Thirty-eight chapters. Wow.

I purposely did not guess how many chapters Memories would be, not wanting to be one of those writers who would say they'd have a really short story, only to prove themselves SO wrong. Secretly though, I definitely remember thinking, "No, this isn't gonna end up being long story. Probably no more than fifteen chapters!" And here we are at nearly forty, and barely past halfway done.

Still, as any good writer should, I think ahead. Trust me, I have a lot of fun (and not so fun) ideas running around in my head, and I can't believe we are already this far along. It gets kinda scary sometimes. And sad when I start to think about drawing Memories to a close. So I've been entertaining the idea of writing some short stories in the same universe! I have a few ideas as to what I could do (and may or may not have already made a rough draft for one). Please tell me what you think about it!

Also, as a lot of writers do, I tend to listen to music while I write. I even have a HUGE playlist for the story on my phone. I'd love to share the songs with you guys! So please, please let me know if you're interested!

Okay, okay. I'm done now. I know all of you are just itching to see what happens next after the cliffhanger I dropped last week! Enjoy the chapter!

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: OUTCOMES AND OPACITY

Anakin sat up, his heart pounding, his breath ragged. Yet, through the noise he could feel air rushing through his body. Then, he felt something warm touch his hand. Warmth. He could still feel warmth. He looked over and saw his son sitting on the bed across from him, a worried look clutching his young face.

"Wha… what happened?" he asked. Although he was already starting to put the pieces together. He in his quarters on the Falcon so that meant that Luke had taken him out of the cave after—

The cave. His vision. Vader.

The name brought back so many dark memories. Dark memories that he had been forced to relive in that terrible place. Dark memories of nothing but endless noise; his mechanical breathing never giving him the peace to think. Dark memories of slaughter; so much innocent blood on his hands. Dark memories of pain, both emotional and physical; his mind tormented with the ghosts of his pasts, and his inhuman body tortured every second by his cybernetic prison.

Anakin took deep breaths, savoring the strength in his new lungs, as well as the silence he was so grateful for. He realized that he had wrapped his arms around himself, and that only made him hold his scarred, but healing body tighter.

Then he felt Luke's hand grasping his shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asked. Anakin looked at him and saw that the concern had not left his face. If anything, it had deepened.

Anakin extended his arm and rubbed his son's cheek. "Yeah," he answered, not wanting his son to worry. "Mostly." He wasn't sure if that was true or not. Though, at the moment, he was just glad to be feeling like a human again, and that his son was safe.

Luke's worried expression lightened, and then he was throwing his arms around Anakin. He buried his face in his father's robes, and Anakin felt Luke's body shaking. "I'm sorry," his son whispered. Anakin could feel Luke's fear pricking his own gut. "I'm so sorry."

Anakin held onto him firmly, as if he could protect his son from whatever had frightened him this much by doing so. He ran his gloved hand through Luke's blond hair. "Why?" he asked.

A sob escaped Luke. His voice was muffled when he spoke, and Anakin could feel tears soaking into his clothing. "I – I failed you."

A jolt of surprise shot through Anakin. "What?" If anything, he was the one that had failed Luke. He had chosen the dark side over his own family, he'd killed Obi-Wan, who was not only his friend but Luke's mentor, and now that he was back, he was too wrapped up in all his guilt to be a good enough parent for his son.

"I didn't make it through the cave. I—" Luke gasped for breath. "I'll… I'll—"

Whatever Luke was going to say was cut off by a loud cry that sent tremors through his entire body. "I'm sorry!" Luke yelled, grasping the fabric of Anakin's cloak in his hands to the point that Anakin might have been worried that it would rip had he not been so focused on his son.

He stroked Luke's trembling back and rested his chin on his quivering head. "It's okay, my son. It's okay…"

Anakin worked tirelessly at the scanners, trying to see just how accurate he could get them, as there really wasn't much else he could think to do. For once, it seemed that the Falcon was in pretty good shape. Now was the perfect time for that. Just perfect.

He shook his head and tried to refocus his mind on his work. He pulled out a light and peered inside the machinery, trying to find just one more frequency to broaden, or damage that would've gone unnoticed. Or—

"Hey."

Anakin jumped at the sudden, and unwelcome, noise. He looked up to see Han standing over him, an amused smirk on his face. "What are you doing here?" he asked the smuggler.

Han shrugged. "Just wondering what's up. You were out of it for a while, there."

Anakin tensed. "I'm fine," he told Han, though he knew it definitely wasn't true, but it would be the fastest way to get him to leave Anakin alone. He just really wasn't in the mood to talk.

However, Han only frowned and crouched beside Anakin. "What's going on with the scanner?"

Right. The scanner. Anakin continued his search for something he could fix as he spoke. "I guess I'm just trying to stop a problem before it starts."

"Huh. Alright." At last Han stood up and walked off, leaving Anakin with only his work.

Eventually, he decided to give up on the scanners and refocused his attention on the long-distance comm. He figured that, being so far in the outer rim, it would be a good idea if it was working as best it could. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to see if there were any new encryption methods he could add.

Then he heard footsteps coming from behind him. He turned to see Luke walking up behind him, and a warmth rose up in him as it always did when he was around his son. He smiled at him, although it was gentler than usual.

Luke smiled back weakly and sat down next to him. "Mind if I join you?" he asked, already examining the work that Anakin had done.

Anakin sighed. He figured it wasn't just his mechanical skill Luke had inherited from his father. "Not at all." He gestured to the communication system. "I've been trying to increase the signal strength of the long-distance comm."

Luke nodded. "I see." He rummaged through the toolbox that Anakin had at his side. "It looks like you've started to add in some encryption methods, too." He switched out his tools and took out a computer interface. "I'll work on the encryption."

