Day 4 of my final finale! So: Kya has one more test for Anakin Skywalker. What will she do to him?


Chapter Forty-One

4 ABY

~ Ben Kenobi~
"I've got it."

I looked at Luke. He certainly seemed ready, and even though it usually took longer than a few months to learn how to do healing trances properly, Luke was, I knew, a Jedi far more powerful than I would ever be. Things usually went easily from him, like his father before him.

"Are you two ready yet?" Han grumped from the corner.

I raised an eyebrow. It appeared the Captain still hadn't recovered from the indignity of having to be guided into the hut and to bed by Leia, even though he had seemed to enjoy the attention.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Coming, Captain Solo."

I reached for Luke at the same time that Luke placed his hands on either side of Han's head. The Force gathered like a mighty storm, held in place only by sheer will. I closed my eyes, and contented myself from watching from afar. Luke was doing well . . . so far. And it wasn't like a healing trance gone wrong would do much harm; if the technique was done improperly, the only result was usually that nothing happened.

Han twitched, and then his eyes rolled back and he sank into a deep sleep.

So far, so good, Luke thought.

Don't be distracted, I admonished. Finish everything first.

Yes, sir.

I felt Leia's curiosity pressing at the edges of my awareness, and for a second I debated withdrawing from the bond to try and explain things to her. No doubt Han going so suddenly unconscious disturbed her; we hadn't really explained what we were going to do other than that it would heal Han's blindness.

Then Kya touched me. I'll deal with her. Do you want Anakin to act as an anchor or leave?

I returned my attention to Luke. He was now directing his power to help speed up Han's healing, and focusing on the parts that needed the most attention, like his atrophied muscles and clouded eyes.

No, I'll think he'll be fine. I can act as an anchor. And if Luke needs more strength, I can give it.

All right.

I frowned. There was something in her mind that she was . . . Kya, what are you hiding from me? I demanded warily. Usually if she hid something, it meant something was really wrong – and that there was something I should know about.

Kya's emotions took a freefall into confusion and shame. She sometimes still forgot just how intimately we were bound.

Kya. . .

She took her time in replying. It's . . . nothing. Just a little something I need to do.

Which is? I paused, struck by a new thought. There was only one person that Kya would not be able to tell me about, if it came to it, and that was Lady Elizabeth. Has your Lady Mother contacted you with something?

No. This is something the Force tells me to do. There is still one more test Anakin must face before we are ready to confront the Emperor.

I frowned. What else could we possibly test Anakin with or on? And the test is . . .

Don't worry about it. Concentrate on Luke.

Kya –

But then she was gone, and instead of her presence all I could feel was Luke's worry. He had sensed my attention being drawn away, and as this was his first time trying to do a healing trance, he was naturally nervous.

I groaned. Whatever Kya was up to, it would have to wait.

What is it, Luke?

~ Luke Skywalker ~
I finally withdrew from the rapport I had created with Han's mind when Ben was satisfied with the work I had done.

I opened my eyes, stood, turned around to face Ben – and nearly fell over.

Ben supported me as I limped to a chair, perhaps having expected what had happened to me. He smiled and moved off to the cabinets as I slumped, too drained to really care about how I looked at the moment. Besides, he had seen me in worse conditions – especially after wandering around training on Dagobah.

"So . . . how do you think you did?"

I opened one eye. "Why didn't you tell me it was so . . . exhausting?"

Ben laughed. "It's different for everyone, Luke," he explained patiently, handing me the cup of caf. "Some people have no problems. Others will keel over right next to the patient. But you'll get stronger with experience."

I swirled my cup moodily, waiting for the caf to cool. I wasn't ready to keel over, but I was ready for a nice long sleep.

"And you? How does it go for you?"

Ben shrugged, sipping at his own cup as though the hotness of the liquid didn't bother him. It probably didn't; he had the formal training to not be bothered by anything that sought to intoxicate or inconvenience him. "It depends on the severity," he confessed. "If it's a minor wound, I can do it. But the bigger the wound, the more power I must invest, and I am much better at administering a healing trance to myself and Kya than to someone I don't know. I leave that to the healers."

I tilted my head, confused. "If you have trouble projecting, why is Kya easy?"

Ben hesitated. Finally, he said slowly, "Kya and I have a very powerful bond. It is therefore easier for me to heal her."

"Ah."

