Luke was having a hard time keeping up with his father. Anakin was speed walking too, which wasn't helping at all. Luke didn't want to complain, though. He could sense his father was teetering and didn't want to set him off.
"Father," he said at last.
Anakin turned to him, and realized how far behind he was. Luke hurried to catch up as Anakin slowed down.
"I'm sorry, Luke. It's all so sudden," the scared, sad look on Anakin's face broke Luke's heart, and he wanted nothing more in the galaxy than to reach out and put his arms around the older man. He shook off the urge.
"It's okay," he promised, "I just don't want you to be upset."
Anakin smiled weakly, "You're a good son."
Luke felt himself glow slightly, and Anakin seemed a bit cheered by his reaction, "At the moment, I'm only trying to be a good friend."
Anakin smiled again, "You're doing a good job of it."
"I'm glad you think so," Luke said, "I feel so powerless to help you."
Anakin shrugged, "You are."
He sighed, and looked down at his boots, and his father put an arm around his shoulders.
"It doesn't matter. I'm glad you're trying."
"Do or do not," Luke started before his father cut him off.
"There is no try. I know."
Luke sighed again and closed his eyes. He sincerely wished he hadn't blurted everything out like that, but it had hurt so deeply to realize that he'd forgotten his blood relation in his own galaxy. He missed Leia terribly, and had missed her all the while, but in his joy at finding a new family with his parents, he had forgotten that they were related.
Anakin released him, and they walked along, side by side, each lost in his own thoughts. As they climbed into a speeder, Anakin turned to Luke.
"It's a very short way to Palpatine's office. He'll still be there, finishing his work for the day. There are some things I need to ask of you."
Luke nodded, "Please, ask away."
Anakin's hand had reached the gear shift, and Luke watched as his eyes drifted down to it, then closed, "I don't want to ask this," he said softly, "But I don't know what's going to happen when we reach Palpatine. I want you to promise me that no matter how drastically this may go wrong, you'll remember that I love you. And if you make it away from this, even if I don't, you'll tell Leia that I love her too."
"I –," Luke faltered, "Of course I will. But you're coming back! You have to!"
"I hope you're right. The reason I ask is because…" Anakin turned away from Luke altogether and looked up towards the sky, "I hope that I'll be strong enough to survive this, but if I have to choose between death and the Dark Side," he turned back to Luke, "You're going to have to help me choose death."
Luke opened his mouth to try to speak, but only a faint spluttering noise came out. He forced himself to draw breath and managed, "I'm not sure I can."
Anakin turned back to him and smiled sadly, "I don't want to ask this. But you have to understand, this might be the only way to prevent what's happened to your galaxy."
Luke thought of his own galaxy, the oppression, the cruelty, but he kept just looking back at his father. Of course he didn't want this galaxy destroyed as his had been, but how could he kill Anakin? How could he kill his own father? He felt himself start to cry, thinking of Obi-Wan's words on Dagobah. He couldn't let the Emperor win. That was all important. But through his tears he saw Anakin's worried face, and he wanted to just crawl into his arms and be safe forever. He wanted to turn away from the galaxy's troubles and hide. He forced himself to nod, "Of course. I-I'll do what a Jedi should do. I promise."
He rubbed his eyes, and looked up at Anakin again. His father had also been crying, he noticed, and he felt another sniffle break through as his father hugged him tightly.
As Anakin released him, Luke struggled again to rub the tears from his eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Luke," Anakin said.
Luke shook his head. He didn't want his father going into their battle already emotionally stirred up.
"It's all right. I know that we have to do this. I love you too, Father."
He saw tears still running down his father's face as he turned the keys in the ignition. He took his lightsaber off his belt and started turning it over and over in his hands, thinking of how he had lost his father's back at Cloud City.
"Luke," Anakin said suddenly.
Luke looked up quickly, and saw his father looking at his 'saber, "Yeah?"
"It's a Jedi tradition to trade lightsabers to show how deeply you trust someone," Luke watched Anakin take his familiar lightsaber off his belt and offer it to him.
