DISCLAIMER: I do not own Star Wars or any of its associated characters, worlds, or races. I am making no money from this work, nor do I claim ownership of anything other than the story. This work is purely for enjoyment. So, enjoy!
SPOILER ALERT! This takes elements from all 6 movies. Be forewarned if you have yet to see Revenge of the Sith
Categories: Action/Adventure/Sci-fi/Angst
Primary Characters:
Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader
Luke Skywalker/Dark! Luke Princess LeiaHan Solo
The Souls of DemonsChapter 2
By PyxelleA soft sobbing from the veranda was what woke him, but it was the absence of his newly wedded wife that drove Han from their bed. He followed the anguished sound, finding her where he knew she would be, alone, sitting on a wrought iron chair beside the lake. Her face was hidden in her hands.
"You know, most brides don't cry all through their honeymoon," he chided gently, coming up behind her. "Unless they're crying out because of…well, I'd better not finish that thought. I know how good you are with a blaster."
His joke earned only the faintest of smiles from Leia. "I'm sorry, Han. I didn't mean to wake you."
Han wrapped his arms around his wife. "I know, Leia. It's all right."
For the last few nights, that had been enough to comfort his beautiful wife, but tonight she shrugged his hands from her angrily. "No, it's not all right. This was all a mistake."
"Our wedding?" Han couldn't keep the shock from his voice, but the stricken look on Leia's face assured him that was not at all what she had meant.
"Oh, God, no, Han…" she clasped his hand, her fingers still wet from her tears. "Not ever that. I just meant coming here…to Naboo. I thought it would bring some closure, but it hasn't…all it's done is make my heart ache for what I've lost…and what I never had."
"Leia…"
"Did you know that Anakin and Padme got married right here on this very spot?" Leia said suddenly, and Han shook his head mutely. He hadn't known. "They did. I've been going through the security holos regarding Senator Amidala. They recorded everything, did you know that? I have to wonder how anyone slept knowing that they were under nearly constant surveillance. But even though they kept their marriage secret right until the end, a record was made. My mother wore a gossamer gown of lace…my father looked so young, so pure, so strong…so like Luke. They were so in love. Not even the cold reproductions of a holo could hide that."
A tear slid down Leia's cheek. "Anakin stood on this very spot and pledged his undying love to her…and then he killed her. He fell to the Dark Side and he destroyed the woman he loved." Her hand clenched…and beside them, a vase full of violet Tatooine lilies exploded. "In an instant. He destroyed everything."
Han resisted the urge to step back from the anger and coldness in Leia's voice. This was not the first time something like this had happened. "Leia…try to stay calm. Remember what Lu…what you were taught. Don't let it control you."
Leia laughed then, a harsh laugh that held no mirth. "Luke didn't teach me anything, Han, and you know it. I can't control what's happening to me, and I can't focus it…and the one person who could teach me has fallen into darkness. How long is it before I do the same? How long before I become the evil I've fought against since I could pick up a blaster? How long before I, too, betray the ones I love?"
"That's not going to happen!" Han told her harshly, spinning her around a little too roughly. Leia refused to meet his eyes. "You are not destined to follow Anakin or Luke. The Skywalker line is not corrupted, if only because you escaped it. Leia, I love you. We will get through this together…I promise you."
Leia finally looked up at him. "Don't promise," she whispered. "Anakin made too many promises…and they were his undoing."
"Leia." Han didn't know what to say, so he just crushed her to his chest tightly. He had never expected to get married – hell, he had never expected to have any sort of long-term relationship. He had been a rogue, a free spirit that couldn't be tied to another… but since he had met the headstrong princess, everything had changed. He had changed.
It still didn't make him any better at knowing how to comfort his wife. He couldn't, in all honesty, tell her that everything was going to be all right. It wasn't. Right up until the end, he had believed that they would prevail, as if the Force itself (though he didn't believe in it, of course) had been telling them that the Empire's reign was over. But that belief had evaporated with Luke's turn to the Dark Side. Luke had been like a brother to him, complete with taunts, fights, and rivalry. Han sometimes felt as if he couldn't breathe when he thought of Luke's betrayal. He couldn't bear it if he lost Leia, too. "You won't fall. I won't let you."
