All characters that have been seen before in any Star Wars movie or written work are property of Lucasfilm, Ltd. All characters that have never been seen in any Star Wars movie or work are property of the author. Do not repost anywhere without the permission of the author!
Jedi Headquarters, Imperial City, Coruscant
Lainey's question had surprised Luke, but it wasn't anything he hadn't thought about before. Corran had been the one to first present it to Luke, after that it spread throughout the Jedi, becoming the generally accepted theory concerning Luke's training. It was blamed for his brushes with the dark side, and his first crop of student failures. It was the reason it took him so long to establish the order the way the Force had guided him to.
Even though it took some blame off his shoulders, Luke had a hard time believing that theory. It suggested Master Yoda was hypocritical in telling him never to use the Force in aggression. But perhaps the strongest argument against Luke being trained as a weapon was the fact that part of Master Yoda's dying words had been to pass on what he had learned; suggesting he was meant to teach. Luke was also specifically told not to bring his weapons into the cave where he failed one of many tests.
He noticed Lainey watching him carefully, her expression unreadable. Luke took a deep breath, formulating his thoughts. He met her blue eyed gaze. "No, I do not believe he did."
"And why not?" Lainey asked, giving him a slight nod.
"There are many reasons, actually. But mainly because he told me to teach before he died," Luke began, noticing the barest hint of a wince pinch Lainey's face. "And I was instructed to confront Vader, not necessarily to kill him."
Lainey's dark blue eyes lit up for a moment, matching the small smile that briefly touched her lips. Before she could say anything, a commotion stirred outside the room, then blasted through the door in the form of Ganner Rhysode, Cianna Darklighter, and Kyp Durron.
Ganner managed to keep his demeanor calm, while Cianna could barely keep the disgust off her face. Kyp was fairly seething. Luke raised an eyebrow, suppressing a sigh. "What's wrong?"
Cianna answered. "Word that Anakin Skywalker was the Chosen One has gotten around, Master Skywalker. Kyp... disagrees with it."
"I don't disagree with it. I am merely saying that you are wrong," Kyp retorted. "I do not think that the almost total annihilation of the old Jedi Order constitutes balancing of the Force."
"And through your interpretation, you merely seek to destroy the new Jedi order by turning everyone to the dark side," Cianna countered.
"I am only following the guidance of the Force," Kyp said, straightening his shoulders.
"But through you're gray side ways, you don't even know what side you follow," Cianna said, exasperated.
"There are no sides to the Force."
"Then there is no side to anything, Kyp," Luke broke in. "There is no difference between love and hate, peace and conflict, good and evil."
"And if there are no sides to the Force, there is no need for balance," Mara pointed out.
Kyp paused. "If you believe there are two sides of the Force, and you use one far more than the other, then you are not using your gift to its fullest."
"But the dark side is jealous, Kyp. It twists, deceives, and dominates whatever it touches," Luke reminded him. "You cannot master it, it will consume you as a moon eclipses its star."
"Then how does it balance, Master?" Kyp asked, slipping in giving deference to Luke over himself. That was a start. Luke thought to himself.
Luke spread his hands. "Perhaps my father balanced it by atoning for his dark deeds by restoring light."
Recovering fast from his slip, Kyp rose his chin. "And in defeating the Vong, perhaps I atoned for Carida."
"Interesting point," Cianna interjected. "But here is one of many problems with you being the Chosen One, Kyp... how are you born of the midichlorians?"
Kyp blinked. "The midi-whats?"
"The midichlorians," Cianna repeated patiently. "According to the complete version of the prophecy, the Chosen One must be born of the midichlorians." She folded her arms. "So, explain."
"I don't even know what they are," Kyp objected.
Mara's lips twisted into a dangerous grin. "Then you'll have an interesting time explaining how you were born of them, won't you?"
Kyp countered her grin with a smirk. "And how was Anakin?"
