It wasn't unusual that Leia was the first to break the stunned silence. But Luke noticed that there was a tightness around her eyes, and her face was pale, the only color coming from angry red splotches on her cheeks.
"How can you see that?!" she demanded, her voice shrill. "Are you…what could possibly be so damaged in your sick mind that-"
"You have no idea what you are talking about!" Anakin roared back. "You—" he stopped, taken aback. The hairs on the back of Luke's neck rose.
Leia was laughing.
They were humorless, sharp barks, more defiant than mirthful, and their effect was unsettling. They seemed to deeply disturb Anakin, who drew back slightly, retreating from this woman he no longer knew.
"I don't know what I'm talking about?" Leia shot back, her false mirth subsiding. "You have no idea what I know. I saw everything. That evil old man was using you," she hissed. "You were his dog—and you were happy to wear his leash!" The words were like a slap in the face, each emphasis landing with an almost audible crack. Anakin flinched visibly. Luke felt his mouth fall open, but was totally unable to form a response.
"Did he make you feel powerful? Did he make you feel righteous?" Leia leaned in, her eyes sharp and predatory. "Or are you just incapable of living as a free man, and need Master to tell you what to do?"
Anakin looked murderous. The white-hot rage that rolled off him seemed strong enough to burn a hole in the soft fabric cover of the couch. His hands curled into fist, and for a split second, Luke was frozen by dread- he feared his father would strike Leia, and in that second take the one action Luke would never be able to forgive him for…
But for once, Luke misjudged how far Anakin's fury would go. His father stood, his rage still overflowing and howling just outside Luke's mental shields, and stiffly walked out the door.
"Father!" Luke shouted after him, standing to chase after him, as usual, but paused when he noticed Dr. T'sung hadn't made similar movements. She motioned for Luke to sit back down.
"This is the most well-behaved Anakin has been while in my treatment," she said, settling into her chair. "He's not paranoid or breaking things—he's welcome to clear his head and come back when he's ready to talk."
"What makes you think he'll willingly come back?" Luke asked, bewildered.
"You two are here," the doctor replied, simply. She turned. "And it's you I'd really like to talk to," she went on, addressing Leia. "Those were strong words."
Leia folded her arms across her chest. Luke considered pointing out the irony how much she resembled Anakin in that moment, but chose not to.
"They were true." She replied, stiffly.
"Of that I have no doubt. But how did you know all that?"
Leia pursed her lips together, suddenly intrigued by the ripple of the long grass outside the window. The silence dragged on a Dr. T'sung patiently waited for her answer.
"Well, it was obvious, wasn't it?" Leia finally snapped back. "The whole Galaxy could see it. There were always rumors—"
"There were rumors that Darth Vader hated the Emperor and was trying to get him killed," Dr. T'sung cut in. "There were rumors that the Emperor was just a puppet, too terrified of Vader to exercise any real power. Some people didn't even believe the Emperor existed. You weren't talking about rumors, Leia."
She looked to her brother for help, but Luke huffed in exasperation. "You know I can sense when you're hiding things from me."
Leia knew she was trapped, and it was with great reluctance that she finally answered.
"I had a dream," she muttered, wrapping her arms around herself. Dr. T'sung raised an eyebrow.
"A dream?" she asked. Leia flushed, embarrassed.
"Not- not the way you're thinking…"
Luke leaned forward, concerned. "Was it a vision?" He seemed torn between pride and worry. "Leia, if you're growing stronger in the Force, it could be—"
"It wasn't a vision!" Leia snapped. She immediately looked guilty for snapping at her brother, who was only trying to help, but pressed on. "It was more like…a memory. But it wasn't one of my memories."
Dr. T'sung couldn't shake the feeling that she was somewhat out of her depth on this matter, but pressed on.
"Anakin had a nightmare last night," she offered, quietly. Leia paled.
