Chapter Eight: Recovery
Dec. 8th, 2013 02:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladyofleithianIn which Ben and Leia recover, and a beautiful friendship is born.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Notes: This is another favorite of mine. Ben and Leia interacting with Luke and Mara was definitely fun to write. :)
Leia, in all honesty, could not say how long she floated in that sort of dream world, that sort of strange world between consciousness or unconsciousness, before she finally managed to awake. And yet there was something about it, she thought, that was almost frightening to think about. Her father, Bail Organa, and her mother, Breha Organa, were in the dream, taking care of her and Ben, watching over them even as they continued their playing in the gardens of Alderaan. When the two of them were just children, and didn’t truly understand the horrors that awaited them in the future. Serving in the Senate, having to live a lie, to keep their best “sabaac faces”, as Ben once put it, all while working behind the Empire’s backs because of what the Empire was yet to do. What the Empire had already done as well.
Everything that the Empire had done in the name of being seemingly “righteous”, when in fact they were anything but.
So many images now danced across Leia’s mind. Images that seemed almost disconnected, in a way. Ten million Rebel ships on fire, people she cared most about dying. People, in the chambers of the Death Star, being tortured for information by one of those probe droids or those drugs that the Empire had invented if only to all but wrench the truth from them.
And then she saw it. The Death Star, hovering almost like a too-large moon, over Alderaan, readying its laser, firing. The entire planet, going up in a ball of flame –
-- and it was then that Leia awoke if only abruptly, surveying her surroundings at last. She seemed to be in some sort of hut – a rather cozy hut as well, she thought. A little bit cramped, but at the same time, very much comfortable. Over in the corner, she heard C-3PO’s electronic sigh of contentment. “Thank the maker – this oil bath feels so good!”
So whoever had taken them in had also stopped to take care of C-3PO and R2 as well. That was definitely a point in their favor, at the very least.
It was then that Leia saw Ben over beside her. He seemed more than a little roughed up from the escape pod crash, but relatively all right. He grinned that familiar sort of Ben Organa grin – a sort of grin that was cocky and utterly sincere all in one. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Leia said. “Are you all right?”
“More than slightly sore,” Ben said, “But definitely all right.”
“Thank goodness.” A new voice, a sort of casual sort of voice. “You were in pretty bad shape back there – I don’t want to think of what would have happened if we lost you.”
Leia turned to look towards the source of the voice. It was a young woman, probably in her late teens, with red hair that fell down her shoulders, and pale but freckled skin. Her eyes were green and almost painfully expressive – there was a sort of fire in them that came, Leia thought, no doubt with being young.
“Where are we?” Leia already knew in a sense where they were, but at the very least, it would be nice to know more.
“You’re at my house,” the redheaded woman said. “My name’s Mara, by the way. Mara Lars. My friend, Luke…” She gestured towards a young man with sort of flaxen hair, no doubt bleached that way if only by the harsh Tatooine sun. “We found your escape pod crashed in the Dune Sea, and we thought that we’d come and rescue you. It’s really a good thing that you were all right – honestly, Luke and I thought you were almost lost…”
So they had decided to come and rescue them. That was…brave of them. Leia couldn’t help but smile. Heavily risky, no doubt dangerous and probably even stupid, but…brave. She liked the two of them, she thought.
Luke, meanwhile, looked almost completely bashful around Leia. “It’s really nice to meet you,” he said, and he reached out towards her. Leia shook his hand.
“We also took some time to sort of clean up Threepio and Ar-Too over here,” Mara said. “There’s been a lot of carbon scoring and whatnot on them. I’m guessing they’ve seen a lot of action?”
“Very much so, Mistress Mara,” Threepio said, “It’s amazing that we’re in that good condition, what with the battles with the Empire.”
“Wait.” Luke, this time. “You know of the Rebellion against the Empire?”
“We’ve been active participants,” Leia said. “It’s…it’s how we got here, really.” She took a deep breath. “We were on the way to Alderaan to deliver the Death Star plans…”
“Wait.” Mara, this time. “Death Star plans? What do you mean? I mean,” she said, “I heard that the Empire was using that new superweapon, but I didn’t really know that you had the plans…”
Leia grinned. “It’s been a guaranteed turning point in the battle against the Empire.” Then she grew more serious. “We’ve been on the losing side of the war for too long now. This is perhaps our last hope for a fighting chance. We were about to get back to Alderaan, but I think the Empire already suspected that we were up to something, and our ship was attacked. We barely escaped in time.”
