Hello, everyone! I know I've said it a lot, but this will be the last time that I am announcing an update in here. If you would like to know about the news and updates about this story, then you are more than welcome to join the Discord group I've made for you guys. You can find the link in my profile.
Anyway, I wanted to tell you that the next update of this story will NOT be on Wednesday, but on the next Saturday. I've already written a somewhat draft for the next chapter, but this feels like an appropriate time to have a 'mid-season' break.
Enjoy this chapter and don't forget to review!
:)
Chapter 147
Every single Rebel and Senator was present in the Yavin 4 Base. They all gathered around, coming from different points in the Galaxy, to respect Laetitia. They had lost a true ally and their Leader. Some of them, even more.
Even Qui-gon, Obi-wan, the Gray Jedi and the Jedi were present in Laetitia's memorial. She may not be on the good terms with the Jedi but ... she used to be one of them. And the Gray Jedi wanted to mourn the loss of their newest and active member.
Ahsoka, Lux, Mina, Rex, Han, Chewie, Maz, Luke and Thexan were standing in a corner. Neither of them had said anything to each other except when Han lost it on Thexan. After that, they had run out of things to say to each other.
Ahsoka was holding his 6-year-old as she was sobbing in her mother's shoulders. Laetitia was Mina's godmother, her aunt, and even sometimes, closer than her mom. She was so close to her auntie Lee. She was also her Master, so it was like Mina had lost everything, both her Master and her aunt.
Thexan only looked down in sadness, trying to hide his tears. He used to be a Sith Lord and a Palpatine. He shouldn't cry ... but he was. He looked down at his new lightsaber and grabbed it tightly. He would never lose it. Leah had built it for him ... as the final and official sign that he was no longer a Sith. The last gift she had given him before she died. He was so grateful for that.
Thexan didn't need to access the Force to feel the resentment Han was feeling towards him. He, too, felt the same way Han did. Laetitia was in that place in the first place to save him. His father had used his as a trap to draw Leah out and get rid of the problem once and for all.
And it worked. Darth Sidious had finally killed Laetitia Skywalker. He had finally got his wish and did what he wanted to do since she was born. Killed the last Skywalker to make sure she wouldn't bring back the fallen Skywalker.
The fallen Skywalker. Anakin Skywalker. Darth Vader.
Thexan's mind went to his Master, who was more of a father to him than his own biological father was. He wondered how Vader reacted when he found out of his apprentice's betrayal. He would 'rage out' and kill Thexan on sight when he got the chance.
But Thexan wasn't worried about that. He was worried about his Master. His daughter was dead. Laetitia may have hated Vader, but deep down, Darth Vader loved his daughter and just wanted to protect her. When Thexan was in the Falcon, he felt his Master's Force-scream. It was so loud and full of grief that Thexan thought he would go deaf from it.
His Master was full of grief and rage over losing his daughter.
If Thexan hoped his Master wouldn't kill him for betraying him, he was 100% sure that he would give him the slowest and most painful death possible because of what he did. His precious daughter was dead because of him. The only light in his dark life was gone because of him.
He deserved to die and he knew that the next time he saw his Master, it would be the last time he would ever see anyone.
Mon Mothma stepped in front of the others to give her piece. They had agreed since Leah's close friends weren't stable enough to give a eulogy, everyone who wanted would say what they wanted about her.
Leah didn't have a body to bury as her body was lost in the explosion. What happened to her lightsabers was up to Luke, and he made it clear that he would not be leaving his sister's lightsabers away from him. The whole funeral was about remembering what Laetitia did, not burying anything.
"We are all at war … And Laetitia had been fighting that life her entire life. I hope that now, she's found peace." Mon Mothma quietly started.
"Laetitia was not scared to face death, not if it meant saving a life and in the end, she died doing what she did best … helping a friend, someone in need of help." Crix Madine said as he remembered how Leah and Han came to his rescue. Thexan visibly flinched in pain when he heard those words.
"When the realities of this life became too much to bear, she shouldered them with us. We laughed. We cried. When we failed, she cheered us up. And when we succeeded, she celebrated with us. But she did that for all of us. She had honor and respect … even for her enemies."
