The celebration that greeted Wila’s election spilled out into the streets. City people and hill people joined in cheers and song. Though Gala had been in danger of revolt, they had achieved a peaceful transition of power.
There was nothing left for the Jedi to accomplish on Gala. Qui-Gon was also concerned about the news that Xanatos had been involved in doings on the planet. His former apprentice must know by now that Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were the Jedi who had been sent as guardians of the peace. His old enemy could come in search of him. Qui-Gon could not endanger the peace on Gala. It was better to disappear into the galaxy.
Qui-Gpn went to the Queen’s chambers for his last audience. He found the Queen standing at the window looking out over Galu. She wore a dark blue robe of shimmersilk. She wore no jewels, and her long hair was braided simply. The signs of illness still dimmed her beauty, but Qui-Gon saw new signs of health in the slight color of her cheeks and the clearness of her eyes.
“I have been granted something unique, Qui-Gon, and something I did not expect,” she said. “I will be alive to see my legacy play out. Beju will find a better life.” She gave a rueful smile. “He doesn’t realize it quite yet, but I have no doubt of it. Gala will be free and at peace.”
“I spoke to Elan,” Qui-Gon said. “She is returning to the mountains, but she’s forged a bond with Wila. I don’t think she’ll isolate herself so completely again.”
“I, too, spoke to Elan,” the Queen said. “She’s a remarkable young woman. She hasn’t agreed to take the name Tallah, but she’s considering it. She’d add it to her parents’ name, of course. Stubborn to the last.”
“And Jono?” Qui-Gon asked. “Obi-Wan is concerned about him.”
“Even though Jono betrayed him,” the Queen said. “It is good for all of us to forgive. Jono will be punished - or at least the boy will see it as punishment. He is being sent back to his family and will learn farming. He’ll be like everyone else now.”
“And perhaps he will learn something about the uses of freedom,” Qui-Gon observed.
“I hope so,” the Queen agreed quietly. “I hope we all do.” She studied Qui-Gon for a moment. “Things have ended well. You’ve accomplished your mission. Yet you seem sad.”
“I do feel sadness,” Qui-Gon admitted. “I’ve tried to understand why. Sometimes our own hearts can be such a mystery.”
The Queen nodded. “Just ask Beju,” she said. “My son is just beginning to understand himself.”
“I have been thinking of what I will leave behind when I die,” Qui-Gon said. “I travel from world to world. My connection to each is so fleeting. What is my legacy?”
The Queen smiled. She extended her arms to take in the city of Galu below them. Outside, Qui-Gon saw people heading to work, gathering in the squares, talking on street corners. It was a peaceful, busy scene.
“This,” she said gently.
She said nothing more. But Qui-Gon understood every nuance of her meaning. For the first time since he’d landed on Gala, resolution beat again inside him, steady and strong. As a Jedi, he left behind justice and honor. It didn’t matter if his footsteps would disappear, or if years from now no one on Gala remembered that two Jedi had helped to ensure a peaceful transition for their planet.
They would remember peace, and that was enough.
And he had Obi-Wan. With every mission, he was more convinced that his Padawan would become extraordinary, even among the Jedi. What he taught would live on. That was legacy enough.
And certainly, there were still more legacies to be found.
Qui-Gon had been with the Queen for some time now. Obi-Wan sat in the Council Chamber with Elan and Beju. The two did not speak to each other. Viso had asked both of them to meet him in the chamber. Obi-Wan wondered what the Council member was planning. Viso entered the room. He threw back his hood and looked at them with his miiky blue eyes, eyes that couldn’t see but still knew where to look.
“Thank you for coming,” he told them. “I want to show you something. You too, Obi-Wan.”
They followed him into the blue-waJled antechamber. Viso directed Elan to stand in the middle of the middle square.
As soorv as her feet hit the mark, the power source in the walls began to glow. Beams of light shot out. Elan’s silver hair picked up the lights, making a silver-blue halo around her intent face. The golden beams suddenly surrounded her, whirling faster and faster. Then they diffracted into an explosion of dancing light. Elan appeared to glow. And then, Obi-Wan saw it. The outline of a crown fell on her heart.