Chapter Twenty:

Anakin's heart swelled with exceeding joy when Luke spoke his name. Not Anakin's birth name, but the one Luke had christened him with seventeen years ago.

"... Dad..."

He'd felt Luke stiffen, and Anakin had feared he'd acted too soon in embracing him so, but now he knew he hadn't.

"Oh Luke!" Anakin whispered into his son's hair as the boy tightened his grip on him. Anakin was having a hard time drawing breath due to how hard his son was squeezing him right then, but he ignored it. "I've missed you so, so much!"

Tears were leaking from both their eyes, and Anakin clung to Luke for as long as the young man would let him. And indeed, it seemed they'd stay that way forever until Luke began to shiver.

"Are you cold?" Anakin pulled back, eyeing Luke worriedly.

"Yeah," Luke's face was ruddy, his eyes red and puffy, but his countenance was lighter. "It's getting later in the year, which means the cold season will start soon."

Anakin nodded. "Let's get you back to the cave."

Luke returned the nod and stood on slightly shaky knees. Anakin steadied him, and Luke allowed it, though he kept shooting Anakin odd glances as they walked.

Finally he spoke. "Dad?"

"Yes?"

"Did you... really keep looking for me all this time?" Luke's voice was a mere whisper.

Anakin frowned at him, stopping and turning toward Luke. "Yes, of course."

Luke's face went through a myriad of emotions, almost too quickly for Anakin to follow before the boy turned about, hugging his arms about himself. He stood rigidly for long seconds, with Anakin wondering what he'd said wrong.

"Luke..." Anakin began gingerly, not wanting to upset him again.

Luke spared him a glance over his shoulder before he sighed and turned around. Anakin was taken aback to find the boy's face once more wet with tears.

"I thought I had been... well... abandoned... I guess." Luke's voice was so small and desolate that Anakin's heart cracked.

Anakin stepped close and laid his hands on Luke's shoulders. "You were never abandoned by us, Luke. You were taken from us, not given up." He waited patiently until Luke's moistened gaze met his own. "We have always loved you, and we never gave up on you."

"We?" Luke repeated, looking perplexed.

"Your mother and sister did all they could too," Anakin told him. "Padmé stayed on Coruscant in case news of you should come in while Leia and I were out searching the various planets."

"Padmé? Leia?" Luke's face scrunched up in concentration, and it was obvious he was trying to figure out who they were, but then he simply gave up with a sigh. "I don't know them..." He sounded glum, and when he couldn't meet Anakin's gaze, the older man tipped the boy's chin gently.

"Luke, don't feel bad for not being able to recall who they are. It's not your fault this happened to you."

Luke perked up at that, his eyes brightening with flickers of hope. "I-it's not?"

Anakin furrowed his brow. "Luke, what is the first thing you remember... I mean aside from getting those few memories back moments ago?"

"A boy about my age... a cage... a broken arm and a massive headache... and then crash-landing on this planet when the guy piloting the ship lost his engines," Luke answered. "I was locked up like an animal, and I didn't know why." He shifted, deeply uncomfortable. "I... I thought I had been some sort of criminal or something. I still don't know why I was in a pen."

Anakin's blood simmered at that fact. His son had been locked up like some sort of rabid beast? He clenched his fists before he realized what he was doing.

Sensing his fury, Luke took a fearful few steps back, eyeing him warily. Cursing himself, Anakin brought himself under control.

"I'm sorry, Luke," Anakin said softly. "I didn't mean to frighten you. I just... it angers me that you had to go through all of this."

Luke merely nodded, and they stood in awkward silence for a long moment before Anakin could contain himself no longer. He had to ask.

"Did you really believe you'd been abandoned?"

At Luke's defensive look, Anakin knew he'd stepped on the teenager's toes. "What was I supposed to think?" he demanded.

Anakin opened his mouth to reply, but Luke cut him off fervently.

"At first I thought I was a criminal, since I was locked up and all. But then when the Denei who discovered me found out that the person who was transporting me was a smuggler— they looked at what was left of his cargo— they figured I was either a slave being transported or I had been taken away." Luke looked down, now rubbing his hands along his arms. "But I... I didn't bear any marks of slavery, so everyone just assumed I had been given up. And... since I had no memory to support any theory... well, I didn't know what to believe. All I knew was that something was missing, some big part of me, aside from my memory of course."

Anakin held up a hand in a placating gesture. "I'm sorry Luke..."

