Master Jedi - Into The Light, Part 2
posted 13 January 2008, Sunday
After spending an annoying fifteen minutes arguing with Admiral Antilles over the reasons why he should let her dock with the Perceptor, the Republic's key intelligence vessel, Leia now stood by her ship surrounded by twelve armed soldiers tapping her foot impatiently. "I thought he was on his way?" Leia snapped at one of the soldiers.
"He'll be here shortly your highness. Please be patient."
Dressed in her red uniform and black robe, Leia turned her back to the men, leaned on her ship and began rubbing her temples. Her desperation to see her son was driving her unpleasant attitude, but now in the midst of the Republic she was doing everything she could to control herself. If she wanted any semblance of her former, normal life she knew that she had to play the role of the normal Leia they were all used to, but it was proving extremely difficult. More than once the thought of ripping through the soldiers and taking what she wanted, what she knew no one could stop her from getting crossed her mind, and the struggle to ignore it had already given her a massive headache.
On the other side of the hangar Admiral Antilles walked in with two of his men and another handful of soldiers. His brisk pace and unhappy look had everyone on their toes. "Hello your highness," Wedge greeted. "Please take a walk with me," he motioned with his hand. He ordered his men to standby while he and Leia walked off to an empty area to talk. "You have a lot of nerve coming back here like this." Wedge whispered as they concealed themselves behind an X-wing.
"This is my home Admiral. Where else am I supposed to go?" Leia said his title with disdain.
"How about the Council or the Senate? If they find out I let you on this ship they'll have both our heads!"
"I'm not here to take away your precious command, so--"
"Precious? You of all people know how this command sucks the life right out of you so stop with the melodrama and give me one good reason why I shouldn't turn you in."
Leia clenched her fists bothered by the argument and how it delayed her. "I'm just here to see my son. After that I'll turn myself in," She lied not knowing what she would do after seeing Anakin.
Wedge stared at Leia recalling Luke's warning not to push her too hard or get in her way, and confirmed it after seeing the anger in her eyes. Luke's going to owe me for this one, thought Wedge as he softened his tone. "I'm going to send some guards to escort you to your son. I'll give you an hour."
"Thank you Admiral." Leia forced herself to say it before abruptly leaving.
Almost running, Leia made it up to her quarters. The two guards sent to escort her stayed back twenty feet as Admiral Antilles ordered, and now watched the door hoping this strange ordeal would soon be over. "Eshiy!" Leia called out to no response. "Eshiy?" She continued to yell as she searched every room. Her desperation gave way to confusion as Leia began thinking about places they could have gone. Could they be on a walk? Maybe Anakin is sick? She mulled over the many possibilities before deciding to call the Admiral. She pressed the operator button on the panel next to the front door and told the communications officer who came up that she needed to speak with the admiral immediately. "What is it?" Admiral Antilles said roughly through the comm about a minute later.
"My son isn't in his room!" Leia said loudly trying to hold her anxiety back.
"Stay there. I'll send some people to look. I don't want you wandering the ship."
"Wedge! I need to find my son!" Leia pleaded, but the Admiral had already cut off communication.
Frustrated and growing more angry by the second Leia began tossing chairs and flipped things over as she walked back and forth through each room. "Where the hell are they," she yelled not being able to sit still. Her tantrum lasted about fifteen minutes before she decided to try and control herself once again. She walked to her bedroom and sat on her bed breathing deeply trying to calm down. I'm not on an Imperial ship anymore, she repeated to herself. She closed her eyes and focused on her son, thinking of the things she had planned upon her arrival, when she felt something unusual. She opened her eyes and across the room was a piece of red paper taped on the wall obviously placed with the foreknowledge that she would look at that spot and see it.
Leia jumped from the bed, ripped the paper off the wall and unfolded it. Confusion and fear took her over as she began to expect the worst from the note, but greeting her were the words:
Do not fear. Anakin is safe. He is with me at my facility on Tatooine. I'll be waiting for you. We have some unfinished business.
