Epilogue
Things had turned out pretty well everything considered. Guttro and his horde had planned on making a clean escape after sending Ranjer away to his death. But he hadn't planned on meeting a certain band of smuggling misfits on the way out. Karrde always had a way with entrances, no doubt about it…
"Just happy to repay a few favors, Mara…" he'd said with that casual smile of his. A grin that had taken on new meaning as the years went by. When I'd first seen it so many years ago, it rang a little hollow. An emptiness I knew all too well… But now, I thought Karrde had found something that mattered too.
A way out all our own.
Durban and I had been staring out at the endless lanes of traffic. The hum of Coruscant burned into our weary ears as we sat at the small corner booth. The cantina was too clean, but I felt a little more at home with it than at the start of this wild adventure of ours.
"So what now?" I finally asked him, breaking the long silence.
His expression was laced with fatigue and yet he seemed so relieved. In faking his death he'd not only managed to get close enough to Guttro to expose him and save us, but he also had a new start.
His way out at long last.
He'd grown his hair out a little longer, a neat beard masking the identity he'd once known. In a way, Durban really was dead. The ever-loyal stormtrooper that had once fought beside the Emperor's Hand was gone. They both were.
"I'm not sure really…" he mumbled thoughtfully. "I'll need time to consider it." He turned to look at me directly. "But I've booked passage to a small planet near the outer rim. It's mostly a farming world. Quiet, that's what I think I'll like the most."
I smiled softly at him. "Sounds nice…"
He nodded. "Yes…" Closing his eyes he seemed to struggle with what he wanted to say next. Regret over his necessary deception and a sort of shame that it had taken him this long to break away. All those things and more flashed through his emotions. But he didn't need to apologize, not to me of all people.
"I hope you can understand my reasons…" he finally said.
"Sometimes it's easier being dead," I whispered. "I get it, believe me, I do…"
In truth, his death had torn through me more than I imagined it would. But I got it. "You saved our lives, that's good enough for me, Durban."
He smiled slightly. "Jak, now."
"Sorry, right Jak."
"At any rate," he began again. "I was searching for a way to thank you, I'm grateful I finally found a way."
I frowned slowly. "Not too long ago I wouldn't have thanked you for saving my life, Jak. It would have been a relief to have it finally taken from me."
"And what changed that?" he asked softly, though the answer we both knew.
It was cliche and overly sentimental, but it was also the truth. "Skywalker…" I mumbled, a little playfully annoyed by it. "But I'm not living for him, I'm living by the things he taught me." A somber earnestness appeared at my lips. "Even if I lost him, I'd still want to go on living. Because he showed me just how precious life can be…"
His face softened gently, as I caught a glimpse of the person hidden beneath the years of military conditioning—the almost poetic nature he'd been forced to hide all this time.
"Thank you, Jade. I feel lost in this new life, but I'm ready to try. Finally, I'm ready…"
"I'm happier for you than you'll ever know," I said honestly. I held my face in a sort of mock firmness as if I was going to be his commanding officer one last time. "Now, go find something that makes you happy, that's my final order…"
A last smile curled to his lips as he slipped out of the booth and disappeared into the mingling crowd. A bittersweet feeling tugged on my heart as I watched the last trace of him vanish. The faceless loss of the men and women that had served under me... I didn't think I'd ever truly be over it. I thought carrying those scars might even be my way of honoring them.
I stared down into my mostly untouched drink.
Either way, the future would be my prime concern now. After all, I had a lot to look forward to…
"Spying on my date with Durban, huh, farmboy?" I teased without even looking up. The presence that had slipped into the seat in front of me was unmistakable.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude," he said with all the tact and genuineness Luke Skywalker had always been known for.
I finally smiled up at him. A smile he returned completely, the rays of his emotion engulfing me like an embrace. "It's wonderful to hear Durban is starting anew," he added. "I hope he finds happiness wherever he goes."
I nodded as my sight drifted out the window to the city traffic. "Yeah…if he can find just a piece of what I did then the Force will have really been with him."
"You really mean that…?" Luke asked sheepishly, even though we both knew full well what the other always meant.
I grinned, taking a sip of my drink. "We shouldn't worry about him too much, though. He's moving to a farming world. The Force knows what types inhabit those places. He might just get unlucky enough to meet someone homey."
He reached across the table to take my hand. "Things do seem to always work out, don't they, Mara?"
His smile was soft, his blue eyes as hopelessly idealistic as I always remembered them.
"Yeah, I noticed that…" I mumbled playfully.
Without another word, he rose, gently pulling me along with him. "Let's go see Ben," he suggested with all the excitement of meeting a long-lost friend. In reality, it had only been a few hours since we'd seen him last. But the simple joy on his face was nothing short of amazing. So I followed him, happy enough to bask in that childish excitement of his.
I almost wanted to laugh at him, but all the same…
Sharing these feelings together was amazing.
It was hard to admit it in so many words, but…
I thought back to Durban, the last fading traces of him I'd seen in the crowd. I wished him this happiness.
I wished it more than anything…
The weeks turned into months and our little wayward adventure with the Echo Drivers faded into a memory. Guttro was taken into custody but was found dead in his holding cell before final sentencing could take place. Whether it was foul play or suicide, no one on the investigative team could decide. My bet was on his newly pardoned brother seeking revenge. But frankly…I didn't even want to know.