“Apparently,” Ben said, “They actually got wise to what we were planning. We were already worried that Darth Terminus thought that we were up to something – after all, the man isn’t one to let things like this past. He’s…” He bit his lip. “I think to say that he’s a very suspicious man is putting it mildly. He’s very much dedicated to protecting the Empire, no matter what the cost is.”
Even Ben’s words were enough to bring back memories for Leia. Watching Terminus carry out the Emperor’s orders, watching him commit all these atrocities in the name of the Empire, all while trying if nothing else to keep herself from betraying no emotion. That was perhaps the worst part, or one of the worst parts, about everything – wanting to make a stand, wanting to say no, but knowing that if you did, you would all but blow your cover, and thus, you had to stay silent. To be a good little Senator, at least on the outside, and do what you were told. Her father had told her, really, that that was what both Padme (or as others on Tatooine knew her as, Lady Nemo, but her father knew better than that, and so did Leia, and Ben) and Sabe (or Elizabeth Nerus, as she now called herself if only to conceal herself from Terminus’ watch) wanted, but though Leia understood why perfectly, there was something in her that wanted to fight back against Terminus openly. Subterfuge wasn’t enough. She wanted to openly make a stand, to say no…but she had to stay silent, and work in the shadows.
Still, it wasn’t as if she saw it as completely lacking in a point. It did have a point. The means she couldn’t say she was completely content with, but she saw the point.
“Yeah,” Mara said, her voice jarring Leia out of her thoughts. “I think we all saw that well enough.” A beat. “So you’re saying that you need to get to Alderaan?”
“Yes,” Leia said, “Also…” She bit her lip. “We’re going to need Lady Nemo and Elizabeth Nerus. I know that.”
“Well,” Mara said, “We can always go down to Mos Eisley and get the necessary transport…”
“Wait, wait.” Luke, this time. “It’s not that I don’t want to help them, Mara, but are you sure? I mean, our families still need us.”
“I’m not saying run off,” Mara said, “Honestly, don’t be ridiculous. I mean…” She sighed. “You sound so much like Dad, I swear. We’re just going to get the necessary credits and then get them to the nearest transport, and they’ll be on their way. After they heal up, that is.”
“It won’t be too much trouble,” Ben said. “I promise you.”
Luke seemed deep in thought. “All right,” he said. “I guess I’m just…” He wiped his forehead. “I’m a little worried.”
“There’s no need to be,” Ben said. “It will be well worth your while.”
“That’s not really what I’m worried about,” Luke said. A beat. “I didn’t really get your name, by the way. What is it?”
“Ben. Ben Organa.” A quick smile. “And it’s very nice to meet you.”
***
It was out on the homestead, looking out at the setting Tatooine suns once again that Mara had time to think. There was something about all of this, she thought, that was exciting and utterly terrifying at the same time. Terrifying, of course, because there was the matter of how others would react, how the Empire would react as well, when they saw that she was hiding no doubt wanted fugitives in her house. Traitors as well. To say that it wouldn’t be good would be an understatement. It wasn’t like she liked the Empire – there was really nothing about the Empire to like, to say the least. Or admire. They were nothing but monsters and killers, trying to squash dissent the best way they could, all out of some fear of “traitors” and “terrorists”, as they put it – but at the same time, she didn’t want Owen and Beru to suffer because of her. Or Luke. Or anyone around her.
If they got hurt…
Mara took a deep breath. Whatever happened, they were going to fix all this. No matter what.
The big question, however, remained: could she join the Rebellion? Biggs had already gone off to join the Rebellion, and she would be lying if she said that she didn’t miss him. If nothing else, Biggs seemed to be her only other friend, always supportive of her and Luke, almost, she thought, like an older brother or something like that. His departure…it wasn’t like he’d died, but she still missed him terribly.
It didn’t help that for all intents and purposes, he was a terrible pen pal. That or he didn’t have time, really, to tell them how he was doing, exactly. She just hoped that wherever he was, he was okay. She didn’t want to think of what would happen if it was otherwise.
Could she join the Rebellion?
Her family needed her. And yet at the same time, she wanted to at least go out and do something. She wanted to be able to do something about the Empire, besides the ordinary watching-it-on-the-Holonet-and-praying-for-a-miracle. The idea of just sitting back and letting it all happen…
Beru had affectionately teased her a bit about wanting challenges. And she supposed that it was true. She could never truly be content with just staying on the farm and just waiting for something to happen. Waiting for the next escape pod to come crashing from the sky, so to speak.
