Return to Naboo Part 3
Summary: Thank you so much, everyone who has responded so favorably to my story. I wrote "Return to Naboo" because I love scenarios where Vader/Anakin survives ROTJ. I've read some very good stories that describe how he could survive, be healed, and accepted, but not many that describe further adventures he could have with his children and their friends, and how their relationship would develop after he turned back to the Light side. I am so happy other people are enjoying the story, too.
Disclaimer: I own nothing and I am not making any money, etc.
Note: I had a difficult time using italics in part 2, so from now on, // will indicate private thoughts and / will indicate mental telepathy.
Part 3
"Pretty sharp starship, huh, Luke?" Han commented.
Luke dragged his gaze away from the Royal Starship he'd been admiring and grinned at Han. "She might even give the Falcon a run for her money."
Han gave him a mock glare. "Bite your tongue, kid."
Luke laughed and turned back to the spacecraft. They had been in the Naboo Royal Musuem for two hours, and Luke could have happily stayed there all day. So far they had seen holos of Padme, essays she had written as a young girl at leadership training school, her childhood toys, her ceremonial gowns, tons of artifacts that had to do with his mother. They had learned a lot about other monarchs as well. King Veruna, Padme's predecessor, had been murdered by Palpatine because he thought Padme would be a more malleable figurehead.
//Well, he may have fooled Mother temporarily, and he may have enslaved Father, but he lost in the end.// Luke just wished the price of victory had not been so high.
Leia and Anakin were still in the previous room, a room of paintings. Some were portraits of rulers, some had been done by the monarchs themselves. Painting was evidently a popular hobby on Naboo. Luke had enjoyed seeing pictures of his mother, as well as some done by her childhood Palo. But unlike his sister and father, he was not truly interested in art. He and Han had ventured into the next room, which housed a collection of spacecraft and speeders owned by royalty.
Luke had been drawn like a magnet to the gleaming, graceful starship that had belonged to Padme. R2 rolled up, beeping in recognition. Luke looked questioningly at 3PO.
"R2 says that this is the ship he helped from the Trade Federation blockade," 3PO explained. He bent over the little droid. "R2, it is considered poor manners to brag on oneself."
R2 beeped defensively.
3PO managed to look indignant. "It's not the same thing at all. I did play an important role in the battle of Endor. I was merely informing the other droids of a truthful fact."
Luke tuned out the arguing droids and turned to find Han studying a speeder bike. "Now that looks familiar."
"Yeah, a little too familiar. Imperial bikes were based on this design," Han looked back at the painting room, hoping to see Leia and Anakin coming. When they didn't appear, he sighed.
"Thanks for coming along with us, Han," Luke said quietly. "It means a lot to Leia, and to me."
"You mean to the planet? Or here?" Han waved an arm, indicating the museum.
"Both. I know you probably wouldn't chose to spend the afternoon in a museum."
The Corellian shrugged. "Well, let's just say I've learned more about Naboo's history than I ever wanted to know." He chuckled. "Although seeing Tripday's school progress cards almost makes it worthwhile. Did you know his first-year teacher wrote he needed to control his talking. Guess he never did learn to do that."
They walked around the room. Then Han spoke again. "Don't get me wrong. I'm glad you and Leia are getting to learn about your mom. I know what it means to you."
"What about your family, Han? Do you know anything about them?" Luke was curious about his friend's past. Han had never talked about it. Most of what he and Leia knew, they'd learned from Chewie. Even Chewie didn't know much.
Han frowned and shook his head. "Nah, my folks split before I was old enough to remember them. I was in group homes for a while. Then I got a scholarship to the Imperial Academy. Til I rescued Chewie from slavery and got kicked out. But it doesn't matter. I'm not like you, Luke. You have this need to know all about your parents and where you came from. You've always had it. But I've never cared much about my past. Most of the time I'm too busy getting by in the present. Besides, I figure the family I've got now is a whole lot better than the one I never had. You know what I mean?"