"She was a Gray Jedi Master, a General, a sister, a daughter and ... a friend." Admiral Ackbar said all Leah's roles. There were so many that he had to choose the ones she was most known for.
Those words hurt Han and Ahsoka more than anything. Laetitia was their friend, their sister. She had been close friends with Ahsoka since she was 1 years old, and Han when she was 5. How were they supposed to go on without her?
"No one will ever be able to replace her or heal the pain we feel at her loss … But we can honor her with our actions and with our words … We can love each other the way she would've wanted us to love ... She is not gone. She lives on … through me, her friends … and all of us. The only way to keep her spirit alive is to keep doing what she helped us do. Rid the Galaxy of the evil that has been unleashed upon us." Lux said in his wife's place. Ahsoka was too sad to say anything. She just held her crying daughter close.
"We will laugh a lot less without her in our lives. But what she helped us realize was this Galaxy is worth fighting for … even if it is less bright without her in it." Ahsoka quietly added.
Every person present in the room shook their head slightly in agreement. They all fell silent to respect the memory of her. She had gone through a lot with each one of them.
"Remember, Little, you're a Skywalker. Flying is as easy to you as swimming is to a Mon Calamari."
"You're short."
"It wasn't my personality to enjoy killing … but the Galaxy made it mine."
"Thank you ... friend."
"I'm older and more mature than you are and that's all that matters."
"You may not have a mom but you've got an amazing sister who loves you. I promise, I won't even let you feel the loss of a mother or a father."
"You will feel unquenchable pain as this becomes reality but you must not weaken." (Bendu)
"I just want my brother to be safe. I promised my mom I would keep him safe."
"I don't care if you're Lethita or Ami or even the most ruthless monster in the Galaxy. You're still, and always will be, my friend. And I don't care if you're dangerous. Whatever danger you're facing, we'll face it together, as friends." (Han)
"Godmother. Lux agreed to it. Now, if anything happened to me or Lux, it's up to you to make sure your future Padawan will make the right choices." (Ahsoka)
"I just now realize that the more I care, the more the world finds ways to hurt me for it."
"It's not about what I'm willing to do. It's about what I'm not willing to do. I can't just sit back and watch innocent people die ... not anymore."
"You haven't changed a bit. Like at all." (Thexan)
"Having to lose someone you love ... it's the worst pain. The kind that stays with you forever, haunts you in your happy moments and keeps you awake at night."
"There are somethings that even a deadly lightsaber can't kill. The passionate heart and righteous beliefs of a Rebel ... they will never be destroyed by a trash like you."
"The Rebellion is an idea. It can never be destroyed. The Empire, on the other hand? You and your beloved Master are doomed to fail, just like the-once-precious Jedi Order you two destroyed. But this time, I will be there to see it when you all go up in flames!"
"I feel sorry for your daughter. It is the most painful torture ... to be living as someone who has your blood in their veins."
"I told you it was me, Little." (Darth Vader)
"You knew. You knew what his death made me like. How ... vulnerable it left me because I thought I had killed my father. How wrecked I felt. And you left me that way. You didn't do anything!"
"You did this. This is your fault. If you had just given him a chance to turn back, to be your father again, he wouldn't be lost in that suit!" (Ahsoka)
"It was the most painful thing I have ever had to endure when I was lying to you every time you talked to me about his 'death'. And there were times that I was tempted to tell you but knowing what your father had done, who he was … that was something I didn't want to force on you." (Qui-gon)
"Rex, you can't say that no good came out of the war. The Galaxy can't ask for a better soldier and I a better friend. I wouldn't have been able to live the life in the Temple and as a General when I was only a kid if I didn't have you or the Clones."
"The man that I loved hasn't been a father to me in a decade! ... And yes. We were close that we could just ... just finish each other's sentences ... But his obsession with power changed all that. He doesn't care about anything, the least of all me!"
"There is always a choice, even when there appears to be none. But it's the reaction that determines whether the choice made was a good one or bad, not the person who makes it." (Rex)
"You're my friend. The only person I can turn to if I want to talk about anything. The only one who can actually understand me. If something ever happened to you … I would miss you."
"You know me. I don't have to tell you who I am because you helped me become who I am."