Mara turned back around and walked back inside. She could probably sleep on all of this. At least, hopefully, in the morning, everything would make at least some degree of sense.
***
The time was far too near, Padme thought.
She almost wasn’t content with the idea – she wasn’t happy with the idea, to be more precise – of just sitting around and waiting for a miracle. It’s not like she wanted to, and besides, Qui-Gon had a point. She couldn’t just sit around and wait for a miracle. And yet there was something in her that told her to be patient. To wait. To not be hasty and rush into something that, for all intents and purposes, could end badly.
And yet she wasn’t really the only person who was waiting. Everyone on Tatooine seemed to be waiting, really. For what, exactly? The next escape pod to crash into the desert? She supposed that she was almost like that. When she wasn’t being Sabe’s handmaiden, there was something in her that wondered what the stars would be like. Exploring them.
It was mostly when one was older that they realized that adventure wasn’t really all it was cracked up to be, to say the least.
She watched Mara even as she walked back inside the house. The way she looked – she was so much like Obi-Wan, Padme could not help but think. The hair. Even the sort of look in her eyes – there was more passion in her, more vibrancy than Obi-Wan, who was more peaceful (having Sabe’s vibrancy, more precisely) and yet there was something in her that reminded Padme so much of Obi-Wan that she couldn’t help but feel a sharp pang.
Padme took a deep breath. The best she could do was not dwell too much on the past – even though if nothing else, where was the past, in the end? The past, present and the future seemed to coalesce into one open wound that still hadn’t quite healed. The wounds of all these senseless deaths, far from home or even in the seeming safety of home – or the future – never mind that Mara would have to accept her destiny, sooner or later. Ben already sort of had – but the present instead. But even the present seemed to be almost uncomfortably entwined with the future. Almost, Padme thought, as if one was staring over a precipice, wondering when to take the plunge.
“Are you okay?” Sabe’s voice was soft.
Padme turned to look at Sabe, smiled if only slightly. “I am,” she said. “I’m just…waiting.”
“Waiting isn’t really like you,” Sabe said, “I mean, the Padme I knew…” She sighed. “She would have gone out and done things.”
“Sometimes you have to wait.” It was something that she had never truly understood when she was still in the Jedi Order. She wanted to go out and do something, she wanted to go out and rescue people and protect people and help people and defend – the problem was that solely that didn’t seem to be the best course of action right now. They still had much to do. Training, for example. Padme was still working on her meditation techniques, all those things that she had never got to learn in the Jedi Order, back when it still existed. One thing that still stood out, at least for her, was the matter of what Qui-Gon had told her, if only about achieving “immortality”. At least, the Jedi definition of it. It was more of being a Force ghost, but even so…
Plagueis and other Sith thought that they could live forever if only by manipulating the Force to their own means, but they were mistaken. The path to immortality is not manipulation or dominance, but instead, giving oneself completely to the Force. Forsaking all sense of self, and giving oneself to the greater Unifying Force. We are, in the end, part of the Force in ways large and small. It’s easy to forget that when you seek to manipulate it to your own ends, to make it…better, so to speak. But in giving up all sense of self and what you want, it’s then that you fully understand.
Perhaps that was how Qui-Gon had achieved immortality, in the end. He had always given himself to the Force, served it loyally – perhaps even more loyally than any other Jedi that Padme had ever known. Even thinking about it still amazed Padme – after all that one thought that they did, they still hadn’t achieved much next to Qui-Gon. She had tried if only to emulate him in his actions – his compassion, his selflessness. She could not say that she succeeded always – after all, she was far from free of weakness, she knew that – but his influence was still very valuable.
She doubted that Qui-Gon knew how much he had truly inspired her. She didn’t know if he ever would, really, or if he thought anything of it. Did he? Even now, she wasn’t sure.
But that had been the Sith’s problem, in the end. In seeking to manipulate the Force for their own ends, to become immortal, to become more powerful, to become powerful enough to all but reshape the galaxy itself, they had forgotten what it meant to be selfless. One didn’t need to own the galaxy itself. One just needed to protect it, to serve it, to humbly live for serving it. That was enough. But they didn’t understand.
None of them did.
And Obi-Wan…
Padme took a deep breath. She didn’t know if she could save Terminus – she hoped she could. More than anything, she wished that she could master flow-walking so she could go back and prevent the misery of Order 66, but she knew that that was hardly possible. No amount of flow-walking could truly turn back time – but at the very least, she could protect his two children. His two naïve, passionate, wonderful children.
