A New Life Part 2

by Shy Snootles

Continuation of Salvation. Luke brings his newly resuscitated and healed father back to his sister and his friends. But, how will they and the Alliance react to former Darth Vader suddenly becoming one of the good guys?

2. A New Life Part 3

A New Life (Part 3)



Luke stood looking at the closed doors for a while before sighing loudly and sitting down again. He called upon the Force for balance and when he had managed to compose himself once more, he reached out across the table and took Leia's hand in his own. Han's arm was lovingly wrapped around her shoulders now.

"Are you all right, honey?" he gently asked her.

"Yes," Leia nodded eagerly, clasping her brother's fingers. She still was a bit breathless. "As a matter of fact, I feel better now that I've felt in quite some time. I guess I needed this more badly than I thought!"

Han smiled.

"We all need to vent our feelings once in a while. You've needed to take this off your chest for a very long time. I'm sure you feel as good as new now!"

Leia arched her eyebrows as she realized it was indeed true.

No one said anything for a long time. They were digesting everything that had happened in that room. They were too moved, too keyed-up; their agitated feelings wouldn't settle down. Finally, Lando broke the silence.

"The more I know that man the more I am convinced he deserves a second chance. The way he behaves ... so gently ... It seems impossible to believe he was the monster the Alliance's been fighting against for so many years! It's so confusing you don't know how to take it!" he shook his head in awe. "I hope he will be reprieved. He's caused much harm, but he's paid for it more than any of us. He degraded himself to a level beyond any human comprehension. He's entitled to make up for all the evil he's done. Any life is precious and if he ever saves one single life after this, then we'll have done something good here."

Chewie roared, wholeheartedly agreeing with Lando. He had been silent most of the time, witnessing his friends' exchange, and he had come long ago to an unmovable decision. Anakin was good. To him, it was that simple. He had forgiven Anakin sincerely and he would support him forever.

Han and Luke stared at each other for a moment, sharing their worry about the suddenly introspective Princess.

"And what do you say?" the Corellian softly asked her.

Leia smiled ironically as she played with her brother's fingers, looking down at their clasped hands.

"After the speech I just gave, do you still want me to say more? I thought I had made myself clear."

"And you did," Luke reassured her. "But I have the feeling you still have a lot of things inside you that need to be dealt with. Many doubts and questions." He shrugged. "If you want to ask me anything, I'll do my best to answer."

Leia remained silent for a while, shaking her head and taking long, deep breaths occasionally, not knowing where to begin. At last, she came up with something she could articulate.

"It's just that ... I envy you. All of you. You have been able to forgive him, accept what he did and what he is now and you're already moving on. And I'm stuck with my feelings. Unable to move away from them, neither backward or forward. I can't forgive and I can't forget. And I guess ..." She took a deep breath again, plucking up the courage to admit the ugly truth. "I guess I feel resentful towards you for not feeling the way I do. I've been left behind." She sighed, dejected. "But it's more than that. I feel ... bad because of it."

"You're not bad!" Han almost chided her, gently shaking her shoulders. "We're all different people and we react in different ways."

"But in this case, you've all reacted the same way. Why can't I?", she painfully asked them, raising her eyes to them.

Luke's eyes filled with love and understanding.

"You know why, Leia. You've had to remain strong for all of us. As one of the Alliance's leaders, you've had to harden yourself to face the weight of the life and death decisions you had to make. You not only had to mind your own feelings, but ours too. Our pain, our problems, our losses. You couldn't afford to be soft or lenient about many things. And now you're paying the price for carrying that burden. But we all know the real Leia. The caring, loving person, full of love and compassion who would die for any of us, who would sacrifice her life for the greater good. That person is there, although you can't see her right now. We all know her. She's here with us now. Vulnerable and frightened, needing help. You need more time to forgive our father, that's all. You know how much he loves you ... and you know how much you love him. You know how much you want to love him. But you can't bring yourself to do it because you can't shake the idea of who he was off your mind."

Leia met her brother's gaze, awed that he could read her so completely. Her eyes filled with tears and her chin began trembling in a sign of impending crying.

"I know what's happening to you," Luke went on with infinite gentleness. He reached out and took her chin in his hand. His voice was soothing and caring, like a balm to Leia's soul. "It would be easier for you if Vader were here. That way you could face him and tell him everything that's boiling inside you. You could blame him, scream at him and release your anger at him. But there's only Anakin Skywalker here now and that fact renders your anger useless. You hate Vader and love Anakin. But they're the same person and you can't love him and hate him at the same time. You can't decide what to do and the conflict is tearing you apart."

Leia felt as if Luke was reading her mind. But she knew he wasn't. He was acting on instinct now, and he couldn't be more right. She lowered her head and the tears rolled down her face.

Han shook his head in despair. He didn't know what to do to comfort her. He felt helpless. He bent forward and kissed her temple and her hair several times. Leia cuddled up to him.

Luke wiped her tears away with the back of his fingers and smiled at her with so much love he thought he would burst.

"How do you do it?" she asked after a while. She spoke so weakly they could barely hear her. She raised her teary eyes up to her brother's and asked him with frenzied desperation. "How can you see past what he did to you, to all of us, to millions of people?" There was a blending of awe and desperate need to understand in her voice.

Luke looked up at the ceiling with a deep sigh. He bit his lower lip, praying he could make himself be understood. After a few seconds of gathering his thoughts about him, he faced his sister openly.

"I don't know. It's the way I am, I suppose. But it hasn't always been like this. After Bespin, I went through the same process you're undergoing right now. You know how very close to insanity I was. At the time, I was convinced there was no remaining goodness in him anymore. If he had been able to do what he did, there couldn't be." He looked away, lost in those terrifying memories. "I still don't know how I survived. You were there beside me, picking up my pieces and refusing to give up on me, staying with me during those nights of sheer horror. And when the worst passed, I was able to start thinking again. I began recognizing the signs ..." His lost gaze returned to his friends. He needed to sort out his thoughts properly, so there couldn't be any misunderstandings. "I remembered how he had called me 'young one', in that disconcerting, patronizing way ... But I suddenly thought there was an undercurrent of ... I don't know how to put it ... something twistedly fatherly there, perhaps? At first I thought I had gone crazy. Now that I had found out my father was alive, I was so desperate to have him I was seeing what I wanted to see, clinging to any presumed sign of humanity in him. But then, more and more details surfaced. How he had refused to kill me and had offered me a place beside him in the Empire. Together! That was the key for me. He wanted me beside him, to 'rule the galaxy as father and son', and I'm quoting him. And then ..." Luke bit his lips, searching for the oh-so-elusive words. "Just then, something told me he could be redeemed. He was supposed to kill me right then and there when I refused to join him. But he let me escape instead. He had to ..." he rolled his eyes in a most expressive gesture. "... 'care' about me enough to risk his master's displeasure, maybe even his anger, at his failure. Maybe he did it for a completely different reason. I may never know. But I felt I was his only weak spot and as such, I was morally and humanly bound to try and bring him back, even if it cost me my life." His eyes turned to Lando, with a depth and an intensity as the man had never seen. "As you said, any life is precious. And to me, my father's life is beyond price! He had fought for what was good and right once, he had saved millions of lives when he had been a Jedi Knight. He had loved our mother." His eyes misted helplessly at the mention of her. "There had to be some trace of that love inside him. And I had to help him find it. I was so focused on what I knew I had to do, I guess I forgot any other implication. I never considered I could be wrong and my good intentions could backfire on me. But there are moments when you have to stop thinking and follow your instincts." His eyes met Leia's and they were ablaze with passion. "Everybody told me he was evil and I had to destroy him. But I couldn't destroy one single life as long as it was possible to spare it. I found that out after I killed hundreds of thousands of people in the first Death Star. At that moment, I also became a mass murderer, just like Vader. I also left orphans, widowed and broken families behind me." He quoted his sister on purpose to emphasize his point.

