Author's Notes: Thank you, Lady Evenstar, for your kind reviews. I hope
you'll continue to enjoy the story.
Fear Part 9
It was easy to follow Gil's path through the woods. His pain radiated strongly in the Force. Luke hurried after him until he came upon the boy sitting on a fallen log in a clearing.
As the young Jedi quietly walked over to sit beside him, Gil sniffed and knuckled tears away. Luke reached to place his arm around Gil's shoulders, but the boy pulled away and glared at him.
"You lied to me!" he shouted. "You said it was an accident!"
The sense of betrayal in his voice reminded Luke of how he himself had felt right after Bespin. /Why didn't Ben tell me?/ He sighed, knowing exactly how Gil felt. It wasn't easy to find out someone you trusted had lied to you, no matter how well-intentioned they were.
"Yes, I did," he admitted. "I'm sorry."
Gil took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. Luke's admission seemed to take the wind out of his sails because he just stared at the ground in silence for a while before finally asking, "Why didn't you tell me the truth?"
"Because when you asked how I had lost my hand, I hardly knew you. And it's not exactly easy for me to talk about. It's hard to remember how Father was then and what happened at Bespin. Most people don't like to discuss personal issues with strangers, you know," Luke answered.
"But why didn't you tell us sooner, once we were here?" Gil persisted.
"Maybe we should have told you sooner. If we were wrong, then I'm sorry. Like I said, it's just very hard for Father and me to talk about. And we're new to being Jedi Masters, too. Neither of us has ever taught anyone before. We're going to make some mistakes," Luke studied Gil's bent head for a moment before adding gently, "I'm sorry that we've hurt you, and I know Father is, too. The last thing we want to do is hurt any of you."
Gil sighed and said in a small voice. "I thought he was so great. He was like a perfect father. Sometimes I even pretended." he stopped abruptly.
Luke tried again to place an arm around Gil. This time the boy let him.
"He is a wonderful father now, Gil. But he's not perfect. No one is. If you expect people to be, then they will hurt and disappoint you. Everyone does the wrong things sometimes, though not to the degree that Father did, thank goodness."
Gil looked up at him. "How can you forgive him?" he asked curiously.
"My sister asked me that once," Luke told him. "I don't know exactly. It's just that I can understand him. And even though he's done some horrible things, he's also done some great things," He paused and then shook his head. "But it's not a question of the good and bad acts balancing out. It's that Father is truly remorseful, and he wants to make amends so much. He has a lot of love to give, Gil. If you'll accept it."
"I don't know," Gil said miserably. "I just, I don't know, I need to think about it. If you don't mind, Master Luke, I'd like to be alone for a little while."
Luke hesitated. "Are you sure you'll be all right?"
"Yeah, I'll be back in time for dinner. I promise."
"Well, all right," Luke stood up. "But if you need someone, you can come to me."
"Thanks," Gil said softly.
Luke squeezed his shoulder before slowly walking back to the retreat.
THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING, JEDI. LEAVE BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. THERE'LL BE NO MORE CHILD'S PLAY.
Anakin, Keren, and the droids stared at the message flashing on the computer screen.
"Artoo and I had just come into the kitchen to begin preparing the evening meal when I noticed that we had received a message. I turned on the communicator and saw this," Threepio explained. "The communicator chrono indicates that this message was left twenty-eight minutes ago, but it was sent from a public communicator in the village. There is no way to trace who sent it."
"I have an idea who sent it," Anakin responded grimly. "Or at least, who was behind it being sent. Threepio, what have you found out about Ignatia Kane."
"Nothing that would indicate why she would have strong feelings against the Jedi, Master Anakin. She was born forty-three years ago in the village medcenter. Her mother died when she was small, and she was raised by her father. He was rather well-known as an architect on Naboo, and designed many buildings in Theed and other cities, though he and his daughter preferred to live in the lake country." Threepio paused, and Anakin could almost see him mentally running through the data.
