Dreams Die Hard (repost)

Well..here it is. The final version of DDH. No big changes, mostly wording, and punctuation. So, read it through if 'ya don't mind.

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Dreams die hard.

Mine has crumbled into dust, and still I hold it. Perhaps when the granules are too small to see I will find the strength to let them go.

Anakin was my dream. His future was so bright, and now it has darkened into dismal gloom. But I refuse to give up hope.

My Padawan was taken, stolen from me by a monster. I feel a flash of anger at that monster, but I suppress it. For to give in to it would make me no better than the Sith. As my anger fades it is replaced by a sadness, a deap penetrating sadness. I haven?t been the same since Anakin died. No, he is not dead. I refuse to believe that. He is simply hidden far away in the shell of a man that is Darth Vader. Surely Palpitine cannot have destroyed Anakin completly. His firey spirit, his will, and the spark of life that made him who he was couldn?t be beaten down. Not even a cruel and heartless monster like Palpitine could do that. It might be suppressed, hidden away, locked up and chained, but it could not be beaten and destroyed. And there must be someone, somewhere, that could bring it back.

Sudenly an image flashes across my mind?s eye, an image of a man, all in black, with a green lightsaber in his hand. He is fighting Darth Vader, and seems to be driving him back. The vision fades, and I am left with disterbing questions. Who is the man in black? Is he a Sith? His attire is certaintly not what I would expect of a Jedi, but why would one Sith be fighting another? I sigh and push the vision away. Soimethieng tells me that, like most visions of the future granted by the Force, it will choose to explain itself in it?s own time. And so I return to my thoughts.

Or rather, I try to return to my thoughts. They seem to be all used up, there?s nothing left to think that?s not angry and bitter. I sigh heavily and wish fervently that I could turn back time. Perhaps, if I had done something just a bit different, trained him just a little better, or in a different way, or been a better Master/Father to him..... Perhaps that was my fatal shortcoming. I was never the Father that Anakin needed. I was a moderately good Master, no better or worse than the average, but I?d never been the Father that Anakin so desperately needed. Qui-gon could have been a Father, I know, he was my Father.

And once again I blame myself. If I?d only run a bit faster, twirled my saber a bit less, wasted fewer precious seconds, perhaps I would have made it through the laser wall before it closed and separated me from my Master. If I?d been there for him, as he had been for me so many times in the past, Qui-gon would not have died. And if he hadn?t died, *he* would have trained Anakin, and Anakin would not have fallen.

But he did die, and I trained Anakin, and Anakin fell. Now I must go forward, and face the future, and try to make amends for my past mistakes. Sending Luke to be raised by my brother is one such attempt at making amends. I didn?t dare raise him myself, that would have been too risky. But with him nearby at Owen?s home at least I can keep an eye on him as he grows up. He is strong in the Force, this much I can sense. But I fear to try to teach him how to use it, Vader would surely sense that. And Leia, his sister, now princess of Alderann, her I can?t watch. I must trust that Bail Organa and his wife are taking good care of her. I?m sure they are, but would they know what to do if Vader somehow found Leia? I think I worry too much, my Master would surely advise me to keep my mind here and now where it belongs.

But I can?t. My mind begins to drift again, and suddenly I think I see the small, gentle boy I once knew. But the image fades, and is replaced with that of the dark, masked, and cloaked monster that my Padawan has become. I sigh heavily, and sadly. An ache is reawakened in my heart, a d

 

I'm here to read the repost. Can't wait for more.

 

Same here. Just as good as the original, just much more convient for everyone to read.

 

I just read this today!!

Awesome!! Is there anymore?

 

Its great, cant wait for the next bit