(Well, everyone wants to know more, so I guess I'll have to figure out some way of stalling any important parts. LOL. This was gonna be two chapters, but the first part wasn't long enough for me to call it a chapter. BTW, it's not Padme, and in case anyone forgot, or hasn't read Timothy Zahn's books, Myrkr is the planet where they have those critters that block the force. Oh yeah, and according to 'Vision of the Past,' and the 'New Jedi Order,' at this point in time, Luke and Mara are married.)
Chapter 5
Anakin sat down in the tiny cockpit of the ship, next to Luke, and read his grandfather's journal.
Luke glanced over at Anakin. "What's that?"
"Vader's journal. Or one of them, actually."
Luke looked at him quizically.
"What? He's dead, and I'm family. It can't count as stealing, or anything."
Luke shrugged and turned back to the controls.
"Hey, listen to this. 'I have finally found Nikki. She was given growth-enhancers all her life, to keep me from finding her. I would've been looking for an eight year-old child, but I found a young lady instead. I've taken her to Halmasqu Intstitute on Myrkr to keep her confined and at the same time hidden from the Jedi Council. The Jedi Council is failing, but they believe she can save them. They believed the same of me.
"'They taught her to hate me, and she does, though somewhere in her deepest memories, she does remember my former self. She hates me, but she does not fear me.' I wonder who Nikki is." Anakin mused as he turned the page to the next entry.
"'I have tried everything I can think of to turn Nikki, but I've made no progress. Her hate for the dark side is almost as strong as her power. With that much hate for anything, you would think the girl would be easily turned, but her heart is too pure. I don't know what to do with her, as I'm sure there is no way to turn her.
"'I've killed many people, and I've had many people killed, but never like this. This isn't something I want to happen. The only way I can think of to put how I'm feeling is that I had a pet. Someone stole that pet, and taught that pet to attack. Now that I have my pet back, it will only attack me. I loved Nikki, and would never have hurt her, but she leaves me no choice.
"'I will continue my efforts, and if I can't even make her be at least civil towards me, then the end of the year will be the end. I will have to kill my pet. And then I will kill the one who taught her to attack. I will kill Obi-Wan.'"
Luke had heard all of it. He sat silently for a moment. "What do you want to bet that Nikki is the girl in the statue?"
"I know," Anakin said, "But why would he be running around looking for an eight year old, anyway? What would he care about some little girl?"
*()*()*()*
After Luke and Anakin had arived back at the Jedi acadame, long after lights-out, Luke, Anakin, and Mara brought the statue into one of the unused rooms, right next to the medical facillities.
"So, you found this statue in Vader's fortress, and it's got a person inside, and you want to bring her out, because Obi-Wan told you to? I hope I'm not the only person who thinks this is funny." Mara joked.
Luke shook his head with a small smile. It was a bit odd. But then again, wasn't life? "We should probably wait til morning to do this. I guess we can throw a tarp or something over the statue in case anyone comes in here. I don't think it's very likely anyone will, though."
Luke went to the storage closet on the lower floor, as Anakin and Mara both headed off to their respective rooms. The light in the large closet had gone out. Luke stepped inside, scanning the shelves, when the door swung closed. Luke ignored it, as that door's hinges were slightly off-kilter, and the door had a tendancy to do that. He grabbed a tarp off of a shelf, and turned around to leave. He was about to open the door, when something from the past, his past, hit him like a sack of rocks.
It was her, the girl in the statue. He was only a very small child. He clung to her shoulder, looking every which way to try to see what was happening. Everything was blurred, with her running, and with time. She turned a corner in a hall, in a building or a ship, he couldn't tell. She stopped abruptly, and leaned on the wall for support as she opened a door to a different closet, in a different place and time.
She put him down inside, on a pile of blankets on the floor, taking one off the top of the stack before setting him down. He wasn't happy with this descision, he was scared, and wanted to be held.
"No, Luke, don't cry!" She whispered loudly. "If you cry, they'll hear you, and they'll come and take you." She put her hand on the side of his head. "Just go to sleep. You'll feel better after a nap, and I'll be right back here when you wake up."
He knew she wasn't coming back, ever, yet he had no choice but to do as she said. As he drifted off, he could feel her throw the now un-folded blanket over him. She had never pulled a blanket all the way over his head before, but he was too sleepy to pull it down to his chin. The cool black shadow of rest swept over him, promising him dreams every child has, though he could feel that there was a nightmare. The nightmare was in his waking life. The nightmare *was* his waking life.
