Chapter Eighty-Five
Aalea slowly closed her eyes and her voice faded away. Luke stirred himself. He looked around and realized hours had passed since Mistress Ve'Red had first began her story. He saw out her window that the sun had gone down.
As he looked over at her, for a moment, instead of an old woman with wrinkled skin and thin gray hair, he saw the beautiful young woman with the night black hair and violet eyes who had loved his mentor.
"I never thought..." Luke stammered, ducked his head and blushed.
"Never thought what?" Aalea asked gently.
"I never thought, never imagined that Ben could have...."
"Been a young man filled with passion? I understand, Luke. I suppose it's the same as trying to imagine your parents as having been young once. Very hard to do." She smiled softly. "Believe it, dear Luke. Obi-Wan once held the fire of a dying age in his hands."
Luke nodded. "What happened between you and Ben?"
Aalea sighed. "We tried to make it work but," and she shook her head, "I lost him. The same way Cian lost Qui-Gon when he found your father. I lost Obi-Wan to the will of the Force. He threw himself body and soul into your father's training. It consumed him. He was determined to fulfill Qui-Gon's dying wish. And no matter what others may say, Obi-Wan was the finest master any apprentice could have wanted."
Aalea sighed and picked up the photos. She smiled softly as she looked at the one taken at the picnic when she and Obi-Wan had been acting out their holovid pantomime. She then looked at the one of them together at Anakin's wedding.
"Obi-Wan did ask me to come with him to your parent's wedding ceremony, however." Aalea smiled. "I remember how handsome your father looked as he stood next to your mother at the nuptial altar. And your mother...she was so very, very beautiful. She made such a fuss over me and Obi-Wan. I think she was worried that because of his responsibilities as Anakin's master, Obi-Wan had missed out on his own share of happiness. She was so in love with your father she wanted everyone around her to be as happy as she was."
"I wish I had known her," Luke said softly. "I have no memory of her at all."
"Look into your sister's eyes, Luke. You will see your mother there."
Luke nodded. "So, you and Ben weren't together at all?"
Aalea shook her head sadly. "What with his mastership of Anakin and everything that was happening in the Republic; the Neosho Crusades, the Davorian Purges, the Clone Wars, the rise of the Dark Jedi, there was no time for us. During it all I lived with Cian on Valorum's homeworld and helped her to raise Jarel."
"Jarel? Qui-Gon's son?"
Aalea nodded.
"You weren't at the Temple then?" Luke asked.
"I left the Jedi Order soon after Cian left Coruscant."
"But why?"
Aalea shook her head. "That is a story for another time, I'm afraid."
"When did you last see Ben?"
Aalea stared at Luke for a long time. He waited. Finally, in a soft voice she told him. "It was thirteen years after Qui-Gon's death..."
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Aalea landed her ship on a deserted island off the coast of the main continent of Sylvonna. She had received permission to enter Sylvonnan space along with a message that after her meeting with Master Kenobi, would she be so kind as to stop by and visit Queen Nadira who was anxious to see her. Aalea had smiled. She looked forward to seeing Nadira, Ishan and their ten children.
As Aalea got out of the ship Valroum had lent her, she saw another ship parked near the entrance to a grotto. She powered down the engines and sat for a moment. She thought about the terse message Obi-Wan had sent her to meet him here. However, as much as Aalea had wanted to go to him, she had also been reluctant to leave Cian and Jarel. Cian had grabbed Aalea's hands and squeezed them tightly.
"Go to him, Aalea, or you'll regret it all your life."
Aalea exited her ship and ran toward the grotto's entrance.
It was dark inside, but along a passageway Aalea saw a soft orange light. She hurried towards it. A chamber within the grotto glowed softly. Tall white candles had been placed along the ledges which circled a high crystalline bed covered with thick soft mantles of blue and green.
"Obi-Wan," Aalea called. She turned around. The chamber was empty.
"Obi-Wan," she called again. She tried to sense him through their bond but she felt nothing. Fear moved through her like a mist.
Then Aalea heard a sound behind her. She turned sharply, her hand straying to the blaster in her holster.
Obi-Wan stood in the entrance to the chamber. The changes in him made her heart turn over. He was still handsome, the boyishness still visible in his face, but deep lines extended from his blue-gray eyes and there were streaks of white in his hair and in his beard. Her soul ached as she looked at him.
Oh, dearheart.
Alea walked over to him and slowly lifted her hand to his face. She swept her fingers alongside his hair and his beard. Then, gently, she moved her hands across his lips and, as she did so, Obi-Wan gazed silently down at her, his eyes brimming.
Then, without a word, he took her into his arms and kissed her tenderly. And as they kissed, the shields in his mind collapsed, their souls joined and Aalea felt all his love and all his anguish flowing through her like a swift river. She was drowning in it, but she welcomed it, for her love was in her arms.
They touched each other hesitantly, uncertainly, for they had been apart for some time. However, as their passion flared into a firestorm which threatened to consume them both, they made their way to the bed.
