Disclaimer: All of the characters, except Cari, are not my own in any way, shape or form, and I do not claim them as such.
Chapter 2: My Own Path
Between The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi
The ship came smoothly out of hyperspace, and came to rest above the planet. Dagobah.
Cari looked thoughtfully at it, using the ship's sensors to scan it, checking for any surprises. With a Jedi living here, anything might be possible. The only surprise was that there was nothing here, no cities, no defence equipment. Just massive life form readings. She couldn't distinguish, with either the computer's senses or her own through the Force, where this Jedi was. If there even was a Jedi here. Not for the first time since she'd began this trip, she regretted that she hadn't informed anyone where she was going. Not even her father. This was one possible threat to the Empire she was going to fix herself.
She sighed, then decided to land her ship in a clearing near the largest clump of life signs. She angled the ship down, and soon plunged into the white mist that shrouded most of the planet's surface. With her normal vision blinded, she reached out confidently through the Force, and hit a blank. She couldn't seem to penetrate the swirling mist. Frantically she battled, her instincts for survival fighting her panic, and also her trained responses. It wasn't until the shiptn crashed into the swamp and came to an abrupt halt that she realised, finally, that what was blocking her had probably been the use of Force by someone else. So the Jedi was here.
The door at the side of her ship hissed open part way, before getting stuck. Muttering irritably, she climbed through the gap, then balancing precariously on top of the door, she pulled in a deep breath, and leaped, somersaulting through the air, to land on flat ground at the end of the swamp. She stumbled as she hit the ground, falling and rolling on the muddy floor, finally managing to pull herself up with a grimace of distaste.
She turned, trying uselessly to wipe the muck off her black trousers and dark grey tunic. She stood, scowling at her ship, which was now firmly embedded in the swamp. It was her ship - she'd transferred the nav logs from Skywalkers X-wing, then placed it in storage until she returned. This was her own ship. Her father had offered to have one built for her, but she'd bought one with her own money, and refitted it herself. She was the only one who knew most of the specs. She reflected that one of the most surreal moments of her life had been when Vader had come to discuss something with her, and ended up offering advice on how to improve some parts. He'd even rebuilt some of it himself. It wasn't an image that fit well with Vader's imposing presence. That was one of the few times she'd heard him actually laugh. A genuine, amused sound. It hadn't lasted long, and he'd left, even more angry than he usually was. Cari still wasn't exactly sure why.
She shook her head, trying to focus on her current situation. Taking a deep breath, she reached out through the Force, grasping the ship and yanking it out of the swamp, her irritation at the situation adding extra strength to her current abilities. The ship jerked upwards, then floated towards her. She settled it on safe ground, then, trying not to pant with exhaustion, she reached out, trying to find the Jedi. Strangely enough, it was now easy. He wasn't trying to disguise himself, but shone brightly through the Force, beckoning her.
She set off, striding through the undergrowth, her irritation mounting as she had to untangle herself from bushes, tripping over hidden roots, only just avoiding hidden puddles and holes. She could understand her father's dislike of uncivilised planets, where the ecology was untamed and left to grow freely. She'd missed it, when she was a child. She'd spent all her time with tutors, at the Imperial palace, on different worlds, many different places, learning the skills necessary for service to her father when she was older. The only time she'd spent outside corridors and rooms was when she'd been taught survival in different situations, and even then, her time outside had been minimal. Now, she spent most of her time in civilisation, carrying messages, killing people, making subtle moves whose value wasn't even immediately noticeable. Her father and The Emperor were the only two left alive who even knew who she was - one of her first real acts as her father's agent had been to kill the last tutor left who knew of her existence.
Her musing came to an end as she saw the ... creature in front of her. She'd come expecting a Jedi at least, perhaps a Jedi Master, but she'd somehow assumed that it would be human. She wasn't precisely sure what this thing was, except small, and grubby and old, but she could feel that it was strong in the Force. She forced back a wave of revulsion as she regarded the ... thing.
Yoda shook his head, feeling each wave of emotion that rolled through the figure before him. He'd felt her approach, noted the strange mixture of darkness and light that swirled within her. "Send children to do his work for him, he does" Yoda criticised, shaking his head regretfully.