Leia's eyes opend wide in sheer horror as the meaning of Luke's words dawned on her, and Han immediately opened his mouth to protest, but Luke raised his hand to stop him, already knowing what he was going to say.

"All right, all right. I realize there's more here than meets the eye. I wasn't a monster like Vader was. I've never killed for pleasure. Our morals were absolutely opposite. I didn't make of murder a way of life, wiping out anyone who stood in my way. But I did commit mass murder, there's no denying that. It's an objective fact. My point is that what you do, is not what you are. Not always, not completely. Somewhere along the line, our father lost himself, and to such a degree we can't even begin to understand. He completely lost track of his humanity, or maybe something happened that made him jump past those morals. Something so inconcievably terrible he didn't care what he did or where he ended up afterwards. Maybe he was pushed to some extreme limit he just didn't care anymore. We can't judge him. We're not inside him and we don't know what chain of events pushed him to make such a terrible decision. Maybe when he got to that point, there was no decision to make anymore, he found out he had already crossed the line." He took a deep breath and went on, calmer now. "We know it's not that simple. We've seen too much to know things are not just black or white. People are not only 'good' or 'bad'. There are infinite shades of grey, as Lando said. But evil is there. Good people can go astray if the circumstances take them to some intolerable point for too long. We all have the potential to become like Vader", his face darkened suddenly, "believe me, I know what I'm talking about! But he's got the right to turn back. We're bound to give him the opportunity to redeem himself, to help rebuild what he helped to destroy. These are the principles the Alliance is founded on. That's what I have learnt from Mon Mothma."

Luke's eyes stared at each of his friends, looking for any reaction to his words. He hoped he had been able to successfully convey all the thoughts and feelings in his mind and his heart. They all remained silent for a while, letting his words sink in. Finally, Han reached out and gratefully squeezed Luke's forearm. He had indeed helped him to sort out some loose ends inside him. Everything seemed more confusing than ever now, but somehow, Luke had cleared the way for all of them. He felt much better now. About himself and about everything.

"Thanks, kid. There aren't straight answers or absolute truths here, we know that, just approximations, but what you've just said, makes a lot of sense."

"Yes, it does," Leia agreed, raising her eyes to her brother. They looked less haunted how, more at peace. "But I still don't know how to cope with my feelings. How can I face him? How can I stop feeling so divided about him?"

Luke smiled softly and squeezed her fingers.

"Give yourself time. Stretch out with your feelings. Pay attention to your sensations when you're around him and when you think about him. Sometimes, your head only causes you more trouble and messes everything around. I found out only feelings hold the real answers in these cases. Don't force yourself. Let the answers come to you. I'll teach you some basic meditation techniques that will help you focus", he suddenly arched his eyebrows, "which reminds me I have to start training you in the ways of the Force!"

Leia didn't say anything for a few seconds. She seemed to be listening to some inner voice. But then, her eyes came alive.

"Yes, you're right. I have to find the answers for myself." She looked at them with her eyes bright, in a sudden shift of her mood. "But I need to take a break, if only for tonight, or my head will explode." She smiled with a true, genuine smile, that infused her friends with renewed hope and optimism. Everything was going to be alright, that was what Leia's smile promised. "It's very late. I suggest we retire and get some sleep."

At her words, everybody looked at the chrono and they realized it indeed was quite late. They nodded assent. Chewie stood up first and stretched his long frame. He felt quite stiff after the heavy exertion and the brutal tension his body had endured in today's battle. After some sore spots had eased up, he reached out and placed his big hand on Leia's shoulder and growled some words at her.

"Thank you, Chewie. I'll try," she answered, patting the hairy hand.

"Take your time, Princess. No hurry," Lando reinforced his words by reaching his hand across the table and grasping Leia's wrist. "We're doing a good job here, I can feel it. I may not be Force sensitive, but I've got some good vibrations of my own about the whole thing. Everything'll turn out right." He stood up and grabbed his tray.

Leia smiled at him, gratefully.

While Lando and Chewie disposed of the leftovers of their food, Luke and Han remained sitting at the table, still in need of reassuring her further.

"Are you sure you want to retire?" Luke asked her gently. "We could talk some more in your room, if you want. I know from my own experience what it's like to be alone with your mind in the middle of the night. You start to turn things over in your head and your thoughts won't leave you alone."

Leia looked at him with another disarming smile. She knew very well what her brother was talking about.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. After today's workout, I'll fall asleep as soon as I lie down. That's the only good aftereffect about going into battle. I always sleep like a log afterwards. Besides, 2-1B told me to take a mild painkiller for the night, in case my arm starts bothering me. So, I can guarantee nothing will wake me up." She pointed at Luke with her forefinger. "You need to have a good night's sleep more than I do, if you want to be sharp and keep your wits about you for tomorrow's meeting with Mon Mothma. We'll talk later, when all this is over."

Luke nodded slowly, knowing his sister was right. He needed a good rest if he wanted to be ready for tomorrow's nerve-racking meeting with their leader. But even more important than that, he knew Leia was being sincere about herself. Their talk had truly helped her. It would be alright to leave her alone for the night. Although he suspected she wouldn't spend the night alone. Han would take good care of her.

As one, the three stood up with their trays, and in a single file, they got rid of their leftovers. Chewie and Lando were waiting for them and the group left the mess together, heading for their rooms. Once in the corridor, they turned to each other and they hugged goodnight. It was good to feel the warmth of their friends' bodies reassuring them of their living presence. They treasured that feeling of comfort and belonging after being so close to losing it forever. Curiously, none of them could help a look at Anakin's door before entering their quarters.



Luke sat down on his bed and blew all the air in his lungs. It had been even more trying than he had thought. Leia's pain and torment had reverberated inside him and had torn him apart. But he had done his very best to soothe her conflict and make her understand, and he thought he had succeeded. He had put many of her heartbreaking doubts and qualms at ease. He could identify with his sister at so many levels! Her principles and morals were so deep-seated, so strong and right as he had never seen, and he admired her more than he thought possible. But she was always open to other points of view. She never shied away from new and disturbing questions with uneasy answers. The way she had faced and accepted those shades of grey both in herself and in her family, awed him. There were many things to admire in Leia Organa. More and more.

He had always known, but now he was certain beyond anything, that everything was going to turn out right. This family would survive, they would help the Alliance to rebuild the Republic and they would help to make of this galaxy a place where every single being could grow and reach their full potential freely and safely. They would do their very best to compensate everybody for their losses and make certain that no one's, absolutely no one's pain, and sacrifices weren't recognized and honoured.

Their task had just begun. And his father would be essential in the reconstruction of the Republic, he knew it. He had so much to give! The Alliance had to see that. They couldn't allow such a brilliant person to rot in a brig for life. The mere thought brought him to a frenzy of panic. No, not his father! Not now when he had a chance to redeem himself, when he could help to heal the wounds between the Empire and the Alliance. There was so much to do and Anakin was so desperate to help, to be a part of it!