Luke smiled at him, remembering how he'd thought the Corellian cold and selfish when they'd first met. How wrong he'd been! "Yeah, I know what you mean."
Leia and Anakin finally caught up with them. Leia admired the starship while Anakin stared at it, thinking of long ago times. Seeing his father's expression grow melancholy, Luke distracted him by asking about the ship's top speeds, which led to Anakin and Han getting into a long discussion comparing the Falcon and the Naboo ship.
Luke and Leia exchanged a wry grin, knowing that the conversation was likely to last a while. In the same way that Luke was not interested in art, Leia did not especially care about spacecraft. Since Luke had already seen everything in the room, they wandered on into the next.
This room displayed the fearsome fighting machines the Trade Federation had used during its attempt to overtake Naboo. Battle droids lined the walls and at the far end was something even more deadly-a formidable killing-machine known as a droideka.
A group of young children and their teacher were gathered about it. They were the only other visitors to the museum that day. The head curator had met the Skywalkers and Han in the lobby after Miret had dropped them off earlier. He had explained apologetically that although Miret had requested a private tour, someone had forgotten to notify the local school. The children had already arrived for a previously arranged field trip. Would they mind terribly if the children stayed? The curator would make certain the children stayed out of the way.
Of course the Skywalkers had assured him the class was welcome. "It really wasn't necessary to close the museum for us," Anakin told him. "We don't need special treatment."
The curator frowned slightly. "Dignatary Miret was most insistent that the museum be closed to the public during your visit. Well, I suppose he just wanted you to be able to see Senator's Amidala's belongings in private."
Though it made no difference to the Skywalkers or Han, the curator made sure that the children's tour did not coincide with their own. This was the first time they had seen the class. Several children noticed Luke and Leia and smiled shyly. The twins went over to say hello.
"Are you really Padme Amidala's children?" a little girl asked.
Leia smiled at her. "Yes, we are."
"We studied about her in school," a boy chimed in. "You look like her," he pointed to Leia, then to Luke. "But you don't."
"No, I look more like our father," Luke agreed.
"I look like my father!"
"I saw you on the holonet yesterday!"
"Are you really twins? I thought twins looked alike."
The children were becoming bolder, calling out comments. The teacher shushed them and smiled at Luke and Leia. "The children are excited to see you. I apologize if they are out of place."
The twins reassured her that they were enjoying speaking with the class. A boy pointed to the killing-machine. "That's a droideka. They're the worst kind of battle droid. They have shield generators and heavy armor. Their arms are blasters. They're almost indestructible."
Luke looked at the droideka. Why in the world would anyone want to make such a machine? And droidekas had been invented long before Palpatine came to power. There were plenty of other evil minds in the galaxy. "Good thing this one's deactivated."
The teacher led the children to the other side of the room. Luke and Leia continued strolling about. Luke sighed. "Are Father and Han still talking about that starship?"
"You know they both love mechanics and engineering. They could talk about it all day," Leia answered.
Suddenly a child's high-pitched scream tore through the room. Others joined it. Spinning around, Luke and Leia saw several battle droids had somehow been activated. They were raising their rifles. The first shots rang out. Miraculously, no one was hit. The children were shouting, running in every direction, shoving each other out of the way. Luke sprang into action. Drawing and igniting his lightsaber, he raced across the room, deflecting rifle shots as he ran.
"Get them out of here!" he called to Leia. Unnecessarily. She and the teacher were already herding children out of the room. Just in time. More droids came to life, at least twenty of them. Luke leaped, ducked, and spun around, swinging his lightsaber blade furiously. He cut one droid in half, brought the blade up to block a shot, and then swung it hard to the left, cutting off three droids' heads at once.
Anakin charged in, swinging his own lightsaber as he came. Father and son stood back to back, lunging and parrying against the droids. Han was there, too, firing furiously at the merciless machines. Leia slipped back in, picked up a rifle from a "dead" droid, and joined in the firefight.
