Luke borrowed Ahsoka's ship. The Trogut wasn't entirely happy about it, but Luke insisted on going.
"Luke, you must be careful with the Separatists," Ahsoka warned. "We're in a time of war."
"I'll be back sooner than you think, I promise," Luke said, bidding farewell to Ahsoka and Leia.
He left at night, when Anakin wasn't there and the Jedi in the temple were asleep. He entered the coordinates, and within hours he was arriving at the location. He needed answers; he needed to know how to save his parents and save the entire galaxy.
After long minutes, the base he was looking for didn't appear. The coordinates were exactly the ones Ahsoka had given him. He was about to lose faith, but then he remembered Yoda's words about trusting in the Force.
"Please, I need to save them all," Luke pleaded, surrounding himself with the Force to meditate and find the clarity he needed.
Soon, a massive red base appeared before him. He steered his ship swiftly toward it and quickly lost control. He was pulled into the base and lost consciousness as a blinding light appeared. Luke awoke in a beautiful garden, but something didn't match the description he'd been given earlier. The garden was beautiful and bathed in light on one side, yet shrouded in darkness on the other. Ahsoka had mentioned a temple, the temple where the Father lived, the one responsible for maintaining balance. Everyone was dead, but Luke was certain he would find answers there. He would trust his instincts; that was something Yoda had always told him.
He took Ahsoka's speeder and began exploring the place. It was undoubtedly a beautiful place, but the hours passed, and he still found nothing.
Just as he was about to give up, he remembered that Yoda always meditated to find the answers. He sat down in the middle of nowhere and felt time pass around him. He was aware that almost two days had gone by, but he wouldn't give up. He couldn't. The answer he sought was in this place, and he knew it.
"Luke Skywalker," spoke a voice unfamiliar to Luke. He opened his eyes and saw a man he didn't recognize. It was a Force ghost with long hair and a beard similar to Obi-Wan's.
"Who are you?" he asked, standing up.
"I am Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi's master, and the one who brought your father into the Jedi Order," said the man.
"How do you know who my father is?" Luke asked.
"I am a Force ghost, Luke," commented Master Qui-Gon. "I just know," Qui-Gon smiled.
"I have come seeking answers, Master."
"Do you want to know if you can save them?" You won't find that answer here.
- I must find it. The future, everything you know will be erased. My father will become a monster, both feared and admired throughout the galaxy. His power will be endless, but his suffering will be eternal.
- The Chosen One's future is uncertain. Here, your father saw his future,' Qui-Gon remarked, and Luke looked at him, impressed. 'Do you know what happened next?'
- He knows?
- He did,' Qui-Gon smiled. 'He joined the son, the embodiment of the dark side, solely to prevent that future. Two people tried to save him: Ahsoka and Obi-Wan. Upon seeing his future, he saw unlimited power, but he only thought of saving the galaxy. What does that tell you, young Skywalker?'
- There is goodness in him. He only wants to bring peace to the galaxy, even if it means sacrificing himself.
- Very well, Luke,' Master Qui-Gon said, indicating that he should walk beside him.
"I need to prevent my father from making the mistake of joining the dark side," Luke said, and Qui-Gon smiled.
"What about your mistakes, Luke?"
"My mistakes?" Luke wondered.
"The future is unknown to your father at this moment. He is unaware of what he will become, just as you are not."
"What will happen to me?" Luke asked, feeling a pang of fear. Would he follow in his father's footsteps?
"That is the answer you will find here. Here you will understand your father's decision, and here you will confront your fears. You will discover fears you didn't even know you had."
"Won't you come with me?" Luke asked fearfully.
"It is a path you must walk alone, just as your father once did."
"I will," Luke said bravely.
Luke entered the temple that had appeared before them, climbed the gigantic stairs, and saw three coffins at the far end. Were these the beings they had mentioned? He continued climbing the stairs, but they seemed endless, and then a female voice echoed in his mind.
"The Chosen One's son has arrived," said the voice, which Luke assumed was the daughter's.
"I've come for an answer," Luke said, his gaze fixed straight ahead.
"Are you ready to know the answer?" the voice asked, and a figure materialized before him.
Luke recognized the figure; it was his Uncle Owen. Impressed, he walked toward him, and the man smiled.
"You're a long way from home, lad," the man greeted him.
"Uncle, I'm so sorry. I let them kill you, Aunt Beru, you... if only I had been there," Luke said, on the verge of tears.
"But you weren't," the man said, his face contorted with rage. "How do you expect to save your parents then?" "You will become a monster just like your father," she said before disappearing. Luke thought he was going to collapse; he felt exhausted, but he knew this was just a test, a test he had to pass to get the answer.
He continued walking, feeling his energy dwindle, but he needed that answer.
Leia's figure materialized before him. It's just an illusion, he thought. She's safe on Coruscant.
"Why did you betray him?" Leia asked, and Luke noticed the difference in her gaze. Her eyes weren't that beautiful hazel color anymore; now they were a deep yellow, and her clothing was completely dark.
"Who did I betray?" Luke asked, fearful of the answer.
"Why did you try to kill him while he slept?" Leia shouted and raised her lightsaber to kill Luke. He didn't have time to react and barely closed his eyes to await the cut. The illusion vanished.
