Star Wars – Reflection

By Fyre.

Synopsis

Leia still remembered darkened cells, probe droids, heavy, metal hands on her shoulders as she was forced to watch Alderaan burn. She remembered Hoth. She remembered Cloud City. She remembered waking, gasping, haunted by the hiss of his mask in the night. The thought that he could appear to them even after death had terrified her then. Now, looking at the man on the bridge, she knew exactly who she was seeing.

Excerpt

Leia knew him the first time she saw him.

The celebration of the Battle of Endor lasted days. Some part of her knew they should return to Coruscant and make the Republic official, but it had been so long since they could just breathe that when Luke suggested they delay for a few days, she had accepted.

She didn’t know what woke her in the middle of the night. The forest was never silent, but this time, it felt different. She lay on the rush-filled bed, gazing up at the shadowy ceiling of the Ewok hut, but she’d lain awake too many times in the night to know she wouldn’t be able to get to sleep again.

As quietly as she could, she rose from the small bed, stepping over Chewie’s legs and around Han and the cluster of cubs curled up beside him. It brought a smile to her face. As much as he tried to play it tough, he couldn’t help himself.

The night air was cooler, and she shivered as she stepped down onto the platform that led to the bridges between the trees.

That was when she saw him.

At first she thought it was just a trick of the light, but when she brushed a hand over her eyes and looked again, he was still there.

He was a young man, tall, wearing robes. More importantly, he was transparent.

She remained where she was, her heart pounding.

Luke had described seeing the shades of Jedi before. He had, he said, even seen their father without the scars and breathing apparatus and armour. He looked kind, Luke said. A kind old man who had saved his life.

Luke could forgive him.

Leia wasn’t so sure.

She still remembered darkened cells, probe droids, heavy, metal hands on her shoulders as she was forced to watch Alderaan burn. She remembered Hoth. She remembered Cloud City. She remembered waking, gasping, haunted by the hiss of his mask in the night.

The thought that he could appear to them even after death had terrified her then.

Now, looking at the man on the bridge, she knew exactly who she was seeing. She didn’t know why he looked young, but she knew who he was.

He was leaning on the rail where Luke had spoken to her before he went to turn himself in to the Emperor, as if he somehow knew that place was where she had learned who she – and who he – really was.

She knew it was why she had woken up.

A disturbance in the Force.

The Force is strong in my family. My father has it. I have it. My sister has it.

She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.

As if he felt her eyes on him, he straightened up and turned to look at her.

Luke’s eyes, she thought numbly. He had Luke’s eyes.

On legs that felt like they were weighted with lead, she walked down onto the bridge. She could tell him to go. To leave her alone and never come back. She could curse his name. She could say all the things she had never had the chance to say to the man who had destroyed so many people she knew and loved.

He was tall too, but not as tall as he had been in his armour, and she could see the way his hands were clenching and unclenching by his sides.

He was as afraid as she was.

Good.

She raised her chin, straightened her back, and carried herself with every bit of the poise her father and mother had taught her as she walked towards him. She saw his expression change. He smiled, but it was the saddest smile she had ever seen.

The bridge swayed gently beneath them, and she stopped three paces from him.

His fingers were curled tightly to his palms now, and he looked anywhere but her face: the bridge at their feet, the forest beyond them, the small huts and fires visible between the trees.

There was so much that needed to be said.

She wanted to be angry.

She wanted to be, but she was tired of anger, tired of fighting for every step, every moment, every breath she took.

“Thank you,” she finally said.

His eyes – Luke’s eyes – snapped back to her face, and he stared at her as if he couldn’t understand what she was saying. “What?”

“Luke.” It was as simple as that. “You saved him.”

The ghost – shade – whatever he was – looked at her, dazed. “Yes.”

“Yes,” she echoed.

They stared at one another for a moment longer, then she turned and walked back up the bridge. Her hands were shaking so much that she had to wrap them together, and she felt like she was going to be sick.

She didn’t look back to see if he was still there.

She went back to the hut, and curled between Chewbacca and Han. In the quiet dark, she buried her face in the blanket and wept.

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