Life, death, & the in between

Chapter Seven

The scene shifts again with ever-changing scenarios, battles, training, flashes of green and blue lightsabers cutting through mindless droids with ease. These include a different woman, much younger than the previous one, with beautifully striped head tails and strangely alluring face markings. She's taking guidance from the man seen before, only he's older, with longer hair with more added pessimism about him. Although their connection is strong it's easily seen that both are struggling with inner demons neither will share openly.

Time shifts back and forth between various situations, a counsel of Jedi, a handsome mentor, the young student, and his wife. All happy memories that slowly begin to fade, shadowed by the slowly growing darkness, someone within the counselors now looms in the background watching, lurking, persuading the man. Filling his head with lies so strong I can feel the shift taking place in his mind just before the heaviness weighs upon his heart, watching horrified as this promising young Jedi gives his trust to the wrong side.

The two women before switching rapidly, the bride is pregnant, glowing. The student was confused, scorned. Both of their lives change dramatically, watching the last moments shared between the padawan was nearly too painful. Not knowing if or when they'd ever see each other again, or more importantly not knowing which sides of the battlefield they'd honor.

But nothing could have prepared me for the utter heartbreak of watching that beautiful bride suffer at the hands of the one she loved, how could he so effortlessly wrap the ghostly grip of the force around her throat, how could he betray the trust he once promised her?

Two faces come in and out of focus, her anguish silently begging her lover not to lose himself to the darkness, his mislead mind-warping every ounce of trust his heart once held. The two suspended in this memory, a moment scorched into time that would forever change the course of history as we knew it.

She falls to the ground, he stares, hurt and confused staring in my direction looking deep into my soul, now acknowledging that the memory has stopped and his attention is truly focused on me he speaks "this moment...right here is when I felt I could no longer return from the darkness. Many years would pass where my mind would continue to be clouded by deception, oh how I loved her...my Padme. A love stronger than anything I had ever experienced, a love almost strong enough to save me from me, save me from the sith, from the darkness."

Pausing he takes a breath, inhaling seeing the scene around us morphs again this time we're watching the woman now being carried away in what would be her final restless dwell. She was a lifeless angel, her beauty radiating around her even after death, the glow of pregnancy still illuminated the once expectant mother.

My eyes adverting to the bump still present beneath her dress, speaking at almost a whisper "but she loved you, how could you do that to her? Wasn't she enough..?" The handsome young Jedi walked closer to her lifeless frame gently placing a gloved hand upon hers, the silence was deafening yet said more than enough to convey his true emotions, slowly looking up with tears in those grey storm like eyes "the pull to the Darkside is not something that can be measured in ways such as enough or not enough, the weight of it consumes you, changes you, takes away everything that makes you...well you. Listen to me (y/n) I've watched the two of you..." interrupting momentarily "me and Kylo?"

A single nod of acknowledgment before continuing "I've watched my grandson for many a year follow in my cursed footsteps, I've tried sending signs, I've tried to stop him but unfortunately my warnings have fallen on deaf ears. Kylo...Or should I say Ben has been lost for more years than he was found, only recently have I felt his allegiance shift, that's when you came along. You were so close to changing the course of his life, the path I was foolishly drawn to has poisoned him as well. Your death was a tragedy that Ben had not been prepared for, once again a moment in time pushing darkness further into the heart of a Skywalker, but he has something I never did, a connection to the force, a link between life and death...you."

Marching forwards young Anakin grasps my shoulders, one hand squeezes harder than the other with an unknown strength as he stares deeply into my eyes "don't let him go (y/n) don't let him become a shell of the man you love so much, the darkness will ruin him, the destruction that will follow if it successfully takes him will be irreparable. There's still time to pull him back, whatever you do don't give up, unable or unwilling to listen to my warnings I've seen his inability to ignore you, the bond the two of you share is unlike anything I've ever seen before. The way you can see, sense, and visit him from beyond is a mystery within itself, what you two have is something new within the force, something as marvelous as it is peculiar. Use it, go to him often, use the force to help bring him back to the light. And if you should fail (y/n) ....the galaxy...it would ...."

But suddenly the scene is ripped from around me, a quacking lurching launches me back into that blinding white space with a now noticeable growing figure of almost solid black slowly coming into focus. The helmet I was connected to yanked from its ashy throne with harsh words jabbing into the silence "snooping seems to have followed you into the afterlife, happen to find anything interesting?"

The dark undertones of his voice linger on every word, unable to read if it's anger or sarcasm simply replying "ah well you know me..." with a heavy hand he slams the helmet back into the ashes while glaring at me across the masks shrine "your grandmother, her name was Padme correct?"

Those dark eyes now filled with curiosity followed by the press of his lips "hmmm, it was (y/n) yes. Why?"

Shuddering to the sound of my name against his lips before taking small deliberate steps along the outline of Vader's case inching my way towards him "the day she died, she was pregnant, they buried her with the babies. But that couldn't be because one of those would eventually give birth herself, to a beautiful baby boy..." suspicion lingered in his expression before answering "yes...the Jedi, what was left of them deceived my grandfather for his own good, for the safety of Luke and my ... mother Leia. But how do you..." now only inches from his towering frame so close the vibration of his soul was intoxicating "I saw them, I saw Anakin, and Padme I saw their love not much unlike ours, he showed me, Anakin did. He showed me the consequences of choosing the dark side Kylo...he wanted to show me what would happen if I fail."

Staring down at me those amber eyes searching for answers "you pulled me away from him just before he told me what would happen, I'm taking it as a sign that I have no other option but to succeed I won't let another failure taint the Skywalker bloodline. You will turn away from the Darkside kylo, you will serve the galaxy as you were meant to, not as a sith but Jedi, working with the force as we both know you long too."

Butterflies churn in my stomach watching his lips curl into the softest of smiles, closing off any space between us slowly raising his hand gentle fingertips to brush across the space my face should occupy "you will try...but history has a way of repeating itself, the Skywalkers belong to the darkness. My grandfather lost Padme just as I lost you and now I'm going to finish what he started. Fail or not you ultimately can't stop me."

Lingering for only a moment before that infatuating smile faded and his arm flew sideways reaching for something in the distance, sudden whooshing whips past me while my eyes adjust to the speed at which his helmet flew into his outstretched palm. Inhaling deeply his raspy voice speaks behind the mask "her mind is weak, I can sense my way inside it. This conversation is over (y/n) seeing as you're not... (pausing to stare at my ghostly figure) physically...here to stop me there's something I have to take care of."

With the swish of his wrist somehow I could feel our connection weakening, he was closing himself off to me and somehow I was unable to stop it, never has he deliberately pushed me back towards the void.

What could be more important than our conversation, who's mind was he talking about? He shouldn't be sensing his way inside anyone but me. Pouting while staring at him from the beyond, watching him turn around his focus now far, far, away he speaks into the vastness of the room while I have no choice but to powerlessly listen.