Well, we've reached the end of our journey. I'd like to thank everyone who's come along for the ride. You have all been wonderfully encouraging and supportive. I hope you have enjoyed reading this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it!
goofycaffinatedguru asked for a note of clarification on the last chapter. Since the vision is from Shmi's point of view, and she has no idea who these people are or what's going on, it was meant to be confusing. So if you were confused, don't feel bad; that was exactly the effect I was going for! But I tried to put in enough clues that the reader, who has a lot more background knowlege than Shmi, could figure it out if they wanted to. The master is Darth Plagueis, and the apprentice is Palpatine/Darth Sidious. Darth Plagueis's daughter is my own OC creation. The prophecy of the Sith'ari is canon; I believe it comes originally from the game Knights of the Old Republic. Whether or not it refers to Anakin is an unanswered question. George has raised the possibility that Anakin was created by the Sith - "He could even influence the midi-chlorians to create life..." - but has left the truth of what actually happened carefully ambiguous. This is my version of what I think might have happened.
FF dot net won't let me post links, but if you search Wookiepedia for "Darth Plagueis" and "Sith'ari" you can find out more about what's canon and what fans have speculated.
Chapter 18
Shmi sat straight up in bed, heart pounding, staring blindly into the darkness, the dying echoes of her scream in her ears. Her hands went to her belly, smooth and untouched under her fingers, though it still burned as if a fiery beam of energy had pierced it.
"No," she whispered, loud in the silence. "No, it can't be. Not me. I won't help you create your monster. No matter how much I want a child."
She shook her head. The pain in her belly was fading. She blinked a few times, and breathed deeply to slow her racing heart.
It was just a nightmare. More vivid and real than any she had experienced before, but still just a creation of her subconscious mind. She lay back down, and forced herself to relax, until finally she sank again into restless slumber.
She lay on her back on the cold slab of stone, surrounded by the flame-emblazoned walls of the round room. She struggled to sit up, but some invisible power held her immobile.
Her eyes could move, and she strained to see as much as she could. The two dark figures were nowhere to be seen, but they might be lurking just out of her sight. Even if they'd left the room they might return at any moment. She fought against her bonds, but they were implacable, and she gave up, exhausted.
She closed her eyes. The stone was hard under her shoulders, its chill draining the warmth from her body. Silence surrounded her. She whispered, "Help me, someone, please… Kern…"
Gradually she became aware of warmth growing beside her. She opened her eyes and saw a faint blue glow that slowly increased, brighter and brighter until it dazzled her. At its heart a blurry figure became visible, which sharpened until she could recognize in the translucent features the face she had ached for so long to see. "Kern!"
A whisper of warm wind brushed her cheek like a gentle caress. "Beloved."
His presence grew more solid and real, and his eyes focused on her. "I am that part of the Force that was once Kern Bluesand." His voice echoed strangely. "The Force speaks and acts through me. The servants of the dark side have shrouded this place with thick curtains of defense and deception, to hide their evil deeds. But you called to me from within their fastness, and our love for each other has opened a path for the light to enter."
Shmi tried to nod. "They've done something to me, Kern. There were two of them, all hooded and dark, and one of them murdered a girl, he said it was his daughter, and I think somehow that made me pregnant, except it's going to be some kind of awful monster that will destroy the galaxy. Can you do something, can you stop it? Please…"
She knew her babbling made no sense, but Kern nodded in understanding. He moved close to her side and laid his hands flat on her belly. He closed his eyes and stood for a long time, and to Shmi it seemed as if he were searching deep within her, studying the currents of past and future.
Finally his eyes opened and looked into hers, and he spoke. "It is true. Their plan has succeeded. A child has been conceived, filled with all the power of the Dark Side, and even now grows within you. I cannot undo what has been done."
Shmi shuddered. "I didn't ask for this, Kern, I swear. I wanted a baby, but I couldn't know that would make it possible for them to do this to me. I was so selfish…
"No." He stroked her hair, a soft breeze stirring the strands. "If they hadn't used you, it would have been someone else. You bear no guilt for what has happened this night."
Shmi clung to his words for comfort. "But it is my responsibility now, isn't it? I can't just let them succeed without trying to stop them." Though it sickened her to think about, she knew there were actions she could take. "I'll go to the medical droid, and… and have it aborted. Or, once it's born, no matter how evil it is, it will just be a helpless newborn… I can… I can…"
Kern shushed her, shaking his head. "Even now its power is great enough that any such attempt would be doomed to fail."
She stared at him, heart pounding. "My own life, then. It can't live without me, not yet. I have a way…"
"Oh, Shmi." His insubstantial hand brushed at the tears starting in her eyes. "They had no idea what they were getting into when they involved you in their plans. But they have guarded him well. Even in sacrificing your own life, you would be stopped, or the attempt would fail."
Despair swept Shmi, and she closed her eyes. "It's hopeless, then."
"No." He clasped his hands over hers, and she felt them as a delicious warmth spreading through her body. "There is a way, but it will require enormous courage and strength on your part. Even more, perhaps, than you have already offered. A great evil is at work in the galaxy. By chance you have become a pawn in their game, but their strategy can be turned back against them, and their hope of triumph become their defeat, if you are willing to do what is required."
