Chapter Six

Lord Vader sat in his hyperbaric chamber. It was the one place he could be without his damned mask on. He was brooding about his children. Well, maybe brooding was the wrong word. He was reflecting about their shared Force-dream. He was shocked, to say the least, at Luke's acceptance of him. The most unSith-ly joy bubbled within him at the mere memory. His son's attitude had completely changed from their first and last horrendous encounter. He expected Luke to behave more like Leia.

Leia he sighed.

His daughter's reaction was something he had expected, at the very least. He deserved it and far worse….

…But it didn't mean he wanted to hear it. It felt as if sharp needles were being poked into his heart every time she looked at him, or didn't look at him. She resented him almost to the point of hatred. Being a Lord of the Sith, this should excite him. Instead it…

He smothered those thoughts, for fear the road it would lead him. Resting his bare forehead in his hand, elbow on arm rest, he replayed the dream in his mind. It was the only time he had ever talked to the two together. He ached to know his children better.

"Be mindful of your thoughts, Anakin. They betray you" said a disembodied voice. Vader spun around in his chair. Obi-Wan Kenobi appeared in the corner of his chamber, clad in his Jedi robes, glowing.

"Kenobi" snarled Vader, standing up and activating his lightsaber. Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and waved his hand in a practiced manner her perfected while training Anakin.

"Don't bother Anakin, I'm already dead."

"Yes," thundered Vader. "And I killed you."

"Yes, funnily enough," Obi-Wan smirked, "I remember that bit."

"Then why are you amused?" seethed Vader, lightsaber still raised.

"You yourself admitted to killing me, yet you try and duel a dead man."

"Do I not have reason too?" hissed Vader. "You turned my wife against me, stole my children from me, and hid them. You left me to die."

"Anakin-"

"Do not call me that!" he roared "That name no longer had meaning has any meaning to me! I am now Darth Vader."

"Maybe at most times, yes you are." Obi-Wan reasoned "But Anakin is still there, and very much a part of you." He paused. "As for Anakin Skywalker not meaning anything to you, well, you've already had that argument with your son."

Vader lowered his weapon slightly, looking incredulously at Obi-Wan. "How do you-?"

"I told you that in death, I would be more powerful than you can possibly imagine." Obi-Wan smirked again, crossing his arms.

Vader lowered his weapon, disbelievingly. "Did you orchestrate it?" Obi-Wan smugly nodded and Vader sat back in his chair, dumbfounded, all fight leaving him. It wasn't like he could actually fight Obi-Wan anyway.

"The three of you have never had a proper conversation together. They needed to hear what you had to say and you need to hear them."

"The only reason we never had a proper conversation is because you hid them from me" Vader said bitterly.

Obi-Wan looked at him dubiously. "What would you have had me done, Anakin? Leave two defenseless infants with you? Can you imagine them growing up the way Mara Jade has? If they were even given the chance to grow up! If they were not killed at once, they would have grown up adversaries. Sidious would have had one kill the other, and then you."

"I would not have let that happen" he said gruffly.

"How? You would have had no choice. Besides, the last time I saw you, you had gone mad with rage. You Force choked Padmé and -"

"That would not have happened if you had not turned her against me! I had risked everything for her. She betrayed me and I lost all reason and control."

Obi-wan shook his head and sighed. "Your single mindedness has always hindered you, Anakin. Take responsibility, and listen to me. I snuck on to Padmé's ship. She did not know I was there."

"You-you mean-" Vader rasped, but Obi-wan interrupted him.

"And even after all that you had done, she used her dying breath to tell me she still had faith in you, that there was still good in you. I didn't believe her then, but I do now. Twenty three years too late, but better late than never."

Vader sighed and rolled his eyes in a very un-Vader like manner. Anakin on the other hand… "Not you too."

Obi-wan raised his eyebrows. "You mean your son."

"Luke is young and naïve and doesn't know any better. You should know better. You are a fool."

