The Death of Luke Skywalker

2010-09-08, 22:10 w Articles > Short stories

931

Jedi Nadiru Radena

Rating: 5.00

For many years he had thought he would die suddenly, in a blaze of glory, like a classic hero, saving the galaxy from yet another great evil or terrible, dark menace. In a fierce starfighter combat, in a magnificent lightsaber duel, in an enormous explosion, or - in the worst-case scenario - in a hail of blaster fire. Quickly, unexpectedly, without saying goodbye to the loved ones or uttering wise words, perfect for an engravement on his tomb.

In the beginning it had really seemed that his life would perish in a blink of an eye. So many things and so many people could kill him over the years. First the Death Star, then the crimson blade of Darth Vader's lightsaber and the Emperor’s lightnings. It had looked as if the end was near, since so many new dangers had started to arise: unpredictable Imperial warlords, terrifying Nightsisters, the insane Joruus C’baoth, Palpatine’s clones... Every time he had been on the verge of death, and every time he had survived and had healed his wounds to live and fight another day. If there ever was something like luck, at that time his pool had been on a brink of depletion. But nothing had happened; he had lived and had grown older, facing new threats. And then had come the Yuuzhan Vong and again everything had seemed as dark and horrifying as never before. But the Yuuzhans had also been defeated, almost against all logic. The Killiks, the Corellian insurrection, the new Sith - everything had passed away, but not him, not the Jedi Grand Master.

Luke Skywalker smiled. He wasn’t counting on a quick and swift death now, although somewhere deep within him, even after all those years, he still had a bit of that strange naivety of a simple Tatooine farmboy. He carefully got up from his bed, using one hand to support himself on a stone wall, and walked across the whole chamber to sit down in a chair next to a large, wide window made of transparisteel.

Long gone were the times, when doing simple things didn’t involve heavy pain, and walking through the room wasn’t a problem. Just a few years ago he conquered his pain and bravely stood up to the training duels with the youngest of the Force adepts. Now he could only watch with smile as Kol and his peers try to clutch their small fists around the lightsaber hilt. That’s funny, even ironic - right now he wasn’t sure if he could do the tricks these younglings can. The implacable flow of time does its due.

A silent, anguished sigh broke away from his chest again. It wasn’t the first time he caught himself thinking about the past, when there was so much to cherish here and now. Why couldn’t he find pleasure in trifling matters such as good weather or a beautiful morning for a change?

With that elusive thought in mind, he shifted his gaze from his wrinkled hand to the ragged outline of the Ossan Mountains, emerging from the clouds far on the horizon. The brownish scars, clearly visible on the green-sloped mountains, were the perfect example of all the hardship the Yuuzhan Vong had to face while trying to transform this dead planet into a lush fertile world. Large portions of Ossus, a planet devastated by the terrible Sith supernova more than four thousand years ago, still painfully resembled the vast and harsh deserts of his own homeworld, though Luke Skywalker was of the opinion that what really matters is not the final effect, but the very effort put into accomplishing the task.

Watching the sunlight dancing on the surface of the nearby lake, he saw his own reflection in the glass. In the past, if he’d seen a wrinkled face, short grey hair, pale cracked lips and two worn-out oval fires of blue, he would’ve turned around to check who’d just come to visit him. Now, as he was looking at himself, he could only smile with pity.

He glanced outside the window for a moment to admire the silvery clouds passing majestically through the sky. Yes, it was certainly a wonderful day. A good day to die. Everything dies, even the stars, even the Jedi Grand Masters.

He grew accustomed to the thought that he would pass away sometime soon. Not as spectacularly, as he had predicted years ago, but death would eventually come. When everything around you dies, there comes a moment when you start to expect that last day, that last hour, that last second. And, as the time passes on, the anticipation becomes more and more like a wish for the final end. Even though he had never told that to anyone, Luke Skywalker wanted to die.

All his friends and relatives, all with whom he had shared the pleasures and hardships of life, had passed away; their time had come to a definite end. Chewie, Han, Lando - they had all bidden farewell to the living, and had received their well-earned rest. Then the time had come for Leia, who, even as death was hanging above her, had stubbornly fought to make the galaxy a better place. But the first of all of them, besides Chewbacca, had been Mara.