Just when it seemed they were getting the upper hand, an ominous wheel- frame rolled over and the droideka unfolded to combat stance. It activated its shield generator, raised its blaster arms, and began shooting.
"You finish off the plain droids," Anakin told Han and his daughter. He and Luke faced the new threat. "This won't be easy, Luke," he warned. "Droidekas are difficult to destroy."
"So I've heard," Luke replied. Green and blue blades sliced through the air, humming with energy.
Han and Leia were still firing when R2 rolled in, plugged up to a computer console, and began searching for the command code for the battle droids. 3PO hovered nervously in the doorway. "I don't know why these things happen wherever we go. R2, do be careful." Finally R2 located the code and the remaining battle droids slumped motionless. Only the droideka was left.
"Could we shoot it from behind?" Han asked.
"No," Anakin brought his saber around to the side, blocking another volley of shots. "Blasters are useless against that armor." A lightsaber though.
"Luke, you can disable from the back with your lightsaber. I'll keep it busy. Just move quickly."
The words were scarcely out of his mouth when Luke catapulted himself into the air, somersaulted over the droideka's head, and landed neatly behind it. The machine began to turn around, but Anakin lunged forward, waving his saber threateningly. So began a dangerous dance. Luke kept gliding in, trying to strike from behind. The droideka dodged and tried to spin around, but each time Anakin rushed to distract it.
Han and Leia stood to the side, itching to help, but unable to think of a way. The droideka simply ignored blaster shots. They rebounded harmlessly off the heavy armor.
Suddenly Luke threw the lightsaber. It sliced the droideka in half. As the two pieces clattered harmlessly to the floor, both Jedi switched off their blades and fastened their lightsabers to their belts. It was over.
They gathered about the broken droideka in confusion.
"What the heck happened in here?" Han demanded in bewilderment.
Miret cruised along the streets of Theed, heading for the museum. It should have happened by now. He wished he had been there to see it personally, but the king had insisted he return to the palace. ("They're capable of walking around the museum by themselves, Miret. I need you here.")
Still, he should arrive in time to see the raw grief on Vader's face. That was all he asked of life now. The chance to make that monster suffer as he'd caused so many others to. The fact that he would have to kill an innocent person to cause Vader pain bothered him more than a little, but then he remembered his wife and daughter the last time he'd seen them, their tear-streaked faces contorted with fear , and he hardened his heart. Luke Skywalker would not be the first innocent person to die.
//His blood is on his father's hands, not mine.// Miret assured himself.
He was not surprised to see secrity guards and holonet news crews on the museum steps, but he was taken aback by the children there. Some were jumping up and down and talking excitedly. Some stood still, looking shell- shocked. A few were crying. Their poor teacher was nearly in hysterics. Museum officials were speaking with reporters, watching the children, and trying to calm the teacher. Miret hurried over. "What happened? Why are these children here?"
An official answered nervously. "Dignatary, the most awful thing happened. It's a miracle no one was hurt. Thank the Force the Jedi were here. They saved the children."
"Why are the children here?" Miret repeated.
The official looked flustered. "Oh, someone forgot to call the school, they showed up, the Skywalkers didn't mind-"
Miret brushed past into the lobby. Anakin, Luke, Leia, and Han were speaking with the head curator and a security guard. Miret took them in with a glance. So Plan A had failed. When he'd come to arrange the tour yesterday, he'd gone to a secluded computer console and used his secret codes to order the battle droids to attack when Luke Skywalker entered the room. Battle droids were incapable of independent thought. They would follow orders to the letter, never mind if a room of innocent bystanders was in the way.
Miret couldn't be too upset that they'd failed. The Jedi had saved the children. He had no wish to see youngsters slaughtered. That would make him no better than Palpatine and Vader. Besides, he had backup plans. He would have his revenge. He was determined on that. It was all he had left to live for.
