A Star Wars Christmas Carol
Chapter Two
The First of the Spirits...
It was so dark when Vader awoke that he could barely distingish the white sheets of his bed from the midnight black of his helment laying in case next to the bed. It was chilly night, and he shivered, pulling his chronometer closer to look at it. Daylight wouldn't come soon enough for him, and he wanted to count the hours.
Twelve? He thought desperately, looking at the clock again. He was very surprised, because when his chilling vision of Obi-wan had ended, it had been just a little past two in the morning.
Could I have possibly slept through the day and into another night? He thought. It's impossible. And yet...
He paused for a moment. If course. There was something wrong with the chronometer.
All stuff and nonsense, he thought. All this thinking about ghosts. It is a simple glitch in the chrono, that's all.
Vader went to bed again, with little struggle with the respirator. Sleep almost captured him several times, but his mind kept sending him a visual picture: the Ghost of Obi-wan Kenobi. The more Vader thought, the more frustrated he became. And the more frustrated he became, the more angry he became at Obi-wan.
"Blast it all, you old fool!" he screamed aloud. Though he saw no one, he hoped fervently that the old man's ghost still lingered in the room to hear his words.
Suddenly, Vader stopped, afraid to move. His eyes wandered round the room, and he felt someone nearby.
Then his eyes went wide, and he swallowed, and blinked a few times, not believing his eyes.
Arrayed in white, with long brown hair that reached her ankles, and big, brown eyes, stood an Angel.
His Angel.
Anakin was afraid to move. He was afraid to breath, afraid to even lift his hand out to her, for fear she might disappear at his touch. And then, like silver bells, her soft laughter reached his ears. The sweetest sound he'd heard in twenty years.
"Oh, my Anakin. You never could control your temper, could you?"
Vader swallowed, suddenly feeling vulnerable. "Ami?"
She nodded, her brown hair moving softly about her. "Yes, Ani, it's me. But we don't have much time."
"You are the spirit Obi-wan spoke of?"
"One of them. Of Christmas past. " She smiled. "Others you will know later."
"Christmas long past?" he asked.
"No, my love. Christmas of your past."
Vader sat up stiffly. His past was not something he wanted to discuss.
"No."
"Ani, please-"
"No!"
She shrank back, seemed to become smaller.
"Ani, your welfare is at stake. I still care about you!" She reached out, and her ghostly trasparent arms touched his shoulder.
When he felt her spectral touch, a tingling sensation rushed through his body. He breathed deeply--a deep breath that, he realized as Amidala removed the respirator--he didn't require help to take.
He stared at her questioningly.
"Please," she pleaded. "Please. I've some things to show you that could change your life."
No other person could have persuaded Anakin to leave the safe chambers aboard the Executor. However, this was his Amidala, his Angel.
She knew the very core of him that was Anakin Skywalker, not Darth Vader. She knew how to reach the core of his soul, through the hard armour of the Dark Lord of the Sith.
Please...The Force seemed to amplify her callings. Come with me...
At last, the Anakin within Vader could resist no longer. She took his hand and smiled, and then Anakin felt disoriented.
When he opened his eyes again, he felt...hot. There was sand all around him--
Wait a minute, he thought. Tatooine?
Amidala turned to him. "Do you recognize this place, Anakin?"
Chapter Two
The First of the Spirits...
It was so dark when Vader awoke that he could barely distingish the white sheets of his bed from the midnight black of his helment laying in case next to the bed. It was chilly night, and he shivered, pulling his chronometer closer to look at it. Daylight wouldn't come soon enough for him, and he wanted to count the hours.
Twelve? He thought desperately, looking at the clock again. He was very surprised, because when his chilling vision of Obi-wan had ended, it had been just a little past two in the morning.
Could I have possibly slept through the day and into another night? He thought. It's impossible. And yet...
He paused for a moment. If course. There was something wrong with the chronometer.
All stuff and nonsense, he thought. All this thinking about ghosts. It is a simple glitch in the chrono, that's all.
Vader went to bed again, with little struggle with the respirator. Sleep almost captured him several times, but his mind kept sending him a visual picture: the Ghost of Obi-wan Kenobi. The more Vader thought, the more frustrated he became. And the more frustrated he became, the more angry he became at Obi-wan.
"Blast it all, you old fool!" he screamed aloud. Though he saw no one, he hoped fervently that the old man's ghost still lingered in the room to hear his words.
Suddenly, Vader stopped, afraid to move. His eyes wandered round the room, and he felt someone nearby.
Then his eyes went wide, and he swallowed, and blinked a few times, not believing his eyes.
Arrayed in white, with long brown hair that reached her ankles, and big, brown eyes, stood an Angel.
His Angel.
Anakin was afraid to move. He was afraid to breath, afraid to even lift his hand out to her, for fear she might disappear at his touch. And then, like silver bells, her soft laughter reached his ears. The sweetest sound he'd heard in twenty years.
"Oh, my Anakin. You never could control your temper, could you?"
Vader swallowed, suddenly feeling vulnerable. "Ami?"
She nodded, her brown hair moving softly about her. "Yes, Ani, it's me. But we don't have much time."
"You are the spirit Obi-wan spoke of?"
"One of them. Of Christmas past. " She smiled. "Others you will know later."
"Christmas long past?" he asked.
"No, my love. Christmas of your past."
Vader sat up stiffly. His past was not something he wanted to discuss.
"No."
"Ani, please-"
"No!"
She shrank back, seemed to become smaller.
"Ani, your welfare is at stake. I still care about you!" She reached out, and her ghostly trasparent arms touched his shoulder.
When he felt her spectral touch, a tingling sensation rushed through his body. He breathed deeply--a deep breath that, he realized as Amidala removed the respirator--he didn't require help to take.
He stared at her questioningly.
"Please," she pleaded. "Please. I've some things to show you that could change your life."
No other person could have persuaded Anakin to leave the safe chambers aboard the Executor. However, this was his Amidala, his Angel.
She knew the very core of him that was Anakin Skywalker, not Darth Vader. She knew how to reach the core of his soul, through the hard armour of the Dark Lord of the Sith.
Please...The Force seemed to amplify her callings. Come with me...
At last, the Anakin within Vader could resist no longer. She took his hand and smiled, and then Anakin felt disoriented.
When he opened his eyes again, he felt...hot. There was sand all around him--
Wait a minute, he thought. Tatooine?
Amidala turned to him. "Do you recognize this place, Anakin?"
