The Legion Renewed

Chapter Eighteen

"All right," Briande said, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. "If this doesn't work, we're both in a lot of trouble. Come on, you little field-rat. Eat!"

Luke smiled from the window as he watched Briande dip the corner of the cloth she was holding into a bowl of rehydrated milk, and offer it to the infant kinoll in her lap. The tiny creature sniffed at the soaked rag-end, but stubbornly did not accept it.

"Come on," she said with a hint of exasperation.

"Patience." Luke advised. "Give her time."

Briande glanced up at him through the window, then turned her attention back to the obstinate animal. Luke moved to the doorway and deposited his armload of firewood inside before squatting on the floor across from her.

"How do you know it's a 'her'?" Briande asked.

"Easy," Luke said, winking. "She's got a female temperament."

Briande didn't return the smile. Luke knew she still felt awkward whenever he teased her.

"Hello," Luke said to the kinoll. He picked it up and rubbed its head lightly with his finger. "Aren't you going to eat for Briande today?" He made a few high-pitched nonsense noises with his mouth which made the kinoll prick its ears up with interest and caused the corners of Briande's mouth to turn up despite herself. Luke gave a little laugh and handed the kinoll back to Briande. She stroked it absently.

Luke stood up, retrieved the firewood, and began adding it to the pile next to the fireplace. He wasn't particularly worried about the kinoll. Despite periods of stubbornness, it was healthy enough; and despite Briande's apparent exasperation, Luke knew she was genuinely attached to it.

"I heard you singing today," Luke remarked, trying to make his voice sound casual.

"Oh." Briande said, embarrassed.

"You have a beautiful voice. I was sorry when you stopped."

Briande shrugged. "I didn't know if you'd approve."

Luke finished with the firewood and sat down beside her. "Actually, I was hoping you'd do it more often. Why wouldn't I approve?"

Briande looked down. Her fingers stroked the kinoll's soft fur a few more times, then returned the small animal to its box. "My...father considered it a frivolous waste of time. Until now, Brenna was the only other person who knew that I liked to sing."

Luke started, shocked that she had felt a need to keep such a talent hidden even from her father. "I'm sorry," Luke said, realizing the enormous amount of trust Briande must have placed in her sister, and the pain she must have felt when that trust was betrayed. He reached for her hand in sympathy. Briande gave him a brief smile before looking down at their intertwined fingers.

Suddenly she stopped smiling and looked at their joined hands with a frown of puzzlement. After a moment, she unlaced her fingers, but continued to hold onto Luke's hand with both of her own. She carefully examined the back, then turned it over to examine the palm. Luke held his breath, waiting.

Finally she looked up at him. "Your hand-it's artificial, isn't it?"

"Yes," Luke said, watching her reaction.

Briande nodded and looked back down. She found the all but invisible seam at the wrist where flesh joined with bionics, and traced it with her finger. "How did you lose it?"

Luke let his breath out slowly, relieved. She was curious, nothing more. "Vader. He cut it off with a lightsaber."

Briande looked at him in surprise. "And you forgave him?"

"Not at first. But then I realized he was being 'gentle' with me. He could have killed me, but he didn't."

"So you won that battle?"

Luke shook his head, remembering. "No, I lost. More than just my hand. But I did learn something from it, about myself...and my father."

"What?"

"That we weren't so different. As much as I was like him, he was also like me. I actually really ever won against Darth Vader. I merely...showed him how to win against himself. All I did was show him that the Dark Side was a choice, and he didn't have to choose it."

"I think...I understand. But why didn't you tell me before about your hand-no, wait. You were afraid of my reaction, weren't you. Because of my father. You were afraid that...I would resent it because of what happened to him."

Luke smiled. "Yes. Do you?"

For an answer, Briande pressed his hand to her lips, and her eyes showed an emotion she reserved only for him.

Luke decided suddenly that if Briande was ready to handle the knowledge of his hand, she was ready to handle another kind of knowledge, too. He risked asking a question he had held back until now. "Brie...you said once that the last time you encountered your sister, she tricked you. What did you mean by that?"

Briande looked at him sharply for a moment, then looked away and gazed at some distant memory. "The last time we encountered... The truth is, Luke, I haven't seen Brenna since the day she turned to the Dark Side. The last time we saw each other face to face, she dedicated herself to fight against everything I believed in."

"You haven't seen her since that day?"

"No."

"Did you try to talk to her?"

Briande nodded. "She refused to see me. I sent messages, but she never answered them. I doubt if she even listened to them. I used to think that if I could meet with her in person, I could convince her to turn back. I was sure of it. She probably could have killed me back on Kalmyr, but she didn't. For a long time I thought she had left me alive because she couldn't bring herself to destroy me. Then I learned it was only to torture me with the knowledge of the things she'd done."

"What changed your mind?"

"After the Battle of Endor, I thought with the Emperor defeated and the Empire crumbling, she might finally agree to see me, so I sent one more message. I was surprised when she sent word back that she would meet me on Croyus Four if I could find transport there. By her suggestion, I was to disguise myself as her so that I could move about freely."

"A trap," Luke said, comprehending.

