A Whole New Life Part 7

A Whole New Life
Part 7: Lessons
By SJ 12-23-01/14-04-02 (skyjade@globetrotter.net)

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to George Lucas. I'm only writing stories for fun.
See my homepage for more details.
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Special thanks to my shy, secret beta-reader and best friend, Adrianne, for her
help with the final editing of my new stories. Thanks for giving
me some of your precious time, my friend :)
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Using the darkness as cover, the young Jedi crouched low and ran closer to the
surveillance perimeter of the main base of the organized imperial resistance.
He suddenly dropped low a few seconds before a sweeping light reached his
location, moved over him without detecting his presence, then he jumped back to
his feet and continued his progress forward.

He reached the external, electrified fence, turned himself invisible, then
leaped and tumbled over the barrier.

Five minutes later, he was deep inside the base, waiting for a corridor to clear
up before he hacked his way in a computer room.

So far so good, he hadn't had to deal with anyone yet. However, he thought as
he allowed his invisibility shield to dissolve, he couldn't maintain that kind
of focus forever; next time he would meet with someone, he would have to become
an assassin once again... one last time, he heartened himself even as he pushed
himself further in the shadows of his chosen nook.

A few meters away from him, squads of troopers were guarding crates of what
seemed to be weapons as they brought them to the storage area that was at the
end of the corridor.

That would be his next target, he reflected seriously, but first, he needed to
download the location of the remaining groups. He figured that the computer of
the armory would hold such data, perhaps not as a main bank, but the
destinations of each crate would serve his purpose all the same.

Finally, the transfer of new material was finished and he was alone once again.
He hurried to reach the computer room, checked it once again to make sure that
it was truly empty, then hacked his way inside and locked the door once again.

In front of him, blinking computer banks were logged on and waiting for new
data. Luke produced a stack of disks from his hip pocket, called up the first
file, then programmed the disk reader to copy everything until his disc was
full.

He repeated the procedure with the following five discs and was beginning his
sixth and last disk when his senses went off in warning.

Someone was coming, and his loading was already under progress; the moment that
they would set their eyes on the computer screen, he knew that his presence
would be uncovered.

He had no choice but to terminate them, he sighed even as he hid himself near
the door and prepared his blaster.

From his new position, he heard the others as they shuffled to a halt at the
door, requested entrance while discussing the use they would have for their new
bombs---- then they were inside and he didn't have time to think anymore.

He gave them the time to clear the door and let it seal behind them, then acted.
By that time, the others had naturally noticed the running program on the big
screen, but it was already too late for them.

Even as Luke incapacitated the blaster hand of the nearest imp with a powerful
side kick on his wrist and knuckles, he shot a first man and dispatched a second
one with the Force. He then hurried to shift his focus and silenced the
remaining man before his screams could make it past his lungs, then pivoted on
the ball of his left foot and sent him crashing into the nearby closet; he then
closed the door and fused it with a blaster shot.

When he refocused on his loading operation, the last disk was ready. He
snatched it from the reader, took a second to secure the precious data in his
hip pocket once again, then headed for the hangar bay.

Now he had some 'planting' to do, he thought seriously, not feeling even tug of
his usual smirk form on his lips.

Tonight, he wasn't enjoying his mission; he was doing it because it was his duty
to save the galaxy from his mistakes. And save it he would, he resolved as he
continued to remain out of sight while progressing toward the ammunition hangar.

Twenty minutes later, he was out of the base once again and back to his ship.

Slowly turning toward the still very quiet sight of the main base of the
imperial resistance, he pressed the red switch on his transmitter; a few
kilometers behind him, the base suddenly went up in a fiery display of
explosions, taking with it stocks of ammunitions as well as explosives and
weapons.

As he watched the blazing conflagration, he felt some of his tension leave him
and understood that he and his teams would succeed.