Summary: Thank you so much, everyone who has responded so favorably to my story. I wrote "Return to Naboo" because I love scenarios where Vader/Anakin survives ROTJ. I've read some very good stories that describe how he could survive, be healed, and accepted, but not many that describe further adventures he could have with his children and their friends, and how their relationship would develop after he turned back to the Light side. I am so happy other people are enjoying the story, too.
Disclaimer: I own nothing and I am not making any money, etc.
Note: I had a difficult time using italics in part 2, so from now on, // will indicate private thoughts and / will indicate mental telepathy.
Part 3
"Pretty sharp starship, huh, Luke?" Han commented.
Luke dragged his gaze away from the Royal Starship he'd been admiring and grinned at Han. "She might even give the Falcon a run for her money."
Han gave him a mock glare. "Bite your tongue, kid."
Luke laughed and turned back to the spacecraft. They had been in the Naboo Royal Musuem for two hours, and Luke could have happily stayed there all day. So far they had seen holos of Padme, essays she had written as a young girl at leadership training school, her childhood toys, her ceremonial gowns, tons of artifacts that had to do with his mother. They had learned a lot about other monarchs as well. King Veruna, Padme's predecessor, had been murdered by Palpatine because he thought Padme would be a more malleable figurehead.
//Well, he may have fooled Mother temporarily, and he may have enslaved Father, but he lost in the end.// Luke just wished the price of victory had not been so high.
Leia and Anakin were still in the previous room, a room of paintings. Some were portraits of rulers, some had been done by the monarchs themselves. Painting was evidently a popular hobby on Naboo. Luke had enjoyed seeing pictures of his mother, as well as some done by her childhood Palo. But unlike his sister and father, he was not truly interested in art. He and Han had ventured into the next room, which housed a collection of spacecraft and speeders owned by royalty.
Luke had been drawn like a magnet to the gleaming, graceful starship that had belonged to Padme. R2 rolled up, beeping in recognition. Luke looked questioningly at 3PO.
"R2 says that this is the ship he helped from the Trade Federation blockade," 3PO explained. He bent over the little droid. "R2, it is considered poor manners to brag on oneself."
R2 beeped defensively.
3PO managed to look indignant. "It's not the same thing at all. I did play an important role in the battle of Endor. I was merely informing the other droids of a truthful fact."
Luke tuned out the arguing droids and turned to find Han studying a speeder bike. "Now that looks familiar."
"Yeah, a little too familiar. Imperial bikes were based on this design," Han looked back at the painting room, hoping to see Leia and Anakin coming. When they didn't appear, he sighed.
"Thanks for coming along with us, Han," Luke said quietly. "It means a lot to Leia, and to me."
"You mean to the planet? Or here?" Han waved an arm, indicating the museum.
"Both. I know you probably wouldn't chose to spend the afternoon in a museum."
The Corellian shrugged. "Well, let's just say I've learned more about Naboo's history than I ever wanted to know." He chuckled. "Although seeing Tripday's school progress cards almost makes it worthwhile. Did you know his first-year teacher wrote he needed to control his talking. Guess he never did learn to do that."
They walked around the room. Then Han spoke again. "Don't get me wrong. I'm glad you and Leia are getting to learn about your mom. I know what it means to you."
"What about your family, Han? Do you know anything about them?" Luke was curious about his friend's past. Han had never talked about it. Most of what he and Leia knew, they'd learned from Chewie. Even Chewie didn't know much.
Han frowned and shook his head. "Nah, my folks split before I was old enough to remember them. I was in group homes for a while. Then I got a scholarship to the Imperial Academy. Til I rescued Chewie from slavery and got kicked out. But it doesn't matter. I'm not like you, Luke. You have this need to know all about your parents and where you came from. You've always had it. But I've never cared much about my past. Most of the time I'm too busy getting by in the present. Besides, I figure the family I've got now is a whole lot better than the one I never had. You know what I mean?"
