Harry froze for several seconds, waiting for the figure at the end of the ships bridge to make a move … but nothing happened. The figure remained staring out of the large window in front of them at a collection of ships in the distance.
Slowly Harry looked up, his eyes warily leaving the drawn lightsaber only to freeze again in surprise at the reflection of a dramatic, red and grey mask which concealed the individuals face.
He felt a chill run down his spine as he gazed upon the mask, its expressionless features betraying nothing of the figure's identity. While the figure at the other end of the bridge had yet to move, there was an aura of power and authority … one of intensity that was impossible to completely ignore … and yet … there was something more … something elusive … something undefinable.
Time seemed to stand still for several moments as Harry struggled to process the sight before him, 'was this real … was this a dream … was this something in between'.
Eventually, as if sensing Harry's presence, the masked figure turned in his direction, tilting his head slightly, facing him directly, his gaze seeming to pierce through the poorly lit bridge. Harry felt another shiver run down his spine as they stared at each other for several moments.
But then, slowly, Harry felt his limbs waking up and he found himself moving forwards towards the figure, his footsteps echoing faintly against the durasteel floor before being swallowed up by the cavernous room. Each step brought him closer to the masked and hooded figure who remained motionless, seemingly content to watch Harry approach.
As he passed the halfway point between them, he felt the bridge tremble violently enough that it dropped him to his knees.
Shaking his head and picking himself up off the ground, looking out one of the giant viewports as he did so, he noticed that the largest of the spaceships had maneuvered and was firing on the ship Harry found himself in.
Turning back to the figure at the other end of the bridge, Harry almost took a step back feeling a wave of anger and surprise rolling off them, even from where he stood. That feeling was short-lived as the person eventually managed to get control of their feelings. The sudden loss of the intense emotions was almost as shocking for Harry and nearly caused him to stumble again. Looking back up, Harry paused for a second, surprised by the complete lack of emotions from the individual, who if Harry hadn't been able to recall the intense feeling of hatred that seemed to emanate from them only moments ago, would have thought that the recent events had no affect at all on them.
As the figure continued to stare at Harry, he slowly began to approach the robed and masked individual again, absently noticing that the attack must have triggered an alarm as the emergency lights throughout the bridge were flashing, illuminating both the bridge and the silent guardian, first in red and then in purple.
Finally, after several more moments, Harry reached the foot of the platform that the shrouded figure stood upon, the mask betraying nothing of the emotions or thoughts beneath and found himself at a loss for words.
But then, to his surprise, the figure spoke, the voice a low, masculine, commanding rumble that seemed to resonate with the very core of Harry's being. "This is certainly not your place and yet you seek answers, do you not?" he asked, his tone enigmatic.
Slowly, Harry nodded, noticing his throat was dry.
The man regarded him for a moment, his gaze penetrating and unfathomable from beneath the mask. And then, with a gesture so subtle, that Harry would have likely missed it without the years of Quidditch practice, the man nodded and extended a hand towards him, motioning for him to come closer.
As Harry leaned forward to climb onto the platform, he heard a sound behind him which caused him to pause and turn around, completing the turn just as the large bulkhead door finished sliding open, revealing four figures … lightsabers drawn, being led by the youngest member of the party … a girl about his original age carrying a yellow lightsaber.
Surprised, Harry quickly spun around to ask the masked man behind him what was going on, but as he turned everything began fading into a whirl of red and purple lights.
This continued for several seconds before things settled and he found himself in a dimly lit room, absent of any furnishings.
As Harry spun around his eye's popper open in surprise, seeing that the source of the light in the room was actually coming from a shimmering cage of electricity … one that seemed to contain the body of a middle-aged man.
He stared for a second before realizing that even though the man's eyes were open, they, along with the rest of the body seemed to be completely paralyzed as if in some form of stasis and yet … even though the entire body appeared to be completely frozen … Harry could not shake the feeling that the person was calling out to him for help.
Quickly, Harry spun around, searching the room, including a brief walk around the cage to check for some way to turn off the device and free the man, but his search came up empty as there seemed to be nothing in the room, certainly nothing Harry thought might be able to help him free the man … that included the fact that the door itself seemed to only be openable from the outside as there was no handle or knob or latch on the door to allow him to search elsewhere.
Eventually, Harry was left with no other option and returned, empty-handed, to the front of the cage, staring up at the man, feeling as if there was something familiar about the man … something that was pulling him in … something that was drawing him closer.
Almost unconsciously Harry felt his arm raise as he began reaching towards the man … although his hand was still at least an arm's length away from the cage when he heard an alarm start ringing and felt a sudden surge of electricity course through his body. Agonizing pain shot through every nerve in his body, dropping him to his knees as he released a strangled cry. He felt his muscles spasming uncontrollable as darkness began to creep into the edges of his vision.
