Tell Me a Story
Author: LVB
Summary: Tell me a story, they'll say. She will succumb and retell the tale of a Jedi and a Senator.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or anything SW related. That honour goes to GL and LucasFilm Ltd.
Tell me a story, they'll say. Tell me a story of the Old Republic. Tell me a story of the brave Jedi Knights, of the Senators and of the Clone Wars. Tell me a story of warriors, of diplomats. Tell me a story of good versus evil, where there is white and black, never grey. Tell me a story of sorts, they'll say.
I want to know about action, about drama, about adventure…and of course about love. Tell me a story, they will ask time and time again. I will unconsciously smile then slowly shake my head.
But I'm not a very good storyteller, I'll tell them. I'll look upon their smiling faces change into ones of disappointment and feel the strings of my broken heart pulling. They will be young, naïve, completely unknowing…especially of my weakness. Tell me a story, they'll say again. They will walk up to me, put their arms around me and whisper it again; tell me a story.
I will look into their eyes and sigh. They will know my weakness. They will know I cannot refuse them. I will tell you a story, I will reply.
Yes, tell us a story!
Once upon a time, I'll start. Their faces will be lightened, rounded with a cherub look upon them. Their eyes will sparkle, their lips upturned in a waiting smile. They will beckon to my weakness and I will succumb. I will tell them their story.
There once was a Queen, I'll start. I'll watch their eyes grow large with curiosity. They will wait in suspense, knowing now that I have started, I will not stop until the end of the story.
But her beautiful kingdom was under an attack. And so it continued. The phrases, disjointed and fragmented yet slowly yielding to form a bigger picture. The story of a beautiful, young Queen and a small, innocent and brave boy. Born to be a Jedi Knight…born to conquer, born to become the most powerful Jedi ever. But most importantly, born to love.
The story will roll off my tongue like a sweet, sugary fairytale of long ago. A myth borne of legend, a history they are too young to know. But I will know. I will know of the story's truth, of their heartache and sorrow of the gaps I will purposely leave out for their tiny, innocent ears.
The Queen was now a Senator, older and wiser, I will tell them. They will smile and ask, was she beautiful? I will not answer them.
Instead, I will go on to tell them of the grown up boy; the handsome young man. The Jedi Padawan. The brave, headstrong and passionate Jedi boy. He would be a warrior, he would fight the evil that lurked in the galaxy. And he would fall in love with the Senator. But their love would be forbidden, for the galaxy could never approve of a Jedi and a Senator.
Their eyes will light up at the tale of a forbidden romance, at the promise of action and adventure. They would cry, don't stop now! Tell us the rest!
I would pause for a small moment, allowing my thoughts to gather. I would try not to show emotion in my tired, withered face. Instead of crying, I will laugh as I would have learned to in the many, many years I have trained for this moment.
He fought the evil and then, he married the Senator!
Yes, they would cheer!
And I would cheer along with them, trapped in the endless memory. I would leave a gap out of the story, a gap where a horrendous war took place. A war that stole many lives of the Republic, saw many Jedi's blood stain the battlegrounds. A war that saw the conception of two beautiful cherub children. A war that nearly stole a Jedi Knight who loved a Senator.
But the evil came back, I will say. Their faces would twist and turn in expectancy of what was yet to come. I would sigh and release the memory that was trapped inside my broken mind. I would release it as a beautiful fairytale, where there was white and black but never grey.
He conquered the evil, I would say. A lie. A blatant lie…but they will be none the wiser.
What of the Senator, they will ask?
She had the babies, I would reply! She had twins, a beautiful boy and a passionate girl. They would look beautiful as a family. And they would all live happily ever after.
They would clap and they would cheer. That was a great story, they would say. I would smile and then kiss them goodnight, tucking them into their beds. I would turn off the light and sit and fight the tears that will threaten to fall onto my tired, withered cheeks.
They will never know the true ending of the story. That the Jedi Knight became evil himself, that the Senator and the Jedi did not live happily ever after.
In fact, they will never know that story at all, because the Senator will not see the beautiful cherub children. She will not touch them nor see them grow into the beautiful angels they were destined to be. The doomed tale of the Jedi and the Senator will forever remain in the mind of the dying woman who will never hear the children of Darth Vader ask her, tell me a story.