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For the second time that day, Luke was sent reeling in shock. He stared at Abeloth, at this being that had done so much harm to so many. Who had driven young Jedi mad, who had taken so many lives. This ancient, evil being of whom even Mara Jade was afraid.

And he knew her.

He suddenly, sickly understood why it was she had been able to touch him so profoundly, so tenderly, aboard the Jade Shadow. Why it had been so easy for him to confuse that contact, which should have been so reprehensible, with that of the loving touch of his mate.

Because he had once loved her with his whole heart and being. Loved her more than anything in the universe. Had once intended to breathe his last breath in her arms.

“Callista,” he whispered.

“I KNEW YOU WOULD KNOW ME,” THE CREATURE WHISPERED. HER GRAY eyes were bright, bright as stars, and they glistened with tears of joy. “You have always been able to know me. You knew me when my very essence was part of a ship. You knew me when it was in a body that was not my own, and even now, even here, you know me.”

Luke stared at her, his vision tunneling, blood thundering in his ears. Not since Darth Vader had uttered the terrible words, I am your father, had he been so shaken.

He couldn’t help it. He extended a hand, clasped hers, and they met in the Force.

Time stopped.

This thing was indeed Abeloth. Was the being who had slithered into his son’s mind when Ben was just a toddler. Was the instigator of mad Jedi, had turned plants to predators that attacked her enemies. Had destroyed Sinkhole Station and the hundreds of unfortunates who dwelt there. It was horrific, radiating dark-side energy, fueled by hatred and evil, by fear and by need and by loneliness. It represented everything Luke had dedicated his life to fighting.

It was also, inconceivably, impossibly, Callista.

This was no trick, no act. This was no illusion, to make him think of his lost love, to soften him so she could strike when his guard was down. That would be difficult enough to have to witness. But this really was Callista.

He had fallen in love with her when, at the time of her body’s death, her spirit had been woven into the dreadnought Eye of Palpatine. Callista’s physical self had been destroyed, but she had used her Force skills to merge with the vessel. There, she had spoken with Luke, had shared visions of her life with him through the Force. He had had dreams of her then, as he had aboard the Jade Shadow; dreams of her lying beside and behind him, her long, strong body pressing comfortingly into his. He’d fallen truly and deeply in love with a spirit, a soul. Later, his student Cray Mingla, for personal reasons of her own, had chosen to give her body to Callista, so that she and Luke could finally be together.

Still dazed, he recalled the description that Vestara had given of Abeloth: sometimes she had dark, thick, curly hair, such as Callista had had in her first life; sometimes she appeared with the short, honey-gold, stylish locks that Cray Mingla had worn.

Tears stung his eyes and his heart swelled with a bittersweet aching. Oh, it was her, it was his Callie, and the love he had once felt for her was still there, still sweet and warm and true.

In becoming human once again, Callista had lost her connection to the Force. She had learned that she could only touch the dark side, and they had parted ways long ago as she embarked on a journey to recover her Force powers.

He felt Callista affirming his thoughts, her essence washing over and around and through him, her love bright and true and strong, and the tears began to pour down his face. Luke leaned forward, pressing his forehead to hers.

She had come here, seeking answers, and found only the lonely, needy monster imprisoned at the heart of the Maw. The thing that had lured Jacen in, had damaged so many, had grown and fed and used Callista as it had used others before and since.

The warmth enveloping him chilled suddenly. He pulled back, just slightly, from her presence in the Force. Immediately,