Chapter 4
Leia looked at Luke and then Anakin with disbelief and horror. Luke…my brother…that's wonderful! But how can that monster be my father? "No…No…that can't be possible, Luke! Vader can't be my…our father!"
"It's true, Leia." Luke continued. "And your future self has learned to forgive him as the rest of us have."
Leia started to hyperventilate. "I need to get out of here…to be alone." She immediately jumped up from her seat at the table and ran out of the room and across the courtyard, towards the stairs to the outside.
"Leia!" Han shouted and started to run after her, but Anakin jumped down from the counter to stop him.
"Leave me alone!" Leia shouted as she ran up the stairs to the outside.
"Han, let her go." Anakin told him as Han continued to try to get passed him.
"But Anakin, she needs me!" Han tried to plead with him and continued to struggle to get around him. "Let me go after her!"
"She needs to be alone, Han. You know how Leia is. When she's ready, she'll open up to us." Anakin said as they heard the door slam and the sound of Leia running on the gravel above.
Han knew Anakin was right and started to calmed down. Seeing this, Anakin let go of the grip he'd had on Han's jacket and backed away. Han looked down to the ground. "You're right. She'd probably just push me away anyway. She did the last time too." He then looked over at Luke. "But I'd feel better if you would go try to talk to her, Luke. She always did open up to you."
"I'll go check on her in a few minutes, Han." Luke said as he turned to Han. "But Father is right. We should let her be alone for a little while at least."
Luke (past), who had remained silent through this exchange, looked up at his future self and then Anakin…My father…as he used to be. It filled Luke (past) with joy that his father had turned back to the Light Side of the Force. But still…everything he did to us…to Leia. And Leia…my twin sister? He started to smile. I always did feel that we had some kind of special bond between us. This must be what I'd been sensing all along.
Anakin suddenly realized that he had been ignoring Luke (past) and turned to face the past version of his son. Luke (past) was looking back at him with a strange smile on his face. "Are you alright?" Anakin asked him as he walked over and sat in the seat next to him. He reached towards Luke's (past) injured arm, looking into his eyes with concern and guilt. Luke (past) flinched, losing the smile he had at the thought of Leia being his sister, and pulled his arm away from Anakin. Anakin hesitated. "I am really sorry about that. I hope you know that and will be able to forgive me."
Luke (past) continued to grasp his arm, looking back at Anakin…his father…with suspicion and hurt. He didn't know what to say. The last time I spoke to him, he'd cut off my hand and told me he was my father. But…but that was Vader. Vader is of the Dark Side. This man sitting before me isn't Vader…This is my father…Anakin Skywalker…as he was before, when he was still a Jedi.
"We can get you a synthetic hand, like Luke's here…" Anakin continued and looked to Luke and then back to Luke (past). "…when we reach Couresant. I know that it won't make what I did be any more forgivable…"
"Father…" Luke interrupted him, putting his hand on his shoulder and giving him a reassuring smile. Anakin turned, looking up at Luke. "I'm going to go check on Leia." Anakin nodded and then Luke headed across the courtyard to the stairs.
"Luke, wait up! I'm coming too." Han said as Luke stopped and turned to wait for him. "She may not want to talk to me, but I at least want to be nearby if she does decide she needs me." He joined Luke and then they both headed upstairs.
Lando and Chewie, who had been watching and listening to this whole time in silence, decided it was their turn to take their leave. But they weren't sure if they should leave Luke (past) alone with this man who claimed a few minutes ago that he used to be Vader. If that's true, he could be in great danger. Lando thought to himself. "Um, Luke." Lando started "Will you be alright if we go outside too?"
Luke (past) turned to Lando and Chewie and then back at Anakin. "It will be alright, Lando. He won't harm me. He's not Vader anymore. He's my father…Anakin Skywalker." Luke smiled at his father and Anakin smiled back at him.
