Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or even the NJO book 'Dark Journey'

Author's Note: Here's another chapter! Enjoy. Oh and please review! Please review! I love feedback!

Chapter 17: Changes

Things kept getting worse and worse. Courscant had fallen to the Yuuzhan Vong, along with the entire New Republic government as well. Along with that there were several Jedi either missing or dead. And two of them were Anakin and Jacen Solo. But at the moment, Luke only had one thing on his mind.

"Caylee please talk to me."

Caylee didn't move from her position with her back turned to her father. She lay in a bunk on the Falcon. She was fully aware that her father was talking to her, but still she didn't budge.

"Caylee Jade Skywalker! Talk to me now young lady!" he demanded through the Force. He only came up against a wall in her mind. A wall that she had put up.

Still she didn't answer him. He sighed heavily as he leaned against the bulkhead. He had tried everything he could think of to get through to his daughter.

It had been three days. Three days since the death of Anakin and three days since Caylee had said a single word. Leia and Han noticed it first. After a day of crying, Caylee hadn't cried or done anything at all. She just sat there and had a blank look on her face. But they didn't think anything of it right away. They were too concerned as to getting off Courscant safely before it was completely taken over by the Yuuzhan Vong.

Shortly after their evacuation, Luke and Anakin had joined them. And by then Caylee was completely mute. No one could get through to her. Not even her grandfather. The mental block in her mind was just too strong.

"How is she son?" Anakin asked as he stood in the doorway behind Luke.

"Alive. But other then that, I don't know. She didn't do this when Mara died," Luke said turning and looking at his father. He shut the door to Caylee's bunk. They started to walk towards the galley.

"But what about when Chewbacca died?"

"She didn't eat for days, didn't speak, and made herself sick."

"Don't you think that this is what is happening now?"

"Possibly. But once she was back with me, she was talking. But not this time,"

"Have you noticed if her sensitivity to the Force has grown since then?"

"Of course it has."

"Then maybe she doesn't know what to think of it all. All she knows right now is pain and suffering. She can feel, just like you and I, the deaths of the Jedi Knights."

Luke thought about it for a second or two. His father did have a point. "But why aren't the other Jedi children reacting like she is?"

"Each Jedi reacts differently. And I suspect that Caylee has been trained more then the other children have."

"That's true. I just hope she speaks soon," Luke said sighing as he sat down.

"Me too son."

She looked all around her. She was in a round room, with several people – several Jedi to be exact. But she didn't recognize them. Except for one, Master Yoda. He was the first to speak.

"Much anger in you. Like your grandfather,"

She looked around at all the Jedi Masters that were sitting around her. They were all nodding in agreement.

"Caylee you are a child of darkness and of light. But don't let the darkness consume you," Mace Windu said, as she turned to look at him. It was as if she knew each of their names.

"But all I can feel is sadness. It makes me angry."

"Dispel of anger or suffer like your grandfather did." Ki-Adi-Mundi said.

"But how? What did my grandpa go through?"

Caylee looked at each and every Jedi in the room. None of them were answering her.

"Help Jaina. She is falling to the Dark side," a voice said behind Caylee.

She turned around and looked up at the figure of her cousin, Anakin. He knelt down in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Caylee I know that you are scared right now. But don't be. You are strong. I know that you're only seven, but don't let that stop you. You have to carry on for everyone, be the strong one. Don't be scared of the darkness, but instead let light fill your heart and you will be unstoppable."

Caylee looked down at the floor and then back up at her cousin. She was beginning to cry. Anakin gently wiped her tears away. "Now go talk to your father. He needs you."

He gently kissed her forehead as he and the other Jedi faded from view…

Caylee slowly opened her eyes and looked around her. She knew that she was on the Falcon, but she had no idea where they were going. She swung her feet over the side of the bunk and went to look for her father.

She found him sitting in the galley, dosing off at the table. She walked over by his side and crawled up in a chair next to him. She gently wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

Luke slowly woke up and wrapped his arms around his daughter. "Are you ok sweetie?" he asked.

