The alternate version of herself rolled her eyes.
"Stop gawking. Fuck you are boring. Come on. We need to go in." The darker Dara stalked up the ancient, smooth steps in a swirl of dark colours. Dara could only stare after her for a moment. She was everything Dara could ever be. She was sure her brother would say this was Dara at her full potential. She rolled her own eyes and jogged to catch up with the apparition. The steps were steep and left her winded. At least the wind was gone. She was starting to get feeling back into her cheeks. The other Dara stood stock still in front of the doors. Did Dara really look like that from behind? Like a statue… with a stick up its butt? She sighed and walked up the final step to stand next to her in front of the heavy stone doors.
"I assume you know what to do here?" the other one drawled. She examined her long, perfect nails that were scrubbed and freshly manicured. Dara looked at her own filthy, broken nails and felt the stab of envy. Dara kneeled before the massive pair of doors and laid the branch and the mask before her. She tore down that wall of control she had built to keep the Force at bay within herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the familiar sight of Obi Wan Kenobi, a Jedi master who spoke to her on many occasions. He paced back and forth just within her field of vision. Out of her other eye, she saw her other self, lounging lazily against a column. Dara felt the Force all around her and within her. It was terrifying, the vastness of it all. The fear and the way in which she drew away from it allowed her to live a normal life. Well.. Normal-ish.
Dara took a steadying breath and focused her attention on the doors. She pushed against them with all her might.
"I am here." she said. "Let me in!" Her voice took on the tone she adopted when she was playing the part of monarch.
"Cool it, prissy face. The doors are opening." Dara clutched the branch of the Force tree in her fist so tightly, that it pierced her skin. But she looked up, and was shocked to see those massive monolith doors swinging inwards silently. She let the branch and the mask that had once belonged to Rey go. She looked over at Obi Wan. He frowned down at her, but he said nothing. She could feel the disapproval rolling off of him. She got to her feet, with a little difficulty. "Are you getting old or something? Move your bones. Come on." She was starting to get very tired of her snarky alternate self. She clenched her teeth and drew in a sharp breath, praying for some patience. She followed the other Dara slowly, who seemed to share her faltering steps. She was scared. Dara felt the claws of fear in her stomach too. She knew what she was going in here to do, but she didn't know what she would face. She pushed the fear away and decided she had to be brave. The galaxy needed her to do this. So she could be strong enough to cut the head off the snake. The dark chasm was illuminated suddenly by a ghostly green light in the distance that travelled towards them at some speed. Dara was glued to the spot. She let out a strangled scream when it came close enough to hitting her. It stopped short, however. For a second the other version of herself flickered out of view. She was the only real person here. She needed to remember that. She was actually all alone in this big temple. The other Dara was just part of a test. And Obi Wan was dead. He was part of the Force now.
They walked together deeper into the bowels of the massive stone structure, the small green light guiding their way. Obi Wan was a silent companion. He would not offer his council here. He was simply being there. He was witnessing her. She couldn't see what lay beyond the shadows. She was scared to step out of the light. They were passing a doorway that led into another room, when she heard it. The voice. It was familiar but so quiet.
"If you step out of the light and go fully into darkness, you become me. Fair warning. Just saying." Her eyes snapped to the Dark-side version of herself. She gazed back at her with nonchalance. Was she lying to her? She wasn't even real. She couldn't afford to chance it. The voice she heard was so familiar. What was it saying?
"Dara…" That sent a shiver down her spine. She turned to the voice. The light was moving forward very slowly. It was her mother's voice. No. Her mother wasn't here. Her mother was back on base.
"Nice try." she said with a smirk.
"Ooh, she's getting smart now. How… dull." She could have stuck the other woman. If she were real. Dara walked forward slowly, keeping pace with the light. It wasn't long until she heard more voices calling out to her. But she knew what this temple was about now. She knew that to forsake the Light side of the Force she would have to leave behind all the people she loved. This was a journey of sorts. The bored and Dark Dara strolled along beside her, whilst Obi Wan maintained his presence, like a vigil. She supposed he was the epitome of the Light side. It was only appropriate that he be here.
She brushed a cob-web from her smooth, cold face as they plunged into what appeared to be the oldest part of the Temple yet. Then she heard him scream in pain.
