Mark of the Phoenix
Gabby snored softly as she lay fast asleep in her bed. She stirred as she heard whispering.
"How is this possible?"
"Has this ever happened before?"
"I don't know."
"I don't think so"
Those were some of the things Gabby could make out as she started opening her eyes and looked at the clock on her bedside table. 10:00 a.m.
Gabby rubbed her eyes and started to get herself up.
"I overslept!" Gabby gasped. But then she looked at her cell phone. "Oh, it's Saturday. Phew!"
"Did anyone know she was going to do this?" said Padme.
"I had no clue." Qui-Gon said.
Gabby hid herself under her blanket as she tried to remember what happened. At the moment, the last thing she recalled was beginning to cast a spell.
Approximately 10 hours ago...
Gabby repeated the chant over and over again; the same chant she and her friends recited together to revive Qui-Gon the year prior.
To her knowledge, no one had ever cast this spell singlehandedly because it was incredibly difficult to cast, required exceptionally powerful magic, and a very rare few Enchanteds have ever had both the physical and mental strength to do it just once.
And in this case, it was even harder because Gabby had to concentrate even harder to keep the portal open while entering to find the one she sought.
She entered the portal and found herself in what looked like an enchanted forest. It was quiet. Too quiet.
"Hello...?" Gabby called out, only hearing her own echo. "Anyone here? My name is Gabriella Skywalker. I'm here to bring you back."
Gabby looked around some more. No one seemed to be there. And then, Gabby heard a voice.
"Hello?" The voice said.
Gabby looked around and caught a glimpse of someone emerging from the trees. A woman she'd seen in the very visions that revealed her father as not an only child.
The girl couldn't believe her eyes. She wondered if this was how her father and uncles felt when they'd entered the portal that led them to Qui-Gon's spirit.
Gabby took a couple of slow steps toward the woman and stood there in her tracks. The woman also slowly approached the girl.
"Who are you?" the woman asked.
"I..." Gabby began, a little nervous. Even she didn't think this could be possible, and yet here she was, seeing her grandmother's face in person.
"I'm... I'm Gabriella Skywalker. Firstborn daughter of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, Prince of Solaris. And your granddaughter."
"How are you here?" the woman asked, getting a good look at her granddaughter. "My Ani... he's really your father?"
"Yes. He is. And he really misses you. So does Uncle Carmine, your other son."
"You know my other baby?"
"Yes, and he wants to know you more than anything." Gabby said. "if you come with me now, we can both make his wish come true. You have more grandchildren too. I have brothers and a sister, and a cousin from Daddy's side. We all have special gifts of our own, and our family keeps growing. It would mean a lot if you could be a part of it with us."
Shmi seemed hesitant, however. But Gabby held out her hand to her as she was beginning to feel the spell give way.
"I don't have much time. I need to know now. Will you come with me?" Gabby asked.
Shmi reached out to her granddaughter, and soon there was a big flash of white light.
Now...
Gabby remembered now. The spell, but had it worked was her question.
And that was when she heard footsteps. Gabby pretended to still be asleep, when her blanket was gently pulled down from over her.
"Gabby...?" Padme said quietly. "Are you awake?"
Gabby slowly opened her eyes and said, "I am now."
"Are you okay? You were found passed out in the yard."
"Yes, Mommy. I'm fine." Gabby said, rubbing her eyes.
"Sweetie, we need to talk to you about something important."
"Can I get dressed first?"
"Sure."
Padme left the room so Gabby could change, but when Gabby was changing shirts, she found a mark on her chest. A mark shaped like a little phoenix. The spell must have worked!
Gabby used magic to finish dressing up and rushed out of her room, where she bumped into her brother.
"Gabby, are you okay?" Boba asked, looking his sister over.
"I'm fine, Big Brother." Gabby said. She looked around. "Where are Daddy, Grandpa, and Uncle Carmine? I thought I heard them out here."