While this new insight satisfied him, he dimly reflected that it was still yet
another waste of lives to add on his 'account' with Life itself. No matter if
the men were good or bad, he wanted to argue with the Force which had pulled him
toward this latest kill, there should have been another way to deal with them.

Unfortunately, not even the books from the past had given him other suggestions.
As if, he thought glumly as he climbed aboard his ship, some living being
weren't sacred and weren't worth the warriors' efforts to spare their lives.

Well, he decided while he flicked switches and brought his cloaked ship to life,
he would prove them wrong. He hadn't had any other choice given the emergency
of the actual situation, but when peace returned in the galaxy, he would devote
his time to two things: the Senate and peaceful ways to settle conflicts.

The battles against the remaining groups lasted another three days during which
the doomed organizations tried to wreak as much havoc as they could, but in the
end, thanks to almost every kind of resource available, namely troops, spies,
local enforcers, double-crossers and even regular citizens in some places, the
trouble-makers were finally neutralized... or killed... leaving behind a galaxy
in dire needs of repairs and reassurance that the new leadership was fair and
dedicated to them.

To help the rebuilding efforts, Luke accessed the accounts of both the Emperor
and Black Sun and used their credits to both pay for the repairs, and even more
to improve the cities when the local authorities told him what they needed.

Thus, demolished trade center were reborn in record time and were more beautiful
than before, devastated crops were replaced, and the actual harvest,
compensated; whole water sources were completely purified and re-initialized
after reinforcing the security systems on them, and so on, and so on.

Three months after the end of the terrorist attacks, and any new attempt stopped
and completely neutralized before they even got close to attacking the citizens,
peace had truly returned in the galaxy... but unrest was brewing again.

******

As Luke watched the reports about the demonstrations that were now proceeding,
he felt like burying his hands in his hair and whining about his fate. The
citizens were not violent in any way, but they were threatening to petition for
separation from the government if the Senate was not re-instituted within the
next weeks.

Luke was perfectly aware that he was nowhere near this delay to bringing back
the senators to the Senate, mostly because he had yet to find trustworthy
politicians, he conceded. Up to now, all his interviews and travels had
convinced him of only one thing: he would never be able to leave those men and
women to themselves for long before the past simply repeated itself.

On the vid screen, a part of his triumphant announce to the galaxy was re-run,
meanly reminding him and the rest of the galaxy that he had made a promise... a
pledge to them.

"This was almost six months ago," the newsperson continued to explain even as
more images of demonstrations flashed on the big screen. "yet we are still
waiting for President Skywalker to honor his word."

President, he sneered at himself even as the image shifted to that of a
volunteer senator. He was no president.

"Several of us are ready to help him in this endeavor," the Mwonbati explained
in his singing voice, "but so far, we have barely met him and haven't received
any word from him. He will have to understand, sooner than later, that he can't
rule a whole galaxy by himself and be fair," the politician explained as
seriously and neutrally as he could.

However, Luke felt the sting of his last comment as if the other had been
rebuking him in private.

The newsperson then asked questions to the citizens in the street.

"He says he's not Emperor, but what guarantee do we have?" a young human woman
commented openly.

"Ships are still stationed above too many world to reassure us," another one,
probably her friend, added earnestly.

"Why wouldn't he re-instate the Senate unless he's hiding something?" a tall
Sluissi commented in heavily accented basic.

"With so much unrest in so many places," the newsperson continued seriously "we
could once again be on the edge of civil war."

Luke admitted that he wanted her to shut up, yet he couldn't not listen to what
was being said about him and his galactic charge.

"Senators are beginning to regroup their strengths for what could easily
escalate into a face-off with our self-appointed savior from one Empire, but was
it to create a new Empire... or to restore a Republic?" she asked as a
conclusion.

Luke suddenly shut down the screen, more out of torment than anything else.

"Perhaps I should stop worrying so much about them," he muttered to himself as
he hung his head in shame.

"Would it be wise, Sir?" his confidant, Piett, asked him from his position
behind him.