"Her father, Aleron Esmond, died twenty-three years ago in a construction accident at a site he had designed in Theed. Mistress Ignatia did not take his death well. She was treated for severe depression for a year afterwards. Two years later, she married a local businessman and they had a son, Garmon, a year later. Twelve years ago they had a second son, this Reynard who has caused young Master Gil so much trouble. Mistress Ignatia works part-time in her husband's office and until recently volunteered for many charitable organizations in the village. She quit very abruptly a few weeks ago."
"Just about the time we announced that the Jedi Academy was beginning," Anakin murmured.
He stared thoughtfully at the screen while Keren and the droids regarded him in silence. Finally Anakin shook his head. "I still don't understand why she hates us so much. Keep digging in her background, Threepio. There's got to be some reason."
He reached to delete the message.
"Master Anakin, are we going to do anything about this?" Keren gestured at the computer.
Anakin nodded. "I'm going to contact Ignatia Kane and see if she's willing to meet with us. It's possible that this all just some misunderstanding. If we talk things over, perhaps we can make peace."
Artoo beeped doubtfully.
"Yes, I know she sounds pretty determined," Anakin agreed. "But what else can we do? The Jedi are not going to be run off by this woman, and the first step in a disagreement is to try to negotiate and compromise."
Just then Luke entered the kitchen. "What's going on?" He repeated for the second time that day.
Anakin told him about the latest warning and his plan to try to meet with Ignatia Kane.
Luke nodded. "I want to be there, too. In the meantime, we probably all need to stay on the retreat grounds."
"Yes, no more trips into the village until we get this straightened out," Anakin agreed. "Gil can have his lessons at home." He looked suddenly concerned. "How is he, Luke?"
"He's pretty upset, but I think he just needs some time to come to terms with it," Luke replied.
"Where is he?"
"In the woods a little ways from here. Why?" Luke studied his father's face. "You're worried about that warning."
Anakin nodded. "A little. I don't know how many people agree with Ignatia Kane, or how strong their feelings are, but she didn't strike me as the reasonable sort. And the electric fence won't stop someone who's really determined to do us harm. Someone could fire a blaster through it, just for one example."
Keren turned pale, and Anakin glanced at her and said more reassuringly, "I don't really think it would come to that, but it is better to be safe than sorry. Keren, you and the droids stay inside, and Luke and I will round up the other padawans and Chewie."
As the two Jedi Masters hurried back outside, Keren looked at the droids. "Didn't you say you were about to prepare dinner, Threepio?"
"Why, yes, Mistress Keren," Threepio said, sounding slightly shaken. "Until I discovered that distressing message."
"Well, let's get busy. I'm sure the others will be hungry when they come in." Keren, Artoo, and Threepio began bustling about the kitchen, preparing the evening meal.
Anakin told the others about the warning and how he and Luke thought it would be best for everyone to stay near home until things cleared up. To his relief, no one argued the point. Receiving another threat, just when they'd begun to think the worst was over seemed to unnerve the padawans a bit. Not to mention that Tera, Elissa, and Gil were probably still upset about his latest revelation, Anakin reflected. All in all, dinner was a somber affair.
As if the weather had sensed the uneasy atmosphere around the Academy, storm clouds rolled in that night and heavy rains fell for the next couple of days. The entire upper floor of the second tower had been converted to a training room so Luke and Anakin worked with their students there in the mornings and afternoons, with even more emphasis on self-defense and saber training.
Gil studied his schoolwork in the library with either Luke or Keren helping him. Anakin had offered to help him once, but Gil had mumbled that he had a headache and asked permission to lie down instead of studying. Anakin knew immediately that it was just an excuse, but he recognized that Gil was still uncomfortable around him and decided to let it go, rather than forcing his presence on the boy.
At least Elissa and Tera seemed to have accepted him again, he reflected one afternoon as he watched his son work with them and Keren. Ever since the last threat, she had been included in the regular training sessions.
