We may seem insignificant next to the power he commands."
"...let us hope that is the case," Obi-Wan muttered, drawing up and taking a deep breath. "Alright, here's the plan. We're here for answers. Keep your minds open, because the answers we seek may not be the answers the Force gives us. If we are vigilant, we may learn a great deal here."
"I'll stay behind," Ahsoka volunteered, taking out her datapad and sitting cross-legged on the dusty ground. "I have work to do, and it would serve us well to keep a guard just in case."
"Very well," Obi-Wan said softly. "Kanan and I are going inside to meditate on the vision and see if we can't find anything that was missed the first time."
"We are?" Kanan asked, and the Sith tersely nodded.
"The Force is so unclear to me, and there is so much of the Light in this place I feel nearly blind. I need a second set of eyes." Kanan nodded, shifted to stand closer to the Sith, and Obi-Wan looked at the three teenagers, fidgeting and waiting expectantly for their orders. "Ezra." The boy straightened up, his posture stiff and his hands at his side at attention. "You have overcome a trial in this place before. You are to stay together with Luke and Leia. Feel the Force, follow where it leads, and learn what it has to teach you."
"Yes sir!" Ezra said sharply. "I won't disappoint you!"
"See that you don't..." Kenobi grumbled, gesturing with a lazy hand at Qui-Gon. "Because the Force spirit is going with you, and he's going to tell me everything you do."
"I am?" Qui-Gon asked, an aloof smirk on his lips when the Sith Lord glared at him.
"You are..." Obi-Wan repeated. "If you're going to haunt me, you may as well make yourself useful."
"The Force may have other uses for your friend Kanan," Qui-Gon said softly. "If you find yourself blind in this place, I am a better guide than most."
"And I have walked the Force for many, many years," the Sith Lord snarled. "Blind as I may be, the Force is no stranger to me. The children are in more need of guidance than I, especially if the Force means to test them."
"Very well..." Qui-Gon muttered, the ethereal body wavering in the air for a moment before it vanished, the hall beyond suddenly lighting up when flames sparked in torches along the walls. With a deep breath, Obi-Wan walked forward into the hall beyond, Kanan falling in beside him and the teenagers scrambling after them. When they had all passed the threshold, the heavy stone door slammed closed, leaving Ahsoka alone in the rounded chamber, and with a sigh, she leaned back against one of the towering pillars, her datapad resting on her knees, and quietly read over the information scrolling across the screen.
It was still too early to have heard anything about Kallus from Captain Andor, the man only having just reported in that he had spoken to Minister Tua and received all the information that the informant package had been missing, including the Star Destroyer he was assigned to and the exact location of his offices within Lothal's Imperial headquarters. It was a good start, and Cassian Andor was a fine agent, but even he couldn't move so quickly. It would likely take months for Cassian to establish contact with the ISB Agent, and even longer than that to see any results. These things took time, and while Ahsoka was aware of the urgent nature of the matter, she knew there were other risks than just the discovery of Luke and Leia, but also other options that Kenobi hadn't considered.
They had a legion of Force sensitive Mandalorians, all of who could be at risk were Kallus to come forward, and the discovery of children that had survived Vader's slaughter in the Jedi Temple was the last thing the rebellion needed. But any one of them would have been proud to step forward and reveal themselves if it meant drawing attention away from the others. It was not a course of action she wished to take, but Ahsoka slowly began sifting through the list of names she could call upon for that duty were it to come to that. She made her selections, narrowed the list down to twenty candidates who she would ask to die for the rebellion, and she felt cold in the pit of stomach every time she knew she was sending an agent to a likely death.
Ahsoka quickly minimized the files when she had made her selections. There was little to be done about Agent Kallus now, and little point on continuing to study it when she had done all she could and set the proper wheels in motion, not when there was os much other work to be done. In truth, Agent Kallus was but one of many problems that Ahsoka had to attend to, only a small part of a much greater whole in the fight against Sidious' Empire, and of all the missions she was managing, all the battles she was keeping an eye on, all the rebel factions associated or independent of their cause, all the potential spies and allies, the Kallus file was far from the most concerning. It was in Cassian Andor's more than competent hands, and while failure in this mission could prove to be potentially devastating, she trusted the Captain to succeed.
She sifted through all the new intel she was always receiving from her contacts throughout the galaxy, the agents in her employ that served as her eyes and ears on Imperial and rebel activity, and there was always new information, new leads, new atrocities. Increased Imperial activity around Kessel. A new surge of rebel activity out of Mon Cala. Hundreds of other smaller reports on potential informants, on Imperial schedules, on possible bases, but what caught Ahsoka's attention more than anything was news of a large movement of Imperial forces against rebel insurgency not very far away from Lothal.
The Batonn sector had been in Ahsoka's sights for quite some time, the insurgency groups there clever and creative and extremely good at staying several steps ahead of the Imperials that hunted them, mostly because they were led by the elusive Nightswan, a man who had been on her radar for years now. But the Nightswan was secretive and mistrustful, not uncommon for rebel leaders, and all attempts to contact him had been met with silence and the man disappearing from sight. Over the past few weeks, she had narrowed the location of his base of operations to the planet Batonn, but where, she had yet to discover. Now, with the recent reports, it seemed as though the Imperials were closing in as well.
Not just Batonn, but the entire Batonn sector was alight with the blasts of ion fire from the Star Destroyers as they purged the area of rebel activity. Over Denash, the 125th Imperial Task Force chased the occupying rebels from the system, the insurgents there opting to flee instead of stay behind and fight. Over Batonn, the 103rd attacked the rebel occupied base on Scrim Island, one of the possible locations Ahsoka had pegged as Nightswan's current base of operations, which was further supported by word that the insurgent force was actually managing to keep control of the island as they dealt heavy damage to the Imperial forces in orbit. But most disturbing of all was the 96th task force over Sammun, the rebels there providing very little challenge for the Imperials to capture or destroy, which came as very little surprise when Ahsoka saw the Star Destroyer in command of the force, the distinctive engraving of the mythological beast the ship was named after carved on its hull.
The presence of the Chimera meant Thrawn was there, and with the Imperial forces closing in, it could only mean that Nightswan would soon be at his end. If they were to save him, to recruit him, to learn what he knew about the Empire's secret project, they needed to get to him, and they needed to get there now before it was too late, if it wasn't already. She quickly opened the files, looked through the details of the battles at Sammun, Denash and Scrim Island, looked at the movements of both the rebel and Imperial fleets. The Chimera was heading toward Batonn, no doubt to assist the struggling Imperials there, the fleeing rebel ships from Scrim Island and Denash splitting off in several directions, though from the look of it, it seemed as though their vectors were all converging on a singular location, the initial spread more than likely an attempt to confuse their Imperial pursuers.
There was one major city on Batonn, Paeragosto City, and just outside of that, the Creekpath Mining Facility, the place where all the escaped rebel vessels seemed to be converging upon. If Nightswan was still alive, and Ahsoka suspected that he was, than this would be where he was located. This would be the final stand of the Batonn Insurgency. They needed to get there before it was too late.
Ahsoka snapped her datapad closed, stood quickly, and was immediately struck with a wave of dizziness and nausea, her entire world spinning as she shut her eyes and grabbed her head as she staggered where she stood for a moment before dropping to her knees. She could hear cruel, malicious laughing, the spark of Force lightning, Luke and Leia screams echoing all around her, deep, rhythmic breathing through a respirator, the blazing thrum of lightsabers, the hiss as they clashed and the sickening sizzle as they cut through flesh. Her palms slammed on the ground when she thought she was going to wretch, her shoulders heaving as she felt her hands sliding in a pool of hot, thick liquid she didn't need to see to know it was blood. A flash of bright light exploded behind her eyes, and a chorus of screams erupted around her as she felt herself falling.
Her eyes flew open when she thought she hit the ground, her heart racing and her breathing hard and fast as she looked at her surroundings to find herself no longer in the safety of the Temple, but instead in a place bathed in red light, a cold mist hanging low and heavy in the air. Ahsoka's breath froze in the air as she looked around, the faint echo of screams and the sound of her own heart pounding in her ears. When nothing happened, nothing moved, nothing caught her attention, she slowly stepped forward, aware that the Force had brought her to this place for a reason, and all too keenly away of what this place was. It was confirmed when she saw them, the three shadowy figures of the Sith Lords standing still and silent in the distance, and steeling herself, Ahsoka slowly approached.
While Ahsoka had never seen the vision before, she had heard enough about it to know it when she saw it, but what she saw was nothing like what she had expected. She certainly felt the cold dread in the pit of her stomach, could feel the chill of the Dark Side creeping up her spine, but it was not the horror she was expecting. She heard tales of pale yellow eyes peering through the darkness across space to look into her very soul, the sound of malicious laughter and the feel of certain death, but when she drew closer to the three spectres, she saw none of that. No glowing eyes, no illusion of life, no feeling as if they could actually see her. Rather, the shadowy visages seemed lifeless and hollow, shoulders slumped and heads bowed like avatars without their pilots. It was unnerving, disturbing, and only became more so when the shadow of the Zabrak Darth Maul began to unnaturally spasm and twitch, his hands rising to grasp at the horns that rose from his head.
She passed her hand through the dark figures, easily passing through with the wisps of shadows clinging to her fingers as if she stirred the mist that formed them. Frowning, she looked around her to find the image of Obi-Wan, the figure she knew to be defeated and rendered little more than a hollow vessel in the vision, but she saw no body, only a burned marks scoring the ground and a puddle of smeared blood upon the ground with thick, heavy drops leading away from the shadows. She looked down at her hands, remembering what she had felt before she woke up within this place, and found them covered in blood, though it was from no injury of hers, or at least from none she could see, and she couldn't help but wonder if somehow, the Obi-Wan's grim future had changed, and if she was somehow part of it.
She slowly turned to face the shadows again, the twitching Maul, the small, almost frail image of Sidious, the imposing Vader, and she slowly walked near them once again, the fear she had felt before turning hot with rage as she looked upon the shadow of the man that had murdered her Master so long ago. She stepped up to him, her jaw tight and her fist clenched, the shadow looming tall above her, far taller than she ever remembered him standing even though she had grown so much taller than when she had seen him last.
A small part of her wondered and desperately hoped that somehow this was not the person she knew him to be, that somehow Darth Vader was some grotesque monster and not her friend Anakin Skywalker. That somehow, the last few weeks of the Clone Wars was some terrible nightmare, that the murder of Asajj Ventress, Plo Koon, and Quinlan Vos aboard the Enigma never happened, that she wasn't hunted on a cold, barren planet as the last witness to his crimes, that the Jedi Temple wasn't attacked and the Jedi within slaughtered like animals by their best and brightest. She wished, but Ahsoka knew well what had happened. She could never forget it, and it was because of the shadow standing before her.