Luke smiled at him, remembering how he'd thought the Corellian cold and selfish when they'd first met. How wrong he'd been! "Yeah, I know what you mean."
Leia and Anakin finally caught up with them. Leia admired the starship while Anakin stared at it, thinking of long ago times. Seeing his father's expression grow melancholy, Luke distracted him by asking about the ship's top speeds, which led to Anakin and Han getting into a long discussion comparing the Falcon and the Naboo ship.
Luke and Leia exchanged a wry grin, knowing that the conversation was likely to last a while. In the same way that Luke was not interested in art, Leia did not especially care about spacecraft. Since Luke had already seen everything in the room, they wandered on into the next.
This room displayed the fearsome fighting machines the Trade Federation had used during its attempt to overtake Naboo. Battle droids lined the walls and at the far end was something even more deadly-a formidable killing-machine known as a droideka.
A group of young children and their teacher were gathered about it. They were the only other visitors to the museum that day. The head curator had met the Skywalkers and Han in the lobby after Miret had dropped them off earlier. He had explained apologetically that although Miret had requested a private tour, someone had forgotten to notify the local school. The children had already arrived for a previously arranged field trip. Would they mind terribly if the children stayed? The curator would make certain the children stayed out of the way.
Of course the Skywalkers had assured him the class was welcome. "It really wasn't necessary to close the museum for us," Anakin told him. "We don't need special treatment."
The curator frowned slightly. "Dignatary Miret was most insistent that the museum be closed to the public during your visit. Well, I suppose he just wanted you to be able to see Senator's Amidala's belongings in private."
Though it made no difference to the Skywalkers or Han, the curator made sure that the children's tour did not coincide with their own. This was the first time they had seen the class. Several children noticed Luke and Leia and smiled shyly. The twins went over to say hello.
"Are you really Padme Amidala's children?" a little girl asked.
Leia smiled at her. "Yes, we are."
"We studied about her in school," a boy chimed in. "You look like her," he pointed to Leia, then to Luke. "But you don't."
"No, I look more like our father," Luke agreed.
"I look like my father!"
"I saw you on the holonet yesterday!"
"Are you really twins? I thought twins looked alike."
The children were becoming bolder, calling out comments. The teacher shushed them and smiled at Luke and Leia. "The children are excited to see you. I apologize if they are out of place."
The twins reassured her that they were enjoying speaking with the class. A boy pointed to the killing-machine. "That's a droideka. They're the worst kind of battle droid. They have shield generators and heavy armor. Their arms are blasters. They're almost indestructible."
Luke looked at the droideka. Why in the world would anyone want to make such a machine? And droidekas had been invented long before Palpatine came to power. There were plenty of other evil minds in the galaxy. "Good thing this one's deactivated."
The teacher led the children to the other side of the room. Luke and Leia continued strolling about. Luke sighed. "Are Father and Han still talking about that starship?"
"You know they both love mechanics and engineering. They could talk about it all day," Leia answered.
Suddenly a child's high-pitched scream tore through the room. Others joined it. Spinning around, Luke and Leia saw several battle droids had somehow been activated. They were raising their rifles. The first shots rang out. Miraculously, no one was hit. The children were shouting, running in every direction, shoving each other out of the way. Luke sprang into action. Drawing and igniting his lightsaber, he raced across the room, deflecting rifle shots as he ran.
"Get them out of here!" he called to Leia. Unnecessarily. She and the teacher were already herding children out of the room. Just in time. More droids came to life, at least twenty of them. Luke leaped, ducked, and spun around, swinging his lightsaber blade furiously. He cut one droid in half, brought the blade up to block a shot, and then swung it hard to the left, cutting off three droids' heads at once.
Anakin charged in, swinging his own lightsaber as he came. Father and son stood back to back, lunging and parrying against the droids. Han was there, too, firing furiously at the merciless machines. Leia slipped back in, picked up a rifle from a "dead" droid, and joined in the firefight.
