Hello all! Hope you enjoy this one, it's a different kind of writing then I'm used to, but change can be a good thing, no?
Summary: Lord Vader crashes on a planet and is found by a kind and skilled medic who dislikes mechanical prosthetics.
Diary of a Man In a galaxy that never was... March 30thSofia has decided that my name doesn't change who I am. Her words were "If I can trust you as Anakin Skywalker, then I can love you as Anakin Vader Skywalker."
I'm using the light side openly now. It feels right in a way, and I think it was wrong for me to ever use the dark side. It may be weaker in a way, but at least I can be truly calm and happy. I'm not going to Coruscant. I convinced the Captain to let us off at Tatooine. I told him the flat truth, "It's my home planet and I have a few things to pick up there, and I have to contact a few old friends. I'd like them to know about what has happened before they see it on the evening news." Besides I'll have to come up with a way to explain myself to Palpatine. I have to talk to Kitster, my best friend since I was three. I hear he is running an orphanage. Maybe he knows where my son went. I know he's out there somewhere, and he should know his father.
Sofia and I have decided that our attraction was inappropriate, and plan to be friends and nothing more. After Tatooine we will head over to Alderan so I can talk to Ami. I think that it would be for the best if I try to apologize, particularly since I am technically still married to the woman. April 2nd
I guess I won't have to ask Ami where my son is, I quite literally ran into him this morning. He was going to a race and I was going to rent a landspeader. He looked so much like me I thought it was a clone at first, but his name is Luke and he lives with his Uncle Owen on a farm outside Anchorhead, where we landed. I came with him to the race, saying that boys his age shouldn't be running around alone and I'd like to see the race myself.
I couldn't have been less interested in a race if it had involved slugs on an incline. The boy was friendly, though cautious. I'll go visit him tomorrow.
Today I saw Kitster, and he nearly died of surprise. He is running an orphanage, back in our old hideout at the edge of Sharp Canyon, about three kilometers from Beggar's canyon. There are twenty to thirty children running him ragged in that old cave, and I was in the center of it for a few glorious hours. They all wanted to know who I was, where I came from, how I got there, what stories I could tell, if I could help them with something, did I know where the stuffed bunny was, and if I could fix this or that toy. Kitster said I was welcome to stay and help, but I only needed to stay the night. Besides, a few days there would make me completely insane.
I sent a letter to Palpatine explaining that I want to enjoy my second chance in life, and that I would be resigning my commission in the military to do so. I also said that I would return to Coruscant in a week or so. I have all my identification so there is no real rush to get back there.
April 3rdI went over to see Luke. Owen jumped out of his skin when he saw me walking up. He was even more unnerved when Luke came out and said "Hey, it's that nice guy from the racetrack." It seems that he had told them about seeing me yesterday. I told him I was his father, and that I'd come to pick him up. Owen said I couldn't have him, and I told Owen that I wouldn't let him stop me. Luke twisted his little arm out of Beru's hand and ran over to me. I was shocked as he clung to my leg, screaming that Owen couldn't keep him from his father. I bent down and picked up his tiny body, looking into his brilliant blue eyes.
I told him I was Darth Vader, he said that didn't matter. I told him I wasn't a good person, he said I must be. I told him I might be a traitor to the Empire, he said he didn't care about that. He just wanted to be with his father, and he knew I was his father because his insides told him I was telling the truth and Owen was lying. I brought him back to the ship.
What happened next was one of the strangest situations in my life. When he saw Sofia Luke asked "Is that my Mom?" Sofia, who had been facing away from the door, turned around with a look of pure shock on her face. "No, Luke, this is a good friend of mine. Her name is Sofia." I replied. "Are you sure?" he asked, completely serious.
"Yes, I am quite sure she is not your mother. She is a medic, and she saved my life. We are going to go see your mother tomorrow." After a few comments from Sofia that I won't write out of decency and respect for both her and my wife, I piloted the ship out of the system and into hyperspace.
April 4thI feel great. My son loves me in a way only a four year old can, I am on my way to get back together with my wife, I have my health back, and I have a new direction for my life. We arrived on Alderan during the early morning hours. Luke and I walked through the capitol city, holding and swinging my hand as if he'd known me since his birth. He had never seen so much green, and the situation reminded me of myself when I first came to Naboo. He skipped along quickly to keep up with me, but didn't seem to mind the fast pace I continually caught myself setting.
