Chapter 17 – Fissures

Leia rocked back and forth on the bunk as Luke paced. They'd been waiting for nearly two hours now. Commander Vanto had shown up fifteen minutes after Vader left, but he was downstairs, supposedly keeping an eye on the perimeter, but Leia suspected he didn't want to give her the opportunity to berate him again. That was probably a good call on his part. Leia sure would like to yell at someone right now, and Vanto was a ripe candidate.

But instead she and Luke commiserated in silence. She ran and hand across the woolen blanket. It was scratchy and mangy. Yet Vader hadn't thought so. He had looked upon it with fondness in his eyes, with nostalgia and with grief. It was, in a way, how he looked at her as well. In Leia and in the blanket he saw some similar element.

Her.

Maybe Thrawn had been right after all. Maybe Vader did have a heart. Or once upon a time he had. But why should she care? Now was what mattered, not then.

But it did matter.

She could tell herself all she wanted that she didn't care about her birth parents, yet that would not change the fact that she was here, tenderly kneading at the blanket in the vain hope that she might sense her mother's lingering presence as Vader had. Worse still, she couldn't deny her fear. Her fear that Vader might not return. Her fear that the man she had only just begun to see, the man so adoringly extolled by his former friends, might not survive, whether it be by an alien's violent doing, or more likely, by his own.

"Luke?"

She'd called his name before intending to do so. She turned, knees hugged to her chest as she imploringly sought his attention.

"What did your aunt and uncle tell you about him?"

Luke stopped his pacing to give her a quizzical look. "But I told you already."

"I know. Tell me again." Because now she was willing to listen. Now she was desperate to listen.

"Well," Luke began, screwing up his face as if deep in thought. She knew he wasn't. She knew he cherished the idea of his father. The scant details he did know where etched to his heart. "They told me he was a pilot. That he was a navigator on a spice freighter."

Leia snorted. "I wonder how they came up with that."

"Yeah," Luke said, smiling. "Not sure where that came from."

There was a loud thump and Luke and Leia started at the disturbance. It sounded like it had come from downstairs.

"What was that?" Luke asked.

"No idea." Leia swung her legs off the bunk and cautiously approached the ladder. "Commander Vanto?" she called. No response. "Commander Vanto, are you –"

"Need some help down here!"

His voice was shrill, a far cry from the dull drone to which she had become accustomed. "Come on," she said to Luke before scampering down the ladder. Arriving on the ground level, she saw Vanto assisting Thrawn, the grand admiral looking especially enfeebled, an arm wrapped around Vanto's shoulders, his feet dragging against the floor. Upon closer inspection, Leia realized why that was. His left leg was entirely immobilized, encased, as it seemed, by a layer of stone. Leia blinked a few times in bewilderment.

"What happened?" she asked.

She didn't receive an answer because just then another figure entered the room. His gait labored as well, Vader hobbled forward with his arm slung in front of his chest, it too paralyzed by that same stone-like substance. Leia felt a rush of… something. Relief?

"You're hurt," Luke said, hurrying forward to assist his father. Leia found herself stepping forward as well before stopping herself.

"I'm fine," Vader insisted. He attempted to push Luke away, but the motion nearly made him lose balance. Luke grabbed him by the waist to stabilize him and Vader's entire body seemed to freeze at his touch.

Thrawn was speaking with Vanto in a foreign language. He was now seated on the ground, his immobilized leg rigid against the rotting floorboards, his blue lips wrought with a grimace. Vanto was kneeling at his side, listening to what he had to say while simultaneously prodding at his leg with an experimental finger.

"Would someone tell me what's going on?" Leia asked in frustration.

Thrawn and Vanto glanced at her, but neither spoke. Instead –

"Leia."

It felt as if her heart had stopped. Stunned, she turned to Vader. He had said her name. For the first time, he had acknowledged her in that way. She reflexively thought she must have misheard. And then, just as reflexively, wished to hear him say it again. Her name, in his voice, spoken with urgency, with…

Endearment.

"They're outside. Keep an eye on them, would you?"

Leia stared at him, her brain slow to decipher these words. "Them? Who's them?"

Vader didn't answer. With Luke's assistance, he sank to the floor and assumed a posture much like Thrawn. Luke played Vanto's part, steadfastly at his father's side, doing what little he could to help. Feeling slightly uncomfortable, and decidedly unhelpful, Leia decided to go outside to find out what Vader was talking about.

The sky was darkening now, although the sickly green tint in the clouds above was still visible, a radioactive glow reflected in the acidic puddles beneath her feet. A little ways away in the dried-out river bed Leia saw a group of shadowy figures huddled closely together. She approached cautiously.

"Hello?"

