Chapter Two: The Waking of the Chosen One
"You just don't want me around when Daddy Dearest wakes up," Han snapped.
Leia sighed. "I really want Pooja here to help me rebuild the Senate," she insisted. Giving you a chance to get used to the idea of working with your enemy is just a pleasant side effect, she dearly wanted to say, but didn't.
It had been two days since Anakin's resurrection. He was in perfect health, and had been outfitted with the best prostheses the Alliance could get their hands on. They had moved him to a spare bedroom in the base, and there he had slept for the last forty-eight hours. The MD droids estimated that he would likely wake up later today, and Leia was anxious to get Han out of the way before he did something rash – Anakin, she knew, would have enough to deal with without his daughter's angry boyfriend breathing down his neck.
And if Anakin got angry in return – well, Leia didn't really want to think about that.
Therefore, she had decided to send Han to pick up her friend Pooja Naberrie. She had met Pooja in the Senate, and they had quickly become good friends. They hadn't seen each other since the Senate was dissolved four years ago, and Leia missed her.
Han, however, was not taking kindly to this assignment.
"And leave you alone with a completely healthy Darth Vader running around? I don't think so!"
"First of all, just because you are gone doesn't mean that I'll be alone. Secondly, he is not Darth Vader anymore. Luke and the Force spirits say so. And lastly, I think so. Go get Pooja. You'll be back in a a couple weeks at the very least."
Han knew he'd lost. He narrowed his eyes at Leia, but she was unfazed. With a last growl of objection, he turned on his heel and marched off the prepare the Falcon.
Leia took a deep breath and steeled herself for facing her resurrected biological father.
Barely half an hour after Han and Chewbacca had taken off for Naboo, Luke and Leia were playing holochess when Obi-Wan Kenobi materialized in front of them.
"Anakin is now in a natural sleep rather than a restorative coma," he announced. "It is time to wake him up."
"I thought we were going to let him wake up on his own," Luke commented.
Obi-Wan's image shivered, and suddenly he appeared to be years younger, with reddish-brown hair and a wide, boyish smile Luke had never seen before. "Do you have any idea how fun it is to wake Anakin up?"
"He'll be moody for a couple of days. Dark Side detoxification, I call it," Obi-Wan warned as he, Luke and Leia stood outside Anakin's door. Mon Mothma and General Rieekan were due to join them at any moment.
Luke frowned. "He didn't detox when he came back to the Light after destroying the Emperor."
"There is a difference between ten minutes and a lifetime. Anyone can not use the Force for ten minutes. But forever? And especially not Anakin. He is the Force; it's ingrained in him. He is psychologically incapable of not using it, and I doubt the Dark Side will ever truly leave him. Even as a Jedi, he had trouble understanding sides. To him, it was all just the Force."
"What exactly are you saying?" Leia asked, slightly alarmed.
Obi-Wan hastened to reassure her. "Oh, don't worry, he won't be dangerous – not to you, anyway. You just may see a couple aftereffects of Vader you don't like. For example . . . the Force choke. He may use it on his enemies to prove his strength, but he won't kill them. Not in cold blood."
"Well, that's better than killing all our officers if they so much as look at him," Leia muttered, but Luke could tell she was unhappy with this revelation.
At that moment, Yoda, Qui-Gon and Nejaa showed up.
"I didn't think you were coming," Obi-Wan said.
Nejaa raised his eyebrows. "What, and miss the show?"
"Best if here we are," Yoda observed. "Young Skywalker . . . temperamental, can he be."
"To say the least," Qui-Gon murmured.
"Excuse me?" Luke questioned.
Obi-Wan waved a hand at him. "Not you – Anakin."
"Oh."
Mon Mothma and General Rieekan arrived then, and Obi-Wan took that as his cue to to enter Anakin's room while everyone else waited in the hall.
"Good morning, sunshine!" Obi-wan sang in the sickening, infuriatingly cheerful tone he knew drove the younger man up the wall, even though it was far from morning.
A lamp from the bedside table flew at him. He ducked it easily, more out of practice and instinct than necessity, and it continued out the door, smashing on the opposite wall of the corridor. The four Alliance members shot startled glances inside, the ones who could see Obi-Wan staring at him in shock. The other three Jedi ghosts didn't so much as bat an eyelash.
Obi-Wan closed the door and turned back to Anakin, who hadn't so much as twitched from his position on his stomach, face to the wall. Even his unruly curls hadn't stirred.
"Time to get up, my former Padawan! We're burning daylight!"
