Author's Note: Thank you all again for your wonderful reviews.
Since I wrote the last chapter, I was encouraged by KrautYank, who first told me about the characters of Starkiller, Juno & General Kota, to find and watch some videos of the games "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed I & II", which I have done over the last couple of days. Very interesting story line and very cinematic. They could easily make that into a movie trilogy and it looks like they leave it open for a third game to be released to tell the rest of the story. It takes place between Episodes III & IV. I recommend you checking them out for yourselves if you haven't yet.
Therefore, now that I know more about these characters and the history between Vader and Starkiller, I added and slightly changed a few things in Chapter 9. So you may want to go back and at least read the first part of the chapter to learn more about the characters and how Starkiller is going to react when he first meets Light Side "Vader" in a future chapter.
Ok...so on with the story...
Chapter 10
Everyone in the room looked over at Anakin with concern, feeling an extreme wave of sadness and guilt coming from his aura as he covered his eyes with both of his hands, knowing that he was the one who had killed his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. It was clearly hurting him just hearing his former friend and 'brother's' name again.
"How can that be?" Leia replied to Starkiller not taking her eyes off her father as she looked at him with compassion and worry, knowing that part of that guilt he was feeling was also for what he had done to Starkiller.
"I'm not sure. But I sense he truly believes that he is Obi-Wan Kenobi." Starkiller told them but then paused before continuing, letting his curiosity get the best of him as he had heard Anakin's outburst in the background. "Who is with you?"
Leia still had her eyes on her father who looked like he was going to breakdown again. "Han, Luke...and...my father, Anakin Skywalker."
Anakin looked up with a start, his eyes going directly to Leia with tears still in his eyes as a small smile formed on his lips upon hearing her acknowledgment of him being her father.
Leia smiled back at him with her eyes sparkling with unshed tears as she saw how much this declaration had touched him. But all they heard was an eerie, static filled silence coming from her comm link in response to her words. Upon realizing that Starkiller had not replied yet, she turned her attention back to her comm. "Starkiller, are you still there?"
"Yes...I am...still here." Starkiller replied with a hint of anger in his voice. "General Kota told me about...Anakin Skywalker's...return."
Leia smiled through her tears. "Yes, he returned just a few short days ago...and he is helping us plan the attack on Ysanne Isard and her fleet."
"General Kota also informed us of that." Starkiller abruptly replied before continuing. "I look forward to...meeting him."
Leia nodded cautiously, now noticing the tension in Starkiller's voice. "I'm sure you will have that...opportunity." She then paused. "But what of this man claiming to be Obi-Wan Kenobi? What did he say?"
Starkiller didn't reply right away as he tried to calm himself and regain his composure, knowing that the man who had been Darth Vader was now in the room with Leia. "He asked me to tell you that he wishes to speak to you in regards to the droids you sent him. He claims they just out ran an Imperial armada on Tatoonie and were on a mission to Alderaan to deliver the stolen plans for the Death Star."
"What?!" Everyone in the room replied in unison in a state of shock as they all looked at one another and then back at Leia, who was still holding her comm in front of her mouth.
Anakin, knowing that his presence was stirring a lot of dark feelings in Starkiller and that the topic of Alderaan was not a good one for Leia, decided to keep quiet and let Leia reply to Starkiller. "But that happened four years ago. How is that possible?" She finally calmly replied as she looked over at Han who just shrugged his shoulders with a look of confusion on his face.
"That's what I told him. But he seemed confused by this news and acted like it had just happened." Starkiller retorted and then sighed. "Anyway...we sent them the coordinates of a neutral region of space where we could meet in two standard hours. Perhaps we will learn more when we meet up with them."
"I don't like this." Leia replied caution in her voice. "Will you excuse me one moment, Starkiller?"
"Of course" Starkiller replied as Leia covered the microphone of her comm link with her hand and looked over at her father and brother.
"What do you sense about all this?" She asked them with curiosity and interest.
Luke and Anakin looked at each other and then over at Han who still looked completely lost for words. "Do either of you remember any of this?" Anakin asked, looking at Luke and then over at Han. "If the timing is when I believe it is, this would be just before The Falcon was captured by the first Death Star. You both would have been with Obi-Wan."