They spun to her voice with alarm, two of them grabbing each other in fright, one letting out a startled squawk. Leia held up her hands.

"Sorry! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you."

She could now see that they looked like young girls. Although it was difficult to make out their features, Leia could clearly see their red eyes. They must be Chiss. What were they doing here?

"Can you understand me?" Leia asked, knowing they could not. She took a tentative step forward, and the girls took a synchronous step back. Leia faltered. "I want to help you."

A few girls shook their heads and they continued backing away. Leia held her palms out to them, beginning to panic.

"No, wait –"

"Ozyly-esehembo."

Leia swiveled her head. Emerging from the derelict was Luke, his hands raised as well. He stopped by her side and entreated the girls to listen.

"Ozyly-esehembo," he said again, gesturing to him and Leia. "We're Skywalkers. We're friends."

The girls all stared at him with mixed expressions of bewilderment and curiosity. Leia had no idea what to make of this.

"Luke?" she asked. "What are you doing?"

"Trust me," he said.

Leia licked her lips and looked back at the girls. They had stopped backing away, if nothing else intrigued by this newcomer who somehow spoke a tiny bit of their language. Leia's mouth felt a bit dry. What Luke had said…

We're Skywalkers.

Was that what she was? A Skywalker? The name felt so foreign to her. Leia Skywalker. And yet it also felt so right.

"Look."

Leia refocused her eyes and followed Luke's pointing finger. In the distance she could see a freighter emerge from beyond the horizon. It approached rapidly, soundless as it did, and gently set itself down in the river bed, wings folding neatly when it settled to a stop.

"That's the freighter we took, right?"

"Looks like it," Leia said.

The hatch popped open and a ramp unfurled. Even through the dim light, Leia had no difficulty making out Kenobi's figure as he emerged from the body of the freighter. Beside him was a tall Chiss woman. The sight of her seemed to calm the girls. When the duo reached the bottom of the ramp, they bifurcated, Kenobi heading straight toward her and Luke while the Chiss approached her brethren.

"Are you alright?" Kenobi called.

Leia bit her tongue. She wasn't so easily going to forget how Kenobi had slighted her.

"We're fine," Luke said. "Vader and Thrawn are hurt, though."

"Bring me to them."

Luke led the way back to the derelict. They stepped through the doorless opening to find the scene unchanged from when Leia had left. Thrawn grimaced as Vanto attempted in vain to chip away at the stone layering with a rock. Vader meanwhile seemed especially frustrated, clawing at his frozen arm with his offhand to no effect. Hearing their arrival, Vader looked up.

"Kenobi? What are you doing here?"

"I called for the Steadfast to pick us up," Vanto explained. "Is Admiral Ar'alani here?"

"She is," Kenobi said.

"Very well. I would like to speak with her." Vanto discarded the rock and stood up to leave. Once he was gone, Kenobi stepped forward to investigate Vader and Thrawn's curious condition.

"How did this happen?" he asked.

"The Grysk had a weapon which fired tiny swarming projectiles," Thrawn said, surprisingly calm considering the circumstances. "They were akin to locusts, I suppose. Impossible to shoot them all down." He tilted his head as if in appreciation. "An impressive tactic. Far more sophisticated than I anticipated."

"They did this to your leg?"

"And to Lord Vader's arm and hip."

Kenobi turned to Vader. "I see," he said, grim.

"I'm sure the damage is not permanent," Thrawn said, although he didn't sound as sure as he claimed.

"May I see?" Kenobi asked of Vader. Without waiting for a response, Kenobi kneeled down by his former Padawan's side. Vader stiffened when Kenobi placed a tentative finger on his immobilized arm. "Curious," Kenobi mused.

"That's all you have to say?" Vader said acidly. "Are you going to help or not?"

"Do you trust me?"

Vader hesitated. "What do you have in mind?"

Leia inhaled sharply when Kenobi pulled out his lightsaber. "I would like to start with you," he said. "If I make a mistake or it does not work, I would only be searing metal rather than flesh."

Vader swallowed visibly.

"So I ask again: Do you trust me?"

There was a tense moment. Vader's eyes darted beyond Kenobi to her and Luke. "Just do it," he said.

It wasn't the answer Kenobi wanted to hear, but he took it in stride. Activating his blade, he held it up to Vader's arm. Leia watched with bated breath, the hum of the saber drowned out by the beating of her heart. The blue plasma met the stone and there was a red glow at their touch. Vader kept perfectly still as Kenobi carefully cut away the stone. Fissures erupted up and down the cast and finally the cement gave way, crashing to the ground in one go.

"That went well," Kenobi said, smiling tightly.

Vader flexed his freed arm. "Very well," he agreed.

"Now your hip."

