Hoth: Blood and Ice

Layne was in her ship, actually cleaning the place up. Sort of. Mostly she was just busy trying to find all the stray bits of expired candy that had gotten *everywhere* back when they'd crashlanded on Hoth. There was no real *reason* to, of course, it was really just a way to keep busy. Pass the time between the last attack and the next which would undoubtedly come sooner rather than later.

"There..." she mumbled to herself, crawling underneath a table to reach for one of the accursed pieces.

As she reached under the table a cool peaceful feeling settled on the craft.

There was no change in temperature… nor noticeable change in the circulation of the air…

Something was different…

She sensed it, and reacted by trying to stand up to see what was going on.

Which ensured the top of her head came into a sudden and painful kind of contact with the bottom of the table's surface.

"Ow... motherkriffing... stupid table..."

A voice a short distance away spoke gently, “Who is the more stupid… the table or the woman who bangs her head against it?”

Near a corner the image of her old rival appeared.

She caught sight of him from the corner of her eyes, but didn't say anything. She just sighed, slowly removed herself from beneath the table. Slowly stood up. Took in another slow breath...

...then punched him.

Well, punched the air, probably.

"You don't get to lecture me on stupidity, Torsin," she said, with another sigh.

He was in a different corner when the punch flew through the air.

“Lecturing wasn’t ever my strong suit. You were always the more long-winded one…. Once you got started.”

"Just my luck," she shook her head and rolled her eyes, "I only ever figured out how to excorcise dark side ghosts. So... do I *need* to be long-winded about how you got stupid in the end, or can I assume becoming a ghost served as a good enough lesson?"

She moved through him and plopped herself down onto the couch, looking at him.

“Of all the decisions in my life… This one was one of the less ‘stupid’ ones.” He replied simply.

"Yes yes," she waved him off, "You got to help Luth... it's great and all... but... don't you think she'd have preferred you to *live*?"

“We can’t always get everything we want in life… But we learn to accept the choices we make. Honesty with ourselves leads to that acceptance. And we see meaning even in the things that cause us sorrow.” He replied.

"Yeah, well... I recognize that you've accepted the choice you made, but since it was a stupid-ass choice I've elected to reject it."

Layne put her feet up, at that.

"A lot of people would be better off with you still alive," she said, "You could've at least had the decency to only *pretend* to die, like I did."

“And there will be those who I will continue to help… None of us are ever really gone…” He paused for a moment.


“Is that grief that I detect in these responses Layne?” He asked.

"Yeah. It's really sad Baras is gone," she said, deadpan.

“You get to keep the brother though. And no more rival to annoy you.” He replied.

“Seems like everything is going your way in the end.”

"You stopped being my rival a long time ago, Syl," she said.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there."

“You were where you needed to be Layne. My death isn’t on your hands.” He replied.

She was quiet for a bit.

"So... what's it like being a ghost? Have the other spirits started bullying you yet?"

“I think they’re too afraid of me. Not many good guys from the Empire. I need to get myself some brown robes I guess.” He replied.

“And the whole omniscience thing is nice…”

"Nope, not falling for that. You're not omniscient," she said, rolling her eyes, "Remember, you're not my first ghost."

He smiled and nodded.

“The galaxy will need your light Layne… don’t be so eager to cover it up.”

"I'm not covering anything up," she said, shrugging. "Besides, only the Dark Side answers my call now. Getting back to the Light will be a challenge. I'll do it *only* so I can then stop falling into this trap we're all stuck in. This black and white thinking that keeps tripping us up."

He nodded.

"The Force will answer when you are calm... at peace. Perhaps it is only the Dark that answers now because... it's the only one you're patient enough to wait for. The world is always going to be grey Layne... trying to make it all white or all black was never going to work. But remember how you felt as you've touched the deepest dark... and follow that which feels right. It'll lead you out of the Dark... And to somewhere where you feel you fit."

"Part of you must really love being a ghost," she said, absent-mindedly unwrapping one of the pieces of candy she'd scooped up.

"You get to sound all deep and mystical and stuff, and nobody can throw you out because you can just float right back in."

She placed the piece of candy in her mouth and instantly spat it out once she remembered she'd bought them back during the Bankor campaign.

"Great. Now I'm going to have to go find *that* one again."

“I can always go.” He replied.

“You look like you’ll be fine without my ‘guiding eye’.”

"Yeah, I think I'll be fine. Unless I die, of course... How *does* one become a ghost, anyway? You know, all this time, I never thought to ask grandma about it."