A Jedi's Past Reawakens
Sleep never comes easy. Especially for New Republic Senator Leia Organa. It's been weeks since the second Battle of Coruscant with the New Republic forces pushing back the remains of the Empire and taking back the planet. Since then it's been a never-ending celebration as its citizens once again celebrated the Empire's downfall.
Like the past few nights Leia woke with a start. Wiping her hair away from her eyes and being careful not to disturb Han, she crept out of bed and threw on her housecoat over her shivering shoulders. The recent dream disturbed her. They always did. But this one was different somehow. Leia glanced back at the bed. Han was nowhere to be found.
Now it was possible he could have gotten up without her seeing him but that was highly unlikely. A light appeared down the hall from their bedroom. Throwing caution to the wind thinking it might be Han or 3PO, Leia made her way to the spacious living room where they had just entertained Mon Mothma and others just a few hours earlier.
A woman, about Leia's age and height, was standing in the middle of the room smiling at her. The woman looked familiar to Leia yet she couldn't place when and where she's seen her. She should be scared. Her nursebot on Alderaan had told her ghost stories when she was little but this wasn't like any of those. Something told her she could trust this one.
The woman went to move slightly forward then stopped when Leia took a step backwards. Before any words could escape her lips the woman and the room dissolved leaving her in a darkened room with no furniture or light. As quickly as the room changed it changed again. This time she was standing in a circular open mausoleum with a single tomb in the middle. Beyond that she could see a palace and waterfalls with people laughing and rejoicing down below. For a moment there she thought she was back on Alderaan but seeing the woman standing behind the tom told her otherwise.
"Who are you?" Leia wanted to ask but the words never came.
Instead the woman pointed at a plaque on a pillar closest to the tomb. Leia couldn't find her feet to make the walk over to it. Instead she closed her eyes and willed herself away from this nightmare.
Upon reopening her eyes, she found herself standing back in her living room back on Coruscant. The woman was gone. As Leia reached out for the back of one of the chairs to make sure they were real the lights came on. A very tired Han made his way over to her and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey Princess."
Leia smiled at Han's use of her old title. Something told me royalty was in her blood even long before she was born. She placed a hand on his and gently squeezed while resting her head on his chest. "You okay?"
Leia stepped back and looked around for the woman. "No. Not really."
Han looked at her with concern, "What's the matter? What's been going on lately?"
Leia looked back at Han. "You knew?"
Han chuckled, "It's no secret that you've been having nightmares these last few nights."
Leia looked around again before talking, "I don't know how to explain what's going on. You might even think I'm crazy."
Han made the old impression 'Who me?' that always made her laugh. This time she just shrugged it off as she looked out the windows towards the Imperial Palace. "I think I might want to talk to Luke about this. He's into this weird Jedi stuff. Assuming that's what it is that's happening to me."
The room changed again but instead of facing Han and planning on seeing Luke she was once again facing the same woman from earlier. This time she was dressed in a royalty dress of some kind and the place also had changed. They weren't standing in the mausoleum but what looked like a throne room.
The smiling woman stood and moved forward, "Leia."
Unlike last time Leia never stepped backwards. She held her ground. Ready for anything.
"Who are you?" Leia asked finally finding the words to ask.
"You never met me. You were too little at the time. But I've watched over you through the years."
Leia didn't like the sound of that. Who was she? Some kind of Imperial spy? Even though every urge of her body was telling her this woman can be trusted her brain was telling her to run that she's been betrayed one too many times to let her guard down.
A gentle tug on her shoulder pulled Leia from the vision. Out of reflexes her hand was raised in self-defense. Han quickly stepped back with his hands raised.
"Hold on there your worshipfulness. What just happened?"
Leia sighed and tried her best to relax. "Need Luke!"
"Luke?" Han asked. "But he's at the -"
Leia nodded. No need for Han to finish his words. "I know. He's at the Imperial Palace. He's been there for days now and asked not to be disturbed until he found what he was looking for."
"He also said if it was an emergency." Han said.
"I think this qualifies as one, Han." Leia said. "Regardless I need to find and talk to him."
Leia turned for their bedroom then paused and looked at Han over her shoulder. "I love you. Either you're with me or I go alone. Either way I'm going."
