Chapter 20
Location: Jedi Base on the planet Shedu Maad
The world started to spin as soon as he had left the Council Chambers. No it wasn't the start of another vision. It was reality crashing down upon him. He could turn around and fix this! He could tell the Masters he was mistaken! He could go through the motions and fake it! No... no he couldn't. That was how he knew he wasn't falling to the darkside. One of the first traits a Jedi succumbing to the lures of the darkside would display, was deception. He would deceive himself and others about what he was turning into. In all the confusion and emotional turmoil, Luke was an open book. He could not be anything but completely honest with himself and others. He had to just make it back to his living quarters, Then he could take a moment to breath. There he fell to his knees and opened himself up to the force. And... and he was rewarded. The Living Force had chosen that moment to end it's silent treatment. It couldn't be a coincidence that the moment he walked away from the council was the moment he knew what to do. He heard a whistle in the corner. R2D2 had come in to recharge while Luke was out. "Nothing is wrong Artoo, it's actually ... right! It's all finally right!
"We have to leave this place now, while the council is still shocked." With some more tweets and whistles R2 inquired what Luke was talking about (actually what he really asked was: "did you just take a blow to the head or something?" But close enough). Luke replied: "I'll tell you on the way, let's go!" With that he grabbed his bag, his only real possession and headed for the door... and if his senses were right, for the 3 allies that stood on the other side of it.
" Stang! Dena! I didn't expect you to go all warrior princess on the Council!" Said Tahiri, as she, Dena, and Raynar stood in the hallway catching their breath and allowing their higher brain functions to catch up to reality. "Oh... that? Well... apparently, once you have been tossed off a Coruscant sky tower into speeder traffic, your sense of self preservation is greatly diminished" Dena replied sardonically. "Come on I said I was sorry! I just..." Raynar interrupted Tahiri with: "I don't want to be rude here but: ... What do we do now?" Dena didn't hesitate: "Luke! We have to find Luke! He seemed very shaken up, we have to help him." Tahiri suggested: "Let's check his quarters first!" When they arrived at Luke's room Dena reached out to the door's control panel and activated it. The doors slid open to revel: Luke gliding out the door towards them. While she let out a gasp of surprise, Luke grabbed Dena, gently but firmly, spinning her around and guiding her off in the direction he was now headed. "You three! With me! This wasn't the confused and pain stricken man that she had moments earlier witnessed in the Council chambers. This was Luke Skywalker, THE Luke Skywalker. No one asked: "Where are we going?" Because, it didn't matter. Luke Skywalker knew where he was going, and at that moment they knew that they had made the right decision. They had went all in and had drawn Pure Sabaac! As they walked down the hallway, Jedi knights seeing the 5 of them stepped aside and looked on in amazement. It was not yet common knowledge that this group had walked out on the council, but just the same, all those around could sense their purpose; their departure's consecration.
In the Base's hanger, Luke's ship the Jade's Shadow, rested. But it wasn't the way Luke had left it. The ramp was down and it's bottom were the people, Luke had expected to be there waiting for him. And all thanks to Leia. They shared a look that indicated that they both had sensed and understood that change that had just occurred in the other's twin. Luke and Leia had both been affected by the previous year's experience. Luke had began a metamorphosis, whereas Leia's metamorphosis had been in stasis. She couldn't move forward or backward until Luke's path had been firmly established. It had been this was way since birth. If Luke had failed to bring down Darth Sidious, decades earlier, the force had ensured that there would be "another" to fulfill It's design. So too now: If Luke had failed to follow the Cosmic Force's guidance in the Council's chambers, then Leia would have been called upon to act. After all, destiny could be chosen or rejected, but it would not be stopped. But just as he had made the right choice on Endor, he had made the right choice here. The only difference was that this time she wasn't confused and hesitant about his decision. That look they shared said it all. And so, Leia's hiatus was now officially over. Her and Han would be active in galactic affairs once again.
He hugged her and said: "Leia... Thank you for this..." she hugged him in return and then took half a step back and held his face in her hands as she scanned him with her eyes. She then spoke in a warm and stern tone that only an older sister could manage (even though they were the same age): "I don't care if this is destiny, or the will of the force or whatever. Just be safe Luke, Do You Hear Me?" He grinned and pulled her into another hug and said: "I will, if you will." Han came up to them and said Don't worry about her I got her six, but YOU. Don't make me drag my carcass half way around the galaxy to pull you out of jam somewhere! You hear me farm boy?" With that, the two long time friend embraced each other. In the midst of the goodbyes, C3P0 and R2D0 also exchanged farewells. "Do take care of yourself Artoo. If anything were to happen to you I would probably be forced to make friends with some fancy new droid. I couldn't bear it; after all modern droids can be so snobbish..." This prompted some toots and whistles from the squat droid, to which 3P0 replied "What do you mean you are a bandit on the run now? Oh Dear, Artoo!What have you gotten yourself into?" The two droids continued their conversation as Luke held his son by the shoulders. They Both were more at peace than the last time they where together. Ben was still full of questions about what had happened, and where his Dad's future would lead him, but he was no longer afraid for him. He also knew he couldn't go with him. Just as Luke was now certain his path was separate from the Jedi's, he had ascertained that Ben was still very much needed by the order. Just then Jaina had entered the hanger and joined her family in goodbyes.
All the while Dena and the 2 knights had boarded "The Shadow" and prepped it for launch. Judging by her ship, Dena thought to herself: "This Mara must have been one impressive woman." Dena felt woefully inadequate next to the legend that was Master Mara Skywalker. But she had accepted the fact that she would never replace her and she didn't wish to. She felt a connection to Luke that couldn't be quantified. It went beyond sexual attraction (even though she had alway felt attracted to him, since the moment they met); they were bound to each other like a plant producing needed oxygen to a creature that gave the plant its needed Carbon. At that moment she knew! She just knew: That if he would simply just let her walk beside him and fight beside him, she would be satisfied and fulfilled. The Jedi had their path, and she had hers. After the Skywalker/solo family had finished their goodbyes, Luke came sprinting up the ramp, a man revitalized. By this point Raynar and Tahiri were already in the two pilot seats and engaging the repulsers. In less than 10 minutes, the ship had cleared orbit and was ready for their first Hyperspace Jump as "R2's band of Merry Bandits". "Where do we go now Master Skywalker?" Asked Raynar, who had activated the ship's Navicomp and was ready to punch in coordinates. Luke walked over to Raynar and brought up a map of the galaxy on the navicomp's small screen. He then pointed toa spot in the outer rim and said. "For now just head in this direction. As we get closer, the force will give us our final destination." With their new course set, Jedi Thul engaged the Hyperdrive and the stars turned into star lines which turned into the mysterious swirls that was Hyperspace. Luke didn't know the next step, and for the first time, it didn't bother him, because he trust that the force always knew the next step. It would not let him down. His people would not let him down. Dena... Dena would not let him down.