You
may need to know something about Star Wars and especially the cartoon
The Clone Wars to fully understand and appreciate this story.
The Last Attachment
Following
a group of snowtroopers, Vader entered the smoky hangar, just in time
to see the Millennium Falcon lift up and disappear outside the cave.
Minutes later, he sensed that the force field belonging to Luke
Skywalker was no longer on the surface of the planet. However, there
was something left, some vague but familiar feeling, just like the day
he felt Obi-Wan on the first death star.
"General, take your
troop back to the fleet and intensify the blockade. I want no more ship
to escape from the Hoth system." Vader ordered, "I have to deal with
something here myself."
Now that the troopers had left, Vader
searched deeply in the force, looking for the source of that feeling.
He was surprised, yet still a little unsure. He hesitated a while,
wondering whether he should disclose that hidden source. But as he
touched the force, it seemed to grow much stronger, beckoning him in a
way he could not resist.
He followed the force through a
wild snow storm that just began to fall on the deserted battlefield.
Finally he reached an ice mountain, at the foot of which he saw a small
cave with dim light blinking in it. That was where the force
concentrated.
He cautiously entered the cave. The entrance was
supposed to be blocked by a large stone standing aside, but it seemed
that someone had deliberately left it open. With a quick glance around
the cave, he knew there was no one inside – no one could hide in such a
small room. The light came from a tiny fireplace. It was shed gently on
his black suit, and made him feel warm and conformable, although the
suit’s self-adjusted inner temperature was no different from that when
he was in the storm.
He examined the room more carefully.
There was a bed, two chairs, a small table with a hologram television,
all covered with thick grey furs. Then his eyes were caught by a
glimmering chain hanging behind the glass cover of a short closet. It
was an Akul-tooth headdress, he recognized instantly. He remembered
every detail of this piece of craft, for he had been looking at it
almost every day for a whole year. This discovery confirmed all his
feelings.
IT WAS HER. At last, they would meet again.
But
where was the hostess? Had she sensed his coming and gone into hiding?
After looking into the force again, Vader pushed the closet to one
side. Then a deep tunnel extended in front of him.
It was a
labyrinth in ice. Each corner was dimly lightened by a low-power setla
lamp, under which there were usually two or three branches. The ground
was covered by straws and twigs, which kept the floor less slippery and
clear of foot prints. Clever invention, Vader thought, so this was how
you managed to hide for so long.
But nothing could hide her
from the Sith Lord. The sensation was clear. Vader chose each direction
without any hesitation. As he went deeper and deeper into the
labyrinth, the thermal sensor on his suit told him that the temperature
was dropping fast, to tens of degrees below the freezing point.
Now
at the end of the tunnel, there was brilliant light. Vader walked into
the light and saw an ice cave, with size larger than the inhabited
stone one. There in the center, stood a figure, covered with thick fur
cloak, the face hidden deeply in the shadow of the hood.
Vader stopped and stood still. For a moment, no one moved. The only sound they could hear was Vader’s heavy breath.
"I
have been waiting for you, Lord Vader."The figure spoke with a cold
tone suppressed under the pretended respect. Meanwhile, she took off
the hood and faced Vader.
Vader stared at her. His once young
padawan, now had fully grown. The montrals stood highly on her head
like a crown. Two head-tails hung elegantly in front of her plump chest
and stretched to the slender waist. Even the thick dress could not
conceal the perfect curve of this Togruta woman. Although no longer
young, she showed the maximal beauty someone at her age could ever
have.
Vader was so overwhelmed that he forgot to speak. She
had changed a lot, in a way he never expected. He looked into her face
and finally found one thing unchanged: her eyes. The large and watery
blue eyes were always shining brightly like a pair of gems, as he held
in his memory all these years.
"I felt you when you entered the Hoth system." The woman spoke again, now looking back straightly into Vader’s black mask.
"You
have foreseen me coming?" Vader sounded interested. He walked two steps
toward her and said, "I see. Your force is very strong."
"I felt you because you were once my master." She corrected.