No, no! Luke cast aside the spiral of negative thoughts and looked for peace and calm. He had to think positive, concentrate on the Light. He took off his slippers and his top and sat on the centre of his bed, in a cross-legged position. He infused his mind with love and peace. With Light and calmness. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander aimlessly, wherever it wished to go. His father filled his thoughts almost immediately.

His mind had never left his father alone after he had left the mess. He had been ready to leave as soon as he felt his father breaking down past the point he had reached before they had met for supper. He had respectfully stayed away from his father's consciousness then, but he had felt such strong emanations of grief, distress and torment, he had been about to throw all his scruples to the wind and barge into his father's room to comfort him. But right after, Anakin had brought himself under control almost instantaneously, and a wave of exulting exhilaration and ensuing peace had descended upon him. He had successfully begun his spiritual and emotional cleansing. It was a process that would last forever, Luke was painfully aware of that, but he hadn't forgotten his promise. Not for a minute! He wasn't going to let his father go through this neverending agony alone. There was no way he could truly help his father, but if only by holding his hand, offering him a shoulder to cry on, or the loving embrace of his son, he would do his very best to help his father to carry the burden of his crimes whenever the memory of them became too much to bear.

When Anakin had wisely left them alone in the mess, a part of Luke's mind had been permanently focused on his father, making sure of his state of mind once he found himself alone in his room. But Anakin had held himself together, perhaps a bit too brutally. He had immediately sought solace in the Force. He had begun meditating and that way, through the loving, all- encompassing warmth of the Light, he had managed to hang on.

Luke smiled with the clean, innocent smile of a little child. His father was a part of the Light again! It felt so good, so right! Father and Son, belonging together as it should have always been! The dream he had foolishly cherished since he had found out Darth Vader was his father, had come true! There they were, the two of them, together at last! Only the Alliance's pardon remained to realize this beautiful dream completely. He had to be ready to try and convince Mon Mothma. He had to think of the right approach, the right words to say. His father's life stood in the balance, because Anakin's freedom was Anakin's very life. And Luke knew his own life also depended on the Alliance's decision.

Luke opened his eyes with a shudder. He had slipped too much into melodramatism. That scenario was highly unlikely, if not impossible. The Alliance was made of reasonable, pragmatical people. They would do the human, right thing. He was virtually certain of that.

With a tired sigh, he looked at the chrono. He arched his eyebrows in surprise when he realized an hour had already passed. He decided to put an end to his meditation and take a good night of good old sleep instead. The bed looked too inviting, cozy and comfortable to refuse it. He uncrossed his legs and opened the covers without getting off the bed. Once inside and when he was beginning to pull up the sheets, he felt a warm tingle in his mind. His father was very near. He grinned helplessly.

Right then, his doorbell buzzed.

"Come in," he answered the call.

The door opened and Anakin slowly moved inside his son's room, looking endearingly bashful. He was still wearing the same silly clothes, several sizes smaller than his.

"Hi, Father!" the boy greeted him happily, holding back a snigger. He couldn't believe the unconceivable joy that filled his heart to bursting with just saying hello to his father. He suspected he would never stop feeling like this. He had cried and longed too much for it. Ahhh, he had fantasized about mundane things like this for as long as he could remember!

"Hello, Son." Anakin looked around the room with too much curiosity, remarkably avoiding eye contact. "I ... uhmm... I just came to say goodnight properly to you. I felt you were still awake and ... that is ..."

Luke didn't bother to hide his delighted chuckle.

"Come on, Father. It's me! Your son, Luke Skywalker. Another Jedi like you. I can also read minds and all that mumbo-jumbo. I can see through lies ... even little prevarications like yours."

Anakin blushed and looked down. At that moment, his face didn't seem older than his son's.

"If you need my company, I think that's very fortunate, because I also happen to need yours. You're always welcome in my room. I want to make that point very clear, in case you still need to hear the words!"

Anakin met his eyes, still a bit shy, realizing his childish behaviour. But then he let out a short laugh and walked up to Luke's bed. The boy patted the empty spot directly in front of him and Anakin gratefully flopped down on it.

"Thank you, Son. I do need your company. But I'll only stay for a little while. We both need a good night's rest."

"Nervous?" Luke prompted, conversationally.

Anakin sighed and looked away.

"More and more with each passing minute." He turned his head and met Luke's eyes. "Maybe that's why I want to spend as much time with you as possible. After tomorrow, we might not have the chance anymore."

"You're oozing optimism, I see!" Luke gently chided him.

Anakin pursed his lips ironically.

"I've always believed in being prepared. That way, if the worst happens, it won't take me by surprise."

"And you'll be surprised as hell if the best happens!" Luke pointed out.

Anakin smiled and tilted his head.

"You're always ready for good things," he shrugged.

"True," Luke agreed. "But then, you'll have missed a good night's sleep unnecessarily."

Anakin laughed. Luke's wise practicality made him feel once again like the impatient, too often defeatist, padawan he had been. But with Luke it was all so different! Luke didn't patronize him and he didn't keep himself always a little step away from him, as he had felt Obi-Wan do in their master-padawan relationship. Luke had simply pointed out a trait in his personality in his usual carefree and so very refreshing way. Obi-Wan told him he always focused on the negative, and he was right. And it was a weakness Palpatine and the Dark Side took good advantage of. But may it be good or bad, it was a part of what made him who he was, just like his height or the colour of his hair. And yet, Luke didn't make him feel flawed or uncomfortable for it. He simply acknowledged the fact fondly, and he offered him his own strength and optimism in return to balance it. He stared at his boy, in awe. He couldn't help but think once more how good they were to each other, how perfectly they complemented one another. He already felt better and stronger, just basking in his son's healthy invigorating aura.

"I admire you, Luke," he said, impulsively. "I was your age when I turned and ... I see now I wasn't, not even remotely, as mature as you are. Everything that has turned out right in your training, failed with me. I was at fault." He looked away again. He could feel the bitter taste of failure on his tongue. "I blamed Obi-Wan, the circumstances, people's attitude that made me feel inadequate and foolish, the war, the losses ... but I never blamed the only one who was truly to blame: Anakin Skywalker." He made a long pause. "And to some degree, I still feel like that young misfit, out of place and awkward. It's as if no time at all had elapsed. Right now I feel as if I was your age."

"In a way, you are," Luke replied softly. "You were my age when you turned. Right at that moment, you ceased to be the misfit you said you felt like, plagued with feelings of inadequacy and failure, and became a murderer with no past. You became a whole new person. You erased from your thoughts everything you had been before, everything that, in your opinion, had made you weak and flawed, and focused on what was to come. You only lived for the Empire, your master and your own bloodthirst. Now that Anakin Skywalker is back, it makes sense to me that you feel as if you were my age. You still have to reintegrate your entire personality, after so many years of ruthlessly subduing a big part of you."

Anakin listened to Luke's words intently, and he nodded in agreement.

"You're right. I've completely bridged the gap of time between the time I turned and today. It's as if my mind wanted to delete from its memory all the years I was Vader. It's shrinking from what I was and the atrocities I committed. It can't cope with it. Maybe I'll need professional help."

Luke gazed at his father compassionately.

"But there are some things a professional wouldn't understand about me. He would never get the whole picture," Anakin suddenly realized.

"You mean the whole Force thing and how does it work in harmony with the mind?"