In another room stood Qui-Gon and his twin sons. They all had tears in their eyes as they looked at a form laying in the bed.
Shmi Skywalker.
Anakin couldn't believe this. If he wasn't shocked when Gabby and her friends cast the spell to bring Qui-Gon back to life last year, he was definitely flabbergasted now. So were Carmine and Qui-Gon. They couldn't believe this was possible.
Hours ago...
It was around midnight, and everyone was fast asleep, dreaming their peaceful dreams. Anakin was no exception. Even with the war over, sleeping was not always easy now that he had baby twins to take care of. But at least he didn't have as many nightmares as he did before.
But Anakin was woken up from his dreamland by one of the baby monitors. Two separate monitors; one for each twin. Blue for Luke, pink for Leia. This time, it was the blue one.
And Anakin, being a good husband, knew how tired Padme was after giving birth. So, he didn't hesitate to climb out of bed to go take care of the babies. Of course, he wouldn't leave without planting a kiss on his wife's head.
Anakin went to the nursery, and sure enough, Luke was crying.
"Shh. There now, Luke." Anakin cooed, stroking the hair on his son's little head. "Daddy's here."
Luke continued crying though.
"What's the matter, baby?"
Anakin gently picked the baby boy up and held him close. Luke wasn't hungry. But apparently, he did need a diaper change.
Anakin talked to Luke as he changed his diaper, like he used to for Gabby when she was a baby.
"There we go." smiled Anakin, buttoning Luke's onesie back up. "All better."
Luke gripped his father's finger and sucked on it, that same look of awe in his big blue eyes as Gabby held in her eyes when she looked at Anakin for the very first time.
Anakin couldn't help but smile as he looked at his baby boy. He had a second chance to be a father, not that he wasn't a good father to Gabby. He raised her as best he could, and always did what he felt best to protect her and make her happy. But for the first two years of her life, he had to do it while keeping secrets. This time, he would raise his children without hiding his relation to them.
Anakin gently kissed Luke's head.
"I love you so much." Anakin said, looking into Luke's eyes. "I'm going to raise you the way you deserve. Someday, you just might be the next greatest Jedi Master."
Anakin rocked Luke back to sleep and placed him back into his crib. He then walked over to Leia's and saw her sleeping like a baby. She looked just like Gabby as a baby. Her father was gently stroking her soft hair, when he noticed a light forming outside from the window. He quickly, but quietly closed the curtains so the light wouldn't wake the babies, but then he got a peek outside and saw it was coming from the backyard. It wasn't from the sun rising; that light was magic!
Magic to cast a very powerful spell!
Concerned, Anakin made his way to the yard, and he heard chanting. He went to the yard and got ready to cast a spell if it was someone dangerous. But when he got there, all he saw was a bright flash of light.
And when the light faded away, Anakin looked to see...
"Gabby!" Anakin exclaimed, running over to his daughter.
Anakin gently rolled Gabby onto her back. She wasn't moving at all, barely breathing. Anakin checked her pulse and heartbeat. She was alive, but passed out. But he also noticed Gabby wasn't the only one out there. He saw someone else laying on the ground; someone who made Anakin gasp.
At that time, Carmine was also sleeping, when he was suddenly shaken awake. Literally.
"Carmine, wake up!" Anakin whisper yelled, shaking his brother by the shoulder.
"What?" Carmine groaned. He saw the time. "Anakin, it's one in the morning!"
Just because Carmine was used to late nights and very early mornings when he was on musical tours didn't mean he liked being woken up from his beauty sleep in the middle of the night.
"You need to come outside now." Anakin said. "It's important."
"Can't it wait until morning?" Carmine said, putting a pillow over his head. Frankly, he was surprised, Caroline could sleep through Anakin waking her husband.
"No, come on." Anakin used a vine to literally pull Carmine out of bed.
"Ow!" Carmine grunted.