Vader was pleased that she mentioned it. "Yes, of course. And now, I can still be your master if…"
"My master was the Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker, not the Sith Lord Darth Vader." She cut into his words.
Vader was not disturbed at all, "It is the will of the force that we meet again, so is that you will join me again."
"You
are wrong." She began to circle with Vader as he moved toward her. "I
will never join a Sith, especially when I remember how great a Jedi
could be."
The last sentence carried a faint sadness, but it
sounded like an insult to Vader."Ahsoka." For the first time he called
her name, "You have no choice. If you do not join me, you are my enemy,
to whom I will show no mercy."
Ahsoka stopped and looked up,
eyes more watery. "You won’t do this. You won’t kill me. It was you who
sent me into hiding. Have you forgotten?"
Vader paused. Yes, it
was him. Just when Order 66 began to be enacted, just before he went to
the Jedi temple, he sent a message to Ahsoka and urged her to hide
herself. She was the only Jedi he did not want to lose at that time.
But since then, everything had changed forever. He was not half the man
he used to be after he lost everything – or almost everything. His
heart cared no one but himself. He had hunted down every single person
who dared to disobey him. Maybe a small part of him began to regret
coming here, but it was too late. Now he was facing no more than a
Jedi, and no Jedi could slip out of his hand without a cost.
"Things are changing, my apprentice. The old images in your mind mean nothing." Vader said coldly.
"Yes,
things are changing. We are changing." Ahsoka replied, "But I still
remember what a good kind hero my master used to be. I still remember
how he taught me to serve justice and peace. When you left me for
Coruscant, you promised me we would soon see the victory of the Jedi
and the republic. I was waiting for your good news. I was full of hope
because of you, but what did it turn out to be? The whole world was
changed overnight. And you…I heard rumors. Some said you were dead.
But I could feel what you have become. I could not believe it. I could
not bear the way I lose my master. You were desperate for saving lives,
not killing. You were a man as warm as sunshine, how could you become a
cold heartless machine like that Grevious monster?"
"You think
so too?" Vader could have just turned a deaf ear to the Obi-Wan-like
nonsense coming from his former apprentice, letting her release her
emotion, but the mention of Grevious stirred up his rage, and pain. The
comparison between him and a machine, Grevious or whatever, was one of
the comments that he would never tolerate or forgive. Shouting bursted
out of his mask, "All thanks to Obi-Wan! He betrayed me. He nearly
destroyed me. You didn’t see how a master could turn against his own
apprentice!"
"So you killed him." Ahsoka was in deep grief.
So this was how the best master and apprentice became enemies of life.
Would that tragedy continue here and now?
"He deserved it." Said Vader with disgust, "He owed me too much. Even his cheap life cannot pay it off."
Then
he suddenly saw the sorrow on Ahsoka’s face, feeling the worry in her.
His voice softened, "I feel your concerns, my dear apprentice. Things
will be very different if you join me. Together, we can overthrow the
emperor. We can rule the galaxy and bring ultimate peace and order."
"Becoming
your apprentice and helping you overthrow the emperor?" Ahsoka chuckled
bitterly, "I can see what you will do next, just like what you did to
Galen Marek."
That name alerted Vader like a harsh alarm. Slowly, he spitted out each word with extra strength, "Starkiller was a traitor."
"Don’t
try to fool me. I know the truth. Senator Organa told me everything."
Seeing Vader stunned, she continued, "So this was how a master could
turn against his own apprentice as I saw it."
Then, there was
nothing left to argue about. With a flash, a crimson blade shot out of
the hilt held tightly in Vader’s right hand, humming like a muffled
growl. "You are trying my patience. Now make your choice!" The blade
rose up to point at Ahsoka.
She fully expected Vader’s
reaction, but did not move. "I know why you are so angry. YOU ARE
SCARED. Even if you don’t admit, you have seen there is something that
can be stronger than the dark side of the force, and there is always a
way leading someone deep in the dark up to the light."
"You underestimate the power of the dark side." Vader denied and moved closer to her.
"No,
MY MASTER!" Ahsoka suddenly cried out, "I know you will come back to
the light side. I know you will find a way! Oh, please, I don’t want to
fight you."
