Previously
As she turned from him, Luke's small figure stirred in bed. As he did so, a small flap of paper slid out from under his pillow. It gracefully glided down to the floor as if it were a feather. Lighting up the darkness of the room as two ghosts held each other.
Padme quickly walked over to where her daughter slept and repeated the process. She was indeed grown up for her young age. A little more than Padme would have wished her to be. Leia was always strong. No matter what happened. She always looked fear in the eye and brought it down to its knees.
Padme watched her as she slept for a second before leaving her angels once again. They would wakeup unaware of anything that had happened.
A new day. A new lie.
... Do Angels Die? ...
Once upon a time, when just about everything was right, there existed the perfect team. Two men so different they were both the two halves of one person.
There was the older intellectual one. He always put his duty and the code above all else. When entering in battles, he thoroughly though about all of his actions; not making a move without already having the following three planned out. He was swift and balanced. A model Jedi some would call him.
Then there was the young, handsome one. Wanted by many different type of people, chained down by the Jedi code. He did not think through any of his actions at all. He truly followed his Masters advice to heart. Let the Force Guide you. And that was what the young Jedi did. He was brash, very indeed. But powerful, oh so powerful; the most in the history of the Jedi in fact. He was their precious Chosen One.
And so their legacy came to be. Their moves were far from coordinated. Wars were not coordinated. Yet they always seemed to be in perfect harmony. When one would fall, the other would catch him. They protected each other. Defended each other. It was a greater bond than just that of Master and Padawan.
That was indeed how the media labeled them – Perfect. Labels were only skin deep. The great hero's everyone adored so very much were far from perfection.
They were both drowning in pools of resentment. Because they would never be strong enough; they would never be good enough. They could train their entire lives and still not be able to save their loved ones. Neither of the two had moved on. No matter how many years of mourning they had attained. No matter how many plastered smiles could hide the pain.
And an even greater imperfection was all of the lies. Powerful secrets somehow kept hidden over many years. Marriage and love; neither allowed. Deception and greed; both engulfed the Chosen One.
With each new argument came a growing anger. It was hungry; hungry to grow. And no matter how hard the Padawan tried, that hunger would not die. His anger soon led to hate. Hate for the man he had considered more than a brother. His anger clouded all sense of reason; breaking all previously formed bonds of trust. And that hate, could only lead to suffering as both men died in their own separate ways.
Once upon a time could never really exist; behind all thats right, nothing ever is.
This barbaric device was not at all what she was hoping... praying for. It had all began slow enough, a pace that even a tortoise could follow. The machine had deceived her however, and she loathed it for that fact. One shot came hurtling at her near the beginning. Aiming rapidly at her left leg. The shot was all too easily deflected with a swoosh of her light saber.
She eyed the machine, or 'remote' as her uncle had called it, cautiously. It did not seem to look back at her however; giving her no warning of its upcoming blast. This one was close, too close for her own good. Was she going mad like her brother, or was this vile thing getting quicker. She may have been mad. Maybe.
That is, until two shots came at her at once. She was able to block one of them with ease. The other however, made contact with her right arm. The pain was excruciating; it burnt through her clothing stinging her skin on contact. The pain however, was quickly drowned out by the sudden burst of irritation at this machine.
Looking over to her brother, she saw him having no difficulty what-so-ever. Was his set at a lower difficulty? It must have been. Her irritation now doubled; tripled as the machine caught her off guard and struck her once again. The pain was not that bad.
"You have to feel the Force around you Leia. Let it guide you."
The usually calming words of her uncle had no effect at all. No matter how hard she stared at the machine, it would not go away. As it burnt her for the third time, her irritation turned to anger. She gripped her light saber's handle tightly as she cut through the uncongenial machine. She hoped it would rot in the pits of – Her mother would kill her had she heard her thoughts.
"Not again Leia!" Obi-Wan sighed in frustration. It had been the second remote in two days that she had sliced in half. He only had so many. Leia's patience was obviously not at the hight it should have been at; especially not for her age.
