Chapter Twenty-three

On the opposite side of the forest, Darkness made ready for the clash, 
anticipating victory, savoring the heady proximity of the Jedi feast.  
Although their location had long been known, the trio would be allowed 
time to accept their Destiny before the Dark Twins made their 
introductory visit.

For now, Darkness would reign over another of its subjects, a tribal 
element of the forest moon, worshipers of the Dark Side.  Sufficiently 
evil, and malleable enough to suit the Twins' dark purposes, the hairy 
and bug-infested Duloks were the sworn enemy of the foolish furry 
creatures who were the other dominant natives of the habitat.  This 
enmity could and would be a worthy catalyst toward inciting the 
confrontation among the Jedi.

Soon enough forbearance would be rewarded and the Twins would know the 
pleasure of a female of their own kind:  passionate, ambitious, Force-
sensitive; a woman capable of breeding more Darkness, for procreation 
of Evil was the order of the day, insurance for the ultimate return of 
a Dark dominance.  What difference would a few hours make but to 
further whet the appetite for the coming Jedi banquet?

***************

"I'm going to observe the closing festivities of the Ewok ceremony 
tonight," Luke told Han and Leia over breakfast the next morning.   At 
his twin's look of surprise he explained.  "Something is calling me 
there, Leia," he told her.  "Something that won't be denied.  I must 
go."

She watched him for a moment, her shrewd dark eyes assessing his 
intentions, her Sense reading him clearly.  "Then we're coming with 
you," she quietly declared.  As Luke began to protest, she fixed him 
with a look he knew well, one that defied argument.  "I don't think it 
would be wise for any one of us to go off alone now that the Dark Twins 
have arrived.  We may think we know their intentions, but we can't be 
sure of their timing."

Luke found he couldn't argue against her logic and nodded agreement.  
He returned his attention to his plate, picking idly at the fruit that 
remained.  For a long moment the three of them sat in uneasy silence, 
absorbed in their own thoughts, knowing what awaited them and dreading 
it, no matter the outcome.  Though confident of victory, they were not 
looking forward to the conflict. 

Adding to the tension was the fact that they actually knew very little 
about their predators, always a tricky thing to deal with when going 
into battle.  The trio knew only that the clash would be one of Force-
driven energies, Light versus Dark, Good against Evil, Life or Death.  
Han finally broke the silence.

"Look," he began, rather loudly so that they both started at the sound 
of his voice, "what do we know about these guys - other than the fact 
that they're the offspring of the Emperor and that poor woman?"

Luke shrugged his shoulders and picked up his cup of paricha, steaming 
in the chill of the morning air, pondered as he took a sip.  "That's 
about it," he finally conceded.  "And I'm not sure if there is any way 
to find out more about them."  He looked up at his sister, then over at 
Han.  "I'm afraid we're going to have to wing it - like we did in the 
old days..."  He was silent a moment, remembering.  "...like we've had 
to do so many times before."

Han and Leia absorbed his words in silence, Leia making an elaborate 
show of pushing her breakfast about her plate.  Han finally looked up 
at Luke, a familiar arrogance written in his face.

"Then we'll wing it."  He shrugged elaborately, his Sense oozing 
confidence.  "We always were pretty good at making the most out of what 
we've got."  

The Skywalker twins had to agree; there had been too many occasions 
when, by all rights, they should not have been able to overcome the 
adversity of the moment; yet by luck or wisdom - or the Force - they 
had always found a way through to victory.  Just as they would find 
their way in the task at hand.

Leia looked solemnly at her men, silently extending a hand to each of 
them.  Squeezing her fingers in theirs, Han and Luke joined their 
Senses to hers and formed a three-fold nexus.

//We are Jedi.  We are peace.  And we will prevail.//

****************

After an interminably long day spent in uneasy anticipation, the trio 
finally set out just as the Endorian sun slipped behind the treetops.  
In silence, they mingled with the procession of Ewoks they met upon the 
forest trail, making their way toward an unimaginable Destiny.

Han and Leia walked side by side, their hands and Senses entwined, 
feeding each other the strength that rose from the tower of their love.  
Luke followed at a discreet distance, his Sense ever alert, his Jedi 
abilities primed and ready for any challenge that might materialize.

Several times during the short hike to the Tree he had to enlist the 
aid of Jedi calming techniques to still his eager heart.  Tonight he 
would see her again, that intoxicating creature with the startling blue 
eyes.  Somehow Luke felt certain that her Presence was of tremendous 
significance to the events that would transpire this night.

With an effort, he pulled his thoughts from musings of the beautiful 
girl, and concentrated instead on the upcoming closing ceremonies of 
the Festival of Light, wondering what the night held in store for them 
all.

