Revealed Identities

Chapter 24: Regrets and Accusations

"No!" The men cried in unison as Leia fell to the floor that was littered with debris and stormtroopers below. Anakin was the closest to Leia. He flung out his arm, missing her hand by centimeters. In his panic, he almost forgot that he had access to the Force. Grasping her with the Force, he willed it to slow her descent and let her land gently below to a part of the floor that was not near any electrical wires. Timed seem to slow as Anakin allowed everything to register.

Anakin let out a worried breath, and he could see the shock on Leia's face to have put him through so much worry. In theory, the fall was not too far, and she might not have been hurt too badly: as long as she hadn't fallen at a strange angle. However, it did pose some problems as to how he was supposed to get Luke, Han, and Chewie down. He figured that Luke would be able to make the jump. Any second year Temple student in his day would have been able to make it easily, and his son seemed to have a strong enough connection to the Force that it would not be a problem. Cheiwe and Han would have more difficulty getting down.

Some of the stormtroopers seemed stunned at the ceiling's collapse, and the rest of them (about three quarters) were littered underneath the debris. Few had begun to help their fellow troopers from underneath the ruble and several others had tried to fire at the group in the newly made hole in the ceiling. They gave up after finding out it only caused more sparks than desirable to fall. It only took a few seconds for Anakin to take all of this in before he smoothly jumped down to the ground and landed not far from Leia. Luke followed. His landing was clumsy, but he had managed to stay on his feet.

"I can lower you with the Force, but we need to do it quickly," Anakin said, yelling above the noise. He couldn't see the stormtroopers from his placement on the ground, and hoped that meant they couldn't see him either. Chewie growled something in the negative. Han was not happy at what his friend was saying.

"Oh no!" Han tried to protest, but it was too late. Anakin had forgotten that Wookies lived in tall trees and were excellent jumpers.

In one swift movement, Chewie picked Han up over his shoulder, and landed gracefully on the ground.

"Put me down!" Han grumbled, his legs and arms flailing. Chewie complied as Han was dropped roughly to his feet.

"Where to now?" Leia asked Anakin. He looked at her a moment, realizing that she had actually addressed him. It was as though she actually trusted him. Anakin's surprise flickered over his face for only a shadow of a moment, and it was gone just as quickly. However, not before Leia had seen it. Anakin smiled slightly.

"There's the exhaust port's attachment chamber." Luke pointed to where they had previously determined to meet Jallishka.

"Let's go!" Han said, tired of feeling left out of the family unit. They rushed towards the chamber. Jallishka was waiting nearby.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked. Jallishka had promised to stay in the ship unless he thought that there would be trouble.

"There was a loud explosion...I became concerned," Jallishka said offhandedly. In a swift glance, the group took in the surrounding area around Jallishka. There were explosives everywhere.

"How many of these did you set?" Anakin asked.

"There are actually only three explosives in here, plus thirty fakes," Jallishka explained.

"In here...?" Anakin frowned. Jallishka shifted his feet.

"I know you did not ask it of me, my lord, but you did not seem to be under the impression that the TIE fighters would not come after us. I set several explosives in their docking bays. They should be going off shortly," Jallishka confessed.

"Then let's get out of here," Anakin said, taking the lead, eyeing the explosives warily.

No sooner had the group had settled in the cockpit that a fleet of TIE fighters exited the hangar. Just then, the explosives that Jallishka had set detonated. The explosives crippled the ship, and the blast from the Super Star Destroyer itself engulfed most of the TIEs, leaving one or two stray fighters to hover uncertainly in space, their circuitry fried from the nearby explosion.

"No wonder the Empire is so good at doing things like that. They have the Noghri on their side," Leia said, her voice a mixture of anger and sorrow. Her gazed turned away from the incredible blast that kept shrinking away in the distance, finally fixing it on her father. She held her gaze high despite the tears that had begun to form in the corner of her eyes.

Anakin had momentarily believed back in the Super Star Destroyer that Leia might be like her mother and be able to see past his faults and stupidity. That hope flickered and died with the way she looked at him now. Luke, the ever peacemaker of the group, decided to step in.

"We should all get some sle-" Luke began, but Leia and Anakin both held up a hand to silence him. It did not go unnoticed that they both used the same posture and gesture in doing so. Leia felt very self-conscious for having any similarities with her sire.

"We need to talk. Excuse us," Anakin's voice was soft and gentle, understanding and sad all at once. Anakin led the way from the cockpit to one of the sleeping quarters.

Luke, Han, and Chewie all stared after them. Han turned his head towards Luke.

"What is going on? Is he really Vader?" Han asked hesitantly. "I know the Emperor called him his apprentice, and you keep telling me that he is Vader, or used to be, but this is not making any sense. Lord Vader is a man turned machine whose purpose in life is to inflict misery on others around him." Luke sighed. Jallishka turned a deaf ear to the conversation at hand.