The moment that he had received news about the currently airing report, Piett
had forwarded the information to him even as he had hurried to reach his
quarters. Somehow, Luke thought dimly, the other man had known that he would
want to discuss this with him. He slowly turned toward him, his face a study of
misery.

"It wouldn't be my first unwise decision if it weren't, would it be?," he
commented in defeat. "I'm just a man, and a relatively inexperienced one at
that----"

"And that is why the Senate has to be re-instated, Sir," the man courageously
interrupted him.

"Oh, there's no question about that," the youth answered him seriously, "but
with whom?" he then asked, spreading his hands apart to express his indecision.
"Regular citizens who would change all the time? Or just a group of politicians
who would resume the dance of lies which led the old Republic to its decay?.."
he offered seriously.

"But if you kept an eye on the Senate, Sir, you would not let this happen
again."

"I'm not a politician, Piett," Luke shook his head even as he slumped in a
nearby couch. "That's why I want to do it right before I withdraw from all
this."

"Withdraw, Sir?" his admiral inquired, an eyebrow escaping his rigid self-
control to lift above the other in confusion.

The young Jedi only nodded slightly.

"Yes, withdraw from the ruling system and just be a Jedi to atone for the
past... I was truthful when I said that I didn't want power," he told him
seriously, "but somewhere between then and now... I obviously went horribly
wrong... The citizens can't see this and are even threatening a peace we've
brought back with many more sacrifices than they will ever know."

Piett remained silent, thoughtful he noticed.

"Where did we go wrong?" he asked him sadly.

"I... Permission to speak freely, Sir?" his admiral inquired earnestly.

Luke couldn't help but smile slightly at that.

"After all the conversations we've had for the past months, you don't even have
to ask, Piett, and I promise not to be angry," he reassured him.

The other took a deep breath at that, then began: "You tried to do too much on
your own when you admit yourself that you don't know much about the Senate," he
told him bluntly. "When the riots began, you rallied your resources and
established a battle plan with all your officers even though you are an
accomplished fighter; no one can discuss this, Sir."

"But?" Luke prompted him.

"But when it comes to the Senate, you isolate yourself when you should be
seeking even more resources than you did with us. You are acting, if you pardon
my expression, like a selfish child who wants to share, but won't let anyone
play with his toy."

While Luke couldn't help but smile sadly at the image of himself as a kid, he
recognized the wisdom behind Piett's words. He had indeed been selfish about
the Senate when he should have sought allies in this area too. Perhaps even
more than during the siege, he conceded seriously.

"It's true," he finally agreed with his slowly worrying admiral. He noticed how
the other let out a breath of relief. "I had never realized it, but that's
exactly how I was behaving... Do you think that I could trust the senators who
talked in the interview?" he asked the other seriously.

"I'm not a politician either, Sir," his confidant shook his head, "I wouldn't
know who to trust or not, but you, I believe, have the ability to feel when
someone can be trusted or not, or perhaps as much as possible," he added when he
noticed his slight pout of discouragement.

"Yes," he reluctantly agreed, "I can read minds, but I don't want to do it
again. It is not a good use of my abilities."

He didn't add that it was also too close to the Dark Side.

"And isn't there a... huh, middle option available, Sir?" the older man inquired
uncertainly. "Between not reading them at all and invading their minds, can't
you simply feel if you can trust someone or not?"

Luke smiled a little more as his companion obviously grew more comfortable with
him to truly speak his mind and share his ideas.

"You mean like how I knew that I could trust you, Piett?" he asked with a raised
eyebrow.

"Huh," the other hesitated slightly, "I guess so, Sir."

Luke sighed in wariness. "Yes, I can do this, but I don't know if I can trust
this judgment with politicians. They are devious."

"Not all of them, Sir," Piett slightly shook his head. "Most of them are simply
experts with working with the public, something which, if you pardon my saying
so, is eluding you a little."