Han pulled farther ahead of Luke, gripping Leia's hand tightly, leaving 
his right hand free to draw his blaster at the first inkling of danger.  
His eyes searched the ranks of Ewoks before him, and finally lit upon 
the familiar bulk of Chewbacca, far ahead of them, at the very head of 
the procession.  The Ewoks had enthusiastically adopted the Wookiee 
into their tribe and had bestowed upon him the honor of carrying the 
Sacred Lantern of Light, to be placed before the Tree as the final 
offering of the Festival.

With his faithful partner and co-pilot close at hand, Han's confidence 
was further fueled, and the prospect of marching into the unknown was 
not one he found so very frightening.  Boldness had always come 
naturally to him.  Chewbacca had sworn a life debt to Han many years 
ago and considered Han's wife, their children, and Luke his Honor 
Family.  They would come to no harm while Chewbacca drew breath.  Han's 
faith in their ultimate victory was stoked by the Wookiee's very 
presence; Chewie had always been Han's ace in the hole.

He glanced down at Leia as she walked beside him, and his heart swelled 
with pride in her.  She had chosen to dress this evening much as she 
had done so many years ago, just before the Battle of Endor.  His 
thoughts flashed back to the eve of the Battle, when she had moved 
about the Ewok village in soft-hide skirts, her hair loose and flowing, 
captivating him as never before.  He remembered with a sharp pang the 
way she had made him feel that evening, as she struggled with the 
devastating truth of her newly revealed parentage.

What had begun as a reckless argument born of jealousy of Luke had 
evolved into a scene of such exquisite tenderness that Han's heart was 
effectively sealed to Leia Organa for the rest of his life.  She had 
allowed him to hold her, to comfort her in her distress, and by 
evening's end he had gladly given his soul to her, unquestioningly and 
irrevocably.

Later, after the Battle, when she had finally shared the details of her 
heritage with Han, he had encouraged her to reject the hatred that came 
with the dreadful knowledge, and helped her to conquer her fear of the 
Darkness to which her father had succumbed.  Han had encouraged her to 
focus instead on the joyous aspect of the revelation, one that outshone 
the darkness of her parentage: the fact that Luke was her brother, her 
twin.  That happy knowledge had penetrated Leia's torment and pulled 
her from its grasp.

Han shook himself back to the present, his eyes focusing again on 
Leia's delicate profile as she marched resolutely beside him.  His 
wife, his partner; his mate.  He wasn't about to let any damned Dark 
Jedi take her away from him.

As if reading his thoughts, Leia turned to face him, her features 
softening into a gentle smile, and she squeezed the hand she clasped so 
tightly.  He looked deeply into her beautiful dark eyes, and in their 
depths he saw the fear she fought so gallantly to hide.

//Courage, sweetheart,// his Sense reminded her.  //Courage!//

She wrapped his strength about her like a shawl, accepting it into her 
body, into her soul, her Sense.  Drawing a deep breath, she closed her 
eyes, and it seemed to Han that in that moment Leia grew taller, her 
carriage even more stately, her slender shoulders squared with Jedi 
determination.  When she opened her eyes again and looked at her 
husband, Han read in them a faith that had heretofore been lacking.

He smiled down at her, and she answered with one of her own.  They 
continued down the forest path, toward the fate that awaited them at 
the base of the twisted Tree.

*********************
 
Aura stood before the Tree's portal to the Outside, quietly observing 
the proceedings from her watch, ready to make the leap to the outside 
should her Jedi Knight require her assistance.  Around her clustered 
the children, the Organa-Solo children among them.

Jacen and Jaina, joyfully reunited at last, stood solemnly beside her, 
clasping hands tightly, their combined light pulsing gently around 
them.  Anakin stood with the twins, observing the proceedings outside 
the Tree through his own enhanced senses, his blue eyes wide and 
anxious.  Aura could feel a certain tension about the three children as 
they detected the proximity of their parents - and the unmistakable 
touch of Darkness that likewise approached.

Baby Arcadia squirmed in Aura's arms and began to whimper.  Aura turned 
her attention to the child cuddled against her.  Though it appeared 
that the infant was hungry, Aura felt it more likely the baby was 
missing the irreplaceable Presence of her mother.  None of the children 
would feel hunger, for their bodies would not age while in the confines 
of the Tree and thus would not need daily sustenance for growth as 
would normally be required in the Outside World.

For reasons she could not fathom, Aura herself was the only one of the 
village children to age during the years of confinement.  She had no 
way of knowing the how or the why, but she suspected it had something 
to do with the fact that she was the only one of them to venture 
outside their haven.

