"You can't go in here," a stormtrooper informed us when we came upon the
power supply room on the bottom floor of the Death Star. I stepped forward,
ready to use my old Jedi mind tricks, but T-24 beat me to it.
"You dare to defy me?" the droid's voice rasped, sounding exactly like my old Master. I resisted the need to shiver as fear ran up my spine.
"I-I'm sorry, Emperor--" the stormtrooper stuttered, fumbling with the keypad that secured the room. "You can enter."
"That's right I can enter," T-24 said. "You're lucky I'm distracted or I'd have killed you by now. Surrounding myself with imbeciles . . ."
When the door shut, I nearly burst out laughing at the exact character T-24 had gathered from Palpatine. In a way it was scary, and definately creepy, but I decided to look for the humor in the situation. Things were so tense you could feel it, and my stomach was rolling over in knots. I wasn't afraid, I didn't get afraid and vowed never to again (fear/anger/hatred . . .), but it was a . . . concern for our lives. That was better wording.
T-24 went to work immediately. I stood humbly beside Padmé, who kept her head ducked. Just glancing at her I was even fooled. Was it fate that Palpatine had become a shrunken image of his former self? No, it was the Force. I nearly smiled at this. For some reason, tenseness made everything seem funny to me. I hadn't thought about the Force in a long time. At least, not the Light side of it.
Lights dimmed suddenly. A piercing sound hit my ears. T-24 stepped away proudly. I nodded at him, and we embarked on our journey. I opened the door, and we piled out. The stormtrooper's suspicions had been granted, and he immediately turned his blaster on us. I used the Force to bring into my own hands, then stunned him. I walked ahead as a guard for Padmé and T-24, who trailed along, trying to keep up with my fast pace. I had reasons though, we had to get up to the flight wing before the ship began to collapse.
Anyone who got in our way was knocked down by the twitch of my fingers. Many of them might not have been a threat, but I was too paranoid to care. People were rushing through the halls, and we blended in easily.
When we were close to the door opening out into the ship storage room, there were crowds of people, and it was filling up fast. Screams were sounding, and you could hear people banging on the door. They knew what was coming.
I used the Force to seperate the crowds, and Padmé, T-24, and I all stepped calmly forward. I opened the door and as soon as we were in, shut it firmly. A few people managed to get through, but it was quickly found out that none of the ships were working. T-24 began to work on a keypad close to the door, and I began to meditate, pulling the Force into my body. If we wanted this to work, I needed more power than I could muster by myself.
T-24 rushed up to Padmé and I. "It won't work! The computers have shut down so that even I can't get through."
"I know," I answered calmly. "You take Padmé and get on the closest craft. I need to gather the Force."
"Ani, no!" Padmé protested. "What if they . . ."
"Kill me?" I shook my head. "Don't worry about me, Padmé. If I can survive a volcano, I can survive anything. Now go."
Padmé turned her head to me, and I could just imagine the look of longing. Then she and T-24 did as I said and rushed forward to one of the aircrafts. I opened the doors for them, then shut them afterwards. Cries broke out in shock.
"Who are you?" a stormtrooper asked, coming up from behind me. He was trying to be fearless and . . . a leader? It was almost cute. He pointed his blaster at me.
I lifted my hand and pulled my hood back to reveal my face. "You may have heard of me. I'm known as Anakin Skywalker."
A few stormtroopers recognized me. They stopped dead in their tracks. The stormtrooper that had aimed its blaster at me fired. I turned the bullet around to land in the white plastic. "I don't have time for this," I growled. "Don't bother trying to protest from me. If I have to, I will kill you all."
Anger. Hate. I opted for forming a protective circle around me. I was alone again. I closed my eyes and pulled, making the ship ahead of me a magnet for all of the Force, living in everything. The ship began to light up. I let out a whoop of joy that I couldn't resist, and rushed for the door that T-24 and Padmé had disappeared into.