"DAAAAARAAAAAA! HELP ME! PLEASE!" A long strangled scream came afterwards. She went cold all over and broke out into a sweat. Her heart thumped in her chest, and her breaths did not come so easily now. Just out of the light, outside her field of vision, screamed the voice of her beloved pilot. Poe. The man she loved. She stopped short, her feet nearly tripping over themselves. "No… no… NOOOOOOOOO STOP IT PLEASE!" She felt as though she was going to be sick. She took one step towards the darkness, away from the light.
"Who's that? Your girlfriend? She sounds like a real wimp. I'd love to torture her myself. Then I'd really make her scream." Dara turned on her heel and stared at her alternate self, who was casually examining her own fingernails. She could feel her own eyes growing wide in fury at that cavalier statement. She made a run at the other woman, drawing back her fist, but she simply staggered through thin air. Of course. She wasn't really there. She was in Dara's head.
"Now if you're quite done being a sensitive little bitch, we can get a move on." The other Dara stalked after the small green light. Dara took one look back to the place where she had last heard Poe's voice. That would be the last time she heard him and felt anything at all.
She jogged after the light, and nearly walked into someone. She looked up at the one of the only people who had ever been taller than her. His grey hair and slightly wrinkled face smiled down at her. His scent was familiar. Engine oil and tobacco. Her heart skipped a beat and she threw her arms around him without a second's hesitation.
"Hey Captain." he said, and to her surprise, her arms connected with real living breathing flesh.
"Dad…" she gasped. Tears spilled from her eyes, and her arms tightened around his neck. She felt very much like a little girl all over again.
"Listen, sweety, you don't need to do this. You're plenty powerful on your own. It's not muscle that's gonna win this thing. It's brains. Use your smarts." It was Han Solo's voice. Was it really him, or was the temple tricking her? She would have given anything to see him one last time, and here he was. But she couldn't be sure of him. The eerie green light had stopped moving. It had become a more hearty gold colour. It wavered in the air before a large oak tree, that had luminous acorns that cast glittering light all over the room. She gazed up at it with wide eyes. "You don't need no damn tree, Captain. You're Dara Solo! You can beat anything. You're my little girl. I know you can do anything." She looked back at her dad, and saw those kindly eyes she had been seeing all her life. Dara had been blessed with the best father in the galaxy. She would fight anyone who said otherwise.
Dara felt tears streaming down her face. She stepped back from her father and drank as much of him in as she could. She knew he would not stay here forever.
"Are you really here, or are you just a trick?" her voice trembled, but she had to know. Her alternate self, blessedly, remained silent.
"I'm here honey. I'm really here. I can't stay for long, but I can't let you do this."
"Dara Solo." Another voice spoke her name. A voice she had never heard before. Her father, walked away from her towards the tree, where he sat under the boughs, his eyes on her. She tore her eyes away to stare at the short woman who stood next to a tall man. The woman was beautiful and delicate. She knew her face as well as she knew her own.
"Queen Amidala…" she breathed. Her grandmother, and one of her heroes. The man beside her was someone she did not quite know, but somehow she knew him to be her grandfather. The man Ben prayed to. Anakin Skywalker.
"Think of your people, my child. They need their Princess. They cannot afford to lose you. You can be strong without this stolen power. You do not need to sacrifice who you are for victory."
"Temptation from powers beyond you is the path to the Dark Side. Do not fall as I fell. Do not fall as Ben has fallen. You are Tempest. You are strong enough. Remember who you are and what you can be." Anakin looked pained and contrite as he spoke. He was young. As young as he had been when he had become Darth Vader and been installed inside that suit. The sight of him scared her. He looked as normal as she did, but she knew what he had become. If ever there had been a cautionary tale…
The darker version of herself seemed to flinch away from the ghosts who seemed to come from the tree of power. But she bolstered herself and stepped in front of Dara.
"You need to decide what the fuck you're doing. You came here for power. For the Greater Good. You can become me. Be powerful in the dark secrets of the Force. You can remain as you are and struggle as you have been doing since you failed to learn to tie your own shoe laces. Or we can meet each other halfway, and all the power of the Force can be ours. Your choice. Bad bitch. Boring bitch. Or powerful bitch." Her alternate self was so grating, but she was right. There was a choice to be made, but she didn't know what she wanted anymore. She looked at her dad again. He didn't want her to do this. Could she ever bring herself to do something he didn't want for her? She had always been his little girl. She couldn't let him down, not even now.
"Choose wisely, young one." Obi Wan's voice came in a very quiet wave that washed over her. He had been a man of few words to her. But what he said was always wise and poignant. She stared at the tree, all the people under it, and then back to her alternate self. Her last thoughts before she acted, were of Poe.