When She Was Gone

Chapter 8

"Anakin," Obi-Wan breathed, eyes wide. Then his expression changed from shock to worry. "Why are you here? What's going on?"

"I'll explain on the way. We need to go now," Anakin said quickly, trying to mask the urgentness coming off his Force signature, but he knew his old master would be able to sense it.

Obi-Wan looked Anakin over once, raised an eyebrow at him, and disappeared behind the door for a moment. "You know I wouldn't be here unless it was an emergency," Anakin called.

"I know," came Obi-Wan's voice, slightly muffled. "I trust you, Anakin. Believe me when I say you've done well not coming here." He straightened up, stuffed his lightsaber into his bag, and pulled the door shut behind him.

"Well, you know me," Anakin said lazily, "I'm excellent at lying low." Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. Anakin grinned.

The receptionist was still asleep when they left.

~~

Leia did as she was told. She kept her eyes directed at the floor and clamped her jaw shut. So she did not see the blank, dark surroundings of Kaivo's quarters as she was dragged into them.

The Togruta stopped suddenly and kicked Leia's calves, forcing her into her knees. Leia felt her bow behind her.

"Master," came her unnatural voice. "I have returned from my mission. And I have brought a gift." She cuffed the back of Leia's head, causing her left bun to uncurl and flop down the side of her neck. She winced.

A hiss of clothes came from before her, and boots thudded against the black tile. Leia's fear faltered for a moment as she was hit with an overpowering wave of malice.

She'd felt the Dark Side oozing off of the Togruta since they'd fought on Yavin, but this was a whole new level. The hatred and anger coming from this...could it even be called a person? It was more of a vessel. A vessel filled to the brim with Dark.

The surprise retreated, and her gut-clenching fear returned. A shiver went down her spine.

"Have you killed Skywalker, Makari?" A deeper voice rasped. That voice was filtered too; it was like they were talking through metal mesh. Buzzing metal mesh.

Makari stiffened. "No, my Lord. We were outmatched. He has...children. And this is one of them."

The new malice-vessel knelt down before Leia. She fought the urge to glare at him.

He grabbed her chin and yanked her face up to his. Leia squinted her eyes shut in paralyzing fear.

"Yes...this one is strong with the Force. You have done well to bring her here, apprentice."

Leia could practically feel Makari's cruel smile baring into the back of her head.

"However..." the smile faded. "Your mission was to bring back Skywalker sr." He released Leia's face. "Not his offspring. If you want to remove the sickness, remove the tumor."

"I apologize, My Lord."

"Take her to the brig. Now."

"Yes, Master."

The malice-vessel moved away, and Leia was heaved to her feet. Makari dragged her out of the room, and the doors slid shut behind them, muffling the waves of Dark.

"Well done," Makari whispered into her ear.

What?

~~

Luke sat, rigid, facing the wall, opening his father's holocron. His mother talked extremely fast into her long-range comm, but he—for once—wasn't eavesdropping. He studied the holocron floating in front of him. It was a deep blue, lined with gold in patterns of circles and triangles. He turned the corners so their pointed edges stuck out at him, and it began emitting light. Luke smirked and snatched it out of the air just as his mother came around the corner. She looked at him, her face tear-stained, looked at the holocron, then slipped into her room and closed the door.

Luke levitated the box once again, this time closing his eyes and really reaching into the holocron's databanks. He scrolled through lists of Jedi, some he knew from stories, most he didn't.

Finally he found his father in the far recesses of the last list. There were video clips under his name. He activated the first.

"I'm Master Skywalker." Luke watched with fascination as Anakin bowed to the recording device and straightened up, grinning. Was this really his father? He looked so different. His hair was short and stuck out at odd angles behind his head, and there wasn't a trace of white. His scar was definitely more pronounced. He stood tall and radiated confidence; Luke could sense it even through the recording. He was also smiling. A lot. He only really smiled that wide when he was with his wife or when Leia cracked a joke or when Luke executed a perfect dive or when...

Luke shook his head.

"I'll be showing you today some lightsaber techniques I find helpful." He pulled his 'saber off his belt.  "The traditional positions of defense are, contrary to popular belief, still effective in protecting yourself." He lit it. "Battle droids may have intelligence to an extent, but they are still prone to falling for the simplest tactics. Positions three and seven are the only ones that, in my experience, fail to deflect." He demonstrated. Luke mimed from his sitting position. A lump formed in the boy's throat. "The rest of the positions work well." He placed himself in a Position One stance. "One. Two. Four. Five. Si—" Luke skipped to the next video.

In this one, the protagonist was not Anakin, but a man with a light brown beard and white-and-brown robes. Luke cocked his head. The man looked familiar.

"I am Master Kenobi," said the man. Luke clenched his fists, trying to remember who he was. "Today, I, Master Skywalker and Padawan Tano will be demonstrating the uses of different weapons the Jedi use against Seperatist battle droids." Kenobi produced a grenade from his belt. "This is a droid popper." Luke skipped ahead to the middle of the video—he knew what droid poppers were.

"Unless Master Gallia hasn't taught you this yet, your detonators—" Luke stopped the video. His father was now standing next to Kenobi, and he looked older; closer to what he had looked like when the twins were little. And next to him was a Togruta, dressed in burgundy with orange skin.

Luke blanched.