I lifted the cup and took a big gulp, hoping to cover my slip. They had said the bond was strong, but I had never believed it was really that much stronger than the bond between my father and me.

But if my father had been injured, me trying to administer a healing trance would not have gone well.

"And Kya? How good is she?"

Ben shrugged. "She doesn't usually need to go into one. Her own powers are more than able to deal with it."

"Her what?"

Ben sighed and tugged at his beard. "I can't explain it to you," he said, his tone frustrated. "It's a secret I can know but not tell, I'm afraid, for her own protection. You'll have to ask her about it whenever you get the – "

The Force rippled then, strong and dark, and we both jumped in surprise. My cup tumbled to the floor from my startled hand, splashing dark liquid everywhere and staining my pants. Ben sprang for the door with a muttered curse, the Force already rumbling around him, and I heard the blur of shiny metal that signified that he had drawn his lightsaber.

I followed – and came to dead stop.

My jaw dropped, and my hand fell away from my lightsaber. Or, at least, I thought it fell away from my lightsaber. It was only until I glimpsed Ben, his face filled with frustration and his own hand shaking as it returned his lightsaber to his belt, that I realized that I hadn't moved my hand of my own will. Kya stood there, her lightsaber activated, and one hand pointed at the both of us.

It was then that I realized what she had done.

Ben's eyes narrowed as he glimpsed my father standing some distance off, his lightsaber activated and angled in the ready stance for Djem So.

"What are you doing?" he asked lowly, his voice surprisingly calm.

"One last test."

I struggled against the Force-hold, but no matter how much strength I used, she always beat me. Actually, it wasn't so much as strength as the force of will and experience, and I had never tried this before.

She, obviously, had.

"I cannot allow this." Ben's voice rose in anger. "He could kill you, or worse. This is in direct defiance to my mandate."

"He will not kill me."

"You do not know that for sure."

Kya sighed and lowered her hand, but the hold remained, strong and unbreakable. "This has to be done by a daughter of the Force, Ben. I must do it. And now, before it is too late." She paused. "I am sorry."

I glanced at Ben. His face was angrier than I'd ever seen it before. It wasn't the same dark hatred I had sensed from my father or any of the other Imperials I'd encountered, but it was potent and powerful all the same. I could feel the Force raging around him like a thundercloud, and I knew that the only reason he did not break the Force hold was because he did not want to hurt Kya. Yet in that moment, for the first time, I understand just why I had always been wary of him whenever I had interacted with Kya.

He was dangerous if she was in danger. Very dangerous.

I would never hurt her, but Ben didn't know that. He merely protected her against everyone, just to make sure.

And it would explain why Kya seemed so carefree when being introduced to strangers. She knew that he would protect her no matter what.

"Are you ready, Anakin?"

He merely sank deeper into the opening stance in response.

Kya smiled tightly. Her blade flickered up and then down and away in the traditional salute to open a duel before coming up to guard again in the opening stance of a lightsaber form I'd never seen before.

Then, with a single bound, they clashed in mid-air.

The duel took my breath away. I was skilled, but I would need many more years of practice before I would approach the skill of my father or Kya. They flowed effortlessly through their forms, parrying and striking as though it was natural, because they had practiced for so long that it had become second nature for them.

Yet they seemed almost evenly matched. Kya was swifter, but my father was stronger, and together they were equal in the Force.

And so the duel continued long into the morning, with the Force-holds that bound Ben and I not faltering for a single second, until, finally, they scored killing blows simultaneously.

Ben stiffened.

But Anakin merely laughed and clipped his saber to his belt before bowing to her gracefully. "Well, I'm glad we never had to duel before."

Kya smiled and flicked a finger in our direction. The Force eased, and I breathed safely again. Ben was at her side in a moment, his hand drawing her towards him and away from Anakin, his impassive Jedi mask sliding back on immediately now that the duel was over.

"You can relax," she murmured.

"Not if you intend on springing something that like on me again."

"You did really well," Kya told Anakin. "Your skill is almost completely back now. I guess you can take over training Luke in Djem So now."

"It would be my honor – Ah!"

My father doubled over in agony, and seconds later, the wave of pain or distress or fear or whatever it was hit us all. Even Leia lurched to the side with a gasp, one hand clutching at her head. We all frantically strove to shields ourselves – but then, just as suddenly, the wave vanished, leaving nothing but emptiness behind.

Leia was the first to recover. "What," she said slowly, "was that?"