Hello, Goodbye

Chapter 10

When Ben, Luke and Nina excited the house they were greeted by none other than Han, Leia and a handful of Rebel forces. Nina was relieved to see Adame was with them.

Luke smiled and swept his friends into a hug. "Force! You sure are a sight for sore eyes! I missed you guys."

"Yeah, save it kid. We aren't out of this yet," replied Han. He then led the group through the streets till they came to a Goldbird ship.

The young Jedi asked, "Where's the Falcon?"

"You got to be crazy kid to think I'd be able to take the Falcon this close into Empire territory. This here's on loan from a friend. Now, less yaking and more running."

As the team of Rebels picked off several stormtroopers on their way to the ship, Lady Nina halted and told Ben, "I can't go with you and your friends."

Ben grabbed hold of her shoulders and fixed her with his gaze, "You can't stay here. You'll be killed."

However, the pale-maiden would not be shaken. With a look of pure determination she answered, "My duty is to my Lord, Sir Knight. I will find him. Take the child. Keep her safe. I'll be fine. I hide my ship under a lake on Naboo. You must go and do what the Fates have decided for you—but above all remember, the Society is just as evil as the Empire." And with those last words, the maiden rushed back into the streets of Naboo.

"Where the heck is that crazy chick going?" asked Han.

Ben turned towards him with renewed resolve and replied, "That my friend, was a warrior."

***

As the ship cleared its way through the stratosphere and jumped into hyper-drive, the Rebel party seemed to give a collective sigh of relief. The group used their time to tend the wounded and plot their new course.

Leia joined Luke as he sat in his cabin with Ben and Han. She gave the Jedi Master a hard look before turning to her friend. She asked, "Luke, who is this man? He looks awfully familiar."

Luke smiled, "This here is Ben. The clone of Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Amazed, Leia went wide-eyed with shock, "No! It can't be. Is it really you, Obi-Wan?"

"Indeed it is, Princess, but please call me Ben. I was created by Goldbird Society, the Empire's new ally."

Han said, "Well, that doesn't sound very smart. Wasn't that Vader guy always trying to kill you? What's the point in killing a guy and then bringing him back?"

Suddenly, the door to the cabin opened and in stepped Lady Thrice, "I think I can answer that."

Then without a thought, Ben leaped from his seat and embraced his old mentor into a hug. He could not believe she was alive. That she was really here. "Milady, I thought you were taken by the Emperor."

"I was, but I escaped," said Thrice. The ruby-eyed beauty then pulled back and raised her arms and framed the Jedi Master's face in her hands. She felt his warmth and the texture of his hair. And slowly, she guided his forehead to meet hers and gently closed her eyes and whispered as they touched, "I missed you."

A smiled bloomed on the Jedi Master's face and he answered, "And I missed you, too." Ben then placed a chaste kiss on Thrice's lips—and then he froze. By the Force, what was he doing! He must have looked like an overeager adolescent in love when he practically jumped from his seat to reach her.

"T-Thrice, I…I…"

Han coughed loudly into his fist and broke the touching moment like a knife, "Do you two need to get a room? You know, we got more pressing matter to talk about, oh say, the Empire!"

Leia gave Han a sly smile and said, "I don't know, they seem kind of cute together."

In response, Luke made a gagging sound, "Oh gross, Leia. This is Ben we're talking about. He's way too old."

Ben was mortified by the comment and shouted, "I beg your pardon. I am not too old!"

"But aren't you really an old man stuck in a young man's body?"

Thrice laughed and stated, "Gentlemen, please. To end this discussion, let me inform you that I am about three times older than Ben, so if anyone is a cradle robber it's me."

Han shouted, "What? Then, how does a chick like you stay in such great shape?"

"Cloning, Captain Solo. My people are engineered to age at a slower rate. But as I was saying, Ben is not the only clone created by Lord Blackswan. He created two. The second clone of Obi-Wan was handed over to Lord Sidious and he has been trained as a Sith. He is called Darth Malice. He is the Emperor's new apprentice."

"So the old man has an evil-twin?"

"Yes, but he's stronger than Darth Vader. He has all the memories of a Jedi Master. The primary training I taught him as a ki-warrior and a resolve to stay on the Dark Side because he feels abandoned, but I fear for the galaxy. It is only a matter of time before war breaks loose between the Empire and the Society."

Han shrugged his shoulders and said, "So, what the big deal? They're the enemy. I say let them bash each other's brains in. It'll save us the trouble of us going it ourselves."

Lady Thrice gave Han a fiery glare, "It's not that simple. The Society has been holding out on the Emperor. They have just as much manpower as they do. Can you imagine the amount of damage that two clone armies can do? Every inhabitant world they fight on will be destroyed."

"But I don't understand why your Society would even bother dealing with the Emperor in the first place if they are so strong," said Leia.

