[FIC] A Journey for Closure (One Shot)

[JediKnight707]

Hey guys JK707 here!!!

Long time no post huh? I can't remember the last time I came here. It's probably been over a year. I've been focusing on school. I don't know when I'm gonna come back, but I've been re-writing Return of the Exile, though I haven't changed the plotline, I'm just making it "flow" better.

This is a story about James and Thomas. I started this probably last summer, but I forgot about it and I saw it today. There was only about a half page written. I deleted most of what was written and I started a different story. I doubt I'll do anything more with these characters, but who knows what the future may bring. I hope you like this story, but I haven't played the sith lords in so long that I probably got some facts wrong. Well, tough crap.

Enjoy!!:

 

 

James swept his lightsaber again, but the foe dodged it. A few meters a way from him, his father, Thomas was having better luck. When he swept his blade against his foe, it connected, causing a deep gash in his enemy’s belly.

“Argh!” the foe yelled in pain. His hand that wasn’t holding his red lightsaber flew to his severed stomach.

Thomas seized the lack of concentration, and stabbed his foe in his heart. His enemy looked like he would survive the blow for a few seconds, but his body fell limp.

Meanwhile, James was continuing his struggle. Every move he made was either dodged or parried. His opponent feigned left, James fell for it, and his adversary swiped at his thigh.

James sucked in his breath at the wound and his defense fell. He staggered to the ground in pain, and looked up to see his foe swiping his blade at his neck.

James heard a whir from a machine, and his machine-enemy deactivated. The hologram-like appearance of skin disappeared. James sucked in another breath of pained air. Thomas came over to inspect the wound.

“Oh come on you wuss, it ain’t that bad,” Thomas said.

“I think it severed an artery,” James replied. Thomas rolled his eyes, and in one motion with his hand, closed the wound.

James breathed normal again, and stood up. “These damn machines are way too realistic.”

They were in the Ebon Hawk’s garage, fighting a pair of robots. Thomas snorted. “Oh, shut up,” he said playfully. “I think you just need a drink. Or a date, or something.”

It’d been two years since James and Thomas had uncovered the Sith treachery. They’d spent the first year recuperating, as both had lost someone they’d loved. After that, the Jedi Council asked them a favor, though neither of them knew that it was something that would help the healing process—the Council wanted to know why Brianna and Amanda had joined the Sith in the first place.

Thomas and James went to Korriban first. They searched for awhile, looking for some clues to the mystery.

 

* * *

 

The Ebon Hawk flew into the atmosphere of Korriban. The last few times it had flown here it had come with a full load of people, but this time only two were on it: Thomas and James.

After the usual bouncing ride, they set down in the familiar spot. Thomas, who was flying, lowered the landing ramp, and walked into his dormitory. He looked at the small picture that he had of Brianna and him. The familiar pain snuck into his heart as he thought of all the good times they had together.

He went to his closet and picked out a set of robes—black. He pulled out a belt and wrapped it around himself. He opened one of the pouches, and pulled out a bag of pills. He swallowed one and closed his eyes. There was a knock on the door. “Everything alright Dad?” James asked.

Thomas quickly hid the pills. “Yeah, let’s go.”

James walked away, and before Thomas left the room, he picked up the picture and kissed it softly. He slipped it into his robe and followed James out.

They walked towards the Sith monument and before they entered, Thomas stopped at the entrance. He picked up some sand from the ground. He rubbed his hands together and let the sand sift slowly through his palms. He muttered softly to himself. “The most unattainable of all emotions is closure.”

“Did you say something?” James asked.

Thomas looked at his son. “No, I was just talking to myself.”

They walked inside. The ceiling had so many cracks and holes in it, despite the fact that there were no working lights, the place was still illuminated enough to were they could see quite well.

“Any ideas were to start Dad?”

Thomas said nothing; he merely closed his eyes, and started to sense with the Force. He didn’t know what he was looking for, he just hoped that it found him rather than he find it.

Thomas stretched the boundaries of his conscious thought. He immediately sensed something. His mind seemed to work on instinct and found some trail that “felt” like Brianna. It was like a bloodhound following the scent of an escaped prisoner.

But something was wrong. His mind was going to fast and he was starting to feel some unfamiliar thing creep into his head.

