Fragments of Memories: Prologue

A/N: Fragments of Memories is a set of short stories told from the point of view of many different characters. It does not matter in which order you read them, as they are not published in chronological order anyway.

----

"What is there to say? I wrote a speech, but now when I stand here the words seem hollow. Words will not bring her back, nor will they bring back any of those she killed. Words cannot restore peace, nor can they undo the damage she brought upon the Galaxy. In the end, words mean nothing.

"I guess I could speak of what Revan meant for me. I could say I will always think of her as a hero in every sense of the word and as an incarnation of all that the Jedi code stands for. I could state my fear that Revan will always be remembered from her dark deeds, and I could try to defend her actions; try to explain that she was, in fact, a human and that humans make mistakes. I could even go as far as to say Revan never truly was on the dark side - that all she did of was because of some kind of necessity or for a greater good - though in that case, I would be only be deceiving myself.

"I am not here to say any of that. It is not my intent to tell you how to feel - whatever my personal feelings, everyone has the right to their opinions. My words cannot change them, nor do I wish them to.

"I loved Revan. I am no longer afraid to openly admit it. I would have died for her, if she had let me, though perhaps that is only because I know it would have been easier for me if I had.

"I was there when she died. I watched her life fade away, and there was nothing I could do. No-- no, I keep telling myself that, but that is not the truth. I could have saved her, but I let her die. Many of you would ask why. It is a question I ask myself countless of times a day. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but it was not my decision to make. In the end, I could not bring myself to hurt her further, because at those last moments, Revan made me realize something.

"They say that at the moment of your death, your whole life flashes before your eyes. This is what happened to Revan, and I was there to see it. She used our bond to make me see through her eyes, and I saw it all, from the moment of her birth to the day when she became one with the Force. It is this that made me understand our memories shape us - they make us what we are.

"Many, myself included, take this for granted, but Revan never had this; when her memories flashed before my eyes, most of them were as new to her as they were to me. Revan had friends she cared about, friends she loved, and friends who loved her back, but she never had a life - not in the same way we have. Without her memories, her life was a constant struggle between past and present, and between truth and lies.

"Now when she is gone, I feel we should keep a moment of silence to look back on our lives, our memories - of Revan and of everything else - for I feel respecting our own memories is the least we can do to respect hers."

- Jedi Master Bastila Shan