Author's Notes: Thank you so much, Jkay, Jade the Sith, and kayladie for responding and giving feedback. You've all been so kind. I'm so happy to know that someone is reading and enjoying my stories. It's very encouraging to me. Thank you all so much.

Disclaimer: George Lucas owns Star Wars. I write for fun, not money.

The Lost Ones Part 13

Bespin.

Luke gazed at the towers and spires of Cloud City and thought about how much he didn't want to be here. He really didn't want to be here. Neither did his father for that matter. He had been as white as a sheet when he had told Luke where the trail for the missing Colzin women was leading them now.

Luke had simply stared at him, speechless, while Anakin had taken a deep breath and said resolutely, "I certainly would never have chosen to return there, but if Betta and Keren are at Bespin, I owe it to them to go." He paused, then suggested, "But there's no reason why you have to. We could stop by Coruscant. You could stay with Leia while I go on to Cloud City."

It was a tempting offer. Luke had absolutely no desire to revisit the site of his most demoralizing and painful defeat. But even as he considered it, he knew it was not an option. If he refused to accompany his father, then Anakin would realize he wasn't at peace with the memories, and Luke was still determined to keep that from him. Not to mention that taking refuge on Coruscant and leaving Anakin to deal with the memories alone would be a cowardly thing to do. Luke knew he had his faults, but cowardice was not one of them.

"I'm coming," he'd announced firmly.

Anakin had managed to look both relieved and anxious at once. "Are you sure you want to?"

//No! Of course I don't want to. I just don't have any choice.// Luke nodded. "Yes," he had replied aloud.

So they had left Tatooine and set course for the gaseous planet Bespin.

As Anakin guided the Angel toward the landing platforms, Luke clenched his cybernetic right hand into a fist and fought back naseau as he remembered making this same approach in his X-wing almost a year ago. //Stop.// he ordered himself. Seeing Cloud City again was going to be incredibly difficult. The only way to get through it without breaking down and alerting his father to his condition would be to concentrate on the task at hand and not think about the past. He could suppress the memories. He had done that for months. Luke didn't why it had become so difficult to push them away these past weeks, but he was going to have to forget them now. He was not going to make things any worse between Anakin and himself. They would complete their search on Bespin and move on. //And if-when-I get through this, maybe I can keep the memories away and things can get better for us.//

He looked over at Anakin, saw that his father's face was grim and his eyes filled with pain, and knew that coming here was just as difficult for Anakin as it was for him. Maybe even more so.

Anakin brought the ship to a halt and they descended the ramp without speaking. A man in a navy and gold New Republic uniform hurried towards them.

"I am pleased to greet you, Lord Va-," the man broke off abruptly, his face turning bright red as he realized his faux pas. "Um, Master Skywalker. I apologize for, I mean, we're still used to-"

Anakin simply nodded and held up his hand to stop the awkward explanation. "It is all right. I know many of the New Republic officers here are former Imperials, as I am myself. I prefer to be called Anakin Skywalker now, but I understand that people accustomed to my being Lord Vader might have trouble changing their perceptions." He sighed, feeling an enormous wave of guilt wash over him, although he wasn't sure exactly why. Other than the time when he had been searching for Luke, he had been a tough, but fair leader of the Imperial troops and most of them still held him in respect. The title "Lord Vader" did not necessarily have the same painful connotations for them as it did for his son and himself.

He decided that the guilt must come just from the environment. Even for his Vader persona, he had behaved atrociously at Bespin. He had committed acts here that went against every standard of decency and justice. //Don't coat it over with fancy words.// he told himself. //I brutalized every member of my family here. Psychologically, physically, they all suffered here because of me.//

He glanced at his son beside him and had a sudden impulse to drop to his knees and beg Luke's forgiveness. But he'd apologized many times before and Luke had always told him to let the past go and move on. He sighed. That was probably the best way. Just do the job and try not to dwell on the past.

He looked back at their host and said firmly, "My son and I are searching for two women who were slaves belonging to a gas mine owner named Allyn Yewly. Are there any records of the former slaves, or perhaps of Mr. Yewly himself?"

"The name 'Yewly' is unfamiliar to me. But many former citizens fled when the Empire annexed Cloud City. There are records on former slaves, sir, but they are located on the different moons where the mines are. You will have to travel to each moon to view the records. We have a cloud-car transportation system that connects all the moons to Cloud City. I can take you to the main station here, if you like," the man suggested.