From the very first year of exile, when she had been chosen by the 
Ewoks as the bearer of offerings, twice yearly for fourteen nights Aura 
emerged from the Tree, to cover herself with the sacred gold dust 
offered by the furry little pilgrims.  Then she would enter the forest 
- and real time - and gather the gifts left for the lost Jedi children, 
aging only for the duration of her visits to the outside world, but at 
an accelerated rate.  So long as she did not linger, she aged little.  
But if she were delayed for any reason, the aging process would jump 
start and her body would rapidly catch up.

"There's Chewie!" Jacen pointed excitedly at the portal, watching the 
Wookiee's solemn approach to the Tree.  In his huge, hairy paws 
Chewbacca gripped the roughly hewn, Sacred Lantern of Light, extending 
it before him in the customary gesture of offering.

********************

The Ewoks chanted as they knelt at the base of the Tree, reminding Han 
of the first time he and his party had met the little furballs, when 
the natives had thought See-Threepio a golden god and had worshipped 
him as one, dismissing the mighty Jedi and the cocky Corellian as 
insignificant.  Han's ego still smarted over the incident.

Beside him, Leia flinched, causing him to return his attention to her, 
his amplified senses alerted to the change in hers.  "What is it?" he 
asked softly, concerned.

"I don't know," she murmured back, reaching, reaching for...what?  She 
shook her head impatiently.  "Something - I don't know what it is...but 
something is coming toward us..." she broke off as the image was 
enhanced.  "A whole lot of somethings!"

Bedlam suddenly erupted around them.  "Luke!" Leia cried, and reached 
for the lightsaber at her belt even as she felt her brother draw his.  
They ignited their weapons with a simultaneous snap-hiss and turned 
with exquisite precision to deflect the attack of dual dark images that 
pounced from behind.

Han snatched his blaster from its holster with lightning speed, drawing 
a bead on a third dark shape as it propelled itself toward Leia.  He 
fired with deadly accuracy, striking the being in the center of its 
form, flash-burning its heart and sending it to the ground in a hairy 
heap.

Leia swept upward with her lightsaber and cast aside a barrage of 
primitive spears that seemed to launch themselves from the curtain of 
the meadow, a sharp gasp of surprise escaping as she finally got a 
clear view of their attackers.

Scores of Duloks, lanky, hostile beings with wild, filthy hair, 
descended upon the gathering of Ewok worshipers.  They swarmed around 
the congregation, armed with primitive knives and spears, slashing and 
snarling as they tore through the shrieking tribe of tiny warriors.

Totally defenseless, many of the little creatures fell, mortally 
wounded.  As before, the last time humans and Ewoks fought as one, the 
casualties were high; as before, Leia had to forcefully quell her 
empathy over the loss of so many of the New Republic's smallest, yet 
most loyal, allies.

Side-by-side-by-side, she and Han and Luke fought to defend their 
friends.  Wounding many of the enemy, dispatching countless dozens, 
they battled for a seemingly endless period of time.  The tall grasses 
of the meadow appeared to vomit wave after wave of Duloks - all of them 
the embodiment of Evil, all of them intent upon eradicating Endor's 
gentler culture from existence.

Han, totally absorbed in the fighting, with Chewbacca roaring at his 
side and slinging Duloks right and left, at first didn't detect the 
sudden iciness that chilled Leia's Sense - nor did he see the stark 
terror in her eyes as she beheld the embodiment of Darkness.  When her 
horror finally slammed into his Sense, Han turned to look at her, his 
stomach tightening at what he saw in her face.

Drained of color, her eyes wide and staring, a frozen warning clinging 
to her lips, Leia pointed to twin figures rising from the center of the 
meadow.  In robes of blackest night they hovered above the Jedi 
delegation, and as they loomed, wave upon wave of Darkness seemed to 
emanate from them, feelings of unspeakable dread that threatened to 
engulf the very soul.

Here was the Enemy.  Here was Evil Incarnate.

//Greetings, Jedi.//  The menacing projection oozed into their combined 
consciousness, the Dark Twins leering at their intended conquest, 
reaching for her, beckoning.  Leia shuddered violently, shaking her 
head from side to side, backing away from her living nightmare.

//Come, little Jedi,// Darkness crooned, at once cajoling and 
commanding.  //Come...let us meet our Destiny - together!//

*****************

Aura inhaled sharply as the Dark Twins came into view.  Though the 
visions she'd known during her childhood had come with decreasing 
regularity as the years had passed, she remembered all too clearly the 
paralyzing terror that would overcome her when her dreams were haunted 
by those strange yellow eyes.

