-Chapter 99: Future Tense-
Location: Jedi Temple, Coruscant
"Fear not what could be, for it is your actions that determine what will be."
Sitting alone in a meditation chamber, Grand Master Yoda sank into the Force with eyes closed and spirit opened. He sought guidance and answers, the complexity of the unfolding circumstances surrounding the Clone Wars ever deepening with each passing day. The short green master had many questions, possibly more than every before, and knew that he could trust the Force to light his way when he needed it most. and so he meditated, deeply and studiously. He sought answers concerning The Wraith and the wave he'd felt in the Force not too long ago. There were many mysteries surfacing as of late and he wished to know how to approach them.
What the Grand Master did not realize was that the Force would offer him plenty more than he could've anticipated, possibly more than even he could comprehend.
The passage of time meant nothing to Yoda as he immersed himself in the very fabric of reality, sharply attuned to the Force in a way he had experienced only a few times before. But the Force was toying with him, revealing nothing and urging him to venture deeper into its recesses in search of meaning and answers. Yoda was wise and diligent, he knew the Force would not give up its secrets willingly. They needed to be uncovered and found, located only through great patience and effort.
But even with those, the Force didn't always offer a direct answer.
It was in this deep state of searching that Yoda heard footsteps. Opening his eyes, the Grand Master found himself in a realm of white light, with a single set of stairs leading down to him. The sound of walking echoed from atop the stairs, and the more he watched, the sooner Yoda picked out two great shapes advancing towards him. One was tall and hulking, the other thin and sleek, and they descended towards him in unison.
"Darkness... and light..." A pair of enchanting voices announced, "forever at odds, forever in balance. But now and again, there may exist... a harmony." The shapes drew closer and Yoda could tell they walked hand in hand.
When they finally entered his vision, the Grand Master could see that the smaller of the two resembled a member of the Diathim species, popularly called 'angels' by spacers who visited Iego. Her skin glowed an iridescent white, her delicate appearance framed by a pair of bright wings, all of it in contrast to the earth-tone robe she wore. Her companion, the biggest of them, surprised Yoda by being of the Maelibi race, his body formed from what he could only describe as molten gold, natural claws forming the tips of his fingers, his mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, and his head encircled by a crown of horns. He was humanoid, and somewhat similar to the Diathim in some ways, but Yoda could see why the species had earned the moniker of 'demons' from passing spacers.
Their hands left one another as they drew closer to the little green Grand Master.
"You come seeking answers, Master Yoda." The Diathim spoke, her voice light and feathery.
"I do. My stewards, are you?" He inquired.
"We are how the Force has chosen to commune with you." The Maelibus replied, his voice ethereal and lyrical.
"You seek knowledge about darkness and light, yet your understanding is clouded by the precepts of the Jedi." The Diathim continued. "You must look beyond your knowledge and see with the eyes of another."
"Dark, the galaxy is. Influenced by the Sith has it been. Wrong am I to deem the War as their doing?" Yoda asked. "Perfect, the Jedi are not. The better alternative, they are."
"There is no denying the importance of the Jedi, Master Yoda. But even wholesome Orders can be ruined by mortal fallibilities." The Maelibus told him.
"As a Jedi think not of me then. A seeker, I am. Questions I have."
"Many questions." The Diathim gently agreed, daintily sitting beside him. "Your thoughts linger on The Wraith. But they also stray to another Jedi... the young Togruta, yes?"
"Ahsoka Tano." Yoda answered. "A vision I've had. Intertwined her destiny is with Wraith's."
"But do you know to what end?" The Maelibus questioned, circling them.
"No." Yoda simply responded.
"The future is uncertain." The Diathim professed, raising her hand. "There is more than one destiny they may arrive at." Yoda suddenly felt his head swim as images flashed before his eyes...
He saw The Wraith and Ahsoka standing on a cliff, the Togruta far older and wearing a white robe. Between them stood a Mandalorian, his silver armor shiny and bright...
The vision changed again and Yoda watched Wraith cradle an infant, a human-Togruta hybrid, while surrounded by Ahsoka and another hybrid, this one no older than Ahsoka was currently...
Then another swept through his mind and Yoda silently observed a much older Wraith and Ahsoka, the Togruta easily in her sixties while Wraith's hair and beard were mostly gray, as they helped a girl dressed in white with a staff across her back recover a holocron...
The vision ended and Yoda took a moment to regain his senses before he looked back to the Diathim.
"Their destiny, is that? Or events, one after another?" To him the vision seemed chronological, cataloguing their story as they grew older.
"One of many destinies." It was the Maelibus who answered, now standing before them. "The path on which they tread is chosen by their actions, though they are unaware of it."
"Consequences, actions have." Yoda mused in agreement. "Dark and light, what role do each play?"
"That is a matter of balance." The Diathim responded, rising from her seat. "Not the balance the Jedi perceive, where only the light exists. That is an imbalance."