The Jedi agreed, and their guide led them along the softly gleaming halls until they came to large area where crowds of people waited to get on the cloud-cars that zoomed in and out at regular intervals. Luke and Anakin were both quiet along the way, both of them trying unsuccessfully not to remember the last time they'd walked around Cloud City. Their host looked relieved when they reached the station and Anakin informed him that they could manage on their own the rest of the way.

As soon as he left them, Luke spoke for the first time since they'd landed. "Father, why don't we split up and go to different moons? We can search the records twice as fast that way."

Anakin considered. Luke had a valid point. The search would go faster if they separated, and though Luke left it unsaid, they both wanted to get away from Bespin as quickly as possible. On the other hand, Anakin knew that being here had to be an ordeal for Luke as well as himself, even though with Luke still keeping his thoughts strongly shielded, he couldn't pick up specific feelings from him. But Luke's voice was as brittle as the glitterstim threads they'd seen on Kessel, and he was looking pale and tense. Anakin wanted to be with him to offer emotional support.

"I don't know, Luke. It might be better if we stayed together," he said.

"Why? There's no danger here," //Not anymore.// Luke shoved that thought away and continued, his voice slightly sharper than at first. "If we split up, we might even finish searching today. I'll take that cloud- car," he pointed to the right, "and we can meet back at the Angel for dinner tonight. We can call each other if we find anything. See you tonight," and he took off before Anakin could protest.

Anakin watched him leave, amazed, saddened, and yes, a little angry that Luke would simply brush off his father's concerns and take off on his own. He suddenly remembered how close he and Luke had been at the beginning of this journey. They had freely shared thoughts and feelings, had enjoyed being together. No matter if the search took longer, Luke wouldn't have wanted to go away by himself then. They had been a team.

//What about now, son? Are we still a team? Because it doesn't feel like we are to me anymore.// Anakin found himself blinking back tears as he headed over to a cloud-car line.

He boarded the car and soon had landed on the nearest moon to Bespin. He asked directions to the records center and spent the rest of the morning seated at a computer, looking vainly for any mention of Betta and Keren, or of any slaves that might fit their descriptions. It was slow work, because many slaves had come and gone over the years, and because the situation with Luke kept distracting him.

//What exactly has gone wrong, and when did it start?// he wondered. //If the tension had only just begun, I would think it was all because we're here at Bespin, but Luke's been upset and hiding something from me for weeks now. Since the rebellion on Kessel. No, even before that. He snapped at me before we even landed on Kessel.// Anakin shook his head in frustration. Try as he might, he just could not understand why Luke had suddenly, for no apparent reason, begun distancing himself from him.

Abruptly he switched off the computer and stood up. He wanted to find Betta and Keren, and leave this place, but he couldn't concentrate on that right now. He had to try to fix his deteriorating relationship with his son. Confronting Luke head-on was not working, but it had occurred to him that there was someone else who might be able to shed some light on their problem. Someone who understood Luke better than he did.

He headed back for the cloud-car terminal. There was probably a communicator which he could use to call Coruscant around here somewhere, but he would rather have this conversation from the privacy of the Angel.

Luke had also gone to one of the many moons surrounding Bespin, only to find that the records center there had been temporarily closed for repainting, even though to him the walls seemed as clean and bright as all the others. Their records had been sent to the Baron-Administrator's office back on Cloud City. With a sigh, he boarded the next car and went back. On the way to the gleaming city surrounded by red and pink clouds, he brooded over the surprised, hurt expression he'd glimpsed on Anakin's face as he'd left him. //I thought I wasn't a coward, but maybe I am. I didn't want to abandon Father to face this place alone, but then I ran away from him within fifteen minutes of landing. And that's exactly what I did. I ran away, because being near him brought it all back so clearly and I just couldn't stand it.//

Luke realized that he'd been running away for a long time now. Running away from the past, hiding the memories, blocking them, denying them, anything other actually dealing openly with them. //But how do I deal with them? I really don't want to hurt Father, and he's the only one here now. I wish Leia or Han had been in when I called the other night.// On the way to Bespin, Luke had waited one night until Anakin was asleep, and then had called Coruscant. He had hoped to speak with his sister or friend and tell them about his nightmares and flashbacks. He'd thought that if he could just talk about them, it might help. Unfortunately, neither of them had been in. Even Chewie and Lando hadn't been around. They all seemed so busy these days, it was hard to catch them at home, and Luke didn't want to leave a message. He was afraid they'd call back when Anakin was awake. And Anakin hadn't slept particularly well on the way here, either so Luke had decided not to try to call back. He had just resigned himself to waiting until the mission was over and they could all be together again.

