Alex Rider: Jedi Knight
Jedi Goat
Disclaimer: I don't own Alex Rider or Star Wars.
Author's Note: Cousins, actually, since Ian was Alex's uncle.
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Chapter 11: Truth and Lies
Alex glanced up and froze. He felt a scream rising in his throat, but his mouth was clamped shut.
Slowly, he forced himself to relax. "Who are you?" he finally stuttered.
The translucent blue figure picked his way carefully toward him. His shimmering features were achingly familiar, but Alex knew it couldn't be. "Ian?" he asked warily.
The specter nodded, adopting a cross-legged Jedi meditation posture on the floor.
"How?"
"I am one with the Force, Alex." The figure spoke with the same tone Alex remembered.
Alex swallowed back the painful lump in his throat. "How come you're here now? How come I never saw you before?"
"I have always been here, watching over you. Only now did I decide to show myself." Ian paused. "Your parents and I are proud of you."
The thought of his parents stirred a sudden memory. He whirled on Ian. "How come you never told me my father was an assassin?!"
Ian glanced over at him, surprised. "Where did you get that idea?"
"Yassen Gregorovich."
Ian took a deep breath. "Your father was a MI6 agent, like me. We went through training together. Then I left to the Jedi for fifteen years or so. When I came back, he was working undercover as a Scorpia agent, with the likes of assassins and such. He might have met Gregorovich then."
"Okay." That makes sense, Alex admitted. He felt a wave of relief rush over him, glad that his father hadn't been the evil man he had once thought he was. Alex looked down at the photograph he was still holding. He brandished it at his uncle. "And how do you explain this?"
Ian examined the photo, an unreadable expression on his face. He set it aside, a smile playing at his lips. "Ah. I figured you'd find this eventually."
"And?" Alex prodded.
His uncle sighed. "When I was a Jedi, I didn't always stick to the Jedi Code. Like you."
"What?" spluttered Alex, "I follow the Code!"
"Oh really?" Ian cocked an eyebrow. "You've never done anything out of anger? You've never fallen in love? What about Sabina?"
Alex felt his face burning and turned away, muttering, "We're just friends."
Ian looked unconvinced, but didn't press the matter. Instead, he continued, "Soon after I was knighted, I met a beautiful young woman…" Ian's eyes clouded over with memories. "…We became very close. We had to keep our relationship a secret, so when I found out she was pregnant, I was both devastated and overjoyed."
Alex picked up the photo again. His world was in fragments, and only Ian's strong voice could piece the truth together.
"When she died in childbirth, I was heartbroken. I…I knew I couldn't raise our son alone. I took him to the Jedi Temple under his mother's last name. He was Force-sensitive, so they accepted him as an initiate. He grew up in the Temple, not knowing anything about his parents. But it is the same for most of the initiates."
Ian shook his head sadly. "I stayed as a Jedi for the next few years, watching over him. Some thought I'd be his Master…when he was ready to be a Padawan. But MI6 called me back. They needed agents, they said. I didn't see my son for the rest of life. But once I became one with the Force, the first thing I did was go look for him." He smiled slightly.
"It was a welcome surprise when MI6 later decided to send you on a mission with him. I'm glad the two of you are friends."
Alex shook his head. "Obi-Wan's my cousin," he murmured in shock.
"That's right." Suddenly Ian's tone turned urgent. "Alex, soon you must make a decision. You can either be a Jedi or a spy for MI6, and have the chance to love."
"But I don't want to be a spy," protested Alex. "Least of all for MI6!"
"It's true that it's a hard life," Ian explained gently. "But the life of a Jedi can be just as hard."
"Why do I have to decide now?" Alex asked. "I have friends with the Jedi. I've got a Master." Who's also my cousin, Alex added silently. "But I have friends here, too. And I wouldn't leave them for anything." And possibly a girlfriend, he realized guiltily. Does that mean I can't be a Jedi?
Remembering his arranged meeting with Sabina, Alex glanced at his watch. His heart skipped a beat. Great, I'm late. What's she gonna think of me now? Hoping desperately that he hadn't just lost his delicately rebuilding friendship with Sabina, Alex scrambled to his feet.
"You don't have to decide now, Alex," Ian told him calmly.
"Good. Because I have to go, now. It was nice to talk to you again." Alex sprinted toward the elevator, not catching the fearful look that flashed in Ian's eyes.
"Alex!" he shouted after him. "Be careful!"
"Yeah, okay," Alex said distractedly as he jabbed at the elevator button.
A moment later the doors slid open and Alex disappeared inside.
"May the Force be with you," Ian whispered, before fading away.
To be continued...
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