Friends 2
Disclaimer: blablabla, we know the routine.
Leia Organa was sitting in her chair, watching the young Jedi standing at the viewport with concern. Luke had stormed into her quarters, clearly agitated and wanting to talk, but something prevented him from just opening his mouth and telling her what it was that bothered him. He just stood there, staring out at the blackness of space, the distant lights of the stars, silent and clearly hurting. Finally she could stand the silence no longer: "Luke, what is wrong? You cannot expect me to help you when I do not know your problem." Slowly lowering his head he closed his eyes tightly, as if fighting an inner urge to blurt out the whole story. "It´s Vader, isnt it?" she asked and knew immediately that she was right when his head snapped around to face her. His blue eyes looked haunted and troubled, not easy to look at, but Leia did nevertheless.
"I hurt him," he said, finally. He looked away again when he saw the surprise on her face.
- "I see," Leia sighed," But he is an enemy, Luke. Surely that would except him from the Jedi Code."
- "I do not know."
- "Did you tell Master Kenobi?" His face flushed red with shame:
- "It was him who prevented me from hurting him further."
- "What did he say?"
- "He was - very angry, I think. I have never seen him like that before."
Not knowing what to say the princess kept silent. And Luke returned to his own brooding. Then suddenly he turned around to face entrance:"He´s coming here," he announced and went to open the door.
Obi-Wan Kenobi hesitated for the merest fraction of a second before entering the Princess´ chambers. He took in the room´s two occupants and knew that Luke had talked. Apparently not much, hopefully. Leia´s liquid brown eyes looked at him with a wisdom beyond her years, much like her mother´s. So young and yet... Yet Leia was a leader, who had had responsibility thrust upon her young shoulders by events beyond her control. And look how she managed. Just fine. As for Luke...
Obi-Wan sighed quietly and went to join the boy at the window. He lay a soothing hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. "Is he...alright?" His heart went out to Luke at the sound of the boy´s nearly broken voice. "He is. And he wants me to tell you something. Her too," Obi-Wan added and nodded towards Leia, who frowned at the two men, not knowing what to make of this strange exchange of words. "Who wants you to tell us what?" she demanded quietly and the Jedi Master could sense her rising agitation easily. "Your father," he answered simply and Luke groaned silently. "Sit down, young Skywalker." Leia was confused:
- "What are you talking about? My father is dead, as is Luke´s."
- "Are you so certain of everything, princess?"
- "I had to watch my world perish."
- "Yes, I know."
- "Then what..."
- "Please, keep silent and just listen. It will all become clear," he waited for Luke to take a seat next to Leia, then continued," Long years ago, when I was still a padawan, like Luke is now, my master and I met a young boy, who had a great Force potential: Anakin Skywalker...."
Alone in his cell, Anakin Skywalker had his eyes closed. The boy had surprised him. When he had tried to probe his mind, Luke had fought him, even turned on him. And why? To know about his father. It was that simple. What had Obi-Wan told him? That his father was dead, slewn by Darth Vader. He smiled. When one cannot bear to tell the truth one had to make it sound more acceptable. That was what Obi-Wan had done. He had twisted the whole thing around, in a way, although he was not entirely wrong either.
It had been at the eve of the Clone Wars that the two friends had become more and more apart. Anakin was a married man then, a young consort to a beautiful Queen. And of course he did spend more time with his wife than his best friend and teacher. That was understandable, wasn´t it? And Obi-Wan had no business telling him who should be his friends either. Kenobi had never liked Palpatine, but back then Anakin had admired the Senator turned Chancellor for his diplomatic skills and his wisdom, both things he lacked then. Obi-Wan did not understand that. But then, Obi-Wan did not understand the Dark Side either. Or didn´t want to. Just like Amidala. When she left her husband for good he had felt the pain of that loss ripping him apart into an empty wreck that badly needed something to fill his life. Anything. Well. He´d chosen wrong. He knew that now. But now was too late.