Luke
All at once Leia's anger and desperation exploded in a ball of Force energy that laid waste to her bedroom. She screamed with all of her might and cursed her brother for once again interfering in her life. The inevitability of their confrontation was all too clear now, and whether she wanted to or not she had to face Luke in order to get to her son.
The first sun had just fully come over the horizon outside Luke's warehouse when Leia's came in. Her approach was more of a controlled crash than a landing, but Leia was too focused on her son to care. Ignoring the biting sand from the increasing wind Leia jumped out of her ship and Force-opened the front door letting herself into Luke's warehouse home. From orbit she could sense his presence, and now inside the facility it was calling out to her from the hangar on the right. Leia took a deep breath as she stretched out her neck and prepared for the worst. She then took off her black robe and tossed it in a corner before entering.
The hangar was free from the usual clutter of mats and training equipment, and all around on the walls small torches added their glow to the poorly lit place. At the far end of the hangar sat Luke on a broken refueling pod that was now stuck above the floor and served as a makeshift table. As soon as she saw her brother Leia's anger faded, and as she walked into the center of the hangar she felt like she had never flirted with the darkness. "A bit melodramatic don't you think?" said Leia, trying to hold back uncomfortable laughter.
"Yeah, maybe, but since we're going to fight it out I thought I'd make it interesting." Luke replied as he nervously kicked his legs back and forth.
"I don't want to fight. I just want to see my son. Where is he?" She said genuinely, having no desire to fight at the moment.
"I sense your honesty. I sense the good in you wanting to do the right thing. It's time to stop running around on the brink. Until you do I can't let you see your son."
Leia's frustration suddenly spiked. "Why are you doing this? Do you want to provoke me? Do you want to fight so badly? Just let me see my son."
"Why is he so important to you now? He wasn't important when you abandoned him in order to become an assassin for the Empire." Luke stabbed at Leia trying to bring her to the crossroads where she could finally choose to overcome the darkness.
"I love my son...," Leia began to cry.
"There's something else you should know. We found Han. He's on a medical frigate recovering."
Leia took a step back too shocked for words.
"He'll be fine, no thanks to you. All of your justifications and excuses were a lie, and in the end did nothing to help find him."
"No! I did what I had to--"
"Killing innocent people? Hunting down and murdering Imperial officers? Taking revenge? What did any of that have to do with finding Han?"
"And just what the hell were you doing?" Leia's anger began to rise. "Running around with some girl that you ditched me for? Where were you when I needed help?"
"I've always been here for you--"
"Bullshit! You abandoned me! When I needed you the most you cut me off and ran away! You knew what I was going through!" Leia clenched her fists, angry once again with her brother and what she saw as his betrayal. Her chest had tightened up and the rage began to flow into her extremities calling for violent action. She began walking quickly towards Luke - her eyes now glowing purple with rage. "I'm through talking. Give me my son!" About twenty feet from him she brought up her arms and released a massive arc of Force lightning in his direction. "Give me my son!" She yelled again.
Luke quickly slid off the fuel pod and almost effortlessly began absorbing Leia's energy. "Look at yourself! Is this what you want Anakin to see?"
Leia stopped her attack realizing it was useless. "You can't judge me after what you did. Now give me my son before you make me kill you." She unhooked the lightsaber she stole from Luke and held it at her side.
Luke flashed a smirk at Leia while unhooking his own weapon. "Do you think you can kill me?" He questioned her skills, pushing her further to the edge.
"Do you think I'm still weak? Do you not sense my incredible power!" Leia's eyes were now completely washed in a purple glow. Her anger had finally driven her into a Force Rage, and she was trembling with a killing intent. She had also played right into Luke's hand. "Die!" The possessed Leia shouted as she came down with an overhead swing. Luke was prepared for the powerful blow as it forced him into the concrete floor opening up a crater as he blocked it. What strength, thought Luke, imagining what this dark art could do in the hands of a real Sith. Luke was using the Force to brace himself against Leia's own Force fueled attacks, but after a few more blows he realized he had underestimated his sister and the technique she was using. With a full roundhouse swing Leia attacked once again sending him skidding backwards for ten feet. Come on, run out already! Thanks to Phrog's journals Luke had learned about Force Rage and the fact that while extremely powerful the technique only lasted a short while. More importantly was the fact that it left the user drained and weak. He was counting on the fact that Leia would fall into it, but it was lasting longer than he had hoped and he was getting tired.