Silence followed. Helaine shifted in her bed uncomfortably, raising an eyebrow at Master Skywalker. Did he not want anyone to know, or did he not know the answer himself? Helaine knew that a lot of knowledge had been lost in the purges, but Luke had trained with Master Yoda. Just how much had been left out of his training?
Sensing the triumphance in Kyp, Helaine realized she was going to have to act. His outward disrespect for Master Skywalker bothered her. How could he, and the Jedi who followed him, be unable to see the great man that Master Skywalker was? Not to mention the fact that he had been chosen by the Force to lead the New Jedi Order.
Well, she could always ask Master Skywalker first if he wanted her to enlighten them. Taking a deep breath, Helaine asked, "Master Skywalker?"
Master Skywalker turned his head to look at her. "Yes?"
"Do you mind if I answer?" she asked, moving into a sitting position on her bed. Thanks to the perigen patch, she felt very little pain in the movement.
Master Skywalker blinked, graciously extending his right hand. "Of course not. Go ahead."
"Well," Helaine said, disconcertingly aware that all the attention was on her. Taking a keen interest in her hands, she continued. "I don't exactly know how one can be born of the midichlorians, I never cared to ask. What I do know is that over ten years ago," she paused, correcting herself. "Ten years before the Purges, Jedi Knights Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi had to make an emergency landing on Tatooine. They met a young slave by the name of Anakin Skywalker there. His mother claimed that he had no father, his midichlorian count was off the charts, so he was brought to Coruscant to be seen by the Council.
"The only conclusion that could be drawn was that he had been born of the midichlorians and was the Chosen One."
Kyp pivoted on his right foot to face her, dark eyes flashing. "Where do you get your information?"
Helaine looked up, meeting his fiery gaze. "I was there when he came to the Temple."
Kyp froze, his eyes intent on hers. "You were the girl they found in carbonite?"
She nodded. "Yes."
"All right." Kyp clasped his hands behind his back. "Then tell me this, Miss Jedi of the Old Republic, how can you support the son of the man who destroyed the Jedi? How can you think that such destruction brought balance to the Force?"
Tears touched the corner of her eyes, causing her to drop her eyes from his. She took a deep breath, gathering her strength. Slowly, she looked up to meet his hard gaze. "How can you allow your pride to blind you from what is right? It's disgusting the lack of respect you show Master Skywalker." She paused. "I do not fully understand the prophecy of the Chosen One, but what I do understand is that the Force could not be balanced without Master Skywalker. He was chosen to restore and lead the New Jedi Order by guidance from the Force alone. And one of the last things Master Yoda chose to tell me was that if the son of the Chosen One kept his focus on the light, he would make a great leader." She looked over at Master Skywalker. "I think he was right."
"Right? You think Yoda was right!?" Kyp sneered. "Master Skywalker has done nothing but hold us back! His leadership has been ineffective for the Jedi- we aren't the power we once were, and we should be!"
Helaine shrank back. "You sound an awful lot like Anakin when he started to fall to the dark side."
Kyp back stepped, but he quickly regained his composure. "I have better control than that."
Mara folded her arms. "Like the control you displayed at Carida?"
He tensed, shaking his head. "No... I have learned a lot since then."
"Have you?" Master Skywalker asked softly. Kyp's head dropped under the weight of Master Skywalker's question. "You're still trying to do too much, too quickly. You've allowed your pride to blind you from the subtle prompting of the Force, and justify that which you know in your heart is not right."
"How would you know what's in my heart?" Kyp demanded.
"Do you know what is there?" Master Skywalker asked evenly.
"I don't need this," Kyp replied angrily, scowling at Master Skywalker. "And I don't need you." He jabbed his index finger at Master Skywalker, then stormed out of the room.
"Are you going to go after him?" Helaine asked, unable to fight the chill that ran down her spine from Kyp's words.
Master Skywalker shook his head. "He just needs time to calm down, think things through."
Master Rhysode didn't seem to notice Kyp's exit. His green eyes were focused on Helaine. "I understand the riddle now," he said under his breath.