Jedi training kicked in and his brain threw up mental walls that would block a probe. But this wasn’t a probe, so his walls didn’t block it. He wanted to break his line of thought but he couldn’t. He wanted to open his eyes but he couldn’t. The thing was like a disease and was eating away at him.

“Dad?” The voice was familiar but it seemed far away.

“Dad?” the voice was more urgent, but it still seemed odd.

His chin suddenly felt on fire, and that snapped him back to proper thought. He was on the ground in a cold sweat.

James offered him a hand, and Thomas took it. His legs felt shaky, and he wasn’t sure if he should stand on them, but he had to tough it out.

“What happened?” James asked concerned. “You seemed to be doing fine for a few minutes, but then you started shaking violently. I finally had to punch you.”

Thomas looked at his son. “How long did I close my eyes for?”

“I didn’t count exactly, but I think probably close to ten minutes.”

Thomas opened his eyes. “Damn. It seemed like a few seconds.” He rubbed his chin where James had punched him. He whistled softly. “You punched hard.”

“Better safe than sorry.”

Thomas breathed for a few seconds, tried to get his bearings back. “Alright let’s keep going. I think I know where to start searching.”

They walked toward the dormitories. All of the rooms looked like they hadn’t been touched in decades. They walked to the end of the hallway, and looked at where the last room should have been.

Instead of the open rooms like all the others, this had a new steel door complete with a keypad.

Thomas and James looked at each other. “Well I guess this was their room,” James said.

He pressed the open button on the keypad. The keypad beeped, and a robotic voice said, “Enter password.”

James dropped his shoulders. “Well, damn. I was hoping it would be easier than this. Any ideas what the password could be?”

They tried Amanda and Brianna’s birthdays, anniversaries, random numbers, pounding on the keypad, yelling at it, kicking it, yelling curses at it, and other various methods to no avail.

Finally after an hour of uselessness, they sat down. Thomas could think of no other passwords. The only thing they had learned was that it had to be eight numbers. “We gave it our all. I say let’s forget about this and go home,” James said.

Thomas sighed. “I guess you’re right. I can’t think of an—” he said, before a sudden flash of genius popped in his head. He started laughing, and before he could help it, he was rolling on the ground in his fits of laughter. Why didn’t I think of this earlier? he thought, as he continued to laugh.

James was worried. He’d seen his dad “attacked” earlier and now he was seeing his dad laugh maniacally without rhyme or reason. “Are you alright Dad?” he asked worriedly.

Thomas kept laughing, but he stuttered out, “Y-y-yeah, I’m f-f-f-fine. I-I think I k-know the password.”

He got up and walked over to the keypad, still giggling. He pressed in: 11235813.

The door slid open. James looked at his dad, astonished. “How’d you figure that out?”

“You’re mother was raised on Telos, and when I met her they were trying to restore the place. It must’ve been about fifteen years ago.”

“So…?”

“I just entered the Fibonacci sequence. Do you know what that is?”

“Vaguely. Its got something to do with plants or something like that.”

Thomas sighed. “The Fibonacci numbers is basically the pattern of life. A plant grows according to these numbers. It grows one leaf. Since it only knows to grow one leaf it grows one more. Now it knows how to grow one leaf and two. So it grows one leaf and two. Now it knows how to grow two leaves and one, and two leaves. So one and so forth. At least I think that’s how it goes. It’s something like that.”

“So what does that have to do with Mom?”

“Well she was fascinated by plants, so I guess she wanted to set that as her password.”

James still seemed confused. “Anyway, were in.”

They walked inside. The room was small, but it seemed to be covered with shelves. And the shelves were packed with holodisks.

“Wow, she really liked to read,” James said, looking at the walls incredulously.

“I don’t think she really liked to read, she just craved knowledge. Predict the future by knowing the past.”

There were two small beds, and each had a nightstand with a small lamp on it. Thomas sat down on one of the beds. He caught a faint whiff of Brianna’s scent.

It brought back a world of pain but he remained calm.

He opened one of the drawers and there were only a few things: a lighter, a half-full pack of cigarettes (Camarbros), and a holodisk.