Leia was preparing for another attack, but as she lifted her saber she fell to one knee then collapsed. "Thank God," Luke exhaled. He powered down his lightsaber and walked over to his sister thankful that the fight was over so quickly and no one was hurt. Leia was lying on top of her lightsaber so he grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her over, and with the turn came a strong right hook that stunned him. Following the punch came a kick to the back of the knee that brought Luke down, and right behind it was Leia's saber. Recovering just in time to only suffer a burn to the left arm Luke saved himself from his mistake with a block then rolled away to a safe distance. "You call yourself a Jedi? You fool! I can read your mind!" In her own mind Leia realized that she could have ended the duel and killed Luke. She didn't need to ask herself why. She knew.
Luke applied a bit of Force healing to his nose to get it to stop bleeding as he wagged his head disappointed in himself. Well, plan A's gone to Hell and if I try to take it easy on her again I might not be so lucky, he thought. In an affront to the tension in the air Luke suddenly began to laugh. "Is this suddenly funny to you?" Leia was offended, but curious.
"It's just that I can sense your thoughts too! You didn't kill me. You're struggling against the anger. Overcome it Leia! The sister I know would never give up or give in so easily!" Luke finished wiping the blood from his face on his sleeve.
"You don't know anything!" Leia said as she charged Luke and started another exchange. This time Luke didn't hold back and within a minute had caused Leia to over reach on his right. He came in with a quick right kick to the stomach then Force-pushed her fifty feet through the air. She landed hard on her shoulder, but rolled enough to keep it from dislocating. As she rose from the floor her anger rose with her. Luke was hopeful she wouldn't be able to enter into another state of Force Rage, but his ignorance on the subject kept him from any confidence.
Leia's anger was wearing away what little conscience she had left making her more resolved to hurt her brother. She stepped in again with a flurry of attacks, but this time the teachings of Menn-al accompanied her blows. She was fighting elegantly, skillfully and completely different than before. Luke recognized the style, but wasn't bothered by it. He didn't think Leia would be able to implement it as well as her teacher even though they were pretty evenly matched at the moment.
After adjusting to her new style Luke dropped the defensive Fenn style and began working on attack. The transition was smooth, but it was one that Leia noticed making her push to catch Luke off balance. She was repeating a four spot attack, two at the waist, two at the shoulders, waiting for his first attack. It came as a quick stab that she easily fended off to her left. Immediately she aimed for the four points left shoulder, left hip, right hip, but instead of striking the last spot with her lightsaber she came up with a swift kick to Luke's forearm knocking it up. With a twirl of her saber she followed it with an upward strike at his hand, but missed - or so she thought.
Luke sidestepped and moved his hand out of the way then turned around with the speed of the Force to deliver a roundhouse to Leia's side. She barely blocked it and as a result the bottom rib on her right side was now broken. As he recovered Luke backed away from Leia as she stood bent over in pain. As the action ended pain began to shoot up his arm and when he looked at his hand found that he was injured too. Leia had cut off both the ring and pinky fingers on his prosthetic right hand. He was happy that he could still hold his lightsaber, but the damage was causing his hand to tremble and a total failure was not too far away.
"Stop this Leia! I know you don't want to do this!" Luke yelled.
Leia spit on the floor then slowly stood up holding her side. "Just give me my son. Let me go back to my life," she pleaded.
"Do you think you can just come back and resume where you left off... After what you've become? It's never going to happen. It's a sad fantasy. Your anger will continue to rule you, and after it's consumed you it'll consume your family. What will be your excuse when you end up killing Han or Anakin in one of your fits of rage?" Luke tried to get through to her.
