Saber Three: The Second Spirit

****

For very little reason other than a subconscious tingling, Luke woke up just in time to hear the beginning of the bells' ominous ringing. He sat up slowly in bed, his eyes flicking around the room in preparation. But no spirit appeared in front of him like his former teacher and father had. However, a ghostly light did slowly come, like a slow-moving mist or fog, into the room. He could reach no other conclusion than that the ghost was the source of it.

Wearily, he got out of bed and stood in front of the door, yawning and stretching. As his hand moved to touch the button to open the door, he heard a familiar voice in his head tell him to enter, and he complied. He walked through the hall and was met with an unusual sight.

It was his living room; there was no doubt about that. But it had undergone quite a transformation.

The halls and ceiling were covered with dark holly, mistletoe, and ivy as well as gleaming red berries that were scattered throughout. Heaped upon the floor was food of all types, though the majority of the sources of food were strange plants and animals that were native to the planet...

Dagobah.

On top of it all, looking as contented as a mynock chewing on an X-wing, sat Yoda, a brown bowl of something in his left hand and his other small fist clenching some type of dead beast's leg.

"In, must you come!" Yoda gestured. Luke did so, and the little green alien smiled. "The Ghost of Christmas Present am I!...And present of yours be..." he held up the bowl, "—swamp muck!" Chuckling, he flung it at Luke, who somehow managed to catch it.

Luke stared down at the unappetizing mixture. "Uh, that's okay."

"Ready are you, hmm?" Yoda inquired.

Luke nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"My robe, you must touch," the little green alien instructed, looking as if he knew the funniest joke in the galaxy but wasn't going to tell it to Luke.

Luke followed Yoda's instructions, and soon they were flying swiftly through the city. They stopped at a humble home where Luke's apprentice lived with his family.

"This is Kam's house!" Luke exclaimed as the realization struck him. "And there's Tionne..."

Tionne, Kam's wife, was stirring a pot on the stove. Two small children, a boy and a girl, came tearing in and screaming about the nice smells. Giggling, the two chased each other around the table until they got tired and fell into a heap on the floor.

"Where are your father and your brother Little Lucas?"

****

Luke frowned upon hearing that name and looked to Yoda for an explanation. "Little Lucas?"

"Admires you, Kam does. At least used to, he did..." Yoda looked a bit sad.

****

Shrugging, the two children started a wrestling match, and moments later Little Lucas and Kam both burst in, singing a jolly Christmas song. Little Lucas was up on Kam's shoulders. He was a frail boy, and it looked as if a disease were eating at him from the outside in. But he was belting the song out as best as he could, and everyone smiled when they heard his tiny voice singing so merrily.

"And how was Little Lucas today?" Tionne asked warmly.

"As good as Corusca gems—and better!" Kam took the weak boy off his shoulder and helped him move to the table.

As the child stumbled, the two adults exchanged a look of helplessness.

***

"What is it?" Luke turned to Yoda. There was a feeling of dread in his stomach.

"The Force, Little Lucas can use not, and uncurable by medicinal purposes his disease is. Too weak in the Force to heal him, Kam is," Yoda answered solemnly.

"Why didn't he ever say anything to me about it?"

"Care, you would not," Yoda replied curtly, turning to the scene before them dismissively.

****

The Solusars were all seated at the table, steaming plates of food before them. Kam served his family first and himself last. Once everyone had food, he proposed, "A merry Christmas to us all, and gods bless us!"

Little Lucas was too busy smiling at everyone to echo him like everyone else, but he promptly said by himself, "Gods bless us everyone!"

Kam brought his loving eyes to meet Little Lucas' face, and he put his hand on the boy's. In that touch, it was evident that he loved the boy more than life itself...and that he dreaded the thought that the boy's disease might soon remove him from the world.

****

"Yoda, tell me if Little Lucas will live," Luke said with an intense quietness, almost afraid to know the answer.

"A vacant seat, see I," Yoda provided shortly. "If unaltered these shadows remain, die the child shall."

"No!" Luke said fiercely. "Yoda, no! Say that he will live!"

"If unaltered these shadows remain, die the child shall," Yoda repeated. "If they would rather die, then so be it—the galaxy's full of enough lunatics as it is," he said, throwing Luke's words back at him.

Luke lowered his head sadly. How could he have been so heartless?

"Somewhere else, have we to go. Come."

Quietly, Luke touched the short spirit's robe, and soon enough they arrived at what he quickly realized was his sister's house.

Han, Leia, Chewie, Lando, Jacen, Jaina, Anakin, Threepio, and Artoo were all in the living room, and they were (with the exception of Threepio who was banned from participation since he always complained that it wasn't realistic) playing a game called "Yes and No." The person who was "it" had to think of something, and the others had to find out what by asking yes or no questions that the person who was "it" answered. The main rule was that participants could not use the Force.

It was Han's turn now, and after a minute of thought, his face brightened mischievously. He grinned and told them to start asking questions.

"Is it a thing?" Anakin asked.

Han shook his head, "Nope."

"An animal?" Lando queried.

"Yes," Han confirmed.

"A nice animal?"

"He—" Han started, but after a warning look from Leia, changed his answer to something more family appropriate, "—no way."

"Is it a bantha?"

"Nope."

"A dewback?"

"Uh uh."

More questions were asked, and it was found out that it was a live, disagreeable, savage animal that was on the planet and never killed in a market.

At most of the questions, Han either burst into a fit of laughter or had to think long and hard about whether to answer yes or no.

Even Luke asked his own questions, though they couldn't hear him and Yoda gave him a strange look every time he did so.

Finally, Lando exclaimed, "Han, you ol' scoundrel! Pretty nifty how you managed to mislead us, but I know who it is!"

"Who?!" Jacen and Jaina cried out.

"It's Luke!"

And it certainly was. Most admired the way it was done, but they were all slightly unhappy about it since Luke had, after all, been their good friend before his drastic transformation.

"Well, though it may not have been directly, Luke has given us quite a laugh tonight, so a Merry Christmas to him!" Leia smiled reluctantly. "He wouldn't take it from me, but I give it to him nonetheless!"

****

That his sister still loved him despite the monstrosity of his ways filled Luke's heart with joy as easily as a helium tank fills up a balloon. But before he could speak to Yoda, the air became hazy, and he found himself in a clearing that appeared to be on Ier'tthh.

"Leave you, I must," Yoda said before disappearing into the air like smoke.

With no apparent source, the sound of bells filled the air. When they stopped, Luke, remembering Vader's prediction, raised his eyes and beheld a solemn ghost, robed and hooded, come toward him, like a mist along the ground.