"She needs to be able to defend herself as much as the others," Anakin had remarked to his son. "And I do have to admit that she's made great progress in handling her fears. Maybe it would be all right to train her."
"I think it would be, Father," Luke had told him. "She's so much better already. She has a lot of inner strength."
His father had nodded. "All right, then, we'll train her. But I do want to monitor her training very closely. I just couldn't bear to have one of our padawans fall."
So Keren had been accepted as a true padawan, and for the first time in a long while, she had actually been happy about something. Though they were a few years younger, Tera and Elissa had taken her under their wings, helping her practice and including her in their free time activities. The three of them seemed well on their way to becoming fast friends, and Keren's progress, both socially and as a Jedi, continued at a quick rate.
Anakin had spent time with all three of them while Luke helped Gil, and he was pleased and grateful to see that they all were forgiving. Tera and Elissa had been a little awkward around him at first, right after the discussion about his past, but he had tried to act normally with them, and eventually they had warmed up.
Keren still wasn't entirely at ease with him, but she was able to listen and accept his instructions. Anakin supposed that the fact that she was able to be around him and talk with him was a step in the right direction, and he hoped that as they spent more time together she would become more relaxed.
If only he could reach Gil, he thought as Tera and Elissa began another mock duel and Luke showed Keren how to set the timer on a training remote. A soft sound behind made him turn to see Gil enter the room. He saw Anakin sitting on a bench by the wall, and hesitated, but finally came to sit at the other end.
"I finished my history lesson," he mumbled. "Master Luke said to come up here when I was done."
"History was never one of my favorite subjects," Anakin said. "When I was young, I just couldn't see the point of studying the things people had done years earlier. It was over and done with. I wanted to get busy and do things now."
Gil gave him a sideways glance, and then nodded. "Yeah, who cares about what old Republic diplomats said on Ithor two hundred years ago?"
"That's what I used to say." A note of sadness crept into his voice. "I wish now that I had been more interested. If I had learned to appreciate the ideals of democracy, maybe I wouldn't have been so quick to support Palpatine."
Gil stared back at the ground, clearly discomfitted by the reference to Anakin's dark past. Anakin could sense that he wanted to say something, but couldn't quite get up the nerve.
"What is it, Gil?" he asked gently.
"How could you do those things?" the boy asked, his voice quiet, but intense. "How could you support Palpatine? You were a Jedi. Weren't you supposed to defend the Republic?"
Anakin had to close his eyes and swallow hard against the wave of shame that overcame him. For a few moments, he couldn't speak, but finally he cleared his throat and nodded. "Yes, I was. And I failed. I betrayed everything I was taught to believe in. I betrayed my master, who loved and cared for me. I betrayed the memory of my wife because I helped to bring down everything she believed in. And I betrayed my children, although I didn't know I was doing that, because when I turned to the dark side I lost the chance to be a real father for them when they were growing up."
Gil faced him, his green eyes burning. "But why, Master Anakin?"
"Because I believed Palpatine was a good man. I believed the Empire would be good for the galaxy in the long run," he sighed. "You have to understand, Gil, that the old Republic was a wonderful system in its prime. But by the time I was born, it had developed dangerous flaws."
"Some of the Senators were corrupt. They accepted bribes from greedy merchants and lobbyists and kept the rest of the Senate from taking action on important matters. And the Jedi were only supposed to act on orders from the Senate and the Chancellor so they weren't getting important issues resolved either."
"What kind of important issues?" Gil wanted to know.
"Slavery was the main issue for me," Anakin replied. "You know I was born a slave. My mother was a slave. I loved her dearly, and I only left her and went with the Jedi because I thought that then I would have the power to go back and free her. And not just her, but all the other slaves as well. Slavery was evil. The Jedi were good, so I just naturally assumed that once the Jedi realized slavery was still going on in the Outer Rim, they'd put an end to it."
