Chapter Eight - Revelation
Luke walked impassively down the corridors of the Star Destroyer. He was following two troopers while two more followed him from behind, obviously this was so he couldn't make another bolt for it. Though Luke was unarmed he was tempted to try and escape with a fist fight, but he knew he would most likely just break his knuckles against the Stormtrooper's armour and that would do him no good at all, especially as they would just stun or gun him down in a second.
He knew where they were going. They were bringing him straight to Vader as the dark lord had ordered them to do before leaving him. The medic had cleared him with good health and after being left alone in a fresher to wash himself, he had been provided with clothing. Though Luke insisted on having his own returned to him, he had been told that his own clothes had frozen and had to be disposed of straight after removal. Luke did not want to face Vader in the white robe, so with no other option Luke pulled on the ensemble, which was dark pants, a grey top and a pair of black boots. It made him look way too Imperial, but there was no other choice other than going in just his undergarments.
He glared at the binders round his wrists, which had been fastened on him just before he'd left the room. There was no use trying to fight them as there were two pairs of eyes watching him from behind. So, helpless and weapon-less, he walked obediently with his guards towards an unknown fate.
After exiting a turbo lift, they entered a corridor, which was deserted of anyone at all. Luke followed them to a pair of double doors which opened before one of the guards could even press the door chime. A trooper behind Luke nudged him in the back with his blaster and Luke stumbled through the door, which closed shut behind him.
The room was a large office with very little in terms of decoration. The lighting in the room was slightly dimmer than the rest of the ship Luke had seen so far. The reason as to why was obvious when Luke caught sight of Vader, who stood facing him next to a desk off to his right near a viewport at the far end. Luke stood his ground and glared at Vader. There seemed to be no doubt that he was about to be interrogated, but even though he had no weapon to use against his enemy, he wasn't going to face Vader as a coward would and beg for his life.
"Come, Skywalker," Vader gestured to a black leather chair which was positioned in front of the big desk. He glanced at the chair, which looked far too comfortable for a prisoner to be seated in.
After considering for a few seconds, Luke walked towards the chair and slowly seated himself down, resigning himself to his fate. Vader stepped in front to him and leaned back against the edge of the desk. He raised a gloved hand and Luke clenched his fist waiting for the pain, but to his surprise, the binders opened and fell to the floor with a clatter. Luke's eyes widened. What the hell was going on?! Why would Vader release me? His prisoner whom he has hunted over the past three years?
Mustering up more courage, Luke spoke again. "Why? Why are you doing this? You've slaughtered millions. You destroyed the Jedi! Why spare me the pain you inflicted on all of them?" Surely this would explain it all.
"The Jedi deserved the deaths I gave them. They had no purpose to carry on living. However, your importance is far greater to me than you realize, Skywalker."
After hearing this statement, Luke was starting to have second thoughts about the strange dream he had had. Maybe it had all been a mere dream that had mixed up truths within it. His mind playing tricks to try deceive him. Maybe Ben had not killed Anakin, perhaps his father's killer was indeed the evil Sith Lord who now stood before him. He began to feel guilty for believing old Ben could be responsible for something so cruel.
"You killed my Father in cold blood. What importance could I possibly be if you murdered my father?" He said through his teeth.
But instead of answering Luke's question he responded with one of his own. "Did Obi-Wan tell you that, young one?"
Luke nodded once. The leather gloves squeaked as Vader clenched his fist, and the room suddenly felt colder, almost too cold for Luke that he felt goosebumps rising on his skin.
"You were lied to, Luke."
Luke felt his anger rise along with the odd feeling he got from Vader using his first name. He stood up from the chair, his legs feeling strong.
"No! He told me everything. You betrayed and murdered my father!"
Vader stood up straighter and Luke could feel the Sith's own anger ignite like a fire, which made him flinch, but for some strange reason the anger didn't seem to be directed at him. "No Luke! The old man was deceiving you, search your feelings, see the truth."
Luke was about to blurt out a retort, but he suddenly froze and his eyes drifted off to the side. It all came tumbling back, the memory of the dream, which he now saw was more of a living memory than any dream he'd ever had. The lava planet, young Obi-Wan and Anakin, the clash of their lightsabers, Obi-Wan slashing off Anakin's legs and arm, Anakin's body going up in flames, his father's screams…his screams. Had Kenobi really been the one responsible for his Father's death? Had he claimed it was Vader so Luke wouldn't turn on him? Or maybe Vader had turned up later on and had put Anakin out of his misery. Maybe he believed he was a more superior Sith and wanted no competition to compete with him.