Now, as the scenario in the Outer World unfolded before her horrified 
eyes, she watched that same terror paint the lovely face of the 
Princess.  Aura's heart wrenched at the turmoil she felt within her 
heroine.

Aura prayed that her mother's victorious prophecy of the Battle's 
outcome was true.  She prayed that the Jedi were strong enough to 
triumph over this Twin Evil.  Most of all she prayed for the strength 
of the Tree's shielding, that it was, indeed, impenetrable to Darkness, 
and that the small Jedi it had protected for so long would continue to 
be safely harbored.

She looked over at the three Organa-Solo children, wide-eyed and 
frightened as they watched the confrontation building before them, 
between the people they loved the most, and the entity they most 
feared.  Jacen and Jaina held hands and Anakin sidled over to stand 
beside his sister and take her free one.  As they linked physically,  
Anakin's light joined with that of the twins, and the three of them 
shone brightly with the quiet strength of their combined Essence.

Aura looked down at the bundle that was Arcadia, squirming in her arms.  
Delicate blue eyes looked up at her anxiously, tiny fists waving about 
in seeming protest.  Perhaps, Aura thought, even now she can sense the 
shape of things to come.  Arcadia possessed a strength in the Force 
previously unknown.  It was not beyond the realm of possibility for the 
infant to be cognizant of the battle unfolding outside the Tree.

Aura shivered, tightened her arms around the baby and holding the tiny 
Jedi to her aching heart.  Cooing softly to ease the child's distress, 
Aura returned her attention to the scene unfolding before her, praying 
with all her might that her mother's bedtime stories had been born of 
truth.

***************

Leia continued to back away from the approaching dual Enemy.  She 
backed into Han and felt his free arm sweep around her, holding her 
tightly against his side, his blaster raised and ready.

"Back off, you bastards," he growled, his voice laced with the menace 
of a man whose patience had reached its limit.  All the months of 
repressed frustration, shameful feelings of voyeuristic invasion and 
fear at what he had brought his family into roiled within him, bubbling 
up with a growing anger and heat that threatened to choke him.

//Peace!  A Jedi acts when he is calm!///

That disembodied voice; whose was it?  Did it matter?

//Anger, fear, aggression:  the Dark Side are they!  Act not upon them, 
or consume you they will.//

Han took a deep, cleansing breath, keeping his temper with great 
difficulty.  He held onto his own dark feelings, though by hair's 
breadth, for the sole purpose of buying time to formulate a plan.

Keeping a lock on Leia with his arm and with his Sense, Han's mind 
whirled with possibilities for defending her.  His fingers tightened 
warningly on the trigger of his weapon, barely suppressing the instinct 
to blast these vermin from existence and put a quick end to the whole 
ordeal.

"You!" the Dark Twins spat contemptuously, and through the maze of tall 
grass the two hooded figures slowly approached, eerie yellow eyes 
shining from barely discernible wizened faces, peering from their black 
on black cowls.  "You pitiful weakling!" the Dark Ones hissed, their 
voices curiously overlapping and reedy, as if in speaking they were 
drawing breath through tortured lungs.  "You are unworthy of our 
attention, non-Jedi...as is your hairy beast!"

The Dark Twins turned a concentrated gaze on Chewbacca, and suddenly 
the Wookiee was snatched from the ground by an invisible hand, lifted 
ten meters into the air, and hurled backward toward the other side of 
the forest, on a direct collision course with a wall of centurion oaks.

"Chewie!" Han yelled, watching horrified as his partner soared with 
increasing velocity toward the massive hardwoods.  Acting upon a silent 
command from Luke, Han and Leia turned their anguish inward and they 
all reached as one with their Senses, catching their friend in a sure 
Force grip just as his body reached the line of trees.  Their hold was 
enough to break the speed of Chewbacca's flight and keep him from 
breaking his neck, but it was not strong enough to prevent him from 
being knocked senseless upon impact with the first tree.

Reaching for the Wookiee's sense, Luke detected the strong beating of 
Chewbacca's heart and heaved a sigh of relief, turned to Han and Leia 
and nodded assurance that their ally still lived.

//Peace,// he projected toward them both.  //They will try to draw us
into Darkness, tempting us with every dastardly thought they can 
conjure.  Resist the urge to fight.  Use the Force only for knowledge 
and defense - never out of fear, and never for attack.//

Even as that thought was broadcast on their private channel, Leia felt 
the first dark stirrings deep within her mind.  Evil tendrils clawed 
through her brain, filling her head with pictures of the most intimate 
moments shared with her husband, now broadcast in glaring detail for 
every eye to see, every ear to hear, every being to experience.

