"Commander Skywalker, do you know much of your father's life before his time under the rule of Palpatine?"

"No.  I wasn't told anything about him until he told me of our relationship."

"When you were told of the defendant's identity being the same as your father, did you sense in him the light side?"

"Yes."

"Explain to us what this means."

Luke did so.  He answered all the questions asked of him to the best of his ability.  Near the end of the second questioning from the prosecution side, Luke began to shake.  It wasn't because of the questions being asked or from being cold.  The cause of it was from the stress he was suffering from with the case and the events that had happened aboard the Death Star before it was destroyed.

"Commander?" Leon asked.

Luke sat there with his head bowed and his eyes closed.  Anakin could feel Luke's pain and knew what had caused it.  He leaned over to his lawyer.  "He needs to be in a med lab, not up there on the stand."

Yasmine nodded her agreement, but she couldn't do anything to help the commander.  She saw the prosecution lawyer smile smugly to himself.

"As you can clearly see, Commander Skywalker is under the influence of a mind trick.  One set upon him from the Dark Lord, Vader, himself."

Anakin was about to get up and say something when Yasmine, beside him, held him down.  "Wait," she hissed to him; her eyes focused on Luke.

Luke couldn't believe the prick had actually said that!  He thought people knew what had happened to him and he knew that nobody did.  What had exactly happened on the Death Star had remained between him and his father.  "It wasn't that," Luke managed to say.  "I am not under the influence of my father.  If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be sitting here today."

"Another command from Vader?" Leon sneeringly asked.

"Mind tricks don't work on the strong willed," Luke cut straight back in.  "I am suffering from the after-effects of what Palpatine did to me.  If my father had not intervened, I would have lost my life at the hand of Palpatine."

"You would have died, anyway, if you stayed aboard the Death Star."

"I would have died long before the Death Star had been destroyed."

"Why don't you tell us all what really happened aboard the Death Star, then?"

"I was taken aboard the Death Star due to my own free will.  The Emperor tried, but failed, to turn me to the Dark Side.  In result of this, the Emperor released Force lightening on me," Luke managed to say before he collapsed.

Leia stood and rushed forward.  She wasn't allowed passed the barrier.  "Let me through!" she commanded.  "That's my brother up there!"

Anakin stood and moved to his son's side.  "Luke?  Can you hear me?  Don't do this to me, Luke."

Leia was allowed through to join her father and brother.  "Luke?  Wake up, Luke!"

"We need medics in here, now!" Yasmine said.

There was mayhem in the courtroom for several minutes until Leia left the courtroom with Luke.  The judge soon called for order.  Everyone returned to his or her place.  Calling Yasmine forward, he asked if there were any more witnesses for the defendant.

Yasmine looked toward her client as she said, "I would like to call forward Anakin Skywalker."

"Very well.  Step forward."

Anakin moved to occupy the chair his son had occupied before him.  He swore to tell the truth as his son had done.  The first question Yasmine had asked him was to explain what Force lightening was.

"It simply means that Dark energy is released from a person as lightening.  This person Force lightening is released from has let all his or her dark emotions run free.  The Force lightening can be afflicted onto another person or an item."

"The Emperor, Commander Skywalker said, released this Force lightening on him.  Is this true?"

"Yes."

"Was the Emperor using this method of death a lot?"

"Not that I am aware of."

"Did you, yourself, use this method on anybody or anything?"

"No.  I didn't like to use this method because it didn't feel right to me, somehow."

"What did you do in this situation, with your son?"

"I didn't want my son to die.  I realized that the love Luke had for me was the only thing I needed to pull me back to the light.  I knew I had to stop Palpatine and I did.  I held Luke's lightsaber in my hand, and I cut down Palpatine with it.  The lightsaber's blade is green, appropriate with the new hope I have, in my son."

"Thank you.  Your witness."

Leon got up and stood in front of Anakin.  Anakin knew that Leon was afraid.

"Darth Vader," he started.  "What hope have you got?"

"That name no longer has any meaning for me.  The hope I have is to see my son accomplish where I could not."

"And what is that?"

"He is a Jedi Knight.  He has finished his training.  I did not."

"Can you tell us of your children's conception and birth?"

"Are you implying that I raped their mother?" Anakin asked.

"Did you?"

"I loved Padmé.  I would have never done anything to harm her."

"Then why are you not with her today?"

"I lost her during the Jedi Purges."

"Which you took part in?"

"Against my wishes.  By then, I had lost the will to fight against the Dark Lord who had imprisoned me in my own body."

"Did you know of your children?"

"I didn't know of Luke and Leia.  They were hidden from me when they were born."

"Why is that?"

"Because if I had known about my children during the first few years of imprisonment, I would have felt threatened by them."

"Do you feel threatened by them now?"

"No.  I can't.  I owe Luke my life."

Leon couldn't believe it.  Neither Skywalker stories could be shot through.  But then, he thought of Anakin's reply to his question about the Skywalker children.  "Let me clarify something up.  I'm a little confused about your reply to one of my earlier questions.  You didn't know about Luke and Leia, correct?"  Anakin nodded.  "Did you know of any other children of yours?"

"Shmi died, during the Clone Wars."

"So you did have another child?"

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"She died."

"Where you still with your wife at the time of Shmi's death?"

"Yes, I was."

"Did you leave your wife after your child died?"

"Not out of choice."

"Thank you."  Leon turned and made his way back to his table, smiling to himself.

Yasmine got up to redirect her questioning.  "Did you love her?"

"Very much."

"How did you feel when Shmi died?"

"Hurt.  Frustrated.  Those were normal for any father who had just lost a child."

"Whom were you frustrated at?"

"Mostly myself.  My daughter was the second person close to me who I had failed.  The third person was my wife."

"So, who was the first person you had failed?"

"My mother, whom I had named my daughter after."

"How did you fail her?"

"She had been a slave for years and when I had gone back to free her, I found her in a Tuskin camp, where she died in my arms."

"Thank you."

Leon couldn't think of any more questions to ask Anakin so he didn't get up for the second questioning he was allowed.  Yasmine smiled as she sat.  She had Leon cornered.

"You may step down."  Anakin did so.  "Do you have any more witnesses?"

"No, your honor."

The judge nodded.  "We'll have a ten minute recesses and then come back for the verdict."

"Your honor," Leon suddenly said.  "I feel that there may be another witness for the prosecution."

"All right.  Call them forward."

"Your honor, I need some time to process this data and contact the witness."

"How long do you need?"

"At least a week."

"You have seven days.  This case is adjourned until the seven days are up.  Dismissed."