He was so deep in thought that he was surprised when the cloud-car pulled into the main station. He joined the group of people jostling their way out of the car and made it to one of the corridors to the main part of the city. Then he stopped and considered his next move. He should go find the new Baron-Administrator's office and see about checking the records, but instead he felt drawn towards another part of the city. Not so much drawn by the Force, but simply by his own need to face up to these terrible memories before he went mad or completely destroyed the bond between his father and himself. Luke closed his eyes and reached out with the Force. He'd never been to this part of Cloud City and wasn't sure how to get to the carbon-freezing chamber from here, but maybe the Force would help him get a sense of direction.

Anakin heard the communicator buzzing as he entered the lounge. He hurried to turn it on and wasn't entirely surprised to see his daughter's image there. The whole family seemed to have an uncanny knack for knowing when they were needed.

They greeted one another, and then Leia said, "I just wanted to check on you and Luke, see how you were doing. I know it's not easy for either of you to be at Bespin. I sure wouldn't want to go back there."

"It's funny. I was just getting ready to call you. I'm all right, but I'm very worried about your brother. I don't know what's bothering him, but it started several weeks ago." Anakin described the way their relationship had gone downhill, how Luke seemed to be almost at the point of a breakdown, and finished with, "I don't know how to handle it, Leia. I don't even know what's wrong with him. You understand Luke better than anyone. Do you have any idea what I should do? I'm getting desperate."

Leia bit her lip in concern. "And you said you don't know of anything that's happened on your journey to upset him?"

"Well, nothing had happened when I first began noticing Luke's behavior. You know we just left Tatooine, and that was very sad and trying, but Luke was unhappy before that," Anakin told her.

"I just can't imagine Luke turning away from you," Leia said. "You two have been so close." She pondered the situation over a few minutes and then continued, "I think it has something to do with Bespin, Father."

"But this has been going on for weeks, and we only recently found out we were coming here," Anakin protested.

But Leia shook her head stubbornly. "Maybe he had some premonition through the Force that you'd end up back at Bespin. Or maybe something happened that you don't know about. Remember when we were on Naboo, and we were walking in the countryside. You saw a bent, knobby old tree, and you said you didn't like it because it reminded you of Palpatine for some reason."

Anakin frowned. "I remember, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, you saw the tree and it brought back bad memories for you. But if anyone else saw that tree, it probably wouldn't mean a thing to them," Leia sighed. "I'm just saying that something could have reminded Luke of Bespin, and it might not be obvious to anyone else."

They were quiet for a while as Anakin considered her words. Then Leia added, "I could be wrong, but I can't help thinking it must involve you in some way, or Luke would have talked to you. I mean, Luke's not really outgoing, but he likes people. It's not like him to isolate himself." She hesitated, but then went on, "After Bespin, Luke and I were-, well, you can imagine the shape we were in. Neither of us wanted to talk much, but we just clung to each other all the time. We were hardly ever apart."

She stopped as she saw tears in her father's eyes. "I'm sorry, Father. I didn't mean to make you feel bad, but my point is that Luke would be more likely to be stuck to you like glue if he were upset, unless it somehow involved you. And, well, Bespin does come to mind."

"Yes," he agreed sadly, "I suppose it does."

There was another silence, and then Anakin said, "But Luke has always seemed at peace about it. You know how often I've apologized, and I know that it's not enough, but Luke has always said that he'd forgiven me. I guess I thought he'd resolved any pain about-" he faltered. "About what I did."

"Well, I don't know for sure what's wrong with Luke. It could be something completely different. Why don't you try talking with him again? And, Father, maybe you should let him know that it's okay to talk about Bespin with you."

"I have told him that he can talk with me about anything," Anakin countered, a little indignantly.

"But, Father, you were hurt when we were talking about the past just now. I don't want to hurt anyone, but-" and she gave him a wry grin. "You and I both know if something needs to be said, I'll say it. Luke is more compassionate. He won't want to hurt you by bringing up the past, I'm sure. You need to let him know that it's okay to talk about it, even if it does cause you pain."

As if Leia's words had been the final piece of a puzzle, everything suddenly fell into place for Anakin. He wondered how he had not realized sooner. //Oh, Luke. You could have come to me. I'm so sorry.//

"Thank you, Leia. I'm going to go find Luke now. Good-bye, and we will see you again soon."

"You'd better. Don't get so caught up in your mission that you forget my wedding," she smiled. "And, Father, call me back and let me know how things go with Luke. I want to talk with him, too."

Anakin smiled back at her. "We will call you, and as for the wedding, I wouldn't miss it for anything. Don't worry."

They cut the connection, and Anakin's smile faded as he reached out through the Force to locate his son.