The End

The first thing Anakin Solo notices is the fresh, sweet smelling air around him. Slowly he opens his blue eyes, blinking away blurriness. His fingers curl into the cool, green grass, nails digging into dark earth. He lays on his stomach, breathing in the damp scent of nature – of life.

Anakin knows he is dead – he can feel it in his very being. He remembers the pain and the suffering before he blinked out of existence. He remembers the Vong and their conquest of the galaxy.

Slowly he pushes himself up into a kneeling position. The air is cool, a soft breeze dances with his hair, tickles his skin. Although covered by rolling clouds, a yellow sun warms the land, sunbeams sneaking outward, giving the light blue sky a touch of gold.

Anakin looks around, his eyes catching hills and mountains, covered with a carpet of green grass. A vast see reflects the magnificent golden sun.
To his left Anakin sees five large stone pillars along a dried-out walkway. The only walkway.

The pillars seem to be sentient-made, chipped along the sides as they curve upward, similar to an arrow.

Anakin scrambles to his feet, wondering where he is. He feels the Force around him, within him, penetrating him. Never before has he felt so much Force energy bundled up in one place. His skin tingles, itches as he takes hesitant steps.

He hears voices, whispers as he nears the stone pillars. The voices pummel him, bringing him to his knees. He winces as pain runs throughout his lean body. Slowly he steadies himself by placing his palm on the first stone pillar.

And suddenly he sees pictures that bring tears to his eyes.

He sees his mother holding him as an infant, smiling at him and laughing as the baby he had once been wriggles in her strong arms. Her dark eyes twinkle with admiration towards her little boy. He sees Leia sitting next to him in his playroom, her dark hair open and cascading around her shoulders like a beautiful chocolate waterfall. She sits and she plays with him, she makes faces and he laughs the laugh of an innocent child. He sees Leia leaning down to pick him up, ruffling his hair as he grips her with his small, chubby fingers. She whispers words he will never hear again, “I love you.”

Anakin stumbles back and breaths deeply. His blue eyes are alight with tears, his heart is beating in an uneven rhythm as he walks on, trying his best to let go of the sudden sadness gripping his very soul.

But the further he walks the more voices and whispers he hears. Sadness and shock grip his heart as he hears his father’s laughter, sees his roguish grin one last time. He sees Han showing him how to tinker with the Falcon, he sees Chewbacca roaring with laughter as Anakin accidently hits his father with a hydrospanner. He sees Chewie telling him a bedtime story after having deactivated C-3PO.
Anakin squeezes his blue eyes shut as the tears sting. He swears he will not cry. What for? He is dead – no one would care.

So he stumbles on, feeling sick to his stomach. His knees are weak and he keeps from falling when he holds onto the third stone pillar along the walkway.

Pictures of Jacen rush through his mind, of brotherly confrontations. He sees Jacen making fun of him, he sees him laughing at a silly remark Anakin had given him. He sees Jacen alone with his small zoo of animals. And he sees Jacen’s dark eyes filled with love for his younger brother.

Anakin falls to his knees and grips his shirt above his heart. The pain pierces through him, rolling within his body in waves of anguish.

His mouth opens in a silent scream and he fears that he cannot go on. He bends over, fisting his hands within the grass, his breathing ragged. But he forces himself back to his feet, he forces himself to go on.

Because Anakin Solo never gives up.

With the next step, with the next stone pillar, come pictures of his sister. Her dark eyes twinkle with joy as the young girl plays with him. Jaina smiling as Anakin reprogrammed the Nanny Droid and wanting to know how he had done it. His sister holding him in her arms, rocking him back and forth after a bad dream. Her soft voice as she told him fantastic stories of the Jedi Knights of old. His beautiful sister…

Anakin sniffs and wipes away the tears streaming down his cheeks. He lifts his blue eyes to the heavens above, admiring the golden lights fanning out through the dark clouds.

He only has a few more steps to go until he reaches the end of the walkway. But he cannot find the strength to do so. One more pillar… one more painful memory. Yet another reminder of what he has lost by dying.

He takes a breath and walks on. He has no other choice for there is only one way and he cannot return to what he was.

But his breath catches in his throat as he sees Tahiri. Her beautiful golden hair collecting around a perfect round face, green eyes beckoning him forward for a single and everlasting kiss. Her smile, that always made him weak in the knees, begs for one kiss – their first kiss, their last kiss.

He cannot grant her the wish. Because he is already dead. He must deny the woman he loves because he has died.

Heart heavy beneath his chest he steps forward one last time before the golden sun reaches down to envelope him in her everlasting warming arms. Anakin Solo is one with Force and yet he feels and he sees and smells. He is alive within the realm of the dead but he is dead in the realm of the living.

He wishes for another impossible chance at life – for another chance with the people he loves.