Darkness {4}

Chapter 33

It all happened in slow motion; the Empress's cackling, Luke's throw, and Leena's impalement. The Empress withdrew from Leena, allowing to come down from her angry high. Her yellow eyes became replaced by the green and blue Luke knew so well, and her veins faded to reveal her colorful and bright skin, making it so much harder for Luke to look at her as she fell to the ground.

Her strangled gargle made Luke want to throw up, and she collapsed like a rag doll. He felt hot tears on his cheeks as he conjured his lightsaber back to him, and ignited it to face the Empress and get her away from Leena so Kira could heal her. Stabbing, as a last resort, could be used to save someone under the influence. Kira's words came back to him, and he hoped desperately that she was right. Their plan had worked; the Empress had left Leena's mind and returned her to normal, but at what cost?

Luke slowly and strategically turned so that the Empress was facing away from Leena, and he felt Kira slowly fade from his existence as she dampened her Force signature in order to focus. But despite this he trusted her because he had no other choice, and now he was about to fight for his life against a much more manipulative and skilled foe than Leena.

"Well Skywalker, I must say I'm impressed." The Empress stated breathily, still recovering from laughing. But she had a smile on her face, and Luke had to physically keep his fingers pried open to keep from clasping into a fist and closing her trachea. "Sacrificing your own needs for those of the 'greater good'."

Leena made another strangled noise and out of the corner of Luke's eye he saw her convulse, making him shudder and almost break down. He didn't answer.

The Empress executed a series of elaborate moves that kept Luke on his toes, but he hadn't trained for nothing. His instincts kicked in and he kept up relatively well, remembering vaguely how he and Leia had failed miserably the first time they'd confronted her. They'd both come a long way since then, but in different ways.

Leena gave a squeak of pain and sent Luke's heart crumbling again, and he had to regain his focus. Tune her out. Kira's helping. She's fine. But if she wasn't, it'd be all his fault.

He was just stalling enough to get Leena healed, and after that he wasn't sure what he would do next. As he was struggling to think of a plan another rumble in the ground paused his battle with the Empress. She gave Luke a knowing smile, but he didn't know what she was smiling at until she explained it; "Well, it appears my workers have detonated the bombs."

"Why destroy your own base?" Luke asked incredulously, his voice wavering from the effort of keeping his emotions in check.

"Because your precious New Republic is winning the battle and soon they'll be here." She spat disdainfully. "And I know a lost cause when I see one."

She flipped away and deactivated her lightsaber, landing in front of the doorway gracefully. "We may have lost this battle, but we will win the war. I promise you that."

And with that she was gone, and Kira uncovered herself as Luke raced over to her and Leena and dropped onto his knees. "How is she?" He asked breathlessly, panic and anxiety and guilt all clawing at his insides.

Kira stayed cool as she continued to treat Leena. "The plan worked; her mental control is recovered and the darkness has faded, and I'm working on the physical healing now."

"Didn't this take you only about two minutes on yourself?" Luke snapped, and immediately regretted his harsh tone. But Leena's moan sent his brain all over the place yet again, and he stood up and paced anxiously. He couldn't lose her. He couldn't lose her. He couldn't lose her. Not her. Not Leena. Not little Leena. He couldn't get the image of her look of awe and shock as she crumpled to the ground out of his head no matter how hard he tried, and knew that if Kira failed and she died then he'd be her murderer.