"Luke… Luke..."
Luke jerked up from his bed covered in sweat. His breath turned into small puffs in the cold air. His eyes darted around the unfamiliar, cold environment. Is this a dream? Another vision?
"Luke." The voice had a distant echo to it. Luke swung his legs off his bed and made his way towards the voice. In the distance, Luke saw a luminescent figure materialize in front of his eyes. The figure wore Jedi robes with the hood shadowing his face.
"Ben?" Luke said, rubbing his shoulders for warmth.
The figure removed the hood back and Luke stopped short.
"Son," Anakin Skywalker said. His mostly white hair was peppered with dark brown and lines marked the edges of his face, betraying his age.
"Father? How can this be? I watched you die."
"You have many questions; that's understandable," the vision said. "But there are far more important matters at hand right now. The shroud of the dark side falls across the galaxy. The time is coming in which my younger self will be tempted by the dark side. I was young and foolish then. Too attached. If he starts down the dark path, it will dominate his destiny, and the entire galaxy will suffer the consequences. Enslavement. Tyranny. Death. Anakin Skywalker must not fall."
"But it's the Sith that causes him to fall, isn't it? Shouldn't I concentrate my efforts on searching for him?"
"Destroying the Sith is my destiny, one that my younger self must be prepared to take. But your destiny lies with me, son. You must stop my fall from happening. With our combined strength, we can end the Sith and bring balance to the Force."
Luke pondered on this for a moment. For the past few days he had been certain that the Force had sent him back in time to stop the Emperor from destroying the Republic and dominating the galaxy. But now he realized that his destiny was to save his father from falling to the dark side. That was a destiny he would gladly accept.
"What must I do?" Luke asked.
The vision took a moment to respond.
"There were three major events in my life that propelled me to the dark side. You must prevent all three from happening. But I must warn you, young Luke. It will be a hard journey, full of pain and perhaps even death. But if you are ready to accept your destiny, I will guide you along the way."
Luke gulped against the lump in his throat. All this time he had been hoping that he would be able to return home after all this was over, but it was looking more and more like he would never see his friends or his sister again. Was he truly ready for such a sacrifice? Could he even back out at this point? Luke shook his head, casting away his doubts.
No. He would never run away from his destiny. He was a Jedi, like his father before him and he was the only one that could save him.
"Teach me, father." He said solemnly. "I'm ready to learn."
Luke sat crosslegged in the grass as he watched over the younglings who had finished their morning lesson and paired off for their meditation. Young Mari waved happily at him when she saw him, and Luke smiled, waving back. He remembered a time when he took his first steps into a larger world, learning to trust on the Force, back when he was still young and innocent. He had learned so much since then and he was sure there was still so much more about the Force that he could learn.
"Hey!" Swan tapped him on the shoulder, sitting next to him. She handed him a cup of caf and bread, which Luke accepted graciously. "You look like you've seen a ghost. What's up?"
"Swan," Luke blinked, taking a sip from the caf. "Have you ever wondered about your destiny? About what the future might bring?"
Swan stared at him for a moment, caught off guard by the question.
"That's deep, Luke. I'm going to need two cups of caf for this conversation."
Luke chuckled.
"I mean, the future is always in motion, of course. It's impossible to say for certain what it might bring, but it's also true that the Force binds us all together in ways we can't unbind." She took another sip of her caf. "The Force offers glimpses, images of the future and sometimes I feel tempted to peer into mine. But I know my place is here, with the Younglings. I don't know. Maybe someday I'll train a Padawan, too. Why do you ask?"
Luke stared at his bread for a moment before eating it.
"I had a vision of my destiny. I have to go back to Tatooine."
"Go back? But you just got here."
"It's… complicated."
"Well, as my Padawan Learner, I am obligated to help you."
"Oh, I'm you're Padawan?"
"I am giving you lessons, aren't I?"
They both chuckled.
"Give me your hand," Swan said.
"What?"
"Just trust me. Give me your hand and close your eyes."
Luke reached out to her and closed his eyes.
"Now," Swan said. "Breathe. Just breathe."
Their fingers touched and Luke felt like the stars rushed past him in an instant before becoming still.
"What do you see?"
The image was serene. Luke had never seen so much water in a single place before. Large waterfalls spilled over lush green meadows. The vision was surreal and blurry. There in the distance was a crowd. Luke waded through the crowd to the front to get a better view of what was happening. He could make out the distinct glistening of the jewels adorning a woman's head. A thin veil covered her face and long ceremonial white robes flowed around her. She reached out and took a metallic hand in hers. It was his father's.
