The Children of the Stars

First Steps

First there was silence in the darkness, as everyone's senses adjusted to the change. In the dimness, only broken by faint sunlight peeking through the rubble burying them in the underground tunnels and caves, she saw Valin's body lying unconscious, blood on his temples.

She crawled over to him, unsure of the size of the space. She shook his shoulder, not knowing what else to do. He groaned, and his eyes opened.

"I'm sorry, Allana." He coughed hoarsely. "I know I shouldn't have done it— but I couldn't let her hurt you and I gave into the dark. I finally understand it now."

"No, no, this is my fault." Allana shook her head, tears stinging at her eyes. "I ignored what was happening to you, because I was selfish. Because I wanted to see Mum again. Even when you wanted to go back to Tatooine, I insisted we continue on. And it was all for nothing."

Sobs started to wrack her body, and she let go of Valin, turning away. She was unable to face him. Her bad leadership had brought them here.

What would they do now?

She drew her knees to her chest, burying her face in the soft-silken fabric of her pants, gathered around the knee.

She could feel the presence of the surrounding Jedi reaching out to her, but she pushed them away, put her shields up.

She'd done this, after all. How could anyone absolve her of that?

She couldn't lead a group of Jedi to find her mother. She'd failed completely. How would she be a queen to Hapes? How could Tenel Ka trust her with her people when Allana was such a fool?

The darkness of her own grief, her own anger at herself, it built a wall of darkness in her heart, sapping what was left of her strength, her courage.

Some of the others withdrew from her, stopped trying to reach out.

But some didn't.

Jacen and Nellith still tried, as did Valin.

"Let me in," Nellith pleaded, placing her hand on Allana's shoulder.

"Let us help you." Jacen took one of her hands, Valin the other. "You don't have to be alone."

"There's plenty of blame to go around," Valin added.

Allana finally looked up. For a moment, her tears blinded her, but she could see as Jacen turned his head towards Valin.

"We know who's to blame for your condition," Jacen added. "Thea is. She did something to make it happen. She's the one who changed the holocrons, lured us here. Yes, we all made mistakes. But to blame ourselves for what happened is to remove the responsibility Thea has in all of this."

"She's so far gone," Allana whispered. "I don't understand. Why did she choose to bond with Plagueis? Why did she turn to the dark side?"

"Only Darth Keera could tell us that," Nellith said. "I don't know, maybe there was something always bad inside, and it was just waiting to get out."

"Don't talk like that," Jacen scolded. "The same was said for Dad, for Mum, could be said for any of us. We've all got the dark and the light inside. Good and evil, too. Thea made her choices— but that doesn't mean that she can't or isn't worth saving."

"After all," Tahiri finally spoke, "some thought you didn't deserve redemption."

"It's not a matter of what she deserves." Allana swiped away her tears. "It's a matter of what kind of Jedi we want to be."

"Jedi who believe in love," Tahiri said.

"That love can save the galaxy," Jysella added. "Because it has and it did."

"And that love can bring anyone back," Valin finished.

"I'm not sure we can just keep waiting and hoping for Thea to come back," Nellith admitted. "I just don't know. She's done so many awful things. And while service to evil is still evil— it's different, you know?"

"I'm not saying that forgiveness or redemption is easy," Jacen said. "But forgiveness, at least? That's not about Thea— it's about us."

"I think we have a long way to go before those questions can be answered," Nellith finally said. "First we need to get out of here."

"I don't even know where we are," Allana admitted as she stood. "In relation to anything else, I mean."

"Well, all we can do is take the next step." Jysella and Jacen helped lift Valin. Jacen looked to Allana. "Listen to your feelings, Allie. Reach out. You've got good instincts. Sometimes we're wrong— but prove yourself right. Get up, and try again."

Allana nodded and closed her eyes. "I can do that."

And then she felt it. A familiar presence— the feeling of home.

She opened her eyes to see a glowing blue butterfly on her hand.

"Hello there," she murmured.

The butterfly flitted away, and then hovered expectantly a few paces away.

"I think it wants us to follow it."

The party advanced, weaving through caverns and holes, following the butterflies, until they were in a cavern full of them, flying all up and down the walls.

In the center of the room, on a little stone altar, was a blue holocron.

Allana's breath hitched. She reached out tentatively, stopping herself just a few inches before she could touch it.

She didn't need to open it to know that it belonged to Rey. She knew now how the other holocrons were covered. After all, her parents did have a peculiar affinity for blue butterflies.

"I think that Rey was here," Allana murmured as she picked it up. She placed it into the satchel hanging around her waist. "She did leave a message for us after all."

"Aren't you going to see it?" Tahiri asked.

Allana shook her head. "We need to go home."

She then looked to the butterflies. "Lead the way."

They came out to the very same caves they'd entered. The wreckages of both ships were still intact, untouched by Darth Keera and her crew.

Nellith pulled her hair back. "Let's get to work. We'll be flying in no time."

"Take us home," Allana said.