Chapter 7
Forenze glared up at the ceiling of her cell. "All right, Mr. Kain-Fett-whoever you are, I know you've got a holocam up there somewhere, and I know you're watching this! Why don't you just kill me or interrogate me or whatever it is you're gonna do and get it over with? 'Cause I'm tired of rotting in here!"
She paced the length of the cell, muttering to herself. Aside from her lucky jailbreak three days ago, she had yet to see another living being. It seemed as if Kain was perfectly content with sealing her in a cell and letting her gather dust, like a toy collector hoarded a rare action figure in a sterile acid-free case and never touched it.
"Oh, and a word of advice, fire your cook," she told the hidden camera. "I found bugs floating in the caf. And I won't mention what was in the tavah."
She grinned evilly. That was her one weapon. All Imperial prisons had cams in every cell to monitor captives, and a technician was constantly assigned to keep an eye on what those cams recorded. She couldn't strike at Kain directly, but at least she could rattle his underlings.
"Forenze."
"What, you got a speaker in here too…" she began, turning around. "Son of a fwup!"
Someone was in the cell with her – sort of. He was an old white-haired, bearded human, wearing loose robes and a kindly smile. But what unnerved Forenze was the fact that he was transparent, strangely ethereal, and he glowed softly.
"I'm honored to finally meet you, niece of Jedi Master Vergere," he told her.
She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "It's the isolation, that's what it is. Isolation coupled with the stress of being a prisoner of war has caused the vivid visual and auditory hallucinations that signal the onset of a total nervous breakdown…"
"I am Obi-wan Kenobi."
Her eyes shot open. "Obi-wan? The Obi-wan who trained Luke Skywalker?"
"I don't know of any other Obi-wans," he replied wryly. "And yes, I did train Luke."
"But I thought you were dead! A Sith sliced a lightsaber through you!" She really couldn't bring herself to say Vader's name in conjunction with that murder.
"From a certain point of view, yes. My material body is dead, but my spirit is one with the Force."
"But you're dead!" she shrieked. "You can't be here if you're dead! It flies in the face of medical science!"
"The Force is not bound by the rules of medical science. Having spent time around Jedi, I think you should know that."
"Okay, so you're the ghost or spirit or whatnot of Obi-wan," she acknowledged, still not happy with this situation. "So what are you doing here? Why don't you go haunt Luke or something?"
His smile widened. "You certainly are a spitfire, Forenze."
"Are you gonna stand there and insult me, or do you have a purpose for being here? Oh, and I'd better warn you, we're probably being watched."
"The holocam is malfunctioning," Obi-wan informed her with a sly look. "While the technician searches for the glitch, we have time to talk."
"A ghost and a rascal," she huffed. "Why do I get the weird cellmates?"
"If you'd listen a few minutes, I'd be happy to tell you why I'm here."
"Fine, shoot."
A vision unfolded before her eyes. She saw Princess Leia and that rogue Han Solo in the hold of the Millennium Falcon, talking softly. She tried to make out what they were saying, but evidently sound wasn't included in this ordeal. Han gently took Leia's hands in his, murmured something, and… were they kissing? A princess and a pirate… and she thought she'd seen odd couples.
That scene blurred into another – that of a damp forested world, one untouched by either the Rebellion or the Empire. A diminutive green alien hobbled through the undergrowth, followed by none other than Luke and Vader.
Another blur, and a third scene appeared – Darth Kain, taking orders from a black-cowled maggot of a man she assumed was the Emperor. Close by stood a chalk-pale woman in a skin-tight red suit and carrying a heavy blaster rifle. Kain bowed to his master obediently, then the Emperor and the woman boarded a shuttle.
She cleared the visions with a shake of her head. "Stang…"
"You saw Han and Leia during a respite in their flight from the Empire," Obi-wan clarified. "Next you saw Luke and Vader continuing their Jedi training under Yoda."
Forenze whistled appreciatively. The Empire had wiped any trace of the Jedi Order from history archives, but Yoda had been a legend no power could erase.
"The last scene showed Darth Kain, the Emperor, and the bounty hunter Aurra Sing. Palpatine and the hunter are on their way to the planet of Bespin, where they have set up a trap for the Millennium Falcon."
"But why are you showing me this?" she demanded. "I can't do squat in this hole!"
"Because the galaxy is edging closer toward a conflict that will decide the fate of the galaxy. Han and Leia too, but especially Luke and Vader, will be key players in that ultimate battle. Unfortunately, Kain and his vile master are determined to eliminate them before that conflict can be waged. And they mean to use you as a pawn to further their own ends."
She swallowed. Being a simple Rebel captive was one thing, but a pawn in a much larger game… "Why me?" she squeaked.
"Vader. Kain knows of your relationship and means to exploit it. He knows Luke and Vader will stop at nothing to ensure their friends' safety. He will be swift to take advantage of this."
"I can prevent that," she assured him. "I've broken out of this crate once. I can do it again."
Obi-wan smiled grimly. "I don't expect you to endanger yourself, Forenze. I only encourage you to be strong through the coming trials and do all you can to aid Vader and Luke. They'll need all the help they can get."
