Chapter 52
After All
A/N- I'm baaaaaaaaccccccckkkkkkk! Miss me?
Ha, ha. Just kidding. XD.
Iluvsugarcookies- Good to have you back! Thanks for the review. I'll do my best to keep plugging away. =)
Note to everyone: I'm starting a drawing/painting studio art class on Monday and since it runs from the morning until 4PM I'll only be updating at night (and I might miss every other day if I'm tired). I'll keep you guys posted on that, but I thought I'd give a heads up.
Oh and thanks so much to everyone who has voted in the polls. Remember that I'll be closing the polls as soon as the Namesake series ends (I'll let you know when we're in the final-final stretch, but here's the heads up that that date isn't far off). As it stands there are three characters that have votes and those characters are currently ranked by votes in a first, second, and third place (who will win in the end, you decide!).
I think that covers all my notes for this update.
Thanks again to everyone for your continued support of this series, I sincerely appreciate it.
Please enjoy!
-Don ^_^
Anakin felt chills run through his body. Now he was watching as a grief struck Tahiri talked to Alternate-Anakin's body as though he were still alive. Her eyes were so lost and she was talking in a somber way that indicated she really hadn't registered that her best friend, almost boyfriend and her other half, had just died. Anakin couldn't watch it any more than he could stab himself repeatedly in his own heart. He now knew why Tahiri had been so frantic about getting him to understand that he shouldn't be as reckless and carefree about his health and life as he was.
And I still left her alone, Anakin thought with self resentment. He turned to look into the cockpit where Jaina was venting out her pain and anger on everyone around her, even Zekk, who was clearly also in pain as well. Jacen had gone missing as well and from what Anakin had seen and heard, Jacen had died as well. Jaina was definitely thrown off balance. Anakin then thought of how torn up she'd been when she thought she'd lost both Zekk and Jacen. If she'd lost Anakin too, he couldn't even imagine what would have happened. He didn't want to.
"Do you understand now, Anakin?" Other-Anakin asked as he stepped over to where Anakin stood watching the scene descend into grim chaos.
"Yeah," Anakin said, not taking his eyes off Tahiri as his face stiffened in somber agony.
"It does not end here, however," Other-Anakin said. Anakin turned his head sharply.
"What else could go wrong?" He demanded. Other-Anakin waved his hand and the scene changed once more.
"Everything, Anakin, and that is why you must see that destruction does not stop at the source." Other-Anakin stepped back so Anakin could see the next scene unfurling before him. He felt his blood go ice cold, hot stabbing seized his heart and he shook his head to rid himself of the image before him but it didn't go away.
No matter how many times he shook his head, he still saw Jaina using her lightsaber to kill Jacen.
Natie straightened as she finished clipping on the blaster-proof vest of the New Republic and then putting on her helmet and armor from her bounty hunting days. She left the chest armor plates on the table of her apartment and then slung the strap to her blaster across her shoulder.
She could only hope that Kirk wasn't taking any unnecessary risks, but since she knew him too well, she could already tell he'd get into some kind of trouble regardless of whether or not he decided to take the risks. Trouble seemed to follow Kirk Dekim everywhere he went. Natie knew that she really couldn't do anything about it, since she'd only just entered Kirk's life after he'd lived two decades of it as a Jedi lost and in pain. He'd already established most of his connections and then left them behind, only now to pick them up again shortly after he and Natie met. Or maybe it was because she met him that he even considered staying in Coruscant at all. It seemed ludicrous to think that she was the reason he'd changed, but at the same time, he was the real reason she'd changed, so it wasn't impossible.
Natie reached the docking bay, still deep in thought when she nearly jumped as she heard two footsteps stepping up behind her. She turned.
"Sorry, I thought I recognized you from before. You're Kirk's girlfriend, right?" Natie regarded the young woman before her. She couldn't have been more than seventeen or eighteen years old and already there was so much maturity lining the girl's face and lit into her emerald green eyes. "I'm Tahiri Veila." The girl stuck out her hand and Natie took it with wonderment in her eyes.
"Natie Renders," Natie then looked down and then back up at Tahiri's face. "I remember you now," She smiled, "You're married to Anakin Solo."
"Yup, that's my idiot life partner," Tahiri said with a curt nod and a wry smile as she folded her arms across her chest. Natie noticed that Tahiri kept her arms a ways away from her belly and then regarded the girl carefully.