"I came of my own accord, old one" Cari challenged disdainfully. "He didn't need to send me".
"Kill me, would you?" Yoda questioned calmly. The girl smiled.
"The Empire's laws require your death. You should not have lived this long, old one."
"Have you a name, young one?" Yoda inquired wryly.
Strangely, he felt a flicker of amusement in the girl, one which was quickly buried by anger, and overwhelming pride. Tilting her chin, the girl declared "I am Cari, daughter to the Emperor." Yoda nodded slowly, thinking that this explained the girl's disturbing strength in the Force.
"And you?"
Yoda sighed softly, then straightened, feeling the ache in his bones, the weariness of his mind. "Yoda, I am".
Cari stared at the creature before her. She'd heard of Yoda, although she probably shouldn't have. Her father and Vader had destroyed most of the records of the Jedi before the Empire, but she'd still seen some reports about Yoda. This wasn't what she had expected. She had long been taught that the Jedi in the Old Republic had been arrogant, self-serving and flawed, and although she also secretly believed that these reports were biased, nothing had prepared her for this. This ... thing, this poor creature was old, and tired. No threat to anyone. Furthermore, she felt running through him ripples of humour, a clean, amused sense of laughter in his mind, despite fears, and regrets, and tiredness. She stared at him, some of her certainty gone. He didn't seem repulsive now - the wisdom in his voice, the tired nobility in his eyes countering her learned aversion to all non-humans.
Yoda sensed the confusion within the girl, and sighed inwardly. He'd been hoping to save his strength, concentrating on keeping alive until Luke returned. And he was sure that the boy would return. Now though, Yoda might not be alive to welcome him back. Bracing himself, he reached out, flooding the girl's mind with the Force. She hadn't been expecting it, and if she had, she would have been expecting a physical attack. Instead, Yoda filled her mind with visions, memories of the wisdom and nobility of the old Jedi Council, examples of fear and pain and suffering spreading across the galaxy as Vader and the Emperor came into power. His memory of the death of Alderaan, all the deaths he'd felt... his strength failed, and he broke off. But the visions inside the girl's head remained, and Yoda grimaced as more joined them ... being raised in the cold, sterile and loveless environment of the Empire, killing and subverting at her father's whim, an endless parade of evil and horror. Yoda felt the girl's mind weaken, beginning to collapse in upon itself, insanity seemingly the only option for one whose carefully constructed mental barriers and wilful blindness had just been destroyed. He tried to reach out, wondering if he could heal the girl's mind, chiding himself that he should have anticipated this, but even as he did, he felt the shift in her mind as she discovered an alternative to insanity.
She'd sunk to her knees, but now she straightened up, dark green eyes ice cold despite the tears so recently spilled. She smiled, a wryly amused smile, and inclining her head said softly "Thank you". Yoda eyed her dubiously. Her mind was closed from him now in a way it hadn't been even when she'd approached with the intention of killing him, but even so he'd caught her thoughts before this new barrier fell into place.
"To the Dark side, hate leads" he warned her, wondering if he'd made matters better or worse.
"So everyone tells me" she agreed, "although usually they aren't quite so worried about it." She eyed him carefully, then shrugged, and said "As it is, I think this is the best way to go about things, don't you think?"
"Fight your father, if you must, but hate him you must not."
Cari shrugged, and giving him a cool smile spun and began to walk away. "Reaching out with a tendril of Force, Yoda twisted a root, wrapping it about her foot and dumping her to the ground." "Hey" she cried indignantly, twisting around to look at him. Ambling forwards, he slipped his stick under her chin, tilting her face up towards him.
"The path you have chosen is not a wise one. Anakin all but destroyed the Jedi, I will not allow you to finish what he started."
In case you hadn't noticed," Cari replied, using the Force to unwrap the root and twist smoothly to her feet, "it's not the Jedi I'm going after. My father can in no way be classified as a Jedi."
"If you give in to the dark side..."
"Yes, I know" she snapped impatiently, "but it's a little too late for that now. I'm going to do something useful with my life for once, so stop stalling me". Shaking her head, she gave Yoda a rueful smile and turned, walking away, again trying to wipe mud from her clothes.
It wasn't until she reached her ship, and sat down, that she began to cry again.