Luke didn't understand who Leia was referring to. Would she try to kill someone? Would he try to kill his father? It was impossible. He would never do that, not even when Yoda had told him he had to face Vader.
"Why did you betray me? Will you betray her too?" asked a voice unfamiliar to Luke. "Why did you betray me, Master?" the voice asked, then vanished.
Luke was reaching the bottom of the stairs, his mind a jumble of chaos.
"You saved him from the darkness. But who will save you from yours?" asked a final voice, and Luke recognized the figure that materialized before him. It was his mother, weeping bitterly. Then, when he finally reached the top of the stairs, the figure caressed his face before disappearing.
Luke looked at the coffins, looked at the bottom of the stairs, and fell to his knees. Had he never thought about his own future? What if he himself fell to the dark side, just as his father had?
How could he save him if he couldn't even save himself?
"That's the question you'll find the answer to here," said an old man's voice, and Luke looked at the new figure that had materialized before him. It was a rather tall old man, and Luke recognized him as the being they had described as 'the father.' Beside him stood his two children. The woman gazed at him with infinite kindness, while the son looked at him with malice.
"How will I do it?" The question escaped Luke's lips in a whisper.
"Just as I once did with your father, I will reveal your future to you," the son said, showing Luke his future.
There was no darkness in it, but rather an unbridled fear of the dark side, a fear that drove him to destroy everything, everything he had once fought for.
"No, I can't let it happen," Luke said, kneeling.
"Join me, give me the strength to return to life, together we will defeat the Sith," the son offered.
"No, I won't fall into the same trap as my father," Luke said bravely, standing up.
"You are strong," the daughter admitted, moving toward him. "But wanting to save everyone will be your father's great mistake, and yours."
"What should I do?" "Please," Luke begged.
"You won't leave here with this memory," said his father.
"How will I remember which mistakes to avoid then?" Luke asked, distressed.
"You must walk the same path as your father. The Chosen One's future changed the moment you altered time and returned to the past. Nothing will be the same. It could be worse, or it could be better."
"I need the answers, please," Luke pleaded.
"Trust your instincts, Luke," said his daughter.
"Trust your fears," said his son.
"You must trust yourself and those around you," said his father before erasing the memories his son had placed in Luke. He couldn't know what the future held, but he would remember each of their words.
Luke awoke hours later, lying at the foot of the stairs with a dagger in his hands. He took it without understanding what it meant.
"With this dagger, you will defeat your enemy," said the father.
"Palpatine?" Luke asked.
"Time will reveal who should wield this dagger. Perhaps it will be you, perhaps your father, or your sister. You will know when the time comes," said the father, and Luke looked at the dagger, confused.
"What if I'm wrong? What if all of this is a mistake?" Luke asked.
"It was I who guided you here, just as I once guided your father. Back then, I believed that bringing the Chosen One here would be the answer, until you arrived from the future. Only you should possess this dagger, until the time is right."
"How can we defeat Palpatine? How can we end the dark side? What does it mean that my father is the Chosen One?"
"I am the one who has been chosen." "Why do you think he is?" his father asked.
"Because he's the most powerful Jedi."
"As a Jedi, he'll be powerful as a Sith," his father said, but Luke still didn't understand.
"Are you saying he has to become a Sith?" Luke asked, terrified.
"Jedi and Sith aren't so different," his father said. "Both are extremists. Too much of anything is never good. Your father is different from the Jedi and different from the Sith."
"Why?" Luke asked.
"Why do you think so? You don't know anything about your father, yet his feelings are easy to see." Then Luke understood.
"He is the Chosen One because he is not just a Jedi, and in the future he will not just be a Sith. He is a human, capable of feeling fear, love, suffering, and hatred."
"Time will make you wise, young Skywalker," his father smiled, gesturing for him to descend the stairs with him.
"I know how to help him, but I don't know if that will prevent the future," Luke said.
"Only time will tell, and perhaps the support of all those who are in this fight. The task of the Chosen One will never be easy, but even in the deepest darkness, there is light," his father said when they reached the bottom of the stairs.
"The Chosen One's task will never be easy, but even in the deepest darkness, there is light." "Thank you, now I have my answer," Luke smiled, and his father disappeared. The figure of Qui-Gon smiled down at him from the entrance.
"Have you found your answer?" Master Qui-Gon asked.
"Yes," Luke said, smiling.
Now Luke knew that he and his father weren't just Jedi or Sith; they were human, capable of having feelings. He couldn't save his father by being only a Jedi, just as his father couldn't save his mother by being only a Sith. He could save him by being human, and by teaching him that being human and feeling like a human wasn't so bad after all.
Luke entered his ship, but when he tried to pilot it, the same blinding light that had dragged him there enveloped him. He closed his eyes and awoke again in the immense void of the galaxy. He looked at the dagger attached to his waist. He trusted what his father had told him; he would know when the time was right.
He checked the time and realized that his journey had lasted several hours and it would take several hours to return; a day would have passed when he returned to Coruscant and he had no idea how he would explain his absence, he only knew that Leia and his mother would be very worried.