Wish 2
AN: I decided I should try to finish this story so it won't be hanging around. That way I can update my other, regular stories. Right? Right! So here it is…
Darth Vader stared in utter amazement at the frightened young boy. The Sith Lord had no clue how a child could have gotten aboard a Star Destroyer, as the big ships did not have children on them. Yet here was a child all the same. Plus he knew the door to his personal quarters had been locked with him between the door and where the boy had magically appeared. Yes, magically appeared. That was the only way of how he could think to describe the way the child had popped out of the air itself. Something akin to curiosity gripped the Sith Lord and the man stepped closer to the tousled-haired boy. "Who are you and where did you come from?"
"I … I'm just looking for my father!" Luke sniffled noisily as he peered up fearfully at the scary man. Shiny reflections and highlights danced over the black mask and Luke could swear he saw a weird twisted reflection of himself in its curved surface. This scared him even more and he closed his eyelids tightly, his heart beating rapidly. Why had W1SH brought him here instead of to his father? Had the droid tricked him?
Vader stepped closer and studied the boy in front of him. The style of clothing looked familiar… "What is your name?"
Stubborn, Luke shook his head vigorously. "I'm not going to tell you! My Uncle said I shouldn't talk to strangers and you're a stranger! And I'm beginning to think I shouldn't talk to crazy droids either because they lie!"
"I am Lord Darth Vader and you're on an Imperial Star Destroyer. This is my personal quarters." Vader knelt before the young boy so it would be easier to talk to him. "And I assure you it is OK to talk to me. I will not harm you. You must tell me who you are so I can help return you to your home, although I admit I'm confused as to how you got here. And your Uncle is very wise in telling you not to talk to strangers."
Luke opened one eye and peered at Vader's black mask. "Just because I know your name doesn't mean you're not a stranger!"
Vader sighed loudly. This was going to be difficult…
"Can you tell me where you live?" Vader asked hopefully.
"My Uncle says I'm not supposed to tell strangers that, either!" Luke opened his other eye and stared at the oddly dressed man in front of him. His heart pounded rapidly in his chest and his hands felt cold and clammy. A shiver raced through his body and he wrapped his arms around his body for warmth. Jeez, it was freezing in this place! Luke had never felt so cold in his entire life. Even if it was night and the suns had set it shouldn't be this cold, should it? But then he remembered the man had said something about being on a Star Destroyer, whatever that was…maybe these Star Destroyers were cold? Freezing and facing a scary stranger who made odd sounds was just too much and panic swelled up inside his chest. Tears leaked from his eyes and Luke screamed as loudly as he could. "I want my father!"
"Calm down!" Vader said, putting a bit of Force suggestion into it. He had never dealt with a hysterical child before and had no clue as to what he should do. "Can you tell me your father's name?"
Luke nodded as he somewhat calmed down. "My Uncle told me he's a pilot. His name is Anakin Skywalker. Do you know him?"
Vader froze and his mind went totally blank. Only loud breathing sounds were heard.
The young boy waited for an answer impatiently as the moments passed and the odd man didn't say anything. Boldly Luke stepped closer and attempted to peer through the eyeholes of the black breath mask. "Hey! You didn't fall asleep in there, did you? Hello! I'm waiting for an answer here!"
"You said your father is … Anakin Skywalker?" Vader asked sure that he had heard the boy wrong.
Luke nodded and gazed at him with clear blue eyes, eyes that reminded Vader of his own.
"I'm … Anakin Skywalker. I'm … your father." Vader stared at the young boy in front of him in utter amazement. A son, he had a son! He had been sure that Padme's child had died with her that awful fateful day but here his child was in front of him, flesh and blood. Without thinking, he reached out to the boy with both of his black-gloved robotic hands. He gripped his son gently by his shoulders and just gazed on him. "A miracle, it's a miracle! I had thought you had died with your mother years ago and here you are! I had dreamed of this moment so many times but I had thought it was a hopeless dream!"
"You're my father?" Luke stared wide-eyed at him, shocked. He wasn't too sure if he wanted this odd man for a father. Why, he couldn't even see him properly! "Why do you make those scary sounds?"
"Scary sounds?" Vader's mind went blank. What could the boy possibly mean?
"The loud breathing." Luke explained as he watched the lights blink on the man's chest plate. Was he really his father? "If you're really my father, why do you have two different names?"