"Shut up! I'll never hurt my family!" Leia screamed. She was now hysterical and her struggle between right and wrong was now a confused mess in her head.
"You already have! Remember Han? What about now with me?" Luke raised his hand and showed Leia his missing fingers. "Is anakin next?"
"No!" Leia screamed as she fired an arc of Force Lighting at Luke. Right after she jumped in with a barrage of strong attacks that expressed her anger and frustration. Luke was holding his lightsaber with both hands hoping his hand would last long enough. This was the last exchange, it had to be, so he would have to disarm his sister. The pain in Leia's side wasn't making the feat too difficult as she would stop to nurse her broken rib every few blows. At one of those moments Luke Force-pushed her injured side spinning her around. The sharp pain stunned her long enough for him to come up from behind and grab her right arm with his left. She was in no condition to struggle so with the leverage of his own lightsaber he pried hers out of her hand then jumped away.
Without a weapon Leia just fell to her knees grabbing her side. She was angry and hurt with a feeling of helplessness that was beginning to drown her, but she wasn't confused anymore. Like an intense beam of light in pitch black darkness she saw the path she had taken and admitted what it had made her. She wasn't herself. She desperately wanted to be, but she saw herself in a hole so deep that the thought of crawling out almost made her collapse. Leia began to cry and apologize. "I'm sorry Anakin. I'm sorry Han. I'm sorry Luke," she whispered to herself. "I'm not as strong as I thought I was."
Luke tossed his old lightsaber, that Leia had stolen, far away across the hangar. He had won the duel, but the battle wasn't over. Even after thinking about this moment for many months he had no idea what do to. He was speechless as his sister sat there on the floor crying and mumbling to herself. Had she finally overcome the Dark Side or was there something else that had to be done? Luke just stood there and watched her also starting to feel helpless.
After a few moments Luke took a step forward before bringing it back. He thought he had something to say, but concluded it was stupid. Right then Leia straightened up, put her hands on her head and released a burst of Force Lightning into herself. "No!" Luke yelled as he jumped towards her, but when he got there Leia was limp, laying on the floor. He picked her up in his arms before a closet door on the far side of the hangar slammed open. Lando ran out a few steps before stopping and feeling like someone had just punched him in the stomach.
To Be Continued...
"He'll be here shortly your highness. Please be patient."
Dressed in her red uniform and black robe, Leia turned her back to the men, leaned on her ship and began rubbing her temples. Her desperation to see her son was driving her unpleasant attitude, but now in the midst of the Republic she was doing everything she could to control herself. If she wanted any semblance of her former, normal life she knew that she had to play the role of the normal Leia they were all used to, but it was proving extremely difficult. More than once the thought of ripping through the soldiers and taking what she wanted, what she knew no one could stop her from getting crossed her mind, and the struggle to ignore it had already given her a massive headache.
On the other side of the hangar Admiral Antilles walked in with two of his men and another handful of soldiers. His brisk pace and unhappy look had everyone on their toes. "Hello your highness," Wedge greeted. "Please take a walk with me," he motioned with his hand. He ordered his men to standby while he and Leia walked off to an empty area to talk. "You have a lot of nerve coming back here like this." Wedge whispered as they concealed themselves behind an X-wing.
"This is my home Admiral. Where else am I supposed to go?" Leia said his title with disdain.
"How about the Council or the Senate? If they find out I let you on this ship they'll have both our heads!"
"I'm not here to take away your precious command, so--"
"Precious? You of all people know how this command sucks the life right out of you so stop with the melodrama and give me one good reason why I shouldn't turn you in."
Leia clenched her fists bothered by the argument and how it delayed her. "I'm just here to see my son. After that I'll turn myself in," She lied not knowing what she would do after seeing Anakin.
Wedge stared at Leia recalling Luke's warning not to push her too hard or get in her way, and confirmed it after seeing the anger in her eyes. Luke's going to owe me for this one, thought Wedge as he softened his tone. "I'm going to send some guards to escort you to your son. I'll give you an hour."
"Thank you Admiral." Leia forced herself to say it before abruptly leaving.