Luke and Han just shook their heads. "No." They both said in unison with confused looks on their faces.
"I-I don't know what to make of this, Father. Are you suggesting they...we somehow traveled into the future?" Luke asked him.
"I don't know." Anakin replied as he wiped the remnants of tears from his eyes with his hands as he looked around at everyone in the room. "But the Emperor was conducting all kinds of experiments before he died." He paused. "It's possible he was conducting experiments to find out if time travel was possible. I don't even want to imagine what he was planning to do if that was true."
"You don't know?" Han exclaimed. "I thought you were the Emperor's right hand man and you knew everything about what he was doing."
Anakin looked over at Han and shook his head. "I was his right hand man, but it was the nature of the Sith to betray one another. He didn't trust me. Therefore, I'm sure there were a lot of things he kept from me, so this could be one of them."
"I didn't even think that time travel was even possible." Leia said with a confused look on her face. "It's too bad we haven't been able to access the Emperor's files on the Imperial network. We've been trying for months with no success. If we could access the Emperor's files, perhaps we could find out if he was really conducting time travel experiments."
"I can do it." Anakin declared as everyone looked at him with shock. "What?" He exclaimed as everyone continued to look at him with disbelief. "Look. I'll log into Vader's account and hack in. It's actually not the first time I've done it." He paused as everyone continued to stare at him.
"I take it you didn't trust the Emperor either." Leia said with amazement. "Why didn't you bring this up before...that you could hack into his files?"
"No, I did not trust him. He was a Sith too, remember?" Anakin replied and then sighed. "And I didn't bring this up before because no one asked me."
Leia just sighed and shook her head in disbelief. "Well, at least we know this now." She sighed. "After we are done here, please see what you can find out."
Anakin nodded as Leia took her hand off of the microphone on her handlink, coming to a decision. "Starkiller, my apologies for the delay in getting back to you."
"It's ok, Princess Leia." Starkiller replied still trying to forget who was in the room with her. "What should we do once we meet with them?"
Leia sighed and looked around at everyone in the room who was looking back at her. "We believe that the Emperor was conducting experiments with time travel." She paused. "My father is going to hack into the Emperor's files on the Imperial network to see what he can find out." She paused again before proceeding, knowing the mention of her father would probably be irritating Starkiller. "If we are right about the timing, my brother, Luke, and Han will be with Master Kenobi on the ship. If that is true, then they did somehow get transported into the future because Luke and Han are both here with me now on Coruscant. Try to find out from them if they remember anything strange happening while they were in hyperspace. Perhaps that will give us a clue about how this happened."
"Of course. I will find out what I can from them." Starkiller replied, trying to hide his ire for Anakin. "But Master Kenobi asked to speak with you. What should I tell him?"
Leia sighed. "Tell him I would be happy to speak with him." She paused as she closed her eyes and then opened them. "In fact, comm me and I will speak with him personally. Perhaps it will ease any fears they may be feeling about their situation."
"Very well. I will do that once I have spoken with them about what they remember prior to coming out of hyperspace." Starkiller told her. "What do we do after that? Juno and I still have orders from Chancellor Mothma to proceed to Wayland to keep an eye on things."
"I'm not sure, Starkiller." Leia admitted as she sighed. "I'll inform the Chancellor of what is going on. And perhaps by the time we speak again, we will have some answers for you."
"Understood." Starkiller replied. "Until then, Princess Leia."
"Until then, Starkiller. May the Force be with you." Leia replied.
"And with you." Starkiller returned and then the transmission was ended.
"Why do I get the feeling he knows...Anakin's former identity?" Han spoke up as everyone looked at him with fear and then back at Leia.
"Probably because he does know." Anakin retorted as he looked away with guilt written all over his face and sighed. He closed his eyes and then opened them again as he looked over at Luke and then Han and Leia. "I believe General Kota knows too...but to my surprise he didn't expose me." He sighed again. "I tortured, lied to and betrayed Starkiller. And kidnapped the love of his life, Juno Eclipse, using his love for her against him to try to persuade him to do my bidding." He paused as he looked down again and then back over at Leia. "Thankfully, for his sake, in the end he refused. He has every reason to hate me." He paused again with a look of concern on his face. "But I am afraid for him. I sense he is teetering on the edge of the Dark Side at the news of my return." He looked down and then back up. "I don't want to be the cause of him turning to the Dark Side."