"When I became a Sith Lord I was given a new name, Lord Vader. Before that I went by the name of Anakin Skywalker. And I make loud breathing sounds because my lungs were damaged by lava fumes." Seeing Luke's confused expression, Vader attempted to explain his injury again. "I was in a fire and the smoke damaged my lungs. So I must wear this mask so I can breath. Now tell me, Son, what your name is."
"Luke."
"Luke … I'm very happy to meet you, Luke. You have no idea what this means to me." A tear leaked from Vader's eye under the mask and ran down his scarred cheek. "Now tell me how you came to be here. Surely you didn't use the Force to come here, did you?"
"W1SH brought me here, Father." Luke smiled uncertainly at the black breath mask. It wasn't quite so scary anymore but it pained the young boy's heart to know that his father was so sick and had to wear the awful thing just to breath. Who would want to wear a mask all the time and not be able to feel the wind in your hair or the gentle warmth of the freshly risen sun on your face?
"W1SH?"
"She's this totally odd pink astromech droid!" Luke explained as he threw himself forward into his Father's arms heedless of the chest plate with the blinking buttons. Luckily his rash actions caused no harm and the Sith Lord hugged him gratefully. Pulling back slightly, Luke peered upward at his Father's mask. "Hey! Maybe W1SH can heal you! Wouldn't that be great?"
"Let me get this straight: an astromech droid brought you here?" Vader repeated, totally perplexed. For the man who instantly knew what to do in every situation, it was an unsettling feeling. It was if the floor had suddenly dropped out from beneath him and he was left to his own devices. No, it was far worst than that. If the floor vanished he could always use the Force to slow his fall and he would be OK. This … this was like the rules of the universe itself had changed! Droids could not make children appear out of thin air. It was physically impossible! It defied the laws of physics! Yet here Luke was…
Was this young boy really his son? The boy had his coloring that much was true. But it all was so hard to believe. Perhaps if he had met Luke in a more conventional manner it would be easier to accept. Could this child claiming to be his son really be some unheard of alien, a doppelganger that could take any shape it wished and transport itself trough space without needing a ship? Just because the Empire had never met such an alien didn't mean it didn't exist. Yet he wanted to believe Luke was his true son, a product of his love for Padme.
"Yeah, a really weird droid!" Luke exclaimed.
A flash of light assaulted Vader's eyes and the pink astromech droid appeared. "Hey Bro, Sweetcheeks! I'm glad you two are getting along so well! It's so sweet. Don't you just love family reunions?"
Vader rose to his full height and stared at the droid, if that was what it truly was. "Who are you?"
"I'm an astromech droid, what do I look like?" W1SH replied as the red eye studied him. "I'm called W1SH."
Reaching out with the Force towards the droid, Vader was staggered by the amount of power he felt coming from it. Never in his life had he encountered something so powerful. He was used to being the most powerful Jedi that ever lived and to suddenly discover that he was like a raindrop in the ocean… it was humbling. "Do not attempt to fool me. You are no droid. Droids do not have unlimited Force powers that are off the charts."
"All right, you got me there." A soft white glow with pink sparkles surrounded the astromech droid and it slowly changed into a human woman. She had long wavy blonde hair, a curvy female figure with long shapely legs and wore a pink see-through gown with a pink bikini underneath it. The gown had a long slit up one side and pink high-heeled shoes were on her feet. She smiled happily and then squealed joyfully. She threw her arms out wide. "So this is the real me. What do you think?"
Luke's blue eyes practically popped out of their sockets as he gawked open-mouthed at her. "You … you're the droid?"
The blond women squealed again. "Yep! Oh it's so good to be back in my own body!"
"But … but … you're practically naked!" Luke cried. "Aren't you cold?"
"Honey, I can't feel the cold! I'm immortal! But it's very sweet of you to be so concerned for me. That's why I like you so much!" she explained as she leaned forward to smile at him sweetly. "See, you wanted your dad and here he is."
Darth Vader was having a very hard time accepting any of this sudden news. His brain clicked as he tried to process the fact that a droid had just changed into a nearly naked blonde woman … one that claimed to be immortal no less … and that could teleport children through space! For long moments he just gazed at her, his mind a total blank. He had no idea what he should do. Should he raise the alarm? Should he attack her with his lightsaber and would his weapon even have any affect on her? Was she an enemy or ally or neither?
And immortal beings didn't really exist, did they?
Her big blue eyes shifted to him and her face fell. "Ah, you're having a hard time accepting all this, huh? I know just how you feel. I went through something similar a few thousand millennia ago if that helps … hmmm … I suppose it won't help."