He took the cigarettes and the lighter and put them in his pocket. “This is Brianna’s bed; that one must be Amanda’s.”

Thomas pulled out the holodisk. He handled it delicately, holding it like a mother would a child.

He pressed the on button, and it hummed to life.

‘My Diary’ read the screen.

“Nothing in any of these drawers,” said James. He looked at his dad. “Dad? Something wrong.”

“Could you leave son?”

James felt bad for his dad and left like his father requested. His father’s love for his mother had been ten times more than the love he had had for Amanda. James walked back to the Ebon Hawk, and hoped his dad didn’t do anything he would regret.

Back in room Thomas was crying as he read the words of his dead wife. He wrapped the sheets around him. He kept reading:

I met Thomas today. I don’t know why I’m so attracted to him, there’s just something about him that I love. His imposing figure is so calming to me, yet frightening to the average person I’m sure.

Thomas reached into his pouch and pulled out the little baggy of pills. He took another one.

Thomas and I went on our first date today. It was so sad to hear his story, yet I can’t help but love him even more for it.

Thomas took another pill.

Thomas died today. I feel this empty pit inside me, located where my heart used to exist. I don’t understand why he died, he didn’t deserve to. I keep reading the note he wrote me. My body feels like it’s been through a war and back, like I traveled to Hell itself and somehow made it back alive.

I’m only writing these words to make sure I’m still alive. I’ve got to stay alive for my son. I’m scared out of my mind. I feel a hate creeping into my body.

Thomas swallowed yet another pill. He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t stop himself. He needed to take them, he was told they would make him happy when he was sad!

The hate has overtaken my body. I hate the Jedi. They were the reasons why Thomas died. They were the ones that killed him. I hate the Jedi. I loathe the Jedi. I want to destroy the Jedi. I know that I can but it’s going to take careful plotting. I can’t wait until they’re dead. I’m not a Sith really, or maybe I’m just in denial. It’s not that I like evil, I just despise the Jedi. But I’ve got to hide it.

Thomas finished the bag of pills. He knew they would kill him. He would welcome death at this point. He didn’t know why he wanted to die, but he hoped that it would bring him closer to Brianna.

He smiled as darkness closed in around him.

 

* * *

 

James was worried. It had been over two hours and his dad still was in the room. He couldn’t take the waiting anymore.

He ran back to the dormitory. He had forgotten the password but he didn’t care about that anymore.

He pulled out his lightsaber and tried to cut through the steel. His lightsaber wouldn’t penetrate the door. The door was made of the same stuff they used to make Vibroblades with; it blocked the lightsaber’s energy.

He tried to remember the password. After a minute, he stuck his blade in the keypad.

Amazingly, the door opened. His dad was lying on the bed. He wasn’t moving. James ran over to him. He put his hand on his dad’s neck. The pulse was faint.

“Don’t die Dad!” James yelled. He picked Thomas up with the Force and ran out into the Ebon Hawk.

James set his father down on the medical bed. He had no idea what his father had done. James put his fingers to his dad’s neck again. The pulse was growing fainter.

He wasn’t a Healer, and only knew the most basic of healing spells. He remembered a Healer’s words when dealing with an unknown cause of injury: When in doubt, put them out.

What the Healer meant was that you could put someone in an induced coma, but it was a risk at times.

James hooked up the tubes and pressed the button. Thomas died for a second, before the machines brought him back to life.

Thomas was now in a permanent sleep, and James wasn’t sure if he was ever going to wake up.

 

* * *

 

Thomas died for a second. The happiest and saddest second of his life. He saw a flicker of Brianna, but she was gone. He was so happy to see her, and so sad to see her go. She said a word to him, but he couldn’t make out what it was.

 

* * *

 

Thomas awoke to a voice. “I hope you found what your heart was searching for. I hope you found your closure.” He felt a hand scruff up his hair.

“Feel better champ.”

 

* * *

 

Two weeks later Thomas was fully recuperated and he visited the Jedi Council along with James.

“Jedi Knights Thomas and James, did you find any evidence as to Amanda and Brianna’s transformation?” asked Master Kavar.

Thomas and James looked at each other and shared a telepathic message.

“Yes,” Thomas said. “I found my ex-wife’s diary and it explained her reasons.”