"Anakin Skywalker was devasted after losing his wife, but what he didn´t know was that he´d lost more than he thought. You see, Amidala was pregnant with twins." Obi-Wan watched Leia stare at Luke and Luke stare at Leia. "You don´t mean..." the princess began, but he simply nodded. "Anakin left the Jedi Order for good. For a while noone knew where he´d vanished to. He didn´t even tell me. The next time I saw him was at the beginning of the Jedi Purge. You´ve heard of that, I´am sure. He was with them, with the hunters and I could tell it was the first time for him. Unfortunately I was supposed to be their prey. Anakin tried to stop them when he realized they meant to kill me. Sometimes he could be very naive. Especially when he was in the company of Palpatine. He fought them. Protected me. I....I was astounded. I had already given him up, you see? But he frightened me too. He so desperately needed someone, someone to care for. I could see that. But I could not tell him that he was making a mistake. He should have tried to change to get Amidala back, but he thought she´d never forgive him. As it turned out it was me who she couldn´t forgive."
He stood up, shook his head violently, scolding himself for his own stupidity. Why did he ever let that happen? But well, that was the past and he could not change that. Still. Here was his chance to make some of it right again. He had forgiven Obi-Wan, hadn´t he? His friend had had no choice but to leave him behind, else he´d be dead too. But I am alive, am I not? Yes, alive. He laughed, a rough laugh.
And I have a lot to do. Starting with my children. It was his place to ask their forgiveness now. For leaving them behind.
"Then Vader let Tarkin destroy the Death Star out of revenge?" Leia was aghast.
"He loves you, Leia, he really does. And Bail, well, I guess we both made a mistake. We pretended that we were protecting the two of you from him. But I think now, that you were and still are the key to bring him back. Why, I asked myself a hundred times, did he never ever try to get to his children? He felt guilty for leaving you behind. And he feared for you." - "Do you know this for sure, or are you just guessing?" Luke asked, his voice hard.
But Obi-Wan didn´t hear him. He was looking at the tall man standing in the doorway, blue eyes looking tired. "Anakin!" The twins turned around slowly to face their father. "You should not be here, they´ll come for you." Obi-Wan said mildly. The Dark Lord smiled at him: "Let them. I don´t mind," his gaze was fixed on Luke and the princess, who both had not said a word yet. For a long time neither spoke and Obi-Wan felt that what the three of them needed now was a little bit of privacy. Standing up slowly from the chair he´d previously occupied he walked to the door quietly, but Anakin stopped him before he could leave. Their eyes locked and Obi-Wan saw a calmness in the other man that reminded him of a great warrior long dead, his own master, Qui-Gon Jinn. He smiled up at his friend, a feeling of peace settling over his thoughts as he realized that there was no need for fear anymore. Never again. His friend nodded sharply and then smiled too. "Back from the dead, my friend," he said and meant every word of it.
Luke Skywalker was not happy at Obi-Wan leaving them here, alone with their... father. Neither was Leia, he could see that. Her lips were pressed tightly together, her eyes dark, as she looked at the man who did not quite meet her eye, instead was looking into the distance, towards the stars.
"Is it true? That you let Tarkin destroy Alderaan just to avenge yourself?" her voice was full of pain and loss when she spoke. Anakin slowly turned to face her: "Bail Organa killed your mother," he told her, hatred and anger shining through. The princess flinched back as if struck by an invisible whip. "That is not true," she whispered," Obi-Wan Kenobi would never ever have let that happen." - "Wouldn´t he? He left me to die when I saved his life, my child." - "You said you had forgiven him!" that from Luke, who was more than surprised at the sudden, dangerous slide in this conversation. "I have done that, yes. But that does not make him a saint or martyr. He is my friend." - "How did she die?" Leia asked suddenly, wanting to know the truth, but shying from it too, afraid to be hurt again.
- "She was living in his house, disguised as one of his wife´s handmaidens, a role she knew well to play. But Palpatine found her nevertheless."
- "Palpatine killed her?"
- "It was Bail Organa who failed to protect her."
- "Why did you not prevent it?"
- "I didn´t know then."
- "And now you do. Why do you still serve him?"
- "I do not."
- "But..."
- "Not anymore. He reminded me of how I had failed her. Failed you. Obi-Wan is right. You are the key, the two of you. I can feel it. The key to peace."
- "The key to peace? What do you mean?"
Luke and Leia were staring at each other in confusion, not knowing what to make of their father´s ramblings. His sudden laughter brought their attention back to him: "I can see that you do not understand, but there is still a lot you are not aware of. But know this: You are my children, you are all I have and I will not give you up. Ever. Is that clear?" They nodded, dumbfounded. "Good."
