Okay. Background information first. Beth Leigh is a character of the
female Jedi Mara Jade look-a-like persuasion, but a rebel pilot of Luke
Skywalker's age. Eventually she rose to the rank of General in the New
Republic Armed Forces. She was created by my close friend and writing
colleague, Gaia Ravyn Myles. With her permission, she became a focus in my
stories about Corin Xerixes. This is the end of the story in which Gaia
and I both agreed to let Beth's character die. She was right; it was time.
I whole-heartedly admit I was wrong to try and keep her alive but it made
for a really good story. As soon as I finish typing it, I'll add it to the
archives. Enjoy yourselves, readers. And feel free to tell me just how
much of a hopeless romantic I am. Like I don't already know… - Ian Caseno
"Beth..." Corin gazed up at her shimmering figure, washed out in shades of ethereal blue and green that rose from the shattered shards of crystal.
"Hello, Corin." She paused. "...I have to thank you again I suppose...for freeing me." His voice caught in his throat.
"...I tried..." She listened, as if knowing what he would say. "I tried so desperately to save you back then." He looked up, his typically cold and unflappable composure shattered, tears welling as he fought down the anguish tearing him apart inside. "And now that I've saved you at last, I have to lose you again."
"I made my choice a long time ago, Corin. Nothing could change that." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Not him. Not you."
"You didn't understand then! The Vong are tearing the galaxy apart! They killed your husband! They killed you!!!!" He caught himself, trying to calm the raging inferno of anger and grief inside him. "...But you could've lived. You chose, selfishly, to follow him, when you KNOW you could've made it."
"I know." She seemed to fade slightly, as if the pain of the memory taxed her more than she wished to let him see. "But what I now realize Corin...is that it was that selfish choice that drove you finally break down your walls you had so carefully erected for yourself." She smiled sadly. "And what a tragedy it would be, if you selfishly joined me now, with all that you've learned and come so very far..." I only wish that you would live, Corin, and not fight the fire I see now inside you...don't let it burn your soul to ash. Live..." He blinked up at her, comprehending but not wanting to.
"There's something I never got to tell you...I know it's selfish of me to want to follow you, like you did your husband...but before I let you go again, I have to tell you." He trailed off, gathering himself.
"Corin...it's alright.... I know...." Her smile saddened further, and at the edges of Corin's perceptions, he could feel the planet shuddering under him as the Vong planet-shaping creature chewed into the core. "Selfishness is a strange thing isn't it..." she said, almost casually. "It can make us do and say things we'd normally not do...become people we would not have otherwise become..." He looked up at her, all masks and pretense stripped away.
"Beth..." The silence around them seemed deafening, as thought the galaxy itself was holding it's breathe for this one moment in time. "I'll miss you...more than you'll ever know...I..." She responded with a smile, the smile he'd seen only a few times before. It projected hope and life, tempered by a fiery will to survive and the discipline of a Jedi...and it was the smile of the greatest real friend and ally he had ever had.
"Oh but I do know.... and I'll miss you too, Corin...my friend." She began to fade into the swirling ether of the Force, as a breeze kicked up about them.
"Beth..." Tears as hot as the fires now raging out from the core of the planet streamed down his cheeks. "I love you..." His whisper was carried away with the wind, swept up with her spirit as it merged at last with Force. He sagged to the ground, and the last vestiges of the dark side that had once claimed him as it's own fell away with his consciousness.
He did not remember returning to his ship. He did not remember taking off from the doomed planet, escaping by flying through a hail of exploding rock and fire at the remnants core. All he remembered of the vision he'd had of Beth was the smile she'd left with him, and their parting words...their final parting words.
5 months later...
Ord Mantell, Spaceport tapcaf "The Dusty Spacer"
"Well?"
His friend stared at him in a mix of wonder, checked by extreme cynicism. She sat back in her chair.
"You're crazy. You know this."
"I have been called that from time to time."
She watched him closely, looking for a flicker of emotion on his face, ANY emotion.
"You want me to hook you up with a set of NEW YT-2000 parts, revamp your ship, reset the registry, rearm it, rewire the entire thing inside and out so that it can carry more passengers, weapons, and speed, and have it ready to go to Coruscant in a week." He nodded, tossing a credit chit onto the table in front of them.
"Less, if you can manage it. Money is no object." Kiria stared at him hard, searchingly.
"Something's.... different about you." Corin smiled. Openly. Warmly. She nearly fell over with shock.
"Don't...ever.... scare me...like that...again," she breathed, with mock severity, a smile of her own playing across her vixen features.
"I'm just getting warmed up."