Vader's voice cut through his thoughts. "I did not kill your Father, Luke. He is not dead."
Luke's gaze jerked to the black masked Sith. What in the galaxy was he talking about? If his father was alive he would not have left him alone all these years. But the image of him burning on the ashy shore of the lava planet once again replayed in his mind. He remembered feeling the heat and the smell of burned flesh in the ashy air. There was no way his father could have survived being burned alive like that. Another spark of anger flared from Vader and the black gauntlets were suddenly and unexpectedly gripping his shoulders.
"How do you have that image in your memories?" he demanded.
Vader was right in his personal space and with a jolt of fear coursing through him, he managed to jerk himself free. "Never mind that. My father is dead! He burned alive, I saw it!"
"No! I am your Father!"
Luke's whole universe seemed to stop the instant the words entered his ears, and it seemed to repeat in a deep echo inside his head. I am your Father. I am your Father. I am your Father. I am your Father. He stared with disbelief at the black-clad Sith.
"No! No! That's not true! That's impossible!" Luke blurted out, refusing to believe what he had just heard.
"Search your feelings, Luke" Vader urged. "You know it to be true."
Luke didn't want to, but it was there before him clear as daylight for him to see. And he could feel it through the Force that Vader was not lying to him. Bewildered and horror-stricken, he felt his legs were becoming unsteady. Everything he had believed, all that he had been taught seemed to be slamming him in the face. It was all too much.
Unable to hold it all in any longer, he let it all out in a blood curdling scream, "NOOOO! NO!"
He backed away on his unsteady legs unaware that Vader was reaching for him. His ankles hit something and he fell heavily back into the comfy black chair he had sat in before. Tears fell down his cheeks as he slumped, horrified and defeated at the revelation. His legs came up and he hugged them to his chest, he had to hold on to something solid so he didn't fall apart within himself. He was completely unaware that Vader was hovering right above him. His mind was too consumed with shock to feel the concern that was radiating from the Sith Lord.
The sight of his son crumpled below him like a fallen warrior in battle, and seeming to be internally suffering was not what Vader had hoped for when he'd revealed the truth to his son. The revelation had a worse reaction than he had anticipated. But he was unsure how to fix it. In the past two decades since his birth as a Sith Lord, he had never comforted another being. All he had ever done was destroy and kill. But this was his son, and a small voice within the dark confines of his being, some kind of parental instinct seemed to whisper what he had to do. He reached toward his son and touched his gloved fingers to Luke's temple and sent a gentle wave of calm into his son's mind, which was all in turmoil with shock and panic.
Just as Luke felt as though he was going to pieces, he suddenly felt a gentle pressure on the side of his temple, and at the same time he felt his mind and body relax. It was the same feeling you got after sipping a mouthful of warm soup or when you submerge into warm water. His whole being felt completely at ease.
Opening his eyes, he saw to his surprise that Vader was standing over him with his gloved fingers touching the side of his head. At any other time he would have jerked away, but the thought that it was Vader who was somehow calming him was bizarre. He didn't say anything for a while and studied the back mask and the dark tinted eye pieces, and he was sure he was meeting his eyes. He then recalled another ghost-like memory of his father's spirit while he had struggled through the blizzard on Hoth. Anakin's ghost-like spirit, which seemed to be nothing but light and no darkness. Yet at the same time remembering the truth in Vader's words:
I am your Father.
He released his death grip on his legs and sat up in the chair, not taking his eyes off Vader. He studied the whole suit and armor and a thought occurred to him. If his father had indeed survived being burned alive then his injuries would have been severe and life-threatening enough to require a suit and life support system like Vader's.
"You are right," Vader's responded to Luke's mental question. "That is the reason why I am confined to this suit."
Luke looked him over again. That certainly did explain the suit and the respirator. He shuddered as he thought of what it felt like to be trapped inside a prison like that. And wondered what Vader must look like now beneath that mask and helmet. But now seemed hardly the right time to ask such a question. Though Luke was curious to see his face and whether he still had the same blue eyes as him or the sickly yellow of the Sith as it said in the legends.
But Luke still could not believe that the man who stood before him could possibly be his father, Anakin Skywalker. But the Force was still telling him that Vader had not lied and that he was truly his father. Luke felt his heart sink as he struggled to find an explanation to prove Vader wrong.
Standing up from the chair he stepped off to the side and stared into space. He remembered back to seeing Anakin and Ben dueling on the lava river and their words echoed in his mind.