"Then you are beaten already." Vader answered coldly.
The
lightsaber hanging on Ahsoka’s waist was shaking. Breathlessly, she
clenched her hands tightly as she stared at the crimson blade moving
close. She would not give up.
"I saw your son." Her words came so unexpectedly that Vader moved to a halt.
"You met Luke?" He asked suspiciously but immediately realized how obvious it was.
"So you’ve already known you have a son…" Now it was Ahsoka’s turn to be surprised. She gasped, "And you are after HIM!"
"It is his destiny to be with me. What did you tell him?" Vader asked sharply.
"Only the good old memories we shared together." Ahsoka gazed away from him to the infinity.
Vader did not speak. Those simple words made him hesitate.
Ahsoka
looked back to him again. "You don’t know how proud of you he was, how
he adored you as an icon of Jedi hero, and how he…loved you." Her
voice built up with such a passion that it sounded like she was not
only referring to *he*.
Vader lowered the energy blade,
but the voice did not change, "He would be more proud if he knew the
truth. I am now more powerful than any of the time when I was a Jedi."
"Is
that what your heart tells you?" Ahsoka shook her head, "You cannot
convert him. The truth will only make him strong, strong trough pain."
Vader waved his lightsaber in front of himself and said menacingly, "No need to worry. I will MAKE him come with me."
Ahsoka’s eyes widened, "He is your own son. You are not going to hurt him, are you?"
"That is none of your business!"
"You love her!"
"What?"
"Luke’s mother. You love her, don’t you?"
Vader suddenly froze as an ice statue. Some part of his dead heart began to tremble.
Ahsoka
sensed the change and continued, "I saw it in your eyes each time you
met her. Each time when she was around you were totally different. How
could you break her heart and chose this way if you loved her so much!"
This
conversation was going to somewhere he could not control. I must end
it! Vader thought. But he found himself deprived of strength even for
speaking loud. Instead, he could only make up these pale words with an
exhausted voice, "You were too young to understand…"
"No. YOU don’t understand!" cried Ahsoka, tears bursting out of her eyes.
Vader
was totally bewildered. He saw Ahsoka trembling terribly. She clenched
her hands more tightly, biting her lips as though she was suffering
great agony. She looked down to the ground and breathing hard. Vader
felt she was…sobbing? Suddenly, he realized something, something he
never thought of, no matter as Darth Vader, or as Anakin Skywalker.
Ahsoka
could not hold any longer. "You always took me as a small kid, but I
was not. I had feelings." Her voice became husky, "I knew attachment
was forbidden for a Jedi, but I…I could not resist it. I could not
deny the sweet feelings when I was by your side. I thought I could
learn to control them when I grew older, but then I found, YOU AND ME
WERE JUST OF THE SAME KIND. Maybe you concealed it well from others,
but you cannot deceive my eyes, the eyes which were always longing to
see more about you. Your secret made me more desperate. It tortured me.
You can’t imagine how a little girl struggled to keep rational when
staying all day long with someone she could only dream to love. And
yet, it was also the best time in my life. Finally I accepted the
truth. I began to pray for your happiness, for you and whoever you
loved. But then…I received this message from you."
Ahsoka held
the end of her necklace in her hand. Now Vader noticed that it was a
mini holo-projector. A blue image popped up – It was Anakin Skywalker.
"Ahsoka,
do you copy? This is an urgent order. The situation of the war has
changed dramatically. No matter where you are, what you are doing,
leave the battlefield immediately and find a place to hide yourself. Do
not let anyone find you. I say it again: I COMMAND YOU TO GO INTO
HIDING IMMEDIATELY. No questions. I will not contact you any more. So I
think this is a…GODBYE. Take care, Ahsoka…"
The image disappeared.
Vader stared at the empty disk, breathing much faster. "You’ve kept it for all these years?" He spoke like drifting in a dream.
