The italicized part later on a dream sequence, just to forewarn you. This is MY version of how "Truce at Bakura" ended. I find it vastly more entertaining ;P But it serves a purpose. It also shows where he got all the scars from that Hateya was referring to.
Luke sat meditating in the corner. Hateya sat across from him, trying to meditate, and not succeeding, instead focusing on Luke's features. Alden sat to Luke's left and Hateya's right, trying as hard as he could to meditate, and succeeding, but not nearly as deeply as Luke since young Skywalker's symbiosis with the Force far surpassed his own. Eron sat across from Alden, already totally giving up on meditating, and sleeping.
Luke's breath began to come in rasps, sweat pouring down his face and trickling down his back. He tried to ignore the tickling sensation that the sweat on his back was causing, and the sting of sweat in his eyes, but he kept his senses out there. So... I was right...
"Luke!"
Luke abruptly came out of his thoughts to stare up at Hateya hovering above him. He looked beyond her--staring up at the sky. "What happened?" he asked calmly, sitting up.
"You began to breathe heavily, then you paled. After a while, you gave out a shuddering breath and fell back. What were you doing?"
"... Too much."
As Ezhno walked by the group on his way to the exercise line, he nodded at Luke. "Best you be careful in how much of your power you use."
Eron cocked his brow. "He's showing concern for you? He never shows concern for anyone. Either he likes you a lot, or you were using far more power then any of us could ever know--or both." Eron shook his head. "I know the Jedi code says 'There is no emotion...', but he takes it a bit too far."
"It's just his personality." Besides... thought Luke ... I know that it was a different kind of warning... "What is the full Jedi Code? Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan never told me."
"They never you the Code!" Eron practically yelled.
"They were a little preoccupied. We were only in a war with Darth Vader, the Emperor, the Imperial ARMY, with only a few weeks to train me."
"...Oh..."
Alden spoke up. "The Jedi Code:
'There is no emotion; there is peace
There is no ignorance; there is knowledge
There is no passion; there is serenity
There is no death; there is the Force' "
As Luke gave in to sleep, his thoughts drifted back to Bakura...
They would be leaving soon; Luke knew it. Han and Leia had just gotten him and the dying Dev off the Ssi Ruuv ship and were landing on Bakura. The captured Imperial Governor Nereus was in Bakuran sustody. Nereus had tried to kill Luke by infesting him with parasites, but Luke had gotten rid of them, even if it had weakened him tremendously--however, Nereus didn't know that. When Nereus had seen Luke walk onto the ramp leading down from The Millennium Falcon, he'd been close to confrontation with Gaeriel; she had essentially told him that she--and, she implied, the planet of Bakura--'quit' the Empire. But as soon as the ex-Imperial-governor of Bakura had laid his eyes on Luke, he lost the words. Luke felt almost guilty at the utterly shocked gape upon Gaeriel's face.
"No!" Nereus had exclaimed, horror twisting his heavy features. "You can't be here! Get back on board! You'll infest us all! You don't realize--"
Luke took one step down. He had already taken care of the parasitic infestation. "Gaeriel Captison belongs to Bakura, not the Empire."
Governor Nereus whirled toward Gaeriel. With speed that belied his age and bulk, he yanked the blast rifle out of her hands.
Luke dropped into a crouch. Han had already drawn his blaster. Nerues fired twice. One bolt deflected off the Falcon's hull. THe other flashed toward Luke, intersecting a green-white blade that whipped into its path and deflected energy back along its own course.
Wilek Nereus fell back. Luke stumbled, too; he felt so weak. Gaeriel gasped. Leia froze in place. Get up, Luke! she thought.
R2 rolled forward at top speek, beeping and whistling. Slowly Luke pressed back to his feet. He held the saber upright in front of him, its hum the only sound Leia heard over her thumping heart. Luke still wasn't at ease; something felt wrong... a disturbance in the Force... Luke waved R2 back. Han leaned over the governor, blaster steady.
Nereus called out one word: "Roarke!"