"Oh more than a little," he agreed with him, slightly smirking in amusement at
Piett's growing boldness yet remaining doubt. "I was never trained to rule with
leadership but with strength and fear..." He locked his eyes with his
companion's, "I don't want to call on either of those skills ever again," he
told him earnestly.

"Then, Sir, there's no choice left. You need to contact the gathering senators
and ask for their help."

"And stay with them," he completed when he understood where Piett was going.

"It will be better for all of us," the older man nodded seriously. "As you
said, you are not a politician; they won't buy you out," the other man smiled
slightly in reassurance.

"I guess so," he sighed again, then stood up to face his admiral. "Thank you
for working up your courage today, Piett. I needed your input."

"I, huh... I did what was needed, Sir," the other stammered uncertainly.

Luke walked closer until he could rest his hand on the nervous man's shoulder.
It was a brief, but reassuring contact; the other's tension disappeared.

"If you ever feel like I am missing out something else, please tell me. You
have my trust."

"Sir?" the officer gaped at him.

"Your advice is always sound, Admiral, and," he continued more solemnly, "it
reminds me of my Father's."

While he expected the other to be even more shocked by this, he never expected
him to gentle toward him. To his own surprise, his admiral gazed at him with
what looked like care in his eyes, then he returned the touch on his shoulder.

"You are a good man, Jedi Skywalker," he told him warmly, then he saluted him
respectfully. "Permission to leave, Sir?"

"Granted," he answered, his own throat constricted by his own shock.

He barely noticed when the other left his chambers

Jedi...

No one had ever acknowledged him as a Jedi before...

******

On Capara, Mara finished to tuck in one of her little charges.

The Calamari child, who didn t have any sense of touch, almost always panicked
when they put him in bed; to him, it was as if he were floating in emptiness.
That night, like every other night, Mara calmed him down. She was the only one
who could reassure him and 'touch' him through the Force.

"You need to sleep, Chandor," she told him gently, caressing his insensitive
forehead while sending a similar touch in his mind. "We will play again
tomorrow morning," she smiled at him.

"Stay, Mara," he begged with her in heavily accented basic.

"Please?" his neighbor asked, prompting herself on her elbow.

"I can't," she shook her head at her little fan club. "I will be reprimanded if
I don't let you sleep. Tomorrow, okay?" she offered while tucking the omwati
teenager back in bed.

"Only if you shake on it," she told her seriously.

Mara shook her head even as she extended her hand for a shake.

"I give you my word I will be here at 0800 tomorrow morning," she told her
seriously.

"I'll hold you to that word," the child teased her.

"Continue like this and you'll make one hell of a trader, Siwwui," she teased
her back while she slowly stepped away from the two beds. "Now, have a good
night of sleep, both of you."

"You too," Chandor wished her back, then turned on his side and closed his
visible eye.

She herself exited the small room and closed the door behind her.

"They're getting tougher every day, aren't they?" Charl, her human helper smiled
at her in the corridor.

"At least you're here with me or else I would never get them to sleep before at
least 2200," she smiled back.

"Were I in their places, Mara, I would be as jealous of my time with you as they
are," he commented while they both headed toward the nurse station to complete
their daily reports. "What you do with them is amazing," he added with respect.
"It's almost as if you take their trauma away from them."

"I wish I could," she sighed, her good mood giving place to her regret at that.
"Anyway, helping them is the least I can do after what I did."

Her companion threw her a curious gaze at that, but a shake of her head told him
to drop it. Again.

Charl was almost her age, a healthy, black-haired and brown-eyed youth with a
very good sense of humor and a passion for his new profession. When it had
become obvious to the nurses that her presence was helping the children to
recover from their traumas and even speeded up their time in re-adaptation, they
had assigned a true nurse with her so that they would be able to intervene
rapidly in case of trouble while keeping the children with her instead of taking
them back to their rooms during the day.

So far, the results were very encouraging. After only four months of this new
program, for which she still refused any form of payment, no less than five
young children and three teenagers had been able to return either to their own
families or in the outside galaxy in the care of craftily selected families.

