Summary: A familiar story told in a different way.
Disclaimer: Even though I don't use their names, the characters
within really aren't mine. They belong to one Mr. Lucas and I
shall return them after I am done.
Notes: It's something of a literary tradition to rewrite
stories in a different perspective and style. Many of our
literary greats did, Shakespeare for one. And perhaps not a
literary great but it was done again recently in the retelling
of 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'. So this is my retelling of
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's story, I hope that you enjoy it.
In the name of no false gods
do I tell my tale,
but only for the Light,
for there is only the Light
and Darkness shall not prevail.
Once, as I was told it, in a far away land, as far from our
world as the world of fantasies and perhaps farther still,
there was a knight. He was a good man and he carried within him
all the goodness that a knight must; he carried within him the
Light and the will to carry it.
But the knight grew old, as all living things must, and with
his age came a loss of innocence. He saw that the universe was
not all of the light that he carried and he learned of the pain
that comes with living and he learned of betrayal. The Light
that was within him was shadowed by his despair and as he aged
the shadow grew until it nearly covered the knight in a blanket
of darkness.
The old knight shut himself away from the universe so that he
could never again feel the agony of betrayal and perhaps it
would have been that the shadow would have consumed him, but
for the will of a young man.
The young man had sought out the knight, for the people were in
need of a hero. And while the young man had the will to help
the people, he could not be a knight unless there was one to
train him. He journeyed far and through much peril to find the
old knight and spoke with him, asking of his help and wisdom.
And though the old knight would have refused him, he found that
he was drawn to the young man in a way he could not describe,
for the young man held within him the Light, just as he had
long ago, a light that would not be denied.
He agreed to train the young man and they traveled together,
helping the people when and where they could. And seeing the
universe again through the young man's eyes lifted the shadow
from the old knight and he was able to feel his own light again
and although he would never forgive it, he put aside the
remembrance of his betrayal. And it came to be that the old
knight softened to the young man's warmth and loved him deeply,
although he never spoke of it.
They continued thus for some time, until a day that the old man
had a vision, for he was cunning in the mystical arts. Kneeling
in a garden, deep in his own thoughts, it came to the old man
that there was to be a great battle against Darkness, fought by
him and his young charge, and that though one of them would be
victorious, one of them was destined to fall.
He thought on this vision, until the sun fell low in the sky
and hid its face from the coming of the night. And then he went
to the young man's chambers and was allowed inside.
I could not say what happened that night. Perhaps he told the
young man of his vision or perhaps he did not.
Perhaps he held the young man in his arms that night and spoke
to him of his love, stroking the softness of his hair with
trembling hands as he told the young man of secrets that can
only be spoken in the dark, of things beautiful and fragile, of
things that were lies but were nonetheless true.
Or perhaps they made love and he told the young man of these
things with his hands instead of with words as he learned the
taste of the young man's mouth, of his skin, his sweat.
Perhaps it was all of these things and perhaps it was none of
them. Such things are not for me to know or say.
But it is true that they left the chambers the next morning
together if not lovers then at the least in love. And when the
two knights battled against the Darkness that the old knight
had foreseen, it was as if all the heaven's blazed with the
glory of their fighting. The knights pushed back the Darkness
but in one last desperate rush, the Darkness surged forward and
struck down the old knight.
It may have been that he was weary and the Darkness caught him
off guard. Or it may be, as I was told, that he sacrificed
himself so that his love could survive.
Whyever it happened, it was after this that the young knight
was able to destroy the Darkness, forcing it back from where it
had come. And then he gathered his dying lover into his arms
and perhaps soft words were spoken or perhaps only kisses.
Again, I know not. But I do know that the old knight died
content in the arms of his love, knowing there was no other
place he would want to be.
And though the story should end here, it is also true that some
part of the universe pitied the lovers and allowed a small
piece of the old knight's essence to remain, hidden deep within
the young man's heart, so that when he also grew old and
learned of pain and betrayal it was the old knight's strength
that carried him and kept him from bitterness and despair.
And when the young man died, as all living things must, it is
said that he and his lover were allowed to be together again,
though whether they walked the plains of light or whether they
were rebirthed, together, into life again, is not for me to
say,
It is true though that they -were- together and that no matter
their place in the universe, their life or lack of it, they
were content to simply be with their love within the Light.
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