Han watched Leia go to their room to get dressed. He knew what he needed to do. The same thing he's been doing since he met her all those years ago on the first Death Star. To keep her safe. With his mind made up he followed her into their room.
Up close the temple was dark and gloomy. Leia had seen holos of the temple in its hayday. Back when the Jedi walked these grounds. Since the Jedi purge Palpatine turned a once beautiful temple into the Imperial Palace and his home while in reign. Everything Jedi related to this place was long gone and destroyed. That was what Luke was coming here to find even though Leia knew it would have been a lost cause.
Leia caught a glimpse of an object under the statue of Palpatine. One of the few that still remained after the New Republic seized Coruscant. Leia walked over to the object and looked down. Even after 30 years of laying in derby the emblem of the Jedi Order, yet very fainted, could easily be made out. It looked as if stormtroopers had used it as target practice. Leia closed her eyes and for a moment she was standing outside the temple of a different time.
The fires inside had reached the outside walls. Screams of younglings and other Jedi being slaughtered one by one by one of their own came upon her ears. A fallen Jedi by the name of Anakin Skywalker, with his lightsaber slashing, marched through the temple. His clone troopers following and blasting any Jedi Anakin may have missed.
A gentle hand on Leia's shoulder caused her to open her eyes. She glanced at Han and gave him a weak smile to reassure him she was okay. Han wasn't buying it but went along with it for Leia's sake.
Han looked at Leia, "Do you know where to find Luke?"
Leia shooked her head and pulled her eyes off the statue and looked back towards the temple, "No. But something tells me we'll find him inside. Somewhere I don't know. Yet!"
Leia, refusing to take one more look at the statue of the monster that terrorized the galaxy for decades, made her way inside. Its been a long time since anyone traveled to the lower chambers of the temple and it showed. Blaster holes and lightsaber slash marks were marked on the pillars. Carpets still had burned marks from the fires. A little further down the hall there stood one large statue remaining from what looked like hundreds. Leia was drawn to it. She knew whose statue it was and had no interest in looking at it yet she couldn't find the strength to walk away from it.
"Who is that?" asked Han.
"I don't know." Lied Leia.
Han knew she wasn't a good liar but he wasn't going to provoke her. Leia glared up at the mighty statue. Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker looked down on her, even through stone eyes, as he did as Darth Vader. The heads of other Jedi statues, which had been long since been removed or turned to ash, laid at her fathers feet. A cold shiver ran down her spine as she felt the familiar pull on her heart.
Leia looked around and once again she found herself in a different time. As she stood looking around she noticed a young Jedi, about Luke's height, was walking with another, older, Jedi. They both walked up to a young and beautiful Senator. A closer look told Leia it was the same woman who visited her earlier this morning. Another look told Leia the young Jedi was a much younger version of her father. He didn't look so worn and tired.
The older man smiled at the senator then looked at her father and said something to him and then walked off leaving the two to talk. Leia tried to move forward to hear what they were talking about but couldn't find the strength to move. Her father looked happy while he was talking to the senator. She could never imagine her father, Darth Vader the terror of the galaxy, ever being happy.
Leia shooked off the vision and ran to catch up with Han. It was clear by the way the hall looked that Palpatine and his advisors rarely, or never, traveled this deep into the temple. They were too high for that. Rule above all was Palpatine's way of thinking, not to mention his teachings to Darth Vader. Anyone below that wasn't worthy of his time.
Leia would lie if she said she was okay. On the contrary she was beyond okay. She was angry and mad. She couldn't even forgive him. Luke said it was out of fear but what did she have to fear? Vader is dead she told him on countless times. She had nothing worth to fear anymore.
"Not the fear of Vader," Luke had said. "Fear of the man he was."
Leia looked back at the statue of her father once again. What was there to fear in a man she never knew. Her father was Bail Organa. He was her true father. She's seen holos of Anakin Skywalker but those felt like a different time. He was a stranger to her. She hated the man he turned into. Holding her back as Tarkin destroyed her family and Alderaan. Freezing Han in carbonite at Cloud City. Killing thousands everyday since the last time he walked these very halls.