Anakin nodded absently, lost somewhere in his mind.

Luke reached out and grasped his father's wrist. His touch brought Anakin back immediately.

"I will help you in any way I can. Until we train Leia, I'm the only one who really understands how you feel. I know I can't possibly have the slightest idea about some of the things you've experienced and gone through, but I'm here, Father. You're never alone. Remember that. And if I'm not enough, you can always ask for professional help. They'll help the man, I'll help the Jedi." He ended up with a disarming smile.

Anakin's eyes regarded his son, in wonder. Everything seemed so easy at his child's side! He covered Luke's hand with his own.

"How can you have such faith in me, Luke? I feel so frail right now ..."

"Because I know what's in here," Luke tapped his father's chest with his fingertips. "This is a most stressful time for you. You're racking your brains with worry and apprehension about the meeting with Mon Mothma, and it's not helping you at all to cope with your shaky state of mind. It'll pass when this situation's over tomorrow."

"For the best?" Anakin let out his question like a little child, desperately wanting to believe the miracle was possible, but too afraid to hope at he same time.

Luke nodded, with all the certainty he was able to muster.

"For the best. I know the Alliance. I've been a part of it for over 4 years now. I believe in it and in its ideals with all my heart. Locking you up is useless, a waste of your potential, your wisdom, your knowledge, your experiences ... You have a lot to give. We have a lot to learn from you. We could benefit from each other. It's a matter of common sense. It will turn out fine, Father."

"I pray you're right, Son". Anakin closed his eyes and shook his head, as if he could make their wishful thinking come true with the power of his faith. "But if I'm convicted for life, I don't want you to endanger your position in the Alliance on my behalf. You'll accept Mon Mothma's decision without question. I want you to promise that to me now, or I won't accompany you to the meeting tomorrow."

"What?!" Luke's eyes opened like two saucers at the non-sequitur, but he recovered amazingly fast. "You can't seriously expect me to promise such a thing! You wouldn't agree to this blackmail if our positions were reversed. It's completely out of the question, Father! I'll try to convince her for all I'm worth, I won't stop until she realizes it makes no sense locking up someone who doesn't represent a threat to anyone anymore. She's never acted out of revenge or ill-feelings, she's never bent to outward pressures. I'm counting on her integrity and understanding both as a person and as a leader. If she decides to lock you up, she'll have to argue her decision in a way that sounds convincing. And I tell you, right here and now, that there's no way she will EVER convince me of the convenience or the necessity of locking you up for the rest of your life. That's why, deep down, I know she'll support your pardon. It's the only logical decision!"

Anakin smiled tenderly at his son. Luke's face was flushed and his eyes shone with passion and vehemence. The proof he had involuntarily received of just how very far his son was ready to go in his defence touched him so deeply his entire body ached with an overwhelming feeling of love and gratitude, so powerful he thought he wouldn't survive it. He couldn't be worthy of such love! But he knew Luke's integrity and he also counted on it. He grasped his son's hands in his own and faced him, calmly and serenely.

"My son, you're a soldier. You've had to go into battle many times. You've lost many good friends because you were aware that no matter how much you cared about them, there was a greater good to protect that was far above one single life, it didn't matter how precious that life was to you. This time is no different just because it is my life. You know your duty, and you will obey your leader's decision, whatever it turns out to be. You know I'm right. That's what the upright, honest Luke who brought me back from the Dark Side would do. And he will."

Luke's eyes were ablaze as they met his father's during the few seconds his speech had lasted. But, in the end, the young man's gaze dropped in defeat. Anakin had won this time. Never mind his heart had broken into a billion tiny pieces. He knew his father was right. He would do his duty. Although, if the worst happened and his father was convicted for life, they would have taken from him all the reasons why he had joined the Alliance. He would have nothing left to believe in. A helpless tear rolled down his cheek.

Anakin reached out and wiped the solitary tear away with the back of his forefinger.

"Will you?" he asked.

Biting his lower lip in a heartbreaking display of vulnerability, Luke nodded.

"Good!" Anakin's heart was bursting with love and pride. "But we will worry about that possibility should it ever arise. That's what I've learnt from you. From my bright boy!" He ruffled Luke's hair, knowing the gesture would make his son smile. It had become something very special between them in the short time they had been together as father and son. It worked. Luke's eyes raised up to his and he smiled poignantly at him. Anakin smiled back, aching all over.

"There's so much to talk about, so much to say ..." Luke whispered, out of the blue.

"I know," Anakin said.

"I understand you so well now ... I think I can understand some of the reasons why you turned."

"Can you?" Anakin smiled sadly, looking away, not really wanting to talk about it right now. Especially after the brutal moment they had just endured. But he also understood Luke's need to talk about as many things as possible ... tonight. He took a long breath, begging he could survive this.

"There were so many frustrations in your life ... You were impatient, quick-tempered, restless, and instead of explanations, patience and understanding, you only got discipline. You needed a different approach in your training, you needed to find your own space, your own path to follow and you only found rules and regulations. Your heart was bleeding with many wounds, many unanswered questions, torn ... you were hurting for too long, until you finally found a release from all your frustrations by venting all the anger you had accumulated. Hatred, anger and destruction can be cathartic, I know that. But there's no turn back once you've abandoned yourself to them."

Anakin closed his eyes slowly. He felt dizzy, almost drugged. The way his son could read his very soul broke his heart apart. He hadn't felt so in touch with another being for so long ... It was so beautiful to have someone reaching out to him, understanding him, caring about him ... Such a precious miracle to have love in his life again! Blessed boy! His love was healing scars that had hurt so deep no one had ever been able to heal. This boy understood him until the last corner of his tormented spirit. He was as close to him as only another Force sensitive could be. Even closer, because it was his son. His son! He gave his deepest thanks to every deity in the universe for being granted such a benediction.

"You're partially right." He managed to answer. "Although not completely. It was nobody's fault but my own that I turned. Nobody pointed a blaster at my head and forced me to turn. I did it willingly, I made the conscious decision to follow the Dark path." His eyes turned to his son's. They were ablaze with a myriad of burning feelings. "Look at us. We've endured the same frustrations for most of our lives, we've both longed for a person we couldn't have at that moment. We've both been hurt, we've suffered terribly brutal losses. We've gone through practically the same life experiences. And yet, I turned and you didn't. Which proves beyond any doubt to me that one's background is not determinant of that person's future. I'm the only one responsible for what I did. I can't use the excuse of how much I suffered in my lifetime or that Obi-Wan didn't understand me or didn't pay enough attention to me when I needed it. It's unfair and untrue. I failed and that's all there is to it." He stared at his son, infinitely grateful for his support and neverending understanding. "Face it, Son. Your father is far from perfect. I'm the living example of what a person should never do, of a path that should never be followed."

Luke shook his head stubbornly. He wanted to say so many things he didn't know where to start.

"You deserve all the credit for bringing me back. You fought for me, you didn't give up on me, not even when you saw Darth Vader had given up on Anakin Skywalker. You risked your life for me, out of blind faith. And here we are now. Together." He reached out one trembling hand and cradled Luke's cheek in it, caressing it lovingly with his thumb. It felt so good to be a father! It had to be the most overwhelming, beautiful, all- encompassing feeling in the world! It filled him with peace and belonging. This boy came from him, he was a part of him. The best part of him! "How did you know, Son?" he suddenly rasped out. "How could you see the Light in me, when I thought I had exorcised it from me years ago?"