"True balance is dark and light working in harmony." The Maelibus described. That caused Yoda some measure of concern.
"To coexist with the Sith, are we?"
"Working in harmony can take many forms. It may mean existing without threatening the other, or working together to achieve great wonders." The Diathim elaborated. "The Wraith and Ahsoka are an example of such a thing."
"But if there is too much of either," the Maelibus cautioned, raising his hand, "darkness," Mind reeling, another vision consumed Yoda's senses, and the Grand Master was whisked into another series of scenes...
First he saw The Wraith attacked from behind, a green lightsaber piercing through his torso as he cried out in pain. Then it changed and he watched as Ahsoka lurched and gasped as a knife was driven into her side, blood quickly spilling around it.
The final vision left Yoda speechless.
In the ruins of a destroyed city, the setting sun bright like a raging fire, two beings rushed towards an imminent clash. One was a being of pure light, their true form hidden from him, while the other looked like it had come from the depths of hell...
Everything suddenly faded and Yoda was granted only a moments reprieve before the Diathim raised her hand as well,
"Or light," she whispered, another vision falling on Master Yoda.
He witnessed Ahsoka, dressed in a gown of white with a crown of flowers upon her montrals, gaze lovingly into the eyes of Wraith, dressed in a silver suit, as they held one another in their arms.
Then they were dressed normally, their embrace soon joined by first one child, a girl, and then another, a boy. Before long, two become three and three became four, two boys and two girls, as Yoda witnessed their family and the purity of their happiness.
It soon dissolved, leaving the Grand Master with his stewards once more, the Diathim lowering her hand, "then the balance will falter... and harmony will be lost entirely." She told him.
"The Force revolves around equality. There may be times of darkness, but they are soon followed by times of light." The Maelibus proclaimed. "Such is the way for the galaxy, and so too is it for individuals." Yoda felt winded, almost exhausted, by the constant transmission of visions through the Force. But the revelations had given him even more questions, one's he hoped were so simple and straightforward he might receive an answer.
"What are they?" He simply asked.
"Ahsoka is powerful. Or at least, she will be." The Diathim told him. "She has started down a path that began long ago. She is destined for great things."
"The Wraith is not so much an aberration as much as he is a key component to Ahsoka's destiny." The Maelibus continued, picking up where his partner left off. "You do not see it yet, Master Yoda, but the bond these two share has the power to move the foundations of the galaxy." Yoda had sensed something similar in an earlier vision, but had not even remotely considered consequences of that magnitude.
"The Wraith... what is he?" He asked.
"He is the long-awaited product of legend and myth. A dormant power soon to be unleashed." The Diathim cryptically replied. The Maelibus was a little more direct, but only a little.
"He is a figure the likes of which has not been seen since the age of the Celestials." He said plainly. "He is not a being of balance, but power."
"More powerful than Ahsoka, is he?" Yoda queried.
"Ahsoka will never be without help." The Maelibus mysteriously suggested.
"Her path was never meant to be travelled alone." The Diathim concurred. "Always two, there will be."
"By her side, The Wraith will remain?" Yoda asked. The Diathim and Maelibus answered in unison,
"Not always," and raised their hands, Yoda soon beset by another vision...
He beheld a helmetless Wraith, his expression one of fury and hatred, tearing into Clones who, for some reason, had their helmets painted to resemble Ahsoka's facial markings. His hands were soaked in blood, Wraith's eyes burning with a livid sense of anger and an unbridled desire for vengeance... but vengeance for what? The vision changed and Yoda watched Ahsoka sitting alone on a floor, her eyes brimming with tears as one hand rested upon her abdomen...
"Their life will not be easy." His stewards spoke again and Yoda watched as an armorless Wraith and Ahsoka sprinted down a narrow Coruscant alley, Mace Windu and Anakin Skywalker chasing after them with a company of Clones.
Then he saw Ahsoka walking away... from the Jedi Temple. Wraith half-walked half-carried her down the street as she looked broken and distraught, but Yoda was keen to notice that, in both scenes, Ahsoka was devoid of her lightsabers. The vision suddenly faded to white as he heard their joined voices begin again, "But what they share transcends all understandings." Yoda was then given a glimpse of Wraith and Ahsoka, standing together with hands intertwined. He could see bridges of light connecting them, transferring thoughts and feelings from her spirit to his and vice versa. Within The Wraith was a swirling storm of gray Force energy, darkness predominant over the light, while Ahsoka's was almost identical, save for her light being far stronger than her darkness. "Neither of them fully understand yet. But when they do, they will achieve wonders." Yoda then witnessed the two fighting side by side, taking down a pack of Anoobas, then battling everything from Clones to droids to pirates and more. It was the same scene he'd seen in an earlier vision.
Surely this was meant to be.