"Of your anger young one be careful. Lead to the dark side, can it. Take you, a powerful path that will." A voice came to her.
Leia took her eyes off the statue and looked around for the voice. But she was once again alone. The hallway dissolved and in its place a starfield. But not like any starfield. She was standing in the middle of a circle that was filled with oxygen. A little vapor appeared in front of her, it took the shape of a little alien who just smiled up at her.
"Where am I?" asked Leia.
The little alien spoke with a chuckle. "Good question that is. Where think you are do you, hmm?"
Leia looked around holding her arms out to nothingness. "No where. Its empty space."
"Exactly no where no where is not when there is always some where." The alien chuckled.
Leia looked at the alien. She didn't have any time for games or trivia. With her defenses already on high alert she stood proud and tall over the little alien, choosing her next words carefully.
"Who are you and what did you do with Han?"
The alien looked up at her. Definitely a Skywalker, she is. Herh, herh, herh, it thought to his amazement. "Answered in time, who I am will be. To learn patience young Leia yes got. As still here, for your friend he is. Go to him, you should."
Leia looked astonished that the alien knew who she was. Looking around Han still wasn't anywhere to be found. The alien just smiled at her and with a chuckle began to fade away. The space around her also faded putting her back in the hallway of the Imperial Palace, Han Solo at her side.
Han was still looking up at the statue of her father when a familiar bust caught Leia's eye. Bending down she picked up the head of the Jedi and realized that it was the same alien she just talked with. Even through its stone eyes Leia could have sworn the alien was still smiling at her.
Dropping the head she took Han by the hand and pulled him away, "Come on, we still need to find Luke."
Han and Leia moved up to the upper levels and still no sign of Luke. A few times Leia felt as if she were being watched but as she looked around there were times, she saw the little alien and other times there was nobody there.
Leia spotted a sign off in the distance. Normally she would be curious to see what was there. But she wasn't here for sightseeing, she was here to find her brother. However, as they made the turn to explore some more something tugged at her causing her to stop.
"What is it?" Han asked.
Leia looked back at the sign she spotted, "I don't know but something tells me I need to go over there."
Han looked in the direction she was looking at. To him it looked like it was just another doorway. One of thousands in this place that they've passed.
"You sure?"
Leia didn't answer him. Instead she started her way to the open doorway. Getting closer she could see green on the other side. It was beautiful. Glancing down at the sign Leia mouthed the words 'Hortus Illustrationis'. Glancing at Han, who was studying her in astonishment, Leia just shrugged it off. Even she didn't know how to explain how she knew the words meant 'Garden of Enlightment' in latin. Taking the lead Leia led them into the garden. A short time after that they were outside and in the main section of a very large and very beautiful garden.
Palpatine was a twisted and an evil man but he did have great taste for beauty. There were signs next to every flower, bush and tree letting the viewer know what planet, or system, they came from. There were a few races even Leia herself wasn't familiar with. One flower brought a tear to her eye.
The sign said 'Alderaan'. The plant was a mixture of cactus and sunflower which were always found twenty parsecs north of the home she grew up in. A few times she had them in her room. They were beautiful. The last piece of Alderaan was growing here at the Imperial Palace on Coruscant.
"What's this?" Han asked.
Leia wiped the tears away from her eyes and pulled herself away from the plant. Looking for Han she found him in the center courtyard. Making her way that way the flowerbed that Han was standing next to was next to a massive wall. At a closer look a deep hole sat in the middle of it. There was no sign to indicate what they were looking at. Whatever had been here was long since gone. A few roots of what might've been a tree of some sort were all that remained.
"Can you feel …."
Han's voice faded off in the distance as the, now familiar, tingle ran down her spine. Leia looked around and unlike last time her surroundings changed. However, she was still in the same garden, just a different time. As she looked around Leia could hear voices in the distance and they were getting louder as if they were getting closer.
The voices came around a corner and the little alien had returned this time with a much taller Jedi in tow. Neither of them saw her as they walked right by her although the Jedi stopped and looked around a little puzzled.
"Is something troubling you young Skywalker, hmmm?" asked the alien stopping to look back at the young Jedi.
Skywalker looked around, "No Master Yoda. I just thought I sensed something. A ripple in the Force."