"Anakin..." she hissed through clenched teeth as she looked up into the skull-like visage of the mask made of shadows. "The time is coming when we shall meet again, and when we do, I will have vengeance for my Master..."
"So easy, is it?" a small, raspy voice said from behind her, and despite the chill and the menace of the shadows before her, Ahsoka couldn't help but smile, turning her back on the dark visages to face the small form of the Jedi Grandmaster. "Destroy Darth Vader, will you?" Yoda asked with a sage, knowing smile, watching as Ahsoka looked over her shoulder at the shadow behind her.
"I will," she quietly promised. "And if I can't, I will die trying."
"So little, does your life mean?" Yoda gently scoffed. "Waste your life, will you, for your revenge?"
"You didn't see what I saw, Master..." Ahsoka whispered. "You didn't see what Anakin did to Master Plo and Ventress and Quinlan." She closed her eyes, her jaw tight as she relived that awful moment again, as she had done so many times before. Helpless and afraid and grief stricken, trapped in an escape pod as she watched Quinlan Vos die upon Vader's red blade, the memory as fresh as the day it happened. "I need vengeance for them. My Master deserves it. I don't think his spirit can rest until the monster that killed him is gone."
"Gave his life for you, Quinlan Vos did," Yoda said softly, hobbling up to stand beside the mournful Togruta. "Rests, his spirit does, because alive, you are. Life, he wished for you, Ahsoka. Lives, he does, so long as you do." Yoda shuffled up to the woman as she bowed her head, quickly wiping her eyes with the back of her hand to hide the tears that threatened to fall. He reached up and took her hand gently in his own. "Miss him too, do I."
"I-I know..." Ahsoka whispered, her gaze drifting up to stare hard at the shadow of Vader. "I just hate that this is a galaxy where Quinlan's murder can walk free."
"Oh?" Yoda questioned. "Free, is he?"
"You know what I mean..." Ahsoka said grimly. "Vader needs to die. For Quinlan and Master Plo and Ventress, for everyone he has ever murdered in cold blood..." She sighed, a pain deep in her chest as she looked at the shadow and for just a moment, thought she saw a faint yellow glow within the eyes of the mask. "...and for Anakin too. Anakin deserved better than what he became. My friend did not deserve this endless darkness...if I end Vader, maybe Anakin can finally be at peace as well."
"Your duty, this is?" Yoda asked, the odd, knowing voice enough t make the Togruta take her eyes from the shadows and look at the tiny Jedi at her side. "Be you, must it, that destroys Darth Vader?" He chuckled, his eyes closing as his ears lowered in calm resignation. "I think not. Elsewhere, your destiny lies. Belongs to another, the fight against Vader does."
"Who?!" Ahsoka asked, her temper flaring for a moment before she quickly wrested it back under her control, though her hand was still tightly clenched. "Who has more cause than me to kill him? Obi-Wan?!" She scoffed and shook her head. "No, I don't think so. They may be linked in the Force, they may have been battling with each other since before I even knew, but nobody has cause to hate him more than me!" Ahsoka hissed in pain when a swift, sharp smack of Yoda's stick struck her across her shins, and she knelt down to rub at the tender flesh where a bruise was quickly forming and wondered how, in the embrace of the Force, she could still be struck by the little Jedi.
"Failed, Anakin did, to destroy the Sith, because to darkness he too fell," Yoda said firmly. "In anger, in hate, in revenge, beat the Sith, you cannot." He nodded resolutely and pointed to her forehead with one of his fingers. "Your fight, this is not. A task have you already, Ahsoka Tano. Confront Vader, and succeed, you will not."
She started to say something, started to argue, and found she had nothing she could say, understood the truth of the matter deep inside her, as much as she wished it was not so. She curtly nodded her understanding, her eyes cast at the ground, and felt the warm, comforting hand of the Grandmaster on her head, soothing away the anger she felt and giving her focus once again. She wasn't certain if it would stay this way, wasn't sure if she could maintain this focus in the presence of the actual Darth Vader, but she supposed she'd know when the time came. If it ever did. When it did. The confrontation was inevitable, and it was coming sooner than she would have liked. She only hoped she saw the wisdom of turning away when that day was upon her.
"This vision..." Ahsoka said softly, gesturing to their surroundings. "This isn't how Kenobi described it. Has it changed? Has he done something to alter his fate, has he been successful?"
"Different, this is," Yoda calmly agreed. "A different point of view, you have, Ahsoka. Different, your focus is, from Obi-Wan's. From mine."
"Yes, but Ezra and Kanan saw the same thing that Kenobi did," the Togruta muttered. "That's the actual vision, that's the one that's going to happen."
"The real vision, is it?" Yoda asked with a wry chuckle, lightly tapping Ahsoka on the chest with his stick. "Know you what is real within the Force?" He tapped his stick on the ground, his eyes drifting to the still and silent figures in black. "Less real, is this, because seen it, only you and I have, hmm?"
"...n-no," she stuttered, sighing heavily as she ran her hands over tired eyes. "No, I suppose not." Her gaze shifted back to the tall, imposing form of Darth Vader. "But what does it mean?"
"Know that, I do not," Yoda grumbled. "But know what to do, you will, when the time comes."
"...do you know what to do?" Ahsoka asked, and Yoda turned his eyes upon her, looked her over closely, and slowly inclined his head.
"I do," he whispered, a wave of his hand in the air causing the shadowy figures to writhe and waver, the piercing sound of screams filling the air as the spectral Sith Lords were blown away like smoke on the wind, the ominous red surroundings falling away like a tower crumbling. "As do you. Your mission, Ahsoka. Forget it not."
She tried to grasp for him, but fell forward, the Jedi disappearing along with everything else in a flash of blinding light, and when Ahsoka opened her eyes again, she was laying face first upon the dusty floor of Lothal's Jedi Temple, dizzy and disoriented as she pushed herself off the ground and to her knees, groaning as she rubbed her head. She looked around to get her bearings, felt the warmth of the Force, smelled the dusty, stagnant air, and sighed with relief when she knew she was back in the comforts of reality. She reached for the datapad that lay upon the ground, the device slipping from her when she had fallen so suddenly into the Force, and she powered it on to look at the data, and couldn't help but smile.
She wasn't certain if any of that was real, if her visions were a warning or meant to mislead, if Yoda had actually spoken to her or was a figment of her imagination, but she did know one thing for certain. She knew exactly what t do, and she always had. She needed to tell Lumis about Nightswan and Thrawn, and as important as the Force was, as vital as it was to learn what he could about the visions he saw, what was happening over Batonn was real, and it was right now, and they would never again have this opportunity. This came first over a future that may or may not happen.
Ahsoka rose quickly with the intent of rushing in and grabbing the Sith and the Jedi from their meditations, only to wince when she got to her feet, frowning as she looked to the origin of pain on her legs, and knelt down to gingerly press at the spot, her brow drawing together in confusion when she could have sworn she felt at a bruise across her shins in the outline of a walking stick.
"Kenobi..." Kanan hissed between his clenched teeth. "I don't-"
"You don't see anything because you aren't focused," Lumis said between clenched teeth, his eyes opening to look with irritation at the man that knelt with him upon the floor if a chamber deep within the Temple, the Force here clear and strong like nowhere else he had felt within the subterranean tunnels. "Clear your mind and open yourself to the Force." He stopped, a frown marring his face. "Am I, a Lord of the Sith, really about to tell you, a kriffing Jedi, to have patience?"
"You wouldn't be the first..." Kanan grumbled, shifting where he knelt, his knees dragging lines in the dust with his movements. "And I was never a Jedi, just a student..."
"You should be thankful for that," Lumis said in a low, satisfied voice, his eyes closing as he settled back once again to his meditations. "The life of a Jedi wouldn't have suited you."
"And a life of a Sith would?' Kanan asked sarcastically, frowning when he failed to draw any sort of rise out of the man sitting opposite him, only a slight, knowing smirk.
"With the way you chase pleasure, with the way you drink, with the way you love..." Lumis drawled. "No, I think not. The Jedi never suited you, not the way they were. They would have ruined you, Kanan, just as they ruined so many."
"I could have been great," Kanan challenged, and the Sith Lord looked at him once again, a hard edge in his golden eyes.
"You are great," Kenobi said firmly. "The Jedi would have stifled you. You, on your own, enduring the hardships you have at the hands of Sidious' Empire, have become more than the Jedi ever could have made you. Your attachments have made you strong, and have kept you steadfast on the path you have chosen to follow. Never forget that."
For a moment, Kanan gawked at the Sith Lord, uncertain how to take such high praise from a man who rarely told him anything but how poor his form was, how badly he had messed up, how he must do it again but better. "You know..." he finally said when he found his voice once again. "You could have made a fine Jedi Master."
"You could have made a slightly less than adequate Sith Apprentice." Lumis scowled and closed his eyes once again. "Maybe. Silence now, Jarrus. Meditate."
"As you say, Master," Kanan drawled, grinning broadly when an irritated twitch began at the corner of the Sith Lord's eye, and satisfied with his work, he shut his eyes, breathed deeply, and meditated.
But not for long. Kanan quickly grew restless, unable to get comfortable or sit still, every sound in the quiet Temple magnified and loud in his ears, each echo down the long corridors, the sound of every movement, every groan, every creak drawing himself away from his focus. He squinted his eyes open, pretending to keep them closed as he looked at the Sith Lord, half expecting him to be looking at him in irritation for his inability to find his center, but Kenobi was still, silent, meditative, just like Kanan should have been. With a growl of irritation, Kanan shut his eyes tightly, willing himself to focus his distracted mind, but his thoughts continued to wander aimlessly, to Ezra, to Hera, to the fight against the Empire, to where he would be when it was over if he even made it, to the things that had led him to this point...
Caleb.
Kanan's eyes flew open, his breath held as he looked frantically around the Temple room, his hand reaching up to brush at his ear that still tingled with the ghosting of breath that whispered his old name, what the foolish Padawan had once been called so long ago. Nobody was there. No person, no presence, no trick of the light, no feel of another in the Force but the Sith Lord in the room with him. But he was certain he heard something, he knew he did. Kanan was silent and still, a shiver running up his spine as he sat vigilant and waited for sign of what had spoken. But there was nothing.