"I
wear it every day and every night." Ahsoka pressed the holo-projector
on her chest. "After I realized what happened, I came here. This icy
world is just the right one for my heart to inhabit. Some part of my
heart died, taking away all my passion for life. But the past continued
to haunt me like a ghost – you were always there. You entered my dreams
every night – no matter good dreams or nightmares. I just…just
couldn’t put you out of my mind…"She wept, tears coming down her
cheeks.
THIS WAS UTTERLY TOTALLY COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTROL.
Embarrassed
and frustrated for the first time in his Sith life, Vader turned away
to avoid Ahsoka’s gaze. The energy blade was still humming beside his
cape, but now sounding like a low moan. His hands were not trembling,
but he knew they would, if those were his own flesh-and-blood hands.
There
were many things he did not expect, but nothing was so overwhelming and
complex. Each of her words absorbed by him was companied by a sharp
stab on his numb heart.
How could he not understand? How could
he forget the feelings when a child first opened his heart to embrace
the most beautiful intoxication in the world? How could he forget the
long nights when the young padawan waited for his angel walking into
his each dream? After all, they were of the same kind, weren’t they?
But maybe he could not fully understand it, for what he brought to her
was much more than this.
"Senator Organa found me once."
Ahsoka spoke again, now with a calmer voice, bringing him back to the
real life. "He asked me to join the Rebel Alliance but I refused. I did
not have the courage to face you, until…until I met your son. It
shocked me, but finally I felt relaxed. After all, I was no one but an
outsider. I knew it was time to let go."
Vader exhaled a long
breath like a deep sigh. For one moment, he was still thinking he might
use this attachment to turn Ahsoka to the dark side. But soon, he
realized it was too heavy even for him to carry. Then he made the
decision. He deactivated his lightsaber. Still with his back to her, he
said, "So, go on to follow the order from your master. Do not let me
see you again." Then he strode to the exit of the cave.
"No! Don’t go!" Ahsoka cried.
Vader halted, "You’d better let me leave before I change my mind."
"You can’t leave now. All the tunnels are going to be blocked soon."
"What?" Vader jerked his head back to face Ahsoka. The menacing sternness came back to his voice, "What on earth do you want?"
Ahsoka
did not answer. She raised her hands above her head, the force quickly
gathering around her palms. Suddenly, the cave was shaking, chunks of
ice falling down from high above. Ahsoka seemed to have triggered the
collapse of the whole mountain, which had been set up by her long
before.
Vader used the force to move away a large chunk just
about to hit his head. The ground was shaking so heavily that he had to
press one hand on the wall to keep balance. He shouted angrily, "So you
lured me to your trap! You BITCH!"
Ahsoka was in no better
condition herself. She leaned against the other side of the cave,
rolling to avoid the dropping ice. "I know I can’t turn you back. But I
can save the only hope."
Vader did not understand her words. He continued to yell, "You think this insignificant trick can hold me back?"
"At least it can hold you long enough for Luke to escape!"
Damn! So this was all her plan.
It
was just at that moment the comlink on Vader’s suit beeped madly. He
ignored it. He did not have any free time to answer it, nor did he want
any one to hear the mess here. He moved to the exit and quickly got
into the shrinking tunnel, blasting the ice blocking his way. Soon he
thought he was just digging a tunnel himself.
He was still in
the deep corn of the huge mountain. It would take days to dig a way
out. He paused, concentrating in the force. Suddenly, all his
surroundings erupted like a volcano. The shock wave of the force pushed
everything away from him and formed a large shell, holding the loose
ice around as a tremendous cave.
This was not bad. He just needed to repeat it for several times before he got out of this mountain. Except for…
Ahsoka.
Now she was just standing in front of him. Her cloak was off, revealing the tight dress specialized for fighting.
"Get out of my way!" Vader threatened.
"Sorry, master. You know I’m not always ready for taking orders." Ahsoka ignited her lightsaber, holding it in a reversed grip.
This
gesture suddenly reminded Vader another person. Both were his former
apprentice. Both utilized the same combat form. Both turned against him
and fought him in the end. How ironical!
Yet Ahsoka’s words were
still hovering in his mind. She did not lie to him. Each word was from
her true heart. He felt it. And now, even confronting a battle, he
could not see any hostility in her eyes, instead, there was only
sadness. He ignited his lightsaber, but did not move.