Struggling to maintain consciousness, he gritted his teeth against the torment.
Through the haze of pain, Harry glimpsed the figure within the cage, still completely frozen, seeming to watch him, a stare that seemed to pierce every cell of his very being. Though the man's expression was unchanging, Harry felt waves of sadness and pity.
Desperation fueled his resolve, even as he felt his strength being sapped. With a last-ditch effort, ignoring the agony that threatened to consume him, he reached deep within himself to gather the strength to stand, either to continue reaching for the prisoner or retreat back from the trap to mentally and physically regroup, he wasn't sure which.
But in the end … it didn't matter. As if sensing the fact that Harry was fighting against the pain and unconsciousness the electricity intensified and within moments Harry's vision completely blackened as he drifted into painless unconsciousness. The last thing he remembered was the sensation of falling away from the cage … and then he knew no more.
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As Harry slowly regained consciousness, he felt a gentle breeze caress his face, carrying with it the soothing scent of flowers. Blinking his eyes open, he sat up suddenly, before jumping to his feet in one motion, finding himself up to his waist in tall grass on the top of a hill, under the warm sunlight of the sun in the sky above the planet.
Confusion clouded his mend as he looked around trying to take in his surroundings and figure out where he was, as this planet was certainly not Tatooine, nor was it Coruscant based on the descriptions of the city-planet he had heard from the pilots. Looking around once more, Harry decided that although it matched the more nature-y feeling that Padme had used in describing Naboo, this planet was not that one either.
As he turned to his right, he noticed a large estate off in the distance, its elegant architecture contrasting but seeming to compliment the serene natural beauty of the planet. As he continued his turn his gaze paused on a large, partially destroyed building off in the distance, its crumbling walls and missing roof evidence of an act of devastation that appeared to have occurred a while ago.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small flash of light, which was accompanied by a feeling of serenity that washed over him. Looking over, Harry froze in shock at the sight of a blue-tinged spectral figure standing slightly uphill from him gazing towards the ruin in the distance.
Even though the ghostly figure was cloaked and not facing him, Harry could not shake the undeniable sense of familiarity that seemed to roll of the person, although his mind was still trying to process what he was seeing.
Sensing no threat in the immediate area, Harry began walking towards the figure, freezing in shock when the ghost turned to face him. A wave of recognition washing over him at the sight of the familiar mask. Shock coursed through Harry as he stared at where the eyes should be his mind reeling with questions.
Without a word, the ghost nodded slowly, before bending his head to remove the mask. With the mask removed, the figure looked up revealing the face of the man harry had seen suspended and paralyzed in the cage.
"What … who …" Harry began before shaking his head, looking back to the man, momentarily unable to find the words he was searching for.
Meeting the man's gaze, he was met by his amused eyes. "Greetings Anakin … or should I say … Harry. Welcome to what was once my home … welcome to Dantooine."
Harry had almost missed the last part of the sentence, naming the planet, shocked that the ghostly man had known both the names of Anakin and Harry.
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"Who are you? What are you … you look different from the ghosts I know? Where am I? How do you know who I am? Are you here to help? Are you … Death?"
The man paused, staring at Harry for several seconds before he threw his head back in a good-natured laughter.
After what felt like the better part of a minute, he eventually managed to calm himself enough to wipe his eyes and stop laughing.
"You remind me of a young Twi'lek friend of mine, that I once knew … more questions than I knew what to do with and I can honestly believe that you are going to get into as much trouble as she had. But as far as who I am … while I have been known by many names, Death was not one of them. You may call me Revan."
"Revan?" Harry repeated, questioningly. "What … are you?" he asked again, waving his hand in Revan's general direction.
"The ghost shook his head and smiled in amusement. "I am a Force ghost …" he paused seeing the look of confusion of Harry's face, and held up his hand to stall any questions, "… I believe you have already started learning about the Force but upon my death I became one with the Living Force and have some ability to manifest myself. Although that's not important. The more interesting question is who are you?"
Harry looked away, glancing out over the windswept plains of the planet before looking back to Revan, unsure where to start or how to answer.
However, Revan saved him from the uncertainty by meeting his gaze, this time with a softer, more understanding expression. "I mean, I know your story … at least parts of it. Your arrival in this galaxy was certainly felt by the Force. Being one with the Force granted me insight and knowledge with your arrival here … a fact I must warn you might be shared by anyone strong enough in the Force, although they would likely just receive that you are special or unique. This risk increases the more time you spend alone with them, especially if you leave your mind unguarded … I feel perhaps you have some ability to protect you mind that would help."