"Oh, Han." Leia finally let the real tears fall, and for several minutes all Han could do was hold his wife as she cried. "How will I know? I can't stop from touching it, no matter how I try…and without training, how can I tell the Dark Side from the Light? How can I evade the evil that swallowed my father…and my brother?"
"I don't know, Leia, but you will," Han assured her, stroking her glorious sable hair. "You will."
OoooOoooO
"You were the Chosen One!" Obi-Wan screamed, his voice breaking with the strength of the emotion it carried. "It was said you were to destroy the Sith, not join them! Bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness!"
Anakin screamed in rage. It was easier to lose himself in his fury that to allow the pain in Obi-Wan's voice to touch his soul. "I hate you!" he roared in a voice that was barely human.
"You were my brother, Anakin." Obi-Wan's tortured face made Anakin's heart wrench for the briefest of moments before the rage flooded him once more. "I loved you."
Anakin screamed again in defiance. Obi-Wan watched him, tears streaming down his face as the fire leapt from the lake of lava and the cloth of his garments started to blaze. The fire spread in an instant, and began to burn Anakin's flesh while at the same time he could feel the hair on his head dissolve into flames. The pain was incredible, and a sickening stench filled Anakin's nostrils even as his lungs were scorched away.
"Luke was like my own son, Anakin." Obi-Wan knelt next to him, his weary eyes searching as if to somehow find the young Jedi Knight in the shattered and charred creature before him. "I watched over him, saw to his training…did the things you should have done, my brother." Obi-Wan's voice broke again. "I lost both my brother and my son because of your betrayal, Anakin."
This isn't what happened! Anakin's mind fought to say. Obi-Wan betrayed me! He left me to die! He didn't even have the mercy to end my life cleanly!
"Now I have to finish what I swore to do." Obi-Wan stood, drawing his lightsaber. The blue blade ignited, its pure glow seeming to envelope the Jedi Master in a bright protective aura.
Good, Anakin thought desperately through the pain. End it, please, oh, end it…
But Obi-Wan turned away from him. Higher up the slope Luke Skywalker stood, the bloody glow of his lightsaber almost lost in the flames around him. Luke's eyes burned with the cold fire of the Dark Side.
"The Skywalker legacy of evil must end, Anakin," Obi-Wan said, his voice heavy with regret. He spun, his lightsaber humming ominiously, and with one lightning stroke struck Luke's head from his body.
"NO!" Anakin shrieked and dug his mechanical fingers into the crumbling rock as he tried to pull himself towards the fallen body of his son. "Luke!"
Obi-Wan looked down at him, a strange mixture of pity, revulsion, and sorrow etched into his features. "Luke has been dead a long time now, Lord Vader," he said. "Don't you remember? You're the one who destroyed him."
Anakin could do nothing as Obi-Wan turned his back to him and begun to walk away. His voice trailed behind him. "The Skywalker evil must die. There is only one thing left to do that will ensure that forever."
Leia!
"You…will…not…harm her!" Anakin screamed with the last of his strength, drew deeply on the Dark Side…and it slipped from his grasp.
"She must die," Obi-Wan said, turning back to him briefly. There was a cold resolve in his face, but it carried an immense grief with it. "It is the only way to save her from your terrible legacy."
And all Anakin could do was scream helplessly as Obi-Wan walked past the body of his slain son, intent on killing his only remaining child. His daughter.
LEIA!
OoooOoooO"Lord Vader?"
"Yes, Captain?"
"We have established orbit around Naboo."
"Very good, Captain." Vader stepped down from the observation deck. "Prepare my shuttle."
"Yes, Lord Vader." The Captain began shouting orders to the officers around him.
The dreams were continuing, and Vader found them haunting his waking thoughts more and more. What was their purpose? He had made a sort of grim resolution with what he had done, and what he had become. He had brought peace to the galaxy, despite the Rebellion. A peace enforced by fear, but peace nonetheless. The rebellion was insignificant next to the tens of thousands of star systems loyal to the Empire. He had learned that a ruler of such a vast holding could not afford to be concerned with individual justice, but rather had to be aware of a larger view. The end would justify the means – however brutal they might seem.
