Title: The Jedi's Ghost

Author: Mary Alexander

Rating: PG

Setting: Post-ROTJ

Catagory: Drama

Summary: A young Jedi student is killed and Moire is asked to help.

Disclaimer: I wouldn't dream of asking anyone for money for this one...it was just a dream, not a serious thought. The world, the X-wing, the Jedi, and Luke don't belong to me...much as I might want a couple of them. :)

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By Mary Alexander

Moiré was rocked by the news.

"It happened late last night/early this morning. We don't know who did it, or why, but I'll be sure to let you know when we have more information."

"It doesn't matter, I have to go. She was my friend as well as a colleague. Well, the daughter of a friend, but still someone I am connected to. I must be there."

"I understand, we will be expecting you then. Go to the private apartments. She was in one of them--but there are others. May the Force be with you." The communication was over. She stared at the blank screen for a while in a state on the verge of shock, but pulled out of it quickly and readied herself to leave.

She wanted to just teleport there and claim justice for herself before anyone could do anything, but she was in no state for that. She went through the motions of flight prep, her ship was loaded and ready at all times in case she needed to leave in a hurry, so it didn't take much concentration to set up the last minute details. Soon her antique X-Wing fighter was in the air and gone, she made the calculations for the jump to hyperspeed and was gone in the absolute minimum time it took. Her astromech droid would take care of everything until they got there. Soon her breathing and heart rate dropped dramatically, her metabolism slowed to a crawl, and time passed around her without any thought in her mind that she would ever recall. She thought of it as being put on standby, but most others thought of is--and called it--a meditative trance. To her it meant the same thing--she was out of it for now.

The landing was routine, which was good since her body was still running on autopilot. She hadn't given herself the chance to feel it yet, there was too much she had to do. Technicians exclaimed over the pristine condition of her vehicle, but it brought her no pleasure or amusement as it usually did. She walked the mile or so under the hot desert sun to the hotel she would stay at. She walked to the front desk, still holding her own suitcase in her left hand and a purse over her right shoulder. She wouldn't let anyone take them, and they knew better than to offer her.

"I am Moiré," she announced.

The lady behind the counter nodded and offered a sympathetic smile. "There are a couple of rooms occupied right now, but most are empty. She was on the first floor when it happened."

Moiré gave a curt nod of acknowledgment and then walked to the private apartments with building apprehension. She had never been over the spot where someone she knew had been murdered. What would it feel like? She kept an eye open and looked for signs of what had happened. Local police markings, blood stains, something like that--but there was nothing she could see. She decided to choose a room on the first floor, near where she needed to be. The first door she came to was slightly apart from the other rooms, it jutted out from the rest of the building with it's room forming a "Y" shaped hall leading to the other rooms. There was another apartment further down that did the same to contribute to the other part of the "Y".

She almost chose that first door, but something stirred within as she reached for it. She felt pulled to an inside room at the end of the left-hand corridor. As she entered she breathed a sigh of relief. That other room must have been it. The Force had guided her away from that other room where a brutal murder had taken place.

She didn't realize she had blacked out until a voice called her back to herself. "Do you know where this is?" Luke kneeled on one knee next to her, leaning against the side of the bed. She didn't move for a moment, and he said, "Do you realize where you are?" Her head shot up and she looked in his eyes with a shocked expression.

"This is it." She had wanted to avoid the place where the murder had happened for a while, at least until she could rest and clean up, but she hadn't been given a choice.

"I told you she was good," he said to the people standing behind them. He stood up carefully, respectfully, and helped Moiré to rise. She looked at the room with new eyes and realized how much time had passed. By the lighting it was early evening, just before sunset, but when she had arrived it had been high noon. What had happened with all that time?

Everyone began to file out of the room, Moiré was resting on Luke's arm, and then she stumbled as a pain that didn't hurt filled every inch of her. Ghost pain, she thought as she clutched her friend and teacher for support. It cleared for a moment.

"Leave me," Moiré commanded them all. She felt a presence filled with hate, anger, pain, and confusion. She didn't wait to see if her order was obeyed, but was too busy keeping her own head above water as everything assumed an aspect of darkness around her.

"When you died you were almost a Jedi, and I am Jedi too." Moiré said this both out loud and in her heart. "Join me, I can help you."

Moiré saw the form and face of the murdered girl before her. It was the same mane of blond hair, the same regal and commanding bearing she had had in life, but it was trembling with barely suppressed rage. She said nothing, but only listened to what Moiré had to say.

"Help me find out who would do such a thing to you and on my honor as a Jedi Knight I will see justice done."

"I will leave with you then," the ghost replied. Her soul attached to Moiré’s, it was the start of a long process. Moiré had to see justice done by solving a Jedi student's murder while pulling the poor soul back from the dangerous edge of the dark side.