She yawned as she accepted the pad that Charl gave her, then she loaded her
report disc and began to type.

They both typed in silence, as they always did--- when the young man's presence
began to come off as nervous through her senses. She looked up at him; she
caught his eyes just as they darted back down on his pad. Even though she
didn't have much experience with flirting, she instantly recognized the signs
that the young man was attracted to her--- like Luke had been at the beginning,
she wistfully remembered.

For a moment, she stopped working on her pad and thought seriously. She hadn't
seen Luke for almost six months now and hadn't talked to him for five of those
months.

She knew that it wasn't what could be considered as an exactly close
relationship, but still, she admitted to herself, she still thought about him
every day... and she knew that she loved him even more than before he had risked
everything to save them all from the Emperor. In fact, she thought with a
wistful smile, the more she told his stories to the children, and the more she
was falling back in love with him, but a love even truer than before because it
was now her choice, without the pressure of his presence and their bond.

"Mara?" her companion inquired softly.

She turned her head sideways to meet his eyes.

"I... I'm off right after the reports tonight, so... I was wondering," the youth
asked hesitantly, "If you don't have anything planned, perhaps we could, huh, go
out to a dancing club?"

For a long moment, Mara merely gazed at the youth, unable to decide what she
would answer him. Sure, she conceded, Charl was very nice and he had his share
of good-looks. She also knew him well enough to know that it would be serious
for him.

However, she reflected more dreamily, she couldn't forget Luke, couldn't get
over his compassion, the touch of his soul mingling with hers until they were
like one, and his amazing devotion to what he knew was right...

"I'm sorry, Charl," she finally answered out loud. "I guess I should have told
you before, but... I'm engaged," she explained, surprising herself with the
choice of her own words.

Engaged? Well, true, she could share a bond even stronger than marriage with
the Jedi, and she 'had' been his consort, but... was she still this close to
him? Even after all those months of absence?

"Engaged?" the youth asked her in surprise. "How--- I mean, how long have you
been with someone? Who is it?"

"My boyfriend is away because of the pacifying operations at the moment, but
soon, I will be able to join him," she answered him honestly, again surprising
herself with her words.

Where was she taking this from?, she wondered inwardly. While she thought about
Luke, she didn't consider returning to him anytime soon, especially now that she
had developed a true friendship with the children here... She couldn't abandon
them just yet... Could she?, she pondered seriously.

Half-an-hour later, she entered her ship and dropped her duffel back, then
stretched her shoulders.

What a day it had been. First, the arrival of absolutely identical Wookiee
twins, then the panic around a twi-lek girl, then the rest of the day spent
playing or talking with the other children. And finally, that invitation from
Charl which had brought home how much she truly missed Luke...

For the past months, she had spent a few hours every evening considering her
love for her friend and what her decision should be. Up to now, she had never
doubted that devoting all her time and days to the children who were coming in
every day at the refugee hospital was her new life. Today however, her choice
wasn't so clear cut anymore...

She went in her quarters and sat on her bunk.

Luke hadn't tried to contact her even once since their last, angry words, she
reflected seriously. Did he hold a grudge against her? or was he simply giving
her her space like he had first told her when they had parted on Coruscant?, she
wondered.

One thing she knew however was that 'she' wasn't angry at him anymore for what
he and his father had done. She understood why the Emperor had had to die and
why she herself had had to face this challenge.

Without the Skywalkers, she would have never been freed from her slavery and
would have never been her true self. The more she worked with the children, and
the more she was beginning to understand that she wasn't a bad person. She
cared too much about her young charges to be evil, and unlike her assassin
skills which had been drilled into her, loving and caring for others came to her
naturally.

Had it been like this for Luke?, she wondered dimly. Was it how he had 'woken
up' from the nightmare, but unlike her, had had to keep up his evil appearances?
Her eyes strayed slightly to the side and she caught sight of Luke's pendant;
she called it to her hand and studied it.

