LUKE SKYWALKER

Luke could feel the enormous tremors in the Force emanating from Kaylira’s secret hideout. What is she doing? He asked himself, turning towards the origin of the blast. But there were only a handful of activities that a Jedi padawan would engage in that could have that strong a Force signature.

“She’s trying to complete her lightsaber!” he said, thinking aloud. “But if she tries to meditate on her crystal in such an unbalanced state, then… oh no.”

He took off running down the slope as the rain stopped.

Luke reached the secret platform just in time to see Kaylira collapse on the wooden floor, convulsing wildly. Then, just as he reached her, the shivers stopped. She lay perfectly still, not even breathing.

“Oh no, Kayli, no, wake up!” He ran over to her, and sat down, putting her head in his lap.

Nothing happened.

Her heart was still beating, but she wasn’t breathing. How am I going to get her to wake up? He asked himself. If he hadn’t been a Jedi Knight he probably would have succumbed to panic by now. Mouth-to-mouth? No, Leia told me how mad she was a few hours earlier; she would probably kill me if I tried that.

Then he heard Ben’s voice in his ear, and was transported back to that day, five years ago, when the Jedi Master had been teaching him about the Jedi and the Force, on their way to the Death Star aboard the Millennium Falcon.

“Luke, you must feel the remote. Concentrate on its movements, anticipate its next move!”

His long, sand-colored bangs fell into his eyes, distracting him. Yet another shot hit him, this time in the arm, causing him to drop his father’s lightsaber. “Ugh, ouch! I’ll never get this!”

“Your father had the gift of foresight. He was a gifted seer, and I think that you inherited that talent from him. But,” said Ben, pulling on his short grey beard for a moment, “that reminds me. There is something else you should learn about.”

Luke sat down on the corner of a counter beside him, still massaging his arm. “Well, is it going to make this training easier or not?” he asked testily.

“It may. That will depend on whether or not you are able to master it.” He flashed him one of those little mysterious smiles that further added to his general air of wisdom. Then he waved a hand, and the sore spot and his palm glowed blue for a moment. Then the pain stopped completely.

He looked up, it awe. “How…?”

“The Force can be bent to the will of its user in more than one way. It can be used for defense, for attack, to aid in battle… but it can also be used to heal.”

“How do you do it?” Luke felt like a little kid on Tatooine again, when some kind pilot would show him how to work with negative power couplings or to fix an AstroMech’s motivator.

“There is more than one method. One must be either in tune with their inner conscience or with those of others to preform the Healing. In my solitude out past the Dune Sea, I became more in touch with myself, and that is how I mastered it.” The old man’s eyes twinkled. “Perhaps you can do it as well.”

“Well, I can try…”

It hadn’t wanted to work that time, and he hadn’t tried it since. But… he had accepted who he was now. And who his father was. He mind and body and lightsaber were in balance and in tune with the Force. There was just one more thing left to do, to admit to himself, and he would be able to heal her.

“Kaylira, I love you.”

Blue light emanated from his palm and fingertips. He ran it over her body, starting at her forehead and moving downwards from there. When he was finished, he held his breath, praying to the Force that he hadn’t been too late to save her.

She inhaled, then exhaled.

She was going to be all right.