A Bringing Of Forces

Epilogue. . . pt 4

Many Years Later

~

So many years had passed now, Aedion was beginning to lose track. It could also have been the old age affecting her. She found herself, more and more, losing track of what she was doing; training younglings one moment and the next wandering off toward the site of Ahsoka's grave.

One of the padawans always ended up finding her, but she had no recollection of the time in between which was concerning to more than just her.

She had been put on bed rest for the past half year due to her body starting to fail her. Started to fail her when Ahsoka had passed away seventeen years ago. She had been living on pure hope to teach the younglings as much as she could fill their minds with.

No longer could she use her crutches, hadn't been able to for a long while, her arms had begun to atrophy despite the labor in the fields she had partaken in as long as she could remember.

The mattress she laid on rose only a half foot of the ground, but it made it easier to reach the pitcher of water and cup beside. Even that was starting to become more difficult to pour on her own. She had to ask someone else to aid her with most common day needs. It was humiliating.

But she was the eldest in their community. Nearing a hundred-and-eight.

It had been her greatest pleasure to watch as more and more Jedi arrived. In pairs or alone, wounded or healthy, bearing a child; theirs or otherwise. It made no difference to Aedion or Ahsoka. They had welcomed all with open arms and made sure each new recruit had gotten the best care needed. Sometimes that meant a physical healing, other times, it was a long, slow road through their memories.

Drasf had been the one to look after the majority, always ready with a gentle word or just time to talk with. She had also furthered the information of biological life on Xeer I to near completion. Almost all plants and animals now could be named and their uses listed in a large tightly bound book she kept with her at all times.

It had only been several years since she had passed. Gone quietly in her sleep, just like her master so long ago. Nearly all original members of Xeer I had passed due to age, accident, or sickness. Cather and Arden were still alive -Cather looking as young as she had fifty years ago; Arden not so much. It had been Cather she had passed the knowledge on to. The events which had taken place on the mining planet of Defi. What the planet's mission was. How they were to raise a new order of Jedi.

Already, the population had surpassed seventy and was steadily growing. It was not a place for only Force wielders they had decided, although the majority did possess the connection. Young couples fell in love; scouts found an abandoned child, both were ways a non-wielder ended up immersing themselves in the Force filled planet.

The most remarkable way some found Xeer I was through the message Obi-Wan had sent out.

Those who still got the message usually were already trained in the Force. Their masters had been padawans to the original generation, who had been part of the Jedi Order. Sometimes the line went as far back as four, even five generations.

Out of all the things Aedion had witnessed, that was one of the greatest.

The fact their message still was out there. Was still circulating about with Force wielders.

If any original Jedi still lived, she didn't know.

Scouts were sent out twice a year to several different space ports to gain any information they could. Anything that could be worthwhile.

Even with the Empire long gone, there was still an initial hesitancy to using the Force in public.

Rumors had said a new Jedi Order was forming, taught by Luke Skywalker and accompanied by his sister, Leia Organa Solo. She remembered what Obi-Wan had said, about the child he was to watch on Tatooine. Turned out it had been worth the while.

A smile tugged at her wan lips.

"Mother Aedion, d'you need anything?" Sygrid, a young devanorian, poked his head through the hut entrance. "I can get Gaw-Tar to give you something for the pain."

She chuckled softly. "No, no. I'm quite alright. My knee hasn't been bothering me since I stopped walking." She smiled sadly. "Could you call for Cather, though? I have need to speak with her."

"Yes, Mother. I'll tell her right away."

"Thank you, dear Sygrid, your kindness is always appreciated."

He smiled happily, his teeth white against the diluted red of his face. He bowed his head in thanks before capering away.

Aedion smiled, closing her eyes against the warm light that trickled from the open doorway.

"Aedion? Sygrid said you wanted to talk to me."

"Yes, come. Sit by me." Cather was only a decade and a half or so younger than Aedion, but still had the glow of youth around her. Her hair was still a brilliant red, not having lost the massive amount of it, and her face showed no sign of wrinkles. If Aedion was to guess, she assumed Cather would live for another several hundred years if not longer.

When Cather had turned ten, the lumps on her back had sprouted into leathery wings, white and glowing like the rest of her. Currently, they were tucked neatly behind her back, the ends resting softly on the stone floor.

"My life is coming to an end," Aedion began, still smiling, "And you are to carry the truth I told you before. Pass it onto the next and the next when your life begins to falter. The Jedi of Xeer I cannot forget the promise we made. Only when the entire universe cries out in need, do we help. A single galaxy is no more than a speck among the larger." She cleared her throat, sighing. "At some point you will need to expand, to compensate for the amount of beings coming. There are other habitable planets nearby, use them. When they have filled, find another system far away, bordering on a different galaxy. Not the one you originated from, not the one I did, but completely new. You must pass this on. Choose wisely when you do, otherwise all will be lost. Do you understand?"

Cather nodded. "I swear to you, I will do all in my power to make sure we live a fair and just life. We will train as we have before, and when the time comes, we will be ready. But why tell me this?"

Aedion laughed softly, "Like I said, my life is coming to an end. I can feel it approaching even now. And I am ready. I have lived a long life, and a full one at that. I have loved with all my heart, and I am ready to see that love again. I know you will do well."

She watched as a tear slid down Cather's cheek. "We'll miss you. You've been a mother to us all and you'll not be forgotten. We all love you so very dearly."

"My dear Cather," she lifted her hand to rest it against her cheek, warm to the touch, tears sliding down, "don't cry. Everyone must return to the Force at some point, and mine is now. Please, let me go."

Cather only nodded once, placing her own hand atop Aedion's. Aedion's gaze slid past her, to the open entrance beyond. A figure leaned there, arms crossed against her chest, eyes twinkling.

"Aedion?" Cather's voice was no more than a trail of wind.

The figure stepped forward, hands at her sides, walking until she stood directly at the foot of her bed. "Hello, Aedion," She said.

"Ahsoka," Aedion breathed.

The togruta smiled. "Come home, Aedion. Your time here is done."

Tears leaked down Aedion's face, traveling her lines of age.

Ahsoka leaned in, planting a gentle kiss across her brow, her tears mingling with Aedion's own. "Come home." She extended a hand.

Aedion glanced slowly toward Cather who's own tears were running from the corners of her eyes. She smiled softly, but turned to face Ahsoka. "I'm ready," she said, taking the outstretched hand.

Aedion took one last breath, her last strand to the mortal world, before extinguishing it in a sigh, and walked toward Ahsoka.

Her two feet silent against the ground.