"Kenobi," the Jedi whispered, scooting closer to the Sith Lord, close enough to reach out and touch him. The Sith Lord didn't move, didn't so much as respond, and Kanan reached out to lay a hand on his shoulder and shook him. "Kenobi!" he hissed again. "I heard something!" Still, the Sith didn't respond, was so deep in his own meditations that were it not for the slow, even rise and fall of his chest, Kanan would have thought the man dead. He frowned, grumbling under his breath as he settled down and closed his eyes. If Darth Lumis, so deep in the Force as he was, hadn't been alerted to something, then it was likely nothing, a figment of Kanan's restless mind and nothing more.
Caleb.
Kanan's eyes flew open once again, his breath held and his heart frozen in his chest, that time, he was certain he heard something, and even now, could feel the Force like a warm spring breeze gently wafting across his brow, directing his attention to one of the long, dark hallways that led from the room. He looked at Obi-Wan, still and silent and unmoving, and with a deep breath, Kanan rose to his feet and turned toward the tunnel. If Kenobi couldn't hear the voice, still ringing clear in kanan's ears, than it wasn't meant for him. The voice, the Force, whatever it was, called for Kanan, and he would be a fool not to answer.
He walked slowly through the Temple's corridors, the dark hallways seeming to light his way as he approached, the gentle pull of the Force leading him, and when he felt he lost his way, the warm, familiar call of his name showed him where he needed to go. He wasn't sure how long it took, how deep he walked, how far away he was from his friends, but within the Force, he could feel no touch of darkness, none of the unnatural pull that Kenobi exerted upon the tides, none of Ezra's empathy or Ahsoka's steadfastness or the rising and setting suns that were Luke and Leia. All he felt was warmth and peace, the Force still and calm and bright as he once remembered it in a time when the Jedi lived to protect the galaxy.
He came to the end of a long corridor, a stone door at the very end that rumbled and shifted at his approach, dust and dirt from a thousand years without use falling to the ground as the door slid away, and Kanan had to shield his eyes at the bright light that poured in from beyond. Breathing deep, Kanan heard the soft call of his voice coming from the room bathed in light, and steeling himself to follow the call, he closed his eyes, centered himself, and walked into the warm, blinding light of the room beyond.
For a moment, he couldn't see, his eyes squinting against light so harsh he could see nothing but the bright white center of a flash frozen in time. Slowly his vision adjusted as shapes cut themselves from the light, forming into a room of soft white stone walls that seemed strangely familiar to Kanan, though he didn't know where he knew this place from. The answer came to him as his vision continued to sharpen, his gaze running over weapons racks with training swords and an assortment of lightsabers hung upon the walls, his feet shifting not on stone but the soft, fine dirt of a training ring, and for a moment, he felt right at home, just a boy back in the Jedi Temple as he prepared for his lessons.
As if summoned by the very thought of them, when Kanan opened his eyes, he saw Jedi Temple Guardians, their robes crisp and formal, their masks hiding their faces and emotions, standing vigil along the walls, their double bladed sabers held unlit in their hands before them. Kanan stared, rubbed his eyes, and looked once again, bit the figures still stood tall and proud, unmoving in their place, still enough that he would have thought them statues had he not sworn he could feel their warm, faint presence in he Force. Swallowing hard, Kanan shook his head, the sudden chill of fear knotting his stomach and sending dread creeping through his limbs as he anticipated something horrific and dreadful, something he had seen in his dreams many times over the years. In his nightmares, the Jedi always fell, always died, were always slaughtered as they were taken by surprise by overwhelming evil and left to rot in pools of blood. Always there were screams, the sounds of lightsabers and blasters, the shouts of the clones as they turned traitor and murdered the Jedi they had fought beside for so long. Always, always, always...
Caleb.
Kanan spun around, the voice so near, so real he was certain it could not have been a dream, and he sprinted for the door, only to find the entrance gone, four solid walls sealing him inside the room with no way out. Trapped and with nowhere to go, Kanan slowly turned, swallowing hard and reaching through the Force to find the source of the voice, his eyes carefully examining each of the silent Temple Guardians, hoping to find a sign of which had spoken to him, to get a sense of which it was that felt so distantly familiar, but the harder he looked, the more certain he became that none of them had breathed a word.
"Who are you?!" Kanan called into the room, his gaze darting quickly around to look for a sign of his hidden speaker. "Where are you! Show yourself, I mean you no harm!"
"Have you forgotten so quickly, Caleb?" the voice said again, spoken from everywhere and nowhere, and Kanan felt his chest tighten with hope and despair and love and heartache, so many emotions at once that he nearly fell to his knees. "Have you become blind in your time away from the Jedi? Has it been so long that even I have been forgotten?"
"Master..." Kanan gasped, hardly able to breathe and his eyes wide as he watched a woman slowly walk toward him, her arms folded in the wide sleeves of her dark brown robe, her face patient and gentle, just as he had remembered, and he nearly sobbed when she stopped before him, and he found himself looking once again at Depa Billaba, the Master who had died to save him so long ago.
"It has been a long time, Caleb," she said softly, the small, knowing smile on her face that Kanan recognized so well. "But then, it has been a very long time since you have gone by that name."
"Yes..." Kanan choked, his usually deep, even voice trembling and weak, and he ran the back of his hand across his face to wipe the tears from his eyes. "Master, I am so sorry," he whimpered, reaching for the hem of her robe and almost laughing with comfort and relief when he felt the soft fabric beneath his fingers. "I shouldn't have left you. I should have stayed and fought beside you instead of running like a coward."
"You would have only stayed to die beside me," the Master said gently. "I ordered you to run, Caleb, and you obeyed, as any good Padawan would have done."
"You don't know what it was like," Kanan said, bowing his head. "To live in the galaxy after the Jedi were killed, to be hunted down like some animal. The things I have had to do to survive..."
"A great many things, I know," she said slowly, almost cold and distant as she took a few steps away from the kneeling man. "Including separating yourself from the Force, renouncing the Jedi ways, abandoning your name..." They were accusations, each one hitting harder than Kanan cared to admit because of the truth her words held. "And even now, allying yourself with a Lord of the Sith..." Her dark eyes hardened as she shook her head. "How far you have fallen. I am disappointed in you, Caleb. I taught you better than this."
"W-what?" Kanan gasped, his eyes wide with disbelief as he looked at the figure of his Master, the numb shock of hurt and betrayal sinking deep into the pit of him. This was not what he expected, this was not what his Master would think. Understanding and compassion were the way of the Jedi, not this. "You don't understand..." he said slowly. "Every single day was a fight to survive. I had to lurk in alleyways and eat out of dumpsters, I could barely sleep because Kaller was crawling with clone troopers that were hunting for me, and I didn't have anyone to tell me what I should do!"
"You failed when you abandoned the Jedi Way," the Master said sternly, and the admonishment made a flash of anger rush through Kanan, his eyes narrowing as he looked upon the Jedi.
"The Jedi Way doesn't help you survive!" he snapped harshly, a low growl in his chest as he rose to his feet, his superior height allowing him to loom over the woman, and all around him, he could heard the thrum of ignition from the Temple Guardians' lightsabers. He didn't care. None of this was real. It couldn't be real. "I managed to steal a ship, Master, I heard the beacon calling us home, and like a good Jedi, I followed it back to Coruscant, and I was met with a fleet just waiting to kill Jedi that returned!" He took a deep breath to try and calm himself when he felt his hand shaking, but the tension never left his chest. "Master Luminara sent a message with the beacon that I didn't get in time to warn me away from Coruscant," Kanan muttered, almost as an explanation to himself. "I was directionless, I needed guidance, and she gave it." He scoffed almost bitterly. "Avoid detection, she said...follow the Force, even when it leads you to the unexpected. But all the Force ever did was lead the Jedi to their deaths."
"And you have avoided detection by becoming this," the Jedi sneered, gesturing to the man before her and glancing at him with a critical eye. "A selfish vagabond, cut off from the Force for years until the Dark Side drew you back in."
"The Force is a death sentence!" Kanan shouted, his voice echoing off the stone walls around him. "I found my way once again when I heard it calling to me, when Ezra needed my instruction, when this rebellion needed a Jedi to help guide their way!"
"A Jedi..." the Master scoffed. "You, Kanan, are no Jedi, not when you ally yourself with our enemy!" She gave him a hard look as she stepped away, a disappointed scowl on her face. "A Sith Lord. Not just any Sith Lord, but the one that destroyed us. The one that destroyed me!"
"That Sith Lord has done more for me than the Jedi ever did!" Kanan growled defensively. "He's out here fighting with us, he helped save the Jedi yonglings that escaped the slaughter at the Jedi Temple, he's helped train me to fight, helped make me a worthy Master for my student!"
"A student of the Dark Side," the Jedi spat with disgust. "Destined to fall, like all those who walk in darkness."
"No, no!" Kanan snapped, cold, creeping fear spreading through his chest as he took a step back. "I won't let that happen. Ezra is good and kind and strong. He isn't perfect, no, but he doesn't need to be. He may fail, I may fail, as I have done so much in the past, but I will not fail him. He will be a Jedi. I swear it."
"How," Master Billaba asked, slowly beginning to circle her student, and Kanan almost felt like prey. "Who is there to teach your student the Way of the Jedi? You walk beside a Lord of the Sith, Kanan," she said grimly, his name like a curse upon her lips. "You are no Jedi."
"Yeah, well, maybe the Jedi were wrong," Kanan said firmly, his conviction unwavering, the anger and fear he had felt before giving way to clear, defined purpose. "Maybe if they Jedi Way was the right one, they would have sensed the darkness that was rising to claim us instead of being completely blind-sided by it." His eyes followed the Jedi as she glared at him, hard and accusing, but the point had struck home.
"There were thousands of us," Kanan continued. "The strongest Force wielders in the galaxy, all gathered together in our High Council, and you sensed nothing, you had no idea the Sith had returned until they wanted us to know it, you couldn't feel that the Force had shifted into the darkness until night had already fallen. If the Force was with the Jedi, if the Jedi Way was right, we would have known, we would have been given a chance to fight." He sighed deeply and hung his head, a small, bitter laugh on his lips. "Maybe it was the will of the Force that the Jedi died. Maybe we were more lost than we thought. Maybe...the Jedi need to find a new way."
