Chapter Four

-- Theed --

Luke looked at his parents sitting quietly in the firelight and he smiled. "I'm going to go wait outside for them, " he said. "It might prevent some unfortunate initial reactions." He dropped the firewood on the pile, and then he turned and went back outside.

He sat on the remains of a stone bench that had once been in front of the house and stared up at the unfamiliar constellations of the Naboo night. He was aware of his father and mother talking quietly in the ruins of the house behind him. He smiled quietly to himself and hoped that they would be able to resolve their differences. Meanwhile, he had to figure out what to do about his friends.

Luke knew that Anakin had understated the reaction Leia was likely to have about him--she'd been through entirely too much at the hands of the Empire and Vader to easily forgive and forget.

Why am I so ready to forgive him? He wondered. Is it because I was so desperate for a father? He is no longer Darth Vader; apparently that part of him is gone forever--at least to his mind, but not to the rest of the galaxy. As far as I am concerned he is Anakin Skywalker, but can I get Leia and the rest of them to see him that way? He sighed. I guess I'm just going to have to be patient.

His father's memory loss presented additional complications. He truly does not understand what a monster he was, thought Luke. And I can only tell him so much.

He looked down. The bench sat at the edge of a pool of water, and the water was quiet and dark in the still night air. He picked up a pebble and dropped it into the water, watching the ripples spread throughout the water. "Always in motion, the future is..." he half-whispered to himself.

This line of thinking was getting him nowhere, he realized. He straightened up and tried reaching out with the Force, to try and feel where his friends were. At first, he was aware of nothing but the quiet night air and the sounds made by the native animals. As he relaxed, and felt the aches and pains left from his battle with Palpatine fade into the background, his awareness expanded out into the ruins. He found Han, Leia, and Chewbacca fairly quickly--they weren't that far away. For a moment, he studied them in the Force, noting how their presences reflected their personalities. As he studied them, he became aware of another presence flickering on the edge of his awareness. This one felt dark somehow, and dangerous. He reached out to study it, and then found himself slipping into a vision.

He found himself standing by the edge of a deep crevice engaged in a vicious lightsaber fight with a redheaded woman. Her face was snarled in anger and their bodies dripped with sweat from the exertion. She swung at him again, and he jumped up and over her head, knowing the he was the better fighter, and that he could twist himself in flight and stab down at her before she could react. But he hesitated, feeling a strange reluctance to kill this pretty young woman. "It doesn't have to be this way!" he shouted to her.

The vision melded into another one; that of the pretty redhead holding a baby and looking at him with love in her eyes. "He's beautiful, Luke." she said.

"I definitely agree with that," said Anakin's voice.

"Luke. Hey Luke!" said a voice, urgently.

"Hunh? What? Han?" said Luke, suddenly becoming aware of his surroundings. Han, Leia, and Chewbacca stood around him. Han was holding a lantern that lit up the area almost as brightly as day.

"Where were you, buddy?" asked Han. "You seemed really out of it."

"Vader didn't do this to you, did he?" asked Leia, angrily.

"No. I was having a vision through the Force. I think there may be somebody else on this planet with us."

"Friend or foe?" asked Han.

"That was the confusing part. I'm not really sure," replied Luke. "I know that I'm supposed to have a lightsaber fight with her, but that I don't want to kill her."

"Her?" said Han with a glance at Leia.

"Yes," answered Luke.

Leia looked at Luke. "We went inside the shuttle. Do you want to explain what we found there?"

"I can try, but I'm not sure that you would believe me," he answered.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because, to be honest with you, I'm still trying to understand what happened myself." Luke paused and then half-mumbled to himself, "I think it's because he couldn't stand to see his own son murdered by Palpatine." He looked up at Han and Leia. "Understand, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you if it hadn't been for him. Palpatine had beaten me--I had lost. I was going to die. He picked Palpatine up and threw him down a reactor shaft--getting horribly injured in the process." He paused and swallowed. "He should have died. But I reached out--did something with the Force--I don't know what, and he didn't die. Instead, he didn't need the armor anymore. He'd regenerated all the damage that had caused him to need it."

"Darth Vader is alive?" asked Leia, in a flat, disbelieving tone of voice.

"No, not exactly." said Luke.

"What do you mean then?" she asked dangerously.

"Anakin Skywalker is alive. Darth Vader died on the Death Star when whatever I did healed him. I hadn't gotten to the most important part yet-- he's lost his memory. He remembers nothing of his actions since the day he married our mother twenty-some years ago. He truly does not remember being Darth Vader."

"And you believe this?" she asked, incredulously.

He sighed. "Leia, I was there. I know what happened, and if he's lying, he's utterly convincing. Don't you think that I haven't sat here and wondered why I'm so ready to accept him? Is it because I want a father so bad that I can ignore what he previously did? Is it because of something he's doing? I don't know the answers, but I do know that the man in there is not the man we thought of as Darth Vader!"

