Mace began brewing the potion once he'd gathered all the ingredients.

"Okay. A dash of coal dust, a cup of oolong, scale of dragon, wool of bat." Mace listed out loud. "As soon as this potion is ready, all I have to do is complete the chant, and it's goodbye Life Day for good."

Mace got out the book and read the last two steps to complete the spell. He picked up a bottle of a scary red liquid and prepared to pour it into the cauldron.

"Okay, just one bottle of this, and it'll be nearly complete."

That was when Mace heard a strange howling of wind.

Mace stopped and looked around. But... he dismissed it as just the wind. But then, there was a metal sound, a rattling sound of chains.

"Scrooge..." said a ghostly voice.

That, Mace couldn't ignore. He looked around.

"Cratchit, if this is one of your jokes, it isn't funny!" Mace said angrily.

There was the rattling chain sound again.

"Mace Scrooge." said the voice.

Mace grabbed his lightsaber and prepared to fight whoever.

"Who are you?! Show yourself!"

"Mace. It's me. Don't tell me you don't recognize your old friend."

Mace slowly turned around and screamed when he saw...

"Master Krell?! What are you doing here?" Mace pointed his lightsaber at Krell. "You're dead and a Sith."

Krell came all the way through the wall, showing he was a ghost, and that he was the one with all the chains. He was chained on his arms, his legs, even around his torso.

"Indeed, I am one with the Force." Krell said. "And I have come to warn you, Scrooge."

"Warn me? About what?" Mace asked.

"You are in grave danger by what you are about to do. This spell is a danger to all present and future generations of civilians and Jedi. You must change your ways."

"Why? I am doing a favor to this world by ridding it of this useless holiday. It is nothing but a distraction to the Jedi, and teaches children to favor material possessions above all else. You taught me that."

"I was wrong! And these chains are my eternal punishment for all my actions in life. And you will suffer the same fate after death."

Mace was in utter disbelief. He was sure he'd done everything right when it came to the Jedi. The last thing he wanted was to doom himself to eternal torment after death. But how could he change his fate?

"Listen to me, Mace Scrooge." said Krell. "Tonight, you will be visited by three spirits. Listen to them, do what they say, or you will have heavier chains than me after your time has come!"

Krell's voice echoed "Change, Scrooge, change." as the Force ghost disappeared.

But after a few minutes, Mace shook it all off.

"I must've breathed in too much of the fumes of this potion." He told himself.

The clock struck ten, and Mace poured the red liquid into the potion.

"Two more ingredients to go." Mace said.

"Two more ingredients for destruction of Life Day?" said a new voice.

Mace froze and looked around.

"Who said that?"

"I did." said the owner of the voice.

Mace turned around and saw the first spirit. A young woman with silver almost white hair, who was dressed in white robes and wore a crown of snowdrops. Her name was Memoria, the Ghost of Life Day Past.

"Who are you?" asked Mace.

"I'm the spirit of Life Day past." said Memoria. "It's no secret you're trying to rid the galaxy of this holiday that's made so many people so happy for centuries."

"Happy? All anyone cares about is material gifts, useless decorations that take forever to set up and take down, and singing annoying songs."

"You didn't always think that." Memoria said.

Memoria opened the window, letting in the cold air from outside. And she lassoes a ghostly rope around Mace's waist.

"Come on. Mustn't dilly dally."

"What are you doing?"

"We're taking a little trip to the past."

"I already know the history of Life Day."

Memoria shook her head.

"We aren't going to the past to learn about the holiday. We're going to learn about you."

Memoria soared out of the window, taking Mace with her by the rope. Mace yelled in fear and started calling for help as he was carried away, and Memoria began to sing as they came across a sea of white fluffy clouds.

Memoria:

As a young thing, life sure is somethin'
You go makin' choices large and small
Always growin' like a seedlin'
And playin' is like dreamin'
And before you know it, big and tall

Mace suddenly found himself on the ground again as Memoria had taken him to a familiar place. A little area around the city, where people young and old were happily getting ready for the holidays.

And every little bitty choice you make
Sends you down a path to who you are today
So, let's take a little trip down memory lane
And see just what the past has to say

And that was when Mace saw a group of children playing together. And among them, Mace saw a little boy with curly hair he recognized.

"That... that's me! When I was a kid." Mace said.

"Aw, look how cute you were." smiled Memoria, unable to deny Mace was adorable as a boy. "Looks like you're not too upset, it's Life Day either."