"But they didn't?" Gil asked.
Anakin shook his head. "No, they didn't."
"Why not?"
"Because the Senate wasn't terribly concerned about the fate of slaves on backwards Outer Rim planets. They never ordered the Jedi to free slaves, and the Jedi wouldn't act without permission."
"But that's wrong!"
"I do believe that refusing to free slaves is wrong. It caused a lot of resentment in me towards the Jedi, that I wasn't even fully aware of for a long time," Anakin said slowly. "But I have come to see that the situation was a bit more complex. You see, if people as powerful as the Jedi were don't have any kind of restraints, no accountability for their actions, then sooner or later the power is going to be abused. I can see now that the Jedi were right to submit themselves to the government, at least until the government became corrupt."
"And that's the crux of the problem. When greedy, dishonest Senators gained control, the Jedi didn't have any ideas about how to handle it. They just kept blindly adhering to the old ways. More and more people became disenchanted with the Republic, and once Palpatine began his scheming and manipulating, it opened the door for the Empire."
Anakin took a deep breath. "None of this excuses my own actions. I should have kept working with the Republic, trying to improve it from within, but that seemed hopeless to me. I was impatient and I wanted a quick solution to all the galaxy's problems. Palpatine seemed to promise that."
Gil was quiet, thinking it over. Finally he said, "I guess I can understand that, but didn't you realize later on that Palpatine was doing evil things? That you were doing evil things?"
"Well, that's where the dark side of the Force comes into play," Anakin said heavily. "When my wife died, and I thought that our unborn children had died with her, it seemed like I had nothing to live for anymore. I flew into a terrible rage, and for a while after that I didn't care what I was doing. And then I just gave up. There was no hope for me, so I would just devote my life to bringing order to the galaxy. And if I had to hurt people to do that, I justified it by saying that everything would work out for the best in the end."
Gil said softly, "I'm sorry I was mad at you, Master Anakin. I just wanted you to be perfect."
"I'm not a hero, Gil. I've made many bad decisions in my life. No one is perfect, but if you want a hero, you just need to look at my son," Anakin nodded towards Luke, who was watching Tera and Elissa's duel from across the room. "Luke is the one who had the moral courage to see the truth, to save me, and to stand against Palpatine. He's the greatest person I've ever known."
The two of them watched in silence as the duel ended and almost simultaneously, Keren's remote cut off. Luke had just told them all to take a break when Threepio and Artoo came hurrying into the room.
"Oh, Master Luke and Master Anakin, Mistress Leia and General Solo are calling from the Falcon."
A smile of pure joy crossed Luke's face as he almost grabbed the portable communicator from Threepio and switched it on. "Leia, Han, are you there?"
They all crowded around as Leia and Han's images appeared. Leia seemed as thrilled as her twin. She, too, was grinning in delight and when she saw her brother, she exclaimed, "Luke! We've missed you so much."
Han looked pleased as well, though he was a bit more low-key, "Hey, kid, how've you been?"
"We're okay. How about you?"
"Us? We're great," Han put his arm around Leia's shoulders and looked at her with a suddenly softened expression.
"Where's Father?" Leia caught sight of him even as she spoke, "Hi, Father, we've missed you, too."
"You look lovely, daughter. We've missed you as well, but I hope you had a wonderful honeymoon."
"We did," she assured him. "The time's gone by so fast. I can't believe it's already over."
"So are you guys heading back to Coruscant now?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, we are," Han said, "But we're still not due back for a week, so we thought we might stop by Naboo for a few days."
"That's great!" Luke couldn't have looked any happier. "When you will be here?"
"About half an hour," Han grinned. "We thought we'd give you plenty of notice."
"That's okay. We're just glad you're coming," Luke told them. "See you in half an hour."
"All right. See you soon, kid."
The communicator switched off, leaving Luke and Anakin beaming in delight, and the padawans looking pleased for them.