"You're pregnant?" Natie questioned, not wanting to draw conclusions right away. Tahiri smiled fondly and placed her hands on her stomach.
"Yeah, I am," Tahiri looked over at Natie and then nodded. "You can touch it if you want to." Natie tentatively moved closer and placed a hand on Tahiri's stomach and smiled. "You can't feel too much right now, but the force is a heartbeat in itself."
Natie turned her head to look at Tahiri, "You can feel people who are close to you through the force?"
Tahiri nodded and got a faraway look in her eyes as she gazed out at the doors to the docking bay, "That's the only way that I can tell that Anakin will be alright, because the force tells me he will be; the force is life and life is the heartbeat of the force, so I know that as long as the force lives, so will he."
Natie turned her gaze to follow Tahiri's and nodded silently. They stood for a few minutes before Tahiri shifted from one foot to another before speaking, "I know you're going to where Kirk is… and that means you're going to where Anakin is too," Tahiri held out a small box, "Can you take this to Anakin?"
Natie took the box and nodded, "I'll get it to him, don't worry."
"Thank you," Tahiri said, "I know Anakin wouldn't want me there. He worries too much in general, but this time I have to trust that he knows what he's doing."
Natie smiled, "I'm sure he does… in his own way."
Tahiri laughed as she picked up the dry wit in Natie's tone. If there was one thing that the two women had in common, it was that both their partners were reckless idiots, just like James and the rest of the men in the galaxy. Tahiri wondered if it was just something that all males seemed to share with one another or it was just the males that revolved around her life that were like that.
What Anakin seemed to think of as logic, certainly wasn't the norm of logistics in Tahiri's. But it was their dynamic to do things that were, well, impractical since they were always involved in some form of wild adventure.
Tahiri smiled as Natie waved, boarding her ship. Well, bring on the next one, Tahiri thought as the docking bay doors opened to reveal the open sky.
Tegrid made his way down the corridor after leaving Kirk in one of the many hidden rooms that only those members of the Fallen knew about. He turned his head as he felt a familiar presence.
"I didn't expect to see you here… Martell," Tegrid said in a curt tone. The figure shifted as his eyes stared at Tegrid out of the darkness. Suddenly all the candles went out.
"Times change," The figure said in a dead pan tone. Tegrid shifted but hid his discomfort at the sound of the figure's voice.
"Your loyalty certainly has," Tegrid said coldly. The figure shrugged as the figure leaned against one of the rocky walls, folding his arms across his chest.
"As you became a master, so have I," The figure said.
"Not yet," Tegrid said and drew his lightsaber and ignited the silver blade, "You've done enough damage to yourself, Martell, it's time I destroyed what I created."
The figure laughed, "You had no part in what I became. In fact, it was because I ignored you that I grew stronger."
"You grew into a fine Jedi and then you turned yourself into a monster," Tegrid growled, bearing his fangs. The figure regarded Tegrid with an air of boredom and then sighed.
"Very well, as you wish," The figure drew his lightsaber and ignited the crimson blade, casting the corridors in a bath blood red light. "We shall end this according to the rule of two, Master Tegrid."
Tegrid smiled as he raised his blade to meet the first blow, "No, I've hidden the third from you, you won't win this even if you kill me."
The figure raised an eyebrow before slashing down and cutting into the fur on Tegrid's lightsaber wielding arm, "Pity," Then the figure struck again and Tegrid faded for a moment before rising and knocking his opponent back against the wall.
"I'm finishing this, Former Apprentice," Tegrid said and then used the force to bring down the entire ceiling crashing down on the two fighters.
Kirk awoke to hear the thundering sound of pounding and immediately his eyes snapped open and he was on his feet, looking around the small room for the exit. He found the door and opened it, only to find that he was in an empty corridor. Rocks lay at the end of the corridor, blocking any way of Kirk finding out what lay beyond that point. He turned his head and began climbing through the rubble.
He paused as he saw something sticking out from between the rocks. He climbed over the rocks and then down into a small cluster where he could see that the object was a piece of cloth. The same one that Tegrid always wore.
"Master!" Kirk cried and then used the force to lift the rocks, sending them flying down the corridor in his haste. But Kirk could already feel Tegrid's life force fading away by the minute.