There was silence for a moment, Master and Padawan staring each other down, both stalwart and firm in their beliefs, both refusing to budge from their place. In the air around him, Kanan could hear the low, even thrum of the lightsabers, could see the distinctive yellow blades burning at the edge of his vision. He still wasn't sure what this was, if it be a bad dream, a vision within the Force, or some horrible reality, but it felt real enough. Everything was clear and detailed, and he could smell the mustiness in the air, could taste how dry and dusty it was in the depths of the Temple. He'd never known a dream or vision to be so real, and yet, he had seen Depa Billaba die, and here she now walked before him as if her clone troopers had never gunned her down, as if she hadn't died to give him a chance to run and save himself. No, his Master would have been proud her sacrifice was not in vain, that he had managed to live despite the odds. He wasn't certain what this thing was, but this was not his Master.
"You have lost your way, Caleb," the Master said sadly. "You have chosen a path shrouded in darkness, and you have been blinded!"
Her move was so fast, so sudden that Kanan hadn't seen it coming, only saw the green flash of her lightsaber's blade as the Jedi lashed out with her weapon and struck him across the face, the man screaming as he felt nothing but searing pain that burned the vision from his eyes. Kanan dropped to the ground, his hands flying to cover his face, his fingers gingerly feeling at the raw, blistered line of the saber's strike across his face, and he recoiled in horror when he felt at the depression of his eye socket and found it hollow. His eyes were gone, burned from him by his Master's blade, and where before he was certain that this was some illusion, some test of the Force, this pain was all too real.
"Come, Caleb!" he could hear the Master say as he felt for his lightsaber at his belt and ignited it, the pleasant, comforting vibration of the hilt in his hand a warm, familiar presence in the cold, dark world he had been violently plunged into. "Defend this dark path you so blindly walk, show me the conviction of your new way for the Jedi!" She sneered, her eyes narrowing as she looked at her former student kneeling upon the ground, the bloody, empty holes where his eyes should have been seeming to stare at nothing and everything all at once.
His breaths came in fast, shivering pants rough and ragged from pain, the lightsaber tight in his grasp wavering as he tried to steady himself. He could barely tell which way was up, what direction he was facing, his head feeling as though the room was spinning even though he couldn't see his surroundings. He could hear the thrum of lightsabers from all around him, his head whipping back and forth when the pitch of the hum shifted and changed, but he couldn't tell where the sound was specifically coming from. His mouth became dry as panic slowly began to set in, and reaching a shaking hand out before him, he slowly touched the ground, never more grateful to feel the cold touch of hard dirt beneath his fingertips.
With his hand upon solid ground, his senses quickly stopped reeling, the roar in his ears dulling as all sound was muffled, only the pounding of his heartbeat and the hard gasps of his breathing remaining, everything else seeming indistinct and slow like it was underwater and so very far away. The room felt more still, more secure with his hand upon the dirt, and he began to orient himself, this way up, this way down, his saber pointed directly ahead. Clearing his mind and focusing, time seemed to stand still as he remembered his training with Lumis, every painful lesson, every insight the Sith Lord has about the Force and his place within it, every hard truth he had come to understand while working with his dark friend.
He thought of Ezra, the student that depended upon him for guidance to keep himself from slipping from the dangerous line he walked into the darkness of his fears and anger. He thought of the Spectres, the crew that trusted him to lead them into battle with the Empire and steer them back to safety when their mission had been complete. He thought of the growing rebellion and his place within it, not a vital component but one small piece of something far greater than just himself. He thought of Hera, sweet, lovely Hera, and the love for her that he was never supposed to have, would never have had if he became a Jedi like he was supposed to, and now that he felt it, now that he knew what it was like, he would never, ever give it up.
All these emotions, all these things churning inside him, all the things that made him Kanan Jarrus, not Caleb Dume, the things that as a Jedi he was meant to give up he now grabbed tightly hold of, felt it within him as he held his lightsaber, and used it to fuel him. Emotions make you powerful, Kenobi had always said, hate and pain and rage driving the Sith Lord to incredible feats of strength, but love too was an emotion, and Kanan was quickly learning that not all emotion led to the Dark Side.
Kanan reached out and grabbed hold of the Force, the gentle stream bubbling up quickly inside him and flooding his senses with heat and power, the warmth of the whipping wind caressing his skin and taking the pain from the searing burn across his face until he felt nothing at all, heard nothing but the whispers of the Force. He felt calm, focused, powerful, more one with the Force than he had ever been with his heart beating for the people that depended on him and the people he loved.
His senses sharpened, the silence in his ears breaking with the sharp thrum of a lightsaber as it descended upon him, and his blade swiftly rose to meet it, Kanan rising up to one knee as he rapidly met blow after blow. Though he no longer had his eyes, he saw clearly through the vibrations of the blade in the air, the rising and falling of the thrum in his ears, the hiss of plasma striking the ground, the soft swish of feet as they danced across the dusty arena, and that old, familiar feeling of his Master within the Force. He didn't need his eyes. He knew exactly where his opponent was.
Kanan quickly dodged out of the way as he heard his Master's green blade spinning and circling around to strike at him once again, rolling just by Jedi's legs as plasma struck the ground where he once stood and quickly rising to his feet behind her, his saber whipping around to block the flurry of strikes as she recovered. He backed up quickly, his feet sliding through the dirt as he fell into the defensive stances that Kenobi had refined from his days as a Jedi Padawan, his wrist movements small and circular, his blade only moving just enough to redirect his opponent's weapon.
A swift stab from the Jedi, and Kanan could feel the heat of the blade upon his skin, his own saber only just barely deflecting the stab, and he ducked underneath the blades when he felt the presence of the Temple Guardians close behind him. When Depa spun to strike at him once again, Kanan was ready, his saber meeting hers just as she slashed at him and sliding along the length of her blade to counter her attack. A gasp of surprise and a sharp hiss of pain was enough for Kanan to press forward with a hard offense, his movements swift and tight and leaving no room for the Jedi to recover. She had been hit, but the blow was glancing, not enough to hinder her and certainly not enough to make her stop.
"Is this the future of the Jedi?!" the Master snapped, retreating as Kanan struck hard and fast at her, her blade barely able to keep up with her former student. "Trained by Sith Lords, the Jedi Code lost and forgotten?! Is this what you see for the generations of Jedi to come? Allies of the Sith?!"
"Yes," Kanan growled, his saber moving quickly to redirect the Master's blade as she tried to take the offensive, but Kanan's swift bladework wouldn't allow it, his blue circling around greet to maintain the offensive. "How long have the Jedi and Sith been fighting? How long has the light and the dark been senselessly been trying to destroy the other when the Force has always been both, when it could never truly be in balance without the other!? There can be harmony between Jedi and Sith, between light and dark! If the Jedi are to survive, that is the way forward!"
"You are blind, Kanan Jarrus," the Jedi spat, swiftly twisting her body to the side as Kanan's blade slid forward along hers. "There is no peace to be had with the Sith, there is no harmony in darkness. You are being deceived, and you will die for it. The rebellion will be destroyed, all will fall before the tide of darkness. You will die, my Padawan, and your student will become a servant of the Dark Side. It is inevitable. You have felt the Dark Side pulling at him. It calls to him, and he will be consumed by it. You have doomed him by allowing that Sith Lord to teach him the ways of the dark."
"I won't allow that to happen!" Kanan growled, the sudden swell of fierce protective emotions making him move faster, harder, stronger than before, and the Jedi Master was forced to retreat. "Nothing good ever came from ignorance! The Jedi were once so blind to the darkness that they didn't recognize it when it came for them, and now they're all dead! I will not allow Ezra to fall into the same trap. He will learn about the Dark Side, and it will prepare him to deal with it."
"There is no dealing with the Dark Side," the Jedi hissed. "The boy must be eliminated before he embraces the darkness, and if you would walk the path you are on side by side with a Lord of the Sith, you must be destroyed as well." The steady thrum of the lightsabers all around him suddenly rose in pitch as the Temple Guardians stepped forward, their sabers spinning to readiness, and Kanan backed off his assault on his old Master, turning and holding his weapon ready and defensive before him as the new sounds confused his senses.
All around him, he felt deadly resolve, could hear the sharp, biting thrum of lightsabers ready to strike, and he suddenly had no idea where his Master was, where any of his opponents were. Swallowing hard, Kanan dug his feet into the dirt, his blade poised and ready like Kenobi had taught him as he pushed aside his fear and focused and desperately wished that he could see, the pain of the strike that had taken his sight creeping back across his face.
The first strike came from behind him, and Kanan quickly angled his blade over his shoulder, the hard impact sending jolts up his arms, and he ducked when he heard the thrum of another blade, felt it slice just over his head, and he spun out of the way, his saber moving swiftly before him as he blocked what felt like a thousand strikes. There were too many, his senses too clouded, one saber strike indistinguishable from the other, and when Kanan heard movement behind him, he touched the ground with the tip of his blade and swiftly lashed out as he spun, a sharp cry muffled by a mask sounding his hit. Reaching out his hand, Kanan called for the wounded Guardian's lightsaber, hoping that the man had dropped it in the process, and Kanan was rewarded by the cold feel of the elongated lightsaber hilt striking his palm. He switched the saber on, heard the clear, crisp hum of the new weapon and the sound of the others quietly stepping back to regroup.
Kanan took the moment of reprieve to refocus himself, feeling for each of his opponents in the Force, taking note of where they stood and making guesses as to how far away they were. It didn't take long for him to find his Master, his more solid footing in the Force allowing him to pick the feel of her out from the group. She wasn't the only threat. She wasn't even the greatest threat, but without his eyes, Kanan needed something to focus on, and he knew the feel of his Master in the Force. The Guardians were too similar, too unfamiliar, blended together into a singular massive, moving presence in the Force, but Depa Billaba, he could see clearly, and that was all he needed.
Spinning the two lightsabers in his hands, Kanan ducked beneath one of the Guardian blades swung at him, the yellow blade scraping against his blue as he lashed out with his secondary weapon, the saber slicing up the Guardian's back, the cry of pain reverberating through the Force as Kanan rushed forward to meet the next one. Keeping his focus on his Master, Kanan's spinning blades almost effortlessly parried the strikes of the Guardians that intercepted him, dodging out of the way to spin and cut at another by his side, the feel of them in the Force growing smaller and smaller as he fought until he could finally feel them in the Force not as a group, but as individuals. Two Guardians remained, flanking the Jedi Master, and feeling as one with the Force and fueled by his need to defend those he loved, Kanan rushed forward to engage his remaining foes.
The Jedi Master stepped forward, her blade raised as her student charged, her hand extended out before her, and Kanan slammed hard into a wave of the Force, the impact sending him skidding backwards and reeling to catch his balance. He pitched sideways when he felt his Master's presence, flipping in the air just as the sizzling hum of her lightsaber sliced right by his head, his own blades held close and defensive as he fell to catch the strikes of the two remaining guardians. He crouched on the ground, unable to stand as his arms strained to keep the sabers at bay, his jaw clenched tightly with the effort until the wind was knocked out of him when Depa's foot slammed hard into his chest.