Almost running, Leia made it up to her quarters. The two guards sent to escort her stayed back twenty feet as Admiral Antilles ordered, and now watched the door hoping this strange ordeal would soon be over. "Eshiy!" Leia called out to no response. "Eshiy?" She continued to yell as she searched every room. Her desperation gave way to confusion as Leia began thinking about places they could have gone. Could they be on a walk? Maybe Anakin is sick? She mulled over the many possibilities before deciding to call the Admiral. She pressed the operator button on the panel next to the front door and told the communications officer who came up that she needed to speak with the admiral immediately. "What is it?" Admiral Antilles said roughly through the comm about a minute later.
"My son isn't in his room!" Leia said loudly trying to hold her anxiety back.
"Stay there. I'll send some people to look. I don't want you wandering the ship."
"Wedge! I need to find my son!" Leia pleaded, but the Admiral had already cut off communication.
Frustrated and growing more angry by the second Leia began tossing chairs and flipped things over as she walked back and forth through each room. "Where the hell are they," she yelled not being able to sit still. Her tantrum lasted about fifteen minutes before she decided to try and control herself once again. She walked to her bedroom and sat on her bed breathing deeply trying to calm down. I'm not on an Imperial ship anymore, she repeated to herself. She closed her eyes and focused on her son, thinking of the things she had planned upon her arrival, when she felt something unusual. She opened her eyes and across the room was a piece of red paper taped on the wall obviously placed with the foreknowledge that she would look at that spot and see it.
Leia jumped from the bed, ripped the paper off the wall and unfolded it. Confusion and fear took her over as she began to expect the worst from the note, but greeting her were the words:
Do not fear. Anakin is safe. He is with me at my facility on Tatooine. I'll be waiting for you. We have some unfinished business.
Luke
All at once Leia's anger and desperation exploded in a ball of Force energy that laid waste to her bedroom. She screamed with all of her might and cursed her brother for once again interfering in her life. The inevitability of their confrontation was all too clear now, and whether she wanted to or not she had to face Luke in order to get to her son.
The first sun had just fully come over the horizon outside Luke's warehouse when Leia's came in. Her approach was more of a controlled crash than a landing, but Leia was too focused on her son to care. Ignoring the biting sand from the increasing wind Leia jumped out of her ship and Force-opened the front door letting herself into Luke's warehouse home. From orbit she could sense his presence, and now inside the facility it was calling out to her from the hangar on the right. Leia took a deep breath as she stretched out her neck and prepared for the worst. She then took off her black robe and tossed it in a corner before entering.
The hangar was free from the usual clutter of mats and training equipment, and all around on the walls small torches added their glow to the poorly lit place. At the far end of the hangar sat Luke on a broken refueling pod that was now stuck above the floor and served as a makeshift table. As soon as she saw her brother Leia's anger faded, and as she walked into the center of the hangar she felt like she had never flirted with the darkness. "A bit melodramatic don't you think?" said Leia, trying to hold back uncomfortable laughter.
"Yeah, maybe, but since we're going to fight it out I thought I'd make it interesting." Luke replied as he nervously kicked his legs back and forth.
"I don't want to fight. I just want to see my son. Where is he?" She said genuinely, having no desire to fight at the moment.
"I sense your honesty. I sense the good in you wanting to do the right thing. It's time to stop running around on the brink. Until you do I can't let you see your son."
Leia's frustration suddenly spiked. "Why are you doing this? Do you want to provoke me? Do you want to fight so badly? Just let me see my son."
"Why is he so important to you now? He wasn't important when you abandoned him in order to become an assassin for the Empire." Luke stabbed at Leia trying to bring her to the crossroads where she could finally choose to overcome the darkness.
"I love my son...," Leia began to cry.
"There's something else you should know. We found Han. He's on a medical frigate recovering."
Leia took a step back too shocked for words.
"He'll be fine, no thanks to you. All of your justifications and excuses were a lie, and in the end did nothing to help find him."
