Precipice by shadowsong26

Milestones: Chapter 6

Anakin stayed silent as Baze guided him back through Jedha City's winding back alleys, to the Temple and, more specifically, wherever the garbage chute Chirrut had mentioned was.

Their part of the operation, at least, had been a success. Baze had pointed out the target, and from there, they'd worked together pretty well-refining the broad "make some productive noise" plan on the fly. Baze was smart, and very good at what he did, if not all that talkative.

It had been a nice explosion, too. Attention-getting, effective, and well-contained with minimal damage to the surrounding buildings. He wasn't sure exactly what the target had been, but he trusted Baze to pick wisely. Even for a last-minute distraction like this.

And he was almost positive their exit had been clean. On any other day, he would probably have called this one of the best missions he'd been on in a long time. Even without Obi-Wan or Ahsoka or Rex along for the ride.

But today, he was still keyed up, unable to relax. Some of it, of course, was because Leia was off facing the unknown where he couldn't protect her-no matter how much work he'd put into calming himself down on the road here, letting her go and trusting her safety to someone else, even one of the Guardians, hadn't been easy.

Leia's got this, he reminded himself, for the hundredth time. We've trained her well. She is ready.

The other part, though-the other part was the way the kyber Temple itself was screaming, faintly, at the back of his skull. It wasn't the same, for so many reasons, but he couldn't help but remember another screaming Temple, thirteen years ago.

He perceived it as low-level pain, like a shard of glass buried in his shoulder-certainly not as all-consuming as his fear for his daughter-but sharp and distracting and constant.

The sooner we find Chirrut, the better, he thought grimly. I need to get out of my head a little bit. If I'm talking to someone, if I can have something else to focus on, maybe I can-stop hearing it. Just for a minute or two. Grieve later, when there's not so much at stake.

Fortunately, the next corner they rounded led them to an alley facing one of the Temple's walls; and Chirrut sitting on a stone step across from it, waiting for them. A pair of stormtroopers were slumped on the ground in front of him, out cold. For his part, Chirrut looked completely unruffled, and a little smug.

"You're late," he teased, as soon as they were close enough that he didn't have to shout.

Baze ignored him, taking in the scene with a glance and a faint, long-suffering sigh. "And you had to pick a fight."

"Who says I picked it, my friend?" Chirrut said. "I picked nothing. They found me."

"Hah."

In that moment, Anakin had a lot of sympathy for Rex, and Cody, and Yularen and the rest, for having to put up with him and Obi-Wan and Ahsoka bickering fondly in the middle of stressful situations.

He took a breath, let his irritation slide off him as best he could-which was not helped by those echoes of pain; which were much stronger standing in the Temple's shadow, without even a thin layer of the city's population as a buffer.

He locked it down as best he could.

"Leia?" he asked.

"Is where she needs to be," Chirrut assured him, more seriously. "She was inside before they rounded the corner. They never saw her."

"Good," he said.

"But we shouldn't linger here," Baze said.

"Agreed," Chirrut said, standing up and positioning his staff again. "I was only waiting for you. Shall we?"

And then-more waiting when we get to the exit, for who knows how long. More listening to the Temple scream.

He took another breath, and let it out. "Lead the way."

Climbing up the garbage chute had taken a lot less time than Leia had expected. Her shoulders weren't even starting to get sore from hauling herself up by hand, by the time she reached what seemed like the other end.

The inside of her head, though... that hurt, dully, like a half-healed broken bone. The Temple itself was in pain, and it echoed through the Force. She wasn't sure why she hadn't picked up on it from outside-maybe her senses just weren't that attuned yet.

Now that she was in the middle of it, though…

She wished she could do something. To ease its pain, or at least grant it some kind of justice for what had been done. But she was just one half-trained Jedi, and trying to intervene would only get her killed.

She reached the end of the shaft after about twenty minutes, stopped to catch her breath and her bearings, then carefully tried to push the access hatch open.

It gave, after a few seconds of shoving, but made a worrying, rusty-sounding screech that echoed all around her.

Leia froze, her heart thumping in her ears, trying to listen for running troops or digging machines heading her way.

No footsteps. Machines-yes, but muffled. Like they were on the other side of two or three thick stone walls. She was safe. For now.

She let out a breath and climbed out of the shaft to get a look around.

