Chapter Ten

As Luke removed his boots preparing for bed, he couldn't stop thinking about the encounter they'd had earlier with the sandpeople. It almost seemed that the tuskens were familiar with lightsabers, that they'd either seen one before or had heard stories about them. He knew that Obi-Wan used to frighten the tuskens off when they got too close, but he had usually used kayat dragon calls to scare them away. Luke remembered hearing stories when he was a boy, a story of a white ghost who had wiped out an entire Tusken village. According to the legend, the 'ghost' had used a stick that glowed like blue fire; could that have been a lightsaber? Luke had never believed the story himself; Uncle Owen had assured him that it wasn't true, that it was just a foolish rumor. But now, given the reaction the Tuskens had to seeing Anakin's lightsaber, Luke had to wonder if there wasn't some truth to it.

"Do you know anything about the white ghost?" Luke asked as he and Anakin bedded down for the night.

Anakin rolled onto his side and looked at Luke. "White ghost?" he asked.

"Yeah, it was a legend that was told by some of the kids I used to hang out with," Luke told him. "They said that a ghost armed with a stick of blue fire wiped out an entire village of sandpeople many years ago," he continued.

Anakin frowned, knowing exactly what Luke was talking about. "Do you believe that?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know," he replied. "Sounds kind of strange. I mean, why would anyone do such a thing?"

Anakin didn't reply, the thoughts of that night in the tusken village filling his mind. "It's not easy to understand the motivations of others, Luke," he said at last, rolling onto his back.

Luke was puzzled by his response, and didn't know what to say.

"So what is she like?"

Anakin looked back at his son. "Who?"

"Your wife," Luke replied. "It's pretty obvious that you miss her. Tell me about her."

Anakin's expression brightened at the thought of his wife. "She's brilliant," he began. "And beautiful. She's a senator, an amazing diplomat. She makes me laugh, she's so much fun to tease," he told Luke, his smile growing. "She's my angel," he finished softly.

Luke smiled. It was clear how much Anakin adored his wife. "How did you meet her?"

"We met in a junk shop here on Tatooine," Anakin told him. "I was nine, she was fourteen. "I asked her if she was an angel because she was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen."

"What did she say?"

"She told me I was a strange boy," Anakin remembered with a smile.

Luke laughed. "You're lucky to have someone you love that much," he told Anakin.

Anakin nodded. "I know," he replied quietly. "I miss her."

"I'm sure you must," Luke replied.

"I have to get back to her," Anakin said, the desperation evident in his voice. "I'm worried about her."

"How do you do that?" Luke asked. "How do you get back to your own time?"

"The same way I got here, I suppose," Anakin replied. "Through the Force."

Luke nodded. "I wonder why the Force sent you here," he mused. "I mean, there must have been a reason you were sent here at this particular time, don't you think?"

Anakin was silent as he considered how to respond to this. "I suppose so," he replied finally.

"Maybe you're here to see what happened to the Jedi," Luke suggested. "Maybe…maybe you can prevent it from happening."

Anakin nodded. "I intend to try, Luke," he replied.

Luke began to think of what it would mean if Anakin succeeded; the Jedi Order would not have been destroyed, the emperor would never have gained control of the galaxy…and my father…what about him? Was it possible that he could have been saved too?

Luke turned back, about to ask Anakin another question when he saw that Anakin was asleep. Rolling onto his side, Luke closed his eyes and soon fell asleep too.

Super Star Destroyer Executioner

I am on Coruscant, in our home, sitting down with Padme at my side. She is glowing, radiant with her impending motherhood. She smiles as she takes my hand and places it on her round belly. Immediately I feel something…was that him? I ask her. She nods, her smile growing. The baby kicks again, stronger this time. Whoa! I exclaim. With a kick like that it must be a girl, I tease. Padme laughs. No, she says, running a hand over her belly lovingly. It's a boy, I just know it…

Vader woke up, his heart aching. How he wished he could do away with dreams, he thought fervently; they only serve to torture me, to remind me of all that I have lost. Yet, he wondered, was this her way of reaching out to me? Was she out there, somewhere, in the vastness of the Force, trying to be with me in the only way she can now? No… why would she want to be with you now? She would hate you now, that is certain.