"My father suspected as much. He warned me not to go, but I was determined to try one last time. As I told you, I was sure I could turn her back."

"Why? Why were you sure?"

"Because of what we were to each other. I can't put into words how close we were. Until the events that turned her, we could hear each other's thoughts without even trying much. And then...I don't know. She just closed herself off from me, somehow. But even after she turned, for a while, I could hear a single word, and I thought it must be coming from her, because I didn't know where else it could have come from."

"What was the word?"

"'Forgive.' That's it. Just 'forgive.' I sent message after message, telling her that I forgave her, and begging her for a face-to-face meeting. She ignored all of them, except for the last."

"When she told you to go to Croyus Four."

"Right. I left before my father could stop me, just as Brenna knew I would. She also knew about the Allied raid, of course. I daresay she managed to arrange it. When I arrived at Croyus Four, there was no one but myself and a few non-essential personnel. Before I knew what was happening, I'd been captured. Brenna must have loved the irony of it, being executed by my own people in her place."

"And your father?"

"I'd...left him on Kalmyr, alone and unprotected. I never, until the moment I was captured by the Alliance, was able to read him. His dying thoughts reached me just as I was taken prisoner. I didn't need the Force to know who killed him or why, but his image of Brenna from that sending will burn in my memory forever." She stopped, hesitated, then added, "His last message was to find you. To teach me how to stop Brenna. I...didn't think there was any hope, until I saw you on the balcony."

Luke gazed into the distance, too, almost seeing the images through Briande's eyes. "There was...something else in your father's sending, too, wasn't there."

Briande hesitated. "Yes... There was...pain. Physical pain, too, but mostly the mental anguish of knowing that one of the daughters he loved would die by the other's hand." Briande's eyes widened as she realized what she was saying. "One of the-" She turned to Luke with a mixture of excitement and wonder. "He loved us, Luke! Even Brenna, who killed him. All those years he never told us, and I was never sure. But now I know. He loved us. Both of us."

"Yes, I believe he did," Luke said quietly.

"By the other's hand..." she repeated quietly. Her eyes clouded over with doubt as she saw something else, too. Vague shapes moving in the Force around her, hiding their true images in swirling mists as currents carried them away again, always in motion.

"Brie? What's wrong?"

"Luke...it is over, isn't it?"

"What's over?"

"The dream-the vision from before. The prophecy about your death...by my hand."

"It hasn't come back, has it?" he asked, concerned.

"I'm not...sure. I see...the same images, but...they're different, somehow. Not as cold, maybe-I don't know. You can see it, too. Can't you?"

Skywalker hesitated, sensing her growing panic, unsure of how much Briande was ready for, or of how much he really understood himself. "I can't see...anything for certain, Brie. Maybe...it's just your subconscious worrying about something that's past."

"I don't want to kill you, Luke. Force help me, I don't want to kill you..."

"It's okay, Brie. You've beaten Brenna. You know how, now. She can't control you any more."

"But the visions-"

"The future is always in motion. We can't be sure that what you've seen is not just a remnant of something past. I trust you. If you want to go on with the training, you'll have to trust yourself, too. For the time being, I suggest we forget about the visions and concentrate on your exercises. There's still a long way to go before you're ready to face Brenna in combat."

"Forget about the visions?" Briande asked wryly.

"As much as possible, in any case. It could be nothing. It could simply be Brenna trying to frighten you out of the training. Just remember she can't force you to do anything. Not anymore."

Briande stood up and turned away. "I know that. But still..."

Luke rose to his feet and embraced her from behind. "Briande, I can't explain the apprehension you're feeling. The truth is, I've felt something, too. But I've also never been happier in my life than when I'm with you. And there's something...even stronger than that shadow telling me it's imperative for you to finish the training. Not just because of Brenna, but because of something else, too, though I'm not sure what."

"I know," Briande sighed. She turned to face him. "I just...don't want to lose you."

"You have to trust yourself, Brie, just as I do. I don't know how to prove that to you, except-Here."

Briande looked down in surprise as she felt the smooth pommel of Luke's lightsaber in her palm. "What's this?"

"I want you to take this and hide it. Better yet, dismantle it and put the parts where I can't get them."

Briande's eyes turned wide with horror. She tried to give it back, but Luke would not accept it. "Luke, no!"

"That's an order, Brie."

Briande let the lightsaber fall to the ground. "No."

"You would prefer to abandon the training?"

She closed her eyes, but she remained firm. "If that's what it takes."

"You know the stakes?"

"I love you, Luke. I won't leave you unprotected. Please don't ask me again."

Luke smiled. "You've just proven my point." He picked up his lightsaber and reattached it to his belt. "I don't need this anymore, but somehow I had to convince you. Don't you see, Brie? I can't explain about the visions; I wish I could. But you just proved I have nothing to fear from you."

Briande looked at him incredulously. "You knew I wouldn't take it?"

"I...knew you wouldn't use it against me."

Briande was uncertain. "I want to believe you."

Skywalker looked into her eyes and saw a need he knew was mirrored in his own soul. "Believe. The feeling you described could be nothing. A fluke."

"You are always," Briande said wryly, "telling me to listen to my feelings..."