Chapter 202

What the hell was he doing?

Darth Vader froze in his place as he watched his daughter be tortured to death. He remembered the first time he saw her, the first time he held her, the first time she laughed, the first time she cried, the first time she spoke, how happily she called him 'dad', and how ... he miserably failed at that job.

He finally made his decision. He needed to protect his daughter. That was the only thing he could and wanted to do. He didn't care if he was Darth Vader or Anakin Skywalker. He was Laetitia's father, no matter what, as wrong as it was to call himself that.

At that instant, Vader sprang up and grabbed the Emperor from behind, pinning Palpatine's upper arms to his torso. Weaker than he'd ever been, Vader had lain still these last few minutes, focusing his every fiber of being on this one, concentrated act ... the only action possible ... his last act, if he failed. He was prepared for that.

Ignoring pain, ignoring his shame and his weaknesses, ignoring the bone-crushing noise in his head, he focused solely and sightlessly on his will - his will to defeat the evil embodied in the Emperor. Palpatine struggled in the grip of Vader's unfeeling embrace, his hands still shooting bolts of malign energy out in all directions.

In his wild flailing, the lightning ripped across the room, tearing into Vader. The Dark Lord fell again, electric currents crackling down his helmet, over his cape, into his heart. Vader stumbled with his load to the middle of the bridge over the black chasm leading to the power core. He held the wailing despot high over his head, and with a final spasm of strength, hurled him into the abyss.

Meanwhile, Laetitia was dumbfounded. She struggled to stand up ... only to watch her father ... throwing Darth Sidious to his death ... ultimately, causing his own death.

She was so surprised. She didn't know what to do, what to think or what to act. All she knew that Darth Vader no longer existed. She was right ... He had been there. Anakin Skywalker had been there, and she brought him back. Despite what he said, he wasn't willing to let his daughter die. He proved that by killing his Master.

But every happy thing she was feeling disappeared when she saw Vader ... No, when she saw Anakin collapse on the ground. She ran to him, desperately calling for her dad. As she got to him, she couldn't touch the suit without being shocked by a small wave of electricity. But what was worse was that the Death Star was starting to crumble.

Lando and the others had succeeded. Luke and everyone else were alright. Knowing that gave her relief and enough strength to get up again. She held her father from the shoulder and helped him walk to a TIE Fighter to get the hell out of there.

"Jeez, dad ... how much weight have you gained when mom left you out of her sight?" She sarcastically stated.

She heard a bit of a chuckle from the man inside the suit. At least he was still alive and well enough to laugh at her poor jokes. That was good. Now, all they had to do was to get inside the ship.

But finally, Leah collapsed from the pain and exhaustion. She was still tired from what Palpatine put her through. Her father was extremely heavy and firing electricity from him. It tired her to a point she had trouble standing up. But they had no time. They needed to escape now, or else, they would get caught up in the explosion.

"Leah ... help me take this mask off." Anakin asked quietly in tiredness.

"Are you crazy? If I do that, you'll die." Leah panted.

"Nothing can stop that now. Just for one last time ... let me look on you with my own eyes." He begged her, knowing he was already crying.

Leah sighed and opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She couldn't see what was in front of her because she was crying, too. She didn't even know when she started crying, or why.

At that moment in time, Anakin Skywalker wanted to see three things at once.

First and foremost, he wanted to see all the things he could have been. He wanted to see all the things he failed to be triumph over all of his mistakes. He wanted to see his legacy. Laetitia was living proof that there was still good in Darth Vader. If there was no Leah to save, true, there would have been no direct way to create Darth Vader. But with her, there would be no Anakin to save.

Secondly, he wanted to see his true life's work complete. No, it was not about making the Empire into what it was. He wanted to see what he did to destroy it and bring balance to the Force. Anakin was the Chosen One, as much as he hated it and tried his absolute best to run away from that title.

The tragic hero.

He brought balance to the Force by eradicating both light and dark side. By destroying Darth Sidious and everything else he had done, not only did he destroy the both the Jedi and the Sith, but he got rid of the wrong system that had been there for centuries.