His face darkened slightly and a grimace of unbearable suffering appeared on it. She was the only one to have died rapidly, but had almost painlessly become one with the Force. When echoes of her death had reached him, he wanted to surrender for the first time in his life. For the first time he wanted to join the dead. But they, the friends from the times of his youth and the times of fighting and striving for a better tomorrow, his son, Ben, and the closest ones, still counted on him, on his strength and wisdom. And when they had disappeared, he found himself alone. Of course his descendants, Leia’s and Han’s children and grandchildren - they were still here, but deep down he knew that he was alone.

But is it today for sure that his time will come? He felt something odd, a slight tension in the Force... but is it the thing he had been waiting for? Is that last dream of an old man going to come true?

Luke Skywalker turned to the table next to the chair. With his mind he touched a small, rectangular device displaying a subdued array of colors. His holocron came alive, but the Jedi Grand Master did nothing. For a moment he wanted to - but was there really anything he hadn’t said before, anything more worth putting inside the holocron? He relaxed completely. No, there wasn’t. A strange but curiously pleasant feeling embraced him - a sensation that something extraordinary and wonderful is coming. He understood it wholeheartedly, as no other living being could possibly do, and greeted it with pure joy. So it was – the finale of this beautiful day.

Luke Skywalker had completed his mission. He had passed on his knowledge to the next generations, as he had promised someone a long time ago in this, but in a sense far, far away galaxy. He wasn’t needed anymore. He had saved the galaxy, redeemed his father, rebuilt the Jedi Order and now others are continuing his work. It’s time for his successors to take full control and responsibility, for the galaxy to focus on their new heroes. For will the galaxy change when he is gone? He had no delusions: no, it will remain the same, as it has always been. Vicious and cold, but at the same time open, full of opportunities and unseen kindness. When the Grand Master is gone, a period in history will end. HoloNet, as with all the previous funerals, will declare a time of great mourning and ceremonies in his honor will remind the people of these old days of fighting... and it will all end, as it did before, and everything will go back to the way it was. Everything will become silent. Everything will disappear, because there will be other heroes, other “last hopes” and other saviors of the galaxy.

And although he knew all of that, he was saddened for a second. He felt that the Force was gathering around him, preparing, but he was still curious about one thing: will all that he and his friends did be forgotten? Will that old struggle fought so many decades ago lose its meaning? Will anyone, in the light of memories of the terrible Yuuzhan Vong invasion, remember that small band of Rebels, who fought bravely for the freedom of the galaxy?

His curiosity faded away quickly. He had understood a long time ago that it really doesn’t matter. The Jedi didn’t protect the galaxy to be remembered by history. They aspired for their names to be never heard in any stories, to be never spoken of, to be simply forgotten - it was the ultimate proof that they had accomplished their goals. That they stopped wars in the stars, just as they did for millennia.

His breath became erratic and slower, slower and harder. He felt the great power reaching for him from the great unknown. He heard the joyous, happy voices, full of tenderness. Familiar voices, calling to him, encouraging him to join them. Real or just imagined, he wanted to do exactly what they were asking him to do.

The corners of his mouth rose in a smile. He didn’t resist the power of the Force. He knew that in a few seconds he would join his sister, Han, Chewie, Mara, Anakin... All of them, Yoda, Obi-Wan and his father. He would see their faces again, young and beautiful, as they were in the past. The face of the real Anakin Skywalker which he saw only once in his lifetime - back there, on the Forest Moon of Endor.

Tears glittered in his eyes. After all those years, he will finally join his father... and mother. He will finally fulfill a long forgotten dream of a small boy who wanted so desperately to know his parents. He had been waiting for that moment for a long, very long time.

He gave himself to the kind embrace of the Force with great happiness and an equally great relief.

**********

Luke Skywalker is standing in his chamber on Ossus. Upright, with perfectly dressed hair, his face smooth and cheerful, he is wearing a light brown tunic, a characteristic long Jedi cloak and high, dark boots.

He lays his eyes, for the last time, at the chair standing next to the large window, at the carelessly unfolded robe, imprinted with the shape of a human body.

His form, strange and almost unreal, is covered with a hazy blue glow. He turns his gaze to something far in a distance, something beyond the reach of any man. After a moment he disappears completely. The end of one life is another’s beginning.

As there is no death - only the Force.

Translation by: Jedi Nadiru Radena; proof-read by: Michał Wyszyński