And as the candles burned down to stuttering lumps around them, Obi-Wan and Aalea rediscovered the hidden keys to the lonely kingdoms which lay within their hearts. As the heat of their bodies and the joy in their hearts blazed between them, they made love, again and again, tenderly, gently, fiercely, until both were sure they would die from the sweetness of it.
Later, much later, when the light from the dying candles had softened to a muted glow, Aalea listened to the pounding of Obi-Wan's heart as they lay, exhausted and fulfilled, within each other's arms. Obi-Wan's beard rubbed gently against Aalea's forehead as he adjusted his arms about her. And, except for the fevered cries of their passion, they had not spoken a single word all night, for what need for words when their souls had been as one.
Obi-Wan kissed Aalea's forehead. "Aalea. Look up."
Aalea lifted her gaze to the ceiling above them. She could just make out in the dim light the image of a woman's face painted on the curved rock.
"Who is that?" she asked softly.
"Sera, the Great Lover. We're in one of her nuptial chambers."
Aalea looked up at the face of the beautiful goddess.
"Well, at least it's not a mirror."
Obi-Wan laughed and Aalea heart's soared at the sound of it. From the grief and pain she had sensed was lodged in his soul, she had been afraid he was incapable of ever laughing again.
"Yes, at least there's that," he said chuckling softly.
"Obi-Wan. What did you mean when you said we were in one of her nuptial chambers?"
"Do you remember Badalah?"
Aalea nodded and smiled as she thought fondly of Nadira's handmatron who, unfortunately, had passed away some years ago.
"During Nadira and Ishan's wedding feast," Obi-Wan went on, "she told me that in ancient times young Sylvonnans who wanted to elope would come to one of these chambers. Once they had made love under the gaze of Sera, the goddess blessed their union and they were joined as one. Husband and wife."
Aalea continued to gaze up at the goddess' face.
"It's not really legal, you know," she said finally.
Obi-Wan laughed softly. "No, it's not, but we shall know in our hearts. My wife."
"Yes," Aalea said, as she turned to him and gazed deeply into his eyes. "We shall know. My husband."
Obi-Wan smiled, then kissed her warmly.
And as they kissed, a terrible realization stole across Aalea. She pulled away from him. Obi-Wan looked back at her, his eyes puzzled.
"You're going to confront him, aren't you?"
Obi-Wan said nothing for a moment, his eyes suddenly unfathomable in the shadows which danced across his face from the flickering candles.
"Yes," he finally said.
"Don't, Obi-Wan. Please. You can't bring him back."
"I have to try, Aalea. I was his master for twelve years. That has to mean something."
Aalea hugged him tightly, her heart bursting with fear.
"Don't go to him, please," she begged. "He'll destroy you. Or you'll be forced to kill him."
"Perhaps. But I can't live with myself if I don't try. It's my fault he turned."
Aalea shook her head angrily, her eyes blazing.
"No, it is not your fault, Obi-Wan! When will you stop blaming yourself for the actions of others! Remember what Master Qui-Gon once said. We each make our own choices and forge our own destinies. Anakin chose his."
"I was his master. He was my responsibility."
"And now you're going to go and get yourself killed because you feel responsible," she cried.
Obi-Wan gently cupped Aalea's face in his hand and looked down at her.
"Aalea, you know better. I'm a Jedi Knight. Responsibility is my business," he said smiling.
Aalea ignored his attempt to lighten the moment.
"No! Please, Obi-Wan, don't go!" She clung to him, tears and fire in her eyes. "You can't bring him back. It's too late. He'll destroy you or the creature that turned him will."
Obi-Wan stroked Aalea's cheek with his fingers. He smiled sadly at her.
"Listen carefully, love," he said. "I've placed a million credits in an account in your name in the Bank of Alderaan. Compensation from Bail Organa for services rendered during the Clone Wars. I want you to withdraw it and take Cian and Jarel someplace safe."
"Jarel?" Aalea gasped. "How do you know----?"
Obi-Wan laughed softly. "Oh, love, did you really think you could keep Qui-Gon's son hidden from me? I've known about him since shortly after he was born. But I knew you had swore to Cian you would keep him a secret. I've had people watching over him and Cian for years." Obi-Wan's eyes grew haunted. "But I won't be able to do that any longer. You must take them away, far away."
Aalea shook her head. "I won't leave you."
"You must, Aalea."
"Come with us," she begged. "Why must it be you who confronts him?"
"Because I know what is in his heart. Only I can show him the way back."
"And if you can't? What then, dearheart? What then?" she cried.
"That is why I want you to take Cian and Jarel someplace safe. If I fail to bring Anakin back to the light side of the Force, the galaxy will become a very dangerous place. And if I should die, I want to die knowing you are all safe."
"Stop talking about dying!" Aalea cried. "You can't die! I won't let you die." She broke down and wept.