"I should have known the Jedi were plotting to take over"
"Anakin! Chancellor Palpatine is evil!"
"From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!"
"Well then you are lost!"
"This is the end for you, my master."
He also remembered what followed and what Ben had done to Anakin. He could feel tears of sadness threatening to remerge.
"Why do you have that vision in your memories?" Vader asked from behind him.
Luke swallowed. "I saw it when I was passed out before I awoke and tried to…escape. I…saw it all happen as if…I was actually there." He heard Vader snarl behind him and clenched his fists so his nails dug into his palms almost breaking the skin.
"You were the Chosen One!"
"It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them!"
"Bring balance to the Force! Not leave it in darkness!"
"I HAAATE YOOUUU!"
"But why?" Luke asked, and turned back round to face Vader. "If you are truly my father then why did you turn against everything you were and join Palpatine as a Sith? Why become a creature of Darkness, death and destruction? Why betray Ben and the Jedi and slaughter them?"
Vader stood straight, but none of Luke's accusing questions seemed to anger him. "I had many good reasons to, Luke," he replied.
Luke felt as though his heart had plummeted into a deep pit of despair. All the great heroic stories he had heard of his father for the past few years were being burned to ash as Vader spoke those words.
"But why?" Luke demanded his voice raised to a shout. "Can't you see it was wrong? Anyone with sense can easily see the difference between good and evil. See the evil and dictatorship Palpatine had wrought upon the galaxy and not want to follow him."
Luke started to back away slowly and Vader followed. "How could you join him? How could you become a hateful murderer?!"
Vader pointed a black finger at him. "You do not understand, son."
Breathing deep as he continued backing away he snapped out, "Then make me!" His back hit the cold wall and Vader was almost within his personal space as he stopped looking down at him. "Tell me," he said, staring up into the black eye sockets.
"The Jedi were not all that you were led to believe Luke. Yes, they did save people and planets, but there were reasons that made them evil."
Luke shook his head. "I don't believe you. Everyone I have known had nothing but good things to say about the Jedi. Palpatine manipulated you, you should have trusted the words of Ben and the Jedi not the Sith."
Vader's large hand was then gripping his shoulder again. "If I had followed the word and rules of the Jedi, you would never have even been born."
Luke's eyes widened. "What do you mean?" his voice was almost inaudible.
"The Jedi were forbidden to love. Which is why younglings were recruited at an age so young that they would be brought up to never know their families or the feeling of familial love. I was recruited at an age where I did know what love was and what it felt like, which made me unique from the others."
This was all so much for Luke to take in, but he knew he had to accept it because the Force was singing with truth. He turned his gaze to the floor and away from Vader who was still holding his shoulder with his large hand. It was odd that now that his touch didn't bother him at all. It felt right.
"What about my mother?" Luke suddenly asked, which was unexpected even for him. The hand on his shoulder tightened slightly almost to the point of hurting. But he decided to push on. "Is she still…"
But Vader spoke before Luke could finish the question. "No, she is dead, Luke." Vader's voice was blunt and expressionless.
Luke closed his eyes, but he had been sure that that was the answer he would hear. Aunt Beru had told him that his Mother had been a brave and beautiful woman who would've fought to protect those she cared about. And he was positive that that was an honest truth. "How did she…"
But again Vader stopped him before he could complete his question. "Luke, that is a subject I do not wish to speak of. You've taken in a lot right now and I do not wish for you to take any more until you are ready to hear it."
He knew that Vader was indeed right. In the darkness of his vision, Luke focused on his breathing and everything he had been told by Vader. It was indeed a lot, but he had the feeling that dwelling on it too much would do him no good. Three years ago, Obi-Wan had told him to trust the Force and the Force itself had proven to him today that Vader was not a liar and that his claim was true. He was his father. Luke nodded to himself in acceptance and opened his eyes to look up at Vader once more who still had his gaze fixed on him. His voice was so quiet when he spoke that he wasn't sure if Vader even heard him.
"You're really my father?"
Vader nodded once and his own baritone voice when he responded was softer than Luke had ever heard it.
"Yes Luke, you are my son."
Author's Notes
Well Hello there my readers! Wow! I can't believe how long it has been since I updated this fanfic. But in the past two years I was working on and completed another fanfic last year called "Path Of The Heart." Those of you who haven't seen it should check it out and see what you think. Anyway I had most of this new chapter written already so it was ready sooner than I expected. So please leave me your reviews on what you think.
Thank you to my lovely Beta Reader Carrie2sky
May The Force Be With You!
LouisaJane007