Yes, Padme thought, she could do that.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Notes: This is another favorite of mine. Ben and Leia interacting with Luke and Mara was definitely fun to write. :)
Leia, in all honesty, could not say how long she floated in that sort of dream world, that sort of strange world between consciousness or unconsciousness, before she finally managed to awake. And yet there was something about it, she thought, that was almost frightening to think about. Her father, Bail Organa, and her mother, Breha Organa, were in the dream, taking care of her and Ben, watching over them even as they continued their playing in the gardens of Alderaan. When the two of them were just children, and didn’t truly understand the horrors that awaited them in the future. Serving in the Senate, having to live a lie, to keep their best “sabaac faces”, as Ben once put it, all while working behind the Empire’s backs because of what the Empire was yet to do. What the Empire had already done as well.
Everything that the Empire had done in the name of being seemingly “righteous”, when in fact they were anything but.
So many images now danced across Leia’s mind. Images that seemed almost disconnected, in a way. Ten million Rebel ships on fire, people she cared most about dying. People, in the chambers of the Death Star, being tortured for information by one of those probe droids or those drugs that the Empire had invented if only to all but wrench the truth from them.
And then she saw it. The Death Star, hovering almost like a too-large moon, over Alderaan, readying its laser, firing. The entire planet, going up in a ball of flame –
-- and it was then that Leia awoke if only abruptly, surveying her surroundings at last. She seemed to be in some sort of hut – a rather cozy hut as well, she thought. A little bit cramped, but at the same time, very much comfortable. Over in the corner, she heard C-3PO’s electronic sigh of contentment. “Thank the maker – this oil bath feels so good!”
So whoever had taken them in had also stopped to take care of C-3PO and R2 as well. That was definitely a point in their favor, at the very least.
It was then that Leia saw Ben over beside her. He seemed more than a little roughed up from the escape pod crash, but relatively all right. He grinned that familiar sort of Ben Organa grin – a sort of grin that was cocky and utterly sincere all in one. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Leia said. “Are you all right?”
“More than slightly sore,” Ben said, “But definitely all right.”
“Thank goodness.” A new voice, a sort of casual sort of voice. “You were in pretty bad shape back there – I don’t want to think of what would have happened if we lost you.”
Leia turned to look towards the source of the voice. It was a young woman, probably in her late teens, with red hair that fell down her shoulders, and pale but freckled skin. Her eyes were green and almost painfully expressive – there was a sort of fire in them that came, Leia thought, no doubt with being young.
“Where are we?” Leia already knew in a sense where they were, but at the very least, it would be nice to know more.
“You’re at my house,” the redheaded woman said. “My name’s Mara, by the way. Mara Lars. My friend, Luke…” She gestured towards a young man with sort of flaxen hair, no doubt bleached that way if only by the harsh Tatooine sun. “We found your escape pod crashed in the Dune Sea, and we thought that we’d come and rescue you. It’s really a good thing that you were all right – honestly, Luke and I thought you were almost lost…”
So they had decided to come and rescue them. That was…brave of them. Leia couldn’t help but smile. Heavily risky, no doubt dangerous and probably even stupid, but…brave. She liked the two of them, she thought.
Luke, meanwhile, looked almost completely bashful around Leia. “It’s really nice to meet you,” he said, and he reached out towards her. Leia shook his hand.
“We also took some time to sort of clean up Threepio and Ar-Too over here,” Mara said. “There’s been a lot of carbon scoring and whatnot on them. I’m guessing they’ve seen a lot of action?”
“Very much so, Mistress Mara,” Threepio said, “It’s amazing that we’re in that good condition, what with the battles with the Empire.”
“Wait.” Luke, this time. “You know of the Rebellion against the Empire?”
“We’ve been active participants,” Leia said. “It’s…it’s how we got here, really.” She took a deep breath. “We were on the way to Alderaan to deliver the Death Star plans…”
“Wait.” Mara, this time. “Death Star plans? What do you mean? I mean,” she said, “I heard that the Empire was using that new superweapon, but I didn’t really know that you had the plans…”
Leia grinned. “It’s been a guaranteed turning point in the battle against the Empire.” Then she grew more serious. “We’ve been on the losing side of the war for too long now. This is perhaps our last hope for a fighting chance. We were about to get back to Alderaan, but I think the Empire already suspected that we were up to something, and our ship was attacked. We barely escaped in time.”