"W1SH?" Luke said as he gazed up at her, still slightly frazzled by seeing so much bare skin. It was unheard of on Tatooine and to bare so much of one's body would be a death sentence. It would be a race as to what would kill you first: the skin scraping sand or the burning suns overhead. Both were lethal. "Are you still W1SH or do you have another name now, too? My Daddy has two names…"
"I'm Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love. But you can call me Aunt Dite if you want." Aphrodite smiled down at Luke. Waving her hand in the air, a warm wool blanket materialized and she wrapped it snuggly around the boy's shoulders. The blanket was pink, of course. "There! Aunt Dite will make it all better!"
Pleased, Aphrodite leaned back and studied her handiwork.
"You're a goddess?" Vader stated dumbly, his mind still attempting to accept the information as fact.
"Well, yeah!" Aphrodite said as she rolled her eyes. "I have the full powers, don't I? I mean its not like you can teleport or anything!"
"What do you want?" Vader asked. He reached out and pulled Luke close to his body so the boy was pressed against his leg. For the moment he had decided to treat the woman as he would any other person of power or authority. Logic said she must want something and he was going to discover what it was.
"I want you to be happy!" Aphrodite explained as she looked at him sadly, her blue eyes covered by a film of water. A hanky appeared out of the air and she used it to dab at her eyes. "It's all so sad! You were so sweet together and then some dumb old war had to ruin all my hard work!"
Under the mask, Vader's mouth hung open. "You want me to be … happy?"
"Oh, that stupid Ar! Didn't he have enough wars?" Aphrodite frowned and her eyes flashed. She stomped a delicate foot on the floor. "I don't care what they say! I'm getting my cute perfect couple back together!"
"What?" Vader asked, totally confused. Surely she didn't mean Padme? His mind felt like it had taken an unscheduled vacation down the swirling maw of a black hole and had left him behind. These things just didn't happen!
Aphrodite looked him from his helmeted head to his boots and back up again, frowning. "Well, we'll have to do something about you…"
"What do you mean do something about me?" Vader demanded to know, a slight touch of panic edging into his emotions. "Haven't you subjected me to enough weird stuff for one day? Since when did the universe do these things? Goddesses just don't pop out of the air and start talking to a person!"
"Relax!" Aphrodite bit her bottom lip in concentration. "I'm sure you'll get used to it after some time…"
"Used to it?" Vader cried, horrified that she might decide to stick around for who knows how long. Then a worse thought occurred to him: what if there were others like her? How would he explain their presence to the commander of the ship or to his Master? What if a whole flock of them started popping out of the air, all blabbing their own crazy ideas? The galaxy had been nice and orderly until a short time ago. "Look, there are billions of people in the galaxy! Why pick me?"
"Because you're my bro!"
"Bro?" Vader asked fearfully, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Yeah! I'm you're long-lost half-sister!" Aphrodite explained as she bit a pink painted fingernail. "Now we need to heal you somehow…"
"SISTER!" Vader shrieked. The room swirled around him and he tottered unsteadily on his feet. Letting go of Luke, he forgot that he was standing in the center of the room and started to sit down. Like magic, a big fluffy pink armchair appeared from nowhere and caught him so he wouldn't fall to the floor. His arms rested on the plump pink armrests, armrests that had pale pink lacey doilies on them. He stared at them for a moment and then moaned. "My head hurts…"
"Well, you're lucky I'm here to take care of you!" Aphrodite beamed at him.
Vader moaned louder. Life was unfair…
The entire galaxy had gone insane!
"So you had no idea that Zeus was your father, huh?" Aphrodite asked as she made a scroll appear out of the air and studied it for a moment. "He's been doing that thing with mortal women for countless millennia. Trust me on that. He has all sorts of tricks up his sleeves, everything from changing himself to a goat to a shower of raindrops. Most of the women don't even realize it. Now if we can figure out how to heal you. I'm afraid healing is not my thing…"
Zeus … who the heck was Zeus? Vader realized he had never heard that name before. And he had never heard of this Aphrodite before either. If only it could have stayed that way…
But then he had his son!
Surely that outweighed any shock he was receiving, didn't it? His eyes flickered to Luke to discover the boy was watching him. He held out his arms and Luke inched closer.
"Are you OK?" Luke asked with a worried look on his young face.