"It would make sense," Luke added, eagerly. "Your connection to the Force has been growing, and all this time you spent with Father would have strengthened your connection—"
"I don't want to have a connection to him!" Leia shouted. "I don't want to have anything to do it him, and now you're telling me he's inside my head, like this is some kind of—game—for you—" her face was pale, and suddenly the dark rings beneath her eyes and new lines across her forehead were thrown into sharp clarity.
With startling quickness, Luke lunged forward and hugged his sister tight. "Oh, Leia," he said. "I'm so sorry. It's not anything like what happened on the Death Star. I promise- he isn't doing this to hurt you…"
Leia didn't respond. She took deep, ragged breaths in through her nose, exhaling in sharp bursts. Even with her hands curled into fists and her face buried in Luke's shoulder, Dr. T'sung could see she was fighting to keep herself from trembling. For a long moment, there was silence only broken by Leia's harsh breaths and Luke's soothing words.
"It doesn't matter," she said, finally, pulling away. Her voice shook, but she seemed firm in her resolve. "I know he isn't doing this on purpose—there's no way he'd want me to see some of the things I saw- but I just…" she shook her head. "He can't undo what he did to me. For my own sake- for my sanity…when this is over, I don't think I'll be seeing much of him."
"You're…cutting all contact?" Luke asked. He looked worse than hurt—he looked betrayed. Leia gripped his hand.
"Not with you," she said, gently. "You're my brother, Luke—you make everything that happened with Vader—Anakin- worth it. And I won't make you choose," she looked at him, offering a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
Luke looked desperately at Dr. T'sung, hoping she'd talk Leia out of this. But the doctor shook her head slowly.
"This is a choice only Leia can make," she said, softly. "If you think its best for you, and your well-being—" Leia nodded vigorously.
"I'll stay until Anakin is more or less on his feet," she cut in, "and you fix this…dream-connection that we have. But I just can't stay here any longer. I can't-"
The door slid open again, and both Luke and Leia were startled to see their Anakin, leaning slightly on the doorway. Dr. T'sung's predication had proven accurate.
"The Emperor," he announced, as if he'd never left, "was all the things the Jedi weren't. He didn't resent my powers—he wanted me to utilize them to the greatest possible extent. He thought I was worthy," Anakin's breathing seemed more labored than usual. Luke thought that maybe he'd been angrily pacing outside.
Which made him wonder nervously what his father might have overheard…
"The Jedi don't care about life," Anakin raged, now pacing around the room, "because they don't care about death. They don't care about anything. They wanted to let Padme die—"
"Mother?" Leia's head snapped up. "You think the Emperor cared about Mother?" she looked disgusted, but it was tempered with…pity.
"Of course he did!" Anakin shouted back. "She was going to die and the Jedi were going to let her! They would have! But Palpatine…he promised me…" Anakin looked down at his hand for a moment, squeezing his new prosthetic into a tight fist. "He promised me what the Jedi never would have—the power to stop people from dying…"
"The dream," Leia said. She was rigid, her previous gentle grip on Luke's hand had turned white-knuckled. "The woman dying in childbirth…it was real. It was your future."
"You think you foresaw your wife's death?" Dr. T'sung asked, curious. Somehow, Anakin turned even paler than he usually was.
"How- could you possibly—" he hissed, gripping the back of the couch. "That's—"
"You and Leia have a bond, father," Luke explained, trying to keep his voice even. How desperately he and Leia had wanted to know about their mother, and now that answers were in reach, he felt like something darkly unpleasant would come to light as well.
"You weren't shielding for it—you've been sharing your dreams."
Anakin's head whipped around and he leaned forward, staring Leia directly in the face. She saw his eyes were red-rimmed and wild- two spots of vivid, electric blue in a destroyed face.
"How long? What did you see? How did you—" He cut off his barking questions, swinging his suspicious gaze to Luke, the doctor, and then Leia again.
"It doesn't matter. You saw. The Jedi were going to let her die. I did what I had to do."
"But she did die, Anakin," Leia said. Her words were soft, but she raised her chin and met his eyes defiantly.