Coughing on the ground, Kanan rolled swiftly out of the way when he heard the sabers descending, the plasma hissing furiously as they struck the ground, and he lashed out with both blades as he rose to his knee, his weapons connecting with nothing when he was certain his Master was there only a second before. He felt her too late, the woman having jumped over his strike, and her foot connected with his head, sending pain shooting through him right to the vacant spaces where his eyes once were to send him sliding across the ground, stopping only when he struck the wall.
He reached out his hand to feel around him for the lightsabers he had lost, and when he couldn't find them, he called upon them with the Force. A pained grin touched his lips when he heard the sound of his saber spinning in the air to answer his call, only for it to swiftly stop, the hilt snatched out of the air by the Jedi Master that stood before him. His saber powered on with that all too familiar thrum, and before the blade could fall upon him, Kanan planted his hands on the ground and swung his feet around, the Master before him giving a startled cry as his heel connected with her leg and took her feet out from under her. Kanan rose to his knee as she fell flat on her back, his hand extended to catch his lightsaber as it left the Master's palm, and spinning the blade, Kanan pointed the tip of the burning blue plasma saber at the pit of Depa's throat.
He flicked his hand in the air, her fallen saber flying far out of reach, and when he felt the Temple Guardians rushing toward him, Kanan extended his hand, a blast of the Force sending them flying backwards to hit hard against the far walls. The Force shuddered as it swallowed the feel of the Guardians, and then there was only him and his Master, the room still and quiet and calm, the Force a warm, gentle breeze in the eye of a storm. The pain in the hollows of his lost eyes was intense, the feeling spiking deep into his skull and lighting his nerves on fire, but despite this, Kanan held the blade still, fingers in the air waving to call Depa's fallen green blade to his grasp, and the metal cylinder still warm from her grasp touched his palm a moment later.
"The servants of the Dark Side will come for your student, Caleb," Depa whispered, her voice calm and even despite the blades at her throat. "You may have defeated me, but you will not be able to save him."
"You may be right about that," Kanan muttered quietly. "I'm not always going to be able to defend Ezra, especially not from himself. All I can do is what I've already done."
"Deliver him to a Sith Lord," the Jedi said, more curious than accusatory. "You have left him wide open to the Dark Side."
"I have taught him how to defend himself," Kanan growled, drawing the saber closer to the Jedi's neck. "He cannot fight what he does not know, and that Sith Lord you so fear has taught him the feel of the Dark Side, and I have taught him how to shield himself from it. Ezra is a good person. He knows the dark, he doesn't hide from it like the Jedi did, and when night falls, he won't lose his way."
"And this is the future you see for the Jedi?" she asked. "A future walking side by side with the Sith?"
"If we are ever to have peace and balance, this is how we do it," Kanan said firmly, switching off his sabers and clipping them to his belt, his hand extended to help his Master to her feet. "Since the beginning, the Jedi have always fought the Sith, on and on, destroying each other and seeking revenge by wiping the others out until it starts all over again, and it will never end, Master. Not unless we end it. I see a future where we exist in balance with the Sith. There can be no light without the dark. I think it's time we remembered that."
"The Sith will betray you," Depa said, and Kanan simply shrugged.
"Maybe so, but it's a chance I'm willing to take. I have to take it. All lives have value," Kanan said as he laid his hand upon the Jedi's shoulder. "You taught me that once."
"Back when you had less wisdom than I..." Depa said softly, gently taking Kanan's lightsaber from his belt and igniting it, the blue blade humming softly in the air between them. "Even blind, you see more than I. You've become a fine man, Caleb Dume, and a greater Jedi than I ever was, and that is all I have ever wanted for you, my precious student." She reached up and touched his cheek, a soft smile on her face as she pressed his lightsaber into his hand. "I believe in your vision for the Jedi, Kanan Jarrus, Jedi Knight. May the Force be with you."
"Master..." Kanan said, choking on the emotion that tightened his chest as he reached out to where he knew the Jedi stood, only to have his hand touch nothing when he knew he should have touched her, and with a sharp gasp, Kanan felt himself pitch forward as he began to fall into darkness. He reached out for the Force to guide him, to allow him to see without the eyes he had lost, but the Force did not come to his aid, showed him nothing at all but to void his blindness wrought. Pain in the hollows of his face spiked through his head, and Kanan covered the wound with his hands, his fingers shaking as he touched the burned flesh across his face, and with a cry of pain, he went tumbling into nothingness.
Kanan inhaled sharply when he slammed into the ground, his eyes flying open as he scrambled to his feet, his lightsaber already in his hand as he quickly scanned the unfamiliar room. The walls were dusty and rough and gray, hewn from the stony ground of Lothal's earth, and with a startled gasp, Kanan dropped his saber, his hands flying to his face to feel at his eyes. Swallowing hard, he groaned in relief, his shaking legs going weak and he sunk to the ground. He could see, his eyes very present and undamaged, and Kanan couldn't keep himself from laughing. It was a vision, a test of the Force. Of course it was. His Master was long dead, and he felt foolish for having believed it was real.
With a groan, Kanan rose to his feet, calling his dropped saber to his hand and powering it off. Kenobi was nowhere to be seen, he must have wandered off while he was in the grip of the Force, and he wasn't looking forward to the lecture he was certain to get from the Sith Lord for being so foolish. Dear Darth Lumis had a way of making him feel like a child again, and Kanan already felt foolish enough for believing that the visions shown to him were real. It seemed so obvious now.
Brushing himself off, Kanan clipped his lightsaber on his belt and froze, his fingers stroking along the length of a second saber that inexplicably hung at his hip. Swallowing hard, he unclipped the unfamiliar saber and held it up before him, feeling the blood drain from his face as he studied the familiar hilt, his shaking finger touching the ignition and powering on a vibrant green blade. As he stared at the blade his Master once wielded, Kanan felt a creeping, burning sensation across his face, and he quickly looked around the room once again, suddenly uncertain if it had been a vision at all when he swore he could hear his Master's voice whispering in the air around him.
No matter how hard he tried, Obi-Wan couldn't see the vision of his defeat, couldn't see the Sith Lords or the Temple, never felt the growing dread of his end that drew closer and closer with each breath until he could almost feel Sidious breathing behind him. Instead, each time he touched the Force, the Temple faded away, the walls crumbling around him and leaving him in the sands of Tatooine, the twin suns beating down upon him as he sat on top of a dune and looked down upon Luke and Leia, eight years old and playing together, their hands passing through the air and gesturing wildly as they commanded the Force to lift the sand and fashion it into castles and ships.
He knew what he needed to do, knew he had come to Lothal for a purpose and a reason, but as he watched the vision of his children, young and innocent, back before they had grown, Obi-Wan found he couldn't bring himself to look away from them. He didn't want to, despite his impending end, or perhaps because of it, he wasn't sure, but he knew that the more he watched them, the less important learning about Sidious became. That was coming anyway, no matter what he did. It was the path he had chosen back on Moraband, and as he watched young Luke and Leia play together, it was the path he chose now.
And so he sat there in the sand, a faint smile on his face as he watched the children play and felt the warmth of the suns on his skin, their harshness dulled by memory and the feeling of tranquility beating in his chest. Their lives have always meant more than his, and that was no different now. Obi-Wan Kenobi had been dead for a long time, slain bit by bit over time by betrayal and bitterness and jealousy, by the Sith and the Dark Side, by the red lightsaber that had slain the only woman he ever loved and his unborn son, by Vader when he killed his best friend, by a hundred other horrid things that he had done himself in his quest for power. All that was left was Darth Lumis, and the Force had long ago abandoned him, had burned the heart out of him until there was nothing left to burn, and now, the little use he had was coming to an end.
He had guided Luke and Leia to adulthood, just as he had been meant to do, just as he had always known was his purpose since the moment they were conceived in response to Sidious' greed and ambition. They were still children to him, and they would always be, but they had grown, had become powerful, and now, with the threat of their discovery looming over him, he was no longer needed, his twins now powerful enough to defend themselves. They would continue to grow, of course, would continue to learn and develop their powers, but as their father, he may no longer have been needed, his desire to defend them getting in the way of what they were meant to be. And so the Force tossed him aside, and now, without a purpose or place, he was simply a loose end for Sidious to tie up. His end was coming, and as he watched his children play, Darth Lumis couldn't find it within him to fight it.
He had to let go. A disgustingly Jedi notion, but he had been fighting for so long, and he was so tired. Luke and Leia were strong, and over the years, Obi-Wan had built a network of friends and allies who would guide them in his absence. Ahsoka would never abandon them. Kanan had a great deal he could teach them. Until his dying breath, Cody would watch after them. The Spectres treated them like family, and they would always have a home to return to on Alderaan and Tatooine. Even the dead guided them, and long after Obi-Wan was gone, Qui-Gon Jinn would continue to protect the path they walked upon. Luke and Leia's story was just beginning, and Obi-Wan's only regret was that he wouldn't be around to see more of it play out. It was certain to be spectacular.
The Force shifted around him, gently moved and brushed against him like a gentle wind, his eyes never once leaving the twins as he felt the twin suns at his back cast a shadow over him. Sighing heavily, he dragged his fingers absently through the sand with the sudden ache of guilt within his chest. He knew the feel of the person behind him, felt it often as he lay in bed staring at the ceiling in his reluctance to sleep. Sleep only brought nightmares and pain and heartache far worse than pangs of guilt, the horror of knowing he was responsible for the loss of those he loved far worse than the ache of doing what had to be done. But regret still hurt, and it hurt now as he felt the presence behind him, still and silent and waiting, just as he was, and as certain as he was that nothing was truly there, the Force worked in ways that were mysterious even to him.
"Every single day, she looks more and more like you, Padmé..." Obi-Wan whispered, a slight smile on his face as he felt the presence behind him shift, the breeze blowing gently across his face for just a moment before the young Queen sat down in the sand beside him, her knees drawn to her chest as she looked down at the twins she had birthed so long ago. "And Luke has your temperament. He is calm and grounded, he knows right from wrong and never strays from the path he knows is right. He sees the good in everyone..." Lumis' gaze fell, sand slipping through his fingers as he ran them absently through the sand. "Like you saw in Vader long past the point you should have. Like you saw in me after all I had done to destroy the things you loved..."
