it,” Jacen said. “You can be sure of that.”
“Good. May the Force be with you.”
“And with you.”
Jacen turned and strode down the aisle, driving his boot heels into the sturdimoss and using the Force to gently move people aside. Luke watched him go in equal parts hope and dread. If anything remained of the gentle-hearted boy he remembered from the Jedi academy on Yavin 4, he could no longer find it. Jacen was swaddled in a darkness deeper than any he had felt in recent memory—perhaps since the days of Darth Vader and the Emperor—and it was not at all clear that he could be drawn back into the light. Yet Luke had to try—if not for Jacen, then for Leia and even the Alliance…but most of all for himself. After the mistake he had made with Lumiya—after his erroneous vengeance killing of her—he could not bear the thought of making such an error with his own nephew. If there was still a way to reach Jacen, he had to try.
Kenth Hamner stepped to the lectern and thanked everyone for helping the Jedi celebrate the life of Mara Jade Skywalker. He reminded them to keep her example in mind during the difficult days to come and invited them to the remembrance feast being laid out in the Hall of Peace. As the crowd rose to leave, Luke turned toward the courtyard’s rear exit, motioning for Ben, Saba, and the rest of the Masters to follow.
The last thing he wanted to do right now was focus on the Order. With only an aching void where there used to be Mara, Luke felt like the victim of a heart amputation, everything inside burning in grief, his thoughts whirling with memories of Mara’s death…that sudden awful pulling on their Force-bond, as though she were falling into a star, then trying to reach out and draw her to safety, but the bond just snapping and leaving him broken and lost and hurting.
But with Jacen making his first tentative attempts to assert control over the Jedi, the Order needed Luke now more than ever, and as Mara had returned her body to the Force he had realized that she expected him to be strong, to pull himself together and prevent Jacen from using her death to destroy anything else.
Once the group was inside the fern-filled lobby that had served as the funeral’s staging area, Luke turned to Saba.
“Was that really necessary?” he demanded. “We’re not going to bring Jacen back into the fold by antagonizing him in public.”
“We are not going to bring Jacen back at all,” Saba said. “Jacen is beyond saving.”
“That’s not your call,” Luke said. “Mara held on to her body for a reason. She was trying to tell us that if we want to save the Alliance, we have to work with him, not against him.”
“I don’t think so,” Kyp said, shaking his head. “Saba’s right. Jacen was just using Mara’s funeral to make himself look more important to the Order.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Luke asked. “It still gives us an opening—and it will be better for the Alliance, for the Jedi, and for the galaxy if we guide Jacen rather than fight him.”
“No, Dad, it won’t, ” Ben said. “In fact, I don’t think Mom meant the message for you at all—if there even was a message.”
“Of course there was a message,” Luke said, growing confused. “Why else would your mother wait until Jacen arrived to return her body to the Force?”
Ben shrugged and avoided Luke’s eyes. “I don’t know, but I don’t think she was telling us to trust Jacen.”
Luke scowled. “Ben, what aren’t you telling me?”
Ben shook his head. “Nothing.”
If Ben was lying, Luke couldn’t feel it in the Force. He considered trying to wait the boy out, but anyone who had witnessed as many GAG interrogations as Ben had would hardly fall for such rudimentary tactics. Instead, he gave up and turned to Corran Horn.
“Is anyone going to tell me what’s going on?”
Corran glanced at Kyp, who turned to Kyle, who pursed his lips and looked away, apparently as he debated
“Good. May the Force be with you.”
“And with you.”
Jacen turned and strode down the aisle, driving his boot heels into the sturdimoss and using the Force to gently move people aside. Luke watched him go in equal parts hope and dread. If anything remained of the gentle-hearted boy he remembered from the Jedi academy on Yavin 4, he could no longer find it. Jacen was swaddled in a darkness deeper than any he had felt in recent memory—perhaps since the days of Darth Vader and the Emperor—and it was not at all clear that he could be drawn back into the light. Yet Luke had to try—if not for Jacen, then for Leia and even the Alliance…but most of all for himself. After the mistake he had made with Lumiya—after his erroneous vengeance killing of her—he could not bear the thought of making such an error with his own nephew. If there was still a way to reach Jacen, he had to try.
Kenth Hamner stepped to the lectern and thanked everyone for helping the Jedi celebrate the life of Mara Jade Skywalker. He reminded them to keep her example in mind during the difficult days to come and invited them to the remembrance feast being laid out in the Hall of Peace. As the crowd rose to leave, Luke turned toward the courtyard’s rear exit, motioning for Ben, Saba, and the rest of the Masters to follow.
The last thing he wanted to do right now was focus on the Order. With only an aching void where there used to be Mara, Luke felt like the victim of a heart amputation, everything inside burning in grief, his thoughts whirling with memories of Mara’s death…that sudden awful pulling on their Force-bond, as though she were falling into a star, then trying to reach out and draw her to safety, but the bond just snapping and leaving him broken and lost and hurting.
But with Jacen making his first tentative attempts to assert control over the Jedi, the Order needed Luke now more than ever, and as Mara had returned her body to the Force he had realized that she expected him to be strong, to pull himself together and prevent Jacen from using her death to destroy anything else.
Once the group was inside the fern-filled lobby that had served as the funeral’s staging area, Luke turned to Saba.
“Was that really necessary?” he demanded. “We’re not going to bring Jacen back into the fold by antagonizing him in public.”
“We are not going to bring Jacen back at all,” Saba said. “Jacen is beyond saving.”
“That’s not your call,” Luke said. “Mara held on to her body for a reason. She was trying to tell us that if we want to save the Alliance, we have to work with him, not against him.”
“I don’t think so,” Kyp said, shaking his head. “Saba’s right. Jacen was just using Mara’s funeral to make himself look more important to the Order.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Luke asked. “It still gives us an opening—and it will be better for the Alliance, for the Jedi, and for the galaxy if we guide Jacen rather than fight him.”
“No, Dad, it won’t, ” Ben said. “In fact, I don’t think Mom meant the message for you at all—if there even was a message.”
“Of course there was a message,” Luke said, growing confused. “Why else would your mother wait until Jacen arrived to return her body to the Force?”
Ben shrugged and avoided Luke’s eyes. “I don’t know, but I don’t think she was telling us to trust Jacen.”
Luke scowled. “Ben, what aren’t you telling me?”
Ben shook his head. “Nothing.”
If Ben was lying, Luke couldn’t feel it in the Force. He considered trying to wait the boy out, but anyone who had witnessed as many GAG interrogations as Ben had would hardly fall for such rudimentary tactics. Instead, he gave up and turned to Corran Horn.
“Is anyone going to tell me what’s going on?”
Corran glanced at Kyp, who turned to Kyle, who pursed his lips and looked away, apparently as he debated
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