"No!" she protested.  Outraged, she lunged against Han's firm hold, her 
lightsaber raised and ready for battle. 

To her surprise, and infinite relief, Han took the invasion of their 
privacy in a saner fashion than she could manage.  After weeks of 
fighting nasty suspicions, Han found he had grown rather accustomed to 
the dark violations of recent days.  He pulled Leia more tightly 
against him, pressed his lips against her ear.

"Shhh, sweetheart, it's okay," he whispered.  "I know what they're up 
to.  They won't draw us in that easily."

The Dark Twins paused, still cloaked in shadows, and their leering gaze 
cut through the darkness of the battlefield to focus on the Corellian.  
"Really, non-Jedi?" they hissed simultaneously.  "How much do you 
really know about what you think you know?"

The dark figures moved a step closer to the group of three.  "Tell us, 
Solo," the Twins purred in unison, "whose idea do you think it was for 
you to come to Endor?  Yours?"  A wicked chuckle escaped the Dark Ones.  
"You trifling, stupid human!  You are so very arrogant!"

Han paused, leery, again quelling the anger building within him.  
Darkness continued its taunting approach.  "It was our projection that 
put the vision into the female's subconscious.  And it was your 
weakness for her flesh that made fast your plans to bring her back to 
Endor."

Han jerked his head toward Luke, his eyebrows raised.  //All the way to 
Coruscant?// his Sense clearly asked and Luke nodded grimly.

//Mara Jade could hear the Emperor from anywhere in the galaxy,// he 
reminded Han, and nodded toward the Dark Twins.  //It's quite possible 
that they inherited the talent.//

Leia stiffened against Han's arm.  "But that can't be!" she protested, 
looking sharply from Luke to Han, her eyes glittering with a simmering 
anger.  "It was Mother who came to me that morning and counseled me to 
return to Endor!"  Her dark eyes flashed as she looked upon the Dark 
Twins with loathing.  "Not them!"

A menacing cackle permeated the forest, and the Dark Twins took another 
step toward their prey.  "Is that so, precious little Jedi?" cooed the 
Twin on the left, slowly moving away from the other, circling the Jedi 
on one side, while his twin did likewise on the right.  "And what of 
the night your consort convinced you to leave with him and run away to 
Endor?  Was that him?  Or was it something bigger than Life dwelling 
within him - loosed at our command?"

She had not thought it possible to feel any colder than she already 
was, but now Leia began to shake with a chill that seemed to possess 
her body, leaving her literally quaking as she stared, speechless, at 
the leering evil menace.

"The passion he aroused in you that night," continued the Twin circling 
to the right.  "The desire to do anything to please him, anything to 
prevent him from putting an end to the pleasure he was giving you, your 
body, your Sense."  Again the evil laugh echoed through the darkened 
forest.  "Did you really think that he alone could convince you to 
leave all that you had worked for, fought for, what others had died 
for?"

"All those innocent beings who freely gave their lives for Freedom's 
sake."  The Twin on the left took up the taunt, and there was no
mistaking the mocking tone in its sinister voice.  "Now, my dear, did 
you really think that he alone would be strong enough to draw you from 
the power you once held in the palm of your hand?"

//Leia!// Luke projected urgently.  //Don't let them pull you in!  
Don't let them pull Han in!  You know that if you react, Han will react
doubly to protect you!//

Seizing upon her brother's warning, Leia stilled her pounding heart, 
quelled her mounting rage at what she perceived to be a slight to her 
husband.  She concentrated instead on the strength of her love for the 
man beside her, centered on her pride at the life they had built 
together, in the children they had created through their love for each 
other, in their success in overseeing the New Republic in their mutual 
desire for peace.

Aware of the calming of Leia's Sense, Darkness mounted a different 
attack.  Again, the garish yellow gaze centered on the tall figure of 
Han.  "You foolish, foolish man!" spat the Twin on the left.  "How very 
pretentious of you to think that you would be worthy of a Jedi such as 
this!"

The Left Twin extended a sickly white hand in Leia's direction, fingers 
pointing, claw-like.  "This one is a diamond in the rough," he 
continued.  "She is possessed of immeasurable, untapped potential - and 
she can bear children!"  Both Twins laughed in an insane, spine-
tingling cackle.  "Ours!"

Leia's Sense and body shuddered violently.  "I'll see you in hell 
first," Han growled, his voice dangerously low and controlled.  Luke 
watched his friend intently, for he knew that tone.  Han was at his 
limit and Luke feared for the consequences if Han reacted with 
aggression rather than in their defense.  The Jedi Master increased his 
projections of peace to his brother-in-law, all the while keeping watch 
on his sister with eyes and Sense.