Shmi thought of the girl's terror at her beloved father's betrayal, and the red lightsaber plunging down. "Anything."
Kern nodded, and moved his hands again to her belly. "This much I can do. I can grant him good in equal measure to the evil they have placed within him, so that he will always have the choice between light and dark. He will have the potential to become as great a force for good as they planned for him to be for evil. Even if he should fall into the darkness, it need not be forever, for love will always be able to reach him, no matter how deeply he sleeps, and wake him again to the light."
Kern's eyes burned into hers, and Shmi felt herself falling into their depths. "Bear this child, Shmi. Open your heart to him. Raise him, and love him, and teach him to love, for love will doom him, and love will save him, and through him the galaxy…."
Tears streamed down Shmi's face. "I'll try. I'll do my best."
"That is all that can be asked of anyone." He closed his eyes. His hands on her belly glowed, and the light spread until it enveloped her body, a sparkling, shimmering blue that grew brighter and lighter until it blazed into the white-hot fire of a star's heart. Then with a dazzling flash, it was gone.
"It is done." His hands fell to his sides.
Shmi found the bonds that had held her were gone, and she sat up. The light around him was fading, and he was growing fainter and more translucent. "Don't leave me, Kern!"
His beloved grin flashed, lighting up his face, and for a moment she could see him perfectly clearly. "I'll never leave you, Shmi. I'll always be with you. Your grief doesn't have to imprison you, Shmi. I want you to live, and love, and be filled with joy, until in the fullness of time we are together forever in the Force."
"Yes," she whispered, and reached for him, and felt his warmth return her embrace, filling up the emptiness in her heart, sparkling tender on her lips.
She woke, still feeling his warmth, unless it was from the sunlight that fell through the tiny window and shone on her face. For a long time she lay, savoring the beauty of the dream, a blessing after the horror of her nightmare.
Too soon the morning klaxon sounded, and she got up from bed. But before she dressed, she laid her hands on her belly, wondering. Did a newly conceived child, fated to destroy or save the galaxy, rest there, or had it all been no more than a dream?
Only time would tell.
Anakin's voice was insistent. "What happened after that, Mom?"
Shmi blinked, and shook her head. "What? I'm sorry; I lost my train of thought for a moment. The story reminded me of something. Where was I?"
"The good fairy just said she can't undo the curse on the princess."
"Oh. Yes." Shmi took a deep breath, and continued the tale.
"The queen bowed her head. 'It is hopeless, then.'
"But the good fairy shook her head. 'No. This much I can do. When she burns her finger, the princess will not die, but fall into an enchanted sleep. She will lie in a sleep like death for many years, until one comes who can look with compassion on her, and wake her from her slumber.'
"The king and queen had to be content with this. But they made a decree, that all candles should be banished from the realm. After that, the people of that kingdom got their light only from the sun, and by night all was darkness save the moon and the stars.
"The years passed, and the princess grew into a lovely young woman, just as was foretold. At length she fell in love with the prince of a neighboring kingdom, and they were wed. They built a beautiful castle where they lived in great joy. The princess conceived a child, and the day drew near when she would give birth.
"One night the princess was restless, and could not sleep. She rose from her bed and wandered the halls of the castle. From a door ahead of her she saw shining a light as warm and yellow as that of the sun, and she was amazed, for she had never seen fire before. She hurried to the room, and found there an old woman sitting, robed and hooded in black, and before her on a table burned a single candle.
"The princess was enchanted by the beautiful dancing flame, and in her innocence she reached out to touch the lovely thing. But the fire scorched her fingertip. She cried out, and fell at once into a deep sleep.
"So great was the power of the curse that all the other inhabitants of the castle fell also into the enchanted slumber. The next day, the King's oldest and most trusted knight returned from a journey, and found the castle bound up in the spell. The guards were asleep at their posts by the door, the cooks were asleep in the kitchen, the maids had fallen asleep in the midst of cleaning. The king and queen, who had been visiting, were asleep in the guest room. And in his bedroom the prince was asleep in his bed, and could not be roused. The knight searched, and found the princess lying alone on the floor of an empty room. He carried her to her bed and laid her beside her husband.
"While remaining fast asleep, the princess went into labor and gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. The knight took the children away from the sleeping castle and gave them to a farmer and his wife in the nearby countryside to raise, never revealing their true identity.
"Many years passed. A thick hedge of briars grew up around the castle. The girl grew into a beautiful young woman, and the boy into a handsome young man. All their life they heard tales of the enchanted castle, and wondered what lay within.
"The day came when the young man grew restless, and set out into the world to seek his fortune. He came to a cottage where an old man lived, who was none other than the King's knight. The knight gave the young man a magic sword, and taught him how to use it. He told him, "You must go to the enchanted castle, and see what you find there."
"So the young man took the magic sword, mounted his horse, and rode to the castle. A high hedge of thorn bushes encircled the castle, blocking his way. He drew his magic sword, which burst into flame, and cut a path through the briars.
