Heir to the Empire

Chapter 2

“Luke?”

    
  The voice came softly but insistently. He could feel the presence before him. But it wasn’t as strong as years prior. He could feel his deconstructed lightsaber floating before him, as well as all the living force throughout the palace. Yet oddly enough , he could barely feel him. Luke Skywalker opened his eyes from his meditation, curious. 

   A familiar figure stood there watching him. “Hello, Ben”, Luke said with a hint of glee and sadness as he watched his lightsaber reconstruct itself and place itself back on the ground in front of him, “Been a long time.”

 “Indeed it has,” the voice of Obi-wan Kenobi said gravely, “Yet, I’m afraid this will be our last encounter.”

  “Our last? No Ben, don’t say that—“, Luke began to say. He could feel a lump in his throat when he was about to speak.

  “The distance between us has become too great for me, Luke. Now, even this last path is being closed to me.” Obi-wan said with great sadness in his voice, “It is time, we said goodbye.”

  Luke looked up at the fading apparition of his former master. “You can’t leave us, Ben,” he pleaded, “We still need you.” Obi-wan's eyebrows lifted slightly in amusement and he gave a weak smile. He placed his transparent hand on Luke’s shoulder, though Luke didn’t feel anything. “Luke,” he said softly, “You don’t need me. You are a Jedi.” The smile faded, and for a moment his eyes lingered on Luke. “It’s the way of all life, Luke, you too will face this journey one day.”

 “I wish we had more time,” Luke said sincerely, “I still need guidance, Ben. Not only for my sake, but for my sister’s as well.”

  “The decision is not mine to make, Luke,” Obi-wan said softly, “I have already lingered far too long, and I can no longer postpone my journey from this life to what lies beyond.”

  Luke couldn’t help but shed a tear. A memory stirred: Yoda on his deathbed, and Luke pleading with him to not die. Strong I am in the force, the Jedi Master told him softly, but not that strong. He already lost Ben once, and despite his years of training and mastery, he wasn’t ready to lose him again. “Remember,” Obi-wan spoke again, “Never let your guard down. Although the Emperor and the Sith have been destroyed, the dark side is still powerful. Never forget that.”

  “I won’t,” Luke promised. He saw the spirit of Obi-wan Kenobi get back up and looked towards the distant setting sun. Obi-wan turned back around one last time. “Until we meet again, old friend,” he said with hope and wonder, “May the force be with you.” And with that, the spirit of Obi-wan Kenobi faded away into the sea of nothingness.

 For a moment, Luke sat there staring at where his former master once stood. Then I am alone, Luke thought inwardly to himself, the last of the Jedi. He seemed to hear Obi-wan's voice from a distance, barely even audible. "Not the last of the old Jedi, Luke. But the first of the new." And then the voice was gone, replaced with silence. With a sigh, Luke stood up and stretched his legs. Clipping his lightsaber to his belt, he walked out of the old meditation chamber.

  He toured the vast empty halls of the old Jedi Temple—now Imperial Palace, that had been forgotten by the people of Coruscant. Echoes of his steps filled the eerie silence as he walked past empty libraries, once filled with knowledge, now lost for eternity. Luke felt a rush of sadness overcome him, wondering how the temple must’ve been like during its prime. Back when Yoda, Obi-wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker roamed these halls.

  Luke shivered as he continued to roam the halls. Despite it being the former Jedi temple, this place was strong with the dark side. It reminded him of the cave on Dagobah—the cave where Luke fought a lightsaber duel with a Darth Vader who turned out to be himself. For weeks after that memory of sheer power and presence of the dark side had haunted his thoughts; only much later had he realized that Yoda’s primary reason for the exercise had been to show him how far he still had to go.