Only Threepio seemed perturbed. "Oh, dear. I don't have clean sheets for their bedroom."
TBC
Fear Part 9
It was easy to follow Gil's path through the woods. His pain radiated strongly in the Force. Luke hurried after him until he came upon the boy sitting on a fallen log in a clearing.
As the young Jedi quietly walked over to sit beside him, Gil sniffed and knuckled tears away. Luke reached to place his arm around Gil's shoulders, but the boy pulled away and glared at him.
"You lied to me!" he shouted. "You said it was an accident!"
The sense of betrayal in his voice reminded Luke of how he himself had felt right after Bespin. /Why didn't Ben tell me?/ He sighed, knowing exactly how Gil felt. It wasn't easy to find out someone you trusted had lied to you, no matter how well-intentioned they were.
"Yes, I did," he admitted. "I'm sorry."
Gil took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. Luke's admission seemed to take the wind out of his sails because he just stared at the ground in silence for a while before finally asking, "Why didn't you tell me the truth?"
"Because when you asked how I had lost my hand, I hardly knew you. And it's not exactly easy for me to talk about. It's hard to remember how Father was then and what happened at Bespin. Most people don't like to discuss personal issues with strangers, you know," Luke answered.
"But why didn't you tell us sooner, once we were here?" Gil persisted.
"Maybe we should have told you sooner. If we were wrong, then I'm sorry. Like I said, it's just very hard for Father and me to talk about. And we're new to being Jedi Masters, too. Neither of us has ever taught anyone before. We're going to make some mistakes," Luke studied Gil's bent head for a moment before adding gently, "I'm sorry that we've hurt you, and I know Father is, too. The last thing we want to do is hurt any of you."
Gil sighed and said in a small voice. "I thought he was so great. He was like a perfect father. Sometimes I even pretended." he stopped abruptly.
Luke tried again to place an arm around Gil. This time the boy let him.
"He is a wonderful father now, Gil. But he's not perfect. No one is. If you expect people to be, then they will hurt and disappoint you. Everyone does the wrong things sometimes, though not to the degree that Father did, thank goodness."
Gil looked up at him. "How can you forgive him?" he asked curiously.
"My sister asked me that once," Luke told him. "I don't know exactly. It's just that I can understand him. And even though he's done some horrible things, he's also done some great things," He paused and then shook his head. "But it's not a question of the good and bad acts balancing out. It's that Father is truly remorseful, and he wants to make amends so much. He has a lot of love to give, Gil. If you'll accept it."
"I don't know," Gil said miserably. "I just, I don't know, I need to think about it. If you don't mind, Master Luke, I'd like to be alone for a little while."
Luke hesitated. "Are you sure you'll be all right?"
"Yeah, I'll be back in time for dinner. I promise."
"Well, all right," Luke stood up. "But if you need someone, you can come to me."
"Thanks," Gil said softly.
Luke squeezed his shoulder before slowly walking back to the retreat.
THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING, JEDI. LEAVE BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. THERE'LL BE NO MORE CHILD'S PLAY.
Anakin, Keren, and the droids stared at the message flashing on the computer screen.
"Artoo and I had just come into the kitchen to begin preparing the evening meal when I noticed that we had received a message. I turned on the communicator and saw this," Threepio explained. "The communicator chrono indicates that this message was left twenty-eight minutes ago, but it was sent from a public communicator in the village. There is no way to trace who sent it."
"I have an idea who sent it," Anakin responded grimly. "Or at least, who was behind it being sent. Threepio, what have you found out about Ignatia Kane."
"Nothing that would indicate why she would have strong feelings against the Jedi, Master Anakin. She was born forty-three years ago in the village medcenter. Her mother died when she was small, and she was raised by her father. He was rather well-known as an architect on Naboo, and designed many buildings in Theed and other cities, though he and his daughter preferred to live in the lake country." Threepio paused, and Anakin could almost see him mentally running through the data.