Harry's jaw dropped open, "You know of Occlumency? I thought my magic didn't exist here."
Revan shook his head slowly, "While I have seen many things during my time spent travelling, both within the Republic … and when I went beyond her borders … I saw many things including what some cultures labeled as magic; however I am unfamiliar with your form of magic. That being said it should suffice in this situation, should you manage to improve your skills. But I feel I digress … the question remains though, who are you? You will need to decide who you are or certainly you will succumb to temptation, thereby failing the galaxy, allowing it … and yourself to fall to darkness."
Looking up at the man, Harry shrugged his shoulders, "I think I know who I am."
Laughing, Revan shook his head, "Do you now … do you really? Certainly, you are no longer the boy who appeared in this galaxy, but neither I believe would you ever manage to completely be the boy from Tatooine …" he paused and smiled humorlessly at Harry, "… which honestly, for the sake of the galaxy, is probably a good thing. So even though you began your journey in this galaxy in the slave quarters of Tatooine, you have moved past that. That doesn't need to be who you are forever. At some point you will need to decide for yourself on what your future will look like, deciding if you are to become your own person or if you simply plan to continue pretending to be who everyone thinks you are now."
Looking up in surprise, Harry shook his head. "I don't think its that easy …"
Revan interrupted shaking his head and laughing, "It is absolutely that easy. You have a chance to decide on who you are going to be." He paused and looked around pointing to the destroyed building in the distance. "That over there is where I started my journey to become a Jedi, eventually managing to become a Jedi Knight. But the Mandalorians had decided to attack the Republic and I … well I'm assuming you can relate but I was impatient with the lack of response. I believed that the Jedi were being too passive, and I didn't want others to suffer, especially when I felt that I could help, so I chose to join the fight. After the war, my … friend and I, discovered something on this planet which led us on an adventure well beyond the known regions of our galaxy into the Unknown Regions, where we stumbled upon the Sith Empire." He paused for a second to take a breath, nodding after seeing Harry's eye's shoot up in surprise. "Eventually we came across the Emperor of the Sith … unfortunately we were unprepared, and he was far more powerful that we had expected … in the end we were corrupted and seduced by the power of the dark side. The words and promises of the Emperor taking away out power of choice … he made us into Sith Lords."
Harry let out an audible gasp and involuntarily took a step back away from the ghost, recalling what Obi-Wan had mentioned to him about the Sith when Harry had asked him about other Force users in the galaxy. "You're a Sith?"
The man shook his head slightly, "I'm not but … neither am I a Jedi anymore, neither by the definition of the Jedi in my day, nor the description that you will learn. However, once Alec and I returned to the Republic space we took the names Malak and Revan and began attacking the Republic. Until once again my ability to choose was taken from me. A Jedi strike force led by …" he paused and smiled looking off into the distance, "… well led by my future wife, boarded my ship and with the unintentional help of my former friend, managed to capture me."
Revan stopped talking and looked back to the remains of the Jedi Enclave before shaking his head bitterly and looking back to Harry, "The Jedi Masters recognized that I was both a danger to them but at the same time, they sensed either a potential for my redemption or that I was the key to their survival. But whatever their motivation, they made a decision to take away my ability to choose my future and to alter my memory, rather than execute me for my deeds. I suppose they hoped that by erasing my memories and reprogramming me to be loyal to the Republic, they could turn me back to the light side and use me as a weapon against Malak. …"
Harry scoffed, eyeing the man warily, as he shook his head, "So you think the Jedi were the bad ones?"
The expression on Revan's face hardened for a second before it softened, as he shook his head, "Obviously with the case of the Jedi and the Sith, the Jedi are good … but that doesn't mean that a Jedi is always correct … everyone is fallible. Believe me or don't believe me, it doesn't matter but I suspect you will learn this quick enough once you get to Coruscant and have the chance to interact with the Jedi, but that's not the point I was trying to make. I'm sure it was something even you experienced before you came to this galaxy, even those on the side of good can make mistakes, and conversely not everyone who uses or spent time to understand the dark side of the Force is evil."
He paused again, exhaling a long breath and waiting until Harry reluctantly nodded. "But whether their decision was right or wrong … I eventually managed to regain my memories … or at least most of them. And then when I felt a danger … an evil approaching the Republic I was finally able to make a decision. Even though it was difficult, and it meant leaving behind my friends, my wife, … and my unborn child …" he trailed off, his voice full of emotion. "Even though it was the hardest thing I had ever had to do. It had been given the opportunity to make a choice. A decision that even though it cost me the chance of ever seeing any of them again … a decision that I feel was the right one and ended up playing a part in saving the Republic from the threat that had been approaching it."