"Riddle?" Master Skywalker asked, turning to him.
He took a deep breath, then proceeded to tell all that had happened when Master Horn was taken. Apparently the riddle was what Valdemar wanted, the last of the Old Jedi Order and the first of the New. "It is you," he nodded to Master Skywalker, then glanced at Helaine, "and Lainey he wants. Corran is bait for you two."
Something about that didn't make sense to Helaine, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Not that it mattered, if Valdemar wanted her over Master Horn, he would have her. She straightened her shoulders. "I'll go to Mantooine."
"No, you won't," Master Rhysode immediately objected. "Whatever it is he wants from you, it can't be good."
"He's right," Master Skywalker agreed. He rested his hand on her arm. "Besides, you're in no condition to fight."
"It's a few days flight out to Mantooine," Helaine informed him. "And I know how to do a healing trance. I've faced Valdemar before, I can do it again." She looked straight into Master Skywalker's eyes. "I know how he works, how he thinks."
"Perhaps," Master Skywalker surmised. "But how can I consciously put you through that again?" He squeezed her arm. "Ganner and I can handle this."
Helaine closed her eyes for a moment. "I will respect your decision Master Skywalker, but I must ask you to reconsider. I'll be out of the bacta by morning. I can build a lightsaber..."
Master Skywalker sighed. "I will consider it. But for now you need to concern yourself with healing." He rose to his feet. "We've kept you up long enough."
***
Cilghal had entered Lainey's room by the time Luke decided it was time to leave. Ganner gave Luke a more detailed description of Corran's capture once they were outside the room, then Luke and Mara retired to their quarters. Luke took Ben from the Nanny droid, smiling as his son grinned and tried to grab his nose.
Mara came up beside Luke, letting Ben grab her finger. She looked up at Luke. "Well, that was interesting."
Luke lifted Ben against his shoulder and started walking toward the living room. "That is an understatement."
"You didn't seem very surprised by Lainey's knowledge of the past and the fact that she is from it," Mara said, giving Luke a calculating look.
"I knew," Luke admitted, sitting down on their couch. "Armand mentioned it when he spoke with me earlier tonight." He rubbed Ben's back. "What she said about my father was a little unexpected."
Mara joined him on the couch. "What, that he was a slave or that he grew up on Tatooine?"
"Both," Luke answered.
"It's definitely hard to picture Darth Vader as a slave," Mara mused.
"Yeah," Luke agreed. His mind was swarming with questions. Where on Tatooine had his father grown up? What had Luke's grandmother been like? What else had Master Yoda said about him to Lainey? And what exactly were midichlorians?
Mara touched his arm, interrupting his thoughts. "Luke, she was right."
Luke blinked, surprised. "Huh?"
Mara snorted. "Nice Farmboy, real nice." She shook her head. "Lainey was right about going to Mantooine with you."
"What?" Luke asked. "No... it would do her more harm than good."
"Skywalker, your overprotectiveness can be endearing, but it's mostly annoying." She squeezed his arm. "Do you remember when I wanted nothing more than to kill you?"
Luke gave her a rueful smile. "How can I forget?"
"The only way I could reconcile my past was by killing your clone." She touched his cheek. "Valdemar is Lainey's Luuke."
Luke shook his head. "I don't know if she's ready."
"Then as the Jedi Master it is your duty to help her to be."
A terrible smell coming from their son stole Luke's response. He wrinkled his nose. "Speaking of duties..." He held Ben out to Mara. "I believe you have a motherly one to perform."
She hopped to her feet. "Oh, no, you don't, Skywalker."
"Hey, I changed him last time," Luke objected.
A mischievous smile shaped Mara's lips. "We'll play sabaac for it."
Copyright 2002 by Luney.
Continue on to Chapter Thirty-four.
Back to Chapter Thirty-two.
Back to Luney's vault.
Back to Corran Fanfiction page.