Anakin was the only one balanced in the Force because he was the only one who rejected both the light side and the dark side and still maintained a connection in the Force. Yes, Leah was a Gray Jedi who used both dark side and the light, but she didn't have the connection to the Force like her father did. She never did.

Lastly, and most importantly. He wanted to see the last remnants of Padme left in the Galaxy that was passed onto Leah. He hadn't seen his precious bundle of joy with his own eyes in almost 20 years. He wanted to see the shred of his wife that was left. The best parts of his beloved wife and himself.

And since Laetitia Skywalker helped redeem Anakin, then so did that little part of Padme. He wanted to see with his own eyes that he did not kill Padme out of anger. And even though she was dead, they both put something good into the Galaxy.

Laetitia and Luke Skywalker.

As much as she wanted to protest, she knew that his injuries weren't good. She knew he was ... dying ... just as soon as he was finally freed. In his condition, without the mask and the breather, he would certainly die. She knew that ... she did ... but she couldn't not listen to him. It was his dying wish.

Slowly, Leah removed the mask from her father's face with hesitation and her hands shaking. When she threw the mask away, she didn't see Darth Vader. She saw an elderly man who was broken in every way possible, but she also saw ... her father, Anakin.

She had seen him without his mask only once, but she could see a lot of differences between now and then. For one, instead of hateful fiery eyes, she was seeing a Skywalker's shining blue. That, alone, was proof enough.

Anakin's breath shook as he took a closer look at his daughter with his own eyes. She was truly Padme's daughter. Sure, she had his debatable attitude. She had gotten a lot of scars along the way, but she looked almost exactly like Padme. It was good to see both of them in her.

"Okay ... Now, go, kiddo ... Leave me." He choked out as he tried to smile.

"You're really out of your mind if you think there is even a chance that I will leave you here. I came here to save you." Leah cried out the last part.

"You already have, Little. You were right ... about me, about everything." He admitted.

"Tell your brother ... Tell Luke ... you were right." He ironically begged.

It pained his heart that the only times he had seen his son, Padme's son, was when he was torturing him or forcing him to watch unpleasant things that would traumatize anyone for life. He had done a lot of things to regret, and hurting his children, both of them, was on the top of his list.

"You can tell him yourself. I'm bringing you with me." She said, shedding tears of denial.

She didn't want to accept the truth ... that her father was gone as soon as he was back again. She couldn't go through that again. What would she tell Luke? She promised him that she would bring their father back.

"You can't promise that."

"Dad ..."

"Leah, please. You need to leave."

She stopped as she looked down in defeat. She already knew Anakin was dying. She knew no matter what she did, what she believed or what she wanted, that was going to happen. Besides, even if he did live, what kind of life would he have?

He would be prosecuted for all the horrible things he had done, despite ending everything. His son and the others were mostly likely to hate him for the pain he made them go through. It would be a living hell, with only Laetitia, or maybe Ahsoka, as his friends or people willing to speak with him.

She didn't want to force him to live through that. He had been through enough. So she took a deep break, wiped the tears off her face and put on her brave, yet honest, face on to reassure her father.

"Dad ... you've done enough. In the end, your actions saved us. I'll make sure Luke understands that." She promised him firmly.

"It's okay. You can go ... I'll be alright. I may not be okay for a while, but ... I will be. I won't let your sacrifices be in vain."

Hearing that made Anakin feel relieved. If he was being honest with himself, he didn't want to leave Leah like this, alone and broken. But after she promised that, he could feel she truly meant what she was saying. But as soon as he heard that, he felt all the strength leave him.

"You know ... you really are ... my Little Sky ... I love ..." Was all he managed to say before his body betrayed him and fell on the back with no life in it.

Laetitia didn't know what to do. She closed her eyes in sadness as she took a deep breath to gather all her strength. She needed to get out of there ... with her father's body. So she did.

She was sad, but she was also glad. She knew that when he saw Leah with his own eyes, that was when he became Anakin Skywalker again, when he became the Chosen One. He was fulfilled in that moment, neither light or dark. Balanced.