"Yes. I'm just very surprised. It's not everyday that a goddess comes to visit you. And like you, I never knew my father either. I just learned his name for the first time so I was quite shocked."
"Oh! I was quite surprised, too, when I first saw you." Luke admitted as he stared up at his father's black breath mask. "I never dreamed you like this. You're so tall and at first the mask scared me. I never knew adults wear masks, but then I've never really been anywhere, just the moisture farm…"
A wave of shock rolled through Vader and he suddenly remembered the Lars' moisture farm, his mother's grave… "You were living with Cliegg, Owen and Beru Lars?"
"Owen and Beru are my Aunt and Uncle, but I don't know a Cliegg…." Luke shrugged his shoulders at the unfamiliar name. "I really don't like living there. Uncle Owen is always after me to fix things or clean things and he won't let me go anywhere because he says it's unsafe but won't really say why. And there's scary things living out in the desert. Uncle says they eat little boys that don't do their chores. And he gets grumpy if I daydream or talk about this pretty place I see in my dreams at night. It's all green grass and wildflowers and thundering waterfalls…"
"Naboo…" Vader whispered as the image sprang to his mind.
"Does such a place really exist?" Luke asked. He was sure that it didn't for how could a dream place be real?
"It's on your mother's homeworld, the lake country. We were happy there…" Vader fell silent as long-lost feelings assaulted him. How he had loved Padme! She had been the most important thing in his life and he had been willing to do anything at all to save her, even go to the Dark Side. But the very actions he had taken to save her had resulted in her death! And that knowledge had destroyed him in the end. He had been trapped on the Dark Side with Palpatine, the Order destroyed with no one else to turn to…
A tight fist gripped his heart and squeezed painfully as an idea occurred to him. What if Luke asked how his Mother died? What was he to tell the boy? He didn't want to lie but he couldn't tell the truth either, could he? He couldn't say that Padme's death had been his fault! Luke would hate him hate him! Reaching out, he gripped his son around the waist and gently pulled him up onto his lap. Luke settled onto one of his mechanical legs and Vader realized another thing. It was likely Luke had no idea of the extent of his injuries and just presumed that clothing covered his limbs. How could he explain that he was more droid than a real man? The boy didn't even know what lava was…
And what did he know about raising a child? He had always wanted a family, sure. But he had expected Padme to help him and she wasn't here. How much was it safe to tell the boy? Why, he didn't even know how old Luke was! The last thing he wanted was to give the boy nightmares about his horrible past and the evil things people could do. The Sith Lord lifted his face to Aphrodite. The goddess was still studying some long scroll that had unraveled and the far end tumbled in a heap at her feet, her tongue poking slightly out of her mouth. For the first time he was beginning to appreciate her being here. She was the first ray of hope he had seen in a long time of darkness. Could it be this deity could actually straighten out his mixed-up life? Was it possible for his injures to actually be healed? It would take a miracle but then a goddess could make miracles, couldn't she?
"Can we go there someday? I never saw grass or open water before, only sand." Luke asked hopefully as he slowly reached a hand out and cautiously touched his father's black breath mask. The metal felt cool and smooth under his hand. His blue eyes drifted lower to the blinking buttons on Vader's chest. "What are these for?"
"They keep me healthy." Vader explained the best he could. He tried to remember what he had been like at Luke's age but all of his early years on Tatooine seemed to roll into one. Besides, he had been a slave and he really had no idea what growing up on a moisture farm would be like. And how had Luke gotten there? It was a mystery. "I told you I had been in a fire, remember?"
Luke nodded.
"Well, the fire hurt me badly. My heart and lungs were damaged. These buttons watch to make sure my heart and lungs are working the way they should. You should never touch these buttons, Luke."
"I won't." Luke promised. "But maybe Aunt Dite can cure you and then you don't need those buttons! Then we can go visit the waterfalls!"
Vader was silent. He wanted to believe that Aphrodite could really cure him but it still seemed impossible. He didn't want to give the boy false hopes…
"Well, I think I found something here!" Aphrodite said with a grin. "Like I said, healing is not my gift. My real power is Love and everything related to making people fall in love with each other. But I think this just might work!"
"What will work?" Luke asked as he turned his head to look at the goddess.
Aphrodite waved her hand and a golden chalice appeared. She held it carefully with both hands. "All you have to do is drink some of this and it should heal your injuries. Your body will be like that accident had never happened. It's foolproof, trust me!"
Vader's eyes focused on the golden chalice, uncertain. "But … but what about my artificial limbs and other mechanical parts?"
