Encroaching Darkness

The dark one

  'This again.' Thought Ezra as he looked before the stormy aesthetic of his mind's eye. The lighting rippling through the clouds without a sound and the sourceless wind with the clear lack of actual ground all made it clear to him that in the force he's still Grey. 'No light without darkness. No shadow without resonance. One can not exist without the other, one and the same.' Reaching out he feels no one else his in his mind. Kneeling down on the solid air he starts meditating.

  The presence of another washes over consciousness. 'A dark one.' He thought to himself as he got up to properly meet the interloper. The broken and twisted form of an unarmoured Vader stood. before him. "Hello, dark one." Ezra said with an even tone. "Why have you come here?" Vader stood still for a moment, taking in the aesthetic of Ezra's mind's eye. "I do not know why the force took me here. It seems to believe we should speak. Of what, I do not know."

  They stood there for a long while sizing one another up. Ezra was the first to speak. "Tell me Anakin, what drove you to darkness?" Vader stood there for a moment thinking of years gone by.

  "I was having visions of my wife dying in horrible ways. Then when she told me she was pregnant the visions included children. I was afraid to lose, not just her, but our child as well. I knew that if I became a master in the order I wouldn't be restricted in my search for a way to save her. Then they went and gave me a seat on the council, but not the rank of master. I was angry, frustrated, and felt like they were treating me like a child. Sidious later told me that it was him. He was the one giving me the visions, he was the one who kept trying to kill my wife! He was the one who toyed with my mind and convinced me to betray the Jedi! And after it was all over! When I finally realized what I'd done! What had happened to me! The only one I had left was Sidious!" Vader yelled out in a rage, throwing his arms about.

  Taking a breath to calm himself Vader looked back at Ezra. "What of you? What drove you to darkness? What keeps you from it?" Ezra never liked to look back to that part of his life, but he did know that reflecting on one's own mistakes is one of the best ways to learn.

  "It really began when my master and I confronted the grand inquisitor on his star destroyer. I'd been stuck in the eyes, I still have the scars from it. When I was hit, out of instinct I tried to pull myself away from the blades. In that effort, I fell down a shaft that led to the reactor core. That would have been the end of me, but I hit a railing and grabbed onto it. Kanan thought I'd been killed, he struck down the grand inquisitor in a rage. With a newly broken arm and the worst headache I've ever had I stumbled my way to the nearest escape pods. In my pain, my mind played tricks on me, pulling from my fears. I thought Kanan had abandoned me to my fate. The pain from my wounds, the feeling of abandonment, the loneliness of not having a family or home to go back to, the darkness found a place in me. It took us a month after we ran into one another for me to go back. That was only the first time the dark side really latched onto me."

They both saw some of the clouds lighten in color and the lighting slowdown. "It seems you've taken a step towards inner peace, Bridger." Vader observed. Feeling the presence of the dark one lessen and then slip away Ezra knew the force had other things for him to see. "So, back to meditating, I guess."

  Thinking on Vader's story, Ezra grew concerned that he may be following Vader's path to closely.
'His fear of losing who he loved led to his near destruction. I have to avoid a similar fate. Luke will restore Anakin then run off for years, so he's out. Kyle simply won't try, goddamn moral high ground of his. Ashoka, mhm, maybe. Kanan, oh why am I even questioning that. Alright, I'll just have to trust them in the end. That can't be too hard to do."

Sitting there he felt another presence intrude into his mind. 'This signature, I've felt it before.' Getting up and opening his eyes he sees his reflection looking back at him. 'Oh, the dark sides trying it's old tricks again.' "What?" Ezra asked his shadow with disdain in his voice. "Is that any way to greet your father?" 'Mhm, that's a new response.' "I know what you are shade, I will not fall for your tricks." The shade shook its head seemingly in disappointment. "I didn't come here to fool you, Ezra. I came here to tell you that redemption doesn't always come with the price of death, your own included."

  The shade reached out with both hands and grabbed his shoulders. "My son, you believe that death, even your own, will save those you love. It won't, it will only lead to more suffering. I once thought that if I died fighting for my family that all would end well. It did not end well. Don't put them through that loss. There's an alternative to the outcome you have foreseen. Look within yourself and think hard, you will know how to overcome this inevitability."

  With those closing words, the soul of his father left him. "If he could show himself all along why did he wait till now?" Ezra asked himself in wonder that his father had been so close for so long and he never knew about it.