Yoda's hut on Dagobah was still as warm and welcoming as Lucia remembered, but the old Jedi master was not as spry as he had been. It had been nearly a year since she had seen him, and he had visibly aged.
"Hmm." The little Jedi tilted his head to one side and regarded her thoughtfully, and with a bit of humour. "That face you make. Look I so old to young eyes?"
"No," she said too quickly. "Of course not."
He chuckled, his ears curling with amusement. "I do. Yes, I do." He walked slowly across the room, leaning on his stick for support. "Sick I have become. Old and weak." He stopped before her and pointed a crooked finger at her. "When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good you will not."
She shook her head, unable to resist smiling. No, she would not.
Yoda's chuckle turned into a cough, and he hobbled to his bed. "Soon will I rest. Yes… forever sleep. Earned it I have."
"Master Yoda, no." Lucia leaned toward him, lifting a hand as if she could fight off the passage of time. "You can't die."
He shook his head, settling himself against his pillows. "Strong I am in the Force, but not that strong. Twilight is upon me, and soon night must fall. That is the way of things… the way of the Force."
"But I need your help," she protested. "I've come back to complete my training."
"No more training do you require." Yoda patted the blankets, arranging them over himself. "Already know that which you need."
She did? Since when? "Then I am a Jedi?"
He looked up and shook his head. "One thing remains: Vader. You must confront Vader. Then a Jedi you will be."
Vader. Lucia turned away, her fingers digging into her knees as her throat tightened. Memories of Vader's voice, Vader's words, rang in her head. "Master Yoda… Vader said…" She swallowed hard, then looked him in the eye. "Is Darth Vader my mother?"
He sighed, closed his eyes, and burrowed deeper into the blankets. "Mmm… rest I need."
She came closer and knelt by the bed. He was clearly trying to avoid answering her. "Master, please. Tell me the truth."
Yoda opened his eyes and met her gaze, his eyes full of a deep sadness. "Told you, did she?"
So. It was true. Lucia bowed her head, her breath leaving her lungs in a sigh. "Yes." The word was barely audible.
He sighed deeply. "Unexpected this is… and unfortunate."
She looked up, frowning. "Unfortunate? That I know the truth?" She couldn't keep the hurt she felt at that from her voice.
"No." He studied her for a moment in silence, then, "Unfortunate that you faced her when incomplete was your training. Not ready for the burden were you."
Lucia looked away. That might be true, but it still wasn't fair. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, but it did nothing to ease the tightness in her chest. Despite his words earlier, Yoda still saw her as an apprentice, as a child.
"Remember," Yoda said, his bright eyes focusing on her, seeing too much as always, "a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware anger… fear… aggression. The dark side are they. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny."
"There is no coming back, then?" If there was a way to save her mother…
But Yoda was shaking his head. "No. Do not underestimate the powers of the Emperor, or suffer your mother's fate, you will." He stopped, his little chest heaving with the effort of speaking. "When gone am I—" A cough shook his tiny body. "When gone am I, the last of the Jedi will you be. Pass on what you have learned…" He took a deep, rattling breath. "The Force runs strong in your family, Lucia. There is… another… Sky… walker."
A shudder ran through the tiny body, and his breath stuttered—then stopped. Lucia felt his spirit leave the flesh as his body vanished, leaving the blankets to droop empty toward the mattress. It was beautiful, yet heartbreaking. She reached out to touch the warm spot where he'd lain, tears streaming down her face.
Markus Jaydra strode through the hallways of the Rebel Frigate, his senses stretching out to seek the bright light that was Lucia Skywalker. He had seen her associates the smuggler and the prince of the dead planet, so she had to be here somewhere. What possible reason could she have to hide her Force presence here, in the midst of her allies?
Unless she wasn't here. But then, where in all the hells was she?
Night had fallen over Dagobah, leaving all in damp, foggy shadow. Lucia walked out to where her X-wing sat next to the swamp, her steps slow and unsure. What was she supposed to do now? Pass on what she had learned… to whom? She wasn't ready to be the teacher.
"Yoda will always be with you."
She turned toward Ben's voice. His ghostly form shimmered in the damp air, a gentle smile on his translucent face. Tears filled her eyes again. "Why didn't you tell me?" Her voice was a hoarse whisper.
His smile vanished, and he shook his head, his eyes sad. "I'm sorry, Lucia."
She took a step toward him, her voice rising. "You told me Vader murdered my mother!"
He sighed and sat down on a fallen log, his head bowed. "Your mother was seduced by the dark side, and she ceased to be Anneke Skywalker. Darth Vader—the name she took as a Sith lord—destroyed the good person she had been." He looked up, meeting her eyes. "I believed my friend to be lost to me forever, so what I told you was true… from a certain point of view."
She clenched her fists, her hands shaking, and turned away, shaking her head. "'A certain point of view'!"
"Lucia, many of the truths we cling to depend greatly upon our point of view." He paused for a moment, but she refused to look at him. "I don't blame you for being certainly wouldn't have been the first time I've been wrong. You see, what happened to your mother was my fault."
The anger slipped from Lucia's grasp, and she slowly turned around. Ben's eyes were pools of grief. Through the Force, she caught a glimpse of the agony he lived with, and sympathy rushed in to fill her heart, chasing the last of the anger away. She slowly sank down to sit on a rock facing him, clasping her hands tightly on her knees.
"I was such a fool." He shook his head. "If I had only listened to my master—and to the Force—sooner, I could have prevented so much pain." He closed his eyes, his hands clenching and unclenching in his lap. "The Force is very strong with your mother, it always has been, and she has always felt everything very strongly. The Jedi teach—taught—that 'there is no emotion; there is peace,' but she was never able to achieve that peace. I never considered that perhaps it was her emotions that gave her strength." He opened his eyes, his gaze piercing. "The dark side is dangerous, Lucia, and seductive, but the Force is not something to fear, and it speaks to us through our feelings."
She leaned forward, hope rising like a sun within her. "There is still good in her."
Ben smiled, a brilliant smile full of pride in her. "Yes. Yes, there is. I thought that once you choose the dark, you can never turn back to the light, for that is what I was taught. But Anneke is still there, and I believe that love can bring her back."
She bit her lip, rocking back a bit on the rock. "I—Yoda said I must face her, and—he meant kill her. But I can't do it, Ben."
He nodded, his gaze troubled. "Yoda lived for a very long time, and learned much, but he was very set in his ways." His smile returned, like the sun after a sandstorm. "And you may not have to do this alone."
Her heart leapt. "Yoda said there was another Skywalker."
"Yes." His eyes shone. "Your twin brother."
How could she not know she had a brother? A twin? Should she sense him in the Force?
"To protect you from the Emperor, I hid you when you were born. The Emperor would love nothing more than to get his hands on Anneke Skywalker's children. I took you to Tatooine to live with your aunt and uncle. And your brother—"
And, suddenly, she knew. "Alaric! Alaric's my brother." He was like a light hidden behind a screen. Obviously, he'd been shielded on purpose. Because, of course, the Emperor could use the Force as well.
He nodded. "Your insight serves you well, but bury those feelings. They do you credit, but could betray him to the Emperor." He leaned forward again. "You are not so reckless as you were—as your mother was. You are strong and patient, and you have given me a new hope for the future."