Star Wars
"The Path to Redemption"
Summary: The path to redemption is paved with forgiveness, hope, and love…something Anakin Skywalker, with the help from his children, is about to find out.
Author's Note: This takes place at the end of ROTJ.
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. They belong to the George Lucas.
… Star Wars…
Chapter 2: A Daughter's Doubts
The Ewok celebration was in full swing, but Leia Organa couldn't quite bring herself to join in the celebrations.
Her shoulder still ached a bit, but that was not the reason for her discomfort or her inability to rejoice along with her friends.
Until Luke returned, she could not celebrate their victory.
Without her twin, her other half, it wasn't a victory.
She could sense that he was still alive, but that was as far as it went.
She sighed. So many things had happened in such a short time.
She had learned that Luke, her best friend, was in fact her twin brother.
She learned that Darth Vader, the man who had tortured her and the man she loved, was in fact her father.
She shuddered at the thought.
Wrapping her arms around herself, she gazed out into the starry night sky and closed her eyes.
Reaching out with her newly discovered Force-senses, she tried once more to make contact with her brother.
She sighed when all she managed to get was a very vague feeling of 'I'm ok'.
She stamped her foot in frustration.
"Damn it, Luke Skywalker," she grumbled, sourly. "Where the hell are you!?"
A quiet chuckle behind her made her jump, and she spun around expecting to find Han Solo standing there.
She was more than a little surprised—more like stunned—to see the glowing form of Obi-Wan Kenobi instead.
"Do not be afraid, Leia," the Jedi spirit told her, gently. "I am not here to frighten you."
"General Kenobi?" Leia asked, startled.
Luke had told her about his encounters with the Jedi Knight's spirit, of course, but she had never thought she would be receiving a visit from him!
"Yes, Leia," he said, gently. "Surprised to see me, I take it?"
Leia blushed a bit at that. "Well, I—" she stammered, uncertain what to say.
What exactly did you say to a ghost, anyway?
Obi-Wan chuckled again.
"You know," he told her, gently. "You remind me a great deal of your mother."
"My mother?" Leia asked, surprised again. "You knew her?!"
Obi-Wan nodded.
"Very well," he told her, sadly. "She was a wonderful friend and a brave woman."
He seemed to stare off, as though remembering something from long ago.
"I was with her the day you and Luke were born," he told her. "I was the first to hold you, in fact."
"You were?" Leia asked, grinning. "Were we adorable?"
Obi-Wan smiled at that.
"Very much so," he told her, quietly. "You mother was dying, even as she gave birth, but she had enough strength left to name you."
Leia swallowed, a sudden intuition dawning on her.
"She died of a broken heart, didn't she?" she said, sadly.
Obi-Wan nodded, forlornly.
"Yes, I am afraid she did," he said, quietly. "Your father's betrayal hurt her terribly."
"How could she ever have loved him!?" she demanded to know. "How could she even be with that…that…monster!"
"Ah…" Obi-Wan said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Tell me, Leia, what do you think you know about your father?"
"He's a monster!" Leia repeated, angrily. "I don't see how Luke thinks he can change!"
"You are speaking of Darth Vader," Obi-Wan told her, calmly. "I'm speaking of your father, Anakin Skywalker."
"They're the same person!" Leia declared, crossing her arms and glaring at him.
Obi-Wan nodded.
"Yes and no," he told her. "Tell me, are you the same person you were ten years ago?"
"Of course not," Leia told him, without thinking. "I've…changed."
The moment the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them.
She scowled at the dead general—the sneaky old Jedi!
"Precisely," Obi-Wan told her, pointedly. "Darth Vader has done terrible things, but Anakin Skywalker has not. In the Old Republic, during the Clone Wars, your father was a hero. He saved many lives. He was known as the Hero without Fear, in fact…if only they had known."
"Then what happened?" Leia wanted to know. "How could someone like that turn so…so…evil?"
"He fell in love," Obi-Wan said, sadly.
"What?" Leia asked, puzzled.
"Anakin fell in love with your mother when he was just nine years old, Leia," the Jedi spirit told her. "Of course, all she saw in him at that time was a sweet little boy. It was only when she saw him as a grown man that she too fell just as deeply in love with him."
"I don't understand," Leia said, confused. "How could falling in love make him…become what he has?"
"Because," Obi-Wan said, sadly. "He loved her too much. He loved her so much that he was afraid to lose her. He loved her so much that he was willing to do anything to keep her safe."
"Even kill?" Leia asked, her voice barely a whisper.
Obi-Wan nodded.
"Fear leads to Anger, Anger leads to Hate, Hate leads to…Suffering," he told her, sadly.
"Yes, I know," Leia said, confused. "But what does that—?"
"The Emperor sensed these qualities in Anakin and sought to exploit them," the Jedi Master told her. "He sent dreams and nightmares, of your mother dying, to torment and upset his mind."