Chewie growled with concern, but Lando motioned him to come with him. "Come on Chewie. If Luke says he'll be ok, he will." And with that Lando and Chewie also left the house to go outside to get some fresh air, with Anakin and Luke watching them go. It was getting way too close in there with all this weird information coming at us all at once. Lando thought to himself.
Chewie growled and Lando answered his question. "Yes, Chewie, it is incredible that Luke and Leia are twins." Chewie growled again and then they couldn't make out Lando's response as they disappeared up the stairs.
Luke (past) turned back to his father. "Thank you." Anakin said to him. "I hope this means that you've forgiven me?"
Luke (past) sighed. "Yes." Luke looked down to his injured arm and then back up to Anakin. "I can see that you are very sincerely sorry and…" He paused. "…seeing how you interact with Han and my future self…I'd like to have that kind of relationship with you." He then started to chuckle a little. "And you know Han. If he can forgive you, I suppose I can too."
Anakin chuckled too. "Well, he wasn't exactly very accepting of me at first. It took a little time and your sister's encouragement…to gain his trust."
"My sister…Leia. I still can't believe that." Luke (past) looked at Anakin with a smile and then became serious. "I just hope she's going to be alright. She seemed so distraught with the idea."
"She'll be alright. Her future self accepted me. But I don't think she would have if your mother hadn't told her why I turned to the Dark Side in the first place." Anakin answered him.
Luke (past) looked at Anakin with curiosity. "Why did you turn…to the Dark Side I mean?"
"Like I said, it's a long story. But to make a long story, short…I was having dreams…premonitions about your mother dying in childbirth. Palpatine insinuated to me that he could help me save her with powers learned from the Dark Side of the Force." Anakin paused. "I couldn't stand to lose her…so, in the end, I thought I was sacrificing myself to save her…But what really happened was I loss my soul, my family and anyone who ever meant anything to me. In fact, I learned later that she had been dying from a broken heart…lost the will to live…because of me…of what I did…because I turned to the Dark Side. I became someone she didn't know anymore. And it was killing her." Anakin started to tear up at the memories. "It was the worst mistake I ever made, Luke. If I could go back and do it over again, I would do it very different. I hope you believe that."
Luke (past) put his left hand on his father's shoulder. "I…I never understood why…until now." He looked at his father with concern on his face. "You did what you thought was a noble thing. And as you said, you were easily manipulated by Palpatine."
"Yes. And Luke, if we get you back to your own time…Don't give up on me…no matter what. Me being here…talking to you is proof that it's possible."
"I won't…Father." Luke (past) smiled to himself. Father…I like the sound of that.
"Good." Anakin said as he smiled at him and then looked at the floor and then looked back up to Luke.
"But Father, you said that Mother is still alive? She didn't die?" Luke asked with anticipation.
Anakin smiled. "Yes, she is alive! Obi-Wan had her put in stasis…to keep her alive. But then to protect her and you, our children, from the Emperor, they had a funeral for her, leading everyone to believe that our child had died with her. She was put in her family's tomb on Naboo…But the tomb had been hit during an attack and I think Obi-Wan thought they had lost her. It was a miracle they found her when they were cleaning up the rubble 5 years ago."
"That's wonderful! And you said we have a new brother and sister?" Luke (past) added.
"Yes, Benjamin and Shmi. Ben is 3 and Shmi is 2 months old." Anakin answered as a proud father.
"Let me guess. You name Ben after Obi-Wan?"
"Yes, and Shmi is named after your grandmother, my mother."
Anakin continued to tell him about his life with Padme, Ben and baby Shmi. Luke asked about his grandmother and Anakin shared all his memories with him about her…and how hard it was to have left her when he was 9 to train to be a Jedi and how he tried to save her from the Sand People, but he was too late. Luke listened with interest and concern.
The more they talked, the more Luke (past) was getting to know his father in a way he never dreamed would be possible, as a loving father. This is the man my father would have been if he hadn't turned to the Dark Side. I will keep my promise and won't give up on him if, when we get home.