"Sorry Uncle Ben." Leia apologized as she let her head hang. She was glad however. That vile machine deserved its punishment.
It was all too easy for Obi-Wan to probe through Luke and Leia's young minds. It sometimes astonished him at just how much Leia had going on through her mind. It was not at all regular for a girl her age. But still, he couldn't help but chuckle at her apathy towards the remote. Maybe meditation would suit her better? Yes. He had decided it would help calm those fiery outbursts the girl had every now and then. She...He dared not say it; feared to think it. She had so very much of her father in her.
So now she sat by a great old tree near her house. It indeed had to be old for it rose far beyond her own eyesight. Maybe it had been born when her mother had. No, she decided. Much longer. It had to be. Her mother did not appear to be as old as this great tree.
Her Uncle had told her to practice meditation. So thats what she was doing - attempting to do.
The wind felt rather nice through her hair and on her face. There was no sunlight though, even though it was early in the afternoon. The sky was dark instead, an almost black shade of gray. Leia had noticed it made her mother rather uncomfortable. She had watched from afar as her mother stared out the windows at the clouds throughout most of the day. Had she been thinking of father? Maybe- Yes, she decided. She had to have been.
It was silly of course, there could have been over a million different things her mother could have had on her mind. Maybe she had planned to go into town that afternoon but was afraid it might rain. The possibilities were endless. Yet...the butterflies Leia felt in her stomach told her otherwise. It was almost as if she felt that which her mother felt. Yes, it was indeed silly..she decided.
Concentration, she tried to focus, clearing all thoughts out of her mind. And she thought she had; she almost had. That is, until she heard the chirping of the birds. Over and over again. It would stop for a second, fooling her as the remote had, then return all the louder. She was tempted, oh so very tempted, to repeat the same light saber trick which she had used on the remote but decided her uncle would disapprove.
As if that would be something new.
Back to meditation. She wouldn't let her thoughts bunch in again. Thats all that her mind seemed to want to do however. Now it was not the birds disturbing her, no, something worse. The sound of a light saber hissing and deflecting blasts. It was not like the rhythm of the birds. No, it was practically unpredictable. She wondered indeed how many more remotes her uncle could possibly own. It couldn't be that many.
Gods she hoped it wasn't that many.
There was just something about meditation that bored - no bored was not the right word, uninterested, yes that was it. There was something about meditation that just uninterested her from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Her uncle had been asking for far too much when he asked a child to remain still for a period of an hour.
Meditation would just not do. She instead focused on a small rock in front of her. Levitation, she thought. Yes that would be perfect. It was her excitement overall that allowed her to finally concentrate. She stared that rock down, eroding it into nothingness.
She grinned as it finally moved. It didn't float in the air or even lift of the ground – no. But, it did indeed move. She had seen it with her own two brown eyes. Or had she just imagined it? No, the rock moved.
She had not felt very accomplished since their training began. She was not as good in the light saber arts as her brother was. He was practically a natural. Her uncle kept telling her she would eventually learn with practice. Ha.
And she certainly could not meditate to save her life. This could be her thing. Yes, Leia decided, telekinesis was what she would practice.
The thought had crossed his mind a million times over the past couple of hours. The sun shone brightly in the center of the sky. It was well past noon. And since Vader had followed the farmer back to his ship, he had not moved. He could sense the farmer still inside. The pitiful excuse for a human being was most likely passed out.
He had wanted to just burst inside and order him to take him to that planet immediately. It would get him nowhere however. The man would probably be too shocked to do a thing. He could not – would not wait until he was fully recovered however. He only had so much patience left in him. He had waited so long for this day. And now that he knew the location of his nemesis.. he was being tortured.
Vader did the only other thing he could think of.
He had not been back inside of the structure since the night he destroyed it. He had never even thought of it until now.
He coolly walked on foot towards where the building stood. It had not been completely destroyed. It would be almost impossible to destroy the structure. Not only was it great in size, but it would endanger those around it were it to be destroyed. No, his Master had chosen another path. He had decided to leave the building as it was. A reminder to all who dared appose him. It seemed to be working.