The Jedi Masters peered at them.

“Okay,” Kavar said. “Now why did you come here in a coma?”

“Well, I put him in a coma,” James offered.

“I’d like to say my reasons, but I don’t want my son to hear them.”

Kavar bowed his head. “We shall respect your wishes. James if you would leave the room.”

James inhaled, ready to give an argument as to why he should stay, but his dad gave him a look that said ‘get out of here.’

James left, and Thomas started his story:

“Before I start the story about Korriban, I’d like to start about a week after my son and I killed Brianna and Amanda. I was having extreme nightmares. Now, this was nothing unexpected and I thought nothing of it. But they were not getting better.

“About two months later, I was beginning to hate sleep, knowing that the nightmares were inevitable. They always had Brianna involved in them. They’d start off with memories about our favorite times together, yet she would always turn evil and start to kill me or people around.

“So, around this time, I got a call at about midnight. It was an unknown number, and I picked it up. The voice was digitally altered. The person seemed to know that I was having trouble sleeping. They said that they had some pills that could help me, not only get rid of my nightmares, but make me happy when I was sad.

“Normally, I would ignore this as a prank call. But I was getting desperate. They told me to meet “him”—at least I assume it’s a him—in the middle of the plains in Dantoonie. I went out there and some masked person handed me a bag of pills. They didn’t want any money or anything really.

“I took a pill and I slept really well for the first time in a long time. And anytime I took a pill it made me so happy.

“Anytime I ran out, I’d get more the next night.” The Masters listened intently as Thomas spilled the rest of the story up until his coma.

“Interesting…” Master Zez-Kai Ell.

After some more discussions, an hour later Thomas left.

Nothing exciting happened until nighttime.

Thomas was sleeping when his com-link rang.

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP. Thomas groggily looked at the clock. 11:55. He picked it up. “Hello?” he said.

“Meet me at the normal spot,” said the computer voice that Thomas was familiar with.

Somewhat scared, Thomas turned on his light. He put on a pair of robes, but this time he strapped his lightsaber onto his belt.

He walked into the field that he was used to. The familiar figure was encompassed in shadows.

“I’ve heard that you spilt the beans to the Council members.”

Thomas was getting nervous. “Yes. But it was inevitable.”

“You defied my explicit orders not to tell them. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Thomas grabbed his hilt with his left hand. “There’s nothing to say. I told them, and if I had to, I’d tell them again.”

Thomas was prepared to fight. His hand was twitching.

But the figure took off his hood, and stepped into the moonlight.

It was Master Kavar.

“Master?” asked Thomas, very confused.

Kavar smiled. “Thomas the Council has been trying to heal you. You kept saying that you were healed but we sensed that you weren’t.

“Thomas, go home and sleep.”

“But how can I sleep? Unless you have any more pills for me.”

Kavar chuckled. “Thomas the pills I gave you were placebos. They were sugar pills. You brought made your own sleep dreamless. You made yourself happy.”

“But what about the overdose?”

“That was probably brought on by your own brain. Heartbreak is the worse kind of injury. Now go to sleep Thomas.”

Thomas went to bed and slept. He had a dream but it was happy. He was with Brianna.

 

* * *

 

His dream wasn’t a dream, it was a memory. He remembered when he died, his brief glimpse of Brianna.

He could finally make out what she had said.

“Live.”

[Diego Varen]

This is a great oneshot and it is nice to see you back. You wanted to know when your last post was and looking at your profile, it was this post. Too bad about school preventing you being here. I don't know if you remember me, but my name used to be Pottsie, before it got changed.

 

Anyway back to the Fic. I know that in books, dialogue is set out like this, but I learned that on the Forums to do a space between dialogue and description, so forumites who have bad vision can read it easier.

 

Other than that, I think this Fic is great. I'm looking forward to the rewrite of Return of the Exile.

[JediKnight707]

Hey Pottsie

 

Okay, well I'll try to keep that in mind, but, I just don't have the patience to change this story.

 

And I've lost Elliot's Story I think. I'm pretty sure that one is gone ><

 

I'm working on RotE right now

 

Dunno when its coming out.

[Empress Padme]

great short fic.

[JediKnight707]

Hopefully you read this after DotS?