Disclaimer: if I owned this, Luke wouldn't have gone pacifist in ROTJ.

Chapter 6: Awakening

Lila was losing it. She could tell: No longer could she fight the dreams and visions that came her way. For two days she had struggled against the combined powers of Eris and Vader, but now it was either join or die.

The images came more quickly now. Flashes of nightmares, visions of what would happen to the rebellion if she didn't join the Dark Side. Lila was filled with an overwhelming depression. What was the point of it all? It wasn't like they wouldn't die anyway. The alliance would fall, Leia, Luke and Han would die, and so would Lila—

Her eyes snapped open. "What the…"

Darth Vader stood over her. "Are you ready to join me yet?"

Lila spit on his mask.

He made an exasperated noise. "Your loss," shrugged Eris. She raised her hands and shot blue lightning at Lila. The almost-Jedi fell back against the wall.

And she was back in nightmare land.

SWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSW

Lando Calrissian led Chewbacca, Han and Leia down a hallway in Cloud City on Bespin. "There's always been danger looming like a shadow over everything we've built here. But things have developed that will ensure security. I've just made a deal that will keep the Empire out of here forever."

They entered a dining room. Leia gasped. There was Darth Vader. Han pulled out his blaster, but Vader pulled it towards him with the Force.

About two hours later they found themselves in a large cell. Leia was shaking.

"What's wrong?" asked Han. Even the rugged smuggler could see there was more than fear to Leia's antics.

"Darth Vader…he…" she swallowed. "He was carrying Lila's lightsaber!" She blinked back tears. "I don't know why…but he must've had a reason…for having it…"

"He wanted to show that she wasn't a threat," Han whispered. "But Vader is no fool…he considers everyone a threat unless—"

"Unless they're dead," finished Leia softly. "So that means…" she didn't finish her statement. Everybody knew what it meant.

They sat in silence.

Chewbacca growled. They heard footsteps outside the door; someone was coming.

Dimly outside her torment Lila could feel herself being picked up and carried somewhere. She didn't know where—hell, she didn't even know where she was—nor did she care. She was probably being brought to be killed.

She didn't care. She could barely fight back the madness. Death would be welcome. But before she died she would still suffer, it seemed: the nightmares did not stop.

Flashes of the past showed in her mind.

Tusken Raiders, killing a village as she and Obi-Wan appeared to save them, but they were too late—

Jabba the Hutt, screaming in pain as her lightsaber sliced through his tail, Boba Fett firing at her as she desperately tried to escape—

Obi-Wan being cut down by Vader—

Rebel pilots dying in masses as TIE fighters shot them with their superior lasers—

Running into a wampa on the ice planet of Hoth, almost having her head ripped off—

Finding Luke almost frozen to death—

The fight was almost finished. Lila could not battle it for very much longer, this she knew.

Leia, Han and Chewie tensed as the door opened. Two stormtroopers dumped a body in the cell and left without a word or a glance at the three inside.

"What was that about?" asked Han quizzically. Leia was already up and walked cautiously towards the person. With a cry, she jumped back.

"What's wrong?" Han and Chewie looked at each other and ran to help. They soon saw what was wrong.

"Oh, my god…"

Lila Skywalker lay in front of them. Leia was crying; Han was staring at her. "Is she…alive?"

Leia merely sobbed harder. This, she knew, was the ultimate torture: Lila was dead, but she was here in front of them. Vader obviously was making an illusion to confuse them.

"So…what do we do?"

Chewie growled something.

Han glared at him. "Well of course she's dead, but what do we do with this?" The three of them congregated in a corner on the far end of the room. Leia kept glancing over at 'Lila' until she shrieked.

She knew she was lying on a floor of some kind; she didn't really know or care why. But the end was coming, beyond all doubt. She never expected THAT kind of ending…

Han and Chewie stared. Lila's eyes were open.

"What the hell…"

"Huh?" Lila blinked several times. "Where am I?"

"You're dead," accused Han.

She punched him. Then the breath was slammed out of her lungs as Leia hugged her. "What the hell….LeiaIcan'tbreathe!"

Leia said nothing, just sobbed into her side. "Okay…why am I slowly being suffocated?"

"We thought you were dead…" Leia looked tearfully at Lila.

"Oh, is that so? Well, I'm sorry but you can't get rid of me that easily."

"So, you're not dead? Are you sure?" Han looked at Lila warily. "Are you something Vader conjured up to confuse us?"

Lila punched him again. "Don't talk to me about him, because when I get my hands on him…" she made several violent gestures.

"Yep, it's her," groaned Han from the floor.

Lila was confused again. "So where are we, and why are we there?"

"Don't you know?"

"No…I just spent two days in limbo; of course I don't."

"Limbo?"

"Don't ask," growled Lila. "Because you really don't want to know."

Huh…a sudden surge of reviews, and then what happens? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Jedimasterobi-wankenobi: poor Obi-wan? Poor OBI-WAN?

Well, that's all I have to say for now, except that Luke just might get a heart attack when he hears about Lila being alive, I haven't decided yet.

Keep 'em coming!