"I'm sorry about your father. I know he's not the man you want him to be but that doesn't mean that you're alone. As long as you got me around, you got family. I ain't going anywhere." (Han)
"My life is like ... rounding up marbles on a glass table. And if I lose second for one second, someone gets hurt. Someone I love will die because of me again."
"My best friend wouldn't be my sister if she just walked away when people needed her. That's what you do. Help the people who need help and can't stand up for themselves. You are soft, stubborn, strong, irreplaceable and one-of-a-kind. Which is a good thing, actually, because the Galaxy cannot take two of you." (Han)
"Everyone in the entire Galaxy has paid the price in blood and tears for your 'mistake'!"
"Because of you, I lost everything. My Masters, my friends, my Battalion, my mother and my father. I have lost you. I've lost even myself because I don't know how to live with the darkness I inherited from you and I don't know how to look into my friends' eyes and tell them my father killed theirs."
"Life with the Jedi was not perfect, but, at least, I thought I had you."
"You're a natural General. A born leader. You always have been. You have experience, skill, charisma, modesty. You have always made the right decision, even if it meant destroying your life, even when there wasn't a right decision to make. You don't let personal feelings cloud your leadership."
"He does all these terrible things to the people I love, the people he's supposed to love, and doesn't care about the consequences. So as always, I have to take responsibility for his actions. No matter how much I believe it, he's still my father ... And that's my duty as his daughter."
"Hope is like the sun. If you only believe in it when you see it, you'll never make it through the night. Your night never ends. If today is like yesterday, you'll fight again today. If today is like tomorrow, you can fight again tomorrow."
"The situation you're in today is absolutely your own fault. The dark side is the only thing you have because you threw away me, mom and everyone else for it."
"Tu aras tave qorit iv visa iv mus, Laetitia Skywalker." (Bendu)
"I don't deserve to have the things I have and the ones I love. The more I try to save those around me, the more I put them in danger."
"You have this amazing ability to forgive people for all the horrible things they've done, but when it comes to yourself … you freeze." (Thexan)
"I feel something for Thexan. I always have and probably always will. But lately, that feeling just hurts. Coming back to him always feels like a crash-landing ... that I can't stop from happening."
And just like that, the tragic life of Laetitia Skywalker ended. She died doing what she did the best ... Helping a friend in need. She willingly and happily sacrificed herself to save Thexan. That was not something she would ever regret.
They didn't need to ask her to know that. They already knew ... All of them, even Han. He may be mad at Thexan at the moment but he knew it wasn't his fault. He just needed someone to be angry at and Thexan was the easiest. If he was honest with himself, he was actually blaming Leah. She was too selfless to sacrifice her life like that when he and everyone else needed and loved her.
Everyone looked down and was silent. They were all mourning the loss of what Laetitia had been to them.
But Thexan was different. He wasn't crying or feeling angry. In fact, he wasn't feeling anything at the moment. He pushed down all his feelings because if he didn't, he would feel rage and hate. Dark feelings that were faded away because of the light Laetitia represented in his life. He could feel the dark side calling to him but he refused to answer and give into it.
He couldn't do that. Leah may have been gone but she would be disappointed to see if he turned back to the dark side, especially because of her. What he felt for her was stronger than that. So he did what he knew she would want him to do. Stay in the Rebellion, help the Galaxy and take care of her brother. He knew she would protect Luke no matter what.
That was also one of the reasons why she went to save Thexan. By doing so, she also killed every single Inquisitor in Darth Sidious' league. Now, there was only Darth Sidious, Darth Vader and Arcann. They were the only people left, thanks to her sacrifice.
Thexan was balancing his feelings when he suddenly felt something in the Force. Like someone screaming in pain.
He gasped and put his hand on his chest, panting for air. It was ... suffocating. He couldn't get the feeling that he knew that someone and cared about them very much. Whoever they were.
He took a step back numbly when he realized who the scream belonged to.
It was Laetitia!
Done :(
Hmm ... okay. I know not a lot of things happened in this chapter, but there will be a situation like this in the sequel and I wanted to have everyone's reaction when Laetitia is dead.
Speaking of, what do you guys think is happening with Leah? Where is she? Is she alive?
