Star Wars_ The Old Republic_ Revan - Drew Karpyshyn [132]
“I think about him a lot,” she answered.
“So do I,” her son admitted. “I wonder what he’d say to me if we ever meet.”
“He’d tell you he was proud of you,” Bastila assured him.
“You don’t think he’d be disappointed that I never joined the Jedi Order?”
Bastila shook her head. “You’ve done too much in your life to have those kinds of regrets,” she told him. “The Jedi are guardians and protectors of the galaxy, but these past fifty years we’ve needed so much more. The Republic had to rebuild. We needed leaders to unite us, to help us work together. You saw that need, and you filled it.”
Her son laughed. “You sound like my campaign manager. Vote Vaner Shan for Supreme Chancellor!”
Bastila shook her head. “You joke, but if you wanted that post you could have it.”
“I’ll get back to you on that.”
“Besides,” she added after a moment’s thought, “if you were a Jedi you never could have married Emess.”
“When we first met, you said she was too young for me,” he reminded her.
“I’m older and wiser now,” she said.
“Aren’t we all?”
They were quiet for a few more minutes before Vaner asked another question. “Do you think he’s still alive?”
“I don’t know,” Bastila admitted. “If he is, why didn’t he come back? On the other hand, there are times when I think I can still sense his presence, like he’s reaching out to me from somewhere far away.”
Vaner smiled, but didn’t say anything.
“You think your old mother’s going senile, don’t you?”
“Sometimes the Force is a little hard to understand.”
“You’d better get used to it,” she told him. “It’s in your blood. I can already sense it in those kids of yours.”
“I guess it skips a generation,” Vaner said with a soft laugh.
After a few more minutes of silence he spoke again; it was a question Bastila had expected to hear for many years.
“Do you ever wish he had stayed with you instead?”
“I miss your father every day of my life,” she said, “but I never once thought that.”
“Why not?”
“Revan knew there was something out there—something that threatened the Republic. Maybe something that threatened the entire galaxy. He went to stop it, and I know he succeeded.”
“How can you know that?”
“Because you and I are here talking about this,” she said. “We haven’t been wiped out by war, or turned into refugees. The galaxy hasn’t come to some kind of horrific end. Whatever Revan did, he made it possible for you and me to live our lives without fear and hardship. And for that, I will always be grateful.”
She reached out and placed a wrinkled hand on each of her son’s cheeks, pulling him in close and kissing him softly on the head.
“I better go check on Emess and the kids,” he said, standing up.
“Of course,” she said, waving her hand. “Go, go. I’ll just stay here on the couch and have a little nap.”
Her son headed off to the guest room in the back, and Bastila closed her eyes, quickly drifting into sleep. As always, she dreamed of Revan.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DREW KARPYSHYN is the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Darth Bane: Path of Destruction and its sequel, Star Wars: Darth Bane: Rule of Two. He also wrote the acclaimed Mass Effect series of novels and is an award-winning writer/designer of videogames for BioWare. After spending most of his life in Canada, he finally grew tired of the long, cold winters and headed south in search of a climate more conducive to year-round golf. He now lives in Texas with his wife, Jennifer, and their cat.
ALSO BY DREW KARPYSHYN
Baldur’s Gate II: Throne of Bhaal
Temple Hill
Mass Effect: Revelation
Mass Effect: Ascension
Star Wars: Darth Bane: Path of Destruction
Star Wars: Darth Bane: Rule of Two
Star Wars: Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil
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