Disclaimer: Same as before.
"Please no," she muttered to herself. She could only hope what she had felt earlier wasn't caused by anything happening to her family.
She could see a plume of smoke ascending toward the sky before she saw the homestead. When she did, she gasped.
The entire homestead was burnt or burning. What had once been buildings were now either just holes, or were only the shells of what had been. Part of droids and equipment were scattered all over. Ari jumped out of the speeder, heart pounding.
"Mom? Dad? Jett? Saber?" she called. She ran into the main building, but the smoke making her eyes water and hurting her throat so she was forced to retreat. Ari was in a panic and ran towards the garage, behind the main building. What she saw made her stop short.
The other speeder was there, in flames, and in it were both her parents and Jett. She ran over to the speeder, but knew the awful truth. They were dead. From the way the speeder was, looking like it had crashed and had a many burned marks from blasters, Ari figured they must have been trying to outrun the Imperials from where they had been and tried to reach home. They had failed.
As she got closer, Ari reached her hand out to touch the speeder, but couldn't. There was a field around it. Probably from the Imperials. This would insure that the occupants were unable to flee or fight back. The speeder and occupants had been left to burn and Ari couldn't do a thing about it.
Ari saw her father still held his blaster in his hand. Ari kept backing up, she felt like she couldn't breath, couldn't move, couldn't pull herself away from the nightmare. She was seeing it and couldn't believe it. She went over to the speeder as if against her will.
"Jett..?" she called, more than hopeful, but knowing it was in vain. Even though they had fought, she loved her brother and had been close to him. She saw the blaster burn on his back and started to hyperventilate. Then, she sunk her knees and let out a cry that seem to come from the bottom of her entire soul. Ari started to sob loudly. The pain she had felt before on her way back was like this. The sadness and the extreme pain, though the pain was emotional. And unbearable. She was so wrapped in this nightmare that she almost missed the barks.
When she finally heard them, she looked around. "Lightsaber?" she asked. A bark was her reply and she followed it to about a dozen feet from the speeder.
The canido was laying on her side, apparently fatally wounded by a blaster. Ari saw this and fell to her knees by her beloved pet. She pet Saber, who tried to lick off the tears falling from Ari's face, as if trying to cheer her up.
Ari threw her arms around Saber and hugged her; Saber wagged her tail ever so slightly. "It's going to be ok," Ari whispered. "You're going to be ok." Saber looked at her, her brown eyes full of love and compassion. The canido shook her head.
No, I won't. I am going to be one with the Force Ari looked around and then at Saber. It was almost as if someone had spoken, yet not aloud. Ari couldn't explain it. She looked at Saber, shocked and confused. You have a gift Ari. Use it
Saber then slowly got to her feet. "Lay down. I'll get you some meds. There has to be something to do to help." Saber shook her head, then as quickly as she could, ran back into the smoke filled main building.
"Saber!!!" Ari called but didn't follow, knowing she wouldn't be able to reach her. A few minutes passed and the canido appeared through the smoke, carrying a small pouch in her mouth. She slowly climbed up the few stairs from the house, painfully walking over to Ari, and collapsed, her strength spent. She dropped the pouch between her paws and nudged it towards Ari with her nose. Open it the voice from before told her. She took it gently and did so. She first pulled out the small things at the bottom. Some credits, and a holo of her family from about a season ago. Next was a book, slender and bound in leather. Ari opened it and saw her mother's familiar handwriting and saw it was her journal. She hugged it for a moment before placing it beside her to reach back in the pouch.
She then reached her hand in and pulled out the last, and biggest item. She gasped. A lightsaber.
She picked it up and ran her fingers over the cool metallic surface. She then hit a button and a blue/purple beam appeared. She tested it, making a few small movements in the air, the blade humming through the air. Ari then turned it off and set it back in pouch.
Your mother's. Learn well. Help the galaxy…follow your destiny. Ari looked around again and her gaze fell once more on the canido.
"Saber?" she whispered.
Yes. It is a gift you can learn to master. Become a Jedi.
"Me? A Jedi?" she asked, then blinked a few times, as if coming out of a daze. She looked over the homestead once more, averting her eyes from her family's firey funeral pyre. "I will make them proud of me and make sure that this never happens again," she muttered.
May the Force be with you. Ari pulled the canido into her lap. Saber licked her hand and then laid her head down on her lap, taking her last breath.
At that point Ari started to cry, burying her face into Saber's fur. She cried for her family, killed in the name of the Empire. She cried for her the Jawas who had been killed. For the lack of compassion of the Empire. For the fact that the universe wasn't such a great place. For Luke and…
Ari stopped. "Luke…" she breathed. If this had happened to her family because they were by the Lars'…
She unclipped her com. "Luke? Luke, are you there?" There was no answer. Ari looked around a bit lost and her gaze fell on Saber so she decided to take care of Saber's body before leaving, especially since she couldn't do the same for her parents or brother.
Ari picked up Saber's body and wrapped it in a blanket she had in the speeder. She then used a shovel she found scattered among the droid parts and dug a hole, burying her beloved pet.
When she was done, she found a large rock that had fallen from the building and pulled it, laying it over Saber's grave. She then pulled out the lightsaber and ignited it. Using it carefully she wrote;
The Narabe family: Derin ,caring husband and father, Katri, loving wife and mother, Jett, the best brother and son anyone could ask for. Lightsaber, faithful and loyal to the end. May their lives always be remembered and their memories live on forever.
Ari wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her tunic. She wished she could do more…even give her family a proper burial, but she couldn't. The fire would continue until nothing was left. It had been burning for awhile but she refused to go back and look. She doubted she could handle it. She slowly climbed back into the speeder, confused, dazed and upset. She sat there and just stared for a few minutes, her mind reeling. She jumped when she heard a voice come on over the com. "Luke…" she whispered to herself as she listened to what he was saying.
"Ari…this is Luke. Listen I am going to turn this off, because I don't want you to ask or try to follow or anything. I promise I will get in contact with you later. My family is dead…by the Empire." He said the last part disdainfully, and sounding very upset. "I am going with Ben to Alderaan. I am going to help the Rebellion. I know our paths will cross again. Until then…" Luke seemed to pause to consider turning it off and Ari went to try to talk to him, but then she heard the click of him turning his off.
"Luke?" she asked. "Luke are you there?" There was no answer. She was alone. Ari wiped her eyes on her sleeve again then powered up the speeder. She knew where Luke and Ben were going. Mos Eisley. She pulled it back in reverse, then paused, taking one last look at the homestead. Her home. She shook her head. She no longer had a home. She then speed forward, away from death, destruction and the memories, and hopefully, on her way to a new home, friends, and a cause worth fighting for.