Fate of the Jedi 03: Abyss

Author:Troy Denning
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Solo, Fantasy, Space Warfare, Space Opera, Skywalker, Princess (Fictitious Character), Fiction, Star Wars Fiction, Science Fiction, General, Adventure, Han (Fictitious Character), Luke (Fictitious Character), Leia
ISBN: 9780345509192
Publisher: LucasBooks
Published: 2009-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

Can you tell me what this place is, exactly?"

"I told you," the Givin rasped from behind Ben. "The Lake of Apparitions."

"Not what he meant, bonehead," Ben said, his irritation jolting him out of his shock. "Hi, Mom. Uh ... long time, no see."

The wisecrack finally brought back the radiant smile that Ben had been aching to see again for nearly three years now. "Ben! You've grown ...and more than just taller."

Ben nodded and squatted next to his father. "In a lot of ways."

He longed to lean down and kiss his mother's watery cheek, or at least to reach out and touch it. But she was only a reflection, and he did not dare risk it, fearing that he might shatter the moment, or send her sinking back beneath the surface.

Instead he asked, "Mom, what can you tell us about this place? It's pretty weird."

"You're talking to a dead woman, Ben. Of course it's weird." She looked away for a moment, thinking, then shook her head. "I don't know what I can tell you. It's different for everyone, I imagine."

"And for you?" his father asked.

"For me, it's a place of reflection," she said. "To consider what I've done."

Luke's brows rose, alarmed, but also in pain. "Mara, are you suffering?"

"I've done some things that cause me anguish, yes," she said.

Luke shook his head. "But you didn't know better," he said. "Palpatine tricked you."

Mara gave Luke a sad smile and looked as though she would have liked to touch him as much as Ben would have liked to touch her.

"I made my peace with Palpatine a long time ago. You know that." She turned to Ben.

"But I didn't serve him my whole life, and that has been both my blessing and my curse."

Ben frowned. "Mom, I don't understand."

"Jacen," she said simply. "I didn't go after him as a Jedi, Ben. I went after him as a hunter ... a killer."

Ben felt like he had been stabbed in the heart. "But he was a Sith Lord!"

"Not when I went after him," she said. "And you know that wasn't why I did it."

Ben sank onto his haunches. Had his father not grabbed him by the arm, he would have fallen into the water. Because he did know. His mother had gone after Jacen because of what Jacen was doing to him, because Ben had been too ashamed to share the truth with his father, and he had asked his mother to keep his secret.

"Mom, I'm so sorry," he said. "It's all-"

"It isn't, Ben, and I'm not telling you this because I need your sorrow." She smiled up at him. "I'm a bit beyond that now, don't you think?"

Ben forced himself to return her smile. "Yeah, I guess."

"I want you to learn from what I did, Ben. It's not the result that counts, but the action."

Her eyes grew hard and angry, then she said, "Jacen's goals were noble; he acted for the good of the galaxy. But his acts were horrific, and nothing can change that. Even if he did bring peace to the galaxy, the stain remains, and it will darken him for eternity.

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