-------------------------------------------
Luke and Han found Leia on the Falcon. She was lying on a bed in the sleeping quarters, crying into the pillow. Han stayed out in the hallway, as Luke entered the room and sat on the bed next to Leia. "Leia, it's not as bad as you think."
Leia looked up at Luke with tear-filled eyes. "How can you say that, Luke?" She sat up and put her arms around his neck, hugging him. "I think it's wonderful that you're my brother. I always felt we had a bond of some kind." Then she backed away from Luke, pulling her arms back into her lap and then looked away. "But…How can Vader be our father, Luke? How?"
Luke looked at her with concern. "Leia, at first, I had a hard time adjusting to the idea…but then I got this crazy idea that I could turn him back to the Light Side of the Force….and, as you can see, I did help him do that. He drove out the evil that was Darth Vader." Luke paused. "Palpatine was going to kill me when I refused to turn to the Dark Side, but Father stopped him. He killed the Emperor, sacrificing himself to save me…and also the galaxy. He's a good man now, Leia. The man he used to be…before."
"I don't know, Luke. I don't know if I can ever forgive him." Leia responded looking down to where she was playing with the blanket.
"But you did…and you will." Luke said as he put his hands on her shoulders. She reached up and hugged him again. "I'll try to forgive him, Luke. But don't expect it right away." She hesitated for a moment in thought. "He does seem very different…He actually reminds me of you a little." She said with a little chuckle and smile.
Han poked his head in the door. "So how's it going in here? Can I come in?"
Leia backed away from her embrace with Luke and wiped the tears from her eyes with her right hand. "Sure, Han. Please…come in."
"Glad to." And Han immediately entered the room. "Are you ok?"
Leia laughed a little. "Yes…or I will be." She paused, looking at him with a longing in her eyes. "I still can't believe that you're safe, Han."
"Oh, you mean from the carbonite? Yeah, well, you guys all make a great rescue team." Han said with a smile. He then became serious as Leia continued to cry and he crossed over to the room to sit on her bed as well. "I'm fine, Leia…really."
Leia reached over and put her arms around Han and they embraced as she continued to cry on his shoulder. Luke, seeing this was probably the time he should leave, got up and started to quietly leave the room.
"Hey, where you going?" Han asked him, turning his head to get a better look at him.
Luke stopped at the door and turned around. "I'm going to go check on father and…my double. To see how they're doing."
"Ok." Han answered as both Leia and Han watched him leave. Leia continued to cry on Han's shoulder as he held her close, rocking her and comforting her. "It will be ok, Leia."
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Hoth System
Grand Admiral Thrawn walked into the lab, coming from his quarters on the other end of the complex. The Empire, or what was left of it after the New Republic attack of their home base in the Saleucami System 3 years ago, retreated here to try to regroup and regain their strength.
Much of the Rebel Alliance base that had been here had been destroyed when it had been attacked by the Empire 7 years ago, but they were able to rebuild most of it and turned it into a new haven for the Imperial Forces.
Thrawn was interested in what the scientists had found out about a piece of technology that they unearthed at Mt. Tantiss. The New Republic had sent bombs to finish off the complex before they left 3 years ago, but Thrawn went back with storm troopers to see if anything had survived the attack. He was still in hopes that he could find a weapon there to use against the New Republic.
At first, their search seemed hopeless. They found what looked like the remains of almost fully grown clones of various people, but their pods had been destroyed in the explosion and they parrished. DNA tests ran on the clones they found proved to be quite interesting and Thrawn was saddened that he couldn't have used some of them to his advantage. Toping the list of those cloned were the Emperor himself, Luke Skywalker and even Anakin Skywalker. I could have used the Luke and Anakin Skywalker clones to make people lose trust in them. What a loss.
But he wasn't here at the lab about the clones. He was there to discover the secrets of this piece of technology that he hoped would be a new form of weapon. When he entered the lab, one of the scientists looked up at him.