"No! I did what I had to--"
"Killing innocent people? Hunting down and murdering Imperial officers? Taking revenge? What did any of that have to do with finding Han?"
"And just what the hell were you doing?" Leia's anger began to rise. "Running around with some girl that you ditched me for? Where were you when I needed help?"
"I've always been here for you--"
"Bullshit! You abandoned me! When I needed you the most you cut me off and ran away! You knew what I was going through!" Leia clenched her fists, angry once again with her brother and what she saw as his betrayal. Her chest had tightened up and the rage began to flow into her extremities calling for violent action. She began walking quickly towards Luke - her eyes now glowing purple with rage. "I'm through talking. Give me my son!" About twenty feet from him she brought up her arms and released a massive arc of Force lightning in his direction. "Give me my son!" She yelled again.
Luke quickly slid off the fuel pod and almost effortlessly began absorbing Leia's energy. "Look at yourself! Is this what you want Anakin to see?"
Leia stopped her attack realizing it was useless. "You can't judge me after what you did. Now give me my son before you make me kill you." She unhooked the lightsaber she stole from Luke and held it at her side.
Luke flashed a smirk at Leia while unhooking his own weapon. "Do you think you can kill me?" He questioned her skills, pushing her further to the edge.
"Do you think I'm still weak? Do you not sense my incredible power!" Leia's eyes were now completely washed in a purple glow. Her anger had finally driven her into a Force Rage, and she was trembling with a killing intent. She had also played right into Luke's hand. "Die!" The possessed Leia shouted as she came down with an overhead swing. Luke was prepared for the powerful blow as it forced him into the concrete floor opening up a crater as he blocked it. What strength, thought Luke, imagining what this dark art could do in the hands of a real Sith. Luke was using the Force to brace himself against Leia's own Force fueled attacks, but after a few more blows he realized he had underestimated his sister and the technique she was using. With a full roundhouse swing Leia attacked once again sending him skidding backwards for ten feet. Come on, run out already! Thanks to Phrog's journals Luke had learned about Force Rage and the fact that while extremely powerful the technique only lasted a short while. More importantly was the fact that it left the user drained and weak. He was counting on the fact that Leia would fall into it, but it was lasting longer than he had hoped and he was getting tired.
Leia was preparing for another attack, but as she lifted her saber she fell to one knee then collapsed. "Thank God," Luke exhaled. He powered down his lightsaber and walked over to his sister thankful that the fight was over so quickly and no one was hurt. Leia was lying on top of her lightsaber so he grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her over, and with the turn came a strong right hook that stunned him. Following the punch came a kick to the back of the knee that brought Luke down, and right behind it was Leia's saber. Recovering just in time to only suffer a burn to the left arm Luke saved himself from his mistake with a block then rolled away to a safe distance. "You call yourself a Jedi? You fool! I can read your mind!" In her own mind Leia realized that she could have ended the duel and killed Luke. She didn't need to ask herself why. She knew.
Luke applied a bit of Force healing to his nose to get it to stop bleeding as he wagged his head disappointed in himself. Well, plan A's gone to Hell and if I try to take it easy on her again I might not be so lucky, he thought. In an affront to the tension in the air Luke suddenly began to laugh. "Is this suddenly funny to you?" Leia was offended, but curious.
"It's just that I can sense your thoughts too! You didn't kill me. You're struggling against the anger. Overcome it Leia! The sister I know would never give up or give in so easily!" Luke finished wiping the blood from his face on his sleeve.
"You don't know anything!" Leia said as she charged Luke and started another exchange. This time Luke didn't hold back and within a minute had caused Leia to over reach on his right. He came in with a quick right kick to the stomach then Force-pushed her fifty feet through the air. She landed hard on her shoulder, but rolled enough to keep it from dislocating. As she rose from the floor her anger rose with her. Luke was hopeful she wouldn't be able to enter into another state of Force Rage, but his ignorance on the subject kept him from any confidence.