"You proved me right, didn't you?" Padmé asked softly, and Lumis shivered at the sound of her voice, his gaze flicking to look at the woman's small smile and big brown eyes, and despite the pain in his chest, he couldn't look away. "You were willing to raise my children even though they were not yours."
"They could have been," Obi-Wan said quietly, a slight, suggestive smirk on his lips that made the young queen punch his arm.
"But they weren't," Padmé said firmly, the gravity of her tone wiping the smirk from the Sith Lord's face, and he couldn't help but look away from her and back to the playing twins as they laughed and struck their sabers together. "Leia is drawn to darkness. She walks the same path as you and her father have done before her. And my Luke is the very image of his father when he was young, but he also looks a great deal like you." Padmé reached out and ran her delicate hand along the Sith Lord's jaw line, her fingers hooking under his chin to turn his face toward her. "Either of those things, Anakin would have killed them for," Padmé said somberly, her voice touched with sadness. "The slightest hint of your touch upon them, and he would have murdered his own children."
"I wouldn't allow it..." Obi-Wan whispered reflexively, and the queen smiled and gently stroked his cheek.
"I know you wouldn't," Padmé said. "You haven't. Luke and Leia are alive and safe because of you. You have trained them and guided them and loved them like your own children, and I could never have hoped for anything more for them." Her fingers threaded through his hair when he tried to look away, the Sith's eyes closing as he shivered and almost desperately held his hand over hers. "You raised them well, Obi-Wan," Padmé said gently. "You've been a good father to my children."
"It should have been you," Lumis choked, shutting his eyes and swallowing the sudden surge of emotion, his hand tightening around the woman's. "After all you suffered for them, it should have been you that was here to raise them. Luke and Leia are such good children and have grown to be such amazing people. I was never worthy of them, but you..." Obi-Wan shook his head and laughed sadly. "You deserved to be a mother to them."
"I wish I could have been," Padmé sighed softly, carefully eying the man next to her when the Force trembled.
"I'm sorry..." Lumis said quietly, his voice trembling and barely a whisper as his shoulder tightened. "I did what I had to do to protect Luke and Leia, it was the only way I could see at the time. I...didn't know how to save you without drawing Vader's attention." Obi-Wan sighed, his fingers dragging through the sand to grasp Padmé's hand. "After all these years, after all I have done, the only life I ever regretted taking was yours, Padmé..."
"Stop, Obi-Wan," the woman said softly, stroking the back of the Sith Lord's hand with her fingers. "Given the choice between my children's lives and mine, I'd sacrifice myself again and again without a second thought. Luke and Leia are who they are today because of you." Padmé smiled as she slipped her hand into his hair and brought his head down to her chest, the Sith exhaling a shuddering breath as he relaxed in her embrace. "I forgave you a long time ago for taking my life, Obi-Wan, because you gave Luke and Leia a chance to live theirs."
"I can't protect them anymore," Lumis whispered as he watched the children below, the suns behind him casting their shadows upon the dunes, not the shadows of the children he saw, but in the image of the teenagers they had become, tall and strong and proud. "My end is coming faster than I'd like, and I haven't found a way to stop it."
"You've done all you can," Padmé gently reassured him. "You trained them to fight, they know the Force, and you taught them how to be careful. Like I had to do so long ago, Obi-Wan, you must let go."
"You sound like a Jedi..." Lumis scoffed, and Padmé rolled her eyes, kissed the Sith Lord's forehead, and pointed down at the twins, no longer the children that they had appeared to be before, but the armored teens he had so carefully raised, the two with lightsabers in hand and moving gracefully through their forms in perfect unison, their feet leaving light trails in the sand.
"You have no choice," Padmé said sadly. "If this is the end for you, the only way you can still protect them is through the lessons you have already taught them. You haven't failed them. They'll be alright. You made certain of that."
"And it's not like they will be alone," a lazy drawl said from behind them, another shadow falling over the Sith Lord that made him shiver. He knew the voice well, and as glad as he was to hear it after so many years, it hurt all the same. Cursing beneath his breath, Lumis untangled himself from Padmé and rose to face Quinlan Vos, a wry smirk upon the Kiffar's lips as he casually shrugged. "Ahsoka will watch after them."
"Tave qy'kash ziaurus kia'nesti tu kia'nun..." Lumis muttered under his breath, but he couldn't keep the faint smile off his face as he looked at his old friend. "What could the Force possibly want from me to bring you to me?"
"As you said, Kenobi, the Force is cruel," Quinlan said flippantly, a smirk on his lips as he draped his arm over the Sith Lord's shoulders. "Pain is the path of the Dark Side, after all." Vos grinned wider when Lumis hung his head, a mix of a chuckle and a sob falling from his lips as his shoulders began to shake. "Or maybe that's not it at all. Maybe it's just trying to sooth you so your death is easier to face."
"Which is even more cruel, isn't it..." Lumis muttered, and Vos laughed lightly as he patted his friend on his back.
"Oh, please, don't even pretend you don't like it," Vos said in a low, seductive voice, his hand laying teasingly on the Sith Lord's chest. "There are very few people you like looking at more than me, you sexy thing..."
"It's true I have missed you..." Obi-Wan whispered, his eyes drifting down to Quinlan's chest to stare as the black hole in his chest where his heart should have been, and he reached out a shaking hand to gently touch at the charred skin. Quinlan quickly batted his hand away.
"You look well, Kenobi," Vos said with a smirk and a shrug. "For an old guy, in any case. I'd still let you bend me over a desk and have your way with me." The Kiffar grinned when Obi-Wan hung his head and laughed, his eyes flicking briefly to Padmé, the woman relaxed and calm as she watched her lover finally relax. "I wanted to thank you, Kenobi," Quinlan muttered a bit awkwardly, scratching the back of his head as he looked away from the Sith Lord. "For watching after Ahsoka."
"I didn't do anything for Ahsoka," Obi-Wan quickly dismissed. "Before we found each other, she had killed an Inquisitor on her own. You trained her well, Quin. She would have been fine without me."
"Of course she would have been alright!" Vos scoffed, rolling his eyes and punching the Sith Lord's shoulder. "She was my student, and I was, like, the greatest Jedi Master. Ever." Quinlan stared at the unimpressed expression on Obi-Wan's face, his own expression serious for just a moment before he dissolved into helpless laughter. "Ahsoka could always care for herself," Quinlan said proudly when he had caught his breath. "She is intelligent and talented and cunning. The girl even got the drop on you, Kenobi..." the Kiffar said, reaching behind the Sith Lord to touch at the scar he knew rested on his lower back. "The first of the Jedi to wound you."
"By stabbing me in the back," Obi-Wan muttered. "How very Sith of her."
"And yet, my girl never followed me down that path," Quinlan sighed. "Nor did she follow you. She was always better than me. I wouldn't have given my life to save her if I didn't think she'd be alright. I always believed in her. She's damn good." The Kiffar absently rubbed at the pale scars that circled his wrists, scars that Obi-Wan had put there himself so very long ago. "Either way, no matter how capable she is, I'm glad you were there to keep an eye on her."
"Your Padawan, Quin," Lumis said with a small, sad smile. "How could I not?"
"...it's not your fault I died, Kenobi," Vos said quietly, and the Sith Lord's eyes narrowed, his jaw tightening as he looked at the hole in his friend's chest.
"No, it's Vader's," Obi-Wan growled, rage tightening his body for a moment before he sighed, shoulders slumped as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "But I helped create him, and in doing so, I lost you, and it wasn't worth it, Quin."
"You great big idiot..." Vos said, that carefree grin upon his face as he looked down into the dunes below at the twins at their practice, a third shadow cast on the dunes behind them, the silhouette of a Togruta female moving in perfect unison beside them. "I died so Ahsoka could live, so she could expose Anakin Skywalker for what he had become. Anakin didn't kill me, I chose to die when I did, the way I did, so I could save my student." Quinlan's chest puffed with pride, and Lumis felt his throat tighten, unable to look away from the hole where his heart should have been. "And look what came of it. Hundreds of Jedi younglings saved from the slaughter of the Temple, all because my Ahsoka lived." Quinlan laughed triumphantly, putting his hand on Obi-Wan's head and ruffling his hair, grinning when the Sith Lord hissed in irritation and batted him away. "That bastard never took anything from me. You weren't there, Obi, you didn't see how I died, but you would have been so proud."
"You didn't need to die for me to be proud of you, Quin..." Obi-Wan choked "I have always been proud of you, my friend. Always."
"...I know," Quinlan said quietly, lazily draping his arm across the Sith Lord's shoulders once again. "Ahsoka will watch over your children, Obi-Wan. They will be safe in her care. If this is it, if this is the end...at least you won't need to worry about them."
"I'll always worry about them, Quin..." the Sith Lord whispered. "No matter how powerful they become, no matter how old they get. They're still my children." His gaze drifted back down to Luke and Leia for a moment before he looked back at Padmé, the former Queen watching him his her soft, sympathetic eyes, and to Quinlan, the friend he had missed so much, and he shut his eyes tightly when the ache in his chest became too much. "The Force is cruel..." Lumis said between clenched teeth. "I came here for answers, I didn't come here to be soothed into accepting my death!"
Obi-Wan could feel a light, gentle touch run across his back, felt Quinlan's arm drop away from him as the Kiffar stepped back, and the Sith Lord shivered when tears finally slipped from his eyes, the warmth of the touch upon him so achingly familiar even though it had been so long since he had felt it. Still, he knew it as well as he knew himself, like he had felt it every single day for as long as he could remember. Time had never faded the memory, not with all the dreams and nightmares that plagued him, not with all the visions of things that never were straining his consciousness, not with his mind constantly wandering back to a time when she was by his side. So when Obi-Wan opened his eyes and saw the ice blue eyes, the sharp, angular cheekbones, the pale blond hair, the beautiful face of Satine Kryze, the woman he loved and had always held his heart in her delicate hands, he couldn't stop his helpless sobs as he grabbed hold of her and didn't let go.
"You aren't real..." the Sith Lord muttered in the crook of her neck. "None of this is real. It's all just pulled out of my memories like it has been every single day since I lost you." He took a deep, shuddering breath as he inhaled the crisp, floral scent of her hair, his senses assaulted with the feel of her, and he held her tighter to him. "It's impossible for any of you to manifest yourselves within the Force so...why does this feel so different? Why does this seem so real..."