Anakin smiled from ear to ear as he took the woman's hand in his and leaned down. The two kissed tenderly, symbolizing their marriage. The crowd erupted in cheers and applause. Anakin took his bride in his arms.
"I love you, Ani," the woman said.
"I love you, too." Anakin said, his eyes glistening. "This is a happy day. The happiest day of my life."
Luke caught himself smiling. Tears streamed down his face as the two happy newlyweds held each other in the sunset. He tried approaching the couple, tried getting a better glimpse at who the woman behind the veil was. But the vision faded out and he found himself back in the Room of a Thousand Fountains with Swan.
He breathed, wiping the tears from his eyes.
"Thank you for this, Swan."
But Swan did not respond.
"Swan?"
Swan's eyes stared past him, wide open. Tears of fear ran down her shivering, pale cheeks. Luke had never seen anyone so terrified before.
"Swan!" He closed his eyes again, reaching out to the Force, willing himself to see what she saw. The room became dark and quiet. The dark side was like a vacuum that sucked the life out of the room. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw a lifeless body, twisted in an unnatural way on the floor. Smoke rose from a scorch mark running across her body. Slowly his vision adjusted and bodies upon bodies littered the Temple floors, both young and old.
Only one figure stood among the dead. It wore a dark brown robe. His face was covered in shadows, but its eyes glowed like lava. The figure held Swan by the throat. Luke tried running to her, but wasn't fast enough.
The figure looked up at him. It was Anakin.
"You did this, Luke. You took her from me. You destroyed my world. Now I'm going to destroy yours."
"No! Father, please! Stop it!"
Swan stared fearfully at those glowing Sith eyes as Anakin pressed his lightsaber hilt against her chest and thumbed the ignition. A crimson blade burst out through the back of Swan's spine. She collapsed to the floor, gasping her last breaths. Anakin turned to Luke, those glowing Sith eyes seemingly brighter.
"Die." Anakin threw his lightsaber at Luke and he felt the blade sizzle as it went through him.
With that, the vision was over and both Luke and Swan found themselves panting for breath.
"What was that?" Swan said through tears. "That was Anakin. I saw him kill everyone in the Temple, even younglings! I felt the heat of his lightsaber as it pierced my heart."
"Vader," Luke panted.
"What?"
"Darth Vader. This is what happened in my time when Anakin fell-"
"Your time? What are you talking about?"
"I'm sorry Swan. I'm sorry for ever involving you in all of this." Luke rose to his feet quickly. "I have to go to Tatooine, now!"
"Wait! Luke!"
Luke ran through the room, never looking back.
Luke waded through the bustling crowds of the space station, following the thin pilot he had contracted to fly him to Tatooine. The pilot took Luke's small bag inside and prepped for takeoff. Luke was about to enter the craft when he felt a familiar presence.
"Swan," he said, turning to face her, but unable to look her in the eyes. "I'm sorry."
"No, I'm sorry," Swan said. "I guess I overreacted back there. I'm sorry I freaked you out."
"I won't let it happen," Luke promised. Swan nodded.
"I know. That's why I'm coming with you to Tatooine."
"What? No. Swan this is my destiny. And it will be really dangerous there."
"I was there, Luke, in that vision. Surely there must be some way I'm connected with this destiny of yours. Don't argue with me on this one, Padawan."
Luke shook his head at her stubbornness but agreed.
"Alright, but if it gets too dangerous, you have to come back. But if I can prevent Anakin from falling to the dark side, I can prevent the terrible fate that happened on my time."
"You keep talking like that, I don't understand what you mean."
"Tatooine is about ten standard hours from here," Luke said, turning and heading up the ramp. "I'll explain everything along the way."
(...)
A/N: Hi everyone! Thank you once again for reading another chapter of Past Awakening. It was really exciting bringing the old Anakin back and using some of the lines he had used as Vader. I'm really excited for the next chapter. The Tatooine arc is probably the main reason why I started this fanfic in the first place. I know the last two chapters have been more dialogue and revelation than action, but that's all going to change in the next chapter. I hope to see you all there! Any questions or comments, feel free to lend me your thoughts in the Reviews section. Thank you all and see you next time on the next chapter of Past Awakening!
May the Force Be With You!