"Um, guys," said Han, "I hate to interrupt, but we have company." He indicated the doorway of the house, where Anakin and Padme stood, silhouetted against the fire at their backs.

"I'm sorry," said Padme, "but we heard the shouting, and since we knew it had to be about Anakin, we decided to come participate."

Han looked closely at Padme for a moment, and then glanced at Leia. Luckily, she was still staring at Luke or she would have seen the expression of shock that passed over his face. Luke saw it however, and smiled. Good old observant Han, he thought, trust him to figure things out. Han cocked an eyebrow at him and Luke nodded.

"What are you smiling at?" asked Leia, snappishly, "and aren't you going to introduce us?"

Luke sighed. "Well yes, but I'm going to do it in a slightly different way from what you're used to."

"Why?"

"Because I want you to accept it for the truth it is. Han's already figured it out, but I need you to figure it out on your own," answered Luke.

"Figured out what?" asked Leia, curiously, turning to Han. "What is it, Han?"

"Sorry, princess, but I agree with your brother there. You need to figure this one out yourself," he replied.

"Perhaps if you could see me better?" said Padme, as she walked out into the circle of light cast by Han's lantern.

"Your voice sounds familiar, somehow," said Leia, puzzled. She turned to look at Padme and gave a little gasp of recognition. "It's...it's...Sabe! My old nurse, Sabe." Leia ran to her and gave her a hug. "You left so suddenly, and all father would say is that you had a family emergency and you wouldn't be returning. What are you doing here? I missed you so!"

Padme smiled wistfully. "Oh, child. I had to leave because the Emperor's servants were getting to close to discovering who I was. You see, my name isn't Sabe, it's Padme Amidala Naberrie Skywalker." She paused to let that sink in.

Leia's eyes widened as the import of Padme's words sank into her. "M...mother?"

"You see, Bail and Obi-Wan thought it best if neither of you knew that your parents were alive. The obvious reason for that was your father..." She glanced at Anakin, standing in the doorway, "but it was also decided that it would be too dangerous for you to know that I was alive as well. You might have told someone who would report it to the Empire. And the ultimate goal was to protect you both from the Emperor. So, I came here. This was...is my homeworld, after all."

"But...how..." said Leia. Suddenly her face darkened, "This is some kind of trick isn't it? You're trying to fool me. Why?"

"Leia," said Luke. "This isn't a trick. Han sees the resemblance between you and mother. You both look so much alike it's hard not to--although at least she doesn't use a cookbook for a hair-styling guide." He grinned at her.

"Luke, I..."

"Look, I realize that this is all very difficult to take in at once." Luke continued. "Imagine how I felt. I'd just started to deal with the shock of the events that occurred on the Death Star and during the flight here, and then I meet my mother. It's a bit overwhelming."

Leia cleared her throat. "Luke, that's him, isn't it?" she said, indicating Anakin's shadowy figure standing in the doorway.

"Yes," he said.

At Leia's words, Anakin stepped forward into the circle of light cast by the lantern. He just stood there, unable to meet her eyes, as she studied him. He looked defenseless somehow, standing there without the armor and the mask. He was tall, she thought, that certainly hadn't changed, but the imposing, overbearing sense of evil was gone. He was a middle-aged bald man who thought he was a twenty-year old.

Why didn't I get some of his height, she thought quizzically.

She caught herself mentally. Did I just think something funny about Darth Vader? She thought. And did I just accept him as my father? What's wrong with me?

But he's not really Vader anymore, whispered another part of her mind. Luke certainly doesn't think so, and Luke's never led you wrong before. And there's nothing wrong with you--he is your father.

But losing his memories doesn't excuse what he did as Darth Vader! And I don't want Darth Vader as a father! She could feel her utter disgust at the thought of being related to that monster climbing up her throat.

Being related to him doesn't mean that you've acquired responsibility for his evil. Anakin Skywalker was a good man, and you've accepted that Padme is your mother--do you really think that your mother would have married someone so evil? Besides, whispered the other part of her mind, he isn't Vader any more. It's like Luke said, Vader died on the Death Star. He's Anakin Skywalker now. Give him a chance. Between the three of you, you should be able to keep him on the light side.

Who are you? She thought. You aren't me, she added.

I've always been here, said the other voice. Obi-Wan was watching over Luke, and I took it upon myself to watch over you. My name can wait for another time. You need to speak to your father now. The living are always more important than the dead.

You're dead? She thought, but there was no answer. The voice seemed to have gone elsewhere.

She looked around and noticed that everyone was staring at her. "Are you alright?" asked Han, "You seemed a little blank for a minute."

"I'm fine," she said, with a reassuring smile. She turned her gaze back to her father.

"Anakin?" she said gently.

At her tone of voice, he looked up at her, and it was immediately obvious where Luke had gotten his eyes.

"Anakin," she continued, "I can't and probably won't forgive what you did as Darth Vader. But Luke seems to think that Darth Vader died on the Death Star, and as I love my brother, I'm going to try to think the same way." She was surprised to find tears running down her face. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm glad Luke found you, father."