SON OF THE CHOSEN.
Sequel to 'Tortured Soul'.
Palpatine kidnapped Rexan to escape when he was exposed; fourteen years later, Rexan Skywalker returns. He is angry, resentful, withdrawn_
Is he just a troubled, tortured, young man? Or is he something more sinister?
Rexan: 3 -17.
Luke/Leia: 14.
CHAPTER ONE.
Far Out In Wild Space.
"You are ready!" Palpatine smiled at Rexan, He walked around Rexan, taking in his appearance; at seventeen he looked almost exactly like Anakin. "What have I taught you?"
"The Jedi are the enemy!" Rexan's anger rippled through the Force,
"And what must you do?"
Rexan snarled, his eyes flashing with fury. "I must destroy them!"
Smiling Palpatine nodded, "good, good Rexan." He stopped and placed his hands on the boy's shoulders, "only you can sway your Father from the path of the Jedi. Only you can save him."
Rexan looked away and clenched his fists, "he abandoned me_!"
"At the order of the Jedi," Palpatine smiled, "your memories of your Father are true. He loves you," Raising a hand, Palpatine laid it against Rexan's cheek. "It will be his love for you, that ensures his complete trust in you."
Rexan nodded, "I understand."
"Good," Palpatine stepped back, "you will tell your father that you escaped." he told him, "he will believe that you have been tortured and traumatised, so that is how we must make you appear."
Rexan gasped as Palpatine used the Force to push him to the floor and hold him there and a whip appeared in his hand; the pain was excruciating, but Rexan knew better than to cry out. Over the years, he had subjected to many forms of 'torture'; they had made him strong, the pain strengthened his anger, gave him focus.
"I am sorry," hands gently helped him to his feet, "I thought it best to get it over with quickly."
Rexan nodded and took a deep breath, "my mother was pregnant when I... left," he shrugged, "should I try to get her child to join us too?"
Palpatine frowned, "if it is possible to sway your mother's child to our cause you must do so. but if you cannot_"
"Then my sibling must be killed," Rexan finished.
xxx
Coruscant.
It was Rexan's seventeenth birthday.
Anakin closed his eyes, for fourteen years he had searched for his son to no avail - he had failed, and with every passing year his failure grew.
Tears slid down his cheeks, after Rexan's abduction he had tried to follow Palpatine; he had never picked up his trail, instead he had spent six months desperately searching for him before he had finally come back to Coruscant.
"Ani," Padme sighed and took his hand, "it wasn't your fault."
Anakin shook his head, "I should have been faster, should have done something."
Padme closed her eyes, "you did what you had to to keep him alive."
They knew that much at least, through their bond, Anakin knew that Rexan was still alive; because of the distance between them however, he was unable to tell anything else.
Leia moved to stand between her parents, "we can't give up on him." She smiled at her father, "do you really thing he won't try to escape?"
"we'll find him Dad," Luke stepped up beside him and leaned against Anakin's side. "Or he'll find us."
Anakin and Padme looked at each other, taking a deep breath, Anakin drew his children close to him. Padme put her arms around him and they stood together on the balcony, silently staring out at the city around them.
xxx
"You must go now, my friend."
Rexan stood at the bottom of the ramp, "what will you do?" He asked, frowning. "Will you be staying here, or will you move again?" They had spent half his life, flying from planet to planet to escape the Jedi who had been sent to kill Palpatine.
Palpatine shrugged, "I will stay here for now."
"What if the Jedi track the ship back to here?" Rexan shook his head, "you should go somewhere else_"
Palpatine smiled and nodded, "you are right of cause."
"I will not fail you."
Smiling, Palpatine stepped away from the ship. "Go now, fulfill your destiny and save your father."
