And Vega Lights My
Way
Chapter 7
You are all my unknown secrets
You
are all my hidden fears
You are known in lovers kisses
You
are seen in childhood tears
You are where the stars are shining
You are where the rainbow ends
You are why the war is over
You are how the peace begins
John Denver- The Fire Fox Suite
A small group of Representatives walked down the corridors of the Senate building. Once a virtual hive of activity, the building was relatively sparsely populated. However, with the death of the Empire, and talk of forming a 'New Republic',there was a decided air of anticipation and excitement of new beginnings, including the possibility that young Skywalker had spoken of revitalizing the Jedi traditions.
"Are you sure you won't come with us, Representative Canaille?" the Mon Calamari Representative asked. "I would think that the Jedi Temple would hold many things that would interest you, being a scholar of Jedi lore, after all…"
"No, perhaps another time," Schurke replied, keeping his tone light. "I promised my son that I would show him the Correllian Sanctuary this afternoon." He genuinely brightened as he saw Kay'leb approach the group. "Indeed, here he is now. If you ladies and gentlemen would excuse me…" And without another word, he mafe a slight bow, turned and left them.
Father and son embraced warmly – unashamedly – in the corridors that rarely, if ever, saw demonstrations of affection, and began to stroll down the hallway to an awaiting speeder.
"Was it a good meeting Papa?" Kay'leb asked innocently, though his expression belied this affected innocence. "Did you accomplish…"
"What is it Kay'leb?" Schurke interrupted him abruptly,
his expression unusually hard.
"I know all too well that
Galactic politics is the last thing you are interested in."
"Why wouldn't you meet Master Skywalker this morning Papa?" Kay'leb asked bluntly. "I would have thought - especially after last night - you would have wanted to talk to him…"
"Another time, my son." Schurke said simply, but firmly enough that Kay'leb would know that the matter was to be dropped without question. "Come. Let me show you the Sanctuary. It's a memorial to those Corellians who died off world. It's actually quite an interesting place." Here he paused, then to show that he actually did understand his son's concern, he added, "Perhaps I'll take you to the Temple another time, without the herd of chattery, empty flitter birds."
Kay'leb smiled. "Yes Papa," he replied. "I understand…"
They passed the rest of the walk to the speeder in silence, and Schurke found himself wondering about the very thing his son had asked. Why didn't he want to meet Toboo's son? What was he so afraid of ? These were questions that he would ask himself later. For now, Schurke contented himself with showing his son the sights of Coruscant as the speeder took them to the Sanctuary.
"You knew my father?" Luke asked Kampher, incredulous. "I mean, you knew him when…"
"I knew Anakin," Kam murmured gently, then her expression grew hard. "Luke, your father, Anakin Skywalker was a good man…"
Unconsciously, Luke flexed his hand. Kampher however, appeared not to notice.
"Luke, I won't pretend to know what happened to your father; why he made the choices he did. We parted ways long before… well before."
Kampher rose, and took Luke's and Aubé's hands into her own. "Children, don't judge your parents too harshly. We can only do what we feel is right at the time."
She brought Luke and Aubé's hands together and kissed them, Aubé blushed furiously while Luke suddenly found his attention drawn to the passing traffic outside.
As she released them, Kampher smiled as she noticed that their fingertips lingered together, just for the moment. "I'm afraid I must leave you for a little while," she said at once. "Luke, I know that I've given you a lot to think about – both of you – and I know this isn't fair to leave you like this, especially now, but…"
"It's alright Master Canaille," Luke finished for her, bestowing the title – getting a feel for the words. "I do have a lot to think about." He held the holo closer to his face. Shyly, Aubé leaned nearer and Luke turned it towards her, so that she, too, could see. She jumped a little as his knee brushed hers, but did not pull away. Indeed, they were both so engrossed in the holo that neither seemed to notice that Kampher had left them alone.
"They all look so happy there," Aubé said at last. "Mother…. Papa… your father… and I guess, Aunt Gris…"
"Did you know any of them? I mean, other than your parents?" Luke asked, then shook his head. "No, your mother said that they had… parted ways…"
Aubé lowered her eyes for a moment, then raised them to meet his. "Luke, until last night I didn't even know that my parents were Jedi," she sighed, exasperated. "Auntie Gris I knew about but never met, and Anakin Skywalker… I don't even remember the name being mentioned…not really."
Luke looked directly into Aubé's eyes. "What about… Vader?" he asked softly. "Did your parents ever mention him?"
Aubé bit her lip. "Papa wouldn't allow the name to be mentioned in the house – he treated it like a curse. When he was mentioned on the holo-net…" Now she looked away until Luke lightly touched her face and brought her eyes to meet his again.
"Nails…"
Aubé reached up and took his hand into her own, lowering it to her lap. Luke gave it a gentle squeeze, and left it there. He knew she was frightened about something, but exactly what he could not tell.
"Mother asked Papa once – about Vader I mean – I remember that much," Aubé said softly, her eyes far away in memory. "Vader came to an assembly at the academy once – a general inspection. I told my parents about it when I came home for the Imperial holiday, although it wasn't really observed at home. I said that that we had met… that I had… shrouded… my abilities as Papa had told me that I must. But still Lord Vader singled me out for a demonstration of what we had learned…" Aubé's voice trailed off, uncertain.
Luke placed his other hand over hers, cradling it. He repressed a shudder from the chill that went down his spine.
"Go on," he encouraged her. "Tell me."
"I don't remember a lot of it," Aubé admitted. "When I told my parents that Darth Vader himself had taken a possible interest in me,Papa went into a rage. I'd never seen him so angry! He threatened to pull me out of the Academy. Mother reminded him that he couldn't do that, and then she said the strangest thing." Aube paused, then looked straight into Luke's eyes, catching them in her own. "She said that Anakin would never let me come to harm."
Luke sucked in his breath, and Aubé, as if suddenly aware that her hands were wrapped in his, pulled away.
"Well, the long and short of it was that Papa got upset and said that Anakin was dead, and warned me that any form of attention from the Empire's attention was a bad thing – especially for those who were Force gifted – and to remain as inconspicuous as possible, particularly when it came to… to Lord Vader."
"And your mother? What did she say?"
Aubé blushed. "After Papa went to bed, Mother took me into her arms and reassured me that things would be alright, and then went to give Papa a 'healing session'." She giggled, and Luke raised an eyebrow.
"My mother is a gifted Healer," Aubé's face became scarlet as she suppressed another giggle. "As is my brother Kay'leb, but sometimes…"
Her full mirth was unleashed by the perplexed look on Luke's face, and she began to laugh. "But sometimes, Mother's act of healing Papa is just making love…"
Now that he understood, Luke's laughter reverberated and joined in with Aubé's, yet still, beneath the merriment, he wondered what would it be like to make love with another Force sensitive?