Leia looked at her father. Did he sense her presence? She thought. She decided to shake it off as she caught the glimpse of the alien who she now knew as Yoda. Yoda however did know she was there though but choose to ignore her, for the moment.
"Snips, I mean Ahsoka will be here shortly, master." Skywalker said.
"This I know," Yoda answered. "Not worried I am."
The two of them stopped at her location. A large tree, one that wasn't there in her time, stood before them. A small sign was implanted in the ground not too far from the mighty tree.
"Called the great tree this is, young Leia." Yoda said directly at Leia without turning to face her. "Or also known as Magna Arbor, it is. To replant this, you need. Force sensitive, this tree is."
"But how?" Leia asked. "There is no tree. It's gone."
Before Yoda could reply they were both distracted by Skywalker speaking a little too loudly into his commlink, "Snips! Where are you?"
"Right here, master!"
Leia spun around and a filthy Togruta came running up to them. This Jedi looked slightly familiar. Leia remembered an older Togruta standing near General Syndulla and her crew shortly after the destruction of the second Death Star on Endor. Even then their eyes met but because of the chaos that was going on neither one of them spoke to the other.
Yoda turned from the great tree and smiled at both master and apprentice. "Padawan Tano, come a long way in a very short time you have. Yes, hmmm. The council is very proud of the Jedi you have become. We hereby grant you the rank of knight and all the privileges that come with it."
Tano looked stunned and smiled at her masters. She knelt in front of Yoda as the older Jedi presenter her some ceremonial beads. "Thank you, master."
"With you may the force be. Yesss."
Tano got to her feet and attached the beads to her head. She was about to say something more when something caught her eye. Glancing past her masters shoulder she looked directly at Leia.
Leia couldn't turn away. She felt frozen in the same spot as she watched as her father noticed her padawans distracted look. "Is something wrong Snips?"
Before Tano could reply Skywalker turned and looked in the direction his apprentice was looking at. That's when he saw her for the first time. A ghost of his future. Of his past. He ignored the looks his apprentice and master were giving him as he stepped towards Leia with a smile of happiness and pride.
"I thought I sensed you earlier." He said.
Leia couldn't find her voice, couldn't even move. However she didn't have any hatred to the man in front of her. After a brief moment of silence Skywalker spoke.
"Your brother was right, Leia." Leia gasped at the mention of her name on the lips of her father. So unlike Vader, she thought.
"You have nothing to fear from me. I truly didn't know either you and your brother existed. I have so much, or will, hope in the two of you."
Finally finding her voice, Leia spoke out in anger. "I don't know you! My father was Bail Organa! He died on Alderaan!"
Skywalker hung his head in shame. This Skywalker hadn't lived those events yet but some part of him, of Leia as well, were living through the Force at this moment that even Skywalker himself knew of his shames as Darth Vader. There was nothing he could say to her right now that would change her mind. He knew his future self did more harm to her than he could currently imagine.
The image of Skywalker and Tano faded only leaving behind Yoda, who was sitting next to a crying Leia. "Be angry, young Leia, do not. Of a Jedi, love and peace are. To the temple ahead of you more. You, strong in the Force. Yes, hmmm."
Before Leia could answer Yoda faded away. The modern day temple returned and Han was kneeling by her side with a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Everything was back to normal. At least almost everything as now standing in front of them was the Magna Arbor from her vision. She could have sworn she could year Yoda chuckling at her.
"Would you look at that." Han whistled. "I could have sworn that wasn't there a minute ago."
Leia took Han's hand and stoop up looking at the great tree. She still wasn't clear what exactly was happening to her but she felt pride swell up deep inside her. She clearly remembered her father's words: You have nothing to fear from me. But was any of her visions real or just lack of sleep because of the stress she's under? Only Luke would have those answers.
She didn't know what to think, or believe. Leia never truly knew her father as Anakin Skywalker. She knew him better as Darth Vader and once again her anger for him came back out. Even despite all of Yoda's warnings to avoid being angry. Her emotions were playing her like a yo-yo and she hated that feeling.
"Come on!" Leia said releasing Han's hand and making her way back into the temple, leaving the ghosts in behind. "I think I know where we can find Luke!"