"He won't, Father." Luke told him as Anakin looked over at him surprise. "He told me he almost killed you twice out of revenge, but he spared you." He paused. "He knows what it's like to live the life of a Sith and he doesn't want that again."
"I hope you're right, Luke." Anakin said to him with a weak smile on his face. "But I have a feeling my first meeting with him isn't going to be a good one. I have a lot of explaining to do and a lot to tell him that he needs to know." He paused as he got a look of pain and frustration on his face. "There is a lot he needs to know about who he is. I owe him that much."
"Like whether or not he is a clone?" Leia asked as Anakin looked over at her.
"Yes...I need to tell him what really happened to him." Anakin replied. "But he needs to hear it from me first."
Everyone in the room nodded in understanding. "We can wait to hear about it after you speak with him...Father." Leia told him.
Anakin smiled at his daughter, loving her even more for recognizing her true heritage and accepting him as her father. "Well..." He started as he got to his feet. "I need to go hack into the Emperor's files to see what I can find out before Starkiller and Juno rendezvous with Obi-Wan...and the others."
Everyone else got to their feet as well as Leia replied to him. "Of course. Please let us know as soon as you find something."
"I will." Anakin said with a nod and then headed to the door.
"Thank you." Leia exclaimed as Anakin paused at the button to open the door and turned to her.
"For what?" Anakin asked her with curiosity.
"For helping us." Leia replied with a weak smile.
Anakin weakly smiled back at his daughter. "It's the least I can do, considering everything that I've done." He replied and then sighed as he looked down and then back at Leia with sadness. "I'm afraid all of this is going to delay you meeting your mother." He paused. "I'll comm her and let her know what's going on."
"I understand. It can't be helped." Leia replied with a hint of sadness in her voice as well. "I'll meet her soon enough."
Anakin nodded as pushed the button to open the door and abruptly left the room.
"Now what?" Han asked as he put his right hand on his hip and shifted from one foot to the other.
"We wait." Luke replied as he sat back down in his chair, crossing his arms in front of him.
Coruscant - Penthouse Apartment at 500 Republica
"3PO, how is the dinner coming along?" Padme asked as she entered the kitchen now wearing a long, blue flowing dress and her hair still in the dual buns from earlier in the day. "Mmm. It smells delicious." She exclaimed as she walked over to the stove to see what 3PO was preparing.
"I am completely surprised that I had this in my programming, Miss Padme." 3PO exclaimed with amazement. "I was never asked to cook for Captain Antilles."
Padme just laughed as she put her right hand on 3PO's left shoulder. "Perhaps not all of your memory was wiped after all. You used to cook for Anakin and me all the time. I am a horrendous cook and he never had time to cook, so Anakin made sure you were programmed with all the best recipes."
"Really?!" 3PO said with shock. "I didn't know I had it in me."
Padme just laughed as she heard her comm link beep. "That must be Anakin. Excuse me, 3PO."
"Yes, of course, milady." 3PO replied and he continued waddling around the kitchen getting everything ready for the rest of the Skywalker family who were expected shortly.
Padme went into the living room and sat down at the comm station, pressing the button to accept the call. The image of Anakin appeared in front of her and he had a sad look on his face, giving her the indication that she wasn't going to like hearing what he had to say. "Anakin? What's wrong?" She paused. "You aren't coming are you?" She asked with sadness in her face.
"I'm sorry, Angel, but something has come up." Anakin sighed as he looked down and then up again at Padme again.
"Is it Leia?" Padme asked with hesitance. "Does she not want to come?"
"Oh no no, Padme. It's not that." Anakin said with a small smile on his face. "She does want to come. In fact, she is very excited about meeting you. It's just that we can't come right now." He paused. "Duty calls, you know."
Padme let out a little chuckle. "Where have I heard that one before?"
Anakin laughed. "Hmm. I don't know." He shook his head and then looked at Padme with a smile. He had a far away look on his face as he was thinking back to his conversation with his daughter. "I think Leia and I have finally come to an understanding, Padme."
Padme's face lit up. "So she has forgiven you?"