It was dark.

Whatever damage the Empire had done to the Temple, the roof was still intact and at least this particular corridor didn't have any windows to the outside.

But that was at least as much of an advantage as a disadvantage. The Force would probably keep her from tripping over any cracks in the floor or anything dumb like that, and if she let her eyes adjust, she'd see any troopers coming long before they saw her. Because they didn't have the Force to guide them.

...on the other hand, Baze's map in her pocket would need an actual light to see, and she should probably keep an eye on it all along. Even if she might not really need it until she was on her way out.

"Okay," she whispered and it echoed.

...better keep my mouth shut, she decided. But, yeah. ...actually, I should probably get a light handy, but keep it off as much as possible. Right? Best of both options.

She had a little mini-flashlight in one of her belt pouches-part of the kit Aunt Beru had put together for her ages ago, in case she ever got separated from Dad or one of the others when they took her off-planet. A couple ration bars, dry tinder and a striker, the flashlight, a mini-condenser, and bandages and a couple emergency meds.

Leia was just glad she hadn't left it on the Waterfall.

She played with the settings on the flashlight for a few seconds, finding the dimmest one where she could still make out the map, then flipped it off again and waited for her eyes to adjust.

After a few minutes, with the rough stone of the wall a comforting anchor point against her back, Leia could pick out dim, fuzzy shapes in the gloom. She pushed away from the wall-leaving one hand on it as a guide, just in case-and after a moment's thought, turned left.

She wandered for what felt like hours. Of course, she didn't actually have any kind of chrono with her-that, she had left on the Waterfall, since it felt sort of wrong for this. Besides, the Temple was probably going to test her on her weaknesses, and she knew as well as anyone that patience was one of them.

So, she wasn't totally sure how long she'd been in here, but she was starting to get a little worried. She probably didn't have all that much time. It wasn't like she and Dad could stay on Jedha forever; there was work to do and an Empire to fight out there. Besides, all her aunts and uncles would worry. She figured she needed to find her crystal and make her way out by morning, at the very latest, or they'd be in real trouble.

But each turn she took, occasionally stopping to double check Baze's map, looked just like the last one. Aunt 'Soka and Uncle Rex had taught her how to navigate through mazes even when she couldn't see, at least, so she knew she wasn't actually going around in circles, even if it felt like she was.

And the Temple was still aching in her mind, and she could still hear the Imperial machines digging, faintly off in the distance, too; it wasn't getting any louder, at least, so there was that.

She'd finally found something that felt new-a steep, narrow staircase; almost more like a ladder-and was trying to decide whether to go up or down, when-

"You could burn it all down, you know," a voice said behind her.

Leia spun around, drawing herself up and ready to fight whoever had managed to sneak up on her. With her flashlight, or her bare hands, if she had to.

There was a woman standing there in the shadows, leaning casually against the wall in a sleek, dark jumpsuit with her hair braided and pinned up and out of the way. She was maybe Dad's age; and Human, Leia was pretty sure, but her eyes shone in the darkness. She reminded Leia of something like a krayt dragon, or maybe one of those wild feline predators she and Uncle Rex had run into that one time; napping lazily for the moment, maybe, but not safe to ignore.

This stranger, Leia was certain, was at least as dangerous as a dragon or a wild cat.

But she was also not quite real.

The woman smiled, and it was not a friendly smile. "You catch on pretty quick, kid."

"Who are you?" she asked, cautiously lowering her hands-they wouldn't do much good here anyway-but not dropping her guard.

"Oh, you'll find out," she replied, pushing away from the wall and moving to circle Leia.

But Leia wasn't stupid and she turned with her, watching her closely. "You're not real, which means the Temple sent you. You're my test."

"Test?" The woman paused. "Hmm. No. More like a lesson."

All kinds of warning bells were going off in Leia's head-this woman felt wrong, skin-crawlingly wrong, like looking into a bent mirror.

But maybe that was the test. Lesson. Whatever. Patience, sure, but maybe...maybe especially with the entire galaxy at stake, the Force wanted to see how she would respond to this before it armed her.

Or maybe the Temple was too badly damaged, too corrupted by the Empire's mining efforts, and this was a true Dark Side shade.

Either way-either way, this wasn't something Leia could ignore. And it wasn't something she could fight, either. She had to find another way around. She couldn't get her crystal until she had. That much, she was sure of.