Obi-wan simply smiled and clasped his hands behind his back. "He is very much like his mother. They both are really. Actually, they are rather a spectacular mix of the pair of you." He began to stroll around the perimeter of the chamber, not exactly looking at Vader, but glancing at him ever so often. Vader watched him hesitantly, the deepest part of him secretly hoping his former master would continue.

"Luke has Padmé's forgiving nature and openness. However, he share's your need to prove himself and impatience, as well as his piloting skills. He is also a skilled mechanic. Both your children are stubborn and natural leaders, a trait the get from both parents, no doubt. They have Padmé's heart and conscience. They have your force abilities, obviously. And your sense of extreme loyalty and temper, though Luke can control his better than Leia. Leia is a diplomatic crusader and politician, like her mother. She is quiet articulate as well. Luke is much shyer. Leia holds grudges like you do." and he said, turning to Vader, eyes sparkling, "She has your tendencies to cross societal barriers when it comes to love as well."

Vader narrowed his eyes, thinking of Captain Solo. Obi-wan chuckled.

"I take it you don't approve."

"I doubt it would matter either way, even if I was the father I should have been" sighed Vader.

Obi-Wan crossed his arms, studying him.

"They can redeem you Anakin" he said quietly.

"That's impossible. It is too late for me."

Obi-Wan shook his head. "You are not a lost cause. There are signs all around that you are changing."

"What signs?" Vader scoffed.

Obi-Wan lowered his eyebrows. "Do you not know?"

"I wouldn't ask if I did" snapped Vader, confused.

Obi-Wan looked at Vader seriously. "Anakin, when you think about them, your eyes are blue."

Yoda was dying.

Luke knew it as Yoda hobbled around his hut. Yoda freely admitted it. Gone was the spry little alien who fought with Artoo when Luke landed on the diminutive swap of a planet. It appeared that within the last six months, all Yoda's nine hundred years seemed to crash upon him.

"No more training do you require. Already know you that which you need." Yoda said as he lowered himself into his bed, closing his eyes. Luke's breath caught in his throat.

"Then I am a Jedi."

Yoda opened his eyes, amused glint flashing. "Ooohh," he gurgled breaking off into a cough, eyes serious again. "Not yet. One thing remains: Vader. You must confront Vader. Then, only then, a Jedi will you be. And confront him you will." Yoda fidgeted around in his bed, trying to find a more comfortable spot.

Luke looked down, emotions reeling.

"Master Yoda, I have confronted Vader."

Yoda shifted again. "Not go well, I take it."

"He declared that he was my father." Luke said gravely.

Yoda put his back to Luke. "Mmm...rest I need. Yes...rest."

"The Force tells me it's true." Luke said, not getting a response from Yoda. "Yoda, please" he pressed.

"Told you, did he?" asked the Jedi Master, back still at Luke.

"Yes."

Yoda sighed. He had hoped the boy would not find out the way that he had. "Unexpected this is, and unfortunate."

Luke flinched, stung at the Masters words. "Unfortunate that I know the truth?" he accused.

Yoda twisted around, wanting the boy to understand. "No. Unfortunate that you rushed to face him... that incomplete was your training! Not ready for the burden were you."

"I'm sorry." Luke said softly, wanting Yoda to rest, but Yoda pressed on.

"Remember, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware. Anger, fear, aggression. The dark side, are they. Once you start down the dark path…forever will it dominate your destiny."

"There is still good in him, Master. I can feel it. I cannot kill him if there is still good in him. I cannot kill my own father."

"Of the same mind, Obi-Wan was" Yoda said sadly. "Then already won, the Emperor has. Only hope, you were." Yoda began to cough. "Luke...Luke...Do not...Do not underestimate
the powers of the Emperor, or suffer your father's fate, you will...Luke, when gone am I-" He broke down in coughs again. With a shuddering breath, he continued. "The last of the Jedi will you be. Luke…Luke, Pass on what you have learned. Train your sister, Luke…Train Leia."