Anakin's smile grew wider. "I think so. Now that she understands why I turned to the Dark Side in the first place...that my heart was in the right place...despite how wrong it was." He paused. "She even referred to me as her father in a comm call today." He paused as he looked down and then back up again. "That is a huge step in the right direction at least. She didn't even want to acknowledge that fact before now."
Padme let out a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear, Anakin. I'm glad not only for her but for your sake as well. That type of bitterness and resentment isn't good to hold onto."
Anakin then became serious. "Which brings me to another concern. I had a secret apprentice while I was Darth Vader who turned to the Light Side of the Force quite a few years ago. He was involved with a comm call today. He knows of my return and I sense that he knows who I am or used to be. I can feel it. I can feel his resentment towards me even though he is light years away on a mission and just had contact from him through Leia's comm link. I dread what our first meeting will be like, Padme."
Padme crossed her arms in front of herself and looked back at him with concern. "He will see the change in you, Anakin, once he meets you. He won't be able to deny it." She paused. "And it would be quite hypocritical of him to not forgive you when he was a Sith himself for awhile."
Anakin sighed. "Yes, that may be right to some degree. But he wasn't a Sith by choice. His father was a Jedi and...after he was killed right in front of Starkiller when he was just a young boy...I took the boy as my apprentice. He was just a child at the time and I don't think he truly completely crossed over to the Dark Side. Not fully."
"Anakin." Padme gave him a knowing look. "Did you have something to do with his father's death? Is that what's bothering you too?"
Anakin looked down and then back up with his eyes starting to glisten with tears. "Yes...I-I...killed him."
Padme blanched at what her husband just admitted to her. He's not that man anymore, Padme. Remember that. She tried to tell herself as she sighed then looked back at her husband. "Anakin...I...I...don't know what to say." She told him as tears started to form in her eyes at the thought of Starkiller's father being killed right in front of him. She then looked at Anakin with love in her eyes. "It was Darth Vader who did that." She paused. "We have to remember that...and you have to help Starkiller to see that too. He must. He is also a Jedi and will know the difference."
"Padme, it's just not that simple." Anakin told her with regret. "And I realized something today when I was talking with Leia about you." He paused as the guilt started pouring over him. "I'm so sorry, Angel, that you were alone and living in fear all those years...all be-because of me and what I did to you on Mustafar."
Padme looked at her husband with a start. "No...Anakin...you don't need to apologize to me for that again."
"No, I must, Padme!" Anakin paused as tears started flowing down his cheeks again. "I can't hide behind Darth Vader. I have to face that fact that it was my decision to turn to the Dark Side in the first place. I hurt you!"
"Anakin, let's not discuss this right now. You're back...on the Light Side of the Force and that is all that matters to me. You are my Anakin again." Padme started to weep. "Don't do this to us. I just want us to be happy after all the years we were apart. I forgive you, Anakin. I truly do. I see the good in you and your regret for all that you have done. And you've come back to me...to Luke and Leia too...and that's all I care about right now. That we are a family now."
"I'm sorry, Padme. I won't bring it up again...if it hurts you that much." Anakin replied with sadness.
Padme sighed as she paused in thought and then weakly smiled back at him. "No, I'm sorry, Anakin. I don't want you to feel like you can't talk to me about the feelings you're having. I shouldn't have reacted like that. I want you to open up to me. I told you I would help you through this and I will."
Anakin weakly smiled at her as he wiped his tears. "Thank you, Angel, for understanding."
Padme then took a deep breath, wiping the tears from her face. She chuckled as she realized what she was doing. "I ruined my eye makeup again."
Anakin let out a small chuckle. "You're beautiful...always."
Padme laughed. "You're a rotten liar and you know it."
Anakin just shook his head. "No I'm not...I meant it!"
Padme then smiled at him as she shook her head again. "Ok. I will hold you to that." She then paused as she remembered the dinner that 3PO was preparing for them. "So I guess I have to tell 3PO that dinner is off. He won't be happy."
Anakin looked at her with surprise. "So he remembers how to cook? That's a good sign. Maybe his mind wasn't completely wiped after all, and I can help him regain some of his old memories of us. I'll take a look at him a little later."