Shots fired at our aircraft. Jealous shots, that we were getting out and they would die on the Death Star. I didn't care though. I rushed for the pilot's seat. Padmé and T-24 were waiting for me. I began to press various buttons and turn knobs, working the damn thing out of there. We had about thirty seconds before the whole thing blew, and we would NOT be inside of it.
I took a deep breath, calming my nerves. I had to concentrate fully on this. The ship slowly began to move backwards. All three of us on board began to celebrate in happiness as we slipped casually out of the side of the Death Star and deep into space. I paused until the huge ship was just the size of a moon from far away.
Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . .
An explosion that was so powerful it rocked even our ship broke out. Orange fire. It was as though the ship were exploding from the inside. I realized that this was exactly what was happening, but I wasn't thinking too clearly. The moment of peace, of winning, was over too soon. The Death Star was not made of biodegradable cardboard. Metal pieces bigger than the ship went flying. I realized my mistake too late and turned to race away from them, gaining the speed to jump onto hyperspace.
We remained relatively unhurt when we finally arrived in hyperspace. The ship was in one piece and operating fully functionally, so I wasn't complaining.
"Where should we go to?" I asked absently as I relaxed slightly. In hyperspace there wasn't much piloting to be done. The tenseness that had surrounded us was released, and I let out a deep, relaxing breath. It was over. Or at least . . . the biggest part was over and done with. Anything else that came our way wouldn't be very hard to overcome.
"Tatooine," Padmé said immediately. Her eyes became clouded. Her mind withdrew from our connection.
"Why?" I asked bluntly.
Her eyes turned to mine. They were empty but . . . hopeful? "I have some unfinished business to attend to," she answered finally.
"Do you care to tell me what business?" I asked, slightly annoyed. "I kind of want to gather my friends so we can celebrate the good news. We need to notify all of the planets of the Empire's destruction. We still have plenty of work to do."
"We have to round up the little Rebellion that we have," Padmé added. "That should be enough to destry the Dark side that's still present."
"Then we should go to Aldaraan," I pressed. "I was not daft, Padmé, I knew of the Rebellion. With the Death Star it was a little threat, so we didn't care enough to do anything about it just yet. But to the little stormtroopers left, we can wipe them out with this. Why do you want to go to Tatooine? Can we not go there later, after we've gathered the troops?"
"No!" Padmé said very forcefully, slamming her fist down onto the arm of the chair she'd been sitting in. "We're going to go to Tatooine first, and you will not ask anymore questions."
"Fine," I answered reluctantly with a sigh. I wasn't used to taking orders, but there was something in Tatooine, I could feel it even if Padmé didn't feel the need to tell me.
* * * * *
Tatooine wasn't that far away. We arrived at the dusty planet within a few hours. My heart clenched as I recognized the city where I had once lived. It was a painful clench. I remembered my mother . . . Why was Padmé dragging me here?
We landed the ship and evacuated it. I put locks on it to keep it safe. We were going to need it when we left. I hoped that time would come sooner rather than later. I was surprised to see that at every street corner was a stormtrooper, watching the hustle and bustle calmly. I had to do more than a few mind tricks to smooth over us landing there without permission or signing papers. I had a feeling that the name 'Anakin Skywalker' wouldn't be very welcome here.
Padmé began to lead the way. I didn't ask questions, she had become edgy over the past few hours. I knew not to argue with her either, whatever was on Tatooine, she was going to get there, not even the Force would be able to stop her.
She had led us to a speeder shop. I took charge and got us a speeder for free. The owner was kind enough to say that we didn't need money and that we had permission to take a speeder. Hmm, quite odd, I daresay.
Padmé climbed on, and I climbed on after her. She put pulled T-24 onto the side and quickly deactivated him. She turned around to catch my eyes for a second before setting off into the deserts of Tatooine.
By the time I realized where she was taking me, it was too late to stop her. Though I doubted I could have stopped her had I been aware ahead of time. Why was she taking me to the Lars' moisture farm? I held tighter to her waist. She seemed to understand I'd fivured out where we were going and squeezed my arm gently for support.
