StarWarsReverse & MalirBly: Thank you for reviewing the last chapter. I was happy to read your comments! ... Hold in your tears. Some sadder chapters are on the way ... with cliffhangers :D
"Person" review: "Atla"? Are you talking about "Avatar: The Last Airbender"? I haven't even watched the series, just heard of it. What specific quote are you talking about? Maybe I was inspired by it or heard it before. I was mostly inspired by the game Star Wars: The Old Republic, when the original Arcann spoke with his father, Valkorion, after he was redeemed. That's all. But let me know what quote you're talking about. I'd like to know :)
LuciTheFangirl: Thank you for reading and reviewing my story! You have no idea how happy I am to hear that. Your comment made my week :D
Guest review: Well, my story has a lot of cliffhangers, as you've already seen and read. But I don't think there will be too many cliffhangers in the future. So hold off on killing me at the moment :P
Chapter 170
On the Millennium Falcon
After Leaving Thexan behind to deal with his crazy father, her crazy father and his crazy brother, Laetitia and the others were as far away from them as they could have been. They needed to protect everyone else that was onboard the Millennium Falcon.
While she was away safe with her family and friends, she couldn't have a restful minute. She left her husband behind. What kind of a wife would do that? On their wedding day, of all days.
Leah was more than grateful that Senya didn't seem to be holding that against her. Leah had to thank her for that. She left her son behind. They were only reunited after decades, only to be separated again by the crazy daughter-in-law.
She was pacing around in worry. She couldn't rest, and she couldn't go after him. To go to the source of the power when you don't have any? Even she had to admit that was stupid.
"Come on!" Han suddenly shouted in irritation and grabbed everyone's attention.
Luke, Rex, Ahsoka and Senya, who were all busy doing something, stopped. Even Leah stopped walking and waited for him to say something. She was really in desperate need of his simple jokes. She needed anything to take her mind off of what she was thinking.
"You don't need to worry. Thexan knows that you're too beautiful and young to be a widow." Han said, trying to break the ice, but the ice could not have been thicker!
Everyone now completely froze and turned to him. They looked like they either wanted to kill him or strangle him. One of the above.
But Leah ... She just stopped and thought about that for a second. She knew Han said that to make her feel better, but what if he was right? What if Thexan really died and left her a ... widow? What would she do then?
"That was wrong to say, wasn't it?" Han concluded from the glares.
"Very much so." Ahsoka confirmed.
"Why would you say that?" Senya asked.
"Will you shut up?" Luke snapped.
"Walk away!" And Rex ordered.
Han put his hands in the air as a sign of defeat.
"Sorry! Just don't kill me!" He said as he walked to the cockpit to be anywhere but there.
Once he left, Laetitia started pacing even more. She was driving everyone, including herself, crazy. But she couldn't stop. She needed to do something, and that seemed like the only thing she could do at the time.
"I'm sure he'll be fine." Luke said as he walked to his sister and put a hand on her shoulder. She was trembling bad.
"Yeah? How do you know that?"
"I ... He has to be. He will be." He strongly said. He wasn't sure if he was trying to convince Leah or himself.
"Why don't we check the data? It's better to do something other than pacing." Ahsoka said.
Leah shook her head as a sign of denial. She couldn't focus on anything else. Rex stood up and walked to them. Maybe he could change her mind. He always had a way with words.
"Look, kid. There is nothing you wanna do. I get that. Believe it or not, the heart can kill you faster and more painfully than a lightsaber." He stated bitterly.
Leah exhaled deeply. She completely agreed with him. She had literally died before, but ... the pain she was feeling at the moment was taking away her ability to breathe at all. She felt like she was suffocating.
Rex pushed her to the HoloTable to get her distracted on the fate of her husband.
"What you can do is to make his sacrifice count. We'll rescue him once we've settled in the Hoth Base. I will lead the team myself." He promised her.
Leah just nodded and decided to do what he said. That was the best and only thing she could do. She just tiredly grabbed a tablet to busy herself.
On Coruscant
When Darth Vader heard what Arcann had done to Laetitia, he saw red. He couldn't hear anything. He couldn't think of anything. He couldn't focus on anything. The only thing he wanted to do was to grab his lightsaber and rip his guts out.
And he did. He activated his lightsaber so quickly and jumped to him. Arcann tried to avoid the deadly strike Vader was about to give him, but he couldn't get away without a scratch.
He used the Force to get away from him. Once he did, he saw the injury the strike caused. Rage filled him blindly.
Why was he acting this way? It's not like he cared about his once-daughter. Besides, she deserved what she got. She had caused a lot of suffering for the Palpatines.
He ignited his own lightsaber and attacked. Red blade met the other red blade. The two Sith Lords were both blindly angry. They mostly had no idea what they were doing, or where they were to do what they were doing.
While Darth Vader and Arcann were both fighting for what they believed was right, Thexan stood aside by his 'father' 's throne. He couldn't do anything.
He wanted to believe that at the end, they wouldn't kill each other. But the truth is ... they would. They would give the other the cruelest death possible and enjoy it. What he couldn't believe was how long it took them to finally get at it.
Darth Sidious was observing the whole thing. His plan was perfect. He hadn't thought of it before, but now, it made complete sense. And it didn't matter to him. Either Vader died or Arcann, he would still have the other powerful Sith by his side.
He walked slowly to his pathetic son, who was unable to move from shock.
"What do you want to do?" He asked.
Thexan turned around in confusion. What the hell was he talking about? Was there anything he could do?