And then he told her about his homeworld, his youth, his service to the Empire, Beth, everything. The truth. Even though he'd known Kiria for years, almost two decades, he'd never told her, or anyone else for that matter, his whole story. For the first time, Corin felt free. He had chosen his new path, unselfishly. And he was finally in control of his own destiny.
~Fin~
This story is continued in Tales of the Jedi: The New Order.
"Beth..." Corin gazed up at her shimmering figure, washed out in shades of ethereal blue and green that rose from the shattered shards of crystal.
"Hello, Corin." She paused. "...I have to thank you again I suppose...for freeing me." His voice caught in his throat.
"...I tried..." She listened, as if knowing what he would say. "I tried so desperately to save you back then." He looked up, his typically cold and unflappable composure shattered, tears welling as he fought down the anguish tearing him apart inside. "And now that I've saved you at last, I have to lose you again."
"I made my choice a long time ago, Corin. Nothing could change that." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Not him. Not you."
"You didn't understand then! The Vong are tearing the galaxy apart! They killed your husband! They killed you!!!!" He caught himself, trying to calm the raging inferno of anger and grief inside him. "...But you could've lived. You chose, selfishly, to follow him, when you KNOW you could've made it."
"I know." She seemed to fade slightly, as if the pain of the memory taxed her more than she wished to let him see. "But what I now realize Corin...is that it was that selfish choice that drove you finally break down your walls you had so carefully erected for yourself." She smiled sadly. "And what a tragedy it would be, if you selfishly joined me now, with all that you've learned and come so very far..." I only wish that you would live, Corin, and not fight the fire I see now inside you...don't let it burn your soul to ash. Live..." He blinked up at her, comprehending but not wanting to.
"There's something I never got to tell you...I know it's selfish of me to want to follow you, like you did your husband...but before I let you go again, I have to tell you." He trailed off, gathering himself.
"Corin...it's alright.... I know...." Her smile saddened further, and at the edges of Corin's perceptions, he could feel the planet shuddering under him as the Vong planet-shaping creature chewed into the core. "Selfishness is a strange thing isn't it..." she said, almost casually. "It can make us do and say things we'd normally not do...become people we would not have otherwise become..." He looked up at her, all masks and pretense stripped away.
"Beth..." The silence around them seemed deafening, as thought the galaxy itself was holding it's breathe for this one moment in time. "I'll miss you...more than you'll ever know...I..." She responded with a smile, the smile he'd seen only a few times before. It projected hope and life, tempered by a fiery will to survive and the discipline of a Jedi...and it was the smile of the greatest real friend and ally he had ever had.
"Oh but I do know.... and I'll miss you too, Corin...my friend." She began to fade into the swirling ether of the Force, as a breeze kicked up about them.
"Beth..." Tears as hot as the fires now raging out from the core of the planet streamed down his cheeks. "I love you..." His whisper was carried away with the wind, swept up with her spirit as it merged at last with Force. He sagged to the ground, and the last vestiges of the dark side that had once claimed him as it's own fell away with his consciousness.
He did not remember returning to his ship. He did not remember taking off from the doomed planet, escaping by flying through a hail of exploding rock and fire at the remnants core. All he remembered of the vision he'd had of Beth was the smile she'd left with him, and their parting words...their final parting words.
5 months later...
Ord Mantell, Spaceport tapcaf "The Dusty Spacer"
"Well?"
His friend stared at him in a mix of wonder, checked by extreme cynicism. She sat back in her chair.
"You're crazy. You know this."
"I have been called that from time to time."
She watched him closely, looking for a flicker of emotion on his face, ANY emotion.
"You want me to hook you up with a set of NEW YT-2000 parts, revamp your ship, reset the registry, rearm it, rewire the entire thing inside and out so that it can carry more passengers, weapons, and speed, and have it ready to go to Coruscant in a week." He nodded, tossing a credit chit onto the table in front of them.
"Less, if you can manage it. Money is no object." Kiria stared at him hard, searchingly.
"Something's.... different about you." Corin smiled. Openly. Warmly. She nearly fell over with shock.
"Don't...ever.... scare me...like that...again," she breathed, with mock severity, a smile of her own playing across her vixen features.
"I'm just getting warmed up."
And then he told her about his homeworld, his youth, his service to the Empire, Beth, everything. The truth. Even though he'd known Kiria for years, almost two decades, he'd never told her, or anyone else for that matter, his whole story. For the first time, Corin felt free. He had chosen his new path, unselfishly. And he was finally in control of his own destiny.
~Fin~
This story is continued in Tales of the Jedi: The New Order.