Before I knew it, the speeder stopped, and she leaped off the side. I could sense her barely contained joy and coulnd't help being curious. What was she hiding from me? What did she need to see?
Instead of going to the door, Padmé turned to the garage off to the side. I sucked in my breath, remembering the last time I'd been in there. I had thrown things with the Force, then eventually collapsed into Padmé's arms. I didn't want to think about the past any longer, especially not of my mother.
I followed her slowly, a sense of foreboding come over me. Something was about to happen, I could feel it in my bones. The Force was sizzling all around me, and the energy turned up with every step forward I took.
When I finally reached the garage doorway, I stepped forward a few steps, then stopped. Padmé was kneeling in front of a little boy, no more than four years old. He had sandy hair, and when he looked up at me I saw bright, crystal clear blue orbs that I recognized immediately. I stepped backwards, leaning my hand back to clutch at the doorway, hardly believing my eyes. This little boy was almost an exact replica of me at that age. Standing amidst the sands of Tatooine, memories of my childhood flooded my senses.
Padmé reached out to touch the boy's cheek; a gesture that was so familiar to me. Whenever she wanted to show someone she loved them, she always went for the cheek. "Hello, Luke," she said softly, smiling at the confused boy.
My throat was burning. I felt dizzy. "Who is that?" I demanded, my voice hoarse.
The little boy, Luke, looked up at me; he hadn't sensed my presence before. He turned his blue gaze from Padmé and back to me several times before asking, "Who are you?" He didn't seem to be afraid, but merely confused and a little intrigued.
"I'm Padmé," Padmé answered, stroking his cheek softly as she began to cry. "Your mother," she finished, her voice choked with tears.
Luke stood very rigid for a second, studying her, running her words over and over again in his mind. He must have decided she was telling the truth because he put a hand on her face. It was a picture perfect moment. Padmé was crying and smiling with her hand cupping this little boy's rounded cheeks, and his grubby hand was doing the same to her skin. Her tears began to flow faster and heavier at his gesture, and she gathered him into a tight embrace.
This was too much for me. I left the garage, not knowing where I was going. When I got to the front of the house, I saw that Owen and Beru had come outside, wondering about the speeder. They were standing on the porch, looking around. Both froze when they recognized me. I stood still as well, locking eyes with Owen.
Beru shook her head. "No!" she screamed, yanking on her husband's arm. I saw fear in her eyes. That emotion had brought pleasure and satisfaction as Lord Vader, but now her look made me feel dirty and . . . in human.
I ran from them, not able to face them. Too many muddled thoughts to even attempt to explain to them the truth. That I was Anakin Skywalker, not Lord Vader. I used my mind to rev up the engine of the speeder and jumped on before Owen could reach me. He had taken long strives after me; he was going to try and take me on his own, for protection of his family. I didn't want to deal with that now, too much was already going through my mind. Padmé had lied to me. She'd told me that our child had miscarriaged.
I pushed this thought out of my mind. It cut deep inside of me, these lies. I took off on the speeder, blasting through the sand. It roughened my skin, but it felt good. I felt as if I were being cleansed of all these bad thoughts, as if the sand was scouring them away. I closed mye eys against it and used the Force to keep myself from bumping into things. Not that there were too many things to bump into. It was lonely out here, full of nothing but brown sand. When I finally had enough of the speeder, I was in the middle of nowhere, farther away from the moisture farm than I had intended. I jumped off of the speeder and threw myself onto the ground, to sit in the dust that had filtered the air as I raced across the sand.
Then I cried. How many years had it been since I'd last cried? Was it that night I left, that night that I had let the evil take over? I let everything out, and it felt good, better than I thought a few tears would. As Vader I had been incapable of showing any emotion, my body had been burned and scorched and tears weren't possible. It was all catching up to me now, as I spilt my soul onto the ground.