Before she could ask what kind of help, he glanced at the door.
"I must go. I am needed elsewhere. May the Force be with you."
"Now just a minute…" she snapped, but he'd vanished. "Well, thanks for the pleasure of your company," she muttered sarcastically.
The cell door hissed open, and Kain stepped inside.
"About time, bucket-head," she griped.
"Watch your mouth, doctor," he rasped. "It will be your death someday."
"You're getting no information from me."
"Who says I'm here for information?"
A horribly familiar spherical droid entered the cell, beeping ominously.
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The day slid by slowly for Luke and Vader. Yoda had declared the rest of the day a free day, but the problem was that leisure activities were scarce on Dagobah. Luke finally resorted to running laps through the swamp, doing some deep thinking, while Vader and Artoo kept busy tinkering with Rusty's circuits.
On his first pass through the clearing where their fighters and Yoda's hut were, he saw Vader making a final adjustment to a circuit board and closing the panel.
"All right, let's power him up," he said gamely, flipping a switch.
Rusty came to life with a whistle, then gave a horrendous screech as sparks and smoke billowed from every possible opening in his cylindrical body.
"Turn him off! Turn him off!" he shouted, fumbling for the switch as Artoo shrouded the three of them in a fog of fire-smothering chemicals.
Luke jogged on, the mayhem eventually fading in the distance. He thought about the Alliance for a while. Had they found a safe haven from the Empire's clutches? Were they at all concerned about the fate of their Rogue Commander and Second Commander? He wished he'd left a message with Wedge or any other Rogue, but there hadn't been time, and it was far too risky to send a message from Dagobah.
He thought about Han and Leia, too. Surely by now they had either killed each other or finally admitted their feelings toward each other. He couldn't help laughing a little as he loped through a shallow pond. Knowing their stubborn natures, the first option was more likely.
On his second trip through the clearing, he noted that the R4 unit's dome was missing. Its pieces were strewn on the ground as Vader and Artoo brooded over the array. Both of them, to Luke's amusement, were coated with sticky flame-retardant spray.
Luke continued his run. Now his thoughts drifted toward his father. Did Yoda know him? If he'd trained Obi-wan, that was highly probable. But if so, why hadn't he volunteered any information? Why all the secrecy?
And his mother… who was she? At least he knew his father's name and that he was a Jedi. But he knew absolutely nothing of his mother. Had she been a Jedi too? Was she still alive, or had Vader killed her too? What did she look like? What was her name? Had Yoda known her at all?
When he entered the clearing again, Rusty was still in pieces – in fact, it looked as if Vader and Artoo hadn't even touched the components since he'd left them. Vader, he was considerably alarmed to see, was kneeling and doubled over as if in pain, trembling uncontrollably. Artoo was rocking back and forth and whining anxiously, his single red photoreceptor fastened on Luke as if expecting him to make everything right.
"Vader!" he exclaimed, running toward him. Had he experienced another flashback? From the looks of it, it had to be an extremely disturbing memory.
"Luke…" Vader moaned, his head lifting just barely.
He knelt beside the stricken man and put his hands on his shoulders, trying to push him upright. "What happened? What is it?"
"I… don't know." He slowly uncurled his body and straightened to an upright position, rubbing his arms as if chilled. "I just… felt something. Not a flashback, but pain… great pain. The only other time I've felt like this was when Bekme died on Yavin."
Luke's stomach clenched. "You felt someone die?"
"I don't think so. At the Battle of Yavin, I felt your emotional pain, not Bekme's death." He shivered again. "I think someone close to us is in great pain."
"Han and Leia?" Luke asked anxiously.
"I don't know. It came and went so quickly, I couldn't sense who it was or what was causing it."
"Stang!" Luke clutched at his scalp in frustration. "Han and Leia must be in big trouble. Either that or the Alliance is in trouble, which isn't any better. We should be there helping…"
"Help the Alliance more you can when Jedi you are," Yoda replied curtly, exiting his hut with a tray laden with three steaming cups. "Impatient you are, Skywalker. Slow down. On the moment concentrate, the here and now." He set the tray down. "Adventure. Excitement. Heh. A Jedi craves not these things."
"It's not adventure or excitement we want," Vader countered. "We don't want any harm coming to our friends."
Yoda sighed. "Patience, younglings. Ready you will be when need you the Alliance truly does." He picked up the smallest of the three cups. "Drink. Help you relax it will."
"Always prepared, aren't you?" noted Vader, taking a cup for himself. During one of his upgrade operations, Forenze had arranged a method for him to take in nourishment through his mask. It meant he was restricted to a liquid diet, but it also meant independence from nutrient tubes and external medical equipment – one more small victory in his constant battle against his cybernetic body.
"Joy, more gimer-root tea," Luke joked with a faked groan, claiming the last cup. The stuff was a mild tranquilizing agent, allowing a Jedi to relax and meditate more easily. Actually, Luke enjoyed it, and he breathed in the tea's rich, slightly woody aroma before sipping.