And finding out what this woman had to say would be useful- there is no ignorance, there is knowledge. She couldn't decide how to do that until she knew what she was up against.

"What kind of lesson?" she asked.

"Like I said," she said. "That fire is in you. Just like it's in me. You really could burn it all down, if you wanted to. And don't you want to? After everything that's been done to your family-to everyone living in this galaxy?"

Her initial reaction was to snap back at the vision, because that had to be a trap. It was too obvious to be anything else.

"Think about it, Leia," the vision said. "Really think, before you answer."

Or maybe-maybe it was the opposite. It was so obvious, that it couldn't be a trap.

And, maybe it was a shade influencing her, or maybe it was the desperate pain leaking into the air, but for a moment, whether she meant to or not, whether it was right or not, Leia couldn't help but think of all the reasons her vision wasn't totally wrong.

She thought of Mom and Luke and the constant danger they were in on Coruscant, on everything that would be done to them if their secrets were found out, or just if the Emperor wanted to hurt them.

She thought of Dad and Aunt 'Soka and Uncle Obi-Wan and everything they'd lost.

She thought of Uncle Rex and the bad dreams he pretended not to have.

She thought of the very Temple she was standing in, and the faint hum of Imperial mining equipment ripping it apart.

The Empire had done all of that.

And she felt it building inside her, the righteous fury, the need for justice. To write all these wrongs.

The fire. Just like her vision had said.

"See?" the vision said, laughing. "You feel it now, don't you? It's always been there. All you have to do is unleash it, and the Emperor and everyone else like him will burn."

It was so, so tempting.

And wasn't this what everyone had been working towards since before she was born? Burning the Empire to the ground?

The Temple shivered around her, and she paused, blinked, shook her head to clear it.

This is wrong.

She didn't know how she knew it, exactly, but all at once she did.

Yes, she could burn everything down. But that didn't mean she should. Not like this. She had to find a better way to fight back. And that was why she was here-to find a crystal so she could do this right.

But first, she had to earn it. And if she gave in to this-this toxic sense of right, if she let herself be ruled by it, she never, ever would.

Feeling it in the first place didn't make her a bad person. How she dealt with it was what mattered.

It was like what she and Aunt 'Soka had talked about ages ago. No one ever automatically just knew the right thing to do. Not all the time. Not even Uncle Obi-Wan. They disagreed, they leaned on each other when they weren't sure, they asked for help. And sometimes they still messed up, because it was hard.

But they always tried.

She didn't-she didn't have anyone to lean on here. But she had herself, and all the things she'd learned over the years-as a Jedi and just as a person.

And I can be better than this.

So she took a breath, let it and that white-hot sense of Righteousness out at once; squared her shoulders, and stared right into the stranger's glowing eyes.

Which were-

She could see it now. Those were her eyes, older and harder and turned golden and sickly-sweet with rot.

Later, she told herself, firmly, when all she wanted to do was yelp and back away. React later. It's not real. It's not me. Not really. Bent mirror. Just a bent mirror. Don't pretend it isn't there, because it probably is, but don't-don't assume it's all there is. Because that's as good as giving in and we are not letting her win, okay? Okay. Good.

"Yeah," she said, quietly, proud of how steady her voice actually was. "I could do that. And yeah, part of me wants to. But that doesn't mean I should. And it definitely doesn't mean I will."

"Really?" her older not-self said, with a faint, amused smile. "I'm almost disappointed."

"Sorry," Leia said, and grinned back at her, as close to Aunt 'Soka's pointy Challenge Smile as she could muster when part of her still wanted to deny all of this or burst into tears or run away and part of her wanted to give over talking or proving herself or whatever and just stab this monster who had her face. "I want to be better than that. Better than you. And I will be."

"We will see," the vision said, and gave a mocking half-bow, and vanished.

Leia held still for a moment, just in case she came back. But she heard nothing but the drilling, felt nothing but the dull ache in the Temple around her.

She slumped against the wall, letting out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. All the adrenaline of the confrontation left her at once, leaving only the horror and guilt at what she'd come so close to doing.

At what might still be her-

Not yet. Not yet, don't fall apart yet, this isn't over yet. Or-or is it? Was that it? The test? Did I pass? …I still don't have a crystal. I should just keep moving…

Her legs, though, didn't seem to want to listen to her right now; and her hands were shaking.

