Chapter Twenty-Five: Y
Y is for Youth
Elanor's youth is now long behind her.
It has been three years since Obi-Wan died, and the bond shattered, and her heart crumpled into nothingness.
Or so she thought.
But that all changes when she senses a ship land by her door and the door is flung open to reveal a strange party of four – two droids, a young man, and a young woman. They are as surprised to see her as she is to see them.
Slowly, she rises to her feet, her cloak rippling about her, her hands visible. She is not sure if they mean her harm or not, but if they do, they are in for a surprise. Obi-Wan didn't train her in the Jedi arts for nothing, and each lesson is vivid in her mind, cemented by years and years of practice.
But then she recognizes the young man. He has sandy blonde hair, dusty and harried due to the wind and sand, and pale blue eyes that are starting to show a hint of the power and maturity he is beginning to amass.
It's Luke, Luke Skywalker, the young one Obi-Wan left with almost four years ago.
And the woman – she knows her too. She has long dark brown hair tied up in an elaborate coil around her hair, and dark brown eyes that shine with determination and love.
Leia. Leia Organa, the woman Obi-Wan left to rescue.
Anakin's children.
Luke recognizes her a half second after she recognizes them, and he introduces her to Leia and the droids. Then he asks for her assistance.
After the plan has left his lips, she can only stare at him in disbelief. In this, Luke has shown himself to be his father's son, for never has she heard such an impulsive plan from a Jedi – although, admittedly, Luke is not a full Jedi yet.
However, she knows that her presence will offer a great deal of help to Luke's plan. He doesn't really need her – he needs to prove his own abilities – but her being there will assure a victory if anything goes wrong.
Besides, she has never been one to sit out of the action.
So she agrees to assist as much as possible. She helps Leia and Chewbacca get ready for their roles, and also assists Luke in building his own lightsaber and in further preparing him to use it properly.
He is a natural, but he still needs training. She can see, however, the distinctive traces of the teachings of Yoda and Obi-Wan – as well as traces of Anakin's own style. She is startled to realize just how easily he has built his own, distinctive style that mixes the Ataru of Obi-Wan and Yoda and the Djem So of his own father even after so little formal training, but the style is effective and he wields it well.
After everything is set up and planned, the team leaves, in small groups, two by two and then by one.
And then she waits. And waits. And waits.
Finally – the signal. A surge in the Force that she can sense emanates from Luke, somewhere near the . . . wait, the Great Pit of Carkoon? What in blazes are they doing there?
As she springs lightly over the dunes and races across the desert, calling on the Force to speed her pace and soothe her exhaustion, she guesses that Jabba decided not to wait so long to get rid of the group – and has decided that letting a sarlaac eat them is punishment enough.
When she arrives, the fighting has already broken out. Luke is fighting with the guards, along with Lando, Han, and Chewbacca, his lightsaber held aloft. Leia, she senses, in somewhere in the sail barge with Jabba. As she notes it, a gunner on the sail barge unleashes a furious barrage at Luke.
With a sigh, she gathers the Force to her and jumps up onto the sail barge. As she lands, she tosses away her cloak and ignites her own lightsaber, sending the guards into a frenzy. They did not see her coming, and nor did they expect that Luke and the others might have other allies.
She dispatches the men facing her easily. A kick to the sternum, a slash to the arm, a slice through a blaster – easy, fluid, flowing movements that define her style of fighting more than anything else.
Obi-Wan trained her too well.
She immerses herself in the Force, letting it guide her blade, her arm, her body. The world sharpens into a crystal clear simulation, even with her eyes closed, and she can see everything – her enemies' fear and awe and desperation; their next move; their fatal weak point.
Everything.
Once, when she fought against these types of men, she lost. She lost bitterly to them and got herself captured and sold as a slave. Her abilities weren't enough that time.
But things have changed.
Now, she is fully trained, at the height of her power – and so fighting these men is as easy as breathing.
She knows what her enemies see in her as she leaps down – a terrifying, awe-inspiring sight of deadly grace and potent skill, her lightaber a swirling blur in her hand that brings death and destruction wherever it goes.
The Force surges, and Luke leaps up to join her on the sail barge. She shares a single look with him, and he nods. She whirls around, dispatching her nearest opponent, and then races below the decks as Luke takes over the main fighting up top.
She finds Leia easily enough. Leia is just leaping down from the deceased Hutt, her chain clinking and her slave outfit fluttering with her movements.
She wrinkles her nose. The outfit is ridiculous.
Striding forward, she slashes casually at the chain with a flick of her hand before gesturing for Leia to hurry out to Luke. As Leia darts out and the droids follow a bit more slowly, she reaches out with the Force to make sure that their path is clear – and that there are no opponents lying in the shadow to ambush them here.
When her check is done, she runs back to the top deck to find Leia arranging the gun to point at the deck.
She nods at that; it's a good strategy to follow, even if they hadn't planned it earlier. They can't afford to leave the barge in one piece now that they've had to fight.
As she thinks that, her attention is suddenly distracted when Luke cries out in pain as a shot connects with his hand.
With a snarl, she springs forward and disposes of his attacker.
Between the two of them, the rest of Jabba's men are quickly finished off. They are disorganized and panicked, and therefore do not present much of a threat to two Jedi, especially not when they are both fresh and prepared.
When it is over, she waits until Luke and Leia have swung safely off before she accesses the Force and throws herself into the air, clearing the distance between the barge and the others easily with a single bound.
As they take off and the sail barge begins to explode behind them, she deactivates her lightsaber, leans against the railing, and sighs, shaking her head. She almost can't believe that this crazy plan actually worked and that they are all pretty much injured and together once again.
She watches in silence as Luke clips his lightsaber back on his belt and clasps Han's arm with camaraderie as Leia hugs Han and kisses him.
Luke, she reflects, has inherited as much of his father's sheer dumb luck as his impulsiveness, skill, and power.
Not an hour later, the whole gang is lifting off again – Leia, Han, Lando, Chewbacca, and C-3PO to rendezvous with the Rebel Alliance and Luke and R2-D2 to meet with Master Yoda one final time on Dagobah.
As Elanor watches them fly off, she hopes with all of her heart that this is the last scrap of trouble she ever sees them in, because her youth is behind her, as today demonstrated – and she's just getting too old for this nonsense.