The crowd of children runs to the door of the old man. He smiles as he sees their eager faces, for they come to him for a tale of days long past. What tale shall I tell them? he wonders softly. A new tale, or one they love?
The children arrive, panting in the dust of the old road. Their parents follow behind, for the hour grows late and it is time for the old man to spin a yarn in the cool of the evening. What story will he tell?
He asks the children, then, which tale they would like to hear tonight. A story of Jedi of old? he asks. A tale of the Skywalkers, who saved the galaxy? The legend of a hero who had no fear or the negotiating warrior?
The older children argue, unable to choose between princesses and scoundrels, Knights and faraway lands. The smaller one cry out in young voices for their favorites, where all ends well and none can fall from grace. One wise-eyed child remains still in the tempest, her dark hair framing her small face. The old man calls her near, asks which tale she would like to hear. Solemnly, a request is made for a new story, one never told before in the cool of their evenings. The old man thinks, ponders, nods. His tale takes place during a dark time, he explains to listening, eager ears. There is a villain and a hero and a being that needs rescuing. There is magic and mystery.
This, he says, is the tale of a dark lord and an angel. This is the legend of the Lord Vader and the Angel.
A long time ago, on a planet very far from here, there lived a peaceful people. They lived simply, on the fruits of the land and their labor. There were no wars, for there was no quarrel between neighbors. There was no illness, for the land was new and untouched. There was no ugly thing here, for all grew together in beauty and love.
One day, strange men from the stars landed upon the planet and seized it for their purposes. They claimed land in the name of an Empire, forced the people to bow to their will in the name of a New Order. The people were sad and frightened, and all grew weary. The peace was gone: only fear remained. The newcomers brought illness and hunger. None would ever rise up against their oppressors, for none knew how to fight. And the greedy man who called himself Governor forced the young people to work in his fields and the old men to serve in his palace. The people cried out in sorrow, but none heard their plea.
One day, a young girl appeared in their town. No one knew where she came from, nor where she went. She was a beautiful creature, with dark brown hair and eyes that would melt the hardest of souls. Those that could gave her food and shelter and hid her from the guards. She always thanked them prettily before disappearing once more. She loved the woods and climbed the trees with no fear.
News reached the people of a dark lord, one of the most feared beings in the galaxy, would be coming to visit this small planet. The young girl, hearing of the dark visitor, ran to the forest and climbed the tallest tree next to the only road so that she might see him when he came. But in that tree grew a deadly vine. It twisted around her feet and legs until she could not move. Her cries for help rang out in the forest, but all the people were terrified of the dark lord and ran to their homes to hold their children and pray for deliverance. She spent three days and three nights in the tree, her cries growing weaker with every hour. Those that passed by on the road beneath her were deaf to her pleas, too afraid of the vine and the coming stranger to stop.
Soon the dark lord came with his white-clad soldiers and his loud starship. The entire town could hear his shouted orders, and trembled. His men went out among the townspeople, ensuring that no trouble would be caused while they were there. The dark lord, once he had given his commands, went walking alone through the silent town. The young girl saw him coming, the one clad in armor as dark as the space between stars, and cried out to him. "My lord, help me! If I stay in this tree I shall surely die!"
The lord Vader looked up at her and saw that her words were true. The vine that had crept over her legs and arms now moved towards her slender neck. He called the power of the Force to aid him and slowly rose into the air until he was within reach of the trapped child. His glowing red sword sliced once! twice! and the girl was freed. He bore her down upon the winds of the Force and set her lightly upon the ground. The girl smiled, but it was not the smile of a young girl. As he watched, her form changed into that of a young woman, her hair as dark as the night and her face as white as the moons. Eyes of storm looked upon him.
"For your help, you shall be rewarded, for an Angel of Iego cannot allow a debt to go unpaid. But take heed, for I can only grant the deepest wish of your heart."
The dark lord fell silent, save for the sound of his breath, for he had many wishes and desires, and to choose the deepest among them was no easy task. At length, he said, "I long to have my dear wife with me again, for I am terribly alone."
The angel smiled sadly, but shook her beautiful head. "I can see your heart, and that is not what you want most deeply. Ask for something else."
"Then heal my body, so I may be free of this mask! How I long to be rid of it!"
But the angel shook her head once more. "That is not your deepest wish."
He tried again. "Then let me overthrow the Emperor and take his place as the ruler!"
Again, she shook her head. "That is not your deepest wish."
He put forth many more suggestions, each wilder than the last. But each time, the angel said only, "That is not your deepest wish."
In anger, the lord Vader cried out, "Then what is my deepest desire? For I do not know what it is."
"You have spoken truly," the angel said with a sad smile. "You do not know your own heart. But I will give you this: when the time is right, you shall know, and you shall have your wish."
With that, her white wings unfolded and she flew up into the twilight sky and out of sight.
Years passed, yet the lord Vader never forgot the angel's words. Her voice whispered "That is not what you want most deeply" when he destroyed his former master. Her voice cried out "This is not your deepest wish!" when he met his son on a world of cloud and wind. After that, he began to doubt his mind and heart. So much time had passed: perhaps she had not ever existed. And his heart was filled with anger.
It was not until the end that he knew the answer. Not until high above a verdant moon, when father and son fought. Not until the son touched the darkness. Not until the moment of decision was nigh.
Then he knew, and was surprised he had not seen the answer sooner. Even as his hands lifted the evil man high to save his son, he knew what the angel meant. Even as he died, he knew happiness. Even as he saw how the son wept at his pyre, his heart was filled with joy at the granting of its deepest wish.
For his heart's wish was to know the light once again, to nevermore dwell in the darkness.
In a place beyond death, beyond life, a dark-haired angel smiled at the beautiful woman beside her.
"My promises have been kept. I must leave you now."
"Thank you," the mortal woman whispered. "He has come home at last."
The angel flew away as the woman wept with joy, her heart's desire granted.
His tale finished, the old man closes his eyes. A silence falls over the children, who are still spellbound. The wise-eyed child asks softly if it really happened, if a villain met an angel and became a hero. The old man chuckles softly at that, but does not answer. The spell is broken, and children and parents drift away, calling farewells at the end of the day. Still the wise child remains, her question lingering even after all have left and they sit alone.
You know the answer, the old man chides gently. The moon-pale face beams, her silver laughter reaching the stars as wings unfold and the child becomes a woman, an angel.
I do, she whispers. I do.
A/N: The idea of an angel came from a tale I read in the TheForce dot net archive, called "The Angel in the Forest."