Because, yeah, she knew that she wasn't always nice, especially inside her head. And she knew she sometimes needed Luke or Uncle Obi-Wan or Dad or Aunt 'Soka to show her the right thing to do.

But to see it like this…

She sniffed a little and ran her arm across her face, not really surprised to see she'd started crying, somewhere along the line.

Okay. Okay, I can stay here another minute. Just until I'm a little bit steadier. Just until…just until the aftertaste fades a bit. One more minute. Then I have a Mission.

"Are you all right?"

Leia jumped and turned to see another woman, more visible than she should be in the dark, with her hair braided and pinned up and out of the way in almost the same style as the first; wearing a soft-looking tunic and leggings cut along the same lines as what Uncle Obi-Wan usually wore, when he wasn't pretending to be someone else for a mission.

She was older than the other had been, probably actually somewhere around Uncle Obi-Wan's age; worn and weary, but unbent. It was a lot easier-maybe because she was kind of half-expecting it, or maybe because the first vision had been so wrong, or maybe just because Leia hadn't wanted to see it before-to recognize herself in this woman's eyes.

"Um," she said.

"It's okay if you're not," the second vision said. "It's never easy to face down the dark parts of your own heart."

Leia nodded. "Is...is she…" she started, then took a breath to steady herself and forced the question out. "Is she my future? Or are you?"

"Both," she said. "And neither. You've gotten the 'future is always in motion' lecture by now, right?"

"Sure," Leia said, and something deep inside of her unknotted a little. Because, of course, she knew that. She shouldn't have let it get to her that much, really. It was just a vision, and visions didn't always come true.

"She's your potential," she said. "And so am I. Both of us are possible, at least from where you stand now. But whether you become one of us or someone completely different is in your hands."

"Okay," she said, wiping away the tears again. "I mean. I know that. But…"

She smiled wryly. "Yeah, knowing it is one thing, but actually coming face to face with your potential darkness is something else."

"Yeah," Leia said, and smiled back, a little shakily.

Her older self-her other potential-turned serious again for a moment. "But she's not wrong. You are- we are-a child of fire. You do have it in you to burn it all down. If you truly wanted to."

"I...I know," Leia said, sliding down the wall to sit, hugging her knees to her chest. After all, what she'd felt was real, even if where it might take her didn't have to be. "I just-I just don't know how to…" She stopped, not sure how to put it into words. "I mean, everything-everything Dad and Mom and Uncle Obi-Wan and Aunt 'Soka-it's all been to take down the Empire, right? Because the Empire is evil, and…and I can't not try to destroy it somehow. Right?"

"I'm not saying that," she replied. "Of course not. You're not wrong, and besides, it's your choice to make. All I'm saying is that you should be very sure, if you choose to set this kind of fire, that it's the right time and place. That you're doing it for the right reason. And," she added, with a faint shadow stealing across her face, "that you can tolerate the collateral. Because there will be collateral, even if you don't lose control."

"Oh," Leia said, and chewed on that for a moment. "That...that makes sense. Basically…basically, I shouldn't get caught up in it, like-I should stop and think things through, before I act."

"Pretty much," her vision said, then smiled wryly. "So simple, and yet. It's not something that comes easy to our family, is it?"

Leia thought about Dad, and her sixth birthday, and all the stories Uncle Rex and Uncle Obi-Wan and Aunt 'Soka had told her. And a few of the stories they'd told her about Mom, too. And some of the things she and Luke had talked about, when they met in their dreams. About their parents and themselves.

"No," she agreed. "No, it's not."

Her vision laughed, much warmer and nicer than the other one had, then shook her head. "My point is, the important thing is to remember that actions-which includes choosing not to act-have consequences. Sometimes, those consequences only affect you. Sometimes, they impact a lot of people."

It wasn't anything new, really-nothing she hadn't heard from Uncle Obi-Wan and Aunt Beru and everyone over and over-but it was one thing to be told, and another thing to feel it, like she had a few minutes ago.

She was really, really glad that she'd gotten the chance to face it in the abstract, here where it was just her and the Temple and the Force, before she'd come up against a test like that in reality, with a weapon in her hands. Maybe she'd be able to beat it again, maybe she wouldn't. But at least she knew what to look for. At least she'd have some way of knowing when she needed to take a step back and think it through.