Obi-Wan Kenobi ran towards the ship´s command center as dignified as he could. "They are gone, Master Kenobi, gone," Mon Mothma greeted him, her eyes haunted.
- "He will not harm them."
- "I would not be so sure of that."
- "You know him, Mon Mothma. He loves them too much."
- "But where did he take them?"
- "I do not know."
- "You are lying, my friend."
- "Does it show?"
"So, what do you think?" Luke whispered quietly and looked over at his sister, who was intently watching the huge structure opposite from their perch. "Hm?" she asked back, not really listening.
- "Is he mad or what?"
- "Oh, definitely mad," she smiled at him, "As mad as you and me. But he is right. We will bring peace. Together."
- "By killing Palpatine? I don´t think so. This will cause a Civil War." Leia gave him a look:
- "Why have you come along then?"
- "Did we have a choice?"
- "Yes, we did. But that would have meant leaving him behind and I know you don´t want that. By the way, could it get worse than it is now?"
- "I guess not."
Both turned around at the sound of heavy boots approaching their hiding place.
Anakin Skywalker beamed at them, his open face smiling. He squatted down next to Leia and turned to look over at the Imperial Palace like she had done before. "When do we move in?" his daughter asked after a while. "Patience, Leia," he admonished her gently, "You should have learned that by now." The princess blushed slightly and thought back on the hard lessons and exercises he had pushed them through at high speed over the past four months on Tattoine. They had learned a lot, both of them. And mostly they had learned about their father. Getting to know him had changed their point of view on many things. Including forgiveness. Leia had to admit that her father was, at the core, not a bad man. But proud and stubborn. Much like herself and her brother. He did not bend easily, she knew, but for his children, he would give up everything. It was frightening somehow, the affection she felt for him, after all she knew he had done. But then, he had been able to forgive his best friend for letting him down. She could do that too.
"Do you really think we can do it?" Luke asked suddenly, breaking his sister´s reverie. But she too turned to look at their father. He was smiling at them, a pretty confident smile: "Let me put it like this: We are the only ones who can do this, so we will succeed. Right?" - "Right," the twins chorused, but both had a feeling that it would not be easy.
TBC
Sorry guys, it´s a bit short, but I´m leaving on a vacation for 2 weeks. :)
Disclaimer: blablabla, we know the routine.
Leia Organa was sitting in her chair, watching the young Jedi standing at the viewport with concern. Luke had stormed into her quarters, clearly agitated and wanting to talk, but something prevented him from just opening his mouth and telling her what it was that bothered him. He just stood there, staring out at the blackness of space, the distant lights of the stars, silent and clearly hurting. Finally she could stand the silence no longer: "Luke, what is wrong? You cannot expect me to help you when I do not know your problem." Slowly lowering his head he closed his eyes tightly, as if fighting an inner urge to blurt out the whole story. "It´s Vader, isnt it?" she asked and knew immediately that she was right when his head snapped around to face her. His blue eyes looked haunted and troubled, not easy to look at, but Leia did nevertheless.
"I hurt him," he said, finally. He looked away again when he saw the surprise on her face.
- "I see," Leia sighed," But he is an enemy, Luke. Surely that would except him from the Jedi Code."
- "I do not know."
- "Did you tell Master Kenobi?" His face flushed red with shame:
- "It was him who prevented me from hurting him further."
- "What did he say?"
- "He was - very angry, I think. I have never seen him like that before."
Not knowing what to say the princess kept silent. And Luke returned to his own brooding. Then suddenly he turned around to face entrance:"He´s coming here," he announced and went to open the door.
Obi-Wan Kenobi hesitated for the merest fraction of a second before entering the Princess´ chambers. He took in the room´s two occupants and knew that Luke had talked. Apparently not much, hopefully. Leia´s liquid brown eyes looked at him with a wisdom beyond her years, much like her mother´s. So young and yet... Yet Leia was a leader, who had had responsibility thrust upon her young shoulders by events beyond her control. And look how she managed. Just fine. As for Luke...
Obi-Wan sighed quietly and went to join the boy at the window. He lay a soothing hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. "Is he...alright?" His heart went out to Luke at the sound of the boy´s nearly broken voice. "He is. And he wants me to tell you something. Her too," Obi-Wan added and nodded towards Leia, who frowned at the two men, not knowing what to make of this strange exchange of words. "Who wants you to tell us what?" she demanded quietly and the Jedi Master could sense her rising agitation easily. "Your father," he answered simply and Luke groaned silently. "Sit down, young Skywalker." Leia was confused:
- "What are you talking about? My father is dead, as is Luke´s."