Suddenly, a man--completely covered in a dark cloak, hood, and mask that hid all but his eyes, lept from the shadows, red lightsaber blazing. Luke acknowledged that this was the disturbance he felt. It was strange; this Roarke felt a lot like Dev--somewhat strong as of yet, though with marvelous potential.
The the saber-wielders circled each other, ignoring the gasps and cries from the crowd. "I am the sith, Darth Roarke." His voice was gruff.
Luke sensed the building of energy in Han's blaster. "No, Han. I need to handle this. I you try to shoot, he'll only redirect it at any of us, and I can't count of the uncertainty of an unknown target. Understand?"
Han nodded reluctantly.
In Luke's lapse of attention toward Han, Roarke mad his move. Luke got away, but not without a nasty wound to the shoulder. Why couldn't I sense him coming? Luke thought. Can he hide his power? Is that possible?
... In his mind, Luke skipped the long and difficult battle that took place, but not forgetting the several other wounds he recieved on his legs, arms, and ribs. The final part of the battle had been simple enough...
Roarke, in a desperate last attempt to win, lunged at Luke. As his saber pierced Luke's left side, just below the rib cage, Luke's saber bore into the sith's stomach. They stepped back from each other, both submitting to the fact that they both could die. Roarke had suddenly ran off and a few minutes later, a Imperial fighter zoomed out of the bay and into space. Luke collapsed as Leia, Han, Gaeriel, and a few others ran over to him. Luke also noted that Nereus was now dead; that much he could sense with the Force.
"LUKE!" Leia had cried. "Luke, oh..."
"Don't worry, sis." Luke almost choked on the words. He would be fine. He had re-arranged the beams of the Darth Roarke's saber so that it didn't hit any vital organs. "I'm just tired."
... That battle is where Luke had received all the scars that Hateya had seen. That battle, he would never forget...
Several days later, Luke trying hard not to limp, they were all back up on the rooftop beside The Millennium Falcon. It was Luke's first time being out and about since the fight. Leia hoped that none of the others guessed that weakness, not dignity, set his pace.
Leia stepped toward the Bakuran prime minister, Yeorg Captison--Gaeriel's uncle. Yeorg Captison snapped to attention, regaining poise lost from the trama of the previous days. "Prime Minister Captison," Leia said, "for this moment Bakura stands alone. If your people choose to rejoin the Empire..." she nodded aside at the captured Imperial Commander Thanas, "we will withdraw and leave you to conduct your own affairs. Commander Thanas may supervise your defense against the Ssi-ruuk, if they return before the Empire sends you another governor. You may continue alone, knowing the Ssi-ruuk might return. But if you choose to align yourself with the Alliance, we should negotiate a permanenty truce immediately."
Luke hated the politics that followed, summing up the entire process with four words: Bakura joined the Alliance. After a while, when formalities were over and an old woman was congratulating Luke, Gaeriel stepped up and glaced aside, then said to Luke with heartfelt relief, "You're alive--even with the parasites and the stab... You're alive. Did you--"
"Can we talk later? I've got a very sick... friend on board, being treated for burns." He had been referring to the dying Dev, who had so much potential in the Force. Even though Dev had been an ally of the Ssi-ruuk, he had turned away from them at the last minute and helped Luke defeat the alien invaders."
Forget Dev Sibwarra, Leia wanted to shout. He's dead. This girl has finally come around. Don't let her go, if you want her!"
"Oh," Gaeriel exclaimed, stepping back. "Go ahead. I'll wait."
Leia frowned at her brother's back. He was already halfway up the ramp, walking stiffly with his head bowed.
Gaeriel touched Leia's arm. "I've never met anyone like him, Your Highness."
"You never will again, if he leaves you here," Leia muttered. "Excuse me." She trotted after Luke.
Luke could feel what Leia thought, and he knew what she wanted to tell him . . .
... As he had watched Dev die, Luke realized that he had to give up Gaeriel. They could never be together...
"Who is she?" asked Hateya at breakfast the next morning. "Gaeriel?"
"A senator of Bakura."
"And?"
"I had to let her go..."
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