"Grand Admiral Thrawn, what brings you here?" The scientist said as he walked over to him and shook his hand.
"I'm here to find out how you are coming with that piece of equipment we found in Mt. Tantiss."
"Well…We haven't determined what it is yet. But we did manage to turn it on." The scientist responded.
"And…what happened?" Thrawn asked, looking at him with anticipation.
"We're not sure, Sir."
"You're not sure?" Thrawn's eyebrowl went up.
"No, sir. Some kind of pulse came from it, but we haven't been able to determine what that pulse was exactly."
Thrawn folded his hands in front of him and put his right hand on his chin, rubbing it. "Hmm. Well, Doctor. Keep working on it…and keep me updated on your progress."
"Yes, sir." The scientist said and bowed to him.
Thrawn headed back towards the doors and pushed the button to open in it. He headed back down the hall to his quarters. He had just received a new holographic representation of the artwork of Naboo and he wanted to study it. That was the planet the Emperor was from originally; and perhaps by studying it, he thought he could find out more about the Emperor, himself, that might help them solve the purpose of this mysterious technology.
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Tatoonine
The visitors, feeling somewhat uncomfortable about what happened that night, decided to sleep on the Falcon, while Han, Anakin and Luke stayed in the Lars home.
Anakin hadn't been able to sleep for most of the night. He laid in bed looking at the ceiling. He could hear Han's loud snoring coming from his room too, which didn't help matter either. He tried pulling the blanket up over his head to deafen the noise, but it didn't work. Eventually, he realized, that he did finally drift off to sleep because he was awaken by the sound of metal, hitting rock.
His eyes popped open and he sat up, looking around. Luke, who had been sleeping in the bed on the other side of the room, was gone. Anakin threw the blanket off of him and turned to put his bare feet on the cold, stone floor. He put his elbows on his knees and rubbed his eyes, still hearing the pounding coming from outside.
Anakin quickly got dressed and, after not seeing anyone inside, went upstairs to see what all the noise was about. When he walked out of the dome, he turned to see Luke and Han pounding what looked like grave markers into the ground; and he walked over to them.
"What's going on?" Anakin asked while noticing that, indeed, they were grave markers for his mother and Cliegg Lars.
Han and Luke stopped their shoveling and pounding and turned to watch as Anakin approached them. "Han had these made when he was in Anchorhead yesterday." Luke told him.
"You did?" Anakin said while looking at Han with surprise and gratitude.
"Yeah, that's why I was late getting back last night. I saw this grave monument shop on the way out of town and decided to stop." Han paused leaned on the hammer he had been using and looked at the markers like he was reading them. "I hope the spelling is right. The engraver seemed to know your family, so I'm hoping so."
"It's perfect, Han." Anakin answered him with a weak smile. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Han with a smile. "I was glad to do it."
Anakin paused. "Have you had breakfast yet?" He asked.
"No, not yet. We were waiting for you to get up." Luke answered him while leaning on the shovel.
"I can go start it while you finish." Anakin said and started to turn to leave.
"Actually, we're done." Han said as he picked up the large hammer to carry it over his shoulder. "We'll follow you down."
Anakin, Han and Luke walked back to the dome entrance of the home, just as the visitors emerged from the Falcon. The trio turned and waited as they approached.
"We were wondering when you are planning to leave for Couresant?" Luke (past) asked them as they arrived at the entrance to the house.
"After breakfast." Anakin answered him. "I'll need to call Couresant and let your mother know you're all coming. This will certainly be a surprise to her and I want to prepare her."
The visitors nodded in agreement and followed the three men into the home.
"I hope you're a good cook, Anakin. Because I'm starving." Han said.
Anakin laughed. "I wouldn't count on that, Han. That is unless you like your breakfast burnt. Just ask Padme."
"I'll cook." Luke jumped in.
"Thank the Force!" Han replied.