"Her father, Aleron Esmond, died twenty-three years ago in a construction accident at a site he had designed in Theed. Mistress Ignatia did not take his death well. She was treated for severe depression for a year afterwards. Two years later, she married a local businessman and they had a son, Garmon, a year later. Twelve years ago they had a second son, this Reynard who has caused young Master Gil so much trouble. Mistress Ignatia works part-time in her husband's office and until recently volunteered for many charitable organizations in the village. She quit very abruptly a few weeks ago."
"Just about the time we announced that the Jedi Academy was beginning," Anakin murmured.
He stared thoughtfully at the screen while Keren and the droids regarded him in silence. Finally Anakin shook his head. "I still don't understand why she hates us so much. Keep digging in her background, Threepio. There's got to be some reason."
He reached to delete the message.
"Master Anakin, are we going to do anything about this?" Keren gestured at the computer.
Anakin nodded. "I'm going to contact Ignatia Kane and see if she's willing to meet with us. It's possible that this all just some misunderstanding. If we talk things over, perhaps we can make peace."
Artoo beeped doubtfully.
"Yes, I know she sounds pretty determined," Anakin agreed. "But what else can we do? The Jedi are not going to be run off by this woman, and the first step in a disagreement is to try to negotiate and compromise."
Just then Luke entered the kitchen. "What's going on?" He repeated for the second time that day.
Anakin told him about the latest warning and his plan to try to meet with Ignatia Kane.
Luke nodded. "I want to be there, too. In the meantime, we probably all need to stay on the retreat grounds."
"Yes, no more trips into the village until we get this straightened out," Anakin agreed. "Gil can have his lessons at home." He looked suddenly concerned. "How is he, Luke?"
"He's pretty upset, but I think he just needs some time to come to terms with it," Luke replied.
"Where is he?"
"In the woods a little ways from here. Why?" Luke studied his father's face. "You're worried about that warning."
Anakin nodded. "A little. I don't know how many people agree with Ignatia Kane, or how strong their feelings are, but she didn't strike me as the reasonable sort. And the electric fence won't stop someone who's really determined to do us harm. Someone could fire a blaster through it, just for one example."
Keren turned pale, and Anakin glanced at her and said more reassuringly, "I don't really think it would come to that, but it is better to be safe than sorry. Keren, you and the droids stay inside, and Luke and I will round up the other padawans and Chewie."
As the two Jedi Masters hurried back outside, Keren looked at the droids. "Didn't you say you were about to prepare dinner, Threepio?"
"Why, yes, Mistress Keren," Threepio said, sounding slightly shaken. "Until I discovered that distressing message."
"Well, let's get busy. I'm sure the others will be hungry when they come in." Keren, Artoo, and Threepio began bustling about the kitchen, preparing the evening meal.
Anakin told the others about the warning and how he and Luke thought it would be best for everyone to stay near home until things cleared up. To his relief, no one argued the point. Receiving another threat, just when they'd begun to think the worst was over seemed to unnerve the padawans a bit. Not to mention that Tera, Elissa, and Gil were probably still upset about his latest revelation, Anakin reflected. All in all, dinner was a somber affair.
As if the weather had sensed the uneasy atmosphere around the Academy, storm clouds rolled in that night and heavy rains fell for the next couple of days. The entire upper floor of the second tower had been converted to a training room so Luke and Anakin worked with their students there in the mornings and afternoons, with even more emphasis on self-defense and saber training.
Gil studied his schoolwork in the library with either Luke or Keren helping him. Anakin had offered to help him once, but Gil had mumbled that he had a headache and asked permission to lie down instead of studying. Anakin knew immediately that it was just an excuse, but he recognized that Gil was still uncomfortable around him and decided to let it go, rather than forcing his presence on the boy.
At least Elissa and Tera seemed to have accepted him again, he reflected one afternoon as he watched his son work with them and Keren. Ever since the last threat, she had been included in the regular training sessions.
