Later that evening, Lyra cooked a dinner of baked portochine with an herb butter sauce and fresh cress greens. Luke cleaned up while Anakin dozed. After finishing the dishes, Luke walked outside over to where Lyra stood, looking out over the sand dunes.
"Lyra, I'd like to ask Father about our mother, but I keep hesitating. I feel like something's holding me back. Did he ever said anything more to you about her?"
Lyra turned towards Luke. "No. He only said that she was his first wife and that she had died. I didn't feel like I could press him for more details." Lyra sighed. "There's obviously a story there, and one that doesn't have a happy ending. You know, there's quite a bit of trauma in his life: being a slave as child, being betrayed by a friend which led to his injuries, your mother's death, and so on. I know a lot of people would be shocked that Darth Vader had experienced all of the joys and sorrows of being human, but I think it's those tragic losses of loved ones that helped him to become very dangerous."
"'Become,' you used the present tense. Do you really think Vader's gone?"
Lyra took a sip from the cup she was holding and thought for a moment. "I do, I think, but old habits die hard, shall we say. Maybe we should let him process everything while he's still practicing being in the light after all this time. Does that make sense?"
Luke nodded and was silent while he thought. After a moment, he noted, "I shouldn't press him. I'll just let him open up as he's able. I sense a movement in the Force, and I don't want to push him back into the dark by bringing up things that might be hard for him to handle, at least right now."
Lyra smiled. "That's been my strategy: let him lead. It will take you where you need to go."
The next day, Anakin actually felt like moving a bit, although he was still very weak. Wearing a portable breathing machine, Anakin was able with Lyra's help, to move to a chair just outside the front door of Kenobi's hut. He pulled his robes (Hmmm, Obi Wan's?) close around him and pulled the hood down so it shielded most of his face. Not having seen the sun in over two decades, Anakin's skin was at a high risk for a bad sunburn.
Lyra pulled up a chair by him, and they both looked out over the valley for several minutes. Lyra finally broke the silence.
"Luke wants to ask you about his mother but doesn't want to push you too far while you're still getting used to being back in the light side of the Force. He's decided not to say anything but to let you bring it up when you're ready."
Anakin nodded. "I will have to talk to him - and to her, Leia - eventually and explain. I'm still getting used to the thought of Leia Organa being my daughter."
"Is that good or bad, her being your daughter?"
Anakin paused for a moment. "Leia is very accomplished. She's certainly her mother's daughter. She and I have had," Anakin paused, "confrontations in the past. I have much to atone for."
Dying to know the details; won't ask.
"Okay. Whatever, or whenever, you think is best. Has Luke told you that Leia will arrive in a few days?"
"Yes."
Well, I'm learning so much.
"Okay."
Later that night…
"Hey! Have you heard from Luke? People are starting to wonder when he's coming back."
"He's fine. I'm sure Luke will report in soon."
"Great. I need his help with some of this. With all the reports I've had to fill out, the Alliance is turning me into a bureaucrat."
"I'm sure you're doing fine, General. Ah, we need to talk."
"That doesn't sound good."
"No, no, it's fine. I just need to tell you about what Luke has been doing and what we've learned about our family."
"Okay, we'll talk. After this meeting, you can fill me in."
Luke stayed in touch with the Alliance as the days went by and relayed any news. Many Imperial forces had laid down their arms and defected, but others fought on, and Coruscant had still not been liberated. Meanwhile, the occupants of Kenobi's home fell into a daily pattern: Luke would help Lyra clean up after breakfast then meditate and practice utilizing the Force while Anakin focused on the light side of the Force to help him heal. Deeply ingrained habits, though, still lingered. A war of emotions played out in Anakin's head. After freely giving in to anger and utilizing it for years, overcoming anger was not easily done, and the situation was made harder by the thought that he'd have to face Leia soon. The thought that he killed Palpatine helped, but should he really take pleasure in killing, even it it was to save his son?
Lyra meanwhile relished her simple day-to-day activities and took it upon herself to turn Kenobi's small hut into a cozy home. "Make that an Emperor-free home without the constant shadow of danger," she remarked to Luke one day as she swept the ever-present sand out of the small seating area. Anakin frequently paused from his meditation to watch her. On this day, Lyra unloaded from the speeder a few containers of flowering plants, rare here in the desert. Lyra set three of the containers on the ground, watered them, and setting a saucer in the middle of the table, arranged the containers into an attractive display. Anakin found his thoughts returning to that simple act. Something so simple, yet gave such beauty, he marveled. Such small acts of beauty never existed in his mother's world or even his as a Jedi and beyond.
Lyra swept up after arranging the plants, and moved around the patio area, tidying up here and there. When done, she paused and looking out over the valley, raised a hand to her brow to shield her eyes from the sun.
Amazing. One day I'm at the center of the universe, physically and socially, and the next, at its far edge in the middle of nowhere and glad to be here!
This started a now familiar cycle of emotion: glad to be here, glad that Anakin had forsaken the dark, glad that the Rebellion had won, horror of what happened to the Executor, what if Vader had not sent her away, sadness for Admiral Piett and Lieutenant Malix, and what if Vader had not sent her away! Around and around, but no matter what, Lyra appreciated the feeling of relief of living in a universe that did not contain Sheev Palpatine.
Elsewhere…
"This is insane! What is Luke thinking? And you, you're going there? To him?"
"Yes. I want to confront him; I need to confront him. I need to look him in the eye and get an explanation. I want to see him face what he's done. His reaction depends on what I do after that."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning if I have to, I report him to the Alliance."
"That could hurt Luke too."
Pause. "Luke is an adult. He has to make his own decisions."
"Well, you're not going alone, I can tell you that."
"Fine, but stay with the ship until you hear from me. Barging in with blasters firing will only complicate things."
"Hey, it's me. I'm the very image of calm and reasonable. But he's got a lot to answer for with me too. A lot. Seeing Vader with a blaster hole right through his chest would make me feel a whole lot better."
"Well calm and reasonable, you might get your chance, but let me go in first and assess the situation. Deal?"
"Hmmm."
"Deal?"
"Fine."
When Anakin felt strong enough to stay up for long periods of time, Lyra helped him move to the outside sitting area that she and Luke had put together complete with an awning made out of tarp they had found in the storeroom. Not quite the covering of beautiful flowering nathema vine that Lyra would have preferred, but it would do. If the terrain had been nicer, it would have been a pleasant spot as it looked out over the valley below Kenobi's home.
About a month into their stay, Luke and Lyra took stock of their provisions and went to the closest town, Mos Espa, to shop for groceries and pick up boxes of supplies that Lyra had ordered off the halonet. They left Anakin sitting outside on the makeshift porch since the hottest weather of the season had not yet arrived, and the day was quite pleasant.
Anakin felt her approach long before he saw the ship. Leia's presence in the Force was strong yet erratic. How had he not felt it before? Anakin sighed. Hopefully one day, one day, his relationship with Leia would be such that she'd forgive and trust him enough to let him train her. So far, according to Luke, Leia had shown no inclination to be a Jedi, which was fine, but she would be better off knowing how to control her power.
Anakin watched as the Millennium Falcon landed. He smiled ruefully. After all the time he spent chasing that ship, it now came to him willingly. He watched Leia walk out and up the long and steep speeder path to the house. He also observed who crept after her. Leia arrived at the top, slightly out of breath and halted suddenly when she saw him. She turned when she heard Solo come up after her.
"Han, I said…"
Solo pulled his blaster out of his holster, and before he could fire, Anakin activated his lightsaber and lunged.