Luke smiled a bit self-deprecatorily and took his father's hand in his own from his cheek. He shrugged.

"I don't know. Just instinct, I guess. Everybody told me it was futile, that everything you had done for the last 20 years spoke for itself. That if I tried to turn you back, you would destroy me or you would use that weakness to turn me to the Dark Side. But I just couldn't give up! You had been good once, you had loved and had been part of the Light. You knew how it was, how it felt. You couldn't have purged it all from you. Something had to remain. Maybe it had lurked so deep inside you that you had forgotten it was there. Your memories, the happiness you had known with mum." He shook his head, trying to clear his mind from the overwhelming emotion. "I couldn't believe you had renounced all that just for the sterile sake of greed and power. The little child in me reached out to his father for all he was worth, and a heartbeat later, all of me followed him blindly. I had no choice. The alternative was killing you. And that was never an option for me. If I had killed you, I would have soiled myself beyond redemption. I would have turned then, for certain." He let out a bitter smile. "How ironic! What everybody thought was the only possible choice for me, killing you, was exactly what I mustn't have done. You were my price. You always were. Palpatine never understood that in sparing your life, I had saved us both, no matter the final outcome." Luke's eyes opened wide, realizing right then and there just how true his words were.

Anakin's chin trembled and his eyes filled with tears. He felt as if Luke's words were clean, pure water that had completed the cleansing of his tainted soul. There was so much wisdom in those words!

"And I was about to condemn you forever, Son. I can't forget that." He looked away and gritted his teeth against the unbearable thought. "When I think about all the harm I caused you and your sister ... Everything your sister's going through now, is my fault. You were separated from each other and raised separately, never knowing the other existed, you never knew your mother, your sister had to live with her loss ... I am responsible for all that. For Leia's anger, her ambivalent feelings towards me that are tearing her apart. I'm making her feel bad and I don't know how to help her. I don't know what to do. There's nothing I can do!" He pursed his lips in helpless frustration, wishing he could change it all back. But he couldn't. He had to live with that knowledge. The knowledge of having hurt his children far more than any other person in their lives, of having been their bloodiest enemy for over 4 years and being a burden to them now. The spiral of guilt and shame swept him away and Anakin felt like falling ... falling ...

'Don't, Father', Luke intruded upon his thoughts, bringing a soothing calm and a shining light with his mere presence in his mind. 'You're making the same mistake Vader did, only the other way round. Vader put the blame on everyone but him, and Anakin's blaming himself for everything. The truth has to be somewhere in between, don't you think? Who knows what would have happened if you hadn't turned? Maybe you and mum would have died during the Clone Wars and Leia and I would have ended up on Alderaan and Tatooine all the same. There are infinite possibilities, some of them far worse than what ended up happening. We could have been a happy family too ... we'll never know. This is the reality we're living in and we have to accept it. I, for one, couldn't have wished for a happier ending. I got you back, my friends have forgiven you, and Leia also will.'

Anakin tried to say something, but Luke didn't let him start.

'She will forgive you because the love in her heart is too big. She's feeling torn because she hates Vader and loves Anakin. But her love will win in the end, because hatred is a dead end, and my sister is no fool. She'll survive this test stronger and wiser. And so filled with love you're going to have your hands full of coddling children!', he teased, quite intentionally.

Anakin let out a helpless laugh, despite himself. That was a prospect he was actually looking forward to! He wished! He reached out and dishevelled Luke's hair again, who giggled happily.

'I pray you're right, Son. And that your sister will sort out her conflict as soon as possible. Not for me, but for herself. She's entitled to find peace once and for all, after all she's suffered.' His eyes became infinitely sad for a moment.

Luke nodded, smiled at his father and squeezed his fingers. He stared down at their clasped hands for a while, fascinated by them. He had never been a person particularly prone to touch. He liked to touch his friends and he liked to be touched, when it happened, but that was all. He had never really thought much about it. To tell the truth, he had stopped thinking about it a long time ago. But today, everything had changed forever. It was as if a door that had always been closed, had suddenly opened wide. He realized they had been in physical contact throughout most of their conversation; since Anakin had sat down on his bed, practically. It had begun in the shuttle and ... no, it had begun before that, in the very throne room! Getting his father back had filled an emptiness so unfathomable inside him only now he was becoming aware of just how very deep it was. He felt as if an undiscovered part of him was blossoming through his father's love. Anakin was filling a need he didn't even know he had. How truly deprived of physical touch he had been. Anakin had opened Luke's heart even more. He felt more spiritual than ever, with an ever increasing need to touch those he loved, for mutual reassurance, because they were human beings, they loved each other and they needed to express their love through touch. He looked up and met his father's gaze, thanking him with all his heart for the new world he had helped him to uncover. Anakin smiled at him, and a little light kindled in his eyes.

'You also need to find some peace of your own, Father', the young man sent in a silky mental voice, 'and we'll all help you to get it. After tomorrow's meeting is over, I'll start thinking of new ways to motivate you.'

Anakin's eyebrows skyrocketed. He had used those words from time to time when threatening his officers. He didn't know whether Luke had used his exact words by chance or he had picked them up directly from his mind. The mischievous twinkle in Luke's eyes confirmed him it had been the latter.

"You rascal!" he exclaimed out loud. He tickled Luke's side once with one finger. Luke's immediate jump was an irresistible temptation, and he started tickling his boy in earnest.

Luke lay down in a foetal ball trying to get his upper body in the bed too, giggling and slapping his father's hands away, asking him to stop. It was then Anakin saw the patches scattered here and there all over Luke's torso. They were so similar to Luke's skin colour he had missed them up to that moment. The sight of them brutally brought him back to reality and he felt as if he had been kicked in his guts. He immediately stopped tickling Luke.

Luke peered over his arm, to verify his father had really ceased his 'attack', or if it was just a trick for him to lower his defences and start tickling him again. Anakin looked very serious, so he gathered the attack was truly over.

"See?" he boasted, letting his arms down. "It's a good sign we can joke about it already!" That was when he saw the new, sudden sadness in his father's eyes. He seemed to be staring at his body. Frowning, he looked down at himself. When he saw the patches, he sighed. Not again! He watched his father's grief-stricken expression and he made a decision. He respected and honoured his father's pain, but he couldn't allow him to keep on beating himself like that. Not for his son, when Luke had forgiven him with all his heart. Besides, he knew how self-destructive guilt could be. This had got to stop. He sat up so impulsively he bounced several times and he also made his father bounce on the bed with him. "I'll tell you what! You give me a credit every time your spirits go downhill, like just now. In a few months, you'll be either as happy as an Alderanian lark or completely broke!" He smiled teasingly from ear to ear.

Anakin's stare slowly moved up from Luke's torso to his eyes. When he saw Luke's smiling face and his words registered, he smiled helplessly despite himself. Luke's smile, like his laughter, was infectious. And this one was downright hilarious. But still, his son's wounds were no joke. Not to him.

"How can you dismiss this and joke about it?" Anakin pointed at his son's patches with a catch in his voice. "How can you dismiss everything I've done? To you and to so many people? I allowed you to suffer this attack ..."