"They'll vanish and be replaced by your real parts!" Aphrodite smiled, encouraging him to take the cup. "You'll be whole again! No more mask or gasping for breath!"
Setting Luke gently on the ground, Vader rose from the chair and stared at the golden cup. Could he really trust her or the cup's contents? Did a cure really exist in the golden container or was it something else? True, he had no reason to mistrust her but it still seemed so unreal. So little actual time had passed since the boy had popped into his quarters. Vader glanced at the chronometer on his wrist and realized it wasn't even a half hour! No wonder the whole thing seemed like some bizarre dream more than like real life. Still, who was he to pass up the chance to be rid of this mask? He had lost count of the times he had attempted to heal himself with the Force and had been able to breath clearly for a few seconds, then the pain had come crashing back and he found himself struggling for air once again. "I … I will need to remove this mask to drink it."
Aphrodite nodded her understanding.
"Luke," Vader knelt down before his young son. "In order to drink the medicine, I will need to remove this mask. I must tell you I'm not pretty and you may want to face the other way. I have many ugly scars from the fire I was in. Do you understand? Then once the medicine has worked you can see me."
Luke nodded, his feelings muddled. He knew a fire could do bad things to meat and people were meat, weren't they? Surely that's why those things out in the desert ate little boys? He was a bit glad that his father didn't want him to see; he wasn't too sure he wanted to see, either. But that made him feel bad. Surely it was wrong not to want to look at one's father? But maybe the medicine would be fast and then he could look. It had taken no time at all to get here from his Uncle's garage…
Vader waited until Luke had turned his back and childishly covered his eyes with his hands. Reaching up, he took off the helmet and unsealed the mask, air hissing out. Removing it completely, he set it down and reached for the golden chalice. A golden liquid sloshed within and he stared at it for a moment, uncertain. Then his lungs began to ache so he raised the cup to his lips. His lips parted and the cool liquid flowed across his tongue and down his throat. It was impossible to describe the taste except it was the best thing he had tasted, ever. Power seemed to flow into his body and warmth settled in his stomach, quickly spreading through his limbs. He blinked and suddenly saw flesh and blood hands holding the chalice, not black gloves!
His blue eyes opened wide in amazement and unconsciously he raised a hand to his face to feel smooth skin.
Dashing to his nearby closet, he flung open the door to look at himself in the full-length mirror. His mouth dropped open in utter shock at what he saw. The golden chalice trembled in his hand and Aphrodite gently freed it from his fingers without him really noticing she had done it. He was as he once was: his thick brown hair hung on his shoulders and his skin was unblemished. Why, he even wore his Jedi robes! Numb fingers pried open the several layers of clothing frantically only to find smooth skin! Even the arm he had lost to Count Dooku had been replaced! "I'm … I'm cured!"
"Well of course you are!" Aphrodite smiled and she squealed in excitement as she hugged herself.
"Father?" Luke turned and saw Anakin Skywalker for the first time. The man had the same blue eyes he did, the same shaggy hair and he was more like what he had thought his father would be, not a strange man in a mask!
Anakin laughed and ran towards Luke. Scooping the boy up he spun him around in the air and then held him in his arms.
It was a miracle, a real live miracle!
"We can go see Naboo and the Lake Country if you want to. We can go anywhere you want…" Anakin promised to Luke as he thought of the pile of credits that sat in his account, untouched. He would eventually have to deal with Palpatine but he didn't want to think about that now. He was too happy.
"Now hold on there! I'm not done yet!" Aphrodite said as a grin spread across her pretty face. "There's something missing from this happy picture and I intend to fix it! And I assure you this is my specialty!"
To be continued…
AN: Well, there's the end of Chapter 2, only 1 more chapter to go now. Xedra wins a cookie for correctly guessing it was Aphrodite from "Hercules" and "Xena" (two of my other favorite fandoms). Anyone else who guessed it was Aphrodite gets a cookie, too! And I hope no one is angry that I made Zeus Anakin's father in this story. It is AU after all. Oh, I'm not all that clear on Vader's rank in this time period but I presume there must be others higher than he is, as Moff Tarkin seemed to outrank him in Ep 4. I'm also presuming he has no idea of the Greek Pantheon.
Disclaimer: Aphrodite is not mine. She belongs to Renaissance Pictures, Studious USA and whoever owns the rights to Hercules the Legendary Journeys and Xena Warrior Princess.