Title: Close Your Eyes

Author: Tarsier

Type: songfic

Timeframe: NJO-the end

Main Characters: Jaina, Jag, Anakin Solo, Mara, Jacen

Summary: If you close your eyes…

Notes: Not the most original, but meant to be a bit cathartic.

Based on the lyrics to “Pompeii” by Bastille.

I wrote this a while ago, but didn’t quite have the courage to post it. It is a reaction to both the sad state of affairs during NJO/LOTF and the decanonization of most of the EU.

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And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love

Coruscant had fallen. Or rather, it was falling.

Jaina didn’t know who, or what, was causing it—nobody did—but the buildings crumbled all around her. She looked to Jag. She saw nothing but fear on his usually stoic features. “What do we do?” she whispered to him. He wrapped his arms around her, tightening his embrace until there wasn’t a modicum of space between them. She nestled her head against his chest and closed her eyes tight.


Great clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above

With Jaina gripped tightly against his body, Jag looked up for a final time. The sky was black. Not a star to be seen, not a light from a building. Somehow, he knew that they were standing at the edge of the universe. But they wouldn’t be for long. He closed his eyes and buried his face in Jaina’s hair.


We were caught up and lost in all of our vices
In your pose as the dust settled around us

There were just too many of them. No, he couldn’t think like that. He would defeat them. He would defeat them all. He had to. He had to save his friends.

The Force was there, it was all around. It always was. Anakin reached out to the Force in a way he never had before. He let it flow, not just through him, but over him. He didn’t guide the Force through careful channels; he broke the dam. As pure energy ripped through his body, his mind was relaxed. He drifted calmly away, and his eyes fluttered close.


I was left to my own devices
Many days fell away with nothing to show

She had a strange desire to laugh. It’s not the blade that will get you, it’s the poison. Was that even a saying? She was pretty sure it wasn’t. But it was true enough. At least, it would be for her.

The blade, a mere dart, not even a proper vibroblade, was in Mara’s thigh. At least, she thought it was. The truth was she couldn’t feel it. She couldn’t feel her legs at all. Soon she wouldn’t be able to feel her torso. Her arms, her head, her…

Don’t think about that now. Don’t spend your last seconds of life thinking about death. Instead think about life. Think about Luke, think about Ben. If you close your eyes, they can be right here with you.


Oh where do we begin?
The rubble or our sins?

There was so much to atone for. So, so much. And mere seconds to do the atoning. Could he apologize, could he explain? Was there anything he could do to make it better, to fix even a small part of the harm he created?

With the glowing blade, his sister’s blade, bearing down on him, Jacen had only one choice. To close his eyes, to reach out, to touch the ones he loved one last time.


But if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?

In that moment, in that touch, Jacen remembered that he had loved and he had been loved. That could never change.

When Mara saw them for that final moment, it was as though the war had never happened. It was just her, and Luke, and Ben. A family, forever.

As he drifted away, Anakin felt warmth. It started in his heart, in his mind. Soon it enveloped his soul. Dying to save those he loved, that was something that would never be forgotten.


And if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?

And then it was over. In a moment, a careless flick of an unseen wrist, the galaxy had ended.

Jaina opened her eyes. The room was dark. Everyone was piled on and around the living room couch. They were watching a holovid. Three others stirred. Aunt Mara interlaced her fingers with Uncle Luke’s. Anakin inched closer to Tahiri. And Jacen turned toward her. At first he had the strangest look on his face, but it soon resolved into a lop-sided grin.

I just had the worst dream, he silently spoke to her.

Wrong. It couldn’t possibly have been worse than mine, she silently replied.

I guess we’ll never know. He winked at her and focused once again on the viewscreen.

He was right about that. There was no sense in comparing the dreams—who would want to relive the horror?

She turned to the screen and saw two characters embracing, alone against the darkness of the void. She shook her head, mentally chastising herself. For a moment she’d thought the ridiculous dream might have been real. How silly could she be, to think that the world was ending when she could feel the warmth, hear the steady rhythm of reality all around her?

She settled back against Jag and closed her eyes. The holovid wasn’t very good. But the moment—being here, surrounded by all those she loved—was nothing short of perfect.

 

Intense and great use of the lyrics. Then the final scene. Family and lovers all together. SQUEEEEEE!

 

This was the one that really struck me; it has that disbelieving feeling of an injury that hasn't sunk in yet.

Liked their mysterious awakening to a less messed-up world after all the destruction. Probably best if they let their strange nightmares go. (Regarding the old EU, I'm also a bit melancholy about all the characters we might not see again -- though they can "live" on in fanfic as long as the readers remember them.)

 

I ship this sentiment. However bittersweet, it's really the best way to make peace with the situation, since at the end of the day, it's all fiction anyway.

Still...if only, Tarsier. If only.

 

Oh, this was lovely - very affecting!