Part II
Songfic – "Halo"
09:05:23 hours
A beautiful melody rose through the air. Tionne had begun to sing. It was not an elegy for her fallen master, but instead, the gift of hope. At the sound of her voice, her husband's hand was stayed with the blade mere millimeters from Luke's chest.
Luke turned to Tionne and loosened his Force hold on her. She walked to him and placed her hand on her husband's wrist, bidding him to shut the lightsaber down. Kam did so, and then stepped back and allowed Tionne to kneel in front of Luke and place both hands on his shoulders. She sang to him the song that his wife had sung to him before their wedding. It was a private song between husband and wife – Mara's gift to him. It was a song of Mara's gratitude and faith and love she had for her Luke. Luke's mouth dropped open as he heard Tionne sing the words. How did she know this song? And then he felt the Force flowing through him from Tionne's hands on his shoulders. It was Tionne's soothing presence, but it was also something else. "Tionne, what – ?"
Then he felt it. Mara
He saw in Tionne's mind how Mara had made a holocron of the song and had given it to Tionne. Tionne was the Jedi archivist, and Mara had wanted to preserve this song so that future Jedi could see why Luke's New Jedi Order did not forbid attachments as the Old Order had. She'd wanted to show that love made the Jedi strong.
And so Luke felt his wife's love flow through him by way of Tionne's voice. He heard again after so many years the words his wife had sung to him. She'd told him in the song that he was her angel and her saving grace. And how his Light had hit her like a ray of sun, and how it had burnt through any darkness in her and had shown her how to live in the Light. She'd told him that his Light was so bright that she could see a halo around him. And she'd told him that she hoped it never faded away.
As Tionne continued to sing Luke felt his anger subside. The dark storm of hatred inside of him became like a light summer rain. Luke thought of the day Mara sung the song to him. They'd gone to his home world shortly before their wedding because he'd wanted to complete an ancient Tatooinian pre-wedding ritual with her. They'd stayed at his old homestead, and she'd stood in front of him barefoot in the sand on the ridge outside the house. Her sea-blue silk nightgown had looked like an oasis against the barren desert. He had been wearing just sleep pants. A light breeze made her red-gold hair flow behind her, and, as dawn broke, the midnight blue sky behind her melted into a gorgeous array of purple and orange. He had stood before her and she'd looked deeply into his eyes and simply sang. Her voice was crystalline. When she'd finished, Luke had breathed to her that no, she was the one who had saved him, and she was the angel. Sometime in the middle of her song he'd started to cry because he'd been so moved, and he was worried that she'd think less of him for doing so. When Mara opened her mouth to speak he'd braced himself, thinking she'd say something rather caustic about it, as was her way. Instead she'd shown him another side of herself – a side that she only showed to him, he realized later – and she'd placed her hand over his heart and said only "I love you, Luke. Your Light is my hope. Don't ever lose it." He'd taken her into his arms then. His bare chest had pressed against her as her silk gown slipped to the ground. Best friends, lovers, soul mates. They would be together again. The light summer rain in his heart evaporated as he began to blaze with love and Light from his beloved wife.
Luke blinked as the last notes of the song came from Tionne's lips. He and Mara would be together again. But not yet.
Tionne took her hands and placed them on either side of Luke's face. "Mara once said that all it took to lift the Emperor's veil from her eyes was a long walk in the forest with you. That after she had come to know Luke Skywalker, it was easy to step into the light. Be that man again, Luke."
Luke nodded, and, with deep gratitude, he hugged his friend. He thanked her and looked up at Kam and gave him the same grateful nod. Luke was still on his knees, though he was now resting on his heels. He felt too overwhelmed to get up just yet so he stayed there for many moments.
All the other Jedi in the room moved from underneath the tables to surround their master. They offered their silent support by simply standing as if in guard around him while Tionne moved out of the way and allowed Ben to rush in and give his father a crushing hug that rivaled a Wookie's in strength. Luke let himself feel his grief, and he did not hide his tears any longer.