"You were alone," Luke went on, piecing together a very dark image. "Obi-Wan was gone, Mother was gone, and only the Emperor was left…"
"I chose him!" Anakin shrieked. "I chose him for you—for the power to save your mother, to keep this Galaxy from falling apart—"
"You let him take everything you loved," Leia shot back. "And you know what? He thought you were pathetic." Luke actually felt the temperature of the room drop several degrees.
"Every time he punished you, every time he manipulated you—warped your mind just a little bit more than it was, every time he tricked you into undercutting your own healing or desires, he laughed at you. He didn't even try to hide it—I saw him, laughing right in your face, and you were too far gone to admit to yourself. Because you knew- you knew from the beginning that it was a sham, and you were a slave again. You'd closed the collar around your neck and given him the key. So you lied—you lied to yourself, and every time you lied you had to push the truth down deeper inside, where it festered…" Leia shook her head.
"You're a sick man, but he was evil. And until you can admit that, and admit that you became like him, then you're still just as pathetic now as you were then."
The silence stretched on, and Luke kept waiting for the outburst, his father's violent denial—but it never came. He cautiously glanced up at Anakin—his face was covered in a bright sheen of sweat.
"No," he finally answered. His voice was soft—the softest Luke had ever heard it—and he shook his head back and forth. "No, no…"
"So that's it," Leia said. She sounded genuinely disappointed. "You're just a coward-"
"Leia," Dr. T'sung finally spoke, startling the twins. She laid a hand on the former Princess' shoulder. Anakin didn't seem to have heard either of them. His breathing was truly labored now, and the steady feeling of something wrong in the back of Luke's head began to grow increasingly more persistent.
"I didn't want to do those things," his father gasped. He leaned forward again, but this time he appeared to be gripping the couch for support. "I didn't want to. But they were right…it was…the right thing…I had to…"
"No, Father," Luke said, laying a gentle hand on Anakin's arm. HE couldn't help but notice that his father's skin—his real skin- was unusually cold to touch. "There was no greater good in what you did."
"All of it…for…nothing…" Anakin gasped. "I lost…my only friend…my family…and it was all..." he seemed incapable of forming more words. Luke vaulted easily to the other side of the couch, embracing his father tightly, laying his head against his chest so close he could hear the rapid flutter of Anakin's heart. He thought he heard something fall from Anakin's pocket, but ignored it.
"I know," Luke said, quietly. "I know it hurts you. Just—" without warning, seemed to go totally limp. He sagged against Luke, his son's embrace the only thing keeping him from crashing to the ground.
"Father?!"
Dr. T'sung knelt beside the pair, retrieving the small bit of trash Anakin had dropped- an empty blister packet. "Where did you get this?" she asked, her voice strained. "This isn't your prescription. Why—" Anakin jerked his body, hard, and fell to his hands and knees—not a moment too soon, as he was promptly sick all over the floor.
"Anakin!" she shouted, with what sounded like genuine fear. She rolled the much larger man onto his side, pushing Luke away. "Anakin, how many of these did you take? Show me—how many-?" His Father's breathing was dangerously shallow, and with a gasp his eyes rolled back into is head.
"Oh, merciful gods," Dr. T'sung breathed. "He took all of them."
She slammed her hand against a button on her belt, and a siren wailed through the corridors. Luke was frozen by his father's side, knowing he should do something, say something, move, anything, but found that he was totally unable too. His father's head lolled, his mouth ringed in sick. Luke thought someone was screaming, but he couldn't be sure.
Luke stood there, even after he was shoved out of the way by a white-clad orderly. He numbly watched his father's limp body being loaded onto a stretcher, vaguely heard the shouts of the doctors and frantic beeps of equipment. His connection to is father was weak- so weak….
He looked over at Leia, who seemed similarly frozen, her hand over her mouth as she watched in horror.
Someone was yelling at him. He turned and found Dr. T'sung had a hand on his shoulder. She was talking to him, but somehow the words seemed so far away.
"Why would he do that?" Luke finally asked. He sounded lost, distant.
Dr. T'sung wasn't able to answer