"Be at peace, Master" said Luke softly. Yoda closed his eyes, and his labored breathing came to a stop. Luke watched as the Yoda's body became one with the Force. He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, glad no one was there to feel his grief. He rose from the little hut, and made his way back to his X-wing. Giving the hut one last look, he knelt down by Artoo, ignoring his beeping, investigating the wires the little droid was fixing, but hung his head, sighing.

"I can't do it Artoo, I can't go on without guidance."

"Yoda will always be with you."

Luke looked up, startled. "Obi-Wan" he murmured, slightly in awe. Obi-Wan Kenobi's ghostly figure stepped through the overgrown foliage towards Luke. Luke stepped towards Obi-Wan, and with a louder voice asked "Why didn't you tell me? You told me Vader killed a murdered my father."

"You father was seduced by the dark side of the Force. He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became Darth Vader. When that happened, the good man who was your father was destroyed. So what I have told you was true... from a certain point of view." Obi-Wan sat down on a log and sighed. "Or at least that is what I once believed."

"A certain point of view," scoffed Luke, derisive. He was angry. He and Leia had been kept in the dark for far too long. It would have been shocking, yes, and horrible, but somebodyshould have told them.

"I don't blame you for being angry. I thought I was doing what was right at the time. And I still believe it was. But things change and if I was wrong in what I did, it certainly wouldn't have been for the first time. You see, what happened to your father was my fault."

Obi-Wan's brow was furrowed as guilt he apparently carried into the afterlife crinkled at his eyes. Luke sat down next to him, studying him.

"Anakin was a good friend. When I first knew him, your father was already a great pilot. But I was amazed how strongly the Force was with him. I took it upon myself to train him as a Jedi. I thought that I could instruct him just as well as Yoda. I was wrong. My pride has had terrible consequences for the galaxy. I failed him as a master. I was so blind!" he broke off, regaining his composure. "After he turned, I thought I could change him back, but instead we dueled, and I cut off his legs and arm, leaving him in lava. My love for him wouldn't let me kill him, even then. I failed him as a brother."

Luke sat, stunned and entranced. He absorbed all Obi-Wan's words, replaying them in his mind. "What do you mean, 'once believed'?"

"I felt a shift in the Force" said Obi-Wan. "Since then, I've been following your father carefully. After our duel, I was sure there was no good left in him. Your mother…As your mother lay dying she told me that there was still good in him. I thought that she was just clinging on to a useless hope. But now, I'm not sure."

"There is still good in him," Luke insisted.

Obi-Wan nodded gravely. "Yes, I believe so. But the question now is can Anakin Skywalker overthrow the evil that is Darth Vader? And are you prepared to do what you must if he can't?"

"I can't do it, Ben. I tried to stop him once, and that was before I knew he was my father!"

"Vader humbled you when first you met him, Luke...but that experience was part of your training. It taught you, among other things, the value of patience. Had you not been so impatient to defeat Vader then, you could have finished your training here with Yoda. You would have been prepared."

"But I had to help my friends!" Luke said indignantly.

Obi-Wan smiled, easily able to see a young Anakin saying the same thing with the same tone and earnest, if not defensive, look in his eyes. "And did you help them? It was they who had to save you. Though, it might have been for the best."

"How so?" Luke asked surprised, expecting to be admonished.

"While I did not want you to find out, especially in that manner, it changed your father in a most peculiar way. Having seen you, and Leia, knowing that you are his children, gave him certain…lightness."

"He knew Leia was his daughter when she told him our mothers name on the Death Star." Luke argued, not understanding.

"Yes, but it was a shock to him then. Seeing you both on Bespin, talking to the both of you, brought back feelings, thoughts, and memories he had avoided since the death of your mother. Then when the three of you met in your dream-"

"You know about that?" asked Luke, stunned.

Obi-Wan smirked, rubbing his chin. "I may have had a hand in it" he said smoothly. But then he was serious. "He is vey conflicted, Luke. Dangerously so, in fact. He can either tip into the light, though it has never been done, or fall even farther into darkness."

"I don't think I can kill him, Ben."