- "Are you so certain of everything, princess?"
- "I had to watch my world perish."
- "Yes, I know."
- "Then what..."
- "Please, keep silent and just listen. It will all become clear," he waited for Luke to take a seat next to Leia, then continued," Long years ago, when I was still a padawan, like Luke is now, my master and I met a young boy, who had a great Force potential: Anakin Skywalker...."
Alone in his cell, Anakin Skywalker had his eyes closed. The boy had surprised him. When he had tried to probe his mind, Luke had fought him, even turned on him. And why? To know about his father. It was that simple. What had Obi-Wan told him? That his father was dead, slewn by Darth Vader. He smiled. When one cannot bear to tell the truth one had to make it sound more acceptable. That was what Obi-Wan had done. He had twisted the whole thing around, in a way, although he was not entirely wrong either.
It had been at the eve of the Clone Wars that the two friends had become more and more apart. Anakin was a married man then, a young consort to a beautiful Queen. And of course he did spend more time with his wife than his best friend and teacher. That was understandable, wasn´t it? And Obi-Wan had no business telling him who should be his friends either. Kenobi had never liked Palpatine, but back then Anakin had admired the Senator turned Chancellor for his diplomatic skills and his wisdom, both things he lacked then. Obi-Wan did not understand that. But then, Obi-Wan did not understand the Dark Side either. Or didn´t want to. Just like Amidala. When she left her husband for good he had felt the pain of that loss ripping him apart into an empty wreck that badly needed something to fill his life. Anything. Well. He´d chosen wrong. He knew that now. But now was too late.
"Anakin Skywalker was devasted after losing his wife, but what he didn´t know was that he´d lost more than he thought. You see, Amidala was pregnant with twins." Obi-Wan watched Leia stare at Luke and Luke stare at Leia. "You don´t mean..." the princess began, but he simply nodded. "Anakin left the Jedi Order for good. For a while noone knew where he´d vanished to. He didn´t even tell me. The next time I saw him was at the beginning of the Jedi Purge. You´ve heard of that, I´am sure. He was with them, with the hunters and I could tell it was the first time for him. Unfortunately I was supposed to be their prey. Anakin tried to stop them when he realized they meant to kill me. Sometimes he could be very naive. Especially when he was in the company of Palpatine. He fought them. Protected me. I....I was astounded. I had already given him up, you see? But he frightened me too. He so desperately needed someone, someone to care for. I could see that. But I could not tell him that he was making a mistake. He should have tried to change to get Amidala back, but he thought she´d never forgive him. As it turned out it was me who she couldn´t forgive."
He stood up, shook his head violently, scolding himself for his own stupidity. Why did he ever let that happen? But well, that was the past and he could not change that. Still. Here was his chance to make some of it right again. He had forgiven Obi-Wan, hadn´t he? His friend had had no choice but to leave him behind, else he´d be dead too. But I am alive, am I not? Yes, alive. He laughed, a rough laugh.
And I have a lot to do. Starting with my children. It was his place to ask their forgiveness now. For leaving them behind.
"Then Vader let Tarkin destroy the Death Star out of revenge?" Leia was aghast.
"He loves you, Leia, he really does. And Bail, well, I guess we both made a mistake. We pretended that we were protecting the two of you from him. But I think now, that you were and still are the key to bring him back. Why, I asked myself a hundred times, did he never ever try to get to his children? He felt guilty for leaving you behind. And he feared for you." - "Do you know this for sure, or are you just guessing?" Luke asked, his voice hard.
But Obi-Wan didn´t hear him. He was looking at the tall man standing in the doorway, blue eyes looking tired. "Anakin!" The twins turned around slowly to face their father. "You should not be here, they´ll come for you." Obi-Wan said mildly. The Dark Lord smiled at him: "Let them. I don´t mind," his gaze was fixed on Luke and the princess, who both had not said a word yet. For a long time neither spoke and Obi-Wan felt that what the three of them needed now was a little bit of privacy. Standing up slowly from the chair he´d previously occupied he walked to the door quietly, but Anakin stopped him before he could leave. Their eyes locked and Obi-Wan saw a calmness in the other man that reminded him of a great warrior long dead, his own master, Qui-Gon Jinn. He smiled up at his friend, a feeling of peace settling over his thoughts as he realized that there was no need for fear anymore. Never again. His friend nodded sharply and then smiled too. "Back from the dead, my friend," he said and meant every word of it.
