The Children of the Stars

The Last Jedi

 The world was on fire, in a ballroom and in a desert. Yellow eyes stared at her through the fire, but the face they belonged to shifted— so much that Nellith could not recognize any of them—

Nellith awoke gasping for air, smelling smoke that was not there. It took her several minutes to realize that she was not in fact in the Fountain Palace's magnificent ballroom, wearing a large black silk dress that was practically a powder keg, or in the desert as her home burned down. No, she was in the rebuilt Praxeum, in her room. She glanced out the window to see the twin moons staring through the window like a pair of eyes.

She sat up, careful not to flip her hammock. There had been the suggestion as more rooms were rebuilt that she might like to move back to a regular bed, but Nellith was not ready for that, not yet. It just felt all wrong. All of this did.

Her sister was a million lightyears away, Queen Mother of the Hapes cluster. Their connection felt as faint as ever. Nellith was beginning to believe that whatever severance had happened during the Purge, it was gone. Possibly forever.

Nellith touched her bare feet to the cool stone floor. It had been a week since her sister's coronation. The Republic had finally gone to war against the Remnant, and from what Nellith heard, it was going well.

Except that the Star Forge would eventually overwhelm them. But that was a secret the Jedi had decided to keep to themselves in their last council meeting. While Nellith had not risen in rank any further than being a Knight, she had been permitted in the council room. Part of it, she knew was her knowledge about the Star Forge and how she planned to be involved in seizing Centerpoint Station. The other part was how many Jedi had been lost to Force psychosis when Valin had first invaded the conference.

To prevent the spread, Allana had come to an agreement with the Republic that she would place the Jedi in carbonite. Nellith remembered standing there with Kyp that day, the bacta patches on her body still doing their work to heal the many burns that had scarred her body. The Jedi had come out of their psychosis for that moment, naturally.

Most of them, like Valin and Master Clighal were at a sort of peace and understanding. But some, like Jysella, were afraid.

"I don't want to go." She had reached out for her father, who gently nudged her back into the carbonite chamber. "Please, don't make me, I don't want to go—"

Nellith was ashamed to say that she had turned away, that she couldn't stand her friend's fear. She'd buried her face in Kyp's shoulder, unable to bear it.

Sometimes at night, Nellith could still hear Jysella's cries in the night. She was sure that if she closed her eyes n9ow, she could hear her friend.

Unable to stand the memories any further, Nellith picked up her lightsaber off of the nightstand. The purple blade was a surge of light, drowning out that cast by the binary moons. Nellith blinked, allowing her eyes to adjust again.

And then she practiced a few swings alone in the dark, matched with a flew flairs and spins— that personal style that Jaina had always told her made the difference between a merely good swordswoman and a great one. Of course, the masters would tell them that a great Jedi would rarely need to use their lightsabers.

Nellith now thought that mantra was full of bantha-poodoo. Not just because their history was full of war, but because of her own experiences.

Jaina's words came to her.

"Yours is a restless life, and you shall never know peace. . . "

If only, Nellith couldn't help but think. At least I'd then be useful in this war.

She stopped, slightly out-of-breath, and approached the full-length mirror that had been posted against the closet door. She tried to imitate the stance that Jaina often took— it was the signature for Niman, the very one that their father specialized in. The master of all forms.

Of course, there had been some personal touches, as was fitting for the greatest swordswoman of them all.

Because of that, Nellith couldn't get it quite right. Still, she searched in the eyes of her reflection for any similarities between her and her dead sister.

Why did you choose me?

Nellith blinked— she had not realized for how long she had been holding back that question, that lingering fear. Allana had been chosen for everything— the Queen of the Jedi and of Hapes, it seemed. While her other siblings had similar concepts of destiny, she was now realizing that only Anakin had anything close to what her sister was.

Why hadn't she been chosen to be the Sword of the Jedi in Jaina's stance, too?

Nellith closed her eyes as she heard a knock at the door, felt a familiar presence.

She opened the door to reveal Kyp standing there, looking worried.

"Are you alright?" He peeked at a chrono on his wrist. "It's so late— I just could feel it, that you were dreaming about the fire again. . ."

"Yes." Nellith avoided his eyes. "Sorry."

In the immediate aftermath of the fire in the ballroom, she had been in and out of consciousness as the black silk went up in flames, as the whole world seemed to. She remembered seeing her father's face and Kyp's both over her.

What she found out later was that Kyp was the one to heal her initial condition. Ever since, there had been a sort of bond between them.

Nothing like what the twins had or her parents. But a stronger sensitivity towards each other's feelings, like the other was the beacon in a spaceport.

"I thought I'd lost you then," Kyp added, as if he were remembering that moment too. "I know we said we wouldn't talk about us until the war was over— but that day is coming closer."

"I know." Nellith bit her lip. "I think that I'd like for there to be an 'us.' To try, at least."

Kyp smiled faintly. "That's all I can ask for."

Nellith tried to hide her own smile. "Maybe we can be space pirates, get our own ship again—"

"Not such a junker, though." Kyp shuddered. "I know you loved Serenity but it wasn't made to last."

"I know that now." Nellith rolled her eyes playfully. Then she sobered. "I wonder what parts we'll have to play in what is to come."

"Given that you're a Skywalker, I think we've got some starring roles." He winked, giving her the shiny flirtatious grin he was infamous for among the younger Jedi. It had brought her back to a time when her crush on her brother's friend had been her most severe worry.

How different things were now.

"As long as we fight together, I'm not afraid of what will come," Nellith declared, taking his hand into hers.

It was foolhardy and reckless—but that was the nature of love, she supposed.

Kyp was perhaps about to lean in for a kiss— if it weren't for Jacen tapping him off of the shoulder.

"Let's leave some space for the Force, no?" Jacen looked to Nellith. "We need to talk to Dad, now."

"Why, what's going on?"

"Yeah, it's the middle of the night," Kyp complained.

Jacen glanced around, scanning for any potential eavesdroppers before he spoke. "Mum made contact with Dad. She's transmitted her location— Vader's Castle on Vjun. She's ready to be picked up."