Slowly, silently, layer upon layer of clouds began to dissipate from 
the now waning secondary moon, and gradually the pale yellowish glow 
again enveloped the forest.  Once more the Evil Ones approached.

Han shook his head, as if the movement could stifle the odious 
suspicions that were returning to his consciousness, could silence the 
hateful words that continued to spew from the hideous creatures.

"The night you took her beneath the stars -" the Evil on their right 
cackled at the elevation in Han's Sense with the stirring memory.  
"Yes, you do remember!"  The flexing fingers moved from Leia to gesture 
at the expanse of trees.  "Did you think we couldn't see what you were 
doing, couldn't feel what you each were feeling?  Did you think we 
couldn't be there with you?"  The Twins focused again on Leia.  "Or 
within you?"

Leia moaned softly, her dignity reeling at the Dark Twins' lurid 
insinuations.  Showing no quarter, again they attacked.  "Come now, 
little Jedi," Darkness admonished.  "That's not quite the manner of 
moans we brought forth that night!"

Leia jerked violently within Han's grip, and he held her more tightly 
against him, feeling the fury that racked her, her body shivering as 
she fought the nasty innuendo worming its leisurely way through her 
brain.

//It doesn't matter, sweetheart!// Han projected, tightening his
grip on her.  //Don't let them get to you!  You and I both know
what we have, what we alone have...no matter the inspiration.//  He
hugged her body to him, projecting his love with heart and Sense. 
//Focus, Leia, focus on us!  You and me - me and you - us; just us! 
They have no part in what we are, what we've created together! 
Search your feelings, baby - you know this!//

Han's soothing logic seeped into her Sense, and Leia again gained 
control of her emotions, embracing the reassuring touch of her 
husband's mind, followed a moment later by the pacific touch of her 
brother's.

//What they are doing is unspeakable// he told her.  //But,
Leia, don't let them pull you in!  Don't give them the advantage!//

Leia's blood pounded in her ears, she again called upon Jedi calming, 
and soon her composure was restored.  Again she faced Darkness with a 
straight back and squared shoulders.  Though her husband had 
successfully placated her furious Sense, she still felt the rapid 
acceleration of Han's own temper, and was fearful of his breaking point 
- and the actions that the Enemy would surely take once the dam was 
breached.

"You poor, poor fool."  Darkness again taunted Han and moved ever 
closer.  "You still don't understand, do you?  It was our implanted 
passion that allowed the child to be conceived; it was our desire that 
was born and continues to grow.  Ours, you simpleton!"

Slowly the vile implications crystallized in Han's mind and his blood 
froze.  He shook his head from side to side in a manic, jerky motion, 
as if to evict the horrendous thought.  Luke, glancing at Han, noticed 
that the formerly steady right hand that gripped the Corellian's 
blaster now shook with uncertainty.  The poisoned word-arrows had 
struck home.

"Ah, yes!" the Right Twin crowed.  "You do finally see the light."  
Again the dark laughter.  "Or, perhaps, in this case we should say 'the 
Dark'."  Evil threw back his head, as did his twin, and together they 
howled with unrestrained glee.  "You may have planted the seed, 
quisling, but the seed was of our making!  Though the child has your 
genetic make-up, she is one of our kind!"

The Twin Menace moved to within arm's length of Han, taunting, leering, 
and all three warriors recoiled at the foul stench of hatred that 
emanated from the pair.  "She is ours!" they hissed.  "And as we shall 
have your woman, so shall we have our child!"

A sickening recollection of the horror that Leia had endured the night 
before flooded Han's mind, and he now pictured his own precious Cady 
undergoing the same violation, years later but a child still.  Twin 
emotions, hatred and fury, at long last unleashed, seized Han's body 
and Sense as his control finally snapped.

Roaring his fury, his right hand jerked to attention as his trusty 
blaster, seemingly with a life of its own, began a shower of pulses 
that should have destroyed all in its path.  The Dark Twins flung their 
cloaks about them in a protective fortress, deflecting Han's attack.  
Trees crashed and stones exploded as Han's laser blasts zapped all but 
the intended, damnable targets.  He pivoted from left to right and back 
again, firing at his foes; all the while, sparks rained in an eerie 
blue-white torrent upon the sheltered embodiment of Evil, to no avail.

With an uplifted hand, Dark Side lightning shot from the Twins' 
fingers, directly engulfing Han, unarming him, lifting him and slamming 
him into the very Tree that lent protection to his children.