General Torren fell into step beside him. "If you would excuse me for saying so, Princess Leia made a grave error in coming here, Lord Vader. It's not like her to be so foolish. Naboo has been a stronghold of the Empire since its inception. It was Emperor Palpatine's home planet, after all."
"I am aware of that, general," Vader said, turning into the shuttle bay.
"Then forgive me, but I have to suspect that it could be a trap."
"It is no trap," Vader told him firmly.
"At least allow me to send a bodyguard of stormtroopers with you, Lord Vader. This plan of yours to go to the surface alone is foolhardy."
Vader stopped and turned to the general slowly. He said nothing, but rather just stared at him, letting his silence speak for him.
The general began to squirm. "I am not suggesting that you're unable to handle this yourself, Lord Vader, but-"
"I certainly hope not," Vader said, resuming his brisk pace. He could hear General Torren's sigh of relief. "This is something I must do alone. It is of no concern to you or your troops."
"Yes, Lord Vader."
OoooOoooOThe chirping noise of the communication device interrupted their breakfast. They were eating on the veranda when the device signaled, not far from the spot where Han had found Leia weeping the previous night.
"I'll get it," Leia said, putting aside her glass of Pummbu juice before disappearing into the house.
Han watched her go. Against his will, his eyes flickered back to the edge of the veranda. Leia had shown him the holo last night, after her weeping had ceased, and it had assuredly been the very same place he was staring at. The recording still sent a profound disturbance throughout Han. He hadn't known Leia's father had been so very young when he had betrayed the Jedi. Anakin Skywalker had barely been a grown man at all.
Even more disturbing was the way he could see Leia's features indelibly ghosted on the young Jedi's face. Mentally he had figured it out – Vader was only around forty-seven. Until last night the evil Sith lord had seemed ageless, as if he existed outside of time and space, and Han though he had preferred it that way. Knowing that Vader was merely a small span of years older than himself caused a feeling of unreality to rear its head within him. It humanized Vader, somehow, and that was something he couldn't have – Han couldn't afford to be weak when it came to Leia's fallen family.
"Han, we've got to get out of here," Leia said, running in from the house. In her arms was the single storage case they had brought with them. "Vader's found us. His shuttle was sighted entering Naboo's atmosphere."
Han was on his feet in a flash. They had been prepared for this. Naboo was an Imperial System, after all, and the only way he and Leia had managed to spend their short amount of time here was to take their journey in utmost secrecy. The other leaders of the Alliance would never have allowed them to come here. But Leia's wish to create some sort of closure within herself had been strong, and Han had reluctantly agreed to her wishes.
If Vader found them here, however, there would be no escape, and no rescue. No one in the Alliance knew where they were – except Chewbacca and Lando. The Millennium Falcon was hidden on one of Naboo's moons, with Chewbacca ready at the helm and Lando on constant alert in the event that Han and Leia were discovered. But if Darth Vader was here, then so most likely were other Imperial Forces, and while Han was fiercely proud of his ship he didn't really feel like testing her in a suicide race with a Star Destroyer.
"Get in." Han motioned to the small transport ship resting just outside the dilapidated house. They would have to abandon the shuttle on the moon, but that was all right. They had planned on doing that anyways.
"He's close, Han." There was panic in Leia's voice as she began warming up the landing thrusters. She slid into the co-pilot's chair and released the controls to him. "I can feel him. Somehow, I can sense his presence."
Han tried not to think about the implications of that statement. "We won't be near him for long. Let's get to the Falcon and blow this mudball."
They sped off into the waiting sky.
OoooOoooOVader stepped off the shuttle slowly. He had not set foot on Naboo since he had joined Emperor Palpatine, and now that he was here the memories that assaulted him were so strong they were almost a physical force. He had been happy here, happy and in love. Here he had found the other half of his soul.
You sold your soul, a phantom Padme whispered in his ear.