"Master," Vader pressed, "I distinctly felt someone in pain. Whoever it is, they're in great danger. Shouldn't we do something about it?"
Yoda eyed him critically. "And if causing it Darth Kain or his twisted master is, think you that you can stop them alone? Far more powerful than you they are, Padawan. Destroy you they will."
Vader didn't seem happy with this warning, but he decided to drop it.
A long stretch of thoughtful silence, punctured by Artoo's blips and whirrs and the constant thrum of wildlife.
"It's been a long day, hasn't it?" Luke asked rhetorically.
"No longer than usual," Yoda replied.
Despite himself, Luke grinned. "I guess I should rephrase that. It's been an eventful day."
"Indeed. Come far you two have. Learned much you have. But Jedi you are not yet."
Luke drained his cup and tossed it back onto the tray. Seeing as the evening was winding swiftly down, he may as well go to bed.
"Why wish you to become Jedi?" Yoda asked.
Vader chuckled. "Now he asks – ow!"
"Respect your master you should," Yoda chided, lifting his cane as if to rap Vader's hand again. But he put it away and awaited an answer.
"I know I was once a Jedi," Vader replied. "And I know I betrayed the Order. It is my hope that I can do penance of a sort by helping resurrect the Order."
Yoda nodded. "And you, Luke?"
Luke settled back into a sitting position. "I suppose because of my father. I never knew him. He's always been… I don't know… an enigma. A mystery. But I still feel a kind of bond with him, as if he's never actually left my side. And I'd like to follow in his footsteps."
Yoda glanced up sharply. "And what footsteps would those be?" he demanded sharply.
"My father was a Jedi," he replied, wondering why his remark had stunned their master so. "I want to be a Jedi, like he was. I want to follow a noble cause like his – a cause he died for."
There was a dead-serious look in Yoda's eyes now. "And what know you of your father's fate?"
"What are you getting at, Master?" asked Luke.
"I betrayed and murdered his father," Vader answered for him. "But he has forgiven me. And though I do not remember committing the deed, I hope to repent of it by serving the Order."
"Hmph," Yoda snorted. "Told you this who did?"
"Obi-wan," Luke replied. "Why?"
"Told you the truth from a certain point of view he did," Yoda replied, glowering upward as if addressing the cosmic ethers. "Always telling things from a certain point of view he was. Knew he did that his responsibility it was to tell you the truth…"
/Neither of them were ready for the burden, Yoda/ came Kenobi's voice, bright and clear in all their minds. /What would you have had me do?/
"The burden?" repeated Vader. "What burden?"
Yoda lowered his head, his expression gravely sympathetic. "Time it is to tell you what Obi-wan should have revealed three years ago. Time it is to tell you of your father, Luke."
Luke leaned forward intently, his stomach unexpectedly heavy with apprehension. Wasn't this what he'd been wanting all his life? To learn of his father's past? Then why was he so nervous? Something in Yoda's demeanor suggested that perhaps Obi-wan had a right to hide something from him.
"Should I leave the two of you alone?" asked Vader.
"Stay," Yoda ordered. "Concerns you too this does."
/Forgive me, Luke and Vader/ came Obi-wan's voice again. /But I had my reasons…/ He never finished.
"Your father Anakin Skywalker was," began Yoda. "Taken as an apprentice by Obi-wan he was."
"I know all this," Luke protested.
"Silence," Yoda instructed, then resumed. "A slave he had been to a junk dealer on Tatooine. An excellent pilot and mechanic he was, but full of fear and anger. Approved of his training I did not. He was too old, exposed he had been to dark emotions… But promised to train him Obi-wan had, and relented the Jedi Council did. Taken as Obi-wan's Padawan learner Anakin was.
"Ten years Anakin studied, growing stronger every day. But disagreed on many counts he did with the Jedi Code."
Luke nodded. The Code had been one of the first things they'd learned under Yoda's tutelage – five lines that instructed a Jedi how to live and conduct himself. /There is no emotion; there is peace. There is no ignorance; there is knowledge. There is no passion; there is serenity. There is no chaos; there is order. There is no death; there is the Force./
"Taught you the first part of the Order I did," Yoda said in echo of Luke's thoughts. "But other precepts the Code includes. 'A Jedi shall not take more than one apprentice at a time' is one, though good reason there was to disregard it in your case. Another is 'a Jedi shall not know…'"
"'Shall not know discouragement… nor despair… nor love,'" Vader finished. When Luke glanced over at his fellow trainee, he was staring off into space, oddly contemplative.
"Remembered it you have, then," Yoda noted.
"Yes," he murmured, still lost in his own thoughts. "I never did like that part of the Code."
Yoda nodded and continued. "Fell in love Anakin did with a senator from Naboo. Padme Amidala her name was, and first resisted his affections she did. But succumbed to her emotions she did, and married they did. A forbidden bond… one that destroyed them both.
"Arise the fear and anger did in Anakin – the dark side. Fear that discovered their marriage might be. Anger when died in his arms his mother did. Planted in his heart hatred was – hatred toward the Jedi, toward all life, toward all that was good. Consumed by his passions he was, and in the end, destroyed his soul was by the dark side."