The comlink beeped again: There was no time left.
"Ahsoka, it is your last chance! Don’t make me destroy you."
Convinced
that Ahsoka would not give way, Vader waved the crimson blade toward
her. She swiftly raised the green blade to block the strike. Sparks
splashed in front of her face. Vader withdrew and sliced upward,
forcing Ahsoka to jump backward. She whirled the blade and stroke back,
but Vader was already waiting for her with a furious slash toward her
right shoulder. She parried to the left and lowered herself, with a
swift wheel, sending her blade toward the right leg of Vader. With a
hard blow, he blocked the attack. Now Ahsoka was in a dangerous
position, which would allow Vader to strike vertically with maximal
strength. Yet before he could do so, Ahsoka made a high leap and landed
behind Vader’s back. He jerked around, just in time to block her slash.
"Impressive. You have made great progress. But you still have much to learn." Said Vader.
"I am already a Jedi knight." Replied Ahsoka, "You would be proud of me if you were still my master."
The
ground began to shake again. The force shell could not hold the ice any
longer when Vader did not concentrate on it. A large chunk of ice fell
toward them, forcing both to retreat. Vader took the chance to move
toward the outer side of the cave, but Ahsoka was faster to block the
way again.
It was messy. They fought in the storm of heavy ice
blocks, where they had to fight each other while evading or deflecting
the blocks using the force. That was much harder than deflecting
blaster bolts. Vader soon learned to take advantage of the falling
blocks by pushing them toward Ahsoka. Ahsoka parried left and right
while pushing some chunks back to him. Time was going against him. Soon
they would be buried in the ice. The comlink beeped for another several
times, which made him more and more impatient. He must end it
immediately by a swift blow.
Rage began to assemble in Vader’s
mind. The dark force flooded into his vessels. He gathered the force
and suspended all the ice blocks around him in the air. Ahsoka held her
breath, leapt desperately when all the blocks were striking to the
point she just stood. When she made a narrow escape from the furious
tide of ice blocks, she met the crimson blade before getting back her
balance. She waved her lightsaber in a panic, but it was too late.
The energy blade thrust through her chest.
Ahsoka fell on her knees, hilt dropping out of her hand. Vader deactivated his blade, watching her collapse to the ground.
This was not the end he wished to see.
He
knelt down beside her, held up her head, and looked at his apprentice
for the last time. "I could have spared you." His voice was nearly a
whisper.
To his surprise, she smiled. The smile stunned him.
He suddenly felt he was looking at another smile long ago on Tatooine.
It was a different face, but…
"You have a…lovely
son." Ahsoka whispered with her last breath, "In him, I saw…the image
of you, the real you, Skyguy…" She closed her eyes, not moving any
more.
Vader slowly put her down. The world around him was sinking, sinking…submerged by the infinite darkness.
He had killed the last one Anakin Skywalker ever cherished, the last one who ever loved that young man.
He
stood up, only to find himself stuck in a pile of ice blocks. Now this
was no concern. In great agony, the force exploded from him, with a
shock wave much stronger than the one before, shaking the mountain like
a tremendous earthquake. Then with a shocking bang, half of the ice
mountain was blasted away.
The storm had stopped. Vader walked out to the open field. The comlink beeped again and he answered.
"Yes, Admiral?"
"Lord
Vader," A nervous voice reported, "An X-Wing fighter broke through the
blockade and went into hyperspace. Without you on board, we did not
dare to chase it."
"Let him go." Vader turned to look at
Ahsoka’s body: So your plan has worked. He thought a while and asked,
"Where is the Millennium Falcon?"
"It’s still in the Hoth system."
"Concentrate all your force on this ship. I want them alive. Bring me my shuttle, now!"
"Yes, my lord."
Turning
off the comlink, Vader faced the half mountain. He stretched out his
hands, pulled down the ice and snow, burying Ahsoka’s body like a shiny
white tomb.
"Farewell, Snips…" He whispered in the heart and turned away.
<END>
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