Just when it seemed they were getting the upper hand, an ominous wheel- frame rolled over and the droideka unfolded to combat stance. It activated its shield generator, raised its blaster arms, and began shooting.
"You finish off the plain droids," Anakin told Han and his daughter. He and Luke faced the new threat. "This won't be easy, Luke," he warned. "Droidekas are difficult to destroy."
"So I've heard," Luke replied. Green and blue blades sliced through the air, humming with energy.
Han and Leia were still firing when R2 rolled in, plugged up to a computer console, and began searching for the command code for the battle droids. 3PO hovered nervously in the doorway. "I don't know why these things happen wherever we go. R2, do be careful." Finally R2 located the code and the remaining battle droids slumped motionless. Only the droideka was left.
"Could we shoot it from behind?" Han asked.
"No," Anakin brought his saber around to the side, blocking another volley of shots. "Blasters are useless against that armor." A lightsaber though.
"Luke, you can disable from the back with your lightsaber. I'll keep it busy. Just move quickly."
The words were scarcely out of his mouth when Luke catapulted himself into the air, somersaulted over the droideka's head, and landed neatly behind it. The machine began to turn around, but Anakin lunged forward, waving his saber threateningly. So began a dangerous dance. Luke kept gliding in, trying to strike from behind. The droideka dodged and tried to spin around, but each time Anakin rushed to distract it.
Han and Leia stood to the side, itching to help, but unable to think of a way. The droideka simply ignored blaster shots. They rebounded harmlessly off the heavy armor.
Suddenly Luke threw the lightsaber. It sliced the droideka in half. As the two pieces clattered harmlessly to the floor, both Jedi switched off their blades and fastened their lightsabers to their belts. It was over.
They gathered about the broken droideka in confusion.
"What the heck happened in here?" Han demanded in bewilderment.
Miret cruised along the streets of Theed, heading for the museum. It should have happened by now. He wished he had been there to see it personally, but the king had insisted he return to the palace. ("They're capable of walking around the museum by themselves, Miret. I need you here.")
Still, he should arrive in time to see the raw grief on Vader's face. That was all he asked of life now. The chance to make that monster suffer as he'd caused so many others to. The fact that he would have to kill an innocent person to cause Vader pain bothered him more than a little, but then he remembered his wife and daughter the last time he'd seen them, their tear-streaked faces contorted with fear , and he hardened his heart. Luke Skywalker would not be the first innocent person to die.
//His blood is on his father's hands, not mine.// Miret assured himself.
He was not surprised to see secrity guards and holonet news crews on the museum steps, but he was taken aback by the children there. Some were jumping up and down and talking excitedly. Some stood still, looking shell- shocked. A few were crying. Their poor teacher was nearly in hysterics. Museum officials were speaking with reporters, watching the children, and trying to calm the teacher. Miret hurried over. "What happened? Why are these children here?"
An official answered nervously. "Dignatary, the most awful thing happened. It's a miracle no one was hurt. Thank the Force the Jedi were here. They saved the children."
"Why are the children here?" Miret repeated.
The official looked flustered. "Oh, someone forgot to call the school, they showed up, the Skywalkers didn't mind-"
Miret brushed past into the lobby. Anakin, Luke, Leia, and Han were speaking with the head curator and a security guard. Miret took them in with a glance. So Plan A had failed. When he'd come to arrange the tour yesterday, he'd gone to a secluded computer console and used his secret codes to order the battle droids to attack when Luke Skywalker entered the room. Battle droids were incapable of independent thought. They would follow orders to the letter, never mind if a room of innocent bystanders was in the way.
Miret couldn't be too upset that they'd failed. The Jedi had saved the children. He had no wish to see youngsters slaughtered. That would make him no better than Palpatine and Vader. Besides, he had backup plans. He would have his revenge. He was determined on that. It was all he had left to live for.