Bum bum BUM! I bring you CHAPTER NINE!

Finally! I apologize for the long delay! This is just a crucial chapter, and I wanted to make sure to do it right!

Please notice though... This chapter is way darker than the rest of the story... (Sorry, there's just some things you can't treat with a good injection of humor without it turning into a parody...)

Anyway! Let me know what you think!

Chapter 9

Sickened. That's what I am. I had counted on more time to build Luke's trust. Now, it seems it will all come to naught.

Nervously, I shift my gaze to the door. Running through the multitude of calming exercises I hadn't used since the waning days of the Clone Wars, I still can't seem to get a grip.

"Hey, I'm here," Luke's voice shatters my already strained concentration with his arrival through the door. Upon seeing my reflective state, and my emotional shield, he comes to an abrupt stop before me, "You okay? What's with the shielding?"

"It's just..." I pause remorsefully, "I-I have done many horrible things in my life young one..." Slowly, I begin to ease my mental barrier, a trickle of grief slithering along our bond.

Luke looks up at me quizzically, "Everybody in the galaxy knows that. Why the sudden change of heart? Aren't you supposed to be the heartless head of the Imperial war machine?"

"It is not my war crimes that concern me right now..." I admit, although the way things are going, that may change. "But more personal matters. The fate of my family foremost among them."

"You have a family?" Luke asked innocently, clearly unaware of the subject I was attempting to breach.

"Yes," I sigh, turning away from his painful naïveté, "My wife perished long ago, and I have always blamed myself. Until I found my son."

"Really? That's amazing!" Luke announced, "You should be happy!"

Hidden behind my mask, I smile sadly, "I wish it were so. You see, he doesn't even know who I am. What's worse, is the Emperor is after him."

"Seriously?" Luke gasped, horror struck, "What are you going to do?"

"I am not sure... Do you trust me?" I inquire solemnly, looking down at my sandy haired rebel of a son.

I am met with silence.

"It is of no matter, you came to hear the end of the Clone Wars did you not?"

Luke nods, still pensive.

"Very well," drawing myself up, I sift through many painful and bittersweet memories before coming upon that day. "I must warn you though, this tale I cannot describe properly through words. I will instead show you through my eyes and the Force. Everything you see is the unaltered truth, as things really happened. Your view of your father will change forever... Do you understand?"

"Yes," Luke replied in a small voice, "I'm ready for whatever I may see."

My son, you will never be truly ready to face the ugly truth... I still am not fully ready to face that day again...

Grasping onto the memories I had retrieved, I open our bond to its fullest extent.

"He's too dangerous to be left alive!"

"No! I need him!"

"I-I'm so weak... Please don't kill me!"

I can only watch in detached shock as Luke absorbs the fall of the Jedi. The march on the temple, Order 66...

Mustafar

"Anakin! You're a good person! Don't do this!" Padme begs, eyes glistening with tears as we stand together on the landing platform, "Come back! I love you!"

"Liar!" I scream, finally noticing the silhouette of Obi-Wan. She pulls away in terror and confusion. "You brought him here to kill me!"

"No Anakin I-!"

My fury overflows everything. I am no longer myself as my beloved falls to the metal deck unconscious.

I feel my son's horrified reaction through the Force, and my heart shatters once again.

Whirring blades of heavenly blue contrast with the reddish glow of the vulcan landscape as Master and Padawan, Jedi and Sith, battle. Both Luke and I can feel the intense heat surrounding us as the shields fail.

"It's over Anakin! I have the high ground!" Obi-Wan's clipped accent cuts through the din of boiling lava and screeching metal.

"You underestimate my power!" I am drunk with the Force on the verge of madness. I can feel the Dark Side slithering through my veins, black as space itself.

"Don't try it!"

I wish I could shield this awful burning from my son. He doesn't deserve this pain. Even if it is only the pain of realization and past memories.

Determined to destroy my former Master, I leap into the air.

Only to be cut down to the volcanic earth instead.

I can feel the ash scalding my tunic as I lie there, struggling to claw my way out of this unbearable heat with my one remaining mechanical arm.

"I hate you!"

"You were my brother Anakin! I loved you!" Obi-Wan screamed over the lava flow, tears glistening on his ashen cheeks.

My vision is consumed in flames. It's ever hungry tendrils snaking up my body. Charring flesh and bone in its wake.

In a sudden rush, I close off the memories. There is no need for him to see what occurred after the river of fire. To witness the extent of my horrible transformation would be too much.

"You're him."

Dazed, I look over at Luke's tear streaked face, his eyes burning with realization.

"You were Anakin Skywalker," he swallowed thickly, trembling now, "Is that what you've been trying to tell me all along? This missing son... It's me, isn't it..."

"Yes," I manage to choke through my vocalizer. Collapsing to my knees, I can feel my throat constricting with guilt ridden sobs, "I-I have wronged you... Everyone! I am not deserving of your forgiveness, much less, your love... All I ask is the opportunity to save your life!"

"Save my life? What from?" Luke knelt down beside me, "What could there possibly be that is causing you, of all people, to fear?"

"The Emperor." I reply firmly, "His spies have discovered you among the personnel enlisted here under my command." A breathing cycle passes. Two. "And he has ordered your execution in a week's time. I am supposed to hunt you down, capture, and hold you until he arrives to witness your death personally."

Luke's breath hitched at this revelation.

Darth Vader, the most ruthless and feared person in the galaxy, is not only protecting me to fulfill a promise...

He loves me.

"I forgive you, for what you've done to our family, and where it is my place to forgive..." He stumbles through the words, and placing warm hands on the cool metal of his father's shoulders, "If you want to help me. Teach me the ways of the Jedi."