I still don't own any of this… well, maybe the storyline but anything that you recognize, it sure isn't mine. It's all George Lucas's.

AN- I stand by my note from chapter 1. If there's a time line issue, just tell me. Other than that, enjoy! And review, reviews make me happy. But please, don't burn me or anything. That would scare me.

Also, the plot of the story will be starting in chapter three so bear with me please!

Forgiveness

Leia was confused. She left a meeting because she was positive that Luke was in trouble. He was supposed to be off the planet. Then she sensed him not only still on Coruscant but on Coruscant with a speeding heart rate.

"What is it Luke? It's not like you to get worried about…things other than life threatening."

Luke smiled apologetically.

"Yes, that is true," he admitted. "But this is amazing. You have to see this, Leia."

Luke turned to Artoo. "What's the earliest vid you have on him?" He asked the droid.

Artoo trilled.

"Approximately 37 years ago, Master Luke," Threepio translated.

Luke's jaw dropped.

"Who is it a video of, Luke?" Leia asked.

Luke did not expect this at all. He couldn't have hoped for better. The one thing he didn't know enough about. His father. His mother as well, it seemed. He grinned at his sister.

"Artoo knew him, Leia! He owned Artoo!" Luke said excitedly.

Leia stared at her brother, uncomprehending.

"Luke, you are honestly scaring me. What's wrong with you?" Leia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He was so…normal. He was…he," Luke stopped as he realized something. "He wanted us, Leia."

Leia furrowed her eyebrows.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

"He was honestly happy when he found out…I never thought…" Luke was grinning wildly. He looked almost like a young child who got rewarded for being good.

"He loved her…I wasn't sure he could love." Luke sat back, falling into his own thoughts.

"LUKE!" Leia yelled.

Luke snapped his head up, as if he had forgotten she was even there.

"I missed a stupid meeting to check on you because I thought something was wrong with you! What is going on?!" Leia yelled, getting annoyed with his ramblings.

Luke's eyes widened. His sister was a force to be reckoned with when she was angry.

"I'm so sorry. I'm just…it's amazing. Let me show you."

Luke wanted to see a new video. He wanted to learn something new about Anakin Skywalker. However, he had no way of knowing what video Artoo would show. Luke surely didn't want Leia to see one in which he was bad. She had such a hard time accepting their father's goodness.

"Artoo, play the holo you just played for me?" Luke asked.

Automatically, the video started. Luke watched intently again. He was glad to watch it again, this time with the knowledge that this was, in fact, his father. Luke forgot that he had wanted to see Leia's reaction completely.

This time, as Anakin shifted, Luke saw his lightsaber dangle from his side. Luke smiled as he saw it.

When the hologram ended, Luke looked at his sister.

Her face was clear of emotion. She was in thought, deep thought. Then, a realization came over her. She looked sharply at Luke, startled.

"Surely Luke, that wasn't…was it?" She demanded.

"That was Anakin Skywalker, our father." Luke nodded.

Leia was shaking her head.

"That can't be him, Luke."

Luke frowned. He didn't understand. How could it not be him?

"Leia, the video is 24 years old. His name is Anakin. His wife was pregnant…I saw his lightsaber this time. It has to be him. There isn't anyone else it could be." Luke took her shoulders gently. "Did you see our mother? She looks like you. Or rather, you look like her."

Leia bit her lip.

"He tortured me. I…I just can't believe that's the same man," Leia said, shaking.

Luke winced. He sat next to Leia and put an arm around her. She was trembling in her remembrances.

"All of us who are close with the Force," Luke started softly, "…you, me, our father…we have the ability to tap into the Force. Anakin Skywalker made wrong decisions. It could happen to us too, Leia, very easily. Regular humans--like Han—can make bad decisions without the consequence of becoming consumed by evil. Because of our connection to the Force, we fall harder and faster, we fall into the Dark Side of the Force. It's why being a Jedi has always been so structured. All it takes is a bad decision and we succumb to the Dark Side.

"Anakin was good. I know he was. I saw it." Luke paused and then said it again, solidifying it for him and Leia. "I saw it. And now you've seen it. That's what he was. In that holo."

Leia looked to the spot where the hologram had been projected.

"But Luke," she whispered, "Why would someone good go so very bad then?"

Luke sighed. He wanted to know the same thing. He knew that his father went bad. He knew that he had been good. In between that though, he had no clue what happened. It must have been within the eight months after that holo though. He didn't know he had twin children so he obviously wasn't there for the birth.

"I hope we can find that out."

Leia looked pained. She shivered.

"He killed so many people," she said.

Luke realized now why it was so hard for her. Alderaan...

"Leia, I know that the old Anakin would have murdered anyone who tortured his daughter. It's what he did to the person who tortured his son," Luke said, flinching at the remembrance. "If that's not proof he changed, I don't know what is."

Leia looked at Luke. Darth Vader had tortured both of them. Luke had been tortured with the knowledge of who his father was, had his hand cut off, and had to survive Force lightening. Leia shivered with the thoughts of her own torture. Not only physical torture, but he made her watch her home planet as it was destroyed. Part of her felt worse for Luke.

Darth Vader knew Luke was his son and still did all those things.

Yet it was Luke who could accept him so much easier.

"How do you forgive him, Luke?" She asked.

Luke smiled slightly, looking far off, as if into the past.

"It was when I saw his face, when I took off his mask. His eyes… I could see the pain and shame. He looked vulnerable and apologetic. I could see that childish smile from the holo hidden behind the scars as he saw me." Luke sighed. "The way he looked…I'm positive he fell to the Dark Side when he was vulnerable…And his eyes seemed as if he had just awoken from a deep sleep. In his eyes, I saw him come back to the Light. I saw Anakin."

Leia had never seen her brother look so sad. She took his hand and felt the cold metal through his skin.

"And you forgave him for everything?" She asked.

"I don't know why he went bad Leia. But I know he--I don't know how to put this --I know he didn't mean to. Don't get me wrong, it was entirely his fault, and he knows that. But he sort of fell into it or something. Perhaps he thought he was doing the right thing…" Luke trailed off, knowing he could theorize for hours.

"But, maybe, just maybe, Artoo can show us. I have to know. And maybe we can find out something about our mother. We don't even know her name." Luke started to get anxious to watch the holograms.

Leia started thinking again.

"There's something else. I think I've seen her before. The woman…our mother. I don't know where exactly," she said, still thinking. "I bet I could figure it out."

"Or…" Luke said, kneeling in front of Artoo, "We can watch another holo."