He pushed the remnant of the dream away with irritation. The dreams were plaguing him, distracting him, and he had a duty to his Master to perform. He couldn't afford to allow long-dead memories to affect him. They never had before, so why now? He had to find his daughter. Leia would join them.
Leia was not here…but she had been. He could still sense her lingering presence. It had been recent, perhaps only minutes. If he immediately left the surface, perhaps he could apprehend her before she even left the atmosphere.
But to his surprise, Darth Vader found he couldn't leave.
It almost felt as if he were being drawn into the house against his will. It had been abandoned after Padme's death, and not well maintained afterwards. The once-beautiful gardens were over-grown and choked with weeds, while the darkened windows stared blankly at him like the empty sockets of a half-buried skull. The sparkle of life and laughter he remembered had fled. It had become a house of the dead.
Somehow, it still called to him, and he felt pulled into its rooms as if walking in a dream. Leia's little touches could easily be seen – clean bedding in the bedroom, a soft blue Danthian wool blanket to cover the musty couch, the remains of a breakfast not yet finished…but it was Padme who really lingered here, as if her very spirit had been burned into the foundations of the one place they had been truly happy.
It was a disquieting feeling.
He didn't like it. Vader had let go of the last ghosts of his past long ago. The naïve and love-struck young man he had once been had been burned away in fire and pain. He found it hard to even think of himself as a man anymore.
Darth Vader was more than a man. He had transcended humanity.
Then why did Padme's voice still linger in these rooms?
A hologram generator caught his attention as he walked across the living quarters. Again, he tried to push the dream phantoms away, and Vader switched the small, portable generator to "on", curious to see what information Leia had carelessly left behind. Perhaps it would give some clue to her plans. He was tiring of this chase.
The image that appeared, however, drove all thoughts of Leia from his mind.
"Anakin Skywalker, do take this woman as your wife, claim her as your soulmate, and pledge yourself to protect, honor, and cherish her, for all the rest of your days?"
The flickering image of his younger self smiled gently down at Padme. She looked back up at him, her face trusting and so full of love. He heard himself speak, a long-lost innocence in a voice he had never thought to hear again.
"I do so pledge myself to her, to honor and protect her, to cherish and love her, until the will of the Force takes me from this mortal existence."
"And do you, Padme Naberrie Amidala, take –"
A wave of familiar anger struck him, and Vader hurled the holo-generator suddenly against the wall. It shattered, and Padme's face flickered out of existence. As soon as it did, Vader wished irrationally that he could take the action back. He had not beheld her image since the day Padme had died.
"That won't stop the pain, you realize," said a familiar voice behind him. In an instant Vader drew his lightsaber, swinging it in down low and spinning to face the phantom voice.
Obi-Wan Kenobi stood there, indistinct and ghostly. "You do also realize that you can't harm me, don't you?"
"Obi-Wan." Vader didn't retract his blade. His former mentor just disregarded it.
"Oh, so you do remember me," Obi-Wan said with a trace of sarcasm. He appeared as he had during the time Anakin Skywalker had been his padawan and not as the almost unrecognizable old man Vader had cut down on the Deathstar. "I'm glad to see you have not stricken me completely from your mind."
"What do you want?" Vader demanded, ignoring the ghostly Jedi's words.
Obi-Wan didn't answer immediately. Instead, he circled the shattered remains of the holo generator and clucked his tongue disapprovingly. "Very messy, Anakin," he said in the same tone of voice he had used when scolding his apprentice so many years ago. "Tell me – do you really have to destroy everything you touch, or did you simply want to test the craftsmanship of this fine device? If so, I would say your methods are a bit harsh."
"You can dispense with the friendly banter, Obi-Wan," Vader said darkly. "I have no time for it."
Any humor there was fled from Obi-Wan's face. "No, I suppose you don't. After all, you have to destroy the very last remnants of Padme, don't you? You've already damned her son. Why not her daughter?"
Vader screamed in rage and swung his lightsaber. It passed through the ghost of the Jedi as if through smoke, causing only the barest of flickers.
Obi-Wan arched one eyebrow. "Really, Anakin, did you think that would do anything?"
