To Honor
"Honor does not have to be defended."
"Rei will probably like to fix your hand. She should be waiting out side." Said Master Windu.
"Thank you council."
She bowed her head and left.
"Come with me please." Said a woman clad in a white gown.
Eva followed her to a white room and sat on the bed.
"Ok let's see Aha here this would be just fine for your hand." Said the woman showing Eva a very realistic looking mechanical arm.
"Now just lay back and relax. Do you want and pain medication."
Eva shook her head. She didn't want to be delirious for any amount of time. No, she would rely solely on the help of the force.
Laying back she closed her eyes.
A half an hour later Eva was sitting up on the bed stretching her mechanical arm.
This is gonna take some getting used to.
"Thank you Rei." Said Eva heading out of the room.
Now to find Master Yoda.
She quickly located the ancient Jedi master.
"Master Yoda." She said kindly.
"Ahh Eva something bothering you, there is."
"It is this time travel stuff."
"Hmmm…."
"Its just, will my whole family be changed when I go back."
"Changed they will not be."
"But why master Yoda?"
"Extra memories they may have. But the old memories, stay they will. The force's will it is. Repeat itself history will not. Not as long as remember history, people do. Old memories, keep the sith from rising it will. For a little while at least."
Eva nodded, "Thank You."
"Party, tonight. Get ready you should."
Eva nodded and left silently.
"You look wonderful." Commented Anakin upon seeing Eva.
"Thank you." She replied looking at herself in the mirror.
She was wearing a simple powder blue garden dress that cut off at the knee. It was nearly short sleeved, the sleeves where merely pieces of powder blue fabric on her shoulders. The bottom was ruffled and it tied back at her waist. Her shoulder length curly hair was down from her usual messy bun and lay freely over her shoulders.
She stared at her mechanical hand. She spread out her fingers and then clutched them tight in a fist.
"Ready to go?" she asked Anakin.
"Yep. Did you get your speech ready? "
"Speech?"
"Yeah for the award its stupid but they want you to read poetry or something."
"Ok I guess I'll recite a poem then." She muttered rolling her eyes.
"What about you Master Kenobi."
"Ready."
The group happily headed to the party and arrived several minutes later.
"Stand out here please." Instructed a man.
The three complied.
"And now for our guest of honor, Anakin Skywalker," Anakin was let through the large doors as he walked up the aisle to the main platform.
"Obi-Wan Kenobi." Obi-Wan entered the large room several steps behind Anakin.
"And last but not least…"
"What's your last name?" whispered the announcer
Eva thought quickly. Solo. No, the Solos would say they were related to her. Well they were, but not for a few decades. Uhh something unusual. Then it dawned on her...
"Hope." She whispered
"Eva Hope."
Eva smiled broadly and walked through the doors waving politely. After what seemed like an eternity she made it to the large platform in the center of the room.
An official looking man spoke into the microphone, "Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my pleasure to hand Anakin Skywalker this medal in token of our appreciation."
He turned to Anakin and handed him a gold medal strung on a white band. Anakin nodded and put it around his neck
"I am happy to give Obi-Wan Kenobi this token of our appreciation as well."
He handed Obi-Wan the medal. Obi-Wan nodded politely and stepped to where Anakin was standing.
"And for young Eva Hope. I doubted that you wanted a medal, instead…" he brought out a small box and opened it slowly. Eva gasped at the sight. Inside the box was a simple silver ring.
"Thank you." She muttered stunned. She stepped to Obi-Wan's side. Anakin was nervously switching from one foot to another. Obi-Wan leaned his head over to him, "Go see her Anakin. We'll cover things here."
Anakin nodded and set off quietly to the door.
"Well it seems one of our guests had to leave early. Kenobi, would you like to make a speech to the crowd."
"I… well… I'm not prepared." He muttered.
"Don't worry Master Kenobi I'll do it." Said Eva.
"Alright, Ladies and Gentlemen Eva Hope!" said the man stepping to the side. "You have three minutes for a speech." He then whispered
Eva nervously walked up to the podium and stared at the crowd. Ok quick thinking uhh what am I supposed to say.
"Thank you all for being here today. I suppose I'll recitea, well I guess it is a poem." Said Eva glancing at the crowd.
"The dark is generous." She paused, "its first gift is concealment. Our true faces lie beneath our skin. Our true hearts remain shadowed deeper still." She paused again, "But its greatest concealment lies not in protecting our secret truths but in hiding from us the truths of others."
Another pause, "The dark protects us from what we dare not know." Eva looked straight at the large crowd, "Its second gift is comforting illusion: the ease of gentle dreams in night's embrace. The beauty that imagination brings to what would repel in day's harsh light……..Its greatest comfort is that the dark is only temporary." She looked up again, "That night brings a new day…….Day is the illusion."
"Its third gift is light itself. As the days are defined by the nights that divide, as the stars are defined by the infinite black through which the wheel. The dark embraces the light and brings it forth from its own self." She looked up from the podium, "With every victory of the light, it is the dark that wins……The dark is generous, and it is patient. It is the dark that seeds cruelty into justice, that drips contempt into compassion, and that poisons love with grains of doubt."
"The dark can be patient because the slightest drop of rain will cause those seeds to sprout." She paused yet again, "The rain will come and the seeds will sprout. The seeds will sprout because the dark is the soil in which they grow, it is the cloud above them, and it waits behind the stars that give them light. The dark's patience is infinite: Eventually even stars burn out."
"The dark is generous, and it is patient, and it always wins. It always wins because it is everywhere. It is in the wood in your hearth. It is in the kettle on your fire. It is under your chair, and under your table, and under the sheets on your bed. Walk in the midday sun and the dark is with you, attached to the soles of your feet." She stopped to look at the crowd again, "The brightest light casts the darkest shadow. The dark is generous, and it is patient and it always wins- but in the heart of strength lies weakness: one lone candle is enough to hold it back."
Eva paused one last time for effect, "Love is more then a candle, Love can ignite the stars."
The crowd applauded as the man quieted them and asked, "Any questions for our two Jedi?"
"Oh, I'm not a Jedi." Murmured Eva, "I'm still training."
But the man did not hear. The audience called out questions, most of them were lost in the loud roar of the crowd.
"Ladies and Gentlemen please one at a time." Called the man.
"Master Kenobi what will become of the Republic now?"
"That is for the Senate to decide."
"Master Kenobi Senator Amidala was not at the last meeting of the Senate an hour ago. What do you know of this?"
"According to my sources Senator Amidala was unable to attend for health reasons though they were not life-threatening."
"Master Hope, how did the Council find that the Supreme Chancellor was Darth Siduos."
"Well, I am not a master. I'm still in training. I'm not even a Jedi yet. To answer your question the Council found out because he told me himself."
"What happened after he told you, Miss Hope?"
"I can not release all the information just yet but I can tell you that I left. When I returned the next day he was back and we dueled."
"Why did he disclose such information to you, Miss Hope?"
"He wanted me to join him. That is why we dueled."
"Master Kenobi what part did you play in this?"
"Eva here called for my help. So I went to her."
"Miss Hope, why did you call for help?"
"As I said earlier I am not a Jedi. I didn't think I could hold the Chancellor back for more then a few minutes. I was right."
"Master Kenobi, what has become of the Chancellor."
"He is most likely dead."
"Most likely?"
"Well when we---" Obi-Wan'sanswer was cut short when he had to turn and catch Eva.
"Eva…wake up…Eva" he called trying to shake her awake.
"Master Kenobi, what is wrong with Miss Hope." Asked a man.
"No more questions." He shot back.
"We need a transport." He said urgently.
Nobody moved.
"NOW!" he yelled.