I'd already seen my fair share of the grisly underbelly of the galaxy, I was ready to focus on something a little better. That better came in a trip to Yavin. A place I never thought I'd look forward to going…
But over time I'd started to see Yavin from Luke's perspective. All that talk of hope and new beginnings were being realized there. The seeds of the New Jedi Order that he had planted were finally starting to sprout. Not too many years back I would have scoffed at the whole idea. Luke Skywalker's ambitions or fantasies were the last things I would have cared about. But now they were the dreams of someone I loved. And more than that, they were the beginnings of Ben's future…
"You're getting better at this Jedi thing, Rena," I said, praising the kid as we both walked through the halls of the temple. In just a few months' time, she'd managed to grow so much. From the slight height increase to the clear progression of her abilities. I was proud, no matter how cheesy that sounded. Because not only was I seeing my first student, I was seeing Ben in her eyes. He'd be in her shoes one day. Likely faster than Luke or I could even blink…
She smiled up at me before racing off toward the lunch area. "Thank you, Master Mara!" she shouted over her shoulder. I stopped and just watched her go. Her bubbly enthusiasm seemed like a fitting example of Luke's order. Rigidity had been replaced with joy… With excitement to learn, to be a part of the Force.
To finally trust it like an ally, like a friend…
"Ma!"
Ben's voice pulled me out of my thoughts as he crawled through a nearby doorway. He was headed toward me at some form of lightspeed. Bending down, I scooped him up in my arms, smirking at the way the red locks of hair framed his smiling face.
"And where were you headed in such a hurry, little guy?"
Frantic footsteps followed him out the doorway as Ranjer appeared there, out of breath. "I'm sorry I only took my eyes off of him for a second!"
I grinned a little sympathetically. "Yeah, I already learned that mistake the hard way."
He smiled sheepishly back at me, perceiving my wordless pride. Ranjer was an official apprentice now. And a darn good one at that. His grandmother was a stubborn woman who insisted he not wait around for her to die before starting his training. All and all, I wanted to be like her when I was old.
"Where's Luke?" I asked, though I thought I could guess.
"He went to meditate, I think," Ranjer answered simply. "I'm not sure where."
"Don't worry about it, I think I know." I turned to leave with Ben but gave one last look at Ranjer.
The soft-spoken shepherd I'd first met was slowly turning into a Jedi right before my eyes. But it was more than just the lightsaber at his side. No, it was something in the sense of peace I felt from him. It came from at last fulfilling your purpose. The service we were all here to do…
Finally, I understood that now…
It was as clear as taking one look into his eyes.
Ben and I found our way to the roof of the temple. Stepping out under the sun a new rush of life flooded my senses. The jungle stretched out endlessly into the distance, the trill of winged creatures minging with the chirp of insects. The humid air somehow felt charged with life here.
At some point, I'd come to love this place.
I didn't think it was possible, but so many things had turned out to be.
Walking forward, I heard the echo of my steps reverberating against the mossy stone. Near the far edge, a familiar figure gradually came into view. I'd expected to find him in some serious sequence of Jedi meditation. Something that involved leaving thoughts and concerns far behind you. But instead, I found him as just a man, looking thoughtfully out at the skyline.
"It's beautiful, isn't it…?" he whispered, without turning.
"A little muggy, but the trees are nice I guess," I teased.
He turned toward me with a grin. "You're very hard to impress, Mara Jade Skywalker."
I shrugged, softly returning his smile. "I don't know, you made it look easy enough."
He reached out pulling Ben and me into his arms. The feeling of his love enveloped me like no connection I'd ever known before. I kept wondering how many years it would take for those feelings to seem commonplace. As it was, I was still waiting…
"Any reason you're hiding up here pretending to meditate?" I asked gently.
His arms slowly slipped away from me as thoughtfulness filled his senses. "I was meditating, Mara… It's just…" He turned to me with joy that felt new somehow. "Sometimes you can discover more by keeping your eyes open while you do."
"That doesn't sound much like a Jedi?" I teased.
I watched a smile curl to his lips as the wind ruffled his hair softly. "Not yet, it doesn't…" he whispered. "But one day it will…" He looked back at Ben, his eyes so full of emotion. Reaching out he gently caressed his face.
"I hope that will be the world Ben grows up into…"
I looked at him in all seriousness and confidence. "Your hope has always been enough, Luke."
His emotions sparkled as if my simple words meant everything to him. I knew they did…
Reaching down he unclipped a lightsaber hanging at his belt. Only this one wasn't his own, no it had once belonged to Marcus, the last heritage from his grandfather. But now…it would someday belong to Ben.
Luke held the brass highlighted hilt aloft; the sun glinting off the silver body. Igniting it, the golden yellow blade glowed against the greens of the trees below.
Ben looked completely captivated by it. I knew it was a stretch, but I didn't think the meaning was entirely lost on him. No, I thought he instinctually understood. Somehow…he knew.
Because balance was something nearly tangible when at last you found it. Something so precious you'd do anything to stop it from slipping from your fingers.
Somehow, we had found it.
He…was living proof.
FIN
Thank you so much for reading!
