Destiny
By Angelia Sparrow

"You are beaten. It is useless to resist. Do not let yourself be destroyed as Obi-Wan was."

I can feel the energy from the lightsaber bare centimeters from my nose. Spurred, I gain my feet and resume the battle, scoring a hit on Vader's arm.

He destroys a trio of beams, and we clash once more before--

Aaaaah!

The pain is unbearable, and I sink to my knees on the gantry. My lightsaber is gone, and my right hand with it. A cauterized stump meets my disbelieving gaze.

Vader looms impossibly huge before me, saber still ignited. "There is no escape."

He is so wrong. I repeat the litany Yoda taught me, silently.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no death, there is the Force.

I wish I could believe it.

"Don't make me destroy you," he says, almost imploring as I begin to inch backward along the gantry. "Luke, you do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover your power. Come with me and I will complete your training. With our combined strength we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy."

Complete my training? How big a fool does he think I am? And order? What order? A beaten galaxy, crushed by fear. I don't want that. There is no death, there is the Force. I grasp the vertical, and turn away from him.

"I'll never join you!""

"If you only knew the power of the dark side. Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father."

Oh stars, how could he know? How could he know of all the years of yearning, of hero-worship, of wanting? My father, the navigator. My father, the Jedi.

"He told me enough! He told me you killed him!"

"No. I am your father."

Shock, stunned rage. The first thoughts leaped out of my mouth. "No. No! That's not true. That's impossible."

"Search your feelings, you know it to be true."

My feelings? All I have is pain. My body hurts, my soul hurts. There is no death, there is the Force. And the Force tells me that Vader has spoken the truth. Obi-Wan lied to me! Darkness and light. The light lies and the darkness tells the truth. What else did Ben and Yoda lie about? Is this what the Tree tried to tell me? The light lies. The denial of this is automatic.

"No! No!" I bury my face against the cold steel.

"Luke, you can destroy the Emperor. He has forseen this. It is your destiny."

Destiny. I am so sick of the word. In the name of destiny, Ben and Yoda tried to mold me into something, a guided patricidal missile. What can Vader do in the name of destiny that would be worse?

"Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son."

The lightsaber is extinguished, and a massive black hand extends toward me. My father, who wants me at his side, reaches to me as I cling to cold metal above a precarious drop.

And the Force tells me that he still speaks the truth. If the light lies, and the darkness speaks the truth; if the light sends sons to kill their fathers all unknowing and the dark allows fathers to maim their sons, which do I choose?

The black glove fills my vision, an offering.

It reaches for me, hope outstretched.

It beckons.

And, stars help me, I reach out and take it.

END