He had given her this because of his love for her, she thought wistfully. He
had always been a nice guy, she smiled dreamily as she closed her eyes and went
back in time.

From the moment that she had met him in the Grand Corridor, she had known that
he would never be a bad person. He hadn't been resentful like most slaves had
been back then, and he had talked to her with genuine interest. He had been the
first one to ever consider her worthwhile, and their friendship had grown on
that basis.

Then, she smiled wistfully, friendship had become infatuation, then love... true
love. She and Luke hadn't been together for appearances only, she reminded
herself, and while she now believed that the Emperor had meant to break them up
when Luke had become Dark Lord, she also knew that nothing would have stood
between them for long. She and Luke had both felt drawn toward the other and had
never been happy unless they were together... and at this very moment, she
admitted that she felt very sad.

She missed him.

Perhaps she should contact him, she reflected seriously while she turned the
small pendant with her fingers. However, she didn't know where he was exactly,
and she suspected that the sight of her wouldn't help him just like his sight
would only twist her arm to return to him...

What should she do?, she wondered sadly--- and gaped when she noticed that the
pendant, which had been sealed up-to-now, had opened in two during her
manipulations. Inside the pendant was a small, custom-made data disk.

She instantly pulled it free from its berth, then headed for her cockpit where a
special data reader was installed. She loaded the disk and sat in the closest
seat. She expected text, but instead, she got an holo of... Luke's mother, she
understood when the woman began to talk to her husband.

She listened to her as she explained her death, then gaped in surprise when she
mentioned the Jedi lock.

A Light Jedi? her? Not after what she had done... As if to answer her
question, the holo made her realize that she was not doomed to the dark side
forever. That started her thinking again and she reflected that if Vader and
Luke could do it, then she too could.

Meanwhile, the holo went on... and revealed to her the circumstances surrounding
queen Amidala's death... The Emperor had been an even worse monster than she
had ever thought him to be, she snarled in disgust while she listened to the sad
tale. However, the young woman of the holo warned her to beware that kind of
feeling and to fight the darkness with her love...

For Luke and the galaxy, she understood even as she belatedly understood that
the pendant had opened while she had been thinking about her lost boyfriend.
She could do it, she thought seriously as the rest of the message went on, more
meant for Anakin than darksiders in general.

Then it was over and she was once again alone with her thoughts. She sat back
in the piloting chair and pulled her legs up on the seat, then against her
chest.

She could really win her private freedom, she thought seriously, could get over
what the fiend had done to her and what he had made her do. Then, she sighed
hopefully, perhaps she'd be able to return with Luke, but was she entertaining
fickle thoughts about the two of them? Or was she truthful with herself and she
could save this hope for a near future?

She dimly reflected that the best way to know would be to contact Luke, but...
Was she ready to see him again, even from a distance? she asked herself. She
loved him so much that she now feared that she would lose her true self to
him... just like what the Emperor had done with her devotion to him, she had
come to understand.

The children were a good reason for staying on Capara, she conceded with
herself, but first and foremost, she simply didn't want to repeat the past, even
for her lover.

She spent the best part of that night debating with herself until it was too
early to go to bed and she prepared for another day at the hospital.

******

On Dagobah, time slowly went by for the ex-dark lord, but unlike what he had
expected to feel during his meditations, he didn't really mind its speed
anymore.

Instead, he took every second that he was allotted to make peace with himself.
Thus, he slowly went over his whole life, starting from when he had left his
mother alone to the slavers of Mos Espa, and on till adulthood.

He had reached his mid-twenties now... when his chasing the Jedis had been at
its paroxysm.

Today, he had focused on two very particular Jedi Knights and relatively close
friends... whom he had murdered even more savagely than he had anybody else.
He knew now that his anger at them had been in fact his dark self working
double-time to keep him from resurfacing at the most inopportune of moments
because even on that horrible day, he, Anakin, had been trying to survive his
horrible nightmare.

