Reflections of a Son

by Michelle Lunsford
~ ~ ~ ~

Sundry sounds crept into his consciousness.
Like the cold, barren wind on which they rode.
Signs of life, in the creation all around.
Yet in his mind he is alone. Forever alone.
This anniversary, bringing reminders, a pain never forgotten.
A young boy's eternal longing...

"I wish I'd known him."

He'd had a family. Not like others had families, but a family nonetheless.
The only family he'd ever known - because the true family he'd never known.
Then, the family was lost.
The eternal longing becomes transformed.
Now, a young boy's eternal pledge...

"I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father."

In time, the family was rebuilt.
A friend, like a brother.
Someone to harass him. Someone to look out for him.
Someone to search through blinding snows for him.
A friend, like a...?
Something is there, but not yet known.
Someone to comfort him. Someone to worry over him.
Someone to change his world with only a smile.
Two someones, for whom to risk everything.
And to face the antithesis of all he'd ever known...

Life is a lie. Everything is lost...

"No. That's not true. That's impossible!"

Nothing makes sense!
Don't understand!
Truth?
Lies?
The father not betrayed, but the son.
Only wanting to have known him. Only wanting to be like him.
Only wanting to hear him call his name...

"Luke--"

"Father?"

Time weaves a spell, working its mysterious medicine.
A quest is reborn.
Beyond all destiny, irony strikes - in a love remembered.
How can he destroy the one for which he has always longed?
Truth, once used for destruction, becomes a way to salvation...

"I have accepted the truth that you were once Anakin Skywalker, my father."

Once upon a past, a boy dreamed of knowing him.
Now into the present, the man dares to know him still.

"Come with me."

But sadness and loss will not be denied.
A final declaration. It is too late.
Hopeless for the one.
Yet, perhaps, hope for the other still...

"Then my father is truly dead."

The final attempt.
An act of desperation to claim the son at the father's side.
But love will not be defeated. Salvation will work its victory.
The friend, now the sister, will not be lost.
And the once spoken eternal pledge will see its fulfillment...

"I am a Jedi, like my father before me."

Sundry sounds echo once again.
Signs of life, in the creation all around.
A sigh escapes him.
This anniversary, bringing reminders, a love never forgotten.
A father reclaimed.
And in his soul he is no longer alone. Never alone.