"That would be nice. It's been so strange with him being here and not remembering me." Padme told him as she got a serious look on her face. "So what's going on that is keeping you from coming tonight for dinner?"
"I have to hack into the Emperor's files. We think he may have been conducting time travel experiments before he died." Anakin said matter of fact.
Padme looked at him with shock. "Time travel experiments?! Is that even possible?"
"I'm beginning to think so. Starkiller and his girlfriend, Juno Eclipse, were on the way to keep an eye on a volatile situation concerning some remnants of the Empire when they received a distress call from a ship whose occupants seem to have lost the last four years." Anakin explained. "One of the passengers claims to be Obi-Wan...but...Darth Vader...killed him four years ago."
"Are they sure it's really him?!" Padme asked with hesitance and disbelief.
"We'll find out soon enough. Starkiller and Juno will be meeting with them in a couple of standard hours. The man claiming to be Obi-Wan had asked to speak with Leia. So she is also going to speak with him over the comm." Anakin told her as he looked up at Padme with hope in his eyes. "Padme...if it is him. Perhaps I can do something to save his life. Maybe if he sees me now...how I am now...that it will give him enough hope that he won't give up on me if he gets back to his own time. Maybe he will try harder to escape me and live. He just let me...Vader...kill him. He didn't even try to fight anymore. You don't know how happy it would make me to have Obi-Wan alive again...with me...as my friend and 'brother' again."
Padme just listened to Anakin with compassion. "I hope so, Anakin. I know he did love you like a brother. I know he hated fighting you. And I hope you know now that he hid on my ship. I didn't bring him to Mustafar to kill you."
Anakin just looked at Padme with sadness and guilt. "Yes, I know that, Padme. I know you didn't betray me. And I know that Obi-Wan was just doing what he felt was his duty. I saw the pain in his eyes and how much it broke him inside to do what he felt he had to do...because I had become a Sith." He sighed. "If it is really Obi-Wan, I wonder if he will truly want to see me...if he will trust me."
"He will, Anakin. Once he sees you." Padme tried to assure him.
"I hope so, Padme. I really hope so." Anakin replied with sadness.
"Anakin, where are you? I'm going to come be with you while you hack into Palpatine's files. I don't want you to be alone right now." Padme asked him with concern.
Anakin weakly smiled up at her. "You would be too much of a distraction."
Padme looked back at him with a smirk on her face. "Oh, I would be, huh?"
"Yes, and you know how much." Anakin replied with a smirk.
"I'm coming there and that's final." Padme declared while squinting at him with suspicion, knowing he was teasing her.
"Oh...well...if you put it that way." He replied with grin. "If you're that determined to be with me, I'm in Palpatine's old office." He told her as he looked around with a pained look on his face. "I could use a terminal in another office; but it's easier to just use his old terminal. Believe me...I'm not too thrilled to be in here." He paused as he looked back at her with love. "It would be very good to have you here with me, Padme...so I can forget where I am."
Padme returned his look with love. "I'll be there in 20 standard minutes, Anakin." She replied. "I love you." She said with a look of continued love and understanding in her eyes.
"I love you too, Angel." Anakin said while returning a loving gaze at her. "And perhaps you can still meet Leia tonight after all...if you do come."
"I would really like that, Ani." Padme paused. "I'll be there soon."
"See you soon." Anakin replied with a loving smile and then he was gone.
Padme just sat at her comm station for a moment in thought, thinking about the conversation she just had with her husband and what this could mean for their future together. But then she remembered 3PO in the kitchen. "Oh no, poor 3PO." She said with a gasp as she put her right hand over her mouth. She then got up from her chair and went straight to the kitchen. She walked in just as 3PO was taking a pan of meat out of the oven. With a look of guilt on her face, she started to speak. "3PO, I-I'm sorry...but my family won't make it here for dinner tonight, I'm afraid."
3PO turned his head to her in shock as he set the pan down onto a hot plate on the counter. "What?!"
"I'm sorry, 3PO. It can't be helped. You will have to put all of that food in the refrigerator for later." Padme sighed. "Something has come up and I have to go. I'll see you later tonight, 3PO." She told him as she started for the door.
3PO just cocked his head to one side as he watched her leave, his right hand dropping down on the counter. "Well...I don' t think I will ever understand human behavior."