Leia's Sense shrieked as she watched her husband's broken body crumple 
to the ground.  She fell to her knees beside him, reaching desperately 
for his Sense, and caught it just for a moment, before it sank into a 
place she couldn't reach.  With its loss came an emptiness that 
threatened to swallow her with the agony of her grief.

//Han!// her Sense cried, battle, lightsaber and nemesis forgotten.  
Holding her husband's head tenderly in her lap, she stroked his face 
with her hand, his mind with her mind.

His Sense gave no answer; his heart gave no beat.

**********************

"Daddy!" the Organa-Solo children cried in unison, standing as a clutch 
within their shelter, cringing with the shared impact of their father's 
body as it crashed against the Tree.  Instinctively, the young Jedi 
reached from their haven to caress their father's lifeless Sense, tears 
springing to their eyes with the shared anguish of mother and children 
at the loss of their loved one.

Jacen pulled his hand free of Jaina's and dashed headlong for the 
opposite wall of the cavern, toward the portal leading Outside.  Aura 
clutched his shoulder with her free hand as he attempted to dart past 
her and spun him around.

"No, young one," she cautioned.  "Now is not the time."

"But it's Dad!" Jacen stormed.  "Dad needs help!"

"Then I'll go, young Jedi," Aura committed herself, quietly placing 
Arcadia in Jacen's arms.  He stood, holding the baby in the awkward 
fashion with which his father had once held him, many years and three 
offspring ago.

Aura took a quick last glimpse of the Cave's surroundings; then, with a 
final mental caress to her charges, threw herself into the Outer 
Portal.

"Wait!" Jacen cried.

But Aura had already disappeared; and the children were again alone; 
alone, watching their loved ones battle Darkness to a bitter end, 
knowing that the day of reckoning was upon them.

****************

Han Solo's Spirit hovered in a netherworld of possibilities.  He could 
linger here forever; or, self could be returned to body and in its 
reunion be strengthened immeasurably.

He viewed the proceedings below the Tree with detachment as he floated 
above the scene.  He observed Luke's shocked reaction as Han's body was 
dashed against the ancient Tree, ached with Leia as she cradled his 
mortal head in her lap, stroking his hair, her tears falling upon his 
lifeless face.

//No, sweetheart!//  Something awakened within him, detachment fled,
and his Sense struggled to reach her.  //It's okay!  I'm here...just 
give me a minute to catch my breath, and I'll be back in there with 
you.//  Han's determined Spirit fought for the strength to live up to 
his thoughts.

******************

Leia knelt beneath the Tree, rocking her husband in her arms, searching 
his face through tear-filled eyes.  Reaching with a gentle hand, she 
tenderly brushed back the lock of brown hair that fell rakishly across 
his forehead.  She reached for his Spirit through the Force, projecting 
with all of her Strength, searching but finding nothing.

//Han!  Han!  Oh, my love, where are you?//  Bitter silence prevailed; 
no thoughts, no warmth, no melding of Sense - nothing!

Luke watched with terrible empathy as his sister gave way to unbearable 
grief, moaning like a wounded animal.  Her pain was a spear that tore 
into Luke, maiming him even as it crippled his twin.

Leia held her husband's head against her bosom for a grievous series of 
heartbeats, and finally lowered him to the ground with such 
excruciating tenderness that Luke felt as though his own heart would 
surely burst for her.  He reached for her Sense to offer what comfort 
he could...

...and recoiled at Leia's sudden Sense-shifting into a staggering rush 
of rage and despair that tore through her with dual daggers of 
darkness.  Through her fury, Luke could sense the delight that emanated 
from the Dark Twins, heard their vicious cackle as they reveled in his 
sister's agony.

Leia scrambled to her feet, faster than Luke had ever seen her move, 
calling her fallen lightsaber to her through the Force so that the 
moment she stood and extended her hand her fingers clasped about the 
cool, smooth hilt of her weapon.

//Easy, Leia!//  Luke cautioned his twin.  //Remember!  Never in fear 
or anger!  Relax...feel the Force...let it guide you.//

Luke joined his Sense with Leia's and ever so slowly steered her into a 
state of relative calm.  //We are peace!//  Their thoughts were as one; 
as their resolve must now be if they were to emerge from this aggrieved 
contest victorious.

Side by side, Luke and Leia again faced their dark foe, lightsabers at 
the ready, Senses on red-alert, yet deceptively quiescent with the 
Destiny that now stood before them.

Thrice rebuffed, the Dark Twins frowned upon the Skywalkers.  The loss 
of her consort, they had felt sure, would be the female's undoing; and 
yet again, she had rallied.  This one was proving harder to take than 
previous conquests.

