"Something's going to go wrong," a male said matter-of-factly to his female companion.
"We're dealing with Imperials, of course something will go wrong."
"Gotta love your optimism," the man spoke dryly.
"You're not exactly Mr. Positive, yourself."
A different voice entered the conversation, "Pardon me, but—"
"Don't say a word," the first male voice warned.
"The ship—"
"Don't."
"But—"
"Uh uh."
"We are—"
"No."
The woman sighed. "Give him a break."
There was a whistle, followed by a flurry of beeps.
"Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?" the first man inquired.
No answer.
He chuckled.
"My mother?" Luke's voice was full of incredulity, and an emotion akin to horror was showing through his eyes. It was with distrust and almost accusation that he looked at the newcomer. "I thought she was dead."
"As did I..." Vader trailed off, his helmet fixed on the woman from his past...A past he had thought had been swallowed up by a dark void, never to be regained.
But here she was, digging up the memories that he had thought buried forever.
Padmé ignored the darkly clad Sith Lord, her eyes again seeing nothing but her son. Softly, she spoke, "My little boy...Luke...You've grown so much..."
Luke's lip trembled; his mind was in turmoil.
It was his mother, a woman he was supposed to cherish.
But she was a woman he had scarcely known...
A woman who had given him away so that he might be protected...No, Luke corrected himself as his darker emotions flared, she was a woman he had been abandoned by...
Yet she had wanted him to live and escape the hurt she had faced...
But she was a woman who had stayed utterly forsaken her children.
Finally, he steeled himself, clearing all false hopes and questions from his mind. He spoke with a bite, reiterating words his father had once said. "That name no longer has any meaning for me..." Luke raised his head, his blue orbs icing over. "You will call me Darth Evenger. I am no longer the man I once was."
The petite woman's eyes went ablaze, the target of her anger practically oblivious of being so. Her husband...
Her husband had utterly twisted their son, caring not for the kindred soul that the boy naturally harbored.
...She certainly could not put any blame on her son. His luck with relatives had been less than perfect, as Obi-Wan had informed her; he had been forced to come to the realization that his father was one of the most evil men in the galaxy; he had found out that he had a crush on his sister who later married his "rival" and had three children; he had found that the said marriage worked as an obstacle that prevented him from spending much time with his sister; and he had not even known his mother was alive until more than two decades of his life had passed. Darth Vader had unfairly taken advantage of him in spite of the poor footing their son held.
"Luke," Padmé said firmly, "you are not like him. You do not have to follow his path of destruction and animosity. Escape now while you still can. Hatred brings you nothing."
"Hatred brings me power," the young man replied maliciously. "The Light Side brings weakness."
"With the Light comes hope," his mother insisted.
"False hope. You hope for love, you hope for approval, you hope for someone to actually care what happens to you—even for just a moment—rather than themselves. But what does it get you?" The young man gave an evil and uncharacteristic laugh. "Nothing. Love is but a term to comfort the living. The greater feats you perform, the more that is expected from you. Approval is never truly received. Caring brings you nothing, brings them nothing. The Light Side is for the weak and idealistic." Darth Evenger glared at Padmé through Luke's eyes.
Vader remained silent, but Padmé finally turned to him in desperation. "Even you know the price of Darkness. If you could go back in time and choose, would you not make a different decision?" She held a hand up before he could answer. "We both know you would, no matter what you wish to think. Power is an empty thing. Hatred means losing control of your mind, which is the strongest weapon anyone has. When our minds are blinded by such emotions as hate and fear, we lose the ability to think straight. Love will always overtake Hate, for Hate has no real reason to live. We live because the Light still remains within us. You cannot tell me that you regret having once loved me. You cannot." Padmé's eyes began to blur as she stared defiantly up at the man she had once called her husband.
A blank helmeted gaze was fixed upon her, and the Sith Lord could not find words to speak.
"I can't believe it's been this easy," whispered the voice of a male officer.
"Yeah, well, don't plan on it lasting for very long," his pessimistic female companion, clad in Stormtrooper armor, replied.
The anthropoid droid behind them started to say something, but the male officer cut him off. "Don't."
A humored blat came from the little droid at their feet.
"I hope they find you and—" the first droid was cut off by the female Stormtrooper this time.
"Shh."
After a while, the officer stopped in front of a door. "This is it. Your turn, little buddy."
The smaller droid went forward. After a few attempts, it whistled dejectedly.
"That's all right. It was worth a try. Guess we'll have to do this the hard way. Everyone back."
He didn't have to speak twice.
Darth Vader had almost mustered a reply when his thoughts were abruptly halted by an explosion.
Leia prepared to smugly step forward with Han, her Stormtrooper helmet in hand, but she and Han were stilled in their tracks, Leia's helmet thudding to the floor. Out of the smoke of the chaos strode the imposing figure of a Sith Lord long thought dead...
Vader was alive.
