No Goodbye
I can feel Luke dragging my broken body towards my shuttle. However, I just know I'm dying. I killed the Emperor, so I could save his life, however, that action irreversibly damaged my life support systems. Luke suddenly collapses, and I know that if he keeps trying to save me, he won't make it either, and that would make my sacrifice in vain.
"Luke," I say, "help me take this mask off."
I see the disbelief in his eyes. Then he says, "But you'll die."
"Nothing can stop that now. Just for once, let me look on you with my own eyes."
I see him nod slightly, then he slowly takes off my mask. I can see a brief look of surprise in his eyes as he sees my face for the first time, but I can see his eyes are the same startling blue as mine. I smile weakly at him, then say, "Now, go my son. Leave me."
He shakes his head, saying "No, you're coming with me. I'll not leave you here, I've got to save you."
I admire his determination, and even though I'm not going to live much longer, I'm touched by it, despite the terrible things I've done, my son loves me. I manage to say, "You already have, Luke. You were right. You were right about me. Tell your sister you were right."
I found out I had a daughter while I was fighting Luke earlier, and I was only trying to get him to become a Sith Lord, like I was for the past 23 years. I wonder who my daughter is, and if she knows. I smile again at Luke, then my eyes close. I barely hear Luke say, "Father, I won't leave you."
There's a brief silence as I breathe my last, but the next thing I know, I'm standing beside my body. Then I hear a voice say, "Anakin."
I look behind me, and I see Obi-Wan. He looks exactly as he did on that same fateful day when we dueled on the first Death Star. The day I killed him.
I say, "Obi-Wan? Master, I'm so sorry. So very, very-"
"It's okay, Anakin. I forgive you."
I stare at him in confusion for a second. Then I ask, "But what do you mean? I mean, it's my fault you're dead. I'm the one who killed you."
"Yes, but you had also been corrupted. I must admit, I didn't think you'd change. Thankfully, your son proved me wrong."
"He proved me wrong too." You probably think I'd have been mad at him for what he said, but I thought that I was iredeemable as well.
Obi-Wan says, "Come on, Anakin. They're waiting for you."
I'm still not sure how he can be so forgiving. I killed millions- if not billions of people. I'm so certain that I've let everyone down, that I don't even want to face them. I suddenly feel as if I'm becoming younger, then I see a face I haven't seen in 23 years: Padmé. I feel tears well up in my eyes, and then we run towards each other. The first words out of my mouth are, "Padmé, I'm so sorry."
"Why?" she asks.
"For killing you." I can already feel tears starting to slip down my cheeks.
"Anakin, you didn't kill me. I died in childbirth."
For me, that's the final confirmation that Palpatine had lied to me. Then I see my mom and Qui-Gon. They both look really proud of me, and even though I'm not sure why, I smile back at them. Qui-Gon says, "I'm so proud of you Anakin. I always knew you'd bring balance to the Force."
I smile even wider, despite still being confused, and still regretting everything.
Obi-Wan taps my shoulder, and says, "We should probably get going."
"Why's that?"
"We don't want to miss the celebration."
A little while later, I'm with Yoda and Obi-Wan. I see Luke walk over and smile at us, just as I fade in. It exhilarates me when I see my daughter, and wonder how I didn't make the connection four years ago. In fact, it's my children who help me learn to forgive myself.
And I wouldn't have it any other way.
A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for abandoning you guys for two months, but I wasn't very inspired. Anyways, according to the Legends canon (stuff that was true before April 25, 2014) today was the Battle of Endor, so that's where this one-shot came from. And yes, I drew the cover art for this. I really hope you guys enjoyed this.
Please review, give feedback, and don't flame!
See you soon! -Jojo1228