When I was beginning to calm down, a light caught the corner of my eye. I acted on instinct and rolled my body to the side. Where I had been a second ago was a flashing lightsabre, the familiar sound entering my ears. I recognized the color, but still trailed my eyes upwards to the hand holding onto it, and to the man that was staring at me in shock. At the sight of Obi-Wan Kenobi, my former master, I remembered our last fight, on that volcanic planet. I remembered those events that had turned me into Lord Vader. I began to cry again, great sobs that wracked my entire body as I wept for all of the destruction I'd caused.
Obi-Wan looked confused at this turn of events. He deactivated his lighsabre. "What are you doing here?" he asked, sounding defeated and wary. His eyes shown with a tiredness, a sense of someone who had been through so much and was too weak to fight anymore. He was broken, and it was my fault. Everything that had happened was because of my choice, and I know had a chance to face the people I'd hurt in the eye, to ask for forgiveness, to show them that I loved them still deeply.
"Padmé brought me here," I answered, my voice quiet. I was so used to my powerful voice that this meek one was a little surprising.
Obi-Wan pulled out his lightsabre again and held it to my neck. "I don't believe," he said, his voice cold.
I didn't speak, I just sat there. I didn't fight back. This unnerved Obi- Wan, who had obviously been expecting a fight. He put his lightsabre at his belt again. I guess he had realized I was harmless.
"What happened?" Obi-Wan asked, eyeing my newly restored body quite pointedly.
"The Emperor lied," I said flatly, emotionlessly. "He never healed me completely so that I would have to be in that suit. I was half minded, in pain. It was easier for him to convince me of the dark that way. If he had healed me completely, if I had been Anakin, I might not have been so willing a victim. At least, I hope I wouldn't have been."
"You hope?"
I looked up at my former Jedi master. "I guess you can say that I saw the error of my ways," I explained. It was a definate understatement, but Obi- Wan understood.
He nodded in response, but looked unsure, as though he didn't know whether to believe me or not. He decided to let me keep talking, to tell my story. "What brought on this breakthrough?" he asked.
"Padmé," I answered simply. It was always Padmé -- who else could have done it?
"She tried to make you turn before," Obi-Wan pointed out. "What made you listen this time?"
"Things change when the woman you love is being tortured, when her screams are pounding your ears. Then she tells you that she still loves you when you're standing there, evil pouring out of every cell, telling the Emperor to give her more pain. You can easily be convinced of the right path when that happens," I explained with a small smile. My voice had been full of emotion, full of pain. It felt good to talk about it, to make it real, to let others know what had happened. If I'd tried to talk to Padmé about it, she would quiet me and soothe me, telling me that it wasn't my fault, that I shouldn't think of these things. Obi-Wan was just what I needed -- he listened, and he accepted. I gave him a grateful look as he let my words sink in.
"You really are Anakin, aren't you?" Obi-Wan asked in wonderment. He sat down beside me, as if he had collapsed.
I gave him a look that plainly read 'duh'.
"What happened?" Obi-Wan pressed, looking anxious.
I paused for a long time. Finally, I stood up. Obi-Wan looked ready to grab me, to make me stay. I held upa hand. I had no intention of leaving. Not this time. I walked to the speeder not more than a few feet away and pressed the button in the back of T-24's neck, reactivating him.
T-24 sat upwards and looked around in consternation. He gathered his wits and recognized me with a polite wave. "Oh. Hello, Master Skywalker."
I got straight to the point. "I'm about to recall events that I don't want to have to repeat twice. I need you to record them. These records will most likely go down in history, so be honored that I've chosen you, T-24, to take on such responsibility. You have to bury this deep in your memory, you can't lose it. Can you handle this, T-24?"
"Yes, Master Skywalker," T-24 answered unhesitantly.
**********
AN: Kindly review. T-24 is my invention, I hope he's a favorable one. The next chapter should be up within the next day or two. This one was long simply because I felt a lot of inspiration. The chapter lengths will vary though, so don't expect each chapter to be extremely long, but not extremely short. It usually depends on my inspiration. I do hope you're enjoying this so far.