In the end, he had lost, but only for a while since he was now back and the
Jedi's true murderer was dead and eradicated. He had made their sacrifice
worthwhile now, he reassured himself.

Sighing in both tiredness and growing peace with himself, he exited his
meditation, then stretched and stood to his feet.

The light outside had grown dimmer than when he had begun his meditation; night
would soon fall. He gathered his empty water skins, stuffed his lightsaber in
one of the large pockets of his mechanic suit, then left his main camp to
replenish his stock of water and perhaps find himself some dinner... his second
meal of the day.

On the way to the nearby source of water, he allowed his mind to wander away
from himself and focus on his son.

During a trance a few days ago, he had seen him facing a group of angry people
and he had had the distinct sensation that his son was not ready for them.
Was he all right?, he wondered reflexively. Was he able to keep the galaxy at
peace? Or had he met with trouble that they had never foreseen and he was in
dire need of help?

His help...

When he tried to reach him though, distance continued to block them off.
Sighing in acceptance, he withdrew from the Force and trudged on.

He now understood that the Force had made him crash on this far away, lonely
planet; it was its will, and unlike what he had first thought, much good would
come out of this, not only on the aspect of revenge of the galaxy, but on the
personal one as well. When he would be ready, he would be able to contact his
son and be rescued, but until then, he had to take advantage of his solace to
prepare himself for his new life.

He couldn't continue to live in the past. His warning senses suddenly tingled,
informing him that a predator had selected him as an edible target. Without
slowing his pace, Ani reached out and sent a warning wave in the Force and
straight into the snake's mind.

It gave up on him, dismissing him as a too dangerous prey.

A few minutes later, he reached his destination.

He knelt down on the humid ground and dipped his skeins in the river, then, once
he was done, decided to clean himself a little while he was at it. He had
postponed it long enough since a few days ago. Furthermore, he was slightly
worried to have walked into something unhealty; his skin was itching quite
frequently today.

He first removed his over-clothes until he was standing in what remained of his
body tight armor, then stepped into the waters.

It was cold, so he hurried to freshen himself, then stepped out of the lake.
Once he was dressed again, he knelt back near the water and slowly removed his
helmet.

He would have a minute at the most to wash his face, he thought mechanically,
but given how much he had itched lately, he conceded that he had no choice this
time. If whatever it was had spread to even his covered skin, it was a good
time to wash it away.

He set his hands on the clasps of his sealed mask, released them, then he took a
deep breath and removed his mask; he hurried to set it aside even as he leaned
above the water to cup water in his hands---

He stopped in shock at his reflection.

His left cheek, which had born an ugly scar up to now--- was suddenly almost
like new. The scar was still there, of course, but it was so faint that it
would never be considered as ugly anymore.

He gaped at his image for a long, long while... until he tried to breathe and
remembered that he couldn't do so without his mask. He reluctantly brought it
back over his features, but when he moved to seal it back in place, he changed
his mind.

Instead, he took a moment to catch his breath, then took another deep breath and
removed it again.

He had seen right, he thought in disbelief.

He had somehow begun to heal.

On impulse, he brought his right hand to his head--- and gaped even more when he
felt that his disgusting ridge of scars had also begun to recede in size.

He was healing himself!... What neither he nor Luke had ever managed even
together... He was somehow doing it by himself now. Elated, he repeated the
procedure with his mask, then after pinching himself to make sure that he wasn't
dreaming, hurriedly scrubbed his face with the cold water, dried it, then
reluctantly placed his mask back in place.

He still needed it to live, but, he reflected with a new hope, he might soon
ditch it forever. While he prepared to return to his camp, he promised himself
to plow ahead in his meditation and cover his whole life until he had completely
forgiven himself.

Padme had been right.

******

TBC in part 8: Future

SJ: Skyjade@globetrotter.net (any positive stuff is welcome, but negative or
mean comments will be thrown down the Sarlacc s throat without being read.)