Harry looked at the man with sympathy, watching as he stared in the skies as if searching for something or someone, perhaps recalling old memories.
"But my point, Harry, is that at some point, probably sooner rather than later, you'll need to decide on who you are and what you are willing to do for what you believe in … what you are willing to sacrifice for those you care about. And for that … I wish you the best of luck."
With that statement, he began to fade until Harry found himself alone on a hilltop.
He wasn't sure how long he was up there, enjoying the refreshing, comforting breeze on his face but slowly everything began to fade around him, not in a way that was worrisome but rather in a comforting way, like when everything slows down when preparing for bed.
The next thing he knew … that's exactly where he was. Back on the bed he had fallen asleep on.
Slowly opening his eyes, he saw the bottom of the bunk that was above him, confirming his location. Stretching to help loosen his muscles, he shivered slightly, apparently missing the warm comforting air of the planet he had dreamed about.
Looking over to the door as he slowly sat upright, he paused and raised his eyebrows in confusing. There, just inside the doorway stood Obi-Wan and Padme, both staring at him with matching looks of shock, both their mouths hanging open.
Concerned, Harry finished sitting up quickly, however as he leaned towards the side of the bed, he heard the sound of small impacts around the room. The sound of the small items falling to the ground caused him to look away from the two at the door and look around the room, his eyebrows shooting back up in surprise, watching a couple items that might have been higher off the ground hit the floor.
Looking back to Obi-Wan and Padme for an answer he saw that they were still staring at him. "What?" he asked. "What were you doing, Obi-Wan?"
"Me …" replied the stunned Padawan, confusion evident in his voice. "What do you mean … I've never … Anakin that was … I … I think I'm going to grab Qui-Gon." He said quickly, stumbling over his words, before abruptly turning and running out of the room.
Harry looked over to Padme in confusion. "What was that about? What was with all those floating items? I had watched Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon running through some Force exercises where they moved objects through the air … apparently as a form of centering and calming themselves. But why was he doing that in here while I was sleeping …" he trailed off, noticing the look she was still giving him. "And why were the two of you staring at me so weirdly … sort of like you are still doing right now."
Padme shook her head, trying to rid herself of the look of shock on her face, "Obi-Wan? Oh … you think that was Obi-Wan doing that?" She paused and looked behind her, into the ship's main corridor, before looking back to Harry. "I was heading to see you as I wanted … that is the Queen wanted to make sure you were doing alright and she wanted me to run an offer by you, as a way to thank you for your actions and the risk you took on our behalf on Tatooine to get us the parts we needed to fix the ship."
She took a breath and looked at Harry who nodded for her to continue.
"I had run into Obi-Wan in the hallway, apparently, he was coming to grab you in order to have you accompany him and discuss something with Qui-Gon. But when we opened your door, we heard you … well it sounded like you were having a conversation. Obi-Wan was confused … we both were. But when Obi-Wan stepped into the room … all the small items seemed to be lifted up … forming a small, rotating vortex around your bed. Obi-Wan had actually just been trying to explain things to me, letting me know that there was no way you should have been able to have that control or ability with the Force … especially while asleep. And then you woke up. As soon as you sat up and looked at us … well … everything sorts of fell to the floor …" She paused waving her hand to the mess of objects that were laying all over the room.
Harry glanced around the room in shock, staring around and wondering if this was a similar event as to the accidental magic that the Dursley's had been all to in favor of punishing him for when it happened when he was living with them … although he shook his head and discounted the idea as based on Obi-Wan's reaction … he felt this wasn't expected.
Looking back to Padme, he saw her staring at him, an expectant and concerned look on her face.
"Sorry, what?" he asked. "I missed what you said."
She opened her mouth before she stopped and paused, looking around the room once more before looking back to him. "I asked if you are alright? Is everything ok, Ani?"
Harry began to respond, before he cut off his response, reflecting on her question … Revan's words seeming to echo in his ears at that moment.
Looking back to her, he realized that the man was right and while he was likely to have serious decisions to make, he'd need to decide on who he was going to be. But while it might be trivial, he could start now, having decided he was tired of how everyone had been addressing him.
Shaking his head, he looked back to Padme. "Everything is alright, but everything is different. I am no longer just the slave boy from Tatooine you met. That chapter is behind. I'm going to be more. Anakin doesn't feel right anymore."
"Oh …" Padme said in surprise, clearly not expecting that. "What do you want me to call you then?"
Recalling pictures of his parents and their voices saying his name, when he had held the resurrection stone in his hands before he had gone off to confront Voldemort and when they had materialized after their wands had connected, Harry looked up to her and smiled.
"Harry." He said simply, a smile on his face at the sense of rightness in his actions. "Please call me Harry."
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