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Leia Organa Solo watched her son bravely walk into the room where Daeshara’cor was dying. She felt both their pain and wished there was something she could do to help ease it.
"She is at peace," a soft voice said from behind her.
Leia turned to see Kelly Cracken standing in the doorway. She was looking through the viewport, watching Anakin closely. Pain crossed her face and Leia turned to see that Daeshara’cor had passed on. "Oh no," she whispered.
Kelly laid a hand on her shoulder. "See, she was at peace and became one with the Force. Can’t you feel her?"
She closed her eyes. Yes, there was a sense of peace flowing from the room. She also felt turmoil from her son. "Can you make him realize that?"
"I will try, but he must figure it out on his own."
Anakin ran his arm over his eyes to wipe the tears away. He turned his head when he heard the door open. "Master Cracken, what are you doing here?"
Kelly ignored the tearstains on the boy’s face. "She found peace, Anakin."
He looked back down at the empty robes. "But she died because of me."
"No, she was at peace because of you."
He looked back up at me confused. "Huh?"
She smiled. "You saved her from doing something she would always regret. She would have gone over to the dark side if you hadn’t stopped her."
"I didn’t do anything but get captured." He hung his head in shame.
"Wrong. You made her think. And in that thinking, she found her mistake."
The young man looked contemplative. "But I couldn’t save her on Ithor. I wasn’t fast enough."
She sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought. "Before we went down to the surface, Daeshara’cor confided something in me. She told me that she had a feeling she wouldn’t be back. Master Aulduin always told me to trust my feelings. I trusted hers. There was nothing you could have done. You did your best, as she did hers. She knew what she was getting into. Joining the Jedi is like joining Rogue Squadron. There will be a day when you won’t come back. You will be mourned, but you will have died in peace knowing you were helping someone. That is how Daeshara’cor felt. She was at peace. Peace that you brought to her, Anakin."
"But it isn’t fair!" He broke down into tears again. "I should have kept the Vong from hitting her with the staff."
"Stop blaming yourself. It wasn’t your fault. Neither was Chewbacca’s death."
That stopped him cold. His eyes burned into her.
"I don’t care what your father says. It wasn’t your fault. Chewie died how he would have wanted. He was being heroic. He saved you, that young boy and your father. He died for the good of the many. How many refuges were on the Falcon? They all would have perished if you had tried to save Chewie. He is martyred for making the ultimate sacrifice."
A softness crossed his features. He listened to her words and finally began to understand.
"I’m sorry I was so blunt."
He looked up to her, the strength returning to his eyes. "No, I deserved that. I was wallowing in my own self pity that I had forgotten we were here to save an entire world."
She smiled. He finally understood. "Your mother and uncle put their lives on the line many times while fighting the Empire. The Yuuzhan Vong are a great foe. We all must unite to defeat them. If someone dies, it is in defense of the greater good. Let’s just hope we don’t loose any more."
"I agree, but I don’t think it will happen."
"Neither do I, but the Force willing, we will defeat our foe and be stronger for it."