~Haley
"You dare to defy me?" the droid's voice rasped, sounding exactly like my old Master. I resisted the need to shiver as fear ran up my spine.
"I-I'm sorry, Emperor--" the stormtrooper stuttered, fumbling with the keypad that secured the room. "You can enter."
"That's right I can enter," T-24 said. "You're lucky I'm distracted or I'd have killed you by now. Surrounding myself with imbeciles . . ."
When the door shut, I nearly burst out laughing at the exact character T-24 had gathered from Palpatine. In a way it was scary, and definately creepy, but I decided to look for the humor in the situation. Things were so tense you could feel it, and my stomach was rolling over in knots. I wasn't afraid, I didn't get afraid and vowed never to again (fear/anger/hatred . . .), but it was a . . . concern for our lives. That was better wording.
T-24 went to work immediately. I stood humbly beside Padmé, who kept her head ducked. Just glancing at her I was even fooled. Was it fate that Palpatine had become a shrunken image of his former self? No, it was the Force. I nearly smiled at this. For some reason, tenseness made everything seem funny to me. I hadn't thought about the Force in a long time. At least, not the Light side of it.
Lights dimmed suddenly. A piercing sound hit my ears. T-24 stepped away proudly. I nodded at him, and we embarked on our journey. I opened the door, and we piled out. The stormtrooper's suspicions had been granted, and he immediately turned his blaster on us. I used the Force to bring into my own hands, then stunned him. I walked ahead as a guard for Padmé and T-24, who trailed along, trying to keep up with my fast pace. I had reasons though, we had to get up to the flight wing before the ship began to collapse.
Anyone who got in our way was knocked down by the twitch of my fingers. Many of them might not have been a threat, but I was too paranoid to care. People were rushing through the halls, and we blended in easily.
When we were close to the door opening out into the ship storage room, there were crowds of people, and it was filling up fast. Screams were sounding, and you could hear people banging on the door. They knew what was coming.
I used the Force to seperate the crowds, and Padmé, T-24, and I all stepped calmly forward. I opened the door and as soon as we were in, shut it firmly. A few people managed to get through, but it was quickly found out that none of the ships were working. T-24 began to work on a keypad close to the door, and I began to meditate, pulling the Force into my body. If we wanted this to work, I needed more power than I could muster by myself.
T-24 rushed up to Padmé and I. "It won't work! The computers have shut down so that even I can't get through."
"I know," I answered calmly. "You take Padmé and get on the closest craft. I need to gather the Force."
"Ani, no!" Padmé protested. "What if they . . ."
"Kill me?" I shook my head. "Don't worry about me, Padmé. If I can survive a volcano, I can survive anything. Now go."
Padmé turned her head to me, and I could just imagine the look of longing. Then she and T-24 did as I said and rushed forward to one of the aircrafts. I opened the doors for them, then shut them afterwards. Cries broke out in shock.
"Who are you?" a stormtrooper asked, coming up from behind me. He was trying to be fearless and . . . a leader? It was almost cute. He pointed his blaster at me.
I lifted my hand and pulled my hood back to reveal my face. "You may have heard of me. I'm known as Anakin Skywalker."
A few stormtroopers recognized me. They stopped dead in their tracks. The stormtrooper that had aimed its blaster at me fired. I turned the bullet around to land in the white plastic. "I don't have time for this," I growled. "Don't bother trying to protest from me. If I have to, I will kill you all."
Anger. Hate. I opted for forming a protective circle around me. I was alone again. I closed my eyes and pulled, making the ship ahead of me a magnet for all of the Force, living in everything. The ship began to light up. I let out a whoop of joy that I couldn't resist, and rushed for the door that T-24 and Padmé had disappeared into.