Surprisingly, that still didn't wake Caroline.
"I swear, that woman could've slept through the Battle of Geonosis." Anakin said.
Anakin also went to his father's room and shook him awake.
"Dad!" Anakin whisper yelled. "Dad! Get up!"
"Is it time for breakfast already?" Qui-Gon yawned.
"Daddy, Anakin won't let me sleep." Carmine whined like a child, which tended to happen when he didn't get enough sleep. He practically passed out onto his father's bed, still tired after Anakin dragged him out of his room.
Qui-Gon looked at his clock, and was a little more awake now.
"What is so important you have to wake me up at one in the morning?" He asked.
"Come see for yourselves." Anakin said.
And after Anakin led them to the yard, the others were both shocked wide awake when they saw what came about.
Qui-Gon got a better look at the woman and recognized her very well.
"Shmi." he gasped, gently caressing his love's cheek.
"Wait a minute." Carmine said. He looked at the woman and was filled with total shock and disbelief. "Mom?"
"Gabby apparently cast that spell again." Anakin said, holding his daughter in his arms. "I don't know what led her to do this."
That was when everyone noticed the items Gabby brought out.
"Hey, my blanket." Carmine said, picking up the baby blanket.
"And my picture." Anakin said, picking up the photo.
And that was when Carmine noticed the ring and picked it up.
"What's this?"
"That's the ring I kept." Qui-Gon said, looking back at Shmi. "For your mother."
"You never told us you had that." Anakin said.
"That's a long story." Qui-Gon gently picked Shmi up bridal style and carried her in his arms. "For now, we best get these two inside and to bed until we can figure this out."
Present time...
"I still can't believe this." Carmine said. "I thought the Amorevo spell was near impossible to cast just once. No one's ever cast it twice."
"I know." Anakin said. "I knew Gabby had powerful magic, but not that powerful. Somehow, her magic got strong enough to do it again. And not that I'm not delighted to have my mother here again, but what led her to do this?"
Qui-Gon thought and thought and remembered something.
"Gabriella and I have been doing magical exercises for the last few days. In order to ensure her magic would be strong enough to cast the restoration spell that would rebuild the temple. She must have hypothesized that if she cast a more powerful spell, it would ensure her magic would be at its strongest."
"And what's the strongest spell she's ever cast?" Carmine asked, already knowing the answer.
"That's part of the reason I cast it." Gabby said, walking in.
"Gabriella!" Anakin gasped, immediately rushing in to hug his daughter. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?! What the heck were you thinking?"
Gabby sat down and told her fatherly figures everything. She told them how she read about the spell and realized when she cast it for Qui-Gon, it affected him differently, and she got curious as to whether it was because he was a Jedi who mastered being one with the Force. And she noticed she also didn't get the phoenix mark others who cast the spell received. So, she thought long and hard, and chose her grandmother because she saw how heartbroken her grandfather was, knowing he'd gotten the chance to profess his love to Shmi and even proposed to her, but never got to marry her. And knowing how much her father missed her and her uncle never got to know her at all.
"I knew it was an even bigger risk casting it a second time." Gabby said. "I didn't make the decision lightly. And I cast a few other spells so I could do it by myself."
The guys couldn't believe all this.
Anakin decided to call the pediatrician and have Gabby checked out that afternoon.
Gabby was checked by the doctor, and she ruled that Gabby was definitely very healthy. The only change in her physically was the phoenix shaped mark by her chest. Anakin was glad knowing his daughter was okay, and very proud of her for being such a brave child.
But when they got back to the palace, they heard a lot of gossip going on among the Jedi. Word travelled fast that Gabby cast the Amorevo spell a second time.
"Word travels fast around here." Gabby said.
"Not much different than back at the Temple." Anakin said.
He looked at the time. Shmi might be awake by now, he figured. Anakin picked up his daughter and smiled at her.
"Let's go see how your grandmother is doing."
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen247.Pro