Another pause, this one much longer. Luke's legs were cramping from staying in one position for so long, but he hardly noticed the pain. Yoda's story had commanded his entire attention.
"Hide your mother had to. And hidden you were for your own safety, Luke. For the bane of the galaxy and the Jedi your father had become."
The truth was hanging right in his face, but he refused to accept it, to acknowledge it, until Yoda's next sentence confirmed it.
"Darth Vader your father became."
Those five words hit him like a blow in the stomach. His world was spiraling rapidly out of control. Vader… he wasn't his father's murderer… he was his FATHER…
The entire planet seemed to be holding its breath in anticipation of his reaction. Yoda watched him carefully, gauging his response. Vader was staring at him too – no, gaping. Even with his face sheathed in steel, his shock was completely evident.
But the face beneath that metal shield was that of his father, for the Force's sake! The man who he'd thought of as his father's killer WAS his father! In a matter of seconds, Yoda had turned his world upside down. But why did it have to be Yoda who revealed it? Why had Obi-wan lied to him and let him believe a delusion all this time? Didn't he understand that he needed a father – but more importantly, he needed the truth?
"No," Vader finally managed in a desperate whisper. "It's not true. It's impossible!"
"Both of you your feelings search," Yoda replied. "Know it to be true you do."
Search his feelings? Stars, how was he supposed to search his feelings when they were screaming to be released in a flurry of fists or a primal howl? This couldn't be happening; it had to be a dream! His mind couldn't accept this shattering revelation. His father couldn't be Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader!
He stood abruptly. "I'm going for a walk."
"Luke…" began Yoda.
He didn't wait for the rest of it but simply walked away. Vader shouted something at his back, but he ignored it. Somehow Vader was the last person he wanted to talk to right now.
"Ben," he moaned once he was some distance from the others, "why didn't you tell me?" He sank to his knees. "All this time he was right next to me and you didn't tell me…" He crumpled, shaking with sobs.
In reply Obi-wan's presence enfolded him in a gentle, sad embrace.
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Vader stared in the direction Luke had retreated, still too dazed to move. All this time Luke had been his son? His very flesh and blood? The truth was staggering. And yet… he'd always felt close to the boy. The bond, however inexplicable, had existed all along. But why hadn't the truth been revealed to them earlier?
Yoda lowered his head, eyes closed. "Taking it hard Luke is."
"Of course he is," Vader retorted, unable to keep an iron edge out of his voice. "He finally has a face to put to his father's name, and it's the steel mask of a Sith! He should have known earlier… stang, we BOTH should have known earlier! Why did you and Obi-wan hide this for so long? Did you think we'd be too stupid to eventually figure it out?"
"A wise man Obi-wan is," Yoda replied. "But make mistakes even he does. And besides, when asked about his father Luke did, a servant of the Emperor you still were. If known you were his father he had, joined you as a Sith he would have."
"But Obi-wan should have corrected it when I joined the Alliance!" Vader shot back angrily. "Luke needed a father! He needed the truth, by the Force! Not certain points of view!" A sob caught in his throat, and the last of his argument came out a strained whisper. "I needed the truth, Master. I needed to know as much as he did…"
Yoda raised his hand and grabbed the "chin" of Vader's mask, forcing him to look his master in the eyes. "Hard this is on both of you. Right you are that known earlier you should have, but change it I cannot. Live with the consequences and move on you must." He smiled sadly. "But now, needs you your son does."
Vader stared at Yoda a minute, then got to his feet and walked away, still boiling with anger and shock. Luke had been hurt enough in his young life. He didn't need this on top of it. Luke was his friend and didn't deserve this…
He halted, the full impact of Yoda's revelation finally sinking in. Luke was far more than his friend – he was his son. He'd always been his son. And he'd betrayed Luke just as much, if not more, than Obi-wan had.
/I should have been there for Luke/ he thought. /Luke and his mother…/
…"Don't be afraid," he murmured, hoping to extend some small comfort to the woman beside him.
"I'm not afraid to die," she replied serenely.
When he looked into Padme's face, he was surprised to find her as calm as if they were sitting down to dinner and not chained into a chariot, awaiting sure death.
"I've been dying a little each day since you came back into my life," she continued.
"I thought we had decided not to fall in love," he protested, but inside he was overwhelmed with happiness. "That we would be living a lie. That it would destroy us."
"I think our lives are about to be destroyed already," Padme whispered. "I truly, deeply love you, and I want you to know before we die."
He leaned forward as much as his shackles would allow and shared a gentle, passionate kiss with her, his entire being glowing with the joy of knowing she reciprocated his love…
Vader stared into the gray sky. "Padme," he murmured, savoring the name on his tongue, mesmerized by the memory of her cascade of dark brown hair, her deep soulful brown eyes, her brilliant laughter and smile. It was almost as if she were standing here in the swamp with him, close enough to touch, to embrace…
"Padme," he moaned, sinking to his knees. "Did I betray you as I betrayed our son? Did I destroy you too?"
Bowing his head, he wept. The skies overhead poured down rain as if expressing tears of sympathy.