Kenobi repeated the process and when he had finished he pivoted to assist Thrawn. Vader got to his feet and Leia found herself walking toward him.

"May I see?" she asked.

Vader seemed surprised, but he held up his arm nonetheless. When Leia tried to touch it, she yelped.

"What's wrong?"

"It's hot."

Vader looked almost ashamed. "It's metal," he said. "It retains heat. My armor is made of ceramic to prevent it from getting too warm."

"Well maybe we should get you some new armor."

"Why should I need new armor?" Vader asked, frowning. "My old suit will serve me fine. I just need to repurpose it, that's all."

Leia didn't know what to say to that. Would he really put on his old armor again? That horrible black suit? For some reason she couldn't imagine him putting it back on. She didn't want him to.

"Thank you, Master Kenobi."

"My pleasure."

Leia turned away from Vader to see Thrawn back on his feet as well, Kenobi standing next to him with his lightsaber returned to his belt.

"Shall we get going?" Thrawn said.

He departed, but the four of them remained behind for a moment longer. Kenobi looked as if he had something to say, but couldn't quite bring himself to speak.

"What is it?" Vader pried.

"I'm glad you all seem to be getting along," Kenobi said.

"Getting along?" Vader echoed.

"You know." Kenobi's eyes lingered on Leia. "Keeping things… cordial."

Cordial hardly described their earlier conversation, but Kenobi didn't have to know about that. Besides, she could understand where he was coming from. All things considered, it was quite remarkable the three of them were tolerating each other as much as they were, Leia especially. She had fought tooth and nail to avoid coming with Vader to Mokivj, but now…

She wasn't sure what had changed, but she no longer despised him as she had the day before. Maybe it was because she had seen who he really was: vulnerable and lonely. For the first time, she knew that Vader was human, and a pitiful one at that.

"Can we go now?" Luke asked.

"Yes, let's," Kenobi said, sparing the run-down room a look of repugnance. He and Luke left in a hurry, Vader on their heels. Yet Leia stayed where she was. She felt a bit choked up all of a sudden.

"Leia?"

There it was again. A profound emotion rippled through her, a feeling so incredible inspired by something so simple. Did he know how much power he had over her? Of course not. He thought himself powerless. She turned to him, saw him standing in the doorway, concern writ large across his face. She didn't know what to say, how to explain…

"You feel her, don't you?"

From the very beginning she had, without realizing, without understanding. But now she did.

"She's here," Leia said, hoarse.

Vader stared at her unflinchingly. "She was. Many years ago."

"No. Right now." She took a step forward, a sudden warmth imbued within her, an unexpected smile playing across her lips. Her hand stretched out on its own accord and rested against Vader's chest. "In here. Always in here."

Leia pushed past him out of the derelict; Vader left behind, but her father still yet ahead, just waiting to be found.

Δ Δ Δ

Luke watched from the corner of the cabin as Thrawn and the Chiss admiral talked with the girls.

"What are they saying?" Luke asked Vanto in a whisper.

"Admiral Ar'alani is assuring them they are in safe hands," the commander told him dryly.

"Oh," Luke said. He supposed that should have been obvious.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll go prep the freighter for take-off." The slippery Vanto disappeared into the cockpit and Luke was left alone with Ben.

"What happens now?" Luke asked the Jedi.

"That is always the question, isn't it?" Ben said.

In walked Leia, looking a bit startled when the Chiss girls all turned in unison to stare at her.

"Um… hi," she said. Blinking twice, Leia walked around the Chiss and headed toward them.

"Where's Vader?" Ben asked.

"Oh, he should be along."

Sure enough, Vader arrived a moment later. Luke thought he looked a bit frazzled, but unlike Leia, it had nothing to do with the Chiss girls. Something else seemed to be on his mind.

"Are we ready to leave, Lord Vader?" Thrawn asked him.

"Huh?" Vader looked up. "Leave? Oh, uh… yes."

If Thrawn found this halting response odd, he didn't show it. "Commander Vanto!" he called. "Time to go!"

Luke and Leia both took a seat before the freighter lifted off. They strapped themselves in and watched Vader pace in front of them.

"Is he okay?" Luke asked Leia in a whisper. She merely shrugged in response.

"Admirals, a word?" Ben requested.

Thrawn and Ar'alani were making sure all the girls were properly strapped into the bucket seats. They were acting quite paternal, as odd as that seemed to Luke.

"Yes, Master Kenobi?" Thrawn said, straightening out his back. "Something you wish to discuss?"

"I think it's time we got some explanations," Ben said. He was composed enough, but there was an undercurrent of frustration. Luke felt it as well. They had been entirely in the dark this whole time. "What, for example, was the purpose of this mission?"

