Finding Destiny
Slightly AU one shot—Everything in ANH and ESB happened except one small difference—Bail Organa was not on Alderaan when it was destroyed. Most thought he was and so he has taken permanent refuge with the Alliance.
This takes place between the last scene of ESB and the beginning of ROTJ.
Luke looked out at the stars and wondered, rather morbidly, which one Vader was near. His hand clinched and unclenched almost involuntarily as he thought once again on the revelation given to him at Cloud City.
His father.
Sighing he turned around as he heard someone call his name. Leia was coming towards him. He let a small smile peak out to greet her. She was the only one he could usually tolerate lately. They were both troubled in their own way right now, Leia with worry about Han, Luke with his…thoughts.
"Luke, tonight after dinner is my last pressing meeting with the Council, after that, I don't care what they say, we will start making plans to get Han back." Luke nodded mutely and then turned back to look at the stars.
Leia sighed softly and pursed her lips. She was becoming increasingly worried about Luke. He had lost more than his hand on Bespin. She could see it in his eyes, his innocence and light had been stripped away from him and he was struggling to find his light again. So far he had rebuffed everyone's attempts to help him. Even those in command had recognized the change in Commander Skywalker, so much so that they were discreetly looking into what psychiatric help they could offer him.
Leia slowly walked away, her own troubled thoughts clouding her mind. She was startled when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She looked up in surprise to find her father smiling at her.
"You seem miles away," he said.
Leia nodded and responded to the gently spoken question in his voice, "I'm worried about Luke. I don't know what happened to him on Bespin but something more than what he reported happened and it is continuing to affect him."
A thoughtