A/N

In this chapter, the conversations go further into the history and the nature of the galaxy, the Jedi and the Force. Expect several revisits of the famous saga moments – in meditative conversation, of course – with some deep and possibly heart-warming philosophical and spiritual reevaluations. Enjoy the read!

Luke watched toward the horizon where the distant brilliance of the snowy sun-bathed Thaos Mountains competed with that of the sea and the golden beaches. The soothing sound of the waterfall, mingled with that of the distant crashing waves and the howling mountain wind, seemed to transport his mind and heart toward the mysterious that lies beyond the horizon. "How is the Beyond like?" he asked his companions.

"Oh, my brother," Enoch replied with a glimmer of blissful experience over his face, "the eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which the One has prepared for them that love him."

"Despite far-reaching corruption, people in this galaxy have used their One-given talents to bring much beauty into it," Elijah added. "And despite being stained by the workings of invisible inimical legions, the nature created by the One still reflects an invigorating measure of its original charms," he paused, smiling as his eyes brightened with awe. "Yet the most beautiful places of this galaxy are only a bland, pale imitation of the wonders of the Beyond."

"One of the reasons why the Enemy asked for this galaxy", Moses picked up, "is because his heart was homesick for the Beyond, and a vastness of untainted galaxy could give some sense of the paradise he lost. When he came here and saw the perfection of a newly created galaxy, it soothed him. But moments after, it only awakened his anger for being cast out of the Beyond. Full of hatred, he immediately began working out his plan against the One."

"He even hoped for a time," Elijah said with disgust in his tone, "that he could build a massive galactic army with which he could ascend to the throne of the One and wipe him out of existence before he created anything else," he paused in unbelief, as if he heard it for the first time. "He bioengineered a species which he used as a slave race, bound by the darkness of the inimical spirits to build gigantic spaceships and weapons powered by the supernatural dark power itself."

"Infinite Empire of the Rakata," Luke said thoughtfully. "I heard about such things. The stories tell of a space station called the Star Forge, which was powered both by dark powers and the sun. It would loom over a system for several days, until it extinguished its star. The undeveloped peoples of the system planets, ignorant of what was happening, were thus led to a brink of death. Then the Rakata came, presenting themselves as their saviors and gods. They hauled them onto their massive slave ships where those peoples worshipped them and did every despicable thing they were bid to do. It sounded too horrible to be true."

"It is true, my brother," Elijah said with a breaking voice. "This galaxy has seen immense suffering. That is why the One never planned for our defected world to grow beyond itself. He will end its history before the disease of sin could be spread further."

"But why did he permit such things in our galaxy?" Luke frowned.

"You know the story," Enoch said, "he permitted the Enemy to use some of my wicked generation for his twisted show. Though it pained the One, those were utterly corrupted people who chose the Enemy with their whole hearts. They were beyond redemption. Yet, as soon as the new generation was born, the One began to strive with their consciences. They rejected him, and this continued for many generations. That is why the early history of your galaxy belongs to the darkest chapters this universe has ever seen," he paused, sitting quietly.

Luke turned to look at Enoch, witnessing a solemn grief on his face. Moses and Elijah stared toward the horizon with somber expressions on their faces.

Elijah said in a low voice, „We did not just see or hear the history bits that were shown to us. We felt it," he said, choking out the words. „The unfallen angelic spirits, the loyal ones... Their way to preserve history also preserves their feelings of what they saw. And they are unimaginably emphatic beings," he faltered. "They felt a lot."

All were silent for a long, sullen minute.

„In spite of the horrible early history," Enoch regained his voice, „as soon as the first settler responded to the voice of the One, he began working mightily to counteract the evil in this galaxy. Any listening to the voice of the One can be understood as a vote for him in an invisible democracy."

Luke was glad the gloomy episode was coming to an end.

"This first adherence to the voice of the One in this galaxy," Enoch said with pride, "brought great dishonor to the Enemy. His whole effort was despised by the unfallen spirits of the Beyond and the record keepers of the unfallen planets. Yet the Enemy maintained that he will conquer all the hearts of the galaxy and implement peace and order without the law of love."

"Instead," Elijah said, "the One began winning thousands of hearts. Some of them founded the Je'daii Order, which grew to became the Jedi Order."

Luke's eyes were widened in surprise.

"You have heard the story that the Sith Order was founded by the rogue Jedi," Enoch paused. "The truth is inverse. The Jedi Order was founded by the rogue Sith who began listening to the voice of the One," he said with delight in his voice. "Still, it was so natural for them to use the Force powers that they couldn't even begin to imagine the world without this daily wielding of the supernatural powers. But, since their heart motives have become purified through listening to the voice of the One, he acquired the right to lend them his own power when they thought they were using their own abilities to control the Force."

"Yes," Moses picked up, "They did sense some danger, but instead of concluding that they should detach themselves from power-wielding, they felt that the danger came from attachment to persons and they prohibited marriage, which caused so much anxiety and confusion in the lives of the innumerable Jedi throughout history," he paused. "But, in spite of their shortcomings, the Jedi were, unbeknownst to themselves, some of the strongest followers of the voice of the One."

Listening to the last sentence, Luke felt as if a huge burden was being lifted off his heart.

"The Enemy began to hate the Jedi most of all the people in the galaxy," Enoch continued. "He constantly devised ways to overthrow them or entice them to join the dark side. Since using angelic powers is not natural for humans or any other planet-dwellers, they were often an easy prey to the inimical spirits who whispered to them and seduced them to seek even more power for themselves."

That sentence checked Luke's rising spirit. Though they were not the bad guys themselves, it seemed the Jedi still walked too close to the risky, inimical channels.

"Yet for thousands of years," Enoch said with an exuberant voice, "it seemed that the One got the upper hand – and peace and order, though not universal in the galaxy, reigned in great measure due to the influence of the One on the Jedi and the Old Republic."

"It seemed almost," Elijah said, "as if the law of love was being vindicated, while the cause of the Enemy, for which he came in here, seemed to rapidly lose credibility. It even led some in the Inimical Army to openly express disapproval of the Enemy and suggest finding a new leader amongst themselves to return immediately to our planet, where they hoped to achieve more success due to their overwhelming numbers. In their blindness, they forgot that the One was infinitely more powerful than their entire army."

"The Enemy pointed out their folly," Moses picked up the story, "and presented anew that their best chance is here, where – thanks to his inimical majesty – they have a permission to prosper their cause on a galactic scale. He denounced the slightest idea of willfully returning to one miserable, claustrophobic planet," he paused. "The critics were dealt with most harshly. They were demoted to the lowest level and given the least interesting tasks which, in addition, they had to perform without any of their own creativity. They were fully bound to the will of their superiors, who enjoyed to play with them in the cruelest ways."

"If you wonder," Elijah added, "how the Inimical Army operates, history of the Sith is an accurate, though pale illustration. They must work together for their common dark cause, yet they loathe each other and constantly seek ways how to rise above one another," he paused. "All of that is a continual reproduction of the primordial desire for supremacy that the Enemy originated in the Beyond when he coveted the position of the One."

Luke thought back to the story of the Lightbearer's fall.

"The Enemy announced that the most brilliant part of his plan is yet to come," Enoch continued the story, "and, after expounding it, won the confidence of his army back. Little by little, he began to instill arrogance among the Jedi, which limited the right of the One to lend them his power. After centuries of growing complacency, the Jedi were shadowed by a great blindness for the workings of the followers of the dark side."

"With painstaking patience," Moses picked up, "the Enemy set the final stage for the overthrowing of the Jedi through his most faithful servant, Dark Lord Sidious, who in front of the noses of the Jedi plotted their destruction. And Anakin..." He sighed.

"Anakin," Elijah repeated the name, "the most tragic character in the whole plot." He looked at Luke with a pained expression, "Your father was so gullible. A deadly brew of good intentions and arrogance," he paused. "There is a proverb on our planet that says, 'The road to hell is paved by good intentions.' Though hell, in fact, does not exist, if ever that saying was true, it was for your father."

Luke sighed heavily, his posture bent as he recalled the familiar story.

"Good intentions," Elijah continued, "are never enough if not guided by the spirit of the One. With the same heinous distrust he originated in the Beyond, the Enemy inspired your father's distrust towards the Jedi," he paused, wincing. "Yet, with every day, there was more reason to doubt the Jedi and the Senate, as arrogance, corruption, and lack of empathy began to prevail throughout the Republic. The terrible mistake of the Jedi Council towards Ahsoka lent additional fuel to your father's doubts." He sighed. "The Enemy was pulling the strings with devilish brilliance."

"He was." Luke was looking downward.

"If only your father was equally distrustful of himself," Elijah said, "but his distrust towards the Jedi was proportionate to his self-confidence and ambition. He thought he could solve all the problems by himself. And this self-centered benevolence, coupled with selfish consideration of only his own destiny – which he believed was to become very unhappy with the loss of the person he loved most – led him to blindly trust the greatest enemy of the Jedi."

"Well, isn't this proof that love ought to be banished from the heart of a Jedi?" Luke asked.

"To the contrary," Moses responded. "If one Jedi institution should be blamed for the fall of Anakin, it would be the unnatural institution of celibacy."

In shock, Luke turned to see the reactions of Elijah and Enoch. They nodded in agreement with Moses, smiling almost mischievously.

"Yes, Luke," Moses continued, "the secrecy of your parents' marriage contributed immensely to the distrust and growing distance between your father and the Jedi Council. And the closer association with and trust toward them could have made the difference that would have saved your father from the fall."

"Well, Palpatine would still have sent the visions of Padme's death. Therefore, only detachment from any love would have saved him," Luke countered.

"If he had been closer to the Jedi Masters," Moses insisted, "he could have discerned by their help that the visions were a plot coming from a Sith Lord," he paused. "The love-driven attachment was not his downfall. It was the selfishness which he mixed with it."

Luke turned away slowly, his eyes wide with reevaluation.

"Say, my brother," Elijah began his question to Luke, "has detachment saved you in the Emperor's throne room?" he paused. "Was it not the love of your father that saved you?"

Luke clutched at his chest as his heart began racing.

"Look back to the history of your father and say... when was he most detached?"

It was not a difficult question. But the revelations were overwhelming. "When he..." Luke stuttered as he turned back. "As... as Darth Vader." He looked into Elijah's eyes as a young child seeking solace.

"That is the truth," Elijah said gently. "In that dreadful period of his life, he was utterly detached, willfully devoid of any love and compassion." He gazed significantly into Luke's eyes. "And it was your attachment to him as your father that awakened the same in him; it was your affectionate belief in him that reminded him how he used to care, your persistent acceptance that showed him it was not too late for him," he paused.

Tears began rolling down Luke's cheeks as he realized he was fighting against what mattered most in the galaxy, what mattered most to his father.

"Love is what saved him, Luke," Elijah said as he affectionately embraced the shoulders of the most beloved Jedi. "Not force. You showed that yourself when you refused to fight him."

Luke was sobbing quietly, the feelings of regret and relief mingling as he realized the truth that was so long ignored by the Jedi Order but understood by his father.

Elijah waved slowly across the skies. "All the angelic hosts of the One and all the record keepers of the innumerable worlds were astonished. The leader of the unfallen angelic army, the one who replaced the Lightbearer, immediately requested of the One to begin preparations for the revelation of the truth to you, because he knew you have done it in the spirit of the One – the same spirit that strengthened the One in his mortal life to not give up on humans, even when it meant his death."

A thick cloud passed over the mount behind them.

"Oh the Enemy fought hard against it," Moses added. "As he realized his time was short, he began intensifying his war efforts on many fronts and was presenting one reason after another why the revelation of the existence of the One cannot be introduced to this galaxy and how that violates the war agreements. It took us decades to win the battle."

A strong breeze rippled the surrounding grass and flowers as the cloud passed.

"In the end, he agreed only on one condition," Moses said, "that all the Jedi – meaning you, all your students, and all the future Jedi – must relinquish all their powers which come from the One, or be permanently surrendered to the control of the Enemy," he paused. "And here we are – vessels chosen for this revelation."

Tiny particles of sand rose from the viewing platform as the thick cloud continued his pass accompanied by the wind.

"Since Ben was under severe attack of the Enemy," Elijah said, "the One first sent us to him. He felt something was wrong inside him and he was running up the mountain to flee from it. Yet, at the same time, this ascent issued from his inner ambition, which he was increasingly embracing."

"There is nothing wrong with climbing the mountain," Enoch added. "In a literal as in a figurative sense. The One loves to see his children grow in knowledge, strength, and influence," he paused. "But selfish ambition climbs alone. Love, on the other hand, descends to the deepest valley of despair to reach people trapped therein, and then climbs with them."

The cloud finally passed, the wind ceased, and the sun resumed its shine, appearing even more brilliant than before, though in the afternoon golden hue. The waterfall reflected its brightness in otherworldly flashes of light, dancing in the spectrum of colors.

"That is what the One did," Elijah said with adoration in his voice, "when he climbed down from his omnipotent and omniscient throne to our poor sin-stricken planet."

"Where can I see how that looked?" Luke's thirst for the knowledge of this entity, who seemed as an embodiment of love, grew stronger with every moment. "I want to see his life, his way of talking, his way of dealing with the people," he said with eagerness in his voice.

"Dear brother," Moses answered, "that is like the most beautiful music of the Beyond to our ears." Others smiled in agreement. Then Moses got out an old-looking book and gave it to Luke. "In this book," he said. "You will see the One."

Luke took the book and gently stroked its unattractive plain leather cover. It didn't seem like he could find wonders within.

"The most valuable things often do not look great in the eyes of the world," Elijah said, "or the galaxy."

They enjoyed quietly the golden hour before the sunset, which on Corellia seemed as bright as the zenith sun. Yet, it took only a few minutes for that bright sun to disappear over the horizon.

"It is time to go back to our poor lonely krahbus," Moses said. On that word, the company of goodly strangers began walking off the viewpoint. Though they evidently enjoyed the perfection of this sunset, somehow they gave off the impression that they have seen much better.

Luke lingered in the soothing sound of the humble wellspring that imbibed the whole metropolitan region and basked a little while in the far-reaching view of the sea and the mountains. This spot will forever be sacred to him. It was the place of the most astonishing revelation of his life. There is something more powerful than force: the wellspring of life and change – love.

"Thank you," he whispered his first prayer to the One and hurried to catch up with the prophets.