"You stopped Palpatine! You stopped him from killing me! At that moment, I forgot everything you could have done before. Don't you see?" Luke grasped Anakin's shoulders vehemently. "When you saved me, you gave me my father back. You gave me back all the dreams I had cherished all my life, all the hopes I didn't dare to hope. You gave me the gift of knowing I was right about you. That my dreams and hopes hadn't been in vain! Blessed these wounds are because they brought my father back! How could I not love you forever for it?" he shook his head and plunged ahead even further. "Give yourself some credit for your turn, Father! It was your decision! The same way you decided to cross the line and turn to the Dark Side, you renounced it and returned to the Light! The merit is all yours. Start believing in yourself! You have a lot to give. To the Alliance, to your children, to the entire galaxy. If you don't believe in your right to be reprieved, you won't convince Mon Mothma of the rightness of reprieving you tomorrow. Help me to help you! You know how useful you can be, you know how many lives you can save from now on, how much good you can do. Think about the glorious future that awaits us. Helping to rebuild the Republic, the Jedi Order, your own life, our family. It's quite a challenge, but you'll be up to it. My father's a very brave man. You're my hero and you'll snap out of this." He began shaking Anakin's shoulders back and forth. "So, I order you to stop beating yourself and get a grip!" he couldn't help finishing with a new explosion of humour. He knew very well of the therapeutic effects of humour. Indeed, where would he be without it? If there was something he had learnt throughout this merciless war, was not to take himself too seriously.

Anakin gulped, making a funny noise with his throat. Luke's outpouring wasn't only verbal, but also mental. His son's pride and absolute faith in him, his absolute conviction that the Alliance HAD to reprieve him and his fierce love that went beyond anything he had ever thought to deserve, was imprinted in his soul by fire. For the first time, he saw himself through his son's eyes and what he saw in them made him feel worthy, truly worthy for the first time in over 20 years. If this wise, good and brilliant young man thought his father deserved a second chance, then he would believe him. Luke was right. If he doubted himself, it would be very difficult to convince the others. It was time to fight. For his children, for Padmé, for the memories of those who had ever believed in him, for all those who still could be proud of him ... one day. His Leia ...

'Yes, Father. You understood at last!' Luke's triumphant voice resounded in his mind, full of joy. 'And do not fear. Leia will forgive you. Don't give up. Give her the chance to come to love you, to feel pride in you. Fight for her. Believe!'

Anakin closed his eyes and nodded. He felt suddenly light-headed, as if Luke had just injected him a massive dose of faith and self-esteem.

"Yes, Son. You're right, again. If I don't believe in myself, nobody will. It's time to move forward and leave the past behind. I can't change what I did, and it will haunt me for the rest of my life; but I can make a difference now and I will help in any way I can, if they'll let me."

Luke's smile was radiant now. He squeezed his father's shoulders once and dropped his hands.

"I'll never leave you alone, Father. Every time you feel yourself slipping, I'll be there. Everything will be easier if we help each other." He reached out with his hand. "Agreed?"

Luke made it all sound so logical that Anakin held out his hand, just as formally, and shook his son's smaller hand, sealing the pact.

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir!"

The two raised their eyebrows, surprised at Anakin's reply, and next, they burst out laughing.

"Good display of discipline! Nice one, Father!" Luke laughed.

"I'm a Jedi. Discipline is my middle name!" Anakin replied.

They laughed to their heart's content until they were breathless. They released a lot of pent up tension through their laughter. Anakin felt exultant and more alive than he could remember feeling. This boy was a balm to his torment and shame. He would be worthy of his expectations. He would make his son proud of him. And all those who had ever believed in him too. Even his Leia! It was then he realized he was slowly coming to Luke's hopeful belief. Maybe the Alliance would reprieve him. He didn't want to raise his hopes too high, but as long as the possibility existed, he would cling to it. He would cling to anything that made his son happy. With a relaxed sigh, he checked the time.

"Well! I guess it's time for me to return to my room and give us both the chance to get some sleep," he reached out and messed his son's hair goodnight. "Sleep well, Son. And thank you, for everything."

Luke smiled at him, just as contented and at peace as his father.

"You're most welcome, Father, but there's no hurry. It'll take me quite a while to fall asleep. Unlike Leia, it takes me ages to fall asleep after a battle. I'm usually so keyed-up it takes me quite some time to settle down."

Anakin pursed his lips, apparently in deep thought.

"There's an old-fashioned technique to treat those symptoms. I've never attempted it before, but maybe I should give it a try now, just in case."

"All right with me!" Luke lay down on his bed and rearranged the sheets, making himself comfortable. "Whenever you're ready!"

Hiding his smile, Anakin moved over, until he rested his back on the headboard of his son's bed. He cleared his throat.

"What's this technique called?" Luke asked, curiously.

"Fairytale," Anakin was biting his lips by now to hold back his mirth.

"I beg your pardon?!" Luke blinked, completely taken by surprise. He was clearly expecting some sort of Force technique or a massage, like those his father had used on him several times already.

"Shut up and listen." Anakin held out his right arm and pretended to frame some invisible words in front of him between his thumb and forefinger, as he moved his arm from left to right while he spoke. "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away ..."

"Oh, come on, Father!" Luke nudged Anakin's ribs with his elbow as he burst out giggling along with his father, who couldn't keep up his precarious straight façade anymore. "I'm too old for fairytales."

To hear his son's laughter was like music to Anakin's ears, more so knowing he had caused that delighted laughter. Being a father was the most glorious feeling of all! He looked down at Luke's smiling face and his heart almost exploded with love and tenderness.

"We'll never be too old for a fairytale, Son. It's never too late ... for anything. That's what you've taught me."

Luke sobered and looked up at his father with an expression of sheer worship. Anakin smiled back at him and shifted his position on the bed again, until he was facing Luke.

"But a fairytale would take some time to tell, and you need to sleep as much as possible. So, this time, I think this will be better." Anakin slowly reached out his forefinger and touched the place between his son's eyes, directly above his nose. Luke trustingly closed his eyes and relaxed fully. He thought he heard a soft whisper in his mind, but before he could grasp what the voice had said, he was sound asleep.

Anakin stood up very carefully so as not to disturb his son's sleep and looked down at his boyish face. The few lines on his features had been completely smoothed away by sleep. Right then, he looked no older than 16. For a flying second, he thought he could see an 8 year old Luke, sleeping in his bed, holding a teddy bear. He felt a surge of love so immense it formed a lump in his throat. He ached all over. Impulsively, Anakin reached out and brushed away the fringe from his son's forehead.

"Sweet dreams, my son. You deserve them." Anakin bit his lower lip as he watched Luke's sleep. The surge of love grew and grew until it choked him. Even breathing hurt. His child's face became blurry and he realized then he was crying. He bent down and softly kissed Luke's forehead. "I love you, Son. Thank you for saving me." He straightened up with a final caress to Luke's cheek. "You're wiser and stronger than I'll ever be. I admire you." He smiled sadly as he wiped his tears away. "You are my hero," he murmured, knowing just how true it was.

Luke smiled softly in his sleep and turned onto his left side.

Anakin smiled at the peaceful sight of his sleeping child and turning about, he slowly headed for the door. When he was about to reach it, he stopped. It felt cold to leave. He sighed. He didn't want to return to his empty, lonely room, away from his son's warm, comforting presence. Even asleep, Luke calmed and soothed his soul like nothing he had ever known. He looked around the room, looking for something, and then he saw the couch. It was only a double-seater, but it looked quite comfortable. It would be okay to sleep there, even in a sitting position. He quietly walked up to the closet and took out the spare blanket and a tiny pillow.