Leia's anger was wearing away what little conscience she had left making her more resolved to hurt her brother. She stepped in again with a flurry of attacks, but this time the teachings of Menn-al accompanied her blows. She was fighting elegantly, skillfully and completely different than before. Luke recognized the style, but wasn't bothered by it. He didn't think Leia would be able to implement it as well as her teacher even though they were pretty evenly matched at the moment.
After adjusting to her new style Luke dropped the defensive Fenn style and began working on attack. The transition was smooth, but it was one that Leia noticed making her push to catch Luke off balance. She was repeating a four spot attack, two at the waist, two at the shoulders, waiting for his first attack. It came as a quick stab that she easily fended off to her left. Immediately she aimed for the four points left shoulder, left hip, right hip, but instead of striking the last spot with her lightsaber she came up with a swift kick to Luke's forearm knocking it up. With a twirl of her saber she followed it with an upward strike at his hand, but missed - or so she thought.
Luke sidestepped and moved his hand out of the way then turned around with the speed of the Force to deliver a roundhouse to Leia's side. She barely blocked it and as a result the bottom rib on her right side was now broken. As he recovered Luke backed away from Leia as she stood bent over in pain. As the action ended pain began to shoot up his arm and when he looked at his hand found that he was injured too. Leia had cut off both the ring and pinky fingers on his prosthetic right hand. He was happy that he could still hold his lightsaber, but the damage was causing his hand to tremble and a total failure was not too far away.
"Stop this Leia! I know you don't want to do this!" Luke yelled.
Leia spit on the floor then slowly stood up holding her side. "Just give me my son. Let me go back to my life," she pleaded.
"Do you think you can just come back and resume where you left off... After what you've become? It's never going to happen. It's a sad fantasy. Your anger will continue to rule you, and after it's consumed you it'll consume your family. What will be your excuse when you end up killing Han or Anakin in one of your fits of rage?" Luke tried to get through to her.
"Shut up! I'll never hurt my family!" Leia screamed. She was now hysterical and her struggle between right and wrong was now a confused mess in her head.
"You already have! Remember Han? What about now with me?" Luke raised his hand and showed Leia his missing fingers. "Is anakin next?"
"No!" Leia screamed as she fired an arc of Force Lighting at Luke. Right after she jumped in with a barrage of strong attacks that expressed her anger and frustration. Luke was holding his lightsaber with both hands hoping his hand would last long enough. This was the last exchange, it had to be, so he would have to disarm his sister. The pain in Leia's side wasn't making the feat too difficult as she would stop to nurse her broken rib every few blows. At one of those moments Luke Force-pushed her injured side spinning her around. The sharp pain stunned her long enough for him to come up from behind and grab her right arm with his left. She was in no condition to struggle so with the leverage of his own lightsaber he pried hers out of her hand then jumped away.
Without a weapon Leia just fell to her knees grabbing her side. She was angry and hurt with a feeling of helplessness that was beginning to drown her, but she wasn't confused anymore. Like an intense beam of light in pitch black darkness she saw the path she had taken and admitted what it had made her. She wasn't herself. She desperately wanted to be, but she saw herself in a hole so deep that the thought of crawling out almost made her collapse. Leia began to cry and apologize. "I'm sorry Anakin. I'm sorry Han. I'm sorry Luke," she whispered to herself. "I'm not as strong as I thought I was."
Luke tossed his old lightsaber, that Leia had stolen, far away across the hangar. He had won the duel, but the battle wasn't over. Even after thinking about this moment for many months he had no idea what do to. He was speechless as his sister sat there on the floor crying and mumbling to herself. Had she finally overcome the Dark Side or was there something else that had to be done? Luke just stood there and watched her also starting to feel helpless.
After a few moments Luke took a step forward before bringing it back. He thought he had something to say, but concluded it was stupid. Right then Leia straightened up, put her hands on her head and released a burst of Force Lightning into herself. "No!" Luke yelled as he jumped towards her, but when he got there Leia was limp, laying on the floor. He picked her up in his arms before a closet door on the far side of the hangar slammed open. Lando ran out a few steps before stopping and feeling like someone had just punched him in the stomach.
To Be Continued...
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