"I am not Anakin, old man." Vader retracted his lightsaber. He would not allow Obi-Wan's transparent attempt to dredge up the memories of his former master to succeed in baiting him. Vader turned from the dead Jedi, intent upon leaving. He would find his wayward daughter.
"You could be, you know." Obi-Wan's softly spoken words stopped Vader. "Anakin still lives inside you. Somewhere behind the mask and the machinery, the man Padme loved still exists. You know this is true, Anakin."
"You are naïve and foolish," Vader said forcefully, drawing on the Dark Side deeply to steady the unexpected feelings Obi-Wan was resurrecting. It fed his resolve. "She betrayed me. I sacrificed everything for her, and she betrayed me."
"Search your feelings, Anakin!" Obi-Wan demanded. "A part of you knows that is not true – a part of you has always known. You betrayed her. She was loyal to you until the end. Even her last breath was used while begging me to save you. She couldn't believe that the man she had loved so deeply could become so wholly evil. Padme believed in you. It was you who didn't believe in her."
"No!" Vader roared. "She refused me. I wanted to give her the galaxy, and she denied me! I wanted to save her, and she forced me to destroy her!"
"Anakin, she wouldn't have needed saving if you hadn't fallen to the Dark Side!" Obi-Wan's voice was tortured. "Please, you must see that! The visions you had of Padme's death were visions of what you would do to her! If you hadn't allowed the Emperor to twist your mind, she would have been safe. You betrayed her by abandoning your vows and your conscience. You denied her memory by handing Luke over to the Emperor. And now you would further dishonor her by turning Leia into a monster as well!"
"NO!" Vader knew he could not harm the phantom Jedi, but his fury needed an outlet, and he threw his lightsaber at the window with such force that it shattered. Emotions that he had not felt in years swelled within him, and he tried to take refuge in the rage Obi-Wan was inspiring. "You're wrong! She betrayed me! I would have given her everything! I would have given her the universe!"
Obi-Wan looked at him sadly. "Anakin, remember her as she was and not as what you have recreated her as. Padme never wanted the universe. She never wanted to rule the galaxy. All she wanted…was you."
"She had me! I never would have hurt her if she hadn't turned away from me. You turned her against me! I have created the Empire that brought order to the galaxy. I have brought swift justice to those who would destroy that order. And it was all to protect her, to honor my vow to her. All of it!"
"Anakin, you've been living a lie for too many years," Obi-Wan eyes regarded him with something akin to pity, "…and deep down, inside the soul of the man you've almost buried, you know it to be true."
But he didn't! Of course he didn't, because to believe that was to accept the fact that he had destroyed himself and his son for nothing…
Destroyed himself and his son.
As soon as the thought entered his mind he felt the truth of it. The very fact that he could conceive of the notion validated its existence. Darth Vader had watched his son lose his soul a little more day by day, and he had encouraged it, had reveled in it. He had felt satisfaction in the demon he had created out of his and Padme's love. What greater betrayal of Padme's sweet soul could there be?
And now he was going to do the same to his daughter.
That was what the dreams were about. The single theme that connected them was that it had been him who had betrayed those he loved. It had been his actions that led to Padme's death. And it had been him who had delivered Luke Skywalker to the Emperor…and thus created Darth Eivel.
That last was what really solidified the truth of his actions. He could justify his own damnation, could maintain he had done it because of the betrayal of the people who had claimed to love him…but the destruction of Luke Skywalker, his only son, he could blame on no one but himself.
With a cry and barely aware he was going to do it, Darth Vader released the Force.
A flood of anguish overwhelmed him as he thrust aside his hatred and rage, so intense that it drove Vader to his knees. He screamed again, only this time in a sorrow so terrible it threatened to devour him. If he could have wept, he would have. Certainly his very soul was weeping.
Obi-Wan knelt next to him. "It's not too late, Anakin. You can still honor your vows to Padme. You can still save Leia…and bring Luke back from the Dark Side."
"It's not possible," Vader whispered. "It's been too long. I can't."
"Can't?" Obi-Wan smiled gently. "You're the Chosen One, Anakin. And I remember you arguing more that once that nothing is impossible."