Vader sat up; astonished to find his face wet with tears that he had believed himself incapable of shedding. Yet, in his despondency, a glimmer of hope suddenly materialized, and he held on to it desperately. My son…Vader closed his eyes and reached out to him, searched for his luminous presence in the Force…it wasn't long before he found him. He is asleep…Vader realized at once. He reached out to the sleeping young man, trying his best to be gentle. Luke…can you hear me my son? What is it that you dream of when you sleep? I can't tell you how many times you are in my dreams, my son …

Luke's eyes snapped open, his heart beating quickly as he woke up. He sat up, the connection with Vader severed. Looking over at Anakin he was relieved to see that he was still asleep. He wasn't prepared to answer questions about his dreams, not now; having to tell Anakin that Vader was his father was more than Luke could deal with. He could only imagine how horrified Anakin would be And yet, perhaps he would have some insight into Vader's fall; how Anakin Skywalker had become Darth Vader.

Standing up, Luke decided that he needed some air, for the small hut was stuffy. He walked across the room, and then stopped; what if the sand people had returned? He thought. He turned back, and then in the dimness of the room spotted the glint of Anakin's lightsaber sitting on a small table beside their makeshift campsite. He walked over and picked it up, reasoning that Anakin wouldn't mind if he used it. Better that than being attacked by tuskens, he figured. Picking it up, he headed outside to get a breath of fresh air.

The stars above illuminated the Tatooine sky as Luke stood outside the small hut. There was no sign of the tuskens; obviously their encounter with Anakin earlier had scared them off for good. He looked down at the lightsaber in his hand, getting a good look at it for the first time. The brightness of the stars afforded him enough light to truly take in the details of it; and when he did, a cold feeling of anxiety started to fill him. This is my lightsaber, he thought; this looks exactly like the one Obi-Wan gave me, the one he said was my father's…

"Luke what are you doing out here?"

Anakin's voice startled Luke, and he dropped the weapon. Anakin bent and picked it up, looking up at Luke with surprise as he did so. "What are you doing with this?" he asked.

"I…I wanted some air," Luke stammered as a thousand questions raced through his mind. "I was afraid the sandpeople might have come back."

Anakin nodded as he watched his son. "Something is bothering you," he stated, sensing Luke's state of confusion. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Luke's eyes dropped to the lightsaber in Anakin's hands. "Where did you get that?" he asked.

Anakin frowned, glancing down at the weapon. "Where did I get it? I made it, you know that," he replied. "Why? What's wrong? You look like you've seen that white ghost you were talking about earlier," he stated, a hint of a smile on his face.

But Luke didn't smile. "That lightsaber, "he said, nodding in its direction, "is exactly like the one Obi-Wan gave me."

All traces of humor left Anakin's face at this disclosure. "Obi-Wan gave you a lightsaber? This lightsaber?" he asked.

Luke nodded.

"Why?" Anakin asked.

Luke looked back at the weapon. "He told me that my father wanted me to have it," he said quietly.

Anakin's heart was starting to race as he sensed that some dreadful truth was about to be unveiled. "Your father? You mean…he died?"

Luke looked up at Anakin as the realization started to hit him. There were far too many coincidences to ignore: the name, the fact that he knew Obi-Wan, the pod races, the fact that they had so much in common and even looked alike, and now this, the strongest piece of evidence yet. "Tell me the truth," Luke asked at last. "You're not Anakin Starkiller, are you?"

Anakin wondered if there was any point in denying it. "No, I'm not," he replied as last. "I'm Anakin Skywalker, your father."

Luke stood perfectly still as a thousand emotions raged through him, reflected in his eyes, his father's eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked at last. "Why did you lie?"

Anakin sighed. "Let's go inside and talk about this, Luke," he replied.