"To be a Jedi, Luke, you must confront and then go beyond the dark side - the side your father couldn't get past. Impatience is the easiest door - for you, like your father. Only, your father was seduced by what he found on the other side of the door, and you have held firm. You're no longer so reckless now, Luke. You are strong and patient. And now, you must face Darth Vader in the hopes of finding Anakin Skywalker."

"Has anyone ever returned from the dark side?" asked Luke.

"No," said Obi-Wan. "No one has ever returned. But your father was the strongest Jedi ever to be born. Some believed he was the Chosen One to bring balance to the force. If anyone could, Anakin can. But the dark side is powerful and addictive" He sighed, looking to Luke dolefully. "He wants redemption, I know he does. He doesn't think it's possible. But I think with your help, he can achieve it. You are his last hope."

Leia sat on her chair, arms hugging her legs to her chest. She had been gazing out of the small window, looking at the fleet, but not really seeing it, a small frown on her face. It was a quarter of an hour to an Alliance briefing.

Luke had left them for Dagobah after they'd rescued Han from Jabba. He had promised Master Yoda he would return to complete his training. She could feel his imamate arrival.

Luke, her best friend and brother.

Luke, who was a Jedi.

Luke, who wanted to teach her as well.

Luke, who forgave their father.

Their father…

No matter how Leia tried to redirect them, her thoughts always seemed to return to him.

"Credit for your thoughts?" asked Han, plopping himself in the seat across from her. He skidded it forward in order to be closer to her.

"Hmm?" She looked over at him. "Oh, nothing."

He raised his eyebrows at her, not buying it. She sighed, letting one leg fall.

"Vader. I've been thing about Vader."

Han nodded, waiting for her to expand. "On his general persona, or…" he prompted.

"You know, the fact that he is my…well you know."

"Father?"

"Yeah. That." She said dejectedly, looked out the window again. "Luke forgave him."

"I know."

"And I can't."

Han studied her profile. Her brows were furrowed, her mouth set in angry frustration. She looked worn. He didn't need to be force sensitive to be able to tell she was hurt and confused.

"He has done such terrible things. To Luke…to me." She broke off looking at him again. "He tortured me. He made me believe I was going through the worst pain of my life. And you! He tortured you and froze you and gave you to Boba Fett! You lost six months of your life. If I can't hate him for what he did to me, I should hate him for what he did to you."

Han was silent for a moment. He reached over and took her hand, studying it. He gently turned it this way and that.

"I got a couple a things to say to that. I ain't the smartest guy around, and I ain't a Jedi. I do know that hate is poisonous, even for us regular people. Sometimes it does more damage to the person who hates, then to the actual hated." He began rubbing her hand the way he did on the Falcon, looking at her with earnest eyes. "That being said, I don't want you to hate anyone because of me."

"Do you think I should forgive him?" she asked quietly. He thought for anther moment.

"I don't think it would be easy to forgive him. I don't think he deserves it. I do think he is sorry."

"Sometimes," she whispered "I think about him…and everything he has done… and I get so angry, I don't want to forgive him. Other times I try and I just can't. I can't do it. Does that make me a bad person?"

Han stood up, pulling her to her feet, and wrapped his arms around her. "You're not a bad person, Sweetheart. You're human." He paused for a moment, "Forgiving him won't mean you love Bail any less. Hearts aren't givin' a set amount of space."

She sighed into his chest and looked up at him, small smile playing on her lips. "Since when have you been so wise?"He chuckled slightly, lifting her hand to his lips, and kissed it lightly. She raised her eyebrows. "Charming, too."

"Careful, Princess. You're gunna give me a big head" he smirked, dipping his head towards her.

She stood on her tip toes and met him, not before saying "Oh, it's far too late for that."

A/N: Sorry for the wait! I had to work out a few things. It's almost over! I love Obi-Wan.

Anyway, I love reading anything you've got to say about this chapter. Reviews make me smile!

Oh- and if anyone has or recommends any really good stories, I'm in need for a good read!

Please review!