But Luke wasn't done. "I've been so lonely here! Even with the tribe, and Tiru, and... and Zae." Luke shut his eyes momentarily, more tears slipping past his eyelids. "I never truly found my place I guess."

"That's because your rightful place is with your family, Luke," Anakin said firmly yet gently. "I'm not discounting your life here, but you belong at home... with us."

Luke wiped at his face with a hand. "Do I?"

At Anakin's pained expression, Luke clarified. "I only have a few snippets of memory back. I don't know who this Leia or Padmé are. Even if you say they're my family, I still don't know them." Luke shuffled his feet, staring at them now. "I... I still don't know who I am. All I have is a name, and I now know you're my father... but I don't have anything else to recall."

"Yet." Anakin put out there. "You will, Luke: you will remember everything. And... who you are isn't in your memories, Son. It's in here." he gently placed a hand over Luke's heart. "Because no shortage or influx of memories can change who you truly are. Aside from that, you are my son, and I love you."

Luke gazed into Anakin's eyes now, searching for something. "Why don't I have my memories? How did I lose them? Was I in an accident?"

Anakin shook his head. "No. I don't know exactly how it went that afternoon, but you were tricked and betrayed by someone we thought was a friend. A boy named Orin. He blocked all of your memories, Luke. I don't know how to unblock them, but now it seems that some things trigger some memories to return."

Luke looked thoughtful. "You mean like with the lightsaber?"

"Yes."

"I have been getting headaches whenever I'm near you," Luke said slowly. "Could that been my mind trying to right itself?"

"Yes!" Anakin said with perhaps too much enthusiasm. "I think it is, but without the triggers... I don't think it would be successful."

"But... how do we know what the triggers are?" Luke asked.

Anakin's next words were interrupted when he felt a brush against his mind. He smiled when he recognized who it was.

"Leia!"

Luke gave his father an odd look, but whatever he would have said never formed into actual words, because just as Anakin felt Leia's attention shift from him to Luke, Luke gave a cry of pain. He grabbed at his head and backed fearfully away, breathing heavily and trembling.

Anakin was by his side in a flash, even as Luke looked around in confusion. "W-what... what was that!?"

Luke was still holding his head and looked about ready to pass out, but then Leia's presence retreated, and Luke relaxed his stance some, though he didn't stop trembling.

"That was Leia," Anakin explained, observing Luke closely. "What happened?"

"I felt something touch my mind... and then this immense pain followed." Luke rubbed at his temples. "I've not felt that amount of mental pain since I stopped trying to access a certain place in my mind."

Anakin felt hope flare up. Could Leia be the key to unlocking Luke's past?

00000

"Han revert! Revert now!" Leia shrieked, so suddenly that Han obeyed instantly.

And he was profusely happy he had: because had he not, the Millennium Falcon would have been violently ripped form lightspeed and dragged to a helpless crash. There, right before them and looming in hues of green, blue, brown and gray, was a planet.

"If I didn't believe in your Force before," Han admitted grudgingly. "I sure do now, Sister."

Leia wasn't paying him any attention, however, because she was focused entirely on the eddies in the Force, which were suddenly alive and vibrating with major promise. And amidst the center of those ripples was a presence she had known all her life.

Dad! Leia thought happily, sending him a mental nudge which he returned after a moment's surprised.

However, he wasn't alone: very near his position was another presence. However, when Leia tried to reach that one, something blocked her. But she still felt that second presence jump like a spooked animal. It hastily withdrew as if afraid of her, but Leia still got whiff of an unmistakable presence.

One she had waited oh so long to feel again.

"Luke!" Leia cried, making both Han and Chewie jump in turn. "Luke! We've found him! He's here Han!"

Leia was in tears now, but they were joyful and she had to be told several times to sit before it registered.

"Easy there Princess." Han turned back to the controls. "We need to land. Can you tell me where we are going, exactly?"

Leia burrowed back into the Force, allowing it to guide her, and she began to give the pilot instructions.

00000

"Wh-who is Leia?" Luke wanted to know, his face drawn into a look of concentration. "My... mother?"

Anakin shook his head. "No, she's your sister... your twin sister."

Luke lifted his brow. "Were we close?"

Anakin snorted softly. "That would be an understatement. You two were inseparable, and you had a very special bond that I've never seen in siblings."

Anakin decided to keep his theory about Leia being the key to himself for now. He led Luke back to the cave, where Mirat still waited, though she was grazing on the grasses just outside of the structure.