Anakin died a happy man. Or, at the very least, a complete one. That was more than enough for her.

"Anakin, listen to me. We do not have much time. I have one last thing to teach you."

Anakin opened his eyes tiredly. He quickly stood up, trying to understand where he was. He couldn't think of a name for the place, but it felt familiar ... like a home, safe and comfortable.

The last thing he remembered was Laetitia, and ... Obi-wan. Right before he was completely dead and passed on through the Force, he heard his old Master's voice in his head. He thought he was just hearing things or it was the Force's cruel way of playing tricks on him.

But it wasn't a trick, though it was cruel. Obi-wan was really right ... The last thing he wanted to teach him was ... how to become immortal. How to live as a Force ghost.

"Hello, old friend." Obi-wan smiled warmly as he walked to his old Padawan.

"Why?" Anakin asked without turning to his old Master. He didn't know how to face him.

"Why would you let me live? I deserved to die with my shell of a body! I can't show my face to you. I'm not worthy to be with you. I hate myself. Please, let me die." He begged, looking down in shame.

"Your decision, or ours, it was not." Yoda suddenly said as he appeared.

Anakin almost jumped up from the sudden appearance. He was completely dumbfounded. He didn't understand what was happening at all.

"Yes, it is a trait of being a Force ghost. Laetitia got used to it only after 10 years. I imagine you could do it with half the time, maybe more." Qui-gon mused as he, too, appeared.

"Master ..." Anakin was shocked to see him.

"It has been a long time, Ani. Finally, we are able to communicate again. It is good to see you." He smiled, which left Anakin even more confused and ashamed.

"Decided of your death, the Force did. An example, you may be. Refuse your turn back to the light, we can not. Yet to help us turn others from the path you chose, you can." Yoda continued what he was saying.

"Anakin, you destroyed everything you ever loved. I pity you more than anyone I ever knew. I often blame myself. I've always wished we could go back, and save Padme, save you." Obi-wan sadly said.

"Vader was so strong on the outside. But I could feel a weak broken man on the inside, a pathetic person who only clung to the dark side and nothing else because he had nothing else. I'm sorry, my friend. I failed you and your family." He quietly said in shame as he looked down.

"Obi-wan, you absolutely have nothing to apologize for. I'm the one who's sorry." Anakin started.

"I was a slave my whole life. I accepted my slavery to Sidious. I just wanted to die free, in my daughter's arms, all that was left of Padme and the life I used to know. I wanted to tell Luke I loved him. I wanted to tell him everything about her." He chuckled to himself sadly.

"But I couldn't. There was no time. I had to destroy myself, the last Sith. It was my destiny all along. My memories have caused me too much pain. My soul can never be free. Now ... I am a slave to the Force." He almost cried out the last time.

"A slave to yourself, you have always been. Free, you will not be, if nothing more than a destiny you are." Yoda coldly stated.

"Yeah, you're right. I completed my 'destiny', but the Force knew. It knew what I would do in the process of 'saving the Galaxy'. I'm still so angry ... Why did I have to become a monster?!"

"Because you were lied to, Anakin, betrayed. I stoped you on Mustafar from becoming all that you could have been, but I couldn't bring myself to kill you. I still believed it could be you as I left you burning. I'm sorry, as I told you then, I failed you." Obi-wan tried to comfort his brother.

"What was your other choice? You were only a father, doing his best to make sure his child, innocent girl, would not become a monster. The fault was the Jedi's to believe love makes us all weak. Love makes us all strong." Qui-gon stated warmly, hinting to Yoda and Obi-wan bitterly.

"No ... I appreciate that, Master, Yoda is right, I failed myself. I was a slave to myself, a slave to power, even as a Jedi. I am so sorry. Nothing I say can make up for any of it. But if the Force is this merciful, I will accept that for once that I might be free, even in death." Anakin smiled, accepting his situation as best as he could.

"Then come. Prepare yourself. We must meet the others. They won't like it, especially Master Windu." Obi-wan almost chuckled at the face Anakin made.

Done :(