“Apparently,” Ben said, “They actually got wise to what we were planning. We were already worried that Darth Terminus thought that we were up to something – after all, the man isn’t one to let things like this past. He’s…” He bit his lip. “I think to say that he’s a very suspicious man is putting it mildly. He’s very much dedicated to protecting the Empire, no matter what the cost is.”
Even Ben’s words were enough to bring back memories for Leia. Watching Terminus carry out the Emperor’s orders, watching him commit all these atrocities in the name of the Empire, all while trying if nothing else to keep herself from betraying no emotion. That was perhaps the worst part, or one of the worst parts, about everything – wanting to make a stand, wanting to say no, but knowing that if you did, you would all but blow your cover, and thus, you had to stay silent. To be a good little Senator, at least on the outside, and do what you were told. Her father had told her, really, that that was what both Padme (or as others on Tatooine knew her as, Lady Nemo, but her father knew better than that, and so did Leia, and Ben) and Sabe (or Elizabeth Nerus, as she now called herself if only to conceal herself from Terminus’ watch) wanted, but though Leia understood why perfectly, there was something in her that wanted to fight back against Terminus openly. Subterfuge wasn’t enough. She wanted to openly make a stand, to say no…but she had to stay silent, and work in the shadows.
Still, it wasn’t as if she saw it as completely lacking in a point. It did have a point. The means she couldn’t say she was completely content with, but she saw the point.
“Yeah,” Mara said, her voice jarring Leia out of her thoughts. “I think we all saw that well enough.” A beat. “So you’re saying that you need to get to Alderaan?”
“Yes,” Leia said, “Also…” She bit her lip. “We’re going to need Lady Nemo and Elizabeth Nerus. I know that.”
“Well,” Mara said, “We can always go down to Mos Eisley and get the necessary transport…”
“Wait, wait.” Luke, this time. “It’s not that I don’t want to help them, Mara, but are you sure? I mean, our families still need us.”
“I’m not saying run off,” Mara said, “Honestly, don’t be ridiculous. I mean…” She sighed. “You sound so much like Dad, I swear. We’re just going to get the necessary credits and then get them to the nearest transport, and they’ll be on their way. After they heal up, that is.”
“It won’t be too much trouble,” Ben said. “I promise you.”
Luke seemed deep in thought. “All right,” he said. “I guess I’m just…” He wiped his forehead. “I’m a little worried.”
“There’s no need to be,” Ben said. “It will be well worth your while.”
“That’s not really what I’m worried about,” Luke said. A beat. “I didn’t really get your name, by the way. What is it?”
“Ben. Ben Organa.” A quick smile. “And it’s very nice to meet you.”
***
It was out on the homestead, looking out at the setting Tatooine suns once again that Mara had time to think. There was something about all of this, she thought, that was exciting and utterly terrifying at the same time. Terrifying, of course, because there was the matter of how others would react, how the Empire would react as well, when they saw that she was hiding no doubt wanted fugitives in her house. Traitors as well. To say that it wouldn’t be good would be an understatement. It wasn’t like she liked the Empire – there was really nothing about the Empire to like, to say the least. Or admire. They were nothing but monsters and killers, trying to squash dissent the best way they could, all out of some fear of “traitors” and “terrorists”, as they put it – but at the same time, she didn’t want Owen and Beru to suffer because of her. Or Luke. Or anyone around her.
If they got hurt…
Mara took a deep breath. Whatever happened, they were going to fix all this. No matter what.
The big question, however, remained: could she join the Rebellion? Biggs had already gone off to join the Rebellion, and she would be lying if she said that she didn’t miss him. If nothing else, Biggs seemed to be her only other friend, always supportive of her and Luke, almost, she thought, like an older brother or something like that. His departure…it wasn’t like he’d died, but she still missed him terribly.
It didn’t help that for all intents and purposes, he was a terrible pen pal. That or he didn’t have time, really, to tell them how he was doing, exactly. She just hoped that wherever he was, he was okay. She didn’t want to think of what would happen if it was otherwise.
Could she join the Rebellion?
Her family needed her. And yet at the same time, she wanted to at least go out and do something. She wanted to be able to do something about the Empire, besides the ordinary watching-it-on-the-Holonet-and-praying-for-a-miracle. The idea of just sitting back and letting it all happen…
Beru had affectionately teased her a bit about wanting challenges. And she supposed that it was true. She could never truly be content with just staying on the farm and just waiting for something to happen. Waiting for the next escape pod to come crashing from the sky, so to speak.