Shots fired at our aircraft. Jealous shots, that we were getting out and they would die on the Death Star. I didn't care though. I rushed for the pilot's seat. Padmé and T-24 were waiting for me. I began to press various buttons and turn knobs, working the damn thing out of there. We had about thirty seconds before the whole thing blew, and we would NOT be inside of it.
I took a deep breath, calming my nerves. I had to concentrate fully on this. The ship slowly began to move backwards. All three of us on board began to celebrate in happiness as we slipped casually out of the side of the Death Star and deep into space. I paused until the huge ship was just the size of a moon from far away.
Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . .
An explosion that was so powerful it rocked even our ship broke out. Orange fire. It was as though the ship were exploding from the inside. I realized that this was exactly what was happening, but I wasn't thinking too clearly. The moment of peace, of winning, was over too soon. The Death Star was not made of biodegradable cardboard. Metal pieces bigger than the ship went flying. I realized my mistake too late and turned to race away from them, gaining the speed to jump onto hyperspace.
We remained relatively unhurt when we finally arrived in hyperspace. The ship was in one piece and operating fully functionally, so I wasn't complaining.
"Where should we go to?" I asked absently as I relaxed slightly. In hyperspace there wasn't much piloting to be done. The tenseness that had surrounded us was released, and I let out a deep, relaxing breath. It was over. Or at least . . . the biggest part was over and done with. Anything else that came our way wouldn't be very hard to overcome.
"Tatooine," Padmé said immediately. Her eyes became clouded. Her mind withdrew from our connection.
"Why?" I asked bluntly.
Her eyes turned to mine. They were empty but . . . hopeful? "I have some unfinished business to attend to," she answered finally.
"Do you care to tell me what business?" I asked, slightly annoyed. "I kind of want to gather my friends so we can celebrate the good news. We need to notify all of the planets of the Empire's destruction. We still have plenty of work to do."
"We have to round up the little Rebellion that we have," Padmé added. "That should be enough to destry the Dark side that's still present."
"Then we should go to Aldaraan," I pressed. "I was not daft, Padmé, I knew of the Rebellion. With the Death Star it was a little threat, so we didn't care enough to do anything about it just yet. But to the little stormtroopers left, we can wipe them out with this. Why do you want to go to Tatooine? Can we not go there later, after we've gathered the troops?"
"No!" Padmé said very forcefully, slamming her fist down onto the arm of the chair she'd been sitting in. "We're going to go to Tatooine first, and you will not ask anymore questions."
"Fine," I answered reluctantly with a sigh. I wasn't used to taking orders, but there was something in Tatooine, I could feel it even if Padmé didn't feel the need to tell me.
* * * * *
Tatooine wasn't that far away. We arrived at the dusty planet within a few hours. My heart clenched as I recognized the city where I had once lived. It was a painful clench. I remembered my mother . . . Why was Padmé dragging me here?
We landed the ship and evacuated it. I put locks on it to keep it safe. We were going to need it when we left. I hoped that time would come sooner rather than later. I was surprised to see that at every street corner was a stormtrooper, watching the hustle and bustle calmly. I had to do more than a few mind tricks to smooth over us landing there without permission or signing papers. I had a feeling that the name 'Anakin Skywalker' wouldn't be very welcome here.
Padmé began to lead the way. I didn't ask questions, she had become edgy over the past few hours. I knew not to argue with her either, whatever was on Tatooine, she was going to get there, not even the Force would be able to stop her.
She had led us to a speeder shop. I took charge and got us a speeder for free. The owner was kind enough to say that we didn't need money and that we had permission to take a speeder. Hmm, quite odd, I daresay.
Padmé climbed on, and I climbed on after her. She put pulled T-24 onto the side and quickly deactivated him. She turned around to catch my eyes for a second before setting off into the deserts of Tatooine.
By the time I realized where she was taking me, it was too late to stop her. Though I doubted I could have stopped her had I been aware ahead of time. Why was she taking me to the Lars' moisture farm? I held tighter to her waist. She seemed to understand I'd fivured out where we were going and squeezed my arm gently for support.