"She needs to be able to defend herself as much as the others," Anakin had remarked to his son. "And I do have to admit that she's made great progress in handling her fears. Maybe it would be all right to train her."
"I think it would be, Father," Luke had told him. "She's so much better already. She has a lot of inner strength."
His father had nodded. "All right, then, we'll train her. But I do want to monitor her training very closely. I just couldn't bear to have one of our padawans fall."
So Keren had been accepted as a true padawan, and for the first time in a long while, she had actually been happy about something. Though they were a few years younger, Tera and Elissa had taken her under their wings, helping her practice and including her in their free time activities. The three of them seemed well on their way to becoming fast friends, and Keren's progress, both socially and as a Jedi, continued at a quick rate.
Anakin had spent time with all three of them while Luke helped Gil, and he was pleased and grateful to see that they all were forgiving. Tera and Elissa had been a little awkward around him at first, right after the discussion about his past, but he had tried to act normally with them, and eventually they had warmed up.
Keren still wasn't entirely at ease with him, but she was able to listen and accept his instructions. Anakin supposed that the fact that she was able to be around him and talk with him was a step in the right direction, and he hoped that as they spent more time together she would become more relaxed.
If only he could reach Gil, he thought as Tera and Elissa began another mock duel and Luke showed Keren how to set the timer on a training remote. A soft sound behind made him turn to see Gil enter the room. He saw Anakin sitting on a bench by the wall, and hesitated, but finally came to sit at the other end.
"I finished my history lesson," he mumbled. "Master Luke said to come up here when I was done."
"History was never one of my favorite subjects," Anakin said. "When I was young, I just couldn't see the point of studying the things people had done years earlier. It was over and done with. I wanted to get busy and do things now."
Gil gave him a sideways glance, and then nodded. "Yeah, who cares about what old Republic diplomats said on Ithor two hundred years ago?"
"That's what I used to say." A note of sadness crept into his voice. "I wish now that I had been more interested. If I had learned to appreciate the ideals of democracy, maybe I wouldn't have been so quick to support Palpatine."
Gil stared back at the ground, clearly discomfitted by the reference to Anakin's dark past. Anakin could sense that he wanted to say something, but couldn't quite get up the nerve.
"What is it, Gil?" he asked gently.
"How could you do those things?" the boy asked, his voice quiet, but intense. "How could you support Palpatine? You were a Jedi. Weren't you supposed to defend the Republic?"
Anakin had to close his eyes and swallow hard against the wave of shame that overcame him. For a few moments, he couldn't speak, but finally he cleared his throat and nodded. "Yes, I was. And I failed. I betrayed everything I was taught to believe in. I betrayed my master, who loved and cared for me. I betrayed the memory of my wife because I helped to bring down everything she believed in. And I betrayed my children, although I didn't know I was doing that, because when I turned to the dark side I lost the chance to be a real father for them when they were growing up."
Gil faced him, his green eyes burning. "But why, Master Anakin?"
"Because I believed Palpatine was a good man. I believed the Empire would be good for the galaxy in the long run," he sighed. "You have to understand, Gil, that the old Republic was a wonderful system in its prime. But by the time I was born, it had developed dangerous flaws."
"Some of the Senators were corrupt. They accepted bribes from greedy merchants and lobbyists and kept the rest of the Senate from taking action on important matters. And the Jedi were only supposed to act on orders from the Senate and the Chancellor so they weren't getting important issues resolved either."
"What kind of important issues?" Gil wanted to know.
"Slavery was the main issue for me," Anakin replied. "You know I was born a slave. My mother was a slave. I loved her dearly, and I only left her and went with the Jedi because I thought that then I would have the power to go back and free her. And not just her, but all the other slaves as well. Slavery was evil. The Jedi were good, so I just naturally assumed that once the Jedi realized slavery was still going on in the Outer Rim, they'd put an end to it."
"But they didn't?" Gil asked.
Anakin shook his head. "No, they didn't."