"Really?" he asked, and touched the hilt carefully, remembering every inch of the lightsaber from the many times he had held it and looked at it, memorizing it and trying to read from it something about it's creator.
Anakin pressed it into his hand, "Please take it."
Luke took it, returning his own, "I'll take good care of it."
"I know you will," Anakin said, holding Luke's up to examine it, "This one looked similar enough that I assumed you'd used mine before."
Luke smiled, "I did. For three years, before Cloud City."
"Then I'm sure you can hold onto it for me for one more day."
"Uh-huh," Luke said, looking at the lightsaber, running his hands over the familiar contours.
Anakin stopped the speeder, and Luke climbed out. He waited for Anakin to debark as well, and followed him into the building. He gripped his father's lightsaber very tightly, staring around at the finery. As Anakin keyed the door to open it, Luke slipped behind him, and heard Palpatine's greeting.
"Anakin, it's been a while since I last saw you. And you've brought your friend."
Luke had forgotten that Palpatine could sense him. He stepped away from his father, unsure of what to do next.
"Luke's told me what you are," Anakin said coldly.
"As I foresaw. He is stronger in the Force than even I expected," Palpatine raised a hand, and a red lightsaber blade slashed through one of the statues. He caught it deftly.
Luke shivered.
His father ignited his green lightsaber, "He is."
"You've told me of your nightmares of Padme. I'm the only person alive who can help you. If you kill me, or allow the Padawan to kill me, my knowledge will be gone from the galaxy forever. Your wife will die."
Luke saw his father waver for a moment.
"Father, it's not true. The Dark Side can only be used for hatred."
"Your son?" Palpatine asked, mildly curious.
"My son," Anakin confirmed, "He's told me what I'll become if I listen to you. You won't help me save Padme."
Luke was beginning to feel uncomfortable with all the others holding lit weapons, so he lit his own.
"You're wrong. I have the knowledge you need."
"Luke has told me that you'll have me kill Obi-Wan."
"He's holding you back."
"He's not," Luke interjected sharply, "I'm sure he's doing his best."
"Of course he is," Anakin said.
"You deserve more than his best, if the best he can do won't even gain you the title of Master."
"I don't need that title. I'm a husband, and a father, and that's all I need."
Palpatine snorted, "I know you want more than that. And if Padme dies, you won't be a father. When she dies, you know you won't be able to control yourself, and you will lose your station as a Jedi."
"Mom won't die," Luke said, "You'll take good care of her. I know you will."
To Luke's horror, Anakin turned to him with fear in his face, "Luke," he said, his voice cracking weakly, "What if I can't?"
"You can!"
"There is nothing that could be done for her without my knowledge," Palpatine said, and Luke felt terror deeper than any he had ever known as his father looked still more doubtful.
"I need your mother," Anakin said, and his voice sounded tortured.
"She'll be fine!" Luke promised frantically.
"She will die!" Palpatine said, with just as much passion.
Anakin's face hardened suddenly, and Luke felt himself go rigid, "I'm sorry, Luke. I can't do this without her."
"What?" Luke whimpered. He'd thought, hoped, his father could be stronger than this.
"Kill the boy," Palpatine said, "No one must know that you've turned."
Luke stumbled backwards, away from his father.
"I'm sorry, Luke," Anakin said again, "But you'll be born again in a few months. I'll raise you properly this time," he raised Luke's lightsaber and began to come towards him.
Terrified, Luke raised his father's blue blade; although he could see that it was wavering in his shaking hands.
"Don't do this," he begged, "Please. We said that this would be okay. We said we could do this."
"That's not what I said, Luke," Anakin said darkly.
"I can't kill you. Please don't make me do this!"
"I'm sorry," Anakin said again, and Luke prayed it wasn't his imagination that a tear had run down his father's cheek.
Before he could try to respond, his father rushed at him. As their blades met, he felt the tears on his own face. It was everything he'd longed to avoid, fighting Anakin like this. They had sparred a couple of times, just for the practice, and the fun of it, but this was unlike that in every possible way. His father was employing a far more vicious strategy, and considering the way his hands were shaking, he wasn't sure how long he could hold out.
