Battle for Earth - REWRITE(A Star Wars Rebels Story)

Shadows of the Past

The air was supposed to be cold, yet to the rest of the world it was warm. One of the warmest Christmases New York City had experienced up until that point in human history. Yet, to Athena it was cold. It was freezing.

Yesterday, it was apparently Christmas Eve. After she had diverted paths with Jalo in Central Park, she'd gone off to find some sort of clue as to what to do. Despite it hitting seventy degrees Fahrenheit that day, it was apparently the eve of winter's largest holidays. The decorations lining the street in a jolly, sparkly manner. A stark contrast to the young Earthling Jedi's own mind.

Now it was Christmas Day. A holiday that was supposed to fill a child with joy. A holiday where so many were merry, surrounded by family.

Athena was kneeling at a headstone, gripping the frigid stone in a familiar manner. The same way she'd mourn at that headstone everytime she could get out of her foster parent's sight.

Erica Baker

April 17, 1970 - Jan. 1, 2011

Not even a single line to describe the woman she was. No "In loving memory...", no "A beloved wife, foster mother...". Nothing but her name, birth, and death.

She could have no say in this, of course. She was only nine when Erica took her life. Not only that, but she was the one accused of murdering her.

It burned in the back of her brain - the image of her foster mother's death. It never quite left her.

"I...haven't visited for a while," Athena softly spoke. "I really didn't have a choice. Seems like I never do."

She paused.

"It...hurts. How everyone around me dies. I- I'm sorry you had to be affected by this. My curse of death," her breaths were shaky as her eyes downcasted to the ground. "I did find my biological brother...but I got him-" she choked up. She couldn't even say the words. The images of her Jedi friends flashing by, smiles on their faces until they faded into the back of her mind once more. The dust of the Lothal Temple still lingering in her soul.

"You didn't deserve it," she sniffled. "It...should have been me behind the barrel. It should have been me in the fire that killed my other foster family. It should have been me in the Lothal Temple."

Her lip trembled and she tightly closed her eyes, pressing her forehead against the cold stone.

"I want to...I wish it would've been me who died. I should have taken my chance when I had one," her fingers nearly bled as the corners of the stone cut into her flesh. Her muscles trembled as she held onto the stone as hard as she could. "Now I can't take my life no matter how much I want to. I can't let the universe die. There...there might be a chance Hera, Sabine, Zeb, Rex, and the others are alive. It's not a big chance - but it's still a chance."

She paused.

"I don't know who I have left," tears blurred her eyes, but did not fall. "My friends...I betrayed them. I sent those killers after them. I made a Temple into a tomb. All because I'm too weak."

It was so quiet. So dead. Tweets of birds were muffled. The rustle of the wind was gone.

"After I defeat Abeloth...I don't know what else to do with my life," she sighed. "I have nothing left. Nothing to live for. Nothing to fight for."

She felt so weak. So powerless.

The palm of her hand bled against the stone as the edges cut through her flesh. The red contrasting with the grey. It trickled down the stone, eventually to rest on the soil by its base.