Cosmic Embrace

IV.

"Lesson two: Now that they're extinct, the Jedi are romanticized, deified. But if you strip away the myth and look at their deeds, the legacy of the Jedi is failure. Hypocrisy, hubris." Luke spoke taking a seat in the middle of a cave-in the center was some type of jedi text.

"That's not true," Rey interjected.

"At the height of their powers, they allowed Darth Sidious to rise, create the Empire, and wipe them out. It was a Jedi Master who was responsible for the training and creation of Darth Vader." he continued. Arabella fidgeted next to him feeling guilt as her mother had helped the Empire.

"And a Jedi who saved him. Yes, the most hated man in the galaxy, but you saw there was conflict inside him. You believed that he wasn't gone. That he could be turned." Rey argued, taking a seat across from Luke.

"And I became a legend. For many years there was balance and then I saw, Ben" his eyes drifted to Arabella, "My nephew with that mighty Skywalker blood. And in my hubris, I thought I could train him, I could pass on my strengths. Han was Han about it, but Leia trusted me with her son." Luke's gaze fell to the ground, like he was reliving the memory. "I took him and a dozen students, and began a training temple. By the time I realized I was no match for the darkness rising in him, it was too late."

"What happened?" Arabella whispered, Luke's back facing her.

"I went to confront him and he turned on me. He must of thought I was dead. When I came to, the temple was burning. He had vanished with a handful of my students and slaughtered the rest. Leia blamed Snoke, but it was me. I failed. Because I was Luke Skwywalker, Jedi Master, a legend."

"The galaxy may need a legend. We need someone to show us our place in all this." Rey said, looking at Luke.

"Kylo was destined to go to Snoke. I mean look at me– shielded from this chaos my entire life, destined to wield only the light side of the Force, yet still, I found myself in Snoke's grasp. It's the way life unfolds." Arabella's voice was filled with sadness,"Where there is light there is dark, there is balance. Rey won't fail you. She is destined to be a Jedi."

Luke scrutinized her with narrowed eyes. "And you?"

-

Arabella wandered along the rugged shore, the spray of the waves dancing around her, sending shivers down her spine as the chill air brushed against her shoulders. Pausing, she grappled with the weight of Luke's earlier words, feeling a pang of guilt. She recognized the conflict within Kylo, understanding all too well how easily one could be swayed by the darkness.

Reflecting on the night Kylo Ren had confronted her father in Cosmara, she recalled how swiftly doubt had crept in with just a few words from him. Then, darkness consumed her, a tear tracing its path down her cheek as she remembered the tragic outcome of her actions upon her father. She couldn't shake the thought that had Kylo received guidance akin to hers from childhood, the trajectory might have been different. If only his parents had seen beyond his troubled label and believed in him, perhaps he wouldn't have strayed so far. Luke's assertion echoed in her mind—everyone had failed Kylo.

Yet, Arabella refused to be counted among them. If it meant embracing the darkness to retrieve him and offer him guidance, she was willing to take that path.

"Arabella" a voice echoed in the air. Arabella turned around confused by what was calling her name. She heard it again guiding her to a dark hole. She kneeled down trying to find something in the water's reflection before being pulled in.

Her body hit the rigid cold water as it sank deeper into the ocean. She kicked and flung her body trying to come back to surface. She followed the light from above before floating to the surface and breathing in, feeling her lungs fill with oxygen. She gasped making her way to a nearby rocky surface.