"You filthy hypocrite!" Obi-Wan, Anakin obviously recalled, enjoyed sleeping in, too. "Go away and let me sleep!"
Outside the closed door, yet still able to hear every word Anakin yelled with perfect clarity, Luke muttered, "Well, at least we know his lungs are better."
Back inside the room, Obi-Wan was feeling generous. "Fine. Five minutes."
"Fifteen."
"Ten."
"Deal."
Obi-Wan left the bedroom. "He'll be up in ten," he informed everyone.
Mon Mothma and Rieekan left; they had other responsibilities to attend to. Luke and Leia settled on the floor to wait, the Jedi spirits standing above them.
"You call that fun?" Leia demanded.
Obi-Wan grinned at her. "Always."
When Anakin woke, he had no idea where he was or how he had gotten here, He only vaguely remembered his encounter with Obi-Wan mere minutes before. He pulled himself into a sitting position and groaned. By the Force, why did Obi-Wan want him up as such an unholy hour? For that matter, why was Obi-Wan up at such an unholy hour? Maybe the Council wanted to send them on another mission . . .
Anakin groaned again and let himself fall back onto the pillow, pulling the covers back over his head.
Then his memory caught up with him, and he sat bolt upright again.
"OBI-WAN!"
Luke winced. That call did not sound like it boded well for Obi-Wan Kenobi.
"Right," Leia muttered from beside him. "I've decided that now is a very good time to comm Han." She bolted, and Luke sighed. She'd been handling everything so well . . .
Obi-Wan, it seemed, wasn't the least bit concerned. "WHAT?" he roared back.
A vicious Force shove nearly removed the sliding door from its track, and Anakin Skywalker stepped into the corridor, dressed in black and magnificently furious. His eyes were still blue, though, Obi-Wan noted as they fixed on him. That was always a good thing.
"When I kill someone," Anakin snarled in a tone that sent more shivers down Luke's spine than Vader's vocalizer ever did, "I expect them to stay dead!"
"Oh, you've regained your memory," Obi-wan commented delightedly. "How wonderful."
"You've gone soft in your old age," Anakin growled in response, slightly more rational but no less angry.
"With age comes wisdom," Obi-Wan quipped.
Anakin made a derisive sound. "And senility! I distinctly recall you telling me that age is no measure of wisdom!"
The younger Jedi sighed in frustration, and a note of desperation crept into his voice. "Why couldn't you just let me die in peace, Obi-Wan? Why go through the trouble to bring me back? I"m only going to be executed for my crimes, anyway."
Nejaa Halcyon laughed at that. "I'd like to see someone try!"
Anakin smiled weakly at him.
Qui-Gon took over. "We've already had the issue addressed, Anakin. As far as the Alliance is concerned, Darth Vader died aboard the Death Star, and Anakin Skywalker has come out of hiding to help rebuild the Republic."
Anakin made a face. "The Republic? The old, out-dated, corrupt Republic?"
"No," Obi-Wan said firmly. "The New Republic. Talk to your daughter; she has some brilliant ideas."
"Also help your son, you will," Yoda added severely. "Rebuild the Jedi Order, the two of you will. A command that is, young Skywalker."
Anakin stared guiltily at the floor. "Yes, Master."
Yoda nodded. "Good. Master Jinn, Master Halcyon, with me you shall come. A moment alone, Obi-Wan wishes with his Padawan."
The three Masters were nearly gone when Anakin called, "Nejaa?"
The ghost looked at him curiously. "Yes?"
Anakin grinned. "Say hello to the missus for me."
The other Jedi smiled back and gave a mock salute, then disappeared.
As Anakin and Obi-Wan stared at each other, Luke, still seated on the floor, felt very uncomfortable. This was an intensely private moment between his father and his mentor, a moment he had no right to witness. However. He could not get up and leave without drawing their attention, so he just closed his eyes and sat very still instead.
"You're all grown up, Anakin," Obi-Wan said at last, emotion causing his voice to quiver slightly.
"I prefer the term disillusioned, thank you," Anakin shot back, but there was no heat in it.
They were silent again.
Finally, Anakin spoke. "I'm sorry, Master." It sounded like he was fighting back tears.
"So am I," Obi-Wan replied, and somehow he must have become solid again, for in the next instant, the two men were clinging to each other, faces buried in the other's shoulders, shaking as they finally allowed themselves to mourn all they had been, and all they had lost.
Obi-Wan couldn't hold the corporeal state for long, though, and soon they were forced apart. "I have to go," Obi-wan said shakily, "but Anakin – I'm so glad you've come home again. I love you, Anakin; you're my brother. I've always loved you. I always will. And I want you to remember that. No matter what you do or what you call yourself, I love you."