"It's unlike you to be so conflicted, my love..." Satine said softly, her long fingers threading through Obi-Wan's hair as she kissed his cheek. "For as long as I have known you, the Force has been your ally. Even when you didn't understand the things you saw, you trusted in the path the Force guided you upon. And now..." She shifted in his tight embrace, her hands cupping his cheeks and drawing his head off her shoulder so she could look into his eyes. "The Force is cruel and there are no answers to be found within it. These are not the words of my Obi-Wan. What happened?"
"You died..." the Sith Lord whimpered, closing his eyes when her thumb dragged over the wet trail upon his cheeks and he leaned into her touch, reveling in the sound of her voice and the painful thrill of her touch upon him. "You died, our son died. And I saw it, Satine, I saw our son in the visions the Force gave to me, and it was all a lie."
"Was it?" the Duchess asked, smiling softly at the Sith Lord when he opened his eyes and looked at her, and taking his hands from her waist, she kissed his palms and interlocked her fingers with his and gently pulled him to the edge of the dune to look down at the twins below. "You're the one that told me visions are difficult to interpret correctly, that the Force is vague and mysterious even to those who are called Masters and have studied it for years. Even you, my love, have said that your point of view is limited, but you will see in time what your visions mean." She watched Obi-Wan as he looked at Luke and Leia, a mixture of pain and pride on his face, and Satine drew closer to him and laid her head upon his chest. "Is it so hard to believe that your visions were never about our son?
"I saw him, Satine..." the Sith Lord said firmly, his hand tightening around hers as he held her close and rested his chin upon her head. "In all my visions, our son..."
"Who would have looked so very much like your son," she said, pointing down at Luke and sighing sweetly when the Sith wrapped his arms around her and held on like she would disappear if he did not. "You never imagined a future without me, I know, and it had colored your visions, prevented you from seeing the truth..." The Duchess ran her hands soothingly over Obi-Wan's back when his shoulders began shaking, quietly shushing him when a strained, pained whimper slipped between his lips. "This story was never about you and I."
"It should have been..." Obi-Wan ground out bitterly, and in his arms, Satine softly laughed.
"Yes..." she quietly agreed. "And my story was about nothing but you since I was sixteen years old. You were my everything, Obi," Satine whispered into his ear. "But you were always meant for something greater."
"Something greater..." Kenobi spat bitterly, his hold on the woman loosening as he hooked his fingers under her chin and drank in the sight of her. "You and I, Satine, could have ruled the galaxy together. We could have brought peace and order and progress to the corruption and excess that plagues those in power. There is no greater calling than that, and you helped me see it. You were my greatest calling, Satine..." Obi-Wan muttered as he pressed his lips to hers, a low, wanting moan in his chest as she pulled him closer, the kiss quickly becoming hungry and devouring, and they didn't part until Obi-Wan heard Quinlan Vos began whistling and calling for them to get naked. The Sith Lord glared at his grinning friend, at the laughing queen by his side, his arms tightening around the woman that melted against him, and for just a moment, the gaping, bloody hole where his heart should have been had mended, the pain he always felt sitting sharp in his chest faded to nothing. For just a moment, he was truly happy, and Obi-Wan felt at peace.
"Damn it..." Lumis muttered under his breath, the tension in his muscles releasing as weariness overcame him. "You say I am meant for something greater, but my path is ending," he said, a small, sad smile on his lips as he brushed Satine's hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear. "This is it. My purpose is complete. Luke and Leia have grown up, they have people to protect them when I am gone, and I am no longer needed. And if this is what awaits me..." he whispered, his gaze flicking to Quinlan and Padmé before returning to his lover. "Maybe it won't be so bad to finally rest, and I have been so tired, Satine, I'm so tired of fighting..."
"Is that what you think this is? You believe this is the Force making it easier for you to accept your death?" Satine scoffed, a look of pity and disbelief on her face for a moment before she laid her hand over his heart. "My Obi-Wan would never accept this," she said softly, firmly, a fire in her light blue eyes that made the Sith's heart race. "When faced with his death, my Obi would fight until the bitter end, he would find a way to live, and when the road he was set upon seemed to end, he would cut a new path, not simply walk blindly to its end and wait for the inevitable."
"I have tried to change it, but the Force is no longer my ally!" Kenobi gasped desperately. "I have done everything in my power to alter the vision, but no matter what I do, the vision stays the same. It's the only thing I see within the Force!"
"And yet, the Force has sent you me," Satine said, a soft smirk on her lips as she smoothed out the creases in his robes. "The Force's answer to your distress at what awaits you."
"It's attempts to sooth me," Obi-Wan said flatly. "To make me accept my death."
"Is that what you believe?" Satine asked wryly, laughing softly as she touched his cheek and pressed a swift kiss to his lips. "You cannot see the forest for the trees, my love, there is always a way, and if I know you, and I do," she said as she patted his chest, "you will find it. Just as you couldn't see it was Luke in your visions and not our son, there is something here you cannot see. Just because you cannot see it doesn't mean the Force is not your ally, my love." She stood up on her toes, her arms wrapping around his neck as she pressed his lips to his, the Sith Lord's hands resting upon her hips and drawing her closer as he melted under her touch.
"My Obi-Wan," she whispered when they parted, her forehead pressed against his, a smile on her lips when she felt her lover's shuddering breath against her face. "You will find a way to live, do you hear me? There is so much still you have to do, and there are people here that need you. You will fight, and you will find a way. You and I sacrificed too much for the Empire you will build, and I will not have it be for nothing."
"I'm sorry..." Lumis whispered, his voice trembling as his grip on her tightened. "It's my fault you died. If it wasn't for me, if I was stronger, you would-"
"Hush," Satine said sharply, and the Sith Lord swiftly fell silent. "Even knowing how I died, Obi, I wouldn't have changed a thing if it meant I could not love you the way I did. I spent my life loving you, and I loved every second of it. My death cannot take that from me, and it can't take it from you either." She smiled softly when the Sith Lord's breath hitched and gently cupped his bearded cheek, the man leaning eagerly into her touch. "The Force is not yet done with you, Obi-Wan Kenobi. There is still work you have left to do."
"I almost wish the Force was done with me..." Obi-Wan said sadly, the pain in his chest returning as he looked around at the people he had loved and lost and missed so very dearly. "How long must I wait before you and I are reunited?"
"Reunited?" Satine quietly asked, a look of confusion on her face for a moment before it melted into a bright, easy smile. "We cannot be reunited, my love," the Duchess said, her delicate hand laying over his heart as it began to beat faster. "I never left you."
With a soft, desperate whimper, Obi-Wan pulled Satine into a tight embrace, the feel of her so real it was like she had never left his side. He knew she was dead and gone, like Quinlan, like Padmé, like so, so many others, but from their memory, he drew his strength, and in doing so, they made him powerful. She was right. So long as he lived, they would always be with him. Scooping the Duchess up in his arms, Obi-Wan made his way over to where Padmé and Quinlan sat upon the dune, and he plunked down between them, settling his lover in his lap, and together, they watched Luke and Leia practice. They still had so much to learn, and Obi-Wan would be there to guide them. He was sure of it.
"You see, in places like this," Ezra explained proudly, gesturing to the large room they found themselves in, "the Force unusually strong, and if you're not careful, it's hard to tell what's real and what isn't." He looked behind him and grinned at his captive audience. Luke, a soft smile on his face as he listened attentively, the Force spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn nodding sagely at the young Jedi's explanations, and Leia, who was making no effort to conceal her vast irritation and boredom. Ezra ignored her. The attention of Luke and the Force ghost was enough to keep him talking, and he was glad to do so despite Leia's exaggerated rolling eyes.
"The last time I was here," Ezra continued, "I got pulled into a Force vision without even knowing it. It's part of the Force testing people, so if it happens to you, don't be afraid! Just keep your wits about you and-"
"Yes, yes, we know all about Force visions, Ezra," Leia interrupted curtly, her gaze drifting down the branching hallways as they passed them and pointedly avoiding the glare her brother was sending her. "This isn't our first Jedi Temple. Only amateurs get pulled into the Force unawares, we know when we walk the Force."
"Leia!" Luke hissed under his breath. "There's no need to be rude!"
"Just because you're trying to be on your best behavior to make your little boyfriend feel special doesn't mean I have to put up with it!" Leia shot back, her twin frowning and crossing his arms while Ezra seemed to choke on the very air he was breathing. "Are we here to listen to him ramble, or are we here to help Father?"
"Ezra can help Father!" Luke said firmly, laying his hand on the flushing boy's shoulder. "Or have you forgotten that Ezra was the one that first had the vision of the Emperor and Father's defeat?"
"A vision that Father has already seen more than he could ever possibly want!" Leia countered, hooking her thumbs under the straps of the backpack that she wore and hoisting it higher upon her own back. "If there was anything more to glean from his vision, Father would have already seen it."
"Ezra had the vision first," Luke said calmly, smiling gently at the flushed and flustered boy, a gesture meant to be reassuring that only seemed to make Ezra squirm more. "Perhaps he will see changes and variations here that Father cannot see."
"Then what are we doing, Luke?" Leia huffed, her lips pursing together in frustration. "Are we just wandering the halls and hoping that the Force will drag the three of us into a shared vision? We don't need this museum tour for that, we'd be better off meditating, and you know it."
Luke frowned, crossing his arms defiantly as he stared stubbornly at his equally stubborn sibling. "Going deeper inside the Temple might-"
"No it won't, you know it won't!" Leia interrupted. "You can reach the Force from anywhere, we don't have to go somewhere to make this vision happen! And even if we did," she said, pointing a finger at her brother, seeming to challenge the boy to argue with her, "I don't think we have anything to gain from a vision that may have been caused by kriffing Darth Sidious. So go ahead, Luke, follow Ezra around, listen to him talk, make out with him in the hallways, for all I care." She pointed down one of the branching hallways, her other hand tightening around the strap of her pack. "I'm going this way."
"We need to stay together, Leia," Qui-Gon said quietly, and the precocious twin flashed him a tight smile.
"Well, I guess you boys better follow me, then," she said as she turned on her heel and marched down the dusty corridor, and with a heavy sigh, the Force spirit gestured for Luke and Ezra to follow the commanding girl.
"I don't get it..." Ezra whispered to Luke as they followed a few paces behind Leia. "If she doesn't think we'll find anything by exploring the Temple, why are we exploring the Temple instead of heading back? Does she think the Force is stronger this way, or..."
"Leia just likes being in charge..." Luke said with a roll of his eyes, earning him a derisive snort from his sister.
"We're here to help Father," Leia said quietly. "The Force clearly isn't interested in giving us answers, or it would have already. So we're trying something new," she muttered, stepping from the corridor into a larger room, and looking around, Leia nodded approvingly and shrugged the pack from her shoulders, setting it upon the ground, and opening it, she fished through it and produced a water bottle and two ration bars she tossed to her twin.