Luke nodded, and followed his father back into the hut. He watched as Anakin activated a light and then turned to face him. "I know you must be very confused," he said finally. "But there is a reason I didn't tell you who I really am."

"You know, I'm happy that you're my father," Luke said, "but I'm so sick of the lies. Why has everyone lied to me?? Why?"

"Sit down Luke," Anakin said. He waited for his son to sit down before he did the same. "I didn't tell you the truth because I had no idea what would happen if you knew the truth," he said. "How it might affect the course of history."

Luke nodded. "I can see that," he admitted. He looked at Anakin, trying desperately to reconcile this remarkable man before him with the monster he had come to learn was his father. "I…I don't know how you can be my father," he said finally, looking at his hands clasped in his lap. "Not from what I know about my father."

Luke's words unnerved Anakin, as did the sense of confusion and anxiety Luke was feeling. He seemed consumed with conflicting emotions, his mind full of questions. Who had lied to him? And why? And what about?

"What do you know?" Anakin asked calmly. "I need to know."

Luke looked up at him, shaking his head. "I don't think you want to know," he said softly as his eyes filled with tears.

Anakin's own anxiety level was skyrocketing. "Tell me, Luke," he said. "I'm begging you!"

How do I tell you? Luke wondered in anguish; how do I tell you that you become a monster?

"You…you turned to the Dark Side," Luke said at last.

Anakin felt as though the very blood in his veins had turned to ice. He had to be mistaken, he simply had to be! "How? Why?? Who told you this?" he demanded.

"I don't know what made you do it," Luke replied. "All I know is you turned. It happened before I was born. Obi-Wan told me. He said that you were his pupil before you were seduced to the Dark Side."

Anakin was struggling to come to terms with this terrible news; the questions were bombarding his mind faster than he could consider them. "If I have turned to the Dark Side, then why are you being trained as a Jedi? Why would I allow it?" he asked, hoping against hope there was some mistake.

Luke shook his head. "You don't understand," he said. "I wasn't raised by you," he explained sadly. "I was told my parents died before I was born," he told Anakin.

Padmé is dead, she truly is dead, Anakin realized in anguish, and my children were raised apart…because of me…

"Your mother," he said, "you…you never knew her."

Luke shook his head. "No, I have no memory of her at all," he told him.

Anakin closed his eyes tightly as the tears filled them. "Padmé," he said softly, "my angel." He covered his face with his hands, the grief he felt overwhelming him.

Luke watched his father as he grieved, his heart aching. "I'm sorry," he said, the thought of having to tell Anakin the worst news yet making his heart sink.

"How did this happen?" Anakin asked, looking up at his son, tears streaming down his face.

"I don't know," Luke replied. "I wish I did," he added.

"Who raised you, Luke?" he asked, "and why were you raised apart from your sister?"

Luke frowned. "My sister??"

"Leia is your twin sister," Anakin told him. "Obviously the two of you were raised apart with no knowledge of the other. Why?? Who raised you? What did they tell you?"

Luke was shocked by this news, and yet it explained the connection he'd always felt with Leia. She's my sister, he thought in amazement. And then he realized something else: Darth Vader is her father too…

"I was raised by my Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru," Luke told him. "Here on Tatooine. Leia was raised on Alderaan by Bail Organa and his wife. Uncle Owen never wanted to talk about you," Luke told him. "He just told me you were a navigator on a spice freighter and that you'd died. It wasn't until I met Obi-Wan Kenobi that I found out you were a Jedi." Luke lowered his eyes. "He told me something else too," he added quietly. "Something that turned out to be a lie, a terrible lie."

Anakin frowned, having a hard time imagining Obi-Wan lying about anything. "What did he tell you?"

Luke looked up at his father, hating what he had to do, wishing with all he had that he didn't have to. "He told me that my father was betrayed and murdered by Darth Vader," he told him.

Anakin was confused by this point. "Vader killed me?" he asked, wiping the tears from his face with the back of one hand. "You mean I'm dead right now?"

Luke shook his head. "No," he replied softly. "I don't mean that at all. Vader didn't kill you; you…you are Vader."