Leia cursed, bringing her blaster up and not even bothering to aim. Before she could shoot, the blaster flew out of her hands and landed in that of another's.
But it wasn't Vader's.
It was her brother's.
"Luke!" she shouted gleefully, but a warning look from Han caused her to survey her brother again.
Physically, he didn't appear to have changed much, but her initial glance proved false. There was a different aura about him, one she had never sensed around him before. He seemed almost...evil.
But he was Luke Skywalker, hero of the galaxy. Surely, it was a trick of the clearing smoke and the dim light...Surely...
"Kid," Han began, but he was cut off by his cold brother-in-law.
"You should not have come here." Blue eyes glinted dangerously.
It was then that Artoo whistled and Threepio translated, "Why are you here?" The protocol droid cocked his head in confusion. "Why is who here?"
The droid beeped in frustration.
"The woman standing over there? Over where?" Threepio scanned the room. "Oh!"
All eyes were then on Padmé, who had appeared beside the silent Darth Vader. She might as well let it all out now. "Leia...I'm your mother."
"What?" Leia said quietly, but it was almost an involuntary action. Somehow, she had known the moment she laid eyes on the woman, as she had known about her brother...
Her brother...
Han looked up at the ceiling then made a sweeping, frustrated gaze around, his hands flailing in frustration. "Great. Just great. We're just in time for the family reunion. There's barbecued Jedi, fillet of Senator, and maternal crucifixion. Anyone hungry? How about you, kid?"
A cold hand settled around the smuggler's neck. He tried to inconspicuously glance at the Sith Lord, but a look at his brother-in-law revealed an outstretched, clenched fist.
"Don't call me kid," the dark young man gritted. "You will address me as Darth Evenger."
"Oh, so now you've gone and made a new name for yourself? Decided to follow in the footsteps of Darth Daddy—" Han gasped as the grip tightened, and he began clawing at his throat.
"Luke, leave him alone!" Leia demanded.
"I told you, I am no longer the ignorant man I was!" Darth Evenger hissed, shooting a warning Force lightning bolt up into the air, the blue light it emitted eerily filling the dark room then going out just as suddenly.
Padmé turned to Vader quietly as Darth Evenger began to Force choke Han, knowing she could do nothing...but she thought she sensed something from the Sith Lord. "Is this what you wanted our son to become? Have you no heart?"
"Obi-Wan burned what little of a heart I might have had out of me long ago," the Sith Lord finally managed.
"You know that is not true. You need to stop holding this grudge. What happened to the man I used to know?"
"He is dead!" Vader growled.
"If he were dead, then he would have long ago killed Luke, a man who threatens Darth Vader's position. You may be the Chosen One, but your son has inherited your powers and finds himself still in his youth. Shall the final years of your life be used in training a man to so hate the universe that he destroys it and you in the process? Will you give your only son to the universe, that he might wipe out all sentient lifeforms?"
"I never said I wished to destroy life."
"But all you bring now is death," Padmé sighed.
"I rid the galaxy of incompetents, thus helping progress."
"Everyone is incompetent at one point. That is why we must all be taught how to be great. The Jedi were wise teachers who wished to impart their knowledge on others so that they do not hinder the flow of life. Do not teach our son how to destroy life; instead, teach him how to help...The Dark Side will not enable you to do so."
"It is too late for me, Padmé."
But the former queen heard the catch in his voice along with the utterance of her old nickname. "It is never too late...I still love you, even after all that you have done. Have you become so twisted that you no longer harbor any love for me?"
There was a long pause before a quiet voice was issued almost unwillingly from Vader. "I could never forget my love for you."
"I did not ask if you forgot."
There was a bit of a pause, but the Sith Lord was unable to restrain himself. "The love I felt for you was once greater than that of all the water on Naboo. No matter how hard one tries to scoop water out of an ocean with a bucket, the rain will always come and refill most of what was done. No matter how close to empty the one-time ocean may one day be, the rains will always come and ensure that there is always some water. Always."
"Oh, Ani..." Padmé snaked her hand almost reluctantly towards Vader's artificial one, enfolding the gloved hand in her own.
After squeezing the suddenly frail-looking woman's hand, Vader brought his hand back to his side, speaking loudly to his son, "Leave Solo alone."
The sickly-looking smuggler fell to the floor as he was released. The angry Alderaanian ran to his side, a stunned Artoo close behind her. The little droid could not understand the change that had been wrought in his master.
Evenger discerned something out of character in the Sith Lord's voice. "Have you allowed her to sway you? I thought you were less foolish than that, father."
"I admit I was the foolish one, but now a mask has been lifted from my eyes. I have been misleading you—"
"Ha!" Evenger scoffed, his sapphire eyes burning. "You have been the one person to actually lead me down a path worth taking, a path in which all who journey on it shall benefit from. I have finally found my purpose, and I will not let anyone take that from me. Not even you, who introduced me to it."