The seeds of the past
They grow pretty fast
Just look at who you were back then
The seeds, as they grow
Look what they can show
Reveal the truth time and again

"Do you remember those days?" said Memoria, walking Mace through the town.

As a child, Mace used to play with the other kids between classes, and he even used to smile.

"I remember. I was a playful young boy, always looking for a good time." Mace said. He chuckled as he watched his younger self shaking a box, wondering what was inside. "We used to look forward to ripping presents open after trying to guess what was inside."

"Yeah, and that was just when you were a child." Memoria said. "But let's see what happens when you got a little older."

Memoria took Mace's hand and took him to a building somewhere on Coruscant. A cafe, where there was a party going on.

"Hey! I remember this place. Dex's Cafe." Mace smiled, looking inside.

There were lots of people dancing, laughing, having a great time as music played. There was hot chocolate, candy canes, and mistletoe hanging. And among the guests was a teenage Mace Scrooge.

"That's me!" Mace said. "Back in my teenage days."

And then Mace saw a beautiful young woman with sun kissed skin and curly locks adorned with red flowers.

"And that's..." Mace sighed as he recognized that lovely woman. "Brenda Dawson. The most beautiful girl in the galaxy."

Brenda walked over to Teen Mace and fluttered her eyelashes.

"Oh, Mace." she sang. "I believe that is mistletoe we are standing under."

Teenage Mace blushed hard when he saw the mistletoe above him and Brenda.

"Oh! Isn't it a tradition under mistletoe to...?" Teen Mace began.

And Brenda dipped him and kissed him right on the lips, which practically made the boy faint.

Mace watched as he and Brenda danced together and had a magical night together. But then, Mace returned to the Temple one Life Day, where he ran into Master Krell.

"Padawan Scrooge. What do you think you are doing?" said Krell.

"I was heading out tonight to meet some friends." said Mace. "It's Life Day, and celebrating with friends is what it's all about."

"Hmm. Sounds as though you've become attached to this... friend." Krell said. "Are you aware that attachment is unacceptable for a Jedi?"

"Well, yes, but-" Mace began nervously until Krell interrupted.

"And you know that if you cannot focus, you will never become a Jedi Master. This Life Day business is a waste of time. A frivolous excuse to waste an entire day's training time. You want to waste your time? Go ahead. And you will never be the Master you wanted to be."

Memoria:

Then some distress, words so careless
Standin' there, you don't know what to do
Feelin' helpless, you can't make it hurt less
So, you go and change your point of view

Mace met with Brenda as she looked excited about something.

"Oh, Mace! I have some exciting news!" Brenda said.

But before Brenda could say anything else...

"It's over, Brenda." Mace said. "I'm sorry. I can't see you anymore."

Brenda looked petrified with confusion and heartbreak.

"I-I don't understand. Where is this coming from?" She asked.

"Have a nice Life Day." Mace said, turning his back and walking away, leaving Brenda crying.

From that day forward, Mace continued with his studies and abandoned all ties to Brenda, his old friends, and anything to do with Life Day every year.

Memoria looked at Mace now with disappointment in her eyes.

And in that moment, though you didn't know it
Your defenses set up walls you built to last
Leading to the person you've become today
And the spell you're about to cast
It all comes from your past

Tears began to fill Mace's eyes as he looked back at all these old memories. He used to be so happy and love Life Day, and even had a girlfriend he'd considered leaving the Order for. But he threw it all away in favor of becoming a Jedi Master. And in doing so, he broke an innocent woman's heart. He knew now like he knew then that Brenda didn't deserve to be dumped the way she was then, but there was no changing the past, and though he never thought of it again until now, deep down, Mace was still heartbroken to have lost such a special woman.

Mace:

The seeds of the past
We grow up so fast
Some hurts never go away

Memoria:

The seeds, as they grow
This we can't let go
All tied to this one holiday

White clouds surrounded the two, and Mace quickly found himself alone again back in his chambers with the bubbling cauldron as though nothing happened.

"Spirit?"

Mace looked around and saw no one in the room but him.

He sighed.

"What was I thinking? Brenda was the most wonderful woman with a strong force of love in her. And I broke her heart to the point where it may never be mended." Mace said. "Oh, well. Might as well continue brewing this."

Mace looked at the recipe again and saw he needed more of a certain ingredient than he had.

Featured Song:

Seeds of the Past- From My Little Pony FIM