Anakin nodded. "I'm not nearly so eloquent as that," he replied, tears still streaming down his face, "but I love you too, Master. You can't know how much."
A small grin danced at the corners of Obi-Wan's mouth. "Try me."
Anakin smiled sadly back. "Sorry, Master. I have no words to express it."
"You're the Master now, Anakin. Take good care of those children of yours – they get their penchant for trouble from you."
Anakin laughed and wiped his eyes. "Oh no. And there are two of them!"
Obi-Wan touched his spirit-hand to the new Master's shoulder, then stepped back. "I'll be watching," he promised, and dematerialized.
Anakin stood still for several minutes, composing himself, then turned to where he knew his son was sitting.
Luke accepted Anakin's hand and found himself pulled effortlessly to his feet. "I – ah, have something of yours." He unclipped from his belt the lightsaber he had found on board the Executor. "Here."
Anakin took the weapon and ignited it. He swung the crimson blade experimentally, evaluating it with a practiced eye and a natural hand. "I'll need a new one, but it'll do for now." He clipped the lightsaber to his own belt, then looked into his son's bright blue eyes.
"So," he said lightly, "is the world ready for me?"
"Goodbye, nerfherder. I love you too."
Leia switched off her comlink and rested her forehead on her clasped hands, elbows on the table. Talking to Han had made her feel better, mainly because she had argued constantly with him about the importance of escorting Pooja here, and it had driven certain other issues to the back of her mind.
She knew she'd have to face Anakin sometime. She couldn't hide in her room forever. No, she'd have to make her peace with him – and she would.
Just . . . not now.
"Tell me about your training so far," Anakin asked as he and Luke sat outside in the shade of a large tree. Each had a canteen of water, which Anakin was going easy on. He had spent over twenty years injecting any sustenance he needed; he didn't trust his stomach not to rebel against anything he asked it to digest, even if it was only water.
"Not much to tell," Luke replied, taking a large swig. "I mostly taught myself, using stuff Ben – I mean Obi-Wan – wrote down. I did find the time I spent with Master Yoda very educational, though."
Anakin nodded. "Yes, Yoda does know what he's doing." He looked down at his hands. "I don't think he liked me too much, though."
Luke realized Anakin was trying to open up to him, trying to let him get closer, to strengthen their bond, and he determined to tread carefully. "I think," he said slowly, "that he saw in you the potential for great accomplishments and power, but also for great disasters and flaws."
"Flaws that I couldn't overcome. That I didn't want to overcome." Anakin brooded for a couple moments, then gave a small chuckle and shook his head. "Forty-six years old and I'm still young Skywalker!"
Luke grinned and opened his mouth to reply, but an exuberant shout cut him off.
"Uncle D! You're alive!"
Anakin bounded to his feet. "Jix!"
If Anakin was powerfully built, the man that rushed forward to greet him was downright brawny. Brown hair was held back from his face with a leather tie, and observant brown eyes peered out of a swarthy face.
"It's Anakin now, Jix," the former Sith Lord corrected his off-the-record spy/assassin/all-around go-to guy.
Crestfallen, Wrenga Jixton asked, "Does that mean I can't call you Uncle D anymore?"
He put on such a pathetic face that Anakin felt he had no choice but to relent. "You can call me whatever you like, Jix --"
"-- as long as I mean sir, yes, I know."
Anakin grinned and sat back down beside Luke. Jix sat down too, facing the Skywalkers.
Luke looked at Jix curiously. "Who are you?" he asked.
"I know who I am. What I don't know is – hey! I know you!"
"Good job, Jix," Anakin interrupted. "Luke, this is Jix. He's – well, I guess you could say he's my shadow. Jix, I can only hope you were just pretending not to recognize him."
"Look," Jix said defensively, "I never got to see him up close, okay?"
"Whatever you say." To his confused son, Anakin added, "Jix spent several months making sure you remained alive."
"Why?" Luke asked, glancing at Jix.
"Because I'd been demoted," Jix replied. "From assassin to babysitter."
Anakin ignored this. "Because I told him to. As for you --" He rounded on Jix. "How could you find me without that damned suit?"
Jix grinned. "I am just that good."
Anakin snorted. "Try again. The truth, this time,"
Jix glared, sighed and replied, "Piett pointed you out."
Anakin laughed.
Jix glanced at Luke. "Is it good to have him back, kid?"
Luke looked at his still-grinning father. "Yes," he answered simply, an overwhelming feeling of love and awe filling him. "It is."