Vader looked at his old master with a strangely pale defiance. It isn't possible, he meant to say, remember Yoda's teachings. Once you succumb to the Dark side, forever will it dominate your path.
But those were not the words he heard himself utter. What he heard himself say was, "I don't know how."
"Anakin, I must warn you - should you choose to redeem yourself, your journey out of darkness will not be an easy one." Obi-Wan was grave. "I will help you all I can, but I am limited in what I can do. I can tell you this, my lost brother, that in order to begin, you must leave Darth Vader behind." Obi-Wan's ghostly hand traced the line of Vader's helmet almost gently. "You must free yourself from the trappings of the Emperor."
"I will die!" Vader protested roughly, a slow anger kindling in him. He had reveled in such passions for so long that he had very little of the emotional control he had once learned as a Jedi. Was this some trickery of Obi-Wan's to try and destroy him? "I cannot survive on my own – you saw to that!"
"Your dependence upon that thing was the choice of the Emperor, not of mine." Obi-Wan said calmly, as if Vader's anger did not touch him. "It was one more way to take your humanity away from you. Did you never wonder why he condemned you to that suit? There were other options then, and more now that were not available twenty years ago. It was another way to seal you to him. You must regain your humanity if you wish to save yourself…and your son."
Another shape flickered into life beside Obi-Wan.
"Master Qui-Gon." Vader said strengthlessly.
"Listen to Obi-Wan, Anakin," Qui-Gon said, his face as serene as it had always been. He looked at Vader with the same calm patience that he had regarded a nine-year old Tatooine slave with years ago, and the same kindness rested in his eyes – as if he still saw the same innocent, selfless boy Vader had been instead of the half-human monster he had become. "Remember what I taught you of the Living Force. If anyone can make the journey out of darkness, it is you."
"You are the Chosen One, Anakin," Obi-Wan said forcefully. "And it is finally time you accept your true destiny."
The Sith Lord shook his head angrily. "No. I cannot! I made my choices, and no ghost is going to be able to change that. You've come too late, Obi-Wan. Anakin Skywalker is dead. There's no point in trying to resurrect him anymore. It can't be done."
"Anakin," Obi-Wan said gently, "if that were true, I could not be here. You still touch the Light side of the Force. If evil had fully consumed you, the luminous beings we all truly are would be forever lost to you. The fact that I can reach you proves that Anakin yet lives. All you have to do is accept him."
Vader fought an internal battle that far outmatched any he had combated before. Could he become the Jedi he had aspired to be once again? Could he set aside the power of the Dark Side, renounce his allegiance to the Sith and to the Emperor, and redeem his soul? Could a demon's soul be saved? Was it possible?
And did he even have the strength to try?
Anything is possible, Anakin my love, Padme's phantom voice whispered to him again, and this time he did not push it away. Anything is possible if you are willing to fight for it.
Do, or do not. Master Yoda's teaching rose from the murky depths of his mind. There is no try.
Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon watched him, their eyes calm and patient, and for the first time since the cataclysmic battle that had left Vader mutilated and forever scarred, he looked at his former Master without hatred. Even now he could feel the memories of their relationship swirling in his head, the dark pall he had cast over them lifting. Obi-Wan had been harsh, and yes, he had been strict…but he had also been kind. His actions had been out of love. Obi-Wan Kenobi had been both father and brother to Anakin Skywalker, and they had shared a bond that had surpassed both.
What did Vader have now? Power, yes, but this power leashed him to the Emperor. All the power in the galaxy wouldn't compensate for the shackles he had allowed Darth Sidious to put on him. He had been a child of destiny.
And he had handed that destiny to a man who had used it to destroy hope in the galaxy.
Darth Vader sobbed once, a sound as alien as the sorrow he felt was. He shifted, facing Obi-Wan on one knee, and bowed his head. He would honor his long-forgotten vows. That was what the dreams had been telling him. That was what he had really come here for, wasn't it? Not to find Leia, but to rediscover Padme…and himself.
"I ask for your guidance, Master," Anakin Skywalker said in a voice thick with tears he could not shed. "What must I do?"
End of Part 2
I hope people are enjoying this, and if you are, don't forget to review!
Pyxelle