"Why not?"
"Because the Senate wasn't terribly concerned about the fate of slaves on backwards Outer Rim planets. They never ordered the Jedi to free slaves, and the Jedi wouldn't act without permission."
"But that's wrong!"
"I do believe that refusing to free slaves is wrong. It caused a lot of resentment in me towards the Jedi, that I wasn't even fully aware of for a long time," Anakin said slowly. "But I have come to see that the situation was a bit more complex. You see, if people as powerful as the Jedi were don't have any kind of restraints, no accountability for their actions, then sooner or later the power is going to be abused. I can see now that the Jedi were right to submit themselves to the government, at least until the government became corrupt."
"And that's the crux of the problem. When greedy, dishonest Senators gained control, the Jedi didn't have any ideas about how to handle it. They just kept blindly adhering to the old ways. More and more people became disenchanted with the Republic, and once Palpatine began his scheming and manipulating, it opened the door for the Empire."
Anakin took a deep breath. "None of this excuses my own actions. I should have kept working with the Republic, trying to improve it from within, but that seemed hopeless to me. I was impatient and I wanted a quick solution to all the galaxy's problems. Palpatine seemed to promise that."
Gil was quiet, thinking it over. Finally he said, "I guess I can understand that, but didn't you realize later on that Palpatine was doing evil things? That you were doing evil things?"
"Well, that's where the dark side of the Force comes into play," Anakin said heavily. "When my wife died, and I thought that our unborn children had died with her, it seemed like I had nothing to live for anymore. I flew into a terrible rage, and for a while after that I didn't care what I was doing. And then I just gave up. There was no hope for me, so I would just devote my life to bringing order to the galaxy. And if I had to hurt people to do that, I justified it by saying that everything would work out for the best in the end."
Gil said softly, "I'm sorry I was mad at you, Master Anakin. I just wanted you to be perfect."
"I'm not a hero, Gil. I've made many bad decisions in my life. No one is perfect, but if you want a hero, you just need to look at my son," Anakin nodded towards Luke, who was watching Tera and Elissa's duel from across the room. "Luke is the one who had the moral courage to see the truth, to save me, and to stand against Palpatine. He's the greatest person I've ever known."
The two of them watched in silence as the duel ended and almost simultaneously, Keren's remote cut off. Luke had just told them all to take a break when Threepio and Artoo came hurrying into the room.
"Oh, Master Luke and Master Anakin, Mistress Leia and General Solo are calling from the Falcon."
A smile of pure joy crossed Luke's face as he almost grabbed the portable communicator from Threepio and switched it on. "Leia, Han, are you there?"
They all crowded around as Leia and Han's images appeared. Leia seemed as thrilled as her twin. She, too, was grinning in delight and when she saw her brother, she exclaimed, "Luke! We've missed you so much."
Han looked pleased as well, though he was a bit more low-key, "Hey, kid, how've you been?"
"We're okay. How about you?"
"Us? We're great," Han put his arm around Leia's shoulders and looked at her with a suddenly softened expression.
"Where's Father?" Leia caught sight of him even as she spoke, "Hi, Father, we've missed you, too."
"You look lovely, daughter. We've missed you as well, but I hope you had a wonderful honeymoon."
"We did," she assured him. "The time's gone by so fast. I can't believe it's already over."
"So are you guys heading back to Coruscant now?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, we are," Han said, "But we're still not due back for a week, so we thought we might stop by Naboo for a few days."
"That's great!" Luke couldn't have looked any happier. "When you will be here?"
"About half an hour," Han grinned. "We thought we'd give you plenty of notice."
"That's okay. We're just glad you're coming," Luke told them. "See you in half an hour."
"All right. See you soon, kid."
The communicator switched off, leaving Luke and Anakin beaming in delight, and the padawans looking pleased for them.
Only Threepio seemed perturbed. "Oh, dear. I don't have clean sheets for their bedroom."
TBC