There were dozens of large pieces of rubble blocking his entrance to the temple. They seemed to be warning him. He ignored them. Using the Force to push them away was all too easy. He was greeted with the large doors; the entrance finally revealed. Almost as if routine, he pushed the doors off of their hinges. They landed inside of the dark temple, sending dust his way.
He did not let the dust bother him. He did not need to breathe. He did not need to see. He could feel it all too easily.
The inside of the temple felt almost ancient to him, when really it had only been mere years. Everything around him was dark, that was the only unusual thing. In all of his years at the temple, it had never once been dark. It always seemed to have a special sort of light radiating through it.
That light was gone. And it had not saved the temple from its fate.
There was an eerie mist created from the little light that was emitted through the open windows. It gave all of the dust an almost palpable look. He knew otherwise. He could easily cut through the light with his darkness.
The elegant designs of the hallways still remained. Pillars as high as he could see. Only now, they were tainted. The dry blood on the wall started to drip, forming pools of the substance all around him. Reminders of a night which had destroyed all this temple once stood for.
To his surprise, the temple started to get all the lighter as he continued walking through the hallways. There was no longer rubble or blood on the floor. As the light completely consumed it, he saw others walking amongst him. Lost souls, running straight through him.
Haunting him. He would not let it get to him.
There were dozens of younglings running back and forth through the hallways. An action not permitted. Padawan's being scolded by their long dead Masters. Knights sparring with each other; putting on a fake show for all spectators.
He walked straight through the memories of his past. None of them hurt them as much as they should have. And he knew that. He should feel pain for loosing all of his friends. All he had ever known. He was wrong, that was admitted. But what could he do. What could anyone in his position do?
After all, he was the one who killed them.
He stopped in front of a single closed door. All light around him began to fade. There voices no longer audible. Their smiles no longer visible. Their joy was long gone. The destruction returned, yet one still remained; a little peasant boy. He did not appear to be a Jedi.
He stood in front of the door. Doing that which the others had not. Looking at him straight in the eye.
It was a just little boy. Just like one of the ones he had killed. He probably was one of the ones. He had to be. But there was something about this little boy. Something ethereal. He did not move from in front of the door. Blocking his entrance. Vader knew he could easily cut the ghost down. Or just walk straight through him. But something was not allowing him to do so.
Realization struck hard as he looked deeply into the boys eyes. The little boy was obviously no older than ten years. He had golden blond hair and blue eyes. He had the most innocent face Vader had ever laid eyes upon. It disgusted him. But even through the innocence, he saw something that should not have been present. A lust for power, for strength. He stood shocked as the little boys eyes turned a bright yellow color.
And right before his eyes, he began to grow. His golden hair shrunk and became a darker color. His golden eyes remain. A short pony tail grew from the back of his head, along with a braid on the left side of his head. The little boy was no longer little; he was no longer a peasant. He was now a Jedi.
Vader no longer had to look down on him, for he was now the same height. And he began to change again. This time he became Vader's very essence. The little boy craving for power had been him.
Vader stood unsure of what to do next until he found the ghost grinning at him. His eyes became a brighter shade of yellow. There were no longer any signs of blue left. The ghost was overcome with darkness. Its face hidden behind a hideous black mask. Wearing a suit which was darkness itself, making him much taller then normal. Vader was the one to look up at him now.
The ghost's breathing was loud and artificial. Much like the planet he stood on. His voice sounded unreal. It gave away no sense of emotion. Vader stiffened as his words reached him.
"Good, good." The monster spoke before disappearing into nothingness once again.
Vader was left standing alone, staring at the door before him. His image reflected on the marble texture. He looked dirty and almost dead. There were dark rings around his eyes from all of the sleepless nights. His eyes were bloodshot.
But what scared him the most, was their color. His heart skipped a beat to find they too were a bright golden color.
He quickly blinked and looked again to find their old color back. Had he imagined it? His imagination had been trying to drive him mad lately. That would be his excuse.
End Chapter 7
I really have no more time to write up the chapters anymore, schools been killer. I'll just have to make them shorter or something. Bare with me.