"To rescue these sky-walkers," Thrawn answered easily.

"Sky-walkers?" Kenobi echoed.

Thrawn didn't stop to elaborate. "And now, I do believe, we must ask Lord Vader what he prefers." The grand admiral's red eyes flicked to the man in question. "Where to, my Lord?"

Vader ceased his pacing, indecisive in every facet. His eyes darted about the cabin, to Thrawn, to Ben, before settling on him and Leia.

"If I might interject," Ben said.

Thrawn looked irritated. "If you must."

"I have some business to which I must attend. Anakin, you might feel inclined to accompany me."

Vader did not object to the use of this name. In fact, it seemed as if he hadn't even noticed.

"What business, Master Kenobi?" Thrawn asked.

"I must return home," Ben said. His eyes found Luke's and he smiled. "To Tatooine."

Luke felt his eyes go wide. Tatooine was like a distant memory to him now, although it had hardly been a month since he'd left. In that time, he hadn't even thought about going back, about facing his aunt and uncle. And the thought of doing so now struck him as daunting, for some reason.

"Tatooine?" Vader said, sounding as surprised as Luke felt. "Why?"

"You'll see," Ben said coyly.

"As it happens, this works well for me," Thrawn said. "There is something I would like to attend to as well."

Ar'alani asked something in Cheunh, and her blue cheeks turned a bit purple with belated embarrassment. "Forgive me," she said in Basic, her voice richly accented.

"No need to apologize, Admiral," Thrawn said. "My colleague was just asking me to clarify."

"Well?" Ben prompted.

"I was going to wait until we returned to the Steadfast, but I suppose there's no harm in telling you now." The corner of his lips turned ever so slightly, a wry smile to which Luke was already becoming quickly accustomed. "I imagine the other members of your crew have gotten a bit… stir crazy, I believe is the phrase. Am I correct in that assumption?"

"Quite," Ben said.

"Then my suggestion will no doubt be met with relish." Another smile, this one less subtle. "The Emperor has in recent months developed an acute interest in the Outer Rim world of Lothal. I of course have been similarly invested in the world – I first encountered the Spectres on that planet, after all – but despite that, I do not yet understand what has so captivated the Emperor's interest."

"So you wish to investigate?"

"Reconnoiter, more accurately," Thrawn said. "I wish for Masters Jarrus and Bridger to join me, as well as Wren and Orrelios. Their knowledge of the planet no doubt eclipses mine."

"Wait just a minute," Vader cut in, and Luke caught his breath. Was he going to object? Thrawn was committing treason to the Empire right in front of him.

"Yes, my Lord?" Thrawn said calmly.

Again, Vader's eyes darted to him and Leia, their countervailing presence causing him to hesitate. "How do you know the Emperor is interested in Lothal?" he asked.

"He sent Minister Hydan to Lothal a few months ago on a secret mission," Thrawn answered. "There was a great deal of hush around the assignment, only myself and Governor Pryce were made aware of it. I would like to find out what he is up to."

Vader inclined his chin. "Hydan? I know of him. He's a scholar of Sith and Jedi lore."

"Indeed," Thrawn said. "So you can appreciate why I am so intrigued."

"Yes," Vader said pensively. "I can." He furrowed his brow and looked away. "The Emperor should have told me about this mission."

"You think he tells you everything?" Ben asked.

"No," Vader snapped. "I am not foolish enough to think that. But…" He chewed on his lip and trailed off. "I wonder."

"Wonder what?" Luke asked.

"My faith in him has been shaken," he mused. Luke traded incredulous looks with Leia. Had he heard him correctly? It sounded too good to be true! "I would be very curious to learn what Hydan is doing on Lothal," Vader said, turning to Thrawn. "I sense this could be quite significant."

"As do I," Thrawn said, his eyes flashing.

The rest of the journey was made in silence. Vader began pacing once more, willfully ignorant of all the eyes on him. Luke watched him intently, and he could feel Leia doing the same. She was fascinated in him just as much as Luke was. There was some indescribable element which made him so compelling, inimical as his actions might be to that innate feature of his. It was as if he actively sought to suppress himself, replacing charisma with hostility, compassion with condescension. Yet they could see through it. They could see him for who he was, or at least who they hoped for him to be.

And to Luke, it seemed that hope was no longer mere fantasy. Anakin Skywalker was still alive. They all knew it.

Now they just needed him to realize it as well.

Author's Note: It took a bit longer for me to churn this chapter out. Not much happened, so it was a tough one to write. The action-paced scenes flow from the proverbial pen far quicker than these sort of scenes do. Next chapter is shaping up to be a fun one, though, so maybe I can get that one out sooner. We'll see. As always, thanks for reading, and hope to see you next time!