Luke brightened considerably when Mirat saw him and trotted happily over, nudging him affectionately. Luke responded with a loving embrace to her neck... one that showed just how close rider and animal really were, and Anakin knew in that moment that neither Luke nor Mirat would respond well to being separated.

Luke pulled back and saw only then the fresh kill Anakin had returned with. "Is this for us?"

"And whatever's left can go to the Denei," Anakin said softly.

Luke shot him a touched look. "You helped me feed my people?"

"Of course I helped you." Anakin frowned. "You're my child, and you're important to me. That includes what you are involved in... or who you're involved with."

Luke grimaced, looking away. "Can we not talk about Sidara right now please?"

Anakin felt another touch to his mind, and he smiled. "Leia's coming."

Luke blinked in surprise, forgetting his shirt among the change of topics. "She's here?"

"Yes..." Anakin looked up at the sound of sublight engines. "Right there."

Luke gazed in open interest at the very intact and working ship. "Someone... found us?"

Anakin laughed, patting Luke's back. "Leia is very tenacious; of course she found us." He gave Luke a meaningful look. "I think this particular meeting should be away from the tribe's eyes, Luke."

Luke nodded slowly, absently, eyeing the ship as it touched down and then hesitantly following his father towards it.

But when something in his head again throbbed sharply, he halted, letting Anakin continue on to greet the newcomer. Luke observed from where he was, but the moment the ship's ramp lowered to reveal a young woman in some sort of rugged-looking outfit, Luke's utter and complete attention was riveted to her face.

No images or memories came... but unlike with his father, Luke felt something for this young woman he couldn't even begin to describe.

But there was one thing he did understood for sure: he knew this girl!

Somehow.

Or maybe... just maybe his spirit— his very soul— had never truly forgotten this girl. This had to be the twin sister that Anakin mentioned.

Something that did settle for Luke was a huge mystery, one that had plagued him since he'd felt the urge to make that gown he still worked on from time to time: the one Sidara had found him making. That white fur dress... it was for her! It was for this young woman now wrapping her arms around Anakin.

"Dad!" Her voice was familiar too and, to Luke's surprise, his heart and very soul gave a longing, urgent lurch at the sound.

Anakin embraced her and said something Luke did not hear, but then Leia's brown eyes settled upon Luke, and he swallowed heavily, frozen in place. Leia glanced to Anakin, who nodded encouragingly, and then she approached Luke slowly, hands held out where he could see them.

However, the closer she came, the more Luke's head ached and burned in that specific place he'd told Anakin about. Hissing, and uncertain why this young woman would be the source of his deepest pain, Luke began to back away, trembling.

She paced him until his back hit a nearby tree, and then he watched— helplessly held in place by her warm, wet gaze— as she continued forward. The pressure in his mind grew with each step she took until he was in tears. Luke's vision blurred, and he began to breathe with difficulty.

"Luke, don't be afraid of me, please..." Leia murmured.

"W-why..." Luke gritted between clenched teeth.

"Why what?" She sounded confused.

"Why do y-you... sss!"Luke hissed once more as the hurt sharpened, much like it had with Anakin; only this one ran far deeper. He clutched at his head, feeling his world spin. "Why d-do you c-cause m-m-me s-such pain?"

She stopped, and he could feel her hurt, so he tried to explain.

"Y-you trigger th-this p-pain!" he stammered. "Wh-why?"

Leia was suddenly before him, and he wondered when he'd missed her moving forward once again.

"I think Orin wanted us to feel the most pain due to our separation, Luke." Leia's hand hovered above his chest, and suddenly Luke could see nothing else. He locked wide eyes onto it, trembling with the thought of what her physical touch would do if all it took was her mere presence to set off his mind like this. "You and I were so, so close, and I have missed you with a passion. It tore me apart to be without the other half of my soul. We grew up together... in Mother's womb, and then outside of it."

Luke breathed fearfully when her hand began to descend. "Luke, let me help you... please, let me help you come back..."

When he continued to quiver, Leia tried a different tactic. Stretching out with the Force, her spirit touched his, and he heard her voice in his heart.

Come home to me, Brother!

Luke gasped as she touched him in his core, and something happened that he had no control over. His spirit cried desperately back out to her:

Help me come home, Sister!

And then he jerked forward— his heart bleeding for Leia like it hadn't bled for anyone before— wrapped his arms around her...

... and screamed as the floodgates unlocked in a sudden torrent he couldn't handle.