As everything faded away, and the Diathim-Maelibus pair returned to his sight, Yoda sat quietly and thoughtfully, reflecting on all he had seen.
"You have many questions." The Diathim pointedly revealed.
"More perhaps than there are answers." Yoda agreed. "More to them, I sense than just love."
"Love?" The Maelibus wondered almost playfully so.
"Yes. Love." Yoda repeated. "In these visions, seen it I have." The Diathim smiled.
"And so you have looked with eyes not shielded by Jedi teachings." She said, almost as though she were congratulating him.
"But more there is, hm?" Yoda continued.
"Yes. You will understand the meaning of more in due time." The Maelibus promised.
"The wave in the Force, deal with Wraith, it does." Yoda was not so much suggesting this as much as he was stating it to be fact. Now his stewards turned coy and secretive.
"Not all revelations are for us to make." The Diathim replied.
"Tell me then, what revelations you are to make." Yoda pressed. The two did not immediately reply and began to circle him instead.
"Our charge asks for more." The Diathim mused.
"How much more can he handle?" The Maelibus asked.
"Just enough." The Diathim responded, and the Maelibus agreed. They both raised their hands and Yoda was privileged to another vision, this one containing The Wraith in a new black armor, one he had not seen before. By his side was Ahsoka, clad in a revealing black dress with a wicked gleam in her yellow eyes...
But then things suddenly shifted and Yoda was permitted a glimpse of The Wraith, clad in white and helmetless, charging into battle alongside Ahsoka and a squad of Clones, all of them attacking advancing droids.
"The balance Wraith and Ahsoka have found hangs by the barest of threads. But it is not just their actions that may shift it. Others may yet prove a foil to them." The Diathim announced as the vision ended. "One such being is your own Chosen One." That took Yoda by surprise and he looked to his stewards as they came round before him.
"What does he play, young Skywalker's part?" Yoda inquired.
"The Chosen One acts of his own accord, he seeks to protect both the Jedi and his apprentice." The Maelibus replied.
"But against The Wraith, his actions will doom one and save the other." Yoda could already guess who was who. "You know that to doom Wraith will doom Ahsoka, as you have cautioned your fellow Jedi," The Diathim continued, "be warned, Master Yoda, although you have this knowledge, the actions of others may be beyond your intervention. There may be nothing you can do for either of them."
"To help them, am I?" Yoda queried.
"You have this information because you asked to know. And now you do. What you do with it remains in your hands." The Maelibus responded.
"Their future, chosen it cannot be? Towards one destiny, to lead them am I?" Yoda asked, now growing cross with the foggy nature of their responses. He wanted something concrete, not more intrigue.
"Master Yoda, what you have been shown are simply possibilities." The Diathim replied, as if gently scolding him. "You understand now what is at stake; the love shared between Ahsoka Tano and The Wraith has the potential to change the galaxy more than the Chosen One ever could. How that will come to pass remains to be seen. Everything you have been shown is entirely possible, but not guaranteed."
"Perhaps all of it will come to pass, perhaps none of it. Perhaps in one of these visions you have seen their true destiny. Perhaps you have not." The Maelibus continued, taking the hand of the Diathim. "Know that everything will happen as the Force wills it."
"Sought answers I have. Received them I have. More questions also I have." Yoda replied. Even in his almost nine-hundred years of wisdom, this matter was so convoluted he still did not know what to do.
"Perhaps you will receive more answers when the time as right." The Diathim softly replied. "Trust in the Force, Master Yoda." With that parting message, the realm began to glow and the stewards faded from sight, leaving Yoda alone as the familiar walls of the meditation chamber appeared before him again. The Grand Master exhaled in a rather tired fashion as he recovered from the experience. Truly, he'd had several of his questions answered, but it seemed as though he'd gathered many more over the course of this meeting. While he'd received many insights into the situation that was The Wraith and Ahsoka, he was determined to keep the information to himself and not broach it at the next Council meeting. He deemed it strange the Force would want to present itself the way it did. Whatever did Maelibi and Diathim have to do with light and dark? They were a species, named after creatures of legend and myth. Yet the Force seemed to be trying to tell him something more, something that existed beyond the usual Jedi worldview.
Ever the traditionalist, Yoda was a firm believer in the Jedi Way, even though he would often allow his colleagues and students a little room for brevity at times. For the stewards to suggest he forgo the Jedi Way in order to examine the situation of Wraith and Ahsoka worried him. Was there more to the Force than he knew? Or was there a veiled message behind their words, telling him in advance that to do so was wrong? There was much the two had given him to think on, some of his original questions still didn't have answers (or at least a straight one). Yoda still wasn't sure what the bond between them was.
Then, in the silence, he heard a whisper...
"Dyad."
Author's Note: You'll pardon me if the next chapter takes longer. It is a special occasion after all, and I want to make sure it's absolutely perfect. So I'll see you all when I see you!