Forenze glared up at the ceiling of her cell. "All right, Mr. Kain-Fett-whoever you are, I know you've got a holocam up there somewhere, and I know you're watching this! Why don't you just kill me or interrogate me or whatever it is you're gonna do and get it over with? 'Cause I'm tired of rotting in here!"
She paced the length of the cell, muttering to herself. Aside from her lucky jailbreak three days ago, she had yet to see another living being. It seemed as if Kain was perfectly content with sealing her in a cell and letting her gather dust, like a toy collector hoarded a rare action figure in a sterile acid-free case and never touched it.
"Oh, and a word of advice, fire your cook," she told the hidden camera. "I found bugs floating in the caf. And I won't mention what was in the tavah."
She grinned evilly. That was her one weapon. All Imperial prisons had cams in every cell to monitor captives, and a technician was constantly assigned to keep an eye on what those cams recorded. She couldn't strike at Kain directly, but at least she could rattle his underlings.
"Forenze."
"What, you got a speaker in here too…" she began, turning around. "Son of a fwup!"
Someone was in the cell with her – sort of. He was an old white-haired, bearded human, wearing loose robes and a kindly smile. But what unnerved Forenze was the fact that he was transparent, strangely ethereal, and he glowed softly.
"I'm honored to finally meet you, niece of Jedi Master Vergere," he told her.
She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "It's the isolation, that's what it is. Isolation coupled with the stress of being a prisoner of war has caused the vivid visual and auditory hallucinations that signal the onset of a total nervous breakdown…"
"I am Obi-wan Kenobi."
Her eyes shot open. "Obi-wan? The Obi-wan who trained Luke Skywalker?"
"I don't know of any other Obi-wans," he replied wryly. "And yes, I did train Luke."
"But I thought you were dead! A Sith sliced a lightsaber through you!" She really couldn't bring herself to say Vader's name in conjunction with that murder.
"From a certain point of view, yes. My material body is dead, but my spirit is one with the Force."
"But you're dead!" she shrieked. "You can't be here if you're dead! It flies in the face of medical science!"
"The Force is not bound by the rules of medical science. Having spent time around Jedi, I think you should know that."
"Okay, so you're the ghost or spirit or whatnot of Obi-wan," she acknowledged, still not happy with this situation. "So what are you doing here? Why don't you go haunt Luke or something?"
His smile widened. "You certainly are a spitfire, Forenze."
"Are you gonna stand there and insult me, or do you have a purpose for being here? Oh, and I'd better warn you, we're probably being watched."
"The holocam is malfunctioning," Obi-wan informed her with a sly look. "While the technician searches for the glitch, we have time to talk."
"A ghost and a rascal," she huffed. "Why do I get the weird cellmates?"
"If you'd listen a few minutes, I'd be happy to tell you why I'm here."
"Fine, shoot."
A vision unfolded before her eyes. She saw Princess Leia and that rogue Han Solo in the hold of the Millennium Falcon, talking softly. She tried to make out what they were saying, but evidently sound wasn't included in this ordeal. Han gently took Leia's hands in his, murmured something, and… were they kissing? A princess and a pirate… and she thought she'd seen odd couples.
That scene blurred into another – that of a damp forested world, one untouched by either the Rebellion or the Empire. A diminutive green alien hobbled through the undergrowth, followed by none other than Luke and Vader.
Another blur, and a third scene appeared – Darth Kain, taking orders from a black-cowled maggot of a man she assumed was the Emperor. Close by stood a chalk-pale woman in a skin-tight red suit and carrying a heavy blaster rifle. Kain bowed to his master obediently, then the Emperor and the woman boarded a shuttle.
She cleared the visions with a shake of her head. "Stang…"
"You saw Han and Leia during a respite in their flight from the Empire," Obi-wan clarified. "Next you saw Luke and Vader continuing their Jedi training under Yoda."
Forenze whistled appreciatively. The Empire had wiped any trace of the Jedi Order from history archives, but Yoda had been a legend no power could erase.
"The last scene showed Darth Kain, the Emperor, and the bounty hunter Aurra Sing. Palpatine and the hunter are on their way to the planet of Bespin, where they have set up a trap for the Millennium Falcon."
"But why are you showing me this?" she demanded. "I can't do squat in this hole!"
"Because the galaxy is edging closer toward a conflict that will decide the fate of the galaxy. Han and Leia too, but especially Luke and Vader, will be key players in that ultimate battle. Unfortunately, Kain and his vile master are determined to eliminate them before that conflict can be waged. And they mean to use you as a pawn to further their own ends."
She swallowed. Being a simple Rebel captive was one thing, but a pawn in a much larger game… "Why me?" she squeaked.
"Vader. Kain knows of your relationship and means to exploit it. He knows Luke and Vader will stop at nothing to ensure their friends' safety. He will be swift to take advantage of this."
"I can prevent that," she assured him. "I've broken out of this crate once. I can do it again."
Obi-wan smiled grimly. "I don't expect you to endanger yourself, Forenze. I only encourage you to be strong through the coming trials and do all you can to aid Vader and Luke. They'll need all the help they can get."