Obi-Wan held her as the storm of her tears overwhelmed her. He wrapped her in the warmth of his arms and waited until her tears subsided.
When she stopped crying, Obi-Wan lifted her chin and looked deeply into her eyes.
"Do you remember our mission here, Aalea?"
"Yes, of course." Aalea sniffled. "How could I forget? All you did was lecture me about Jedi decorum."
Obi-Wan chuckled, then his expression stilled, his eyes serious again.
"I was your master then, if only for a short while. You had to obey me in all things. Pretend I'm still your master. Obey me in this."
"You're not my master and I'm no longer a Jedi," Aalea said, her voice thick with tears. "I don't have to obey you at all."
Obi-Wan said nothing. He just looked at her and, like all the other times before, as Aalea felt herself falling into his eyes, she knew she would deny him nothing.
Aalea wiped the tears from her face. She gazed up at him.
"Promise me we won't have to stay hidden long," she said, her chin quivering. "Bring him back, dearheart. Bring him back."
Obi-Wan brushed his lips across Aalea's mouth. Aalea cried out his name and pulled him roughly, almost violently, against her, her lips urgently claiming his. And as the candles burned out about them and the darkness spread around them, Aalea's tears intermingled with Obi-Wan's as they made love, tenderly, lovingly, fiercely, one final time.
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"And that was the last time I ever saw him," Aalea said to Luke. Her voice broke. "Obi-Wan confronted Anakin. There was a terrible battle. Anakin fell into a lava pit and was thought dead. But, soon after, he appeared. Vader. The Dark Lord of the Sith. And I knew Obi-Wan had failed. I received one final message from him."
"What did it say?" Luke asked.
"To take Cian and Jarel someplace safe. That he would always love me. And I would never see him again."
"That must be when he went into hiding on Tatooine."
"Yes. Understand, Luke, Obi-Wan would have given his life to save the Jedi, but you," and she gazed tenderly at Luke, "you were our last hope. He had to protect you from your father and the Emperor."
"I never realized how much he had given up to watch over me," Luke said softly.
"It was important. For he knew, just as we all did, that the darkness was upon us. The Purge began soon after. Vader, his Dark Knights, and his cursed bounty hunters, hunted down and destroyed the Jedi Knights. And without the Jedi as guardians, the Republic was doomed."
Aalea sighed deeply and slowly lowered her head. Then she looked up at Luke.
"You were with him, weren't you? At the end?"
Luke nodded. "Yes, when Vader struck him down..." Pain flared in his eyes.
Aalea leaned over and took his hand. "I know, Luke. I know."
"Did you sense what happened?" Luke asked. "Through your bond?"
Aalea sat back and folded her hands in her lap.
"I knew he was gone. I didn't know how or why. But, yes, I felt it and I knew then that I was alone."
"What happened to Cian and Jarel?" Luke asked.
Aalea clenched her hands and her eyes brimmed with tears
"I did as Obi-Wan instructed," she said in a choked voice. "I took Cian and Jarel as far away as I could but it wasn't far enough for the Emperor's stormtroopers came. They came even to that little dustball of a world I had managed to find." She shook her head. "They weren't looking for us, though. We were only three among the millions trying to escape from the terror and the madness."
Aalea coughed. Luke reached over and touched her arm.
"I'm all right." She patted his hand.
Luke nodded, sat back in his chair and waited for her to continue.
"The Imperials were stopping anyone from leaving the planet as they proceeded to occupy it," Aalea went on. "People were selling their souls for passage off planet, but I managed to get Cian and Jarel onto a starliner. Our plan was to meet up, then make our way out beyond the boundaries of the Empire. I watched as Cian and Jarel boarded the liner. Jarel was helping his mother, trying to shield her from the press of people around them. He was sixteen at the time, dark-haired and blue-eyed, but quite tall for his age. Like his father. And he had Qui-Gon's quiet strength."
Aalea's face softened at the memory.
"Just before they entered the ship, Jarel turned and called out to me, 'We'll wait for you on Sullust, Aunt Aalea.' And then he smiled. Just a little smile. A gentle, little smile that was so much like Qui-Gon's...."
Aalea's voice broke. She touched her fingers to her mouth, pressed them against her lips.
"The starliner took off," she went on. "I was going to follow them in another ship which was boarding at the other end of the starport. I waited to watch them leave. And that's when I saw it."
Aalea took a deep shuddering breath.
"A squadron of Imperial fighters buzzed around the liner like a flock of predatory birds," she continued. "For a moment, I was sure the liner was going to make it. Then, when the Imperials couldn't force the liner down, they fired."
Aalea stopped and gazed back at Luke with haunted eyes.
"The liner exploded in a fireball so big it blocked out the sun." Aalea's eyes shimmered as she stared back at Luke. "And just like that they were gone. They were all gone."
Aalea dropped her face into her hands and sobbed. Luke quickly took her into his arms, holding her until all her tears were spent.
He held her for a very long time.
To be continued...