Before I knew it, the speeder stopped, and she leaped off the side. I could sense her barely contained joy and coulnd't help being curious. What was she hiding from me? What did she need to see?
Instead of going to the door, Padmé turned to the garage off to the side. I sucked in my breath, remembering the last time I'd been in there. I had thrown things with the Force, then eventually collapsed into Padmé's arms. I didn't want to think about the past any longer, especially not of my mother.
I followed her slowly, a sense of foreboding come over me. Something was about to happen, I could feel it in my bones. The Force was sizzling all around me, and the energy turned up with every step forward I took.
When I finally reached the garage doorway, I stepped forward a few steps, then stopped. Padmé was kneeling in front of a little boy, no more than four years old. He had sandy hair, and when he looked up at me I saw bright, crystal clear blue orbs that I recognized immediately. I stepped backwards, leaning my hand back to clutch at the doorway, hardly believing my eyes. This little boy was almost an exact replica of me at that age. Standing amidst the sands of Tatooine, memories of my childhood flooded my senses.
Padmé reached out to touch the boy's cheek; a gesture that was so familiar to me. Whenever she wanted to show someone she loved them, she always went for the cheek. "Hello, Luke," she said softly, smiling at the confused boy.
My throat was burning. I felt dizzy. "Who is that?" I demanded, my voice hoarse.
The little boy, Luke, looked up at me; he hadn't sensed my presence before. He turned his blue gaze from Padmé and back to me several times before asking, "Who are you?" He didn't seem to be afraid, but merely confused and a little intrigued.
"I'm Padmé," Padmé answered, stroking his cheek softly as she began to cry. "Your mother," she finished, her voice choked with tears.
Luke stood very rigid for a second, studying her, running her words over and over again in his mind. He must have decided she was telling the truth because he put a hand on her face. It was a picture perfect moment. Padmé was crying and smiling with her hand cupping this little boy's rounded cheeks, and his grubby hand was doing the same to her skin. Her tears began to flow faster and heavier at his gesture, and she gathered him into a tight embrace.
This was too much for me. I left the garage, not knowing where I was going. When I got to the front of the house, I saw that Owen and Beru had come outside, wondering about the speeder. They were standing on the porch, looking around. Both froze when they recognized me. I stood still as well, locking eyes with Owen.
Beru shook her head. "No!" she screamed, yanking on her husband's arm. I saw fear in her eyes. That emotion had brought pleasure and satisfaction as Lord Vader, but now her look made me feel dirty and . . . in human.
I ran from them, not able to face them. Too many muddled thoughts to even attempt to explain to them the truth. That I was Anakin Skywalker, not Lord Vader. I used my mind to rev up the engine of the speeder and jumped on before Owen could reach me. He had taken long strives after me; he was going to try and take me on his own, for protection of his family. I didn't want to deal with that now, too much was already going through my mind. Padmé had lied to me. She'd told me that our child had miscarriaged.
I pushed this thought out of my mind. It cut deep inside of me, these lies. I took off on the speeder, blasting through the sand. It roughened my skin, but it felt good. I felt as if I were being cleansed of all these bad thoughts, as if the sand was scouring them away. I closed mye eys against it and used the Force to keep myself from bumping into things. Not that there were too many things to bump into. It was lonely out here, full of nothing but brown sand. When I finally had enough of the speeder, I was in the middle of nowhere, farther away from the moisture farm than I had intended. I jumped off of the speeder and threw myself onto the ground, to sit in the dust that had filtered the air as I raced across the sand.
Then I cried. How many years had it been since I'd last cried? Was it that night I left, that night that I had let the evil take over? I let everything out, and it felt good, better than I thought a few tears would. As Vader I had been incapable of showing any emotion, my body had been burned and scorched and tears weren't possible. It was all catching up to me now, as I spilt my soul onto the ground.
