What Could Have Been Part 2: Anakin's Trials

A Friend's Advice

Leia

     Leia began regretting mouthing off to Han. They had only gotten further lost in the halls of the base. "I'm not sure..." she trailed. Han looked at her slyly, "Ready to admit that you're lost, Princess?" he asked. Leia rolled her eyes, "Laser brains..." she muttered under her breath.

      Han took a break and leaned against the steel walls. His hazel eyes glistened with delight. "Take it easy Leia," he soothed. Leia tugged at her braid nervously, "I can't! I just can't do it!" she complained. She didn't know where she was and she couldn't concentrate on anything other than Luke suffering. Maybe she wasn't ready to do things on her own. Han's eyes softened, "You're only saying that because you haven't figured out how yet. Just calm down," he suggested.

      Leia looked up at him. He smiled encouragingly and she wanted to smile back. He may have teased her moments ago, but his strong features were just as welcoming as when she first met him. He wasn't like anyone she had ever met. He wasn't cloned. He was just Han.

       Leia took a breath and closed her eyes. A wave of comfort passed over her. She wasn't alone. She had Han.

        But they weren't alone anymore either. Someone appeared in the hallway. His steel eyes locked on her. "Blast!" she shrieked. Han tensed by her side as Leia stood as rigid as a shard of glass. Blast narrowed his eyes and his hand came to his blaster. The air hung frozen by the glare held by Leia and the boy she had thought was her friend.

        "What are you doing here?" he barked coldly. Leia was shocked. Was this Blast or one of his "brothers"? No, it was Blast. She knew it. There was still a hint of recognition in his almost blank eyes. "Blast, please. We need to get out of here!" Leia begged. Blast held up his gun. "You are under arrest!" he shouted, lunging toward her. Han jumped in between them. "Don't you touch her!" he growled, "Leia, run!"

Padme

     "I have it all under control," Anakin said seriously.

     Padme sighed once again and rubbed her forehead with her index and thumb. "That's what worries me..." she replied humorously to the hologram of her husband. Anakin laughed vaguely, "I love you Padme," he said. "I love you too," she murmured before signing off.

        That's when the platoon stopped. Padme stared at the darkness in confusion, "We can't be here already..." she assured herself. She stood up with stiff muscles and looked at R2 who whistled. Padme remembered C-3PO who was still turned off and flicked his switch.

       "And might I say- oh! What did I miss?" sputtered the bewildered droid. Padme pulled him up by a tarnished golden arm, "Not now Seethreepio. We've stopped," she explained in a hushed voice. R2 spun his dome in a dramatic attempt to gain attention. "Artoo says that we are still twenty miles from the designated coordinates of the enemy base," C-3PO translated. Padme crept up to the large metal door. She rested a palm along the cool, rusted alloy. The shriek of a blaster echoed through the walls of the transport and left a ringing in the darkness that surrounded Padme. Something was out there.

      Luke

      Had Leia escaped? Had their father rescued her? It was a safe bet.

      "What!?!" exclaimed Darth Midas. A menacing glare formed on his already grim face as he turned to Luke. "What's going on here?" he interrogated. Luke shrugged, smothering his relief as best he could. "My father would never let you hurt my sister and I," he answered confidently.

       He had been feeling victorious for a moment until the young Sith Lord raised him hand and slapped him. Luke staggered back in utter shock. "You ought to learn to hold your tongue, boy! You don't know who I am!" Midas warned sharply. Luke's cheek began to sting. It hadn't been the kind of slap that his sister would give him when he took her things but the kind of slap that stayed long after the intial contact. Luke was getting angry.

       "No, I do know who you are! You're a coward! You're afraid of facing my father so you hold his children as prisoners! I've heard the stories from my father, that's all the Sith have ever been! Cowards!" he shouted back. A torrent of anger flowed out of his as he mocked Midas. Luke had no idea where his fuel of defiance was stemming from but it was easy to give into it. A spark of hate ignited for this monster who had threatened his family and nothing held him from feeding its flame.

      Anakin

     As Padme signed off, Anakin turned back to his old master. "Obi-wan, you've got to go find Padme. I can handle this Sith alone," he said, even though he was still trying to convince himself. Obi-wan sighed, "I had a feeling you would say that," he said softly, "But don't underestimate his power Anakin. That is where even the greatest Jedi can fail. And I inow I've said this thousands of times before, but be mindful of your feelings."

       Anakin frowned. He felt a lump in his throught that held his words back. "Don't worry Obi-wan. I think I've finally learned to let go of my feelings... even my love..." he managed even as the words stabbed at his heart. Obi-wan didn't look pleased as he had guessed. "Anakin, there's something I need to tell you. Before Master Yoda died, he trained me to manifest the Force. I didn't know what it meant then, but he told me that the key to fully unlocking the Force has nothing to do with letting go our feelings."

      Anakin swallowed hard again. "What do you mean? What is it then?"

       This time, Obi-wan smiled with a mix of joy and sorrow on his face. Every wrinkle on his face seemed to fade and once again, he looked like just plain Obi-wan. "The key is love."

        Anakin ran his hands through his hair which he had been doing very often lately. "Yoda contacted me through the Force and I think I understand what he had been trying to tell me. Thank you Obi-wan," he said with less weight in his voice.

       The twinkle in his old master's eye had never been brighter. "May the Force be with you, my young apprentice..."