Not easy, no. But not impossible, either.

"I understand, I think," Leia said.

"Maybe you do, and maybe you don't. But you will, in time," she promised. "So, think about it. These aren't easy questions, and they shouldn't have easy answers. Unfortunately, it's a lot easier to do harm than good. Especially when you burn like we do. Trust me on that one."

"Yeah," she said. "I do."

She considered her for a moment, then nodded, apparently satisfied with what she saw. "I think you'll be all right," she said. "But I also think our time here is just about up. You still have to find your way out, and you probably don't want to stick around after dawn."

Leia blinked. It wasn't that she'd forgotten about all the potential dangers waiting for her outside the Temple, exactly, just...it took her a second to switch gears.

"Did something happen? Is Dad in trouble?"

"Whether or not he is now, the explosion from last night will be investigated," her vision pointed out. "And the city is tense enough as it is already. Baze and Chirrut can handle themselves-this is their home ground, and it's not the first time they've tangled with the occupying forces. But I don't think you or your father should be here when the inquiry really gets underway."

"…point."

The vision offered her a hand up, and Leia accepted it, feeling something small and hard and warm press into her fingers as she stood.

"Thank you," she said, and bowed, withdrawing her hand and clinging tight to the crystal in her palm.

I did it.

Somehow, it was heavier than she'd expected.

The vision smiled. "May the Force be with you," she said, and vanished.

Leia waited another moment, then slowly opened her hand to see the crystal. It was small, maybe half as long as her thumb, and irregular. Not at all like the shaped rocks lining the little shelf in her bedroom at the farm, that Dad brought home every year for her birthday, or whenever he thought she needed a present, but it reminded her of them all the same. Warm to the touch and soaked in some kind of feeling, or memory.

She probably could've stayed there, staring at it, for at least another hour or so, but a distant thud from one of the mining rigs jerked her back to the present.

Right. Time to go.

She closed her hand again, and fumbled for her map and flashlight to figure out her next step.

Okay…I think I'm here, which means…down two levels, then cut across to the west, and I should find the exit before too much longer.

It was lucky, really, that she'd had her visions in this hallway.

She tucked the map and flashlight back in her bag and, after making sure her crystal was still secure, felt her way over to the stairs to began her descent.

Anakin, Baze, and Chirrut had been waiting beside a featureless stretch of aching wall for hours, and he had somehow managed not to go half-mad with worry.

These things take time, he reminded himself. You were in the cave on Ilum for twice this long.

He probably should try meditating, if only to calm himself down, but he'd rather stay fully present for when she came out. He had taken a quick look around a little while ago, to make sure they were still clear (but really to have something to do), and was considering doing that again, when-

"She's coming," he said, relieved. Finally. "Where-?"

"About two meters up," Baze said. "Not far to fall."

He nodded, distracted, scanning the wall at the right height until a chunk of it slid aside, and his daughter's slightly dusty, but uninjured face poked out.

...she looked like she'd been crying, though. And he knew he couldn't ask, because whatever she'd seen was for her and her alone, but-hells. She'd been crying.

Without bothering to check if it was clear, he stepped out into the street where she could see him, and held out his arms for her to jump.

She gave him a quick, relieved smile, then came all the way out, and he held her close for a second.

She clung back for a second, then said, "Um, Dad? Metal arm, squishy ribs…"

"Sorry," he said, and let go, holding her at arms' length so he could be really sure she was okay.

"I'm fine," she said. "It was...weird. And hard. But I'm fine. And I got it." She gave him a tiny, proud smile, and opened her hand.

He grinned back at her, and ruffled her hair. "I'm so very proud of you, princess," he said, and hugged her again, more gently this time.

"Yeah, yeah," she said, ducking out of the way, but she stayed close as she turned to Chirrut and Baze and bowed, solemnly. "Thank you, again. For sharing your Temple with me."

"I'm glad we could help," Chirrut said, with a bow of his own. "And that the Force brought all of us together, if only for a moment."

She nodded. "I wish we could stay, and help you, but…"

"Better if you don't," Baze said.

"Yeah."

"You could come with us," Anakin said. Jedha might not be safe for you much longer, went unspoken. What was being done to the Temple here was-devastating. Even without the pain burning along the edges of his mind, he'd know that.