We walked through a public garden, he gawked at the beautiful plants as I looked at the royal palace in the distance. He was content to run around a small courtyard in the garden, looking at the bugs and things around him as I read the local news. Ami was not only in the city, but in the palace with Bail Organna. According to the article she helped to take care of their little girl Leia, who was about Luke's age. Probably took the girl into her heart when she had to give up Luke. April 5th
Luke and I took our morning walk after breakfast to the garden, but after lunch we went to the palace. He was quite curious as to why we were there, but I told him that we would see Mommy and he was quiet. I requested a meeting with Ami, giving the names Anakin and Luke Skywalker. We were told to wait in what was the largest and most decorated room Luke had ever been in. He had barley begun to walk around when we were shown into Ami's quarters.
Bail was standing on one side of Ami as I walked in, and apparently didn't see Luke, who was walking behind me. They were surprised to see I wasn't in my suit, distressed that I had found Luke, and outraged that I brought him here. I told her I loved her and Luke, and not to yell in front of him. He had clung to my leg when she started on me, and I gently pulled his arms from around my leg, explaining that he was cutting off the blood. I picked him up and explained what had happened. Everything from the crash to sending the letters to Palpatine to finding Luke and coming to see her. Luke nestled his head on my shoulder as I talked, something Ami didn't seem to like.
"Luke, why don't you talk to Mom a while?" I asked when I had finished and a long silence made him squirm around in my arms. He jumped down and walked over to her. He asked her a single question that did more then any explanation I could have produced.
"Why aren't you happy?" She stuttered a bit, and Luke started explaining why was happy. It was such a simple explanation, so easy to understand and devoid of prejudice that she couldn't deny it. "I'm happy because Father isn't sick any more. He got away from the bad people and came to pick me up. He took me from the desert and brought me to this pretty place with lots of flowers and water and things I've never seen before. He brought me here to see my Mommy. I wasn't happy before he came, and I don't ever want to be away from him again." She just looked at him a while, then gave him a hug. I waked over and gave her a hug, then kissed the top of her head.
Bail offered to give us a room, and before I could say anything Luke asked if Sofia could come too. I attempted to skirt the issue, as I had left the part about bringing her along out of the little narrative, but things got a bit ugly. I said that she was my medic and my friend, nothing more or less, but Ami wasn't so easily convinced. So it is two steps forward and one step back.
April 6thSofia burst out laughing when they suggested that we were more then friends. I'm glad that that problem was cleared away so easily. Luke and Leia played together on the palace grounds wile I and Ami talked. There was so much to say, but we always ended up talking about little things, like what the children were doing. By the end of the day I could kiss her on the lips without protest, and had my arm around her. Then came the real surprise. Luke and Leia are twins! Ami told me that she had to give them up to keep them safe, but she couldn't just abandon them. She had let Leia be adopted my Bail, though the girl knew that Ami was her real mother. What a shock . . . Two children! I told Luke when I tucked him into bed, and he was overjoyed. He thought Leia was "pretty neat for a girl."
April 7thI've finally got my life together it seems. I can't say I could have imagined a better existence. I and Luke will hop from planet to planet, keeping one step ahead of Palpatine and building up our skills in the force. Ami and Leia will stay on Alderan and work to take down Palpatine politically. Once I gather my assets (I diverted all my pay into various accounts so that if Palpatine wanted to get the money back he'd hit enough firewalls, pass codes, ID checks, and red tape to hold even the most ambitious computer tech at bay for a week or so), check into Coruscant for my personal belongings, and skip around to get what I can out of my Imperial ties, I will seek out the rebellion.
When I deflect I will take a great amount of Imperial money, men, and morale. Luke will grow and learn by my side. I will teach him to fly and fix any ship he encounters, to live by honor and tradition, and to be a Jedi Knight.
And there will be nothing that Palpatine or Kenobi can do about it.
~ So what do you think? What is happening to our beloved sith lord? There are two endings to this story, and I will post both over the next few days, as this is not a long one. Enjoy!