He had to admit the ship looked quite homely. Nicely furnished, and the rooms looked very much like comfortable hotel rooms. It certainly said a lot about the person who commanded it. He prayed for a favourable verdict the next morning. He didn't want Mon Mothma's decision to break his son's heart. The boy had suffered so much! He wasn't worried about himself. He knew that no matter what the Alliance's decision was, he could live with it. Knowing he had his son's love and forgiveness would see him through anything life threw his way. But he didn't want his son to pay for his father's sins.

Anakin sighed again. All these speculations led him nowhere. He dropped the blanket and the pillow on the couch. He wasn't particularly sleepy. But he couldn't start pacing the room or he would end up awakening Luke.

That was when it occurred to him. He had to prepare himself for tomorrow's meeting. But being mentally ready wouldn't really help him. There was something else he could do. He couldn't allow his son to carry all the burden. He couldn't just sit beside him and let his boy fight for him. He had to help his son in any way he could. As Luke had wisely said, Anakin had to help him to help himself; even if he wasn't worthy of that help.

He hadn't been the second leader of the Empire for nothing. He was a fine strategist and he knew that if he wanted to get something, he had to give something in return. Well, he knew where to start. He looked at his son's sleeping form.

"I will help you, Son. You won't have to fight my battles anymore," he softly promised him.

Resolutely, Anakin sat at the computer and activated it. He knew all Imperial codes, plus other secret codes and passwords only he and Palpatine knew. It would be a nice beginning.

Anakin had been working at the computer for almost one hour when he felt something strange. He looked around him, but there was nothing out of the ordinary in the room. Luke kept on sleeping soundly, although he had thrown aside the sheets in his sleep and they only covered him from his waist down now. With a smile, Anakin stood up and walked up to his son's bedside. Carefully, he wrapped him in the covers up to his shoulders. He watched him sleeping for a few seconds before returning to the computer.

"Amidala was right. Luke was the only one who could bring you back."

Anakin turned about with a start to the familiar voice he had thought he would never hear again.

"Obi-Wan!" His eyes opened wide. His legs began shaking and he had to fumble for his chair.

The two men stared at each other for a while. Obi-Wan looked as composed and serene as he had looked alive. Anakin was fidgeting, very nervous, not really knowing how to face the ghostly appearance of his former master. The master he had killed.

"Master, I ... I truly don't know what to say," he ventured, almost stammering.

"There's nothing to say, Anakin," Obi-Wan smiled. "Your being here explains it all."

Anakin blinked and swallowed. He felt as if he was 20 years old again, and he still was Obi-Wan's reckless, impulsive padawan. His eyes turned to his sleeping son instinctively, in urgent need of his support and strength.

"Don't worry, he won't wake up," Obi-Wan reassured him. "I just wanted to tell you personally how happy I am that Luke has proved me wrong."

Anakin's mouth fell open.

Obi-Wan looked at his former padawan for a while with a soft smile, before sitting on the couch, right in front of him.

"Many things have happened, Anakin. Many decisions were made. Some right, some wrong. We did what we thought best at the time. And many of those decisions led to some terrible events."

Anakin listened very carefully. Obi-Wan was staring at him with kind, gentle eyes. He suddenly realized that maybe for the very first time in his life, he felt completely relaxed and at ease in his presence. He didn't feel like an impenitent youngster, but as an equal.

"I see now that many of my decisions were the wrong ones. I did what I thought I should do when I was your master. But obviously, it wasn't what you needed. I made mistakes in your training that led you to the Dark Side."

"No, master!" Anakin protested. "I made the decisions that led me to the Dark Side. I should have trusted you and explained to you my frustrations, my doubts, how torn I felt. But I thought you wouldn't understand, I thought you were holding me back because you thought I wasn't good enough or you were afraid of my potential. I allowed my own resentment to take me to the Dark Side. There were so many ugly feelings inside me at the time that it was all too easy to give in to Palpatine's tempting reasoning. The war, all the losses, years of misunderstandings ... my anger grew and grew, until,..." he closed his eyes and clenched his teeth.

"Many different events made you turn. Many forces converged around you and tore you apart. We all tried to do our best, and the worst happened. It's no one's and everybody's fault. But I'm bound to apologize to you for all the mistakes I made that led you to make that decision. I was too stern a master. I relied too much on discipline and following the rules. You were different. You were too emotional, you questioned everything. You needed more space to find your own answers. We inexorably pushed you to your breaking point. And before I realized what was going on, it was already too late." Obi-Wan's voice sounded full of regret. "The times we lived in weren't easy ones. The Republic was falling apart, we had too many things to deal with and no time at all to deal with them. And everything failed. I failed you."

"No, master, I failed. I failed everybody. From my mother to my children." Anakin looked down at his clasped hands.

"You shouldn't call me master anymore," Obi-Wan gently reminded him. "You're nobody's padawan any longer. You're a grown man, a master in your own right. You've passed your trials ... by fire ... and survived," the shimmering figure seemed to shudder and Anakin shuddered too in empathic reaction. Both of them knew what the older master was talking about. "I'm sorry I failed you, Anakin. I'm sorry I gave up on you. I should have known better." His eyes turned to the sleeping figure in the bed. "How ironic. Luke never knew you and yet, he was the only one who believed in you. You only met for a few minutes before you hurt him with a brutality beyond belief, and still ... he saw!" His gaze turned introspective. "I had known you since you were a 9 year old boy ... and I thought everything was lost." He nodded to himself. "Yes, I made some serious mistakes and the entire galaxy has paid for it. Millions of lives ..."

"Obi-Wan, you're making the same mistake I made that Luke has helped me realize," it was Anakin's turn to reassure. "What's done, is done. We can't turn it back. We can only move on and remember the painful lessons we have learnt. That's what Luke has taught me. We always try to do our best with the information we have at our disposal at the moment. If we knew the consequences of our actions beforehand, everything would be so simple!" he sighed. "But that's life. As inexorable and terrible."

Obi-Wan stared at Anakin as if seeing him for the first time.

"You have learnt," there was admiration and respect in his voice.

"I have, indeed. I've completed the circle." Anakin couldn't help a shiver. "I only hope I'll be given a second chance to try and do something good. A chance to be a good father for my children, someone useful to the Alliance. There's no way I can atone for my crimes, but maybe I can help ... somehow."

"You can help," Obi-Wan said with conviction. "And you will."

Anakin looked at his master sharply.

"You mean ...?"

The older man shook his head.

"No. I don't know what will happen tomorrow. The future's always in motion. There are too many variables at work. What I do know is that your children will have the chance to learn from you, from your experiences, and they will benefit from them, no matter what happens. They're already learning many things." His eyes turned to Luke, who kept on sleeping, oblivious to everything going on in his room. "He looks more at peace now than I've ever seen him. Not having you at his side was a loss he could never get over. The emptiness in his heart was impossible to fill. Only you could give him what he needed so desperately."

Anakin watched his son, his breast filling to bursting with love.

"It works both ways. He fills me too. In a way I never thought possible. If I had known sooner I had a child ...," he sighed.

"Maybe that knowledge would have given you the strength necessary to renounce the Dark Side," Obi-Wan finished for him with a shadow in his voice. "Perhaps keeping that secret from you was another mistake. We only did it to protect them, you must believe me. They were the only hope for the Light to survive, especially after the Purges." He made a short pause. "We had to keep them from Palpatine at all costs. Amidala knew how much you wanted a child."