But the people who belonged to it were far more important. More than the building, more than any texts or history, maybe even more than the crystals. He didn't want probably the last of the Guardians to…

Chirrut shook his head. "Thank you, my friend," he said. "I appreciate your offer, and your concern. But the Force will protect us, and we will protect the Temple. I will stay here until I no longer can."

Baze stood silent beside him, but his answer was just as clear.

Anakin bowed his head. "I understand," he said. "May the Force of others be with you."

"Yes," Chirrut said, and grinned. "And I hope we meet again someday."

"Me, too," Anakin said.

"Thank you," Leia said again, quietly, with a solemn bow, her crystal held tight in her right fist. "For everything."

Chirrut nodded, then touched Baze's arm, and the two of them disappeared into the city.

Anakin let out a breath.

"What now?" Leia asked, looking up at him.

"Now," he said, "we get out of the city, back to the ship. We head somewhere quiet where you can build it, and then back to base to meet up with the others."

She nodded, and, without any other warning, took two quick steps and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight.

"Everything okay, princess?" he asked. Not that he was complaining, obviously, but Leia wasn't usually this clingy unless she was worried about something. And she'd been crying, and he still wouldn't- couldn't -ask what she'd seen in there, but...

"Yeah," she said. "Just...yeah." She pulled away after a second. "But we probably don't wanna get caught in the street."

"Probably not," he agreed. ...screw it. She's my daughter, and she's hurting. "...I won't ask, princess, but-"

"It's okay," she said. "I'm just glad you're here with me, Dad."

"Me, too," he said, and dropped the subject. Hopefully, she'd gotten the message, and she'd bring it up herself if she needed to talk.

We did it, he thought. We pulled it off. Well, most of it. The hard part, anyway. Now we just have to get off this moon, and we're home free.

"Come on, this way."

She nodded and fell into step beside him. And, as quietly as they could, they ghosted through the pre-dawn streets of Jedha City and away.

So. Anakin Skywalker was on Jedha. Alone.

Well. Not quite alone; he'd met up with a local troublemaker and made some noise. But none of the others in his cell-not Kenobi, not Tano, not the clone-were with him.

The being who had told Infernalis this reported only to him, so there was a reasonable chance-say, sixty percent or so-that he was the only one who knew. Which gave him a brief window of opportunity.

The question, of course, was how to use it.

Infernalis had, over the years since their first meeting in that factory years ago, encountered Skywalker and the others in his cell a dozen times or more. Sometimes by chance, sometimes by design-on their part, perhaps, or his Master's, or his own.

They had fought-face-to-face and cockpit-to-cockpit. They were finding a rhythm to it, almost. An engagement, which would end with one party or the other breaking away without securing any kind of final victory. The same dance, or so he'd heard, that Skywalker and Kenobi had perfected with his predecessor's predecessor during the Clone War. If he pursued Skywalker now, there was every reason to assume it would be just one more round of thrill and adrenaline crashing into dissatisfaction, until the next engagement-and the next disappointment.

Except.

Except there was something different this time. A sort of charge in the air-more than that, in the Galaxy itself. Infernalis hadn't needed his Master to point out the tension in the Force, a tension that had been gradually building over the last few days.

Change was coming.

A turning point.

He would be a fool to let this opportunity pass him by.

Of course, Infernalis couldn't very well approach Skywalker on Jedha. The moon was still important to his Master's plans, and with the way things were trending-well. Prior confrontations with Skywalker had been explosive enough, and Jedha was full of kyber crystals. Bringing this energy to a head there was a mistake.

But Skywalker probably wouldn't stay on Jedha for more than a day or so. And if Infernalis was close enough, and focused enough, the Force would guide him; those winds of change stirring behind his back would speed him in the right direction.

True, they could just as easily be pushing him towards his own death, but that was simply the way of the universe. Victory and death, and the knife's edge between them.

Change was coming. Opportunity was here.

And Infernalis would be a poor excuse for a Sith Lord if he didn't seize it.

Original Author's Notes: So sorry for the very late update-work got super busy and I went through three or four different versions of the middle part before settling on this one. This also turned out waaaaaaaay longer than I was expecting it to, whoops XD

Anyway, thank you all so much for your patience, and for stopping by! ~3 shadowsong