Before she could ask what kind of help, he glanced at the door.
"I must go. I am needed elsewhere. May the Force be with you."
"Now just a minute…" she snapped, but he'd vanished. "Well, thanks for the pleasure of your company," she muttered sarcastically.
The cell door hissed open, and Kain stepped inside.
"About time, bucket-head," she griped.
"Watch your mouth, doctor," he rasped. "It will be your death someday."
"You're getting no information from me."
"Who says I'm here for information?"
A horribly familiar spherical droid entered the cell, beeping ominously.
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The day slid by slowly for Luke and Vader. Yoda had declared the rest of the day a free day, but the problem was that leisure activities were scarce on Dagobah. Luke finally resorted to running laps through the swamp, doing some deep thinking, while Vader and Artoo kept busy tinkering with Rusty's circuits.
On his first pass through the clearing where their fighters and Yoda's hut were, he saw Vader making a final adjustment to a circuit board and closing the panel.
"All right, let's power him up," he said gamely, flipping a switch.
Rusty came to life with a whistle, then gave a horrendous screech as sparks and smoke billowed from every possible opening in his cylindrical body.
"Turn him off! Turn him off!" he shouted, fumbling for the switch as Artoo shrouded the three of them in a fog of fire-smothering chemicals.
Luke jogged on, the mayhem eventually fading in the distance. He thought about the Alliance for a while. Had they found a safe haven from the Empire's clutches? Were they at all concerned about the fate of their Rogue Commander and Second Commander? He wished he'd left a message with Wedge or any other Rogue, but there hadn't been time, and it was far too risky to send a message from Dagobah.
He thought about Han and Leia, too. Surely by now they had either killed each other or finally admitted their feelings toward each other. He couldn't help laughing a little as he loped through a shallow pond. Knowing their stubborn natures, the first option was more likely.
On his second trip through the clearing, he noted that the R4 unit's dome was missing. Its pieces were strewn on the ground as Vader and Artoo brooded over the array. Both of them, to Luke's amusement, were coated with sticky flame-retardant spray.
Luke continued his run. Now his thoughts drifted toward his father. Did Yoda know him? If he'd trained Obi-wan, that was highly probable. But if so, why hadn't he volunteered any information? Why all the secrecy?
And his mother… who was she? At least he knew his father's name and that he was a Jedi. But he knew absolutely nothing of his mother. Had she been a Jedi too? Was she still alive, or had Vader killed her too? What did she look like? What was her name? Had Yoda known her at all?
When he entered the clearing again, Rusty was still in pieces – in fact, it looked as if Vader and Artoo hadn't even touched the components since he'd left them. Vader, he was considerably alarmed to see, was kneeling and doubled over as if in pain, trembling uncontrollably. Artoo was rocking back and forth and whining anxiously, his single red photoreceptor fastened on Luke as if expecting him to make everything right.
"Vader!" he exclaimed, running toward him. Had he experienced another flashback? From the looks of it, it had to be an extremely disturbing memory.
"Luke…" Vader moaned, his head lifting just barely.
He knelt beside the stricken man and put his hands on his shoulders, trying to push him upright. "What happened? What is it?"
"I… don't know." He slowly uncurled his body and straightened to an upright position, rubbing his arms as if chilled. "I just… felt something. Not a flashback, but pain… great pain. The only other time I've felt like this was when Bekme died on Yavin."
Luke's stomach clenched. "You felt someone die?"
"I don't think so. At the Battle of Yavin, I felt your emotional pain, not Bekme's death." He shivered again. "I think someone close to us is in great pain."
"Han and Leia?" Luke asked anxiously.
"I don't know. It came and went so quickly, I couldn't sense who it was or what was causing it."
"Stang!" Luke clutched at his scalp in frustration. "Han and Leia must be in big trouble. Either that or the Alliance is in trouble, which isn't any better. We should be there helping…"
"Help the Alliance more you can when Jedi you are," Yoda replied curtly, exiting his hut with a tray laden with three steaming cups. "Impatient you are, Skywalker. Slow down. On the moment concentrate, the here and now." He set the tray down. "Adventure. Excitement. Heh. A Jedi craves not these things."
"It's not adventure or excitement we want," Vader countered. "We don't want any harm coming to our friends."
Yoda sighed. "Patience, younglings. Ready you will be when need you the Alliance truly does." He picked up the smallest of the three cups. "Drink. Help you relax it will."
"Always prepared, aren't you?" noted Vader, taking a cup for himself. During one of his upgrade operations, Forenze had arranged a method for him to take in nourishment through his mask. It meant he was restricted to a liquid diet, but it also meant independence from nutrient tubes and external medical equipment – one more small victory in his constant battle against his cybernetic body.
"Joy, more gimer-root tea," Luke joked with a faked groan, claiming the last cup. The stuff was a mild tranquilizing agent, allowing a Jedi to relax and meditate more easily. Actually, Luke enjoyed it, and he breathed in the tea's rich, slightly woody aroma before sipping.
"Master," Vader pressed, "I distinctly felt someone in pain. Whoever it is, they're in great danger. Shouldn't we do something about it?"