Of course, that would just make the ultimate victory all the sweeter.
There were many roads that led into Darkness, and the Dark Twins were 
confident they would find the avenue most easily accessible, most 
vulnerable to attack.  Quickly they thrust again.

"How fare your children, my dear?" the Left Twin asked tauntingly.  
"How especially is dear little Jaina?"  Leia flinched violently at the 
mention of her daughter's name.  "How old is she getting to be now?  
Nine, ten years of age?"

Leia stood frozen, afraid to listen, yet afraid not to, the vile 
insinuations continuing unabated.  "She's getting to be quite the 
little lady now, isn't she?" Right Twin leered.  "Give her a few more 
years to ripen and she, too, will be a breeder."

Laughing, Darkness projected unto Leia brutal scenes of such shockingly 
graphic detail that Luke himself was appalled at the savagery of the 
attack.  As her twin, her Jedi twin, he shared the bitter vision with 
her, and could feel her Sense weakening with every perception.  
Shivering, Leia grew ever more horror-struck as image after odious 
image formed itself in her mind's eye, playing upon every fear that, as 
the mother of young children, she had ever known, and raising doubts in 
her mind as to the actual safety of her little girl.

Sensing victory, Darkness pressed harder, and the Left Twin whispered 
suggestively.  "We could each have you...we could have you together!"

Flashbacks of the savage experience shared with her psychic sister 
marched to the forefront of Leia's mind.  All too well, she recalled 
the sadistic violation by Palpatine, mind and body, and the vile fruit 
of that union:  the Dark Twins.  From past to present, Leia felt 
Jaina's Sense beside her, and in this perception there was pain and 
fear and a horrible revulsion.

//No!// Leia's Sense shrieked, and with a mighty surge of anger she 
flew toward the taunting twin on her left, sensing Luke's simultaneous 
reaction as he faced off with the twin on their right.

The Dark Twins sneered at her efforts and, as if swatting at a pesky 
bug, gestured ever so slightly with the flick of their bony wrists and 
shoved, throwing her body violently backward and slamming her hard 
against the trunk of the mystical Tree.  Her head struck the hardwood 
with a resounding crack and her world suddenly went psychedelic.  
Multi-colored lights flashed before her eyes, a ferocious pain 
shattering in her mind, permeating her Sense and signaling an impending 
loss of consciousness.

Leia leaned heavily against the Tree, fighting to maintain perception, 
though the figures before her dazed eyes now seemed to double, triple 
in number.  Her mind searched frantically for Jaina's safe Presence 
within the Tree and returned with nothing but the perceived atrocity 
that was being inflicted upon her little girl, and upon Leia herself.  
Now, in her mind's eye, she saw only the vilest of visions - those 
planted, nurtured and would-be harvested by the seed of Palpatine.

Leia reeled, her body badly damaged, her Soul in mortal torment.  Where 
was Light?  Her Sense cried for escape, and finding no solace to shield 
her weakened body or soul, Leia fought to stay clear of the blackness 
that dominated her vision, her thoughts, her very Sense.  The savage 
pain in her head flared anew, dominating all perception, and Leia put 
her hands to her temples, as if trying to push away the pain, deny its 
existence and thus her weakness.

Another blistering bolt of dark energy from the extended fingers of the 
evil Twins tore into her head.  Her vision blurred, colors weaving 
intricate patterns before her unfocused eyes, and with a soft cry of 
defeat, she began a slow descent, her back supported by the firm base 
of the Tree of Life as she slid limply to the ground, there to rest 
beside the inert form of her husband.  There to find temporary relief 
in merciful unconsciousness.

******************

"Leia!" Luke screamed with voice and Sense as he watched his sister 
thrown against the Tree, the whole of his being crying out with anguish 
as she struck, her head thumping hard against its massive base.   She 
crumpled like a rag doll, falling to the ground beside her husband, and 
there they lay, silent and still upon the damp, fertile moss, soundly 
defeated.

With a torrential wash of dark emotion, the Jedi flew upon his foe, 
lightsaber flashing, green-white sparks bouncing impotently off the 
dark cloaks the Enemy had wrapped about them.

Again and again Luke attacked, slashing at his Demons with growing 
anger and frustration.  His hatred made him powerful, as previously 
observed by the Emperor all those years ago, during that final 
climactic battle with Darth Vader.

The Dark Twins held firm behind their barrier and, as one, turned 
baleful yellowed eyes upon the young Jedi Master.  Luke's body was 
suddenly enveloped with lightning, his bones illuminated with the force 
of the dark javelin hurled by the Enemy, and Darkness roared with glee, 
anticipating the reduction of their mighty Foe to a helpless heap.

Darkness again would triumph.

[End Chapter]