"He came to the castle gate and entered it. All was as it had been left many years before. The guards were asleep at their posts by the door, the cooks were asleep in the kitchen, the maids were asleep in the midst of their cleaning. A thick layer of dust coated everything.
"The young man searched the castle. At last he came to the chamber where the prince and princess lay sleeping in their bed. The hand of the princess lay on her breast, her burned finger unhealed, as raw and blistered as on the day it had touched the flame. Seeing this, the young man was moved to pity and compassion, and took up her hand, and kissed the open wound.
"At once the spell was broken, and the princess opened her eyes, and embraced her son. The prince and all the rest of the castle woke also, and there was a great celebration. The hedge of thorns withered away, and all was clean and bright again. The young man sent for his sister, and the old knight came and told everyone the truth of what had happened. All were reunited amid great rejoicing. And they all lived happily ever after."
The rhythm of Shmi's voice had almost lulled Anakin to sleep, but he roused and smiled blearily at her. "Great story, Mom," he mumbled. "Love you. G'night." He closed his eyes again and rolled over, burying his face in the pillow.
Shmi tucked the covers around his shoulders and watched him for a moment. Then she rose and left the room.
She moved about the tiny hovel, completing her evening chores. When the last of the cleaning and tidying was finished, her restlessness was still unsatisfied. She knew she should go to bed and fortify herself with sleep against the hard work of the next day, but she couldn't settle. She went to the door that led out to the street and opened it. She leaned against the doorpost and breathed the cool night air, gazing up at the stars.
She still forgot, sometimes, that Anakin wasn't actually Kern's child. In some ways he was very like her lost love. His face had a similar way of going from pensive to lit up grin in an instant's flash. He excelled in mechanics, as Kern had, though already his skills were far more advanced. His shock of blonde hair was so much like Kern's sometimes she caught her breath with the vividness of the reminder. But in other ways he was quite unlike either Kern or herself. His eyes were bright blue, not something he could have inherited from either of them. And his gifts – his skill with machines, his flying talents, his uncanny ability to see into hearts and minds – were so far outside the ordinary that Shmi could never truly doubt the supernatural nature of his origin.
She had been compelled to accept, as once again the unmistakable signs of pregnancy overtook her body, that the dream must have been a true vision. She had wondered and worried, as her belly grew large and she was sold to Rinadda the Hutt, what the child would be, and whether she would be able to fulfill her promise. But the child was born healthy and to all appearances normal, and her heart had gone out to him in the moment she first saw his red, wrinkled newborn face. Within days she was so deeply in love with him that the thought of having him taken from her terrified her. But then Pi-Lippa had come to Rinadda's compound, looking for a house servant, in his kindness willing to take both mother and child. They had thrived in his household. Shmi could believe that the Force was guarding and guiding them.
Even three years later, when Pi-Lippa had died unexpectedly, and all his belongings, including his slaves, had been auctioned to pay his debts, the Force had not deserted them. Gardulla the Hutt, who bought them, was patient enough to get what work she could from children, in anticipation of the greater value they would gain as they grew. And then she had lost them in a bet to Watto. He had originally wanted Shmi to keep house for him, but then had discovered Anakin's remarkable talents. Finally Shmi could be certain they would not be separated, for Watto needed her, and Anakin was far too valuable to him to ever be sold or gambled away.
She hugged herself against the increasing chill of the desert night. "You told me to teach him to love, Kern. I've done my best. Will it be enough?" Certainly Anakin was capable of love. In fact, he loved those few he granted his devotion with such pure intensity that it almost frightened her. Not that he was perfect, far from it, but among his flaws she had seen nothing that didn't seem typical for a small boy – a determination to get his own way that could dissolve into a tantrum if he was thwarted, the tendency to obsess on a subject to the exclusion of all else, enthusiasm that slipped all too easily into impatience. He had a temper, fierce rage that would blaze up, to burn out just as quickly. But there was nothing in his nature that reminded her of the sinister presences of the master and apprentice in her vision. Nothing to lead her to believe that he would ever be capable of becoming the avatar of destruction they had described.
Shmi went inside and carefully poured out the last of the day's water ration into a cup. She sipped it as she peeked in on Anakin. He was deep asleep. She smiled. He had enjoyed her story. He saw himself in it, she knew. He pictured himself as the young hero, riding to his mother's rescue, flaming sword in hand.
But that wasn't his role in the story, was it? A chill washed over her as she studied his sleeping form, as still as death save for the very slight rise and fall of his breath. She pictured him sleeping so, as night became day and days stretched to years, until all considered him irretrievably lost behind a wall as hard and black as the sharpest thorn…
She shuddered, and shook her head to dispel her foreboding. She closed the door of Anakin's bedroom gently, and went out to sit on the front doorstep.
"Watch over him, Kern," she whispered. "Don't let him sleep forever."
She sprinkled the last drops from her cup over the creeping weeds that grew among the rocks beside the door. The flowers nodded back at her, shining white and gold stars, visible even in the gathering shadows of night.