"I don't quite get it either, but here's what I know. Vader was tricked by the Emperor into believing a lot of lies. From what I gathered from what my father told me, he used to be very trusting of others. When he was younger, Palpatine had always watched over everything he did, and would on occasion put ideas into his head. The Jedi at one point and time actually trusted, at least to a certain degree, Palpatine's judgments and actions. My father's biggest problem was that he was not raised by the Jedi from birth. Apparently he did not begin his training until he was nine. At this time, he had already learned and seen other things in the galaxy that made him realize how much evil that there was.

"He had also always seen himself as being with a family. Jedi were forbidden families. It did not stop my parents from marrying. When the Jedi Order found out about it, there was a falling out, and Palpatine was there to support my father. Palpatine brainwashed him into thinking there was no such thing as good and evil, only weakness and power. My father thought that if he had power, he could help people. Instead, Palpatine succeeded in turning him to the darkside. There were a lot of other things that went on that he did not have time to tell me. I know he's upset about what he's done. He wants to put things right, but I'm not quite sure I want him to do what I think he's going to do." Luke pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. Chewie growled.

"What do you mean?" Han translated.

"He doesn't want Leia or I to have to deal with going through a trial and what not. Inevitably he'll be executed. Why put us through that pain? Everyone would know we were his children, and no matter what we would do, some people would always see us as threats."

"So in other words, he wants to run." Han supplied.

"No." Luke's voice was very somber. Han's eyes widened.

"You don't mean he wants to-" Han's sentence was interrupted by blaster fire from the other room. They ran from the cockpit to where Leia and Anakin had been conversing. They took in the scene in one, swift glance.

"What have you done?" Luke asked mortified.

Leia and Anakin entered the sleeping quarters in silence. Anakin closed the door, and saw Leia stiffen. Anakin realized he had once locked her in a room with him in order to torture her, and he felt foolish and angry at himself for his stupidity, then and now. His faced flushed red momentarily.

"Sorry," He murmured, re-opening the door. "I wasn't thinking." He wished he knew what else to say. Any words seemed so minimal compared to what he had done. The hurt of all those he had hurt came rushing back at him now. He made up his mind. He knew what he had to do.

"Who are you?" Leia demanded. "What do you want from us?" Before Anakin had a time to explain, Leia began on a rant. "I'm not an idiot. I know the reason Vader had to wear a respirator was that his lungs were burned, and he wore a suit because he was scared beyond recognition. I know Vader cannot live without his suit. Vader would not try and help us. He wants to kill the Rebellion. Who are you really?" Leia was yelling at this point.

"I was Vader. I am Anakin Skywalker. Your biological father. I am your prisoner of war," He stated, all emotion draining from his voice. Leia took a step back. This was not what she had expected. It was like her anger had actually affected him. Hurt him even. Leia shook her head. No, Luke was wrong. This man was not Vader. Perhaps he was just mentally disturbed. Yes, of course! The Emperor constantly took innocent men and haunted them with false lies until they believed what he told them, she thought wildly.

Some of the Rebellion's troops had had the same thing happen to them. There must be a reason behind all this that she didn't see. Leia took on a gentler tone.

"You really believe what you say don't you? I'm sorry I didn't think of it before. You are a victim of the Empire. They take good men and do bad things to them. You want to help, and I believe that there is sincerity in what you do. I'm sure you must be confused. You don't seem like the kind of man who would lie. There are medical treatments that will help you figure out who you-"

"No," Anakin took a step towards Leia, closing the distance between them. He put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes.

"Don't do this to yourself. Don't make excuses for me. I don't know what to say for what I did. I can't justify it. I shouldn't justify it. For whatever good that it will do, I want you to know that I'm sorry." Leia wanted to yell at him. Hurt him. Shoot him. Hug him. She didn't know quite which she wanted to do first. Instead, she did something that she didn't want to do. Something she had hoped no one would see her do. She cried.

"I have done horrible things to you and those you love." Anakin pulled a blaster from his vest. "You should be the one to do this. You can say I attacked you, and it was self defense. Whatever you like. You'll be a hero. And honestly, I'd rather it be you." Anakin smiled sadly at his daughter. She just stared at him dumbly as he put the blaster in her hand, and wrapped her fingers around the trigger.

'This is a trick.' She thought wildly. But she wasn't so sure. Anakin had closed his eyes, waiting for her to shoot. 'He's psychotic!' Leia fingered the blaster in her hand, playing with the dials in her moment of indecision.

Did she really want to shoot a defenseless man? Then again, Vader was hardly defenseless. Her face hardened as she remembered Alderaan. Perhaps he was right. Maybe he was just insane. Taking a deep breath, she knew what she should do.

"This is for all those who you murdered," Leia murmured before firing the trigger. It did not take long for Jallishka, Chewie, Han, and Luke to come running into the room. Luke took one mortified look at her and the motionless form of his father's body before turning accusing eyes on his sister.

"What have you done?"

Next part: The End At Last