"What?"
"Surely you realize that you can do something about that. Only you have the power to put a stop to this. You cannot fight them both. But you can help one of them take down the other." He stated.
Now, Thexan was more confused than ever. Was his father actually giving him advice? To either kill his brother with the help of his Master or the other way around? But it also made perfect sense. This is why he didn't put Force restraints on him. Why he just kept provoking him. Why he told Vader of what Arcann did.
He planned all of this.
"You wanted this to happen ... This is all you." Thexan whispered in shock, fear, anger, and ... sadness.
Palpatine merely smiled. Thexan let out a deep exhale. His father was truly a monster. He already knew he was a monster, but ... he didn't expect him to be this evil.
"This is my fatherly lesson for you, son ... You can't be both. You are either a Skywalker or a Palpatine. Either a pathetic Jedi or a powerful Sith ... Choose." He demanded.
Thexan's breath was shaking. He didn't care if that made him look weak to his father. That was truly how he felt. He was completely broken inside.
Which one should he choose?
Be a Palpatine, ignore everything Laetitia had done for him, and help his brother kill his Master, his father-in-law and the closest thing he had to a father? Leah would never forgive him for that.
Or, be a Skywalker, use his anger to get revenge for Arcann had done, and help his Master kill his brother? His twin, his blood brother, his childhood best friend ... He would never forgive himself for that.
He kept looking from one to another. He couldn't choose ... He didn't want to choose.
If he killed Vader, he would become what he was ... He would lose Leah's love and respect for him. He would basically admit that everything he had told her was a lie, and practically spit on her face.
That thought alone hurt more than a lightsaber in the heart.
But if he killed Arcann, he would have no idea how to go on. How to move forward from killing his own brother ... He knew a part of him wanted to kill Arcann for what he had done to Leah, but ... at the end of the day, he was his brother. And it wasn't right to kill someone that was just lost.
That's what they both were ... Lost.
He looked down to think for a moment. He wanted both of them to live ... What would Laetitia do? Which one would she choose if it was Luke or Darth Vader?
He thought about it for a while. He kept changing his mind when he came close to a conclusion. But he realized ... the man Leah trusted, the one she fell in love with, the one who laughed and cried with her wasn't a Palpatine or a Skywalker ... He was both. A Palpatine and a Skywalker.
That's exactly why she loved and trusted him. Why she forgave him. Because he didn't choose either of them, and just became his own person. He was someone who loved both family and respected everyone's lives ... Even his enemies.
That's who he was. And that is what he chose.
"You're wrong, your Highness." He finally said.
"I can choose both ... And I will."
Sidious tried to hide his frown. He was curious to see how Thexan thought he could do that.
Thexan turned around as he wiped the struggling tears off his face. His focus was now on his brother and Master.
Arcann had Force-pushed Vader away from him. They were both fighting like animals and monsters, not caring what they were doing. Vader was about to attack him, but Arcann raised his hand. He was preparing himself to strike him down with Sith-lightning.
The one thing the unstoppable Darth Vader was unable to do.
It was one of the reasons why Palpatine designed his suit. It would be so he would still have a weakness he could use. Because of the mechanical and robotic hands, Vader couldn't use Sith-lighting. It would trigger them and he would be burned alive all over again.
Thexan gasped when he saw what his brother was about to do. He was going to kill his Master ... his father-in-law. Laetitia's father and the closest thing he had to a father.
He could not let that happen ...
Back on the Millennium Falcon
Just when Laetitia started to focus on something other than Thexan, Han came out of the cockpit with Mina in his arms.
"What do you think you're doing with my daughter?" Ahsoka demanded.
Han puffed as he put her down.
"Keeping her out of my cockpit, that's what. That's no place for a kid."
"Like you would know. Come here, honey. Stay here. Don't go anywhere near the bad man, okay?" Ahsoka told her daughter, deliberately annoying Han. Han and Mina actually got along pretty good.
"Listen, Mama Ewok." Han pointed his finger up with the nickname he'd chosen for her.
"I am trying to keep us all alive. Now if your cute little Ewok can't ..." He was saying, but he stopped when a sudden loud sound filled the room.
It was Laetitia. She dropped the tablet she was holding and was trapped in her own mind. Han slowly walked to her, but the look on her face was ... devastating. She looked like she was a second away from breaking to tears.
The same look was also on Ahsoka, Luke and Mina's faces. They were all sad about something ... They had felt something in the Force. That was the only explanation.
Leah just held in her breath and looked up. She was already feeling like she wanted to die, but the worst thing ... was the eyes. The pitiful faces her friends were making made her feel like what she felt was real.
They knew. They felt it, too. It was true.
She tried to pull herself together. When she failed, she just tried to find a way away from the crowd. She really needed to be alone. No one stopped her, Force-sensitive or non-Force-sensitive. They didn't need the Force to read the situation.
Not long after she left, Ahsoka whispered something to Lux and ran after Leah. Han walked to Luke, who was completely out of it. What was happening? What happened that made everyone like that?
"Hey, what happened? Why did the air just go down by a million?"
Luke swallowed hard and wiped the tears off his face.
"It's Thexan ... He's ... dead."
Done :(
I don't ... I'm not even going to say anything. We all knew it would happen one day, but I didn't think writing about it would hurt this much :(
The scene of Thexan, Arcann, Sidious and Vader will be completed in the next chapter. We will also ... Laetitia will also be broken how her husband died on their wedding day :(
I'm just gonna ...
