She Jumped

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars

"No… no, it's not true. That's impossible!"

Wind whipped around and a boy's soul cried out in agony. If he had been anyone else, he would've found the whole situation amusing, if not slightly disturbing. Heck, if he'd even been just Luke Skywalker, but a Luke who wasn't able to sense and use the Force, he'd find it funny. But the Force didn't find this amusing at all. In fact, it seemed saddened for Luke and it seemed to whispering, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" Why would it be apologizing if there wasn't some semblance of truth there? It did not find the situation funny, so Luke did not find the situation funny. In fact, he felt quite the opposite. He felt sick to his stomach, and he was getting the urge to throw up. It wasn't right, and he didn't want to hear the next words.

"Search your feelings, you know it to be true." The dark voice resonated.

No! He refused to accept it. He pushed out the Force that was whispering, "He is your father, he is your father," the images of the terrible moment that had happened but seconds ago, anything that might suggest that he is his father. He pushed it all out, and as he did a fresh wave of nausea overtook him; violent waves racking him and threatening to overtake his body. Luke half wondered if this sickness he was feeling might have to do with his hand that his father cut off... no! "Noooooooo!" He wouldn't believe it.

A wave of exhaustion now swept over him, and slowly, tentatively, Luke opened himself back up to the Force. It's life energies filled him, giving him the strength to stand as Darth Vader made his speech. Luke was no longer even really listening to him at this point. In opening himself back up to the Force, Luke had given in to the possibility. At this point he wasn't sure over what disgusted him more: the truth, or the fact that he was starting to believe it.

The Force around him continued to echo its sorrow. At one point in time there had been only two viewpoints within it, Luke's and Darth Vader's, but now it was if the Force had taken on a life of its own. It was sorry, and angry – but at who? – and suddenly, as if it wanted to apologize, Luke was struck with a vision.

Almost as if through a haze – as if it was a distant memory that he had not quite forgotten – Luke saw a woman standing in front of a man who wore darkness as his cloak. In the back round fire was the very air itself, and the two stood on metal and ashes that were cool only through artificial means. The woman was pleading with the man, and though he could not quite see her features, Luke's heart went out to her.

"You're going down a path I can't follow…"

The woman cried out in pain and agony, not only physical but also spiritual. And Luke wondered who the man was that managed to mask his feelings so well behind his cloak of darkness.

"Anakin, you're breaking my heart."

But he already knew before those words were even spoken. As hazy as the vision was, the purpose of it was finally reaching Luke. He knew who the man was, and who the woman was now too. And as a second man arrived on the scene, driving the first to choke the woman, the vision faded.

Luke was back on the balcony in Cloud City, and here was the devil himself holding out his hand to him. To tired, weak, shocked, and scared to scream another denial, Luke could only stare at Vader with hatred.

"It is the only way," boomed the voice, loud as thunder and just as damning.

A small thought suddenly struck his mind – almost as if someone had placed their warm hands on his shoulders and whispered to him – and with it came courage.

No, it isn't. She chose death instead of you.

He looked down at the chasm beneath him, pushing back all fear of what he was going to do. Then he looked back up at Darth Vader with a small ironic smile.

She jumped.

Gathering his breath, he let go and he leaped.

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For the rest of his life, Luke would look back on that moment and know that he had met his mother.