Mara turned back around and walked back inside. She could probably sleep on all of this. At least, hopefully, in the morning, everything would make at least some degree of sense.
***
The time was far too near, Padme thought.
She almost wasn’t content with the idea – she wasn’t happy with the idea, to be more precise – of just sitting around and waiting for a miracle. It’s not like she wanted to, and besides, Qui-Gon had a point. She couldn’t just sit around and wait for a miracle. And yet there was something in her that told her to be patient. To wait. To not be hasty and rush into something that, for all intents and purposes, could end badly.
And yet she wasn’t really the only person who was waiting. Everyone on Tatooine seemed to be waiting, really. For what, exactly? The next escape pod to crash into the desert? She supposed that she was almost like that. When she wasn’t being Sabe’s handmaiden, there was something in her that wondered what the stars would be like. Exploring them.
It was mostly when one was older that they realized that adventure wasn’t really all it was cracked up to be, to say the least.
She watched Mara even as she walked back inside the house. The way she looked – she was so much like Obi-Wan, Padme could not help but think. The hair. Even the sort of look in her eyes – there was more passion in her, more vibrancy than Obi-Wan, who was more peaceful (having Sabe’s vibrancy, more precisely) and yet there was something in her that reminded Padme so much of Obi-Wan that she couldn’t help but feel a sharp pang.
Padme took a deep breath. The best she could do was not dwell too much on the past – even though if nothing else, where was the past, in the end? The past, present and the future seemed to coalesce into one open wound that still hadn’t quite healed. The wounds of all these senseless deaths, far from home or even in the seeming safety of home – or the future – never mind that Mara would have to accept her destiny, sooner or later. Ben already sort of had – but the present instead. But even the present seemed to be almost uncomfortably entwined with the future. Almost, Padme thought, as if one was staring over a precipice, wondering when to take the plunge.
“Are you okay?” Sabe’s voice was soft.
Padme turned to look at Sabe, smiled if only slightly. “I am,” she said. “I’m just…waiting.”
“Waiting isn’t really like you,” Sabe said, “I mean, the Padme I knew…” She sighed. “She would have gone out and done things.”
“Sometimes you have to wait.” It was something that she had never truly understood when she was still in the Jedi Order. She wanted to go out and do something, she wanted to go out and rescue people and protect people and help people and defend – the problem was that solely that didn’t seem to be the best course of action right now. They still had much to do. Training, for example. Padme was still working on her meditation techniques, all those things that she had never got to learn in the Jedi Order, back when it still existed. One thing that still stood out, at least for her, was the matter of what Qui-Gon had told her, if only about achieving “immortality”. At least, the Jedi definition of it. It was more of being a Force ghost, but even so…
Plagueis and other Sith thought that they could live forever if only by manipulating the Force to their own means, but they were mistaken. The path to immortality is not manipulation or dominance, but instead, giving oneself completely to the Force. Forsaking all sense of self, and giving oneself to the greater Unifying Force. We are, in the end, part of the Force in ways large and small. It’s easy to forget that when you seek to manipulate it to your own ends, to make it…better, so to speak. But in giving up all sense of self and what you want, it’s then that you fully understand.
Perhaps that was how Qui-Gon had achieved immortality, in the end. He had always given himself to the Force, served it loyally – perhaps even more loyally than any other Jedi that Padme had ever known. Even thinking about it still amazed Padme – after all that one thought that they did, they still hadn’t achieved much next to Qui-Gon. She had tried if only to emulate him in his actions – his compassion, his selflessness. She could not say that she succeeded always – after all, she was far from free of weakness, she knew that – but his influence was still very valuable.
She doubted that Qui-Gon knew how much he had truly inspired her. She didn’t know if he ever would, really, or if he thought anything of it. Did he? Even now, she wasn’t sure.
But that had been the Sith’s problem, in the end. In seeking to manipulate the Force for their own ends, to become immortal, to become more powerful, to become powerful enough to all but reshape the galaxy itself, they had forgotten what it meant to be selfless. One didn’t need to own the galaxy itself. One just needed to protect it, to serve it, to humbly live for serving it. That was enough. But they didn’t understand.
None of them did.
And Obi-Wan…
Padme took a deep breath. She didn’t know if she could save Terminus – she hoped she could. More than anything, she wished that she could master flow-walking so she could go back and prevent the misery of Order 66, but she knew that that was hardly possible. No amount of flow-walking could truly turn back time – but at the very least, she could protect his two children. His two naïve, passionate, wonderful children.
Yes, Padme thought, she could do that.
