The Children of the Stars

Ashes

Allana could feel the ghost of Anakin Skywalker the second that she stepped off of the Millennium Falcon onto the soil of the moon of Endor.

It was not the pure cold of Thea's presence now, or any other Sith spirit, for that matter.

No, Anakin Skywalker was fire, warm and enthralling, but also dangerous and chaotic— even in spirit.

Valin swatted at a fly as he stumbled out after her. Allana pretended not to see the shadows under his eyes, and instead was just relieved that they were hazel and not yellow.

Hopefully it would help that they weren't on Korriban, Allana prayed. After all, everyone had been riled up by the ghosts and spirits that lay in the sands of Korriban.

Somehow, she had a feeling that Dr. Tharen and Aya Tico had no intentions of inviting them back to the dig site.

Allana waved as the crew of Serenity disembarked from the ship.

Nellith responded with a salute, a teasing smile on her face.

That was a difference between them now. Another form of disconnect that was slowly consuming them both. One had a title, a destiny, and memories of the past three years and had witnessed in-person the death of their little brother.

Nellith might have had her own ship, but she also had to contend with her three years as the Empress's Hand and whatever that meant.

Still, Nellith grinned at her like she would've, three years ago, and like nothing at all had changed.

"I guess we both know where we'll have to go, don't you?" Allana asked.

"Vader's pyre, naturally," Nellith said. "Honestly, Dad would be more likely to hide it there than Mum, but it's not like Mum's going to drop off anything at the Dameron ranch, magic Force tree or not."

"That is true."

"I can't believe this," Tash murmured. "The history texts don't refer to any pyre or resting place for Darth Vader— there was a monument for Anakin Skywalker and the other Jedi established on Coruscant, but that was before the public discovered Leia Organa's heritage—"

"This isn't Vader's resting place either," Jacen gently corrected.

Tash frowned, confused.

"It's Anakin Skywalker's," Jacen finished. "Vader died on the second Death Star when he saved his son, and Anakin Skywalker was reborn."

Jysella shook her head. "I just can't think of it like that. I'm sorry. This line between Vader and Anakin Skywalker— it feels like we're trying to make them two different men, but they weren't."

"They pretty much were," Tash argued. "Skywalker and Vader had such different attitudes, interactions— they shared a timeline, body, and midichlorians, but Skywalker would never have done—"

"But Skywalker chose to become Vader," Jysella reminded them. "Isn't it denial to pretend otherwise, with all the naming stuff? After all, at the end of the day, Kylo Ren and Ben Solo were—"

Jysella stopped and guiltily glanced at the Skywalkers. "Sorry."

"I don't think you were," Allana said coolly. She faked a delicate cough, trying to regain her composure. "But I do suppose I know what you mean."

"We know what our father used to be," Jacen said. "And our grandfather. But they aren't like that anymore, and don't use those names and titles."

"Names have power." Nellith's expression was haunted, and Allana could feel a strong note of lament through their bond. "Thea. . . Thea's pretty much gone. The good in her— it was buried."

"I want to believe that Darth Keera can be defeated and Thea can come back. . . " Jacen hesitated. "But even I'm not sure of that. I'm trying to let go of my anger, at what she did to all of us, what she did to Jaina, to Nellith, to me—"

Tahiri placed a hand on his arm, and he was quiet.

"You saw that there was still good in me," Nellith reminded him. "And I was complicit—"

"Not exactly," Jacen said. "She broke you. It wasn't your fault, what happened, what she made you do. Those weren't your choices. Thea made hers."

Allana thought a moment, as she stared out at the tall forests of Endor. It would be a short hike to the funeral pyre, and whatever remained of Anakin Skywalker.

For all of the talk of Sith names and Jedi names, it did bring up an excellent question, for when all of this was over— could Thea Organa be saved? Or was Darth Keera truly all that remained, as Nellith stated?

Maybe Jacen and Nellith were right. After all, since the night of the Purge, Allana had never confronted Darth Keera.

Her head spun at the thought of such dilemmas.

"We can talk about this later," Allana decided. "Let's just go get the holocron Mum left."

"Yeah, let's move out," Nellith added, pointing out at the jungle floor. "I can feel it, we're close to wherever Vader was."

"I wonder if anything remains," Tash mused aloud in a dreamlike voice, as if she did not realize that she had said such a thing out loud.

Nellith, Allana, and Jacen all shared a look.

"The helmet's not there," Allana offered in a small voice as they began walking into the foliage. "We know that for sure. But I doubt anything else remains. It's been half a century since his death."

Valin shuddered. "I hope we don't find anything from the body. That would be so gross."

"I agree— can we not talk about this anymore?" Nellith asked, both hands placed on her temples, acting as blinders to the conversation at large.

"Yes, sorry." Tash coughed to hide her discomfort.

It wasn't very long before they were at the base of rotted wood and burnt metal and plastic and other alloys.

This was where Darth Vader was laid to rest. Allana saw what they had been looking for, right on top of the pyre. The Jedi holocron that belonged to their mother.

Seeing no obvious traps, she took it. They could decode the meaning of it later.

Then they heard a rustling in the trees.

"Get your weapons ready," Allana warned, drawing her own double-bladed lightsaber.

Everyone else was quick to follow suit.

Then out of the trees came several little bears at about knee-height— Ewoks, Allana realized with relief.

"Yub-nub," one said, curiously approaching.

Allana knelt down, pulling out a ration pack. "Food. We've parked nearby. We'll be leaving soon enough."

She could sense a sort of friendliness and recognition from these little creatures. Then it clicked.

"You knew our grandmother, Princess Leia," Allana said. "You helped us fight off the Empire. Thank you, little friends."

A very loud snort seemed to come from Nellith, who truly must've taken after their paternal grandfather, as Allana could sense a strong dislike of the friendly creatures from her.

"We mean you no harm," Allana insisted. "We're friends."

"Yub-nub."

And then the Ewoks walked away, leaving everyone else to wonder what was even the point of that encounter.