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                          CELEBRATION.

     The morning dawned just like any other day.  Rays of sunlight
streaking across the glittering city below, causing the entire
planet to gleam like the jewel it was named for.
     Yet through all that beauty, there was always the disturbing
reminder of the price.  And the fear that lurked, that terrible,
paralysing fear of betrayal and death.  One wrong step could send
even the most innocent person spiralling downwards, turned into a
plaything for the evil ones.
     Nic awoke as the shimmering lights danced across her eyes.  It
was to be another long day in the city of so many wonders, and so
many sorrows.  She sighed, and then gasped as the last fragments of
a dream were suddenly remembered.  She had seen things, undefinable
images that she couldn't quite capture, but it had been so
important...to dream, to dream of the future.  Which Nic often did. 
She came from a line of strong dreamers, those who could see things
throughout time, and Nic half-closed her eyes again, struggling to
remember.  She had seen someone - one who was very important to the
fate of the entire galaxy.  
     And a change was coming.  Suddenly, Nic knew that, surer than
she knew her own name.  On this day, one day out of a thousand
ordinary days, something was going to happen.

     Things had been a little better recently.  For almost a week,
*he* had been gone.  Nothing was said, of course, but somehow,
everyone knew.  When *he* wasn't here, the storms did not rise as
often, nor did the nights seem as black.  People smiled and traces
of real happiness could light up their eyes, and they weren't so
afraid of being caught.  
     Not that it was illegal to smile.  It was just that suspicion
ran rampant throughout every tiny crack and crevice of the great
structures that extended deep into the planet's core, 
     And then there was the depression.  No one quite knew how it
worked, but somehow, a dark energy seeped from the great fortress
that was *his* home and managed to subdue any joy in the people
living across the planet.
     Nic shivered, thinking of the castle.  And of the statue - the
statue was even worse.  She would swear that it was looking at her
sometimes, and could feel the power of those evil eyes.  The power
that could bend minds to do *his* will.  
     If only, wished Nic, if only the people would band together. 
They could overcome the oppression, and Nic had heard that even the
troops weren't that strong.  There were rumours of a rebellion,
whispers that the evil could be defeated if only they would try.
     But that was never going to happen here, on Coruscant, the
homeworld of the Galactic Empire that threatened to destroy them
all.
     Nic went through the motions of getting ready for work. 
Dressing herself in the standard uniform, she proceeded to the
trade centre for hours of processing tourist datacards.  She hated
her job, but reasoned to herself that it was only temporary. 
Someday, she would be accepted into the Galactic Exploration Guild
and truly fulfil her destiny - to learn what lay beyond the edge of
the galaxy.  
     Yet those days seemed as if they would never come.  

     Nic wearily reached the end of her shift.  There was a
tingling throughout her body.  Something was about to happen,
something big... She stepped out into the sunlight and sharply drew
in a breath.  There was a scream - not corporeal, but a psychic
scream that echoed across the cosmos into the core of every
sentient being.
     She clutched her head.  Everywhere, across the planet, across
the entire universe, people were doing the same thing.  Emotions
were running high - the confusion, the emptiness, and for many,
there was the absolute terror of realising that society as all knew
it was about to crumble.
     The universe itself *shifted*.  And in mere moments,
everything had changed.  
     The evening sunlight somehow grew more brilliant.  Instead of
a sadness-tinged red of blood and tears, the light was more yellow,
more full of promise.  People stood taller, turning their faces to
the sky.  There was an apprehension in the air, and everything
paused.  They were waiting...waiting...because they all *knew* that
something major had occurred.  
     Even a squadron of Stormtroopers, so often immovable from
their duty, had stopped.  Everything stopped.  Until the first
cries of disbelief, or of joy, began to transmit across the
infinite boundaries of space and reached Coruscant.
     "The Emperor's dead!"  
     Nic gasped.  She *knew* it was true, for she could feel it. 
Around her, their very society was crumbling.  People began to
surge onto the streets as the news spread, faster and faster, more
information coming to them all the time.
     "The Emperor is dead!"  "Darth Vader is dead!"  "The Death
Star was destroyed!"
     Another Death Star?  Nic shivered, but a smile reached the
corners of her mouth.  That meant - that the Rebel Alliance had
won!  
     "The Emperor is gone!" heralded another cry from the street. 
Laughing, Nic joined the growing crowd as people poured from every
building, emerged from every tunnel, and became part of one huge
party celebrating the return of the light.
     *He* was dead.  
     Those in powerful positions could no longer keep control. 
Fear spread throughout those who were allied with the dark side,
and the others were finally set free.  For many years the Emperor's
malevolent presence had cast a shadow over all of Coruscant.  His
very essence had penetrated the souls of each person, allowing him
to keep command through a form of mind control.
     But he was gone, and so was his power.  Thousands of once-
loyal Imperial troops ran, some far away from the sunlight in fear,
but most others outside to join the celebration.
     Nic laughed exuberantly.  Songs were being played now, and
people were singing.  There were screams of joy and happiness
echoing through every street of every level of the great
megalopolis that covered Coruscant, and Nic allowed the laughter to
carry her along.
     She passed Monument Square, and noticed the stark bald rock
was still being respected even at this time.  She passed the
Emperor's palace, and shivered.  She came to the statue.
     By now, streamers and confetti were everywhere.  It was a
celebration of gargantuan proportions, and even fireworks decorated
the sky.  Someone grabbed Nic and hugged her joyfully, another
pulled her in the direction of a strange, jubilant dance.  
     Only one shadow loomed over everything.  The last vestige of
the Emperor, his legacy, the statue.
     And in the craziness of the moment, Nic shouted, "Let's pull
it down!"
     Almost instantaneously, ropes and chains appeared and were
lassoed around the statue's head.  "Heave!" the cry went up.  And
they did - thousands of people banding together to destroy all
traces of the Emperor.  Some did it out of hatred.  Some did it
merely for the moment.  And there were others, like Nic, who
participated with a sense of euphoria and completion.
     The oppression was over.  And as the statue finally toppled,
it seemed as if all of Coruscant, and the galaxy, was singing one
song of joy and hope and peace as they danced to the new tune of
freedom.
     It was a celebration.

     Half a galaxy away, on the forest moon of Endor, Luke
Skywalker joined his friends, listening to the songs of the Ewoks
and feeling safe, and loved.  He was a part of them.  And a part of
his father was now with him.  
     He closed his eyes, thinking of all the places he had been, of
everything that had happened since he joined Obi-Wan merely three
years ago.  Mos Eisley, Hoth, Dagobah and Cloud City...he'd seen so
much!
     And then a new picture came to him - of Coruscant - and a
young woman who was dancing in celebration.  He could see her
throwing back her head in laughter, and happiness danced in her
soulful eyes.  For a moment, they were connected...
     And then the music of life swept them both along into their
respective worlds once again.  
     Yet still, the entire galaxy *was* one in celebration.  
     It would be a day long remembered by all.  






-Nic, 2 July 1997.  The day after the STAR WARS trilogy, on the big
screen, in a row.  For the first time.