"And...we need to be here to do it?" Ezra asked as he took the ration bar Luke offered him. "How is this any different from where I was taking us?"
"The where doesn't matter," Leia muttered almost absently as she dug through her pack. "I just wanted to be far away from the others." The strange aloofness in her tone made Luke stop just as he put the water bottle to his lips, his eyes darting quickly to meet Qui-Gon's, the Force spirit looking as concerned and unsettled as he suddenly felt. There was something, something in Leia's demeanor that felt mischievous as it so usually did when she was doing something she shouldn't have been, an easy enough thing to recognize because of how often it happened.
"Leia..." Luke said slowly as he screwed the cap back on the water bottle. "What are you planning? What have you done?" Leia's gaze flicked up to meet Luke's, a strange, pale glow in her dark eyes, and a slow, devious grin spread across her face as she carefully lifted something out of the pack, Luke's breath catching in his throat as he stared wide-eyed at an object he had only seen a few times, but recognized all too well. Beside him, he could feel the presence of the Force spirit tremble and ripple through the Force, the calm, easy warmth shaken by the sudden chill.
"Darth Nihilus' mask?" Luke asked breathlessly as his twin held the artifact in her hands. "Leia, you stole Father's artifact?! That thing is dangerous, he told you that you couldn't touch it, he forbid you from it!"
"An object of death and evil," Qui-Gon said, moving closer to the girl. "A dangerous thing to most people, but in your hands, with your talent, it's particularly dangerous. Put it down, Leia."
"No," Leia said firmly, glaring at her brother and the spirit, her hands clenching around the bone-white mask. "Father went out of his way to acquire this mask because he thought it could help him change his fate! He's gotten nothing useful out of it, but I can! I can see the history of this mask, I can learn where his holocron is, which is what Father was looking for to begin with!"
"Delving into the past of a thing so seeped in darkness is a bad idea," Qui-Gon said firmly, horrified that the girl was even considering such, so thrown off balance that his usual steady image wavered in the air. "Your Father forbid you from touching the mask for a reason. I do not take that lightly and neither should you."
"The answer to his problems have been in front of us the entire time!" Leia snapped, her frustration tensing the line of her shoulders, her gaze tearing from the Force spirit to look pleadingly at her twin. "I have the power to get those answers, and Father might be afraid to reach for them, but I'm not. He stood against an ancient Sith Lord for us, he sacrificed everything to keep us safe, he chose our lives over his. That means something to me, Luke, and if he's willing to sacrifice himself for us, I am more than willing to put myself in danger if it meant I could help him."
"How did you even manage to get that thing in here without anyone knowing?" Ezra asked as he stepped past a contemplative Luke. "I thought things like that could be felt in the Force."
"From the day of our birth, my brother and I have been taught to conceal our presence by Darth Lumis himself," Leia said proudly, an arrogant smirk on her lips as she looked at the horrified spirit of the Jedi before her. "A living vergence in the Force, a nexus of Dark Side energy that the most powerful Jedi could never detect. Hiding this," she said as she held up the mask, "was easy. And it's not like the Jedi could ever really sense the Dark Side..."
"Enough, Leia," Qui-Gon said firmly, his eyes cold and hard and his image unwavering as he centered himself in the Force once again. "I promised your Father I would keep you safe. I will not allow you to toy with things beyond your understanding."
"This isn't your choice to make!" Leia snapped. "If you want to protect me, Qui-Gon, be there to guide me while I delve into Darth Nihilus' memories so I don't become lost within them." Biting on her lower lip, her eyes cast at the ground for a moment, she stepped forward toward the spirit and looked at him with wide, pleading eyes. "You've always been there to teach us and protect us, Qui-Gon, and for that I will always be grateful, but please. Help me now to save my Father."
"I agree with Leia..." Luke whispered, looking apologetically at the spirit for a moment before he stepped beside his sister and gently took the mask from her hands, his thumb gingerly running over the red markings above the mask's empty eyes. "Time isn't on our side, and if the mask can lead us to the answers Father has been seeking, we have to do it."
"You know well the Dark Side is deceptive," Qui-Gon cautioned. "The answers you find in the history of that thing may not be the answers you seek."
"Maybe not..." Luke quietly agreed. "But if there's even a chance, we have to try it. Finding that holocron could save our Father, and this could lead us right to it." A slight, confident smile touched Luke's lips as he stepped closer to the Force spirit, the mask held close to his chest. "And this is the best time to do it. You won't let anything bad happen to Leia, Ghost Uncle Qui-Gon. I trust in you."
The spirit exhaled sharply, an irritated look upon his face as he looked between the twins, his jaw clenched as he considered the willful teens and knew well he couldn't stop them. "Your Father could guide you through this better than I," he advised stiffly, and Leia quickly shook her head.
"Like you said, Father would never allow it. He'd rather die than see us take this risk to save himself. And besides..." she drawled sweetly as she edged closer to the spirit, a wry smirk upon her lips. "You're one with the Force, Qui-Gon. Who better to guide me than you?"
"You are becoming the sort of woman fathers warn their sons about..." the spirit grumbled, his arms crossed tightly over his chest as he glared at the grinning, innocent-looking Leia. "Obi-Wan is going to be so proud..."
"So you'll help?" Luke asked hopefully, his hands clasped before him as he turned large blue eyes on the spirit, and Qui-Gon hung his head with a heavy sigh.
"You two have left me little choice, since you have made it clear you will do this foolish thing regardless of what I say," the spirit said firmly, clearly displeased. "You know, regardless of if I tell him or not, your father will hear of this. He will feel it in the Force the moment you delve into the mask."
"Then we'll need to work quickly," Leia said as she knelt, settling herself on the dusty ground as she made herself comfortable, and frowned when she saw the hard look Qui-Gon was giving her. "Oh, what!" she snapped. "Did you think do dissuade me by threatening me with my Father? I know I'm getting grounded for life! I'm alright with that so long as he's alive!" She took a deep breath and looked at her brother as he knelt before her, the mask held gently in his hands. "Sacrifices..." she muttered under her breath. "In all things, there are sacrifices, and this is mine."
Leia held her hands out before her and looked at her brother, grim determination on her face as Luke gently placed the mask in her hands. The mask felt heavy, weighed down by more than the thick, bone-white material it was crafted from, its very presence in the Force weighty with blood and stolen life and the Dark Side. With a tight, reassuring smile to her concerned brother, Leia breathed deeply as she brushed her hands over the face of the mask, closed her eyes, and plunged into its memories.
It pulled her under like a vortex, the oppressive darkness yielding to flashing images, spikes of rage, the rush of pain and unbearable hunger. She felt the hollow emptiness of an age gone by lost and forgotten, the burning anger of betrayal and defeat, the dissonant cacophony of the raging beats of war. She could see a woman kneeling before her, empty hollows where her eyes should have been, another woman seemingly woven from the light itself too bright to touch, an old woman and a broken man that reeked of the Dark Side, and an army of Mandalorians bringing the galaxy to heel. Leia did all she could to slow the visions so she could see more clearly, so she could find something, anything of use within, but the Force pulled her deeper, the Dark Side leaving her disoriented and gasping for breath as she struggled desperately for control she did not have.
It stopped suddenly with a sickening lurch, her stomach flipping with nausea as she felt herself slam hard to the ground. The Force around her felt torn and chaotic, mere tatters of what it should have been, the sea not just stormy, but torn asunder by wide, vacant gashes in space itself. It felt somehow wrong, the very air around her feeling thick and oppressive with death, the Dark Side howling in her ears, and with a groan, Leia slowly pushed herself off the ground, slowing opening her eyes to look around at what lay before her, not the disorienting memories she was expecting, but a singular image, clear and still and silent as though she were actually there. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting of the massive subterranean cavern she found herself in, the settling dust leaving the air hazy and a low, eerie hum in the air reverberated through her chest and set the hairs on her neck to standing.
The air smelled of death and ash, and as she looked around her, she found herself surrounded by statues, hundreds of thousands of them petrified reliefs of terror and agony, the very Force around them trembling with pain as if somehow the stone itself could suffer. As her vision grew sharper the more she adjusted to the chaos in the Force and the distant hum of a thousand screams, Leia could make out something in the distance, something large and monolithic and faintly glowing red, and taking a deep breath to steel her nerves, Leia navigated the maze of horrific statues in her journey toward the beaconing light.
She didn't have to journey far before she could make out the shape of the glowing structure, an enormous pyramid covered in intricate glowing symbols carved into its face, the power of the place humming in the air and making the Force sing with darkness loud enough to drown out the screams of the dead. Looking upon it, Leia could feel her own heart begin to beat faster with a thrill she could not understand, the dull ache in her chest erupting into searing agony as she felt herself being torn open, and she covered her ears when she heard a deep, snarling voice speaking in ancient Sith, the very feel of it making her feel as though her heart was being ripped out of her chest.
Slowly, the agony began to twist and turn, reshaping into something both unnatural and familiar, the pain morphing into a deep, insatiable hunger. Her mind filled with memories she knew were not her own, her ears filling with the clash of battle and the screams of the dying as something terrible was unleashed, the words of the Jedi and the Sith burning the name Malachore into the depths of her mind. In the air before her, she could see the shimmering, ethereal image of a pyramid, a small representation of the shrine before her, and as she reached out to grasp it, she could feel the dark presence behind her, the fearsome beast looking down at her from the empty hollows of his mask, and in the next moment, Leia was falling.
With a sharp gasp, Leia slammed hard into the ground, her eyes wide and unseeing, her breathing fast and ragged, and for a moment, all she could see was Qui-Gon Jinn, the spirit tightly grasping her hand, the warm breeze of his presence chasing away the bitter cold she felt deep within her. With a sob of relief, she reached out and grabbed on to him, the feel of him solid and warm and real beneath her grasp, and clinging tightly to him, she felt herself lifted in his arms and held close, the warmth of the light embracing her tightly as she was carried to safety.
Leia awoke with a groan, her head pounding as she opened bleary eyes, and she smiled softly when she saw her brother above her, relief chasing away the concern on his face as he tightly squeezed her hand between his. She could feel the presence of Qui-Gon at her side, could hear the gasps of relief from a distressed Ezra as he paced back and forth, and in the back of her mind, she could feel her Father, his presence roiling and wrathful and frightened and drawing swiftly closer, and she couldn't help but grin.
"I saw it, Luke," Leia said softly. "I know where to find Darth Nihilus' holocron."
