Final Exam

Leia rubbed her temples as she stepped onto the bridge. She glanced around as she tried not to think about the last time she saw the place. "The Force is a many splendored thing," she sang sarcastically.

Still a bit weak, Anakin leaned against the nearest wall. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing." Leia sat on the walkway and folded her legs. She ran her eyes up and down the control panel. "You never really answered my question from before."

"About what?"

"About why you turned to the Dark Side."

"You really want to know?" Anakin's voice betrayed surprise.

Leia turned to her side so she could look at him. "Yes, seriously, before we continue."

"I had a death premonition. About your mother Padmé."

Leia nodded. "I know. I had my own vision about it before I came here. I couldn't completely make out what was going on. I was partially unconscious at the time."

"Of course," Anakin said. "Well, Palpatine promised me he could save her life. I'm sure you could figure out the rest."

It was Leia's turn to show disbelief. "All that, for this?" She spread her arms.

"Plans that can fail, usually do. It's ironic, considering how I was supposed to be the Chosen One."

Leia chortled. "Chosen One? For what?"

"Long story. I'd rather you did research on your own."

"Can you throw me a line?"

Anakin seemed to consider it, then said, "No." He waved a hand towards the front of the bridge. The Force wall shimmered under the influence of the long distance touch. "Let's go. Recess is over."

"Are you sure?" Leia asked as Anakin stood.

"Is a Hutt trustworthy?"

"Well?" Leia tilted her head as if to think about it. "No." Anakin responded with a light slap against her arm.

"Hurry up anyway. Ladies first."

Leia didn't move. Instead, she stared out into space. The large blue, green, and white globe formerly known as Alderaan was slowly creeping into view. She leaned back against her hands as if contemplating something.

"Hello?" Anakin said. "Are you in there?" He sat beside Leia and waved a hand in front of her face. Her only movement was to point her chin towards Alderaan. Anakin glanced at it for a moment. "Are you going to watch the damn thing cross the entire view?"

Leia shot him a look of confusion and a bit of disapproval.

"Sorry," Anakin said. "No disrespect." Anakin stood and approached the Force wall. "Take all the time you need. I'll be waiting on the other side."

"What if we get separated again?"

"I have a feeling that won't happen, but if it does, I'll burn that bridge when I get to it."

"Trust in the Force, right?"

Anakin said nothing, but his smile gave his thoughts away. Leia watched him disappear into the rippling air. She turned back to gaze at Alderaan. She watched it move about a meter across the viewport before finally deciding that it wouldn't blow up before her eyes again.

"There's no point in staying around." She stood and unconsciously brushed her pants. "I have a life to get back to, and this is no longer a part of it." She pressed her hand against the Force wall and pushed through.

The first thing Leia noticed was the sensation of blasting heat, much hotter than Tatooine. She heard a deep rumbling in the distance, as if there were a prolonged earthquake. Leia stood and realized she was standing on some kind of landing platform. The sky was dark red, and volcanoes spewed lava in every direction for as far as she could see. Leia leaned over the platform as far as she dared. A large lava river flowed beneath her from the side of the nearest mountain. Several droids were dipping containers into the lava and carrying it away for whatever purpose.

Leia stepped back from the edge. "Where the hell am I?"

She surveyed the building behind her. There was a figure in a brown robe standing behind a railing. The hood was pulled low over his face, so she could see only his mouth and chin. His hands were folded into his sleeves. Leia's hand brushed the lightsaber clasped to her belt as she stepped off the platform and onto the walkway. The figure waited patiently on the other side. Leia reached out to him through the Force, but all she found was a blank, as if the person were deliberately blocking himself from her.

"Hello?" Leia called to the stranger. He did not respond. She slowly approached him until she was close enough to touch him. "Who are you? Where is Anakin?"

The figure raised his head and threw the hood back. Leia felt her heart drop to her knees. "Anakin? What happened to you!"

His eyes were altered from their familiar blue to a bright eerie amber. His expression could have been blank stoicism, but Leia felt a powerful darkness radiating from behind it.

"What have you done?" Leia asked breathlessly.

"What have you done?" Anakin mocked in a perfect imitation of her voice. He held his arms back and dropped his robe to the floor. He then pulled out his lightsaber and activated the blade.

Leia backed away with each step he took towards her. "How could you?" she asked on the verge of tears. "After everything we've just been through, how could you do this?"

"Surrender," he said. When she didn't respond, he spoke again. "You can't run away this time. Stand and face your destiny."

"Destiny?" In Leia's mind, that word was the bane of the Skywalker clan. Her hand rested on her lightsaber as she continued to back away. "Where is the Force wall, Anakin?"

Anakin stopped approaching her, but he still held the lightsaber high. "That is knowledge you must earn. You must surrender to gain it."

Leia shook her head. "I will never surrender."

"Then you will lose."