He couldn't let his master die, not when Kirk had just found that part of his life again. He needed Tegrid to be there. Kirk needed Tegrid to tell Kirk that he was a stupid kid who was lost and alone. He needed Tegrid to say the truth, no matter how harsh. Kirk bit his lip and then slumped against the rocks as he found that the cloth only led to a torn piece of Tegrid's cloak.
Luke sat up, his head throbbed even more than it had when he'd woken up before. He hadn't even realized his mind was being invaded until the force of the intrusion had caused Luke to lose consciousness.
The whole truth had come crashing down on him more quickly than he had anticipated and not only that, the truth had come from the mouth of a complete stranger. The young man had told Luke everything before sending the Grand Jedi Master into oblivion. Now Luke was in the cold room by himself and the man, whoever he was, was gone without a trace in the force. Luke felt out with his senses and stood up. The force was back, but he couldn't feel the young man at all. It was as if the young man didn't have a presence at all. Luke frowned as he stared out the single window for a moment.
"Vader was my master."
Luke froze, "How is that possible, you weren't old enough to be his student when he was alive!"
"You don't know anything about me, Master Skywalker, give me the courtesy of explaining the truth to you before you go jumping to conclusions." Luke involuntarily shut his mouth at that moment.
"I was taught by Darth Vader when I was a little boy and then I was frozen in a block of carbonite, a special kind designed to keep specimen alive for years," The young man turned his eyes to the window, a sort of longing filled them for a fraction of a second before they returned to their natural state of cool and otherwise unreadable expression. "When I awoke, I was here, in one of these rooms," The man looked over at the door, "No one was around but this strange wolf-like creature dressed in rags. He took me in and soon discovered that I had force potential. Who this creature was, I would never truly understand, but he was powerful and I learned much from him; with this creature I completed the training that Vader was forced to abandon to take up complete service with the Empire."
Luke remained silent as he let the information sink in. "The creature gave me a name, an identity to live by even though I wasn't truly a real person."
Luke then spoke for the first time since the young man had begun telling his story, "Why aren't you a real person?"
The man laughed, "Because I'm a clone, Skywalker. A mere imitation of the man I was copied from."
Luke frowned, "Who are you the clone of?"
"You ask too many questions, Skywalker," The man said, with a bemused smile, "But I'll grant you this one last answer," He inhaled deeply and waved his hand to light the candles floating around in the room. The warm blue glow illuminated the young man's face so that Luke was forced to see the face before him. Luke couldn't put his finger on it, but the face was familiar.
"You should know me, Skywalker," The man straightened, "After all, you married my original form's daughter."
Luke's head snapped around and he seethed inwardly, "You- you abandoned her!"
The young man chuckled, "I'm a clone, Skywalker, nothing more. I had nothing to do with the man that I share exact DNA with. Though it explains why I am force sensitive."
Luke jawed for a minute before shutting his mouth. He couldn't believe that he was looking at the cloned form of what Mara's father would have looked like when he was younger.
"I must tell you one more thing, Skywalker," The young man said with a complacent smile that sent fear rushing through Luke's veins. "The Empire isn't dead."
Then his entire mind went blank under the pressure that was forced through his entire skull to the point where his ears were ringing and he could almost taste metal in his mouth.
He knew the young man's face and he had a feeling he knew who else had the same kind of ominous presence. Luke needed to tell the New Republic, he had sensed where the danger was coming from and how he needed to act.
Mara rounded the corner and immediately drew her lightsaber as she heard the crunch of rocks and then the tapping of boots on the ground. She slid out of sight of the doorway and then leapt out, bringing her lightsaber under the neck of her opponent.
"Don't move or-" Mara stopped herself, "Luke?"
He smiled, "Good to see you too, Mara."
She sighed and lowered her blade, closing it down. "You've got some explaining to do."
"No kidding," Luke said with a wry smile, "You have no idea what I just found out."
Mara raised an eyebrow and her eyes glittered with a familiar spark, "Try me."
The figure stopped just outside of the cave, his face still cast in darkness as he gazed out at the golden ground before him. He sighed and slowly his lips begun to curl.
"It seems that the time has come," Then he smiled maniacal smile, "The prophecy must be fulfilled."
A/N- Thanks for reading! I appreciate all of you who have added me to your favorites and reviewed. I'm feeling the love here and it's great! =)