"The one thing the Society lacks is a reliable way of getting natural resources. The Society are polluters. They used up all the natural resources on our old planet and they want to get a new one. Buying a planet at the time seemed a lot easier than conquering one."

"That's horrible!" cried the Princess.

Ben asked, "Which planet did they want?"

"Naboo."

Ben sat down and rubbed his beard in contemplation. He said, "From what I understand, Mistress Goldbird will likely wage her war on Naboo and take it by force now that the Emperor has broken the deal. That must have been what Lady Nina meant when she said that the Society were as evil as the Empire. Thrice, where is your father?"

"I don't know. When I last saw him and Dr. Rin they were taken away by Darth Vader to be disposed of. Vader must have killed him. Oh, Phoenix! Nina will be crushed."

The Jedi Master replied, "I have a feeling that your father is alive. I think he made some kind of deal with Vader because he had Lady Nina create a clone of his late wife, Padme. I can think of no one else who'd want to clone her. She has no past memories and she calls herself Adame. Nina left her with me."

Luke said, "Wait, Vader had a wife?"

Ben sighed, he knew he would regret saying this, but knew holding back wasn't going to help. The truth had to be told. The knight said, "Yes, and I know I never told you this before Luke and I don't want to wait till I reincarnate again to tell you, but Padme was your mother."

The young man jumped from his seat and shouted, "My mother!"

"Yes, Luke. Padme Amadala and Anakin Skywalker were your parents. They are also Leia's parents too."

"What are you saying, Ben?"

"I'm saying that she's your twin sister and that Anakin Skywalker, my former padawan, your biological father is Darth Vader."

"NO! YOU'RE LYING! That monster can't possible be my father!"

Luke than slammed opened the door to the cabin and ran out of the room. "Luke?" called the Princess, but the young man didn't stop. Leia rose from her chair and looked on as her brother stormed away. Enraged, Leia faced Ben, "Why did you keep this from us?"

Mournfully, he replied, "I had to. Together you would have been too strong in the Force for the Emperor not to notice you. I promised your mother that I would keep you safe. It was her dying wish. I spent almost my entire life trying to spare you two from pain and suffering."

Tears began to run down Leia face. She gasped a breath as she tried not to weep and said, "I-I wish it weren't true."

"I know…"

***

Luke felt like a caged animal. It couldn't possible be true! How could one of the most ruthless men in the universe be his father? How could a monster be his father? The man had murdered countless men, women and children for that sick Empire. He helped ruin lives. He helped to enslave races. He was a betrayer to all that the Jedi stood for. He broke his vows and even killed old Ben. His own Master—but Luke couldn't help asking himself why? Why'd he do it? What did he have to gain? Bantha-poo, now he had to go back and ask Ben. Though, Luke decided to ask him later. He still felt too steamed to talk about it now.

Luke felt a hand lightly touch his arm from behind and he turned around and saw it was Adame. No! Not Adame, but Padme—his mother's clone. He noticed for the first time that she and Leia looked almost the same. A family resemblance, he just now realized.

Luke tried to give her a smile, but failed miserably, "Hey, Adame."

She frowned at his expression and said, "Are you all right? You seem upset."

"No, I'm all right. There's just a lot on my mind."

"Hmm…whenever I'm troubled, Aunt Nina used to tell me that it's ok to express how you feel and that there are lots things we can't change. She said its better to think about what we can do to make things right than to dwell on what we can't."

This time Luke gave Adame a real smile and said, "Your Aunt Nina sounds like a smart woman."

Adame laughed, "Yes, she is, but she had a hard time keeping her temper."

At that Luke couldn't help but laugh too. "Geez, tell me about it. Where did your aunt go to after we left?"

"She went to find her Master, Lord Blackswan."

Luke felt sorry for the young woman. Here he was feeling hurt by Ben for keeping him in the dark when poor Adame was abandon and left all alone. "I'm sorry, Adame. She shouldn't have left you."

The young woman gave him a smile, "Its ok, Luke. I know she still cares about me." Luke wasn't convinced and wondered if it was just wishful thinking, though he knew better to keep his opinion to himself. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, but Adame sense he didn't believe her.

"I know Nina cares about me, she gave me a name. She didn't have to name me, but she did. She said I was her child and that I deserved better. She told me names are important. I know what I am Luke, I know I'm a clone. The past doesn't matter. It's the future we have to care about."

Luke thought about Adame's words. She made a lot of sense. He couldn't change the fact that Vader was his father, but it wasn't as important as what he needed to do. "You know Adame, you're a smart woman too."

TBC

***

I really like the name Adame. I think I read it in somebody else's fanfic. It sounds way better than Padme, which sounds like pat me. I figured mother-son-bonding time would be emotionally right for this chapter. Also, I thought Ben should let the big bad secret about Vader out of the bag. Ben should learn something from his pervious life—secrets are a big no-no.

And again, thank you for your reviews XxRandom NemesisxX, you are by far my biggest fan.

As always, please review. Thanks.