Luke Skywalker was not happy at Obi-Wan leaving them here, alone with their... father. Neither was Leia, he could see that. Her lips were pressed tightly together, her eyes dark, as she looked at the man who did not quite meet her eye, instead was looking into the distance, towards the stars.
"Is it true? That you let Tarkin destroy Alderaan just to avenge yourself?" her voice was full of pain and loss when she spoke. Anakin slowly turned to face her: "Bail Organa killed your mother," he told her, hatred and anger shining through. The princess flinched back as if struck by an invisible whip. "That is not true," she whispered," Obi-Wan Kenobi would never ever have let that happen." - "Wouldn´t he? He left me to die when I saved his life, my child." - "You said you had forgiven him!" that from Luke, who was more than surprised at the sudden, dangerous slide in this conversation. "I have done that, yes. But that does not make him a saint or martyr. He is my friend." - "How did she die?" Leia asked suddenly, wanting to know the truth, but shying from it too, afraid to be hurt again.
- "She was living in his house, disguised as one of his wife´s handmaidens, a role she knew well to play. But Palpatine found her nevertheless."
- "Palpatine killed her?"
- "It was Bail Organa who failed to protect her."
- "Why did you not prevent it?"
- "I didn´t know then."
- "And now you do. Why do you still serve him?"
- "I do not."
- "But..."
- "Not anymore. He reminded me of how I had failed her. Failed you. Obi-Wan is right. You are the key, the two of you. I can feel it. The key to peace."
- "The key to peace? What do you mean?"
Luke and Leia were staring at each other in confusion, not knowing what to make of their father´s ramblings. His sudden laughter brought their attention back to him: "I can see that you do not understand, but there is still a lot you are not aware of. But know this: You are my children, you are all I have and I will not give you up. Ever. Is that clear?" They nodded, dumbfounded. "Good."
Obi-Wan Kenobi ran towards the ship´s command center as dignified as he could. "They are gone, Master Kenobi, gone," Mon Mothma greeted him, her eyes haunted.
- "He will not harm them."
- "I would not be so sure of that."
- "You know him, Mon Mothma. He loves them too much."
- "But where did he take them?"
- "I do not know."
- "You are lying, my friend."
- "Does it show?"
"So, what do you think?" Luke whispered quietly and looked over at his sister, who was intently watching the huge structure opposite from their perch. "Hm?" she asked back, not really listening.
- "Is he mad or what?"
- "Oh, definitely mad," she smiled at him, "As mad as you and me. But he is right. We will bring peace. Together."
- "By killing Palpatine? I don´t think so. This will cause a Civil War." Leia gave him a look:
- "Why have you come along then?"
- "Did we have a choice?"
- "Yes, we did. But that would have meant leaving him behind and I know you don´t want that. By the way, could it get worse than it is now?"
- "I guess not."
Both turned around at the sound of heavy boots approaching their hiding place.
Anakin Skywalker beamed at them, his open face smiling. He squatted down next to Leia and turned to look over at the Imperial Palace like she had done before. "When do we move in?" his daughter asked after a while. "Patience, Leia," he admonished her gently, "You should have learned that by now." The princess blushed slightly and thought back on the hard lessons and exercises he had pushed them through at high speed over the past four months on Tattoine. They had learned a lot, both of them. And mostly they had learned about their father. Getting to know him had changed their point of view on many things. Including forgiveness. Leia had to admit that her father was, at the core, not a bad man. But proud and stubborn. Much like herself and her brother. He did not bend easily, she knew, but for his children, he would give up everything. It was frightening somehow, the affection she felt for him, after all she knew he had done. But then, he had been able to forgive his best friend for letting him down. She could do that too.
"Do you really think we can do it?" Luke asked suddenly, breaking his sister´s reverie. But she too turned to look at their father. He was smiling at them, a pretty confident smile: "Let me put it like this: We are the only ones who can do this, so we will succeed. Right?" - "Right," the twins chorused, but both had a feeling that it would not be easy.
TBC
Sorry guys, it´s a bit short, but I´m leaving on a vacation for 2 weeks. :)