Chapter Two

Disclaimer: Ah own nuthin'.

A/N: Just re-watched Episode 6. Now I'm crying. I had never known Hayden Christensen was in that one! I only thought he was in Episodes 1 & 2. Gah, I'm such a wuss.

At least his hair grew back in heaven.

The warm air quickly grew cold as night turned. Before long, I was huddling in my coat, and my metal arm made the cold all the more worse.

But Des-Edri had been through this all before.

"Come back with me," she said. It wasn't a request; it was a demand.

"To where?" I asked, and it had meant simply to be curious, but she took my tone the wrong way, "There's nothing out here."

Her voice grew cold. "Maybe if you got up and stopped trying to take your head off, you'd find something."

I was quiet. When around an angry woman, remember your chivalry.

"I'm sorry, madam. Forgive my anxiousness."

She grinned as though she had been acting all along, and made a quick gesture to follow her. We walked on for about an hour, and I found myself trying to hold back shivers. It was so cold, yet I didn't understand how the crickets, whom were so noisily chirping, lived.

"It'sme you'll have to forgive," Des-Edri said as we neared the top of a hill, "It's not much."

I prepared my self to see a hut, but I saw a palace.

Well, okay, it wasn't a palace, but to a hungry and freezing Jedi, it was beautiful. I looked down upon the country-style home and was amazed a single woman could've built it by herself.

"You... did that?" I asked, eyes wide open. She snorted. "Me? By myself? No way."

"So, there are others here, then..." I said, waiting for her to answer with a yes. But she looked me in the eye darkly and said, "Not anymore."

I opened my mouth to ask what that meant, but she was already trotting down the hill towards her home. So I followed.

Inside, the furnishings were lovely. It reminded me of something Obi-wan had taught me about human's homes- it looked like a cross between a plantation manor and a country farmhouse mixed together.

Des-Edri led me to a staircase and pointed to it. "Up there," she ordered, "Is your room. It's the last one to the right, all the way down the hall."

"Thank you," I muttered, and ran up, only to stop and try to take in what I saw.

The hallways went on forever, and I wasn't joking when I said that. Apparently, I had looked at the mansion from the wrong angle when I saw it, because I couldn't see the end of the hallway to the left. I looked right, and it was about forty feet away.

I opened the door to a clean, well set room. It was almost like an inn, with a king-sized bed (hand-made), and a wardrobe. It had it's own tiny bathroom, too, and I could tell why- who would want to go searching for a bathroom in that hall?

I sat on the bed and took off my coat.

"Is it good enough for you?" said a voice, and I looked up to see Des-Edri standing in my doorway. I jumped a little, because I hadn't noticed she came in.

"This house... is huge," I breathed, looking at the wallpaper, "How long did it take to build?"

"14 years," she said, and I stopped. "What?" I asked. Nothing this huge could be built in that short amount of time.

She sat down next to me. "I'll need to explain everything to you if you want to know why,"she said, "And I warn you, you'd better write it all down or have a good memory, because it's long."

"I'm listening," I said.

"You were 'eaten' by the Dark Side," Des-Edri said, and my lightsaber flew off my belt and into her hand. I tensed a bit, wondering what she was planning to do. I had no idea she could use the Force.

"'Eaten?'" I asked, "But Master Obi-wan told me that when someone was taken over by the Dark Side, it was only your soul..."

"Has Master Obi-wan ever been consumed?"

"Well, no, but..."

"Then how would he know? In fact, it is the one thing that the Jedi know very little about. That is why they tell you that you're gone forever once you've been taken - because they don't want anyone coming back." Des-Edri shifted in her seat a little. "They're afraid their worst enemies will come back if they figure out this place."

"Okay," I thought out loud, "The Jedi don't tell anyone about Earthia because they're afraid.."

"Yes." Desi smiled. "Exactly. You've physically split from your evil self. And, as all people who walk in your path, you shall stay here until you become good again."

The question that came into my mind, I dared to ask.

"And what if I don't become good again?"

Desi stared at me.

"Then you'll die here."

I took a gulp of air and tried to slow my calming heart. I was going to die here. I knew it. "I'll... I'll never see Padme again, will I?" I asked. My throat tightened a bit.

"I couldn't tell you that," Desi said, patting me on the back. "You can only pray that your son will lead you back down the right path."

These words whipped me from my misery.

"My... son?" I asked, a warm, loving feeling taking over. Padme... We've done it! You've given me a child!

Des-Edri smiled, showing her straight, white teeth. It was as if she knew how I felt, and felt the same. "Congratulations."

But I needed to control myself. Getting depressed and then giddy within five minutes would only succeed to make me look like a fool. Calmly, I asked, "What's his name?"

Des-Edri flashed her teeth again. "Luke."