Yoda eyed him critically. "And if causing it Darth Kain or his twisted master is, think you that you can stop them alone? Far more powerful than you they are, Padawan. Destroy you they will."
Vader didn't seem happy with this warning, but he decided to drop it.
A long stretch of thoughtful silence, punctured by Artoo's blips and whirrs and the constant thrum of wildlife.
"It's been a long day, hasn't it?" Luke asked rhetorically.
"No longer than usual," Yoda replied.
Despite himself, Luke grinned. "I guess I should rephrase that. It's been an eventful day."
"Indeed. Come far you two have. Learned much you have. But Jedi you are not yet."
Luke drained his cup and tossed it back onto the tray. Seeing as the evening was winding swiftly down, he may as well go to bed.
"Why wish you to become Jedi?" Yoda asked.
Vader chuckled. "Now he asks – ow!"
"Respect your master you should," Yoda chided, lifting his cane as if to rap Vader's hand again. But he put it away and awaited an answer.
"I know I was once a Jedi," Vader replied. "And I know I betrayed the Order. It is my hope that I can do penance of a sort by helping resurrect the Order."
Yoda nodded. "And you, Luke?"
Luke settled back into a sitting position. "I suppose because of my father. I never knew him. He's always been… I don't know… an enigma. A mystery. But I still feel a kind of bond with him, as if he's never actually left my side. And I'd like to follow in his footsteps."
Yoda glanced up sharply. "And what footsteps would those be?" he demanded sharply.
"My father was a Jedi," he replied, wondering why his remark had stunned their master so. "I want to be a Jedi, like he was. I want to follow a noble cause like his – a cause he died for."
There was a dead-serious look in Yoda's eyes now. "And what know you of your father's fate?"
"What are you getting at, Master?" asked Luke.
"I betrayed and murdered his father," Vader answered for him. "But he has forgiven me. And though I do not remember committing the deed, I hope to repent of it by serving the Order."
"Hmph," Yoda snorted. "Told you this who did?"
"Obi-wan," Luke replied. "Why?"
"Told you the truth from a certain point of view he did," Yoda replied, glowering upward as if addressing the cosmic ethers. "Always telling things from a certain point of view he was. Knew he did that his responsibility it was to tell you the truth…"
/Neither of them were ready for the burden, Yoda/ came Kenobi's voice, bright and clear in all their minds. /What would you have had me do?/
"The burden?" repeated Vader. "What burden?"
Yoda lowered his head, his expression gravely sympathetic. "Time it is to tell you what Obi-wan should have revealed three years ago. Time it is to tell you of your father, Luke."
Luke leaned forward intently, his stomach unexpectedly heavy with apprehension. Wasn't this what he'd been wanting all his life? To learn of his father's past? Then why was he so nervous? Something in Yoda's demeanor suggested that perhaps Obi-wan had a right to hide something from him.
"Should I leave the two of you alone?" asked Vader.
"Stay," Yoda ordered. "Concerns you too this does."
/Forgive me, Luke and Vader/ came Obi-wan's voice again. /But I had my reasons…/ He never finished.
"Your father Anakin Skywalker was," began Yoda. "Taken as an apprentice by Obi-wan he was."
"I know all this," Luke protested.
"Silence," Yoda instructed, then resumed. "A slave he had been to a junk dealer on Tatooine. An excellent pilot and mechanic he was, but full of fear and anger. Approved of his training I did not. He was too old, exposed he had been to dark emotions… But promised to train him Obi-wan had, and relented the Jedi Council did. Taken as Obi-wan's Padawan learner Anakin was.
"Ten years Anakin studied, growing stronger every day. But disagreed on many counts he did with the Jedi Code."
Luke nodded. The Code had been one of the first things they'd learned under Yoda's tutelage – five lines that instructed a Jedi how to live and conduct himself. /There is no emotion; there is peace. There is no ignorance; there is knowledge. There is no passion; there is serenity. There is no chaos; there is order. There is no death; there is the Force./
"Taught you the first part of the Order I did," Yoda said in echo of Luke's thoughts. "But other precepts the Code includes. 'A Jedi shall not take more than one apprentice at a time' is one, though good reason there was to disregard it in your case. Another is 'a Jedi shall not know…'"
"'Shall not know discouragement… nor despair… nor love,'" Vader finished. When Luke glanced over at his fellow trainee, he was staring off into space, oddly contemplative.
"Remembered it you have, then," Yoda noted.
"Yes," he murmured, still lost in his own thoughts. "I never did like that part of the Code."
Yoda nodded and continued. "Fell in love Anakin did with a senator from Naboo. Padme Amidala her name was, and first resisted his affections she did. But succumbed to her emotions she did, and married they did. A forbidden bond… one that destroyed them both.
"Arise the fear and anger did in Anakin – the dark side. Fear that discovered their marriage might be. Anger when died in his arms his mother did. Planted in his heart hatred was – hatred toward the Jedi, toward all life, toward all that was good. Consumed by his passions he was, and in the end, destroyed his soul was by the dark side."