"Why?" Leia asked, even more puzzled. "If the Emperor was that powerful, why would he need him?"
"Because," Obi-Wan said, "the Emperor—like all Sith—was a coward. He knew if he was to maintain the Empire he needed a strong enforcer to strike fear into the hearts of his subjects. The Force is strong within your family, and Anakin was the perfect choice—he was young, arrogant, and easily manipulated."
"So, what happened?" Leia asked, curious.
"The Emperor began feeding Anakin lies," Obi-Wan said, "telling him that if he joined him, did as he said, only then would he have the power to keep your mother alive. Anakin was head-strong and, as I said, so deeply in love that he couldn't see reason. The Emperor pushed and pushed until he tilted over the edge…once that happened, your father was consumed by the Dark Side and Darth Vader took his place."
Leia felt a chill go through her.
"But our mother died, anyway," she said, angrily. "He didn't save her!"
Obi-Wan shook his head.
"No," he said, sadly. "And that, I'm afraid, was just what the emperor was hoping for."
"Why?" Leia asked, intrigued now despite herself.
"Because," the Jedi Knight replied, sadly. "It meant that Anakin had no hope left—no reason to resist the anger and hatred within him. So long as he was filled with grief, rage, and hate Vader would do his master's bidding. He had no reason not to, but…if it was discovered that he did, in fact, have a reason to resist the Emperor, to fight his way from the Dark Side, and free himself…"
"That's why we were separated," Leia suddenly realized, her brown eyes wide. "That's why we were kept hidden. In the hope that we—me or Luke—would be his reason to fight back!"
Obi-Wan nodded.
"Yes," he told her, smiling. "We were right. Your brother believed in him, something no one had done in nearly twenty years, and it gave your father the strength to fight his way out of Palpatine's control. Darth Vader is gone, Leia. He may still wear the suit and mask, but he is no longer the man you and the rest of the galaxy feared. Anakin Skywalker, your father, has broken free of the darkness that imprisoned him."
"He's still alive, then?" Leia asked, glancing out at the night sky.
Obi-Wan nodded.
"Yes," he said, "but he's going to need both you and your brother if he is to remain so."
Leia swallowed. "I don't know if I can forgive him," she said, quietly. "Not the way Luke has."
"You must," Obi-Wan told her, firmly. "Fear, Anger, Hatred—they are the tools of the Dark Side, as your father knows only too well…"
His face softened.
"But forgiveness, hope, and love," he told her, gently. "They are the tools of the Light Side and help make up the path of redemption your father is now on. The past cannot be changed, Leia, but the future can be made better. Give him that chance, as your brother has."
"I…" Leia said, hesitantly, biting her lip.
: Leia: Luke's voice filled her mind suddenly. : Leia, I need you:
"Luke," Leia whispered, feeling her brother's presence wash over her.
She looked at the glowing form of Obi-Wan.
The old Jedi merely nodded.
"Go to them, Leia," he urged her. "Help your brother get your father the help he needs. Take your first step to forgiveness, and help him take that first step to redemption."
Leia nodded. "I will…or at least I'll try," she said, swallowing.
Obi-Wan smiled. "May the Force be with you," he intoned, gently.
"May the Force be with you, as well," she said, and then smiled. "And…thank you."
He grinned, and then faded back into the Force.
A hand on her shoulder made her jump.
"Hey, Sweetheart," Han replied, giving her his patented care-free smile. "You okay? You seem a little jumpy."
Leia smiled. "I'm fine, Han," she told him, hurriedly. "But I have to go!"
"Go?" he asked, confused. "Go where?"
"To Luke," she told him, standing on her tip toes to give him a kiss. "He called to me through the Force."
"Hey, wait!" Han called after her as she turned to make her way out of village. "What the hell—?"
"I have to go," she told him, turning back.
There was a determined look on her face that told him not to argue with her.
He nodded, knowing better than to protest.
"I get that," he told her, quietly. "Do you want me to come with you?"
Leia bit her lip.
She did want that, but…she did not think he would react well to seeing Vader alive.
She shook her head.
"No, this is something I have to do on my own," she said, and then kissed him. "I love you, Nerf Herder."
"I love you too, Princess," he told her. "Tell that brother of yours I'll see him soon."
"I will," she told him, kissing him again and then made her way to a speeder bike that was parked nearby.
Leia hopped on the bike and started her up.
: Luke, I'm coming: She called to her brother through the Force. : Where are you? :
She felt her brother smile, and smiled back.
He then sent her the directions on how to find the ship he had stolen to get off the Death Star.
Gunning the engine, the speeder bike roared to life and sped through the trees.
She had started on the path to forgiveness.
Now she just had to help her brother get their father on the path to redemption.
This was NOT going to be easy.
Of that, she was absolutely certain.
~TBC~