When I was beginning to calm down, a light caught the corner of my eye. I acted on instinct and rolled my body to the side. Where I had been a second ago was a flashing lightsabre, the familiar sound entering my ears. I recognized the color, but still trailed my eyes upwards to the hand holding onto it, and to the man that was staring at me in shock. At the sight of Obi-Wan Kenobi, my former master, I remembered our last fight, on that volcanic planet. I remembered those events that had turned me into Lord Vader. I began to cry again, great sobs that wracked my entire body as I wept for all of the destruction I'd caused.
Obi-Wan looked confused at this turn of events. He deactivated his lighsabre. "What are you doing here?" he asked, sounding defeated and wary. His eyes shown with a tiredness, a sense of someone who had been through so much and was too weak to fight anymore. He was broken, and it was my fault. Everything that had happened was because of my choice, and I know had a chance to face the people I'd hurt in the eye, to ask for forgiveness, to show them that I loved them still deeply.
"Padmé brought me here," I answered, my voice quiet. I was so used to my powerful voice that this meek one was a little surprising.
Obi-Wan pulled out his lightsabre again and held it to my neck. "I don't believe," he said, his voice cold.
I didn't speak, I just sat there. I didn't fight back. This unnerved Obi- Wan, who had obviously been expecting a fight. He put his lightsabre at his belt again. I guess he had realized I was harmless.
"What happened?" Obi-Wan asked, eyeing my newly restored body quite pointedly.
"The Emperor lied," I said flatly, emotionlessly. "He never healed me completely so that I would have to be in that suit. I was half minded, in pain. It was easier for him to convince me of the dark that way. If he had healed me completely, if I had been Anakin, I might not have been so willing a victim. At least, I hope I wouldn't have been."
"You hope?"
I looked up at my former Jedi master. "I guess you can say that I saw the error of my ways," I explained. It was a definate understatement, but Obi- Wan understood.
He nodded in response, but looked unsure, as though he didn't know whether to believe me or not. He decided to let me keep talking, to tell my story. "What brought on this breakthrough?" he asked.
"Padmé," I answered simply. It was always Padmé -- who else could have done it?
"She tried to make you turn before," Obi-Wan pointed out. "What made you listen this time?"
"Things change when the woman you love is being tortured, when her screams are pounding your ears. Then she tells you that she still loves you when you're standing there, evil pouring out of every cell, telling the Emperor to give her more pain. You can easily be convinced of the right path when that happens," I explained with a small smile. My voice had been full of emotion, full of pain. It felt good to talk about it, to make it real, to let others know what had happened. If I'd tried to talk to Padmé about it, she would quiet me and soothe me, telling me that it wasn't my fault, that I shouldn't think of these things. Obi-Wan was just what I needed -- he listened, and he accepted. I gave him a grateful look as he let my words sink in.
"You really are Anakin, aren't you?" Obi-Wan asked in wonderment. He sat down beside me, as if he had collapsed.
I gave him a look that plainly read 'duh'.
"What happened?" Obi-Wan pressed, looking anxious.
I paused for a long time. Finally, I stood up. Obi-Wan looked ready to grab me, to make me stay. I held upa hand. I had no intention of leaving. Not this time. I walked to the speeder not more than a few feet away and pressed the button in the back of T-24's neck, reactivating him.
T-24 sat upwards and looked around in consternation. He gathered his wits and recognized me with a polite wave. "Oh. Hello, Master Skywalker."
I got straight to the point. "I'm about to recall events that I don't want to have to repeat twice. I need you to record them. These records will most likely go down in history, so be honored that I've chosen you, T-24, to take on such responsibility. You have to bury this deep in your memory, you can't lose it. Can you handle this, T-24?"
"Yes, Master Skywalker," T-24 answered unhesitantly.
**********
AN: Kindly review. T-24 is my invention, I hope he's a favorable one. The next chapter should be up within the next day or two. This one was long simply because I felt a lot of inspiration. The chapter lengths will vary though, so don't expect each chapter to be extremely long, but not extremely short. It usually depends on my inspiration. I do hope you're enjoying this so far.
~Haley