Another pause, this one much longer. Luke's legs were cramping from staying in one position for so long, but he hardly noticed the pain. Yoda's story had commanded his entire attention.
"Hide your mother had to. And hidden you were for your own safety, Luke. For the bane of the galaxy and the Jedi your father had become."
The truth was hanging right in his face, but he refused to accept it, to acknowledge it, until Yoda's next sentence confirmed it.
"Darth Vader your father became."
Those five words hit him like a blow in the stomach. His world was spiraling rapidly out of control. Vader… he wasn't his father's murderer… he was his FATHER…
The entire planet seemed to be holding its breath in anticipation of his reaction. Yoda watched him carefully, gauging his response. Vader was staring at him too – no, gaping. Even with his face sheathed in steel, his shock was completely evident.
But the face beneath that metal shield was that of his father, for the Force's sake! The man who he'd thought of as his father's killer WAS his father! In a matter of seconds, Yoda had turned his world upside down. But why did it have to be Yoda who revealed it? Why had Obi-wan lied to him and let him believe a delusion all this time? Didn't he understand that he needed a father – but more importantly, he needed the truth?
"No," Vader finally managed in a desperate whisper. "It's not true. It's impossible!"
"Both of you your feelings search," Yoda replied. "Know it to be true you do."
Search his feelings? Stars, how was he supposed to search his feelings when they were screaming to be released in a flurry of fists or a primal howl? This couldn't be happening; it had to be a dream! His mind couldn't accept this shattering revelation. His father couldn't be Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader!
He stood abruptly. "I'm going for a walk."
"Luke…" began Yoda.
He didn't wait for the rest of it but simply walked away. Vader shouted something at his back, but he ignored it. Somehow Vader was the last person he wanted to talk to right now.
"Ben," he moaned once he was some distance from the others, "why didn't you tell me?" He sank to his knees. "All this time he was right next to me and you didn't tell me…" He crumpled, shaking with sobs.
In reply Obi-wan's presence enfolded him in a gentle, sad embrace.
--------
Vader stared in the direction Luke had retreated, still too dazed to move. All this time Luke had been his son? His very flesh and blood? The truth was staggering. And yet… he'd always felt close to the boy. The bond, however inexplicable, had existed all along. But why hadn't the truth been revealed to them earlier?
Yoda lowered his head, eyes closed. "Taking it hard Luke is."
"Of course he is," Vader retorted, unable to keep an iron edge out of his voice. "He finally has a face to put to his father's name, and it's the steel mask of a Sith! He should have known earlier… stang, we BOTH should have known earlier! Why did you and Obi-wan hide this for so long? Did you think we'd be too stupid to eventually figure it out?"
"A wise man Obi-wan is," Yoda replied. "But make mistakes even he does. And besides, when asked about his father Luke did, a servant of the Emperor you still were. If known you were his father he had, joined you as a Sith he would have."
"But Obi-wan should have corrected it when I joined the Alliance!" Vader shot back angrily. "Luke needed a father! He needed the truth, by the Force! Not certain points of view!" A sob caught in his throat, and the last of his argument came out a strained whisper. "I needed the truth, Master. I needed to know as much as he did…"
Yoda raised his hand and grabbed the "chin" of Vader's mask, forcing him to look his master in the eyes. "Hard this is on both of you. Right you are that known earlier you should have, but change it I cannot. Live with the consequences and move on you must." He smiled sadly. "But now, needs you your son does."
Vader stared at Yoda a minute, then got to his feet and walked away, still boiling with anger and shock. Luke had been hurt enough in his young life. He didn't need this on top of it. Luke was his friend and didn't deserve this…
He halted, the full impact of Yoda's revelation finally sinking in. Luke was far more than his friend – he was his son. He'd always been his son. And he'd betrayed Luke just as much, if not more, than Obi-wan had.
/I should have been there for Luke/ he thought. /Luke and his mother…/
…"Don't be afraid," he murmured, hoping to extend some small comfort to the woman beside him.
"I'm not afraid to die," she replied serenely.
When he looked into Padme's face, he was surprised to find her as calm as if they were sitting down to dinner and not chained into a chariot, awaiting sure death.
"I've been dying a little each day since you came back into my life," she continued.
"I thought we had decided not to fall in love," he protested, but inside he was overwhelmed with happiness. "That we would be living a lie. That it would destroy us."
"I think our lives are about to be destroyed already," Padme whispered. "I truly, deeply love you, and I want you to know before we die."
He leaned forward as much as his shackles would allow and shared a gentle, passionate kiss with her, his entire being glowing with the joy of knowing she reciprocated his love…
Vader stared into the gray sky. "Padme," he murmured, savoring the name on his tongue, mesmerized by the memory of her cascade of dark brown hair, her deep soulful brown eyes, her brilliant laughter and smile. It was almost as if she were standing here in the swamp with him, close enough to touch, to embrace…
"Padme," he moaned, sinking to his knees. "Did I betray you as I betrayed our son? Did I destroy you too?"
Bowing his head, he wept. The skies overhead poured down rain as if expressing tears of sympathy.