"I love you daddy," she whispered laying her head against his shoulder.

A soft smile broke on his lips. "I love you too Caylee and happy birthday."

Anakin Skywalker sat starring at a wall of one of the bunks on the Falcon. Something deep down was bugging him and he couldn't figure out what it was. He knew that it wasn't about Jacen or Jaina; he knew how they were doing – not too good at the moment. Jacen was missing, but not dead. And Jaina was heading on the fast track towards the Dark side. But he wasn't going to pressure her about anything. She was in too much of a rage at the moment, just like he was after he had been after his mother's death so long ago on Tatooine.

Then there was the situation with Caylee. He wasn't with her when she had felt her cousin's death, but if it was anything like what he had felt then she must have felt like her world was crashing down upon her. Yet also there was something else about her. Something he couldn't place a finger on.

A pair of soft footsteps coming towards him brought him out of his semi-trance. He turned to look at the smiling face of Caylee.

"What are you doing grandpa?" she asked.

He smiled. "Thinking about you. I see that you're talking once again."

"I'm only talking again because Anakin told me to." Caylee said sitting down on the bed next to him.

"He told you to?"

The little girl nodded yes. "In my dream. I was in this huge round room with all these Jedi Masters, and there were lots of windows as well. Then Master Yoda and two of the other Jedi Masters talked to me. I really don't remember what they told me. Something about light and darkness. Then Anakin was there and he told me to be brave and to talk to daddy."

"Did you tell your father this?"

She nodded yes, but then she didn't say anything.

"There is something else, isn't there?" he softly asked.

"One of the Jedi Masters, I think Mace Windu, said that I was a child of darkness and light. Daddy didn't know what that meant and so I thought that I would ask you."

Anakin sat there for a moment and thought about what his granddaughter had just said. But how could she be a child of darkness and light? That didn't make sense. "I'm sorry Caylee, but I don't know what it means. But don't worry about it too much."

"Alright grandpa," she said hugging him then leaving the room.

Anakin watched with a heavy heart as Caylee left his sight. He hated to lie to her. But he had to. It was for her own good until he could discover the meaning behind what Master Windu had meant.

Caylee stood quietly inbetween her father and grandfather during her cousin's funeral. All she could do was stare at Anakin's lifeless body. And all she saw was the images from her dream a few nights prior to that. The dream of him telling her to be strong and always let the light fill her heart.

Various Jedi and other people had spoken so far – Tahiri, a refugee boy from Courscant that reminded Caylee so much of Anakin, her uncle Han and Kyp Durron. She made up her mind that she needed to talk.

With her head bent down towards the ground, Caylee slowly stepped forward. She was so nervous, but she had to do this. She had to do this for him.

"One of the last things that Anakin told me was to be brave. Be brave for everyone and to always let the light in," she said with a quiet, yet trembling voice. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes. She slowly held up her closed hand and opened it. Two firebugs flew out and began to pulsate. And within seconds, there were hundreds of tiny firebugs around the funeral party. The firebugs' soft glow seemed to be sending a calming feeling over the party.

After a few minutes, the firebugs had moved on. And that was when Luke moved towards the stone bier, where Anakin's body lay, with a torch. He gently lowered it. In no time, a gentle golden flame surrounded his body.

As Caylee watched Anakin's body slowly burn, she remembered her mother's funeral. And it made her realize that nothing was ever going to be the same. Not for her, her father, grandfather, aunt or uncle and most of all Jaina. She looked over at Jaina. She could feel her cousin's sadness and anger. And she wished she knew what she could do to help her.

"Father?" Cray softly asked.

"Yes?" Trekk said.

"Why does it hurt?" the little boy asked confused.

"What hurts?"

"It feels like someone I knew is gone and I'm full of sadness and anger."

That was when it dawned in Trekk. Cray was feeling his sister's pain about something. That could be the only explanation.

"Don't worry son. Everything is alright."