Luke stood perfectly still as his real life, the here and now, came back. He took his hand off of the door-knob, and stepped back quickly. He shook his head, after a moment, and then left, noting everything he could remember about what he had just seen, writing it all down in his memory. It felt strange, now, with nothing happening, to go back up stairs, and throw a tarp over the statue of the girl, seeing what he had just seen. He decided not to think about it any more tonight, and went back to his and Mara's rooms to get some sleep.
Chapter 5
Anakin sat down in the tiny cockpit of the ship, next to Luke, and read his grandfather's journal.
Luke glanced over at Anakin. "What's that?"
"Vader's journal. Or one of them, actually."
Luke looked at him quizically.
"What? He's dead, and I'm family. It can't count as stealing, or anything."
Luke shrugged and turned back to the controls.
"Hey, listen to this. 'I have finally found Nikki. She was given growth-enhancers all her life, to keep me from finding her. I would've been looking for an eight year-old child, but I found a young lady instead. I've taken her to Halmasqu Intstitute on Myrkr to keep her confined and at the same time hidden from the Jedi Council. The Jedi Council is failing, but they believe she can save them. They believed the same of me.
"'They taught her to hate me, and she does, though somewhere in her deepest memories, she does remember my former self. She hates me, but she does not fear me.' I wonder who Nikki is." Anakin mused as he turned the page to the next entry.
"'I have tried everything I can think of to turn Nikki, but I've made no progress. Her hate for the dark side is almost as strong as her power. With that much hate for anything, you would think the girl would be easily turned, but her heart is too pure. I don't know what to do with her, as I'm sure there is no way to turn her.
"'I've killed many people, and I've had many people killed, but never like this. This isn't something I want to happen. The only way I can think of to put how I'm feeling is that I had a pet. Someone stole that pet, and taught that pet to attack. Now that I have my pet back, it will only attack me. I loved Nikki, and would never have hurt her, but she leaves me no choice.
"'I will continue my efforts, and if I can't even make her be at least civil towards me, then the end of the year will be the end. I will have to kill my pet. And then I will kill the one who taught her to attack. I will kill Obi-Wan.'"
Luke had heard all of it. He sat silently for a moment. "What do you want to bet that Nikki is the girl in the statue?"
"I know," Anakin said, "But why would he be running around looking for an eight year old, anyway? What would he care about some little girl?"
*()*()*()*
After Luke and Anakin had arived back at the Jedi acadame, long after lights-out, Luke, Anakin, and Mara brought the statue into one of the unused rooms, right next to the medical facillities.
"So, you found this statue in Vader's fortress, and it's got a person inside, and you want to bring her out, because Obi-Wan told you to? I hope I'm not the only person who thinks this is funny." Mara joked.
Luke shook his head with a small smile. It was a bit odd. But then again, wasn't life? "We should probably wait til morning to do this. I guess we can throw a tarp or something over the statue in case anyone comes in here. I don't think it's very likely anyone will, though."
Luke went to the storage closet on the lower floor, as Anakin and Mara both headed off to their respective rooms. The light in the large closet had gone out. Luke stepped inside, scanning the shelves, when the door swung closed. Luke ignored it, as that door's hinges were slightly off-kilter, and the door had a tendancy to do that. He grabbed a tarp off of a shelf, and turned around to leave. He was about to open the door, when something from the past, his past, hit him like a sack of rocks.
It was her, the girl in the statue. He was only a very small child. He clung to her shoulder, looking every which way to try to see what was happening. Everything was blurred, with her running, and with time. She turned a corner in a hall, in a building or a ship, he couldn't tell. She stopped abruptly, and leaned on the wall for support as she opened a door to a different closet, in a different place and time.
She put him down inside, on a pile of blankets on the floor, taking one off the top of the stack before setting him down. He wasn't happy with this descision, he was scared, and wanted to be held.
"No, Luke, don't cry!" She whispered loudly. "If you cry, they'll hear you, and they'll come and take you." She put her hand on the side of his head. "Just go to sleep. You'll feel better after a nap, and I'll be right back here when you wake up."
He knew she wasn't coming back, ever, yet he had no choice but to do as she said. As he drifted off, he could feel her throw the now un-folded blanket over him. She had never pulled a blanket all the way over his head before, but he was too sleepy to pull it down to his chin. The cool black shadow of rest swept over him, promising him dreams every child has, though he could feel that there was a nightmare. The nightmare was in his waking life. The nightmare *was* his waking life.
Luke stood perfectly still as his real life, the here and now, came back. He took his hand off of the door-knob, and stepped back quickly. He shook his head, after a moment, and then left, noting everything he could remember about what he had just seen, writing it all down in his memory. It felt strange, now, with nothing happening, to go back up stairs, and throw a tarp over the statue of the girl, seeing what he had just seen. He decided not to think about it any more tonight, and went back to his and Mara's rooms to get some sleep.