The Empire's Fall (Pt.3)

Chapter Ten: The End of the Empire

Luke and I stand and bring our father's body into the shuttle and then sit down in the pilot and co-pilot seats. Luke once again allows me to fly, knowing how much it helps me to have something to do. This is why I love my big brother.

We make it out of the Death Star, only moments before it is destroyed by the Rebel fleet. I can feel their joy through the Force, and it feels good against the sadness in my own mind. I fly the shuttle we took, down to a clearing on the forest moon of Endor, and then land it.

After we have landed, Luke and I find as many large pieces of wood as we can, and then place them in the arrangement for a funeral pyre. After the pyre is large enough for father's body to be placed on it, we take father's body from the shuttle and put it on the funeral pyre to be burned. Before we light the pyre, I take father's cloak and rip a small strip from it, then tie the strip around my wrist. This way I will have something of my father's.

Luke and I lower our torches at the same time, and soon the pyre is covered with flames. I gasp slightly, this looks exactly like one of the visions I had on Ashas Ree. The one of a funeral pyre. While the fire burns, Luke turns to me and wraps me in a hug. My face is still positioned toward the pyre, and I can see as the flames lick at father's cloak.

In the sky, fireworks explode. And the Force feels lighter than I've ever felt it. I can still feel Callum's presence in my mind through our bond, and it feels nice. I know he is alive, and that makes me feel happy, even through the sadness of now having only my siblings as the last of my family.

Luke and I watch until the pyre has burned to the ground. The only things left that didn't burn, are father's metal prosthetics and his helmet and mask. After they have cooled we take them, and bury them near the pile of ash that was once our father's body and the wood that we burned him on.

We only leave Father's helmet and mask above ground, enabling us to see where he was buried should we ever come back to visit. Then we begin the walk back the the Ewoks village. Luke pulls me out of my thoughts by asking,

"Leeda, do you know why the Force felt like it was singing before we left to face father?"

"You felt that?"

He nods, and says, "Of course I did. It would have been hard not too."

I sigh, then say, "I'll tell you later. I still need to make sense of it myself." He looks a bit hurt, and I rush to say, "It's not that I don't trust you. But I need to think about it before I can tell you."

"Okay. When you're ready, I'll be waiting for you to tell me. But remember, Leeda, I'm your brother. I'm always going to be here for you, no matter what."

"I know. I love you, Luke."

He hugs me again, "I love you too, Lee."

Once we make it back to the village, there's a party in full swing. Lando, Biggs, and Wedge are here. I can see Han, Leia, and Chewie standing by Threepio and Artoo... What happened to him! I swear, if my droid keeps getting destroyed on missions where I leave, I'm not going to let Han, Leia, or Luke borrow him again.

And I see Callum talking to Biggs, the atmosphere feels nice. It feels... happy. I smile, and keep watching from the outskirts. I make eye contact with Callum, and he grins. My brother has already left to go talk to Leia, Han, and Chewie. Callum leaves his conversation with Biggs and comes over to me.

When he gets over here, he hugs me, and I hug him. I smile and relax into the hug, it feels nice. I pull away from the hug first, and smile at Callum. He smiles at me, and I can see the worry he had evaporate.

"I tried to warn you earlier. The Emperor told us that he sent some of his best troops down here. And, well, I didn't want you to be killed."

"I was wondering why you did that. You rarely do things without a reason, so I knew that the warning was important. Thanks to you we weren't caught unaware. And hey, the mission still succeeded. What about yours?"

I sigh.

"It didn't exactly go to plan. But, I don't really want to talk about it right now. I... I just, need time to think it over. What happened up there..." I release a shaky breath. "it scared me. A lot, it made me think about things that I don't think I could stand to see happen."

Callum pulls me into another hug. "Okay, I'll be here when you're ready to talk. Come on, let's join the party. They want to celebrate you too. After all, you and Luke are heroes."

"So are you. You helped destroy the bunker."

"I didn't do all that much. You and Luke faced the Emperor, and survived. That's more than most people can say."

I give Callum a small smile. Then we join the party. Biggs comes and gives me a hug, followed by Wedge and the boys from Rogue group. In the middle of the party, on the spit where we were going to be roasted not all that long ago, a bonfire blazes.

Leia hugs me, and then Han and Chewie, before I call attention to Artoo.

"So... What did you do to my droid!"

Han pales a little, and Chewie barks. Leia presses her lips together, and explains. She say,

"Well, we needed him to open the door of the bunker, and an explosion hit near him. He flipped head over heels, and well... That happened."

"Okay, that's it! You cannot have my droid again for the foreseeable future. And yes Luke, I am including you in that, and the possibility of my visions."

I hear Callum hum from beside me, and he mutters, "I told you so," too. Han glares at him, and I smirk.

"So, Callum knew that I would be mad then?"

"He told them that there was a good chance of you not letting them borrow Artoo for a while. Guess he knows you pretty well."

"Well, he was right. And Biggs, you ought to have known too. Artoo is my flying buddy. He's already been through more repairs in the nearly four years since Luke and I've joined the Alliance, than most of the other droids in our unit."

"She has a point," Luke says.

During the party, I see three ghostly blue figures appear. I walk over to where they are, and when I get to where I can see them, I see Ileema, Obi-Wan, and Master Yoda. Luke comes over, and wraps his arm around my shoulder. We keep watching them, and soon, they turn their heads.

Another blue figure appears. It's... father. I smile and touch the piece of black fabric that I tied around my wrist. After father looks around at the other three, Ileema inclines her head toward us. Father looks at us, and grins. We grin back, and they disappear. Leia joins us, and we head back to the celebration.

We stand around each other, Han and Leia stand together, with her head on his shoulder or at least as close as she can get to it. Luke stands next to Chewie, and I stand next to Callum, with his arm around my shoulders. And Artoo and Threepio are in the middle. I'll have to fix Artoo again, but that can wait for a little while. For now, I'm going enjoy the celebration. After all, it is partly for me.

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"Life is too short not to celebrate nice moments!" -Jurgen Klopp