Anakin's eyes reddened at the memory of his wife.

"We both wanted. But the war didn't make it convenient. Any or both of us could die at any moment. We agreed to wait until the war was over so we could give our child a safe home."

Obi-Wan saw Anakin was close to tears. He wished he could do something to mitigate his friend's pain.

"She always harboured the hope that Luke would save you," he said.

Anakin's teary eyes raised up to his.

"Really?"

Obi-Wan nodded.

"She trusted Luke to give you what she had failed to. She hoped for his love to be strong enough to bring you back. She told Luke not to give up on you. You had been good once, there was always hope," his eyes met his padawan's. "She never stopped loving you, Anakin. Never. She always hoped you would return. You have no idea how happy I am she was able to transmit that faith to Luke. He was only a few days old when I took him to Tatooine, but I'm convinced she somehow managed to infuse that hope in his little baby heart," he turned his eyes, full of gentleness and compassion, to the sleeping young man. "There's a great deal of his mother in him."

"Yes, there is. He's got the best of both of us," Anakin sniffled softly. "I can understand you much better than I did then, Obi-Wan. I've had no choice but to grow up." The two men let out a dry, bitter laugh. "I can understand now many of the things you did and why. Sometimes, you need the objectivity of time to really understand people's attitudes. I do understand now. You did what you thought you had to do and it didn't work. It's nobody's fault, it's just the way things turned out to be. I don't blame you, I don't blame Palpatine, and with all your help and in time, I'll try to stop blaming myself; at least, to a point where it'll stop interferring with my sanity. Luke opened my eyes and made me see it. And it is a most beautiful way to see things. I still had a destiny to fulfill." He smiled in his son's direction, lost in thought. "Maybe that's the reason why he brought me back!" It suddenly dawned on him with a flash of insight. "I wasn't supposed to die today. Is that it?" Anakin's eyes opened wide and he turned his face to his former master.

Obi-Wan smiled enigmatically.

"I suspected something of the sort when Luke resuscitated me in the Death Star, but somehow, I had forgotten about it." Something else came to his mind then. "And you were there, weren't you? I could feel your presence ... right at the edge of my consciousness."

Obi-Wan's smile became affectionate.

"A lot depends on you now, Anakin. On both Luke and you. And when you train Leia, on the three of you. The reconstruction of the Jedi Order will rest on your shoulders." His look intensified, full of passion. "Use your experience. Remember what worked and what didn't work in your training and Luke's. You won't fail. Be patient. It will take a few generations, but Luke's grandchildren will begin to know the splendour of the Jedi, as it was in their golden age."

Anakin's mind became lost in the dream Obi-Wan had weaved. He could almost see that promise come true. It seemed possible. It could be possible! If only tomorrow ...

"Follow your heart, Anakin. It will serve you right. No matter what happens, I am so very proud of you!"

Anakin's eyes became alive again and he looked up at Obi-Wan, moved to his very core.

"You accomplished a feat no one else survived from. You turned to the Dark Side, but you renounced it. You still had goodness and integrity inside you to pull out of the Darkness. All the others who preceded you never returned. But you were strong enough to hold onto Luke's faith and love and allowed them to save you. It takes an incredible courage to do that! Pride is one of the trademarks of the Dark Side, but you were humble enough to admit you were mistaken and you risked everything to accompany your son back and face your destiny."

"I owe everything to Luke. Everything!" Anakin said, as if that explained it all.

"And to yourself. If it hadn't been there, Luke wouldn't have seen it," Obi-Wan reminded him. "Yes, Anakin, it was as much your deed as it was Luke's. Give yourself some credit for your turn. If there had been nothing to salvage inside you, Luke's efforts would have been in vain."

"Master ..." Anakin's chin trembled.

"You've earned your title, Anakin. Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker. I almost envy your future padawan. No one will understand them and train them better than you. What a magnificent generation of Jedi you will breed!"

The two old friends remained there for a little while, absorbing this new, joyous reality, soaking in their reawakened friendship and in the beautiful feeling of peace it brought.

"Thank you, Obi-Wan!" Anakin exclaimed, infinitely grateful. "You've eased my mind and my soul in a way you can't possibly imagine! To hear these words from you ..." his voiced choked.

"I know, Anakin; I know," Obi-Wan's voice was full of unashamed affection. "It is all right, my friend. I understand. Rest now. You also need to be ready for tomorrow's meeting."

Anakin took a deep, calming breath, and nodded. He pointed at the computer.

"I have to finish here first, but I'm almost done."

"In that case, I won't delay you further." The shimmering figure got to his feet. "It's been good talking to you again, Anakin. May the Force be with you ... and your offspring." The ghostly image began fading away.

"Master, wait!" Anakin impulsively called, standing up too. "Will I ever see you again?"

"Maybe," Obi-Wan smiled softly. "Take care of yourself, my friend." The figure disappeared.

"Take care, Master," Anakin replied to the emptiness before him, feeling a bit foolish. It felt silly telling a spirit to take care of himself. He shivered, not really knowing why, gazing into the distance. But then, the soft, rhythmic sound of Luke's breathing filled his ears and slowly brought him back. With a shaky smile, he walked up to his son's bedside once more, calming himself with the beautiful, pure sight. He reached out and caressed Luke's hair. With every soft stroke, the feeling of peace increased. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. His mind had been in such a turmoil! Foreboding, fear, exhaustion, anxiety, love, hope ... But Obi-Wan's visit had lain to rest a lot of ghosts. He smiled at the words. He had needed to face his older master more than he thought. There were too many things that had been left unsaid between them. And it was so important they had been able to talk about it and forgive each other! Now he could face the Alliance's leader tomorrow with a clearer conscience. He understood then that was the reason for Obi-Wan's appearance tonight. He closed his eyes and whispered his most heartfelt thanks.

When he opened them again, he saw the flicker of the screen, still activated. He shook himself out of his reverie and, forcing his legs to walk, he sat down at the computer. He finished what he was doing a few minutes later and he saved it all in a disk. He took it out and carefully put it into its box. He turned the computer off and stood up. Slowly, he headed for the couch with the little disk in his hand, studying it. Then, he put it on the table next to the couch and flopped down on it with a groan.

He still was thinking of his conversation with Obi-Wan. Their mutual reassurances, their explanations, the revealed truths ... It felt so good to have taken everything off his chest, at last! So good to have finally released it all after a lifetime of bottling it up inside him!

Not really knowing why, his eyes turned to his sleeping child. A spontaneous smile came to his lips. There he was, the one responsible for this blissful peace he felt. So much like his mother! The words echoed in his mind time and time again. And then, it occurred to him. He jumped to his feet and activated the computer once more. He had to search for a while, but he eventually found what he was looking for. He stared at it with a lump in his throat and his eyes filled with tears as he saved it. He pulled himself together with difficulty and turned the computer off for the last time tonight.

He returned to the couch and improvised his sleeping arrangements. He stretched out his legs on the cushions and rested his upper back, neck and head on the small pillow in a practically sitting position. Next, he covered himself with the light blanket. It was comfortable enough! He turned off the lights through the Force. Complete darkness enveloped him, but he wasn't afraid. He had survived it and emerged stronger than ever. He listened to the even sound of his child's respiration. It seemed to lull him to a sweet sleep. He filled his senses with it, closed his eyes and gratefully let go.



TO BE CONCLUDED...