He released a piercing battlecry as he charged towards her. Leia seized her lightsaber and activated the blade just as Anakin's swung down. The force of his momentum nearly knocked her lightsaber from her hand. She pivoted on her heel and quickly increased the distance between them.

"Watch where you're going!" Anakin continued mocking as he advanced on her. He swung horizontally, which she parried. "You're not putting up much of a fight." The tip of his lightsaber scraped against the wall as he slowly chased Leia into a narrow corridor.

"Do you honestly plan to kill me?" Leia asked. She held the lightsaber up in preparation for his next attack.

"I can do that only if you refuse to give yourself."

Anakin rushed forward again. As if by instinct, Leia swung out to meet his lightsaber without waiting for him to actually make the move. She caught it close to the tip and knocked it back into the wall. Anakin pulled it free and swung towards her from below in an arc. She blocked it and thrust back. The two lightsabers continued hitting each other, slamming into the walls, and shooting sparks as Anakin drove Leia towards the end of the corridor.

Leia realized it instantly when she backed into a room. Anakin suddenly Force pushed her across the room. She hit the wall and slid onto a control panel before her feet touched the floor. He nonchalantly stepped inside as she tried to regain her equilibrium. She stared into his amber eyes and watched him pace back and forth in front of the entrance.

"He's going easy on me," she thought. "But why?"

Leia straightened and held her lightsaber forward in a battle ready position. Anakin saluted her in a similar move before leaping over the table in the center. His lightsaber was a blue flurry as it nearly landed on top of her. She met it with a powerful parry to her left, followed by a right swing. Anakin threw himself back to avoid being decapitated. Sparks flew when her lightsaber sliced through the wall and control panel. She dropped to one knee as Anakin's lightsaber buzzed past where her torso used to be.

As Leia stood, she placed her hand onto the table and rolled onto the top. She instantly sprang to her feet. Anakin grinned. It appeared to be threatening, but something in the Force told her it was somehow pride, not in himself, but in her.

"What is this? Some sort of game?" she asked.

"Far from it," he answered. "Are you giving in yet?"

"Have I?" Leia started. "What is wrong with you? I would never surrender to you like this."

Anakin lifted his head as if in sudden understanding. Rather than offer an explanation, he leapt onto the table. Their lightsabers blurred and buzzed as they sparred. In the middle of a strike, Leia's lightsaber caught Anakin's. The two stood toe to toe as they pressed their weapons against each other. The point where the blades crossed glowed blue-white as Leia and Anakin pushed against each other.

"It is only through submission," Anakin said, "that one may find victory."

"Are you trying to distract me?" Leia asked as she struggled against him.

"Not at all. Not if you wish to overcome your enemy."

Leia felt the Force swirl between and around them. She heard jumbled voices in her mind. She summoned the Force into her body to counter the fatigue in her arms.

Anakin scowled as if she had insulted him. "You have no right," he said.

Leia began to panic as she sensed the Force literally drain itself from her body. She felt as if the life were being sucked from her. "What are you doing?" The blades inched closer to Leia's face as her strength disappeared.

"You cannot master the Force, my daughter," Anakin said as if he were simply offering advice. "It is your master instead."

He planted his foot into Leia's abdomen. He pulled his lightsaber back just as she doubled over. Another kick dropped her to her knees. A third forced her to lie flat. Anakin rolled her onto her back with the tip of his boot. Before she could react, Anakin threw her lightsaber aside with a wave of his hand.

Leia stared up into those eerie amber eyes. For the first time in her whole life, she could not feel the Force. She'd always had it with her, even as a child, though she did not know until Luke told her the truth about whom they were that night on Endor. She could not feel its life connection. She couldn't even sense Anakin standing over her.

"What have you done to me?" she asked between pants.

"You did it to yourself." Anakin leveled the tip of his lightsaber with Leia's chin. She could feel the heat radiating from it. "Will you submit?" he asked. "It's now, or never."

Leia opened her mouth to say, "Never," but the word refused to come out. In a belated epiphany, she suddenly understood what he had been telling her. He did not want her to submit to him in battle. He wanted her to submit to something else that was greater than both of them; that had shaped her life since the moment she emerged from Padmé's womb; that was greater than everything that ever was, is, and ever would be. He wanted her to surrender to the Force.

"Yes," she finally managed to say. "I surrender."

In that moment, energy surged through her body. Leia feared she would explode from its power. She emptied her mind and let it flow into her as if she were a puppet. Without thinking, she raised her hand. Her lightsaber flew across the room and landed in her palm with the blade already ignited. She swung and knocked Anakin's lightsaber away. Before he could recover, she kicked him in the gut. With an extra push from the Force, she sent him across the room and against the wall. She quickly leapt to her feet and brandished her lightsaber.

"Let's finish this," she said with an enthusiastic smile.

Anakin stood and rolled his shoulders. He returned the smile as he lifted his lightsaber. "That's more like it." Leia took a step backwards as he Force jumped back onto the tabletop.