Anakin stopped him. "I should do the encryption. I know what the Empire looks for and can decipher." As he said it, guilt stabbed at him as if someone had impaled him with a force pike. He shouldn't know. He should've just listened to Padmé and—

"Good point," Luke said. Anakin looked over at his son to see he was smiling at him, a deep warmth touching his sky-blue eyes like a rising sun. "Here, let's switch, then."

As Anakin settled down and continued working he was surprised to find a little bit of warmth rising within himself. He would trade everything that he knew about the Empire in a second if it meant saving the man he was from becoming Vader, but he was glad he could at least use what he knew now to help Rebellion.

Then all of sudden Anakin heard Luke curse, which was quickly followed by the sound of the interface hitting the floor. He looked over to see Luke clutching at his hand that had turned a deep rose color. "Damn thing overloaded."

But Anakin barely heard him as he felt a stinging sensation spread through what was left of his body. "Are you okay?" he asked, clutching his sons shoulders tightly, his breath ragged.

However, Luke just looked up at him in surprise. "I-I'm fine." Then he turned to the interface and glared at it. "A little annoyed, but otherwise…" his voice trailed off and he shrugged.

Anakin's eyes widened. "R-right," he murmured. "Sorry." He turned away from Luke and closed his eyes. He took a moment to relish in the strength of his healed lungs. Luke is okay. He's okay. He is okay. When the tension finally evaporated from his shoulders, he opened his eyes and continued to work.

Leia stepped out of her quarters and looked around. When she saw that it was just her, she sighed and let her tension go before continuing on to the Falcon's lounge. She hated this. Sneaking around this ship like it was some Imperial base. Times like this made her question why she went back.

Then she saw Han Solo sprawled out over the seats, looking just about ready to fall asleep, and she remembered why she had chosen to return as that peculiar little warm feeling started to dance around happily. The warm feeling made her want to laugh at Han's – well – adorable antics, but she held it back. He was just a scoundrel, she told herself. A scoundrel who really cared about her, even if he didn't show it. A scoundrel who was—

"What are you doing?" she asked, trying to make herself sound serious, but it came out much more playfully than she intended. "Don't you have something better to work on?"

Han grounded, but when he looked up at her he smiled. Leia couldn't help but to smile back. "I would if my repair bay wasn't being invaded," he muttered, making Leia laugh like an idiot.

Stifling her laughter, she asked, "What do you mean?" She walked closer to him and leaned up against the wall nearest to where he was sitting.

Han sat up and shrugged. "You don't randomly decide to fix stuff, do you?"

The bitterness Leia felt for Vader returned as she realized what Han meant. "Oh," she said. She looked towards the repair bay and was almost ready to run in after Luke and drag him away from that monster he called their father.

Han seemed to pick up on this as she heard him sigh. Such a small noise, but he suddenly was commanding all her attention. "You mine as well leave them alone. Besides, if – a certain someone wanted to try anything, he wouldn't do it in front of Luke."

Leia exhaled in frustration. "Alright," muttered as she sat down next to Han. The warm feeling began to flutter again as she realized how close the two of them were, and suddenly her cheeks felt sweaty.

"So," he said, "Dejarek?"

The vibrations in his deep voice seemed to strike into her chest and sent her heart pounding. She did not like this. Yet at the same time she loved it. "Sure," she said as she turned on the game table and took a seat across from Han.

"I've been practicing, ya know."

Leia gave smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Great! So, does this mean you'll be able to beat Chewie now?" She found herself very eagerly awaiting Han's answer, and when he finally gave her a crooked grin, the feeling set her heart on fire.

"Does that mean you're scared?"

Leia's smirk turned into a challenging grin that was a lot wider then she thought it would be. "You wish," she said.

Lila's presence was deep within the Force, expanding beyond her physical form out to the stones the encircled her. In her mind she envisioned one of them drifting up into the air for a few seconds before it fell as though it were as light as a feather. Then she felt the Force surging through her and her energy rushed into the stone. There was a moment of quiet, and then the stone clopped back down.

She slowly collected her presence back into her body before opening her eyes with a grin. "Hey Anakin! Did you see that?" she asked, turning to her friend. Then her heart sank when she saw him sitting on a log, staring off blankly into the distance. She sighed and walked over to him. "Are you okay?" she inquired, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He jumped and looked up at her. "Oh. It's just you," he breathed. Then he frowned, probably trying to remember what she said. "You – uh – good job." He rested his head in his hand and exhaled.

Lila smiled sadly. "Thanks," she said, knowing he probably had no idea what she did. Trying to distract him from whatever he was thinking about, she sat next to him and nudged him playfully. "So – any neat Jedi stuff you want to teach me?"

Immediately he got to his feet, his eyes wide. "No!" he cried, backing away from her, and Lila cursed internally. Anakin's breath was ragged and his eyes were squeezed closed. "I can't. I can't…"

When Lila had been in the cave she had been forced to relive the worst feeling she had ever known. The Force knew what dark feelings had been revived in Anakin when he had gone in after Luke. Lila could only guess.

She reached out and grabbed hold of Anakin's hand, squeezing it tightly. "It's—"

Before she could say anything else, Anakin shot to his feel so fast that it made Lila yelp in surprise. She lost her balance and slid onto the ground. Shaking her head, she looked up at Anakin who was staring at her in horror like she'd just lost an arm. "Anakin, I'm okay."

He barely seemed to hear her. "No," he whispered, before running off into the foliage.

Don't forget to tell me what you think about short stories revolving around Memories and if you're interested in what songs inspired this story!

May the Force be with you.

-CWN