He tried to breathe deeply, and to imagine Vader's mask over Anakin's face, allowing himself the one level of separation he'd grown used to when dueling for his life. Every time he managed to close the black mask, though, another tear would slip through, and the image would be shattered.
Anakin was backing him around the room, towards Palpatine, and his lightsaber, and Luke found himself apprehensively trying to watch both blades. Just as he had never fought beside another, he'd never been forced to face two opponents at once.
He closed his eyes for a split second, trying to calm himself down. He tried to reverse the action of their battle and force Anakin away from Palpatine, but his father had considerably more practice than he did, and he found himself even less able to deal with the attacks than he had been at Cloud City. His father was forcing him back, closer and closer to Palpatine, but Luke saw with relief that the Sith had deactivated his lightsaber.
I'm a test. Luke thought, brokenly, I'm a test of my father's willingness to obey. Why couldn't I be a bit more than that, for once?
His father had pushed him up against Palpatine, and Luke was afraid that any moment, Palpatine would reactivate his lightsaber and cleave him in half.
Anakin's onslaught hadn't lightened at all, and Luke had no space to move. His father took a particularly vicious swing at his neck, and he ducked. As Palpatine's body fell, headless, his father deactivated his lightsaber, and kicked the head away from the body, as though afraid it would reattach itself.
Confused, Luke kept his father's 'saber activated, waiting for the onslaught to continue.
"You can relax," Anakin said, tossing Luke's lightsaber back to him.
Luke caught it, and deactivated Anakin's, "What was that?" he asked.
"I'm sorry," Anakin said, "I knew when we set out that we might not be able to best him together. I've seen your attempts at fighting with a partner, and they're very weak. I thought it would work better to beat him at his own game. I never intended to hurt you."
"You staged it?" Luke asked, incredulous, "That whole thing? Turning to the Dark Side?"
"Luke, you've told me a lot about Vader, from what you've said, and from what you haven't. I thought I could act my own Dark Side well enough, but from watching your acting, I knew that you couldn't act his helpless victim if you knew you were in no danger."
"You lied to me?" Luke asked, still stunned.
"I'm sorry."
"I –," Luke said, "I –," he wanted to shout at his father for frightening him. He really wanted to be absolutely furious, but what came out next was, "I'm so glad!"
Anakin smiled apologetically, and came to hug him. Luke wrapped his arms tightly around his father in return, and he felt Anakin smile again.
"You can forgive me then?"
"Yeah. Just tell me you won't do that again."
"I won't," Anakin said, releasing Luke, and waving a hand at Palpatine's headless corpse, "I don't think I'll need to."
It was as though an icicle had been stabbed into Luke's chest. Realizing that his father had been on his side the whole time had made him think that Anakin would be by his side forever, in fighting the Emperor in his own galaxy, and Vader. He'd forgotten that he would be leaving him behind to go back to his own galaxy. And now, he couldn't justify his longing to stay behind in a way that would make sense from a Jedi point of view.
He looked up at his father, and forced himself to smile, "Yeah. You take good care of Mom, alright?"
Anakin frowned at him, "You're going to leave so soon? Won't you at least stay for dinner?"
"I don't think I can," he answered, "I'm worried about my sister, and I've finished what I think the Force sent me here to do."
Anakin looked disappointed at his words, but nodded, "I understand. Take good care of yourself and your sister. I'll fly you to where we've been keeping Solo's ship."
"O-okay," Luke said, following his father back out to the speeder. As he sat down in the passenger's seat, he wasn't nearly as ecstatic as he should have been, and he knew it. He'd hoped his father would try to keep him home. He thought for a moment of his mother again. She hadn't even had time to accept that they were kin before he and Anakin had run off to face the Dark Lord. He wished she'd hugged him, thinking of her son, just once. He sighed. He should have been thrilled. He'd thwarted the man who had destroyed his life, and kept the life of his alternate self from taking the same track as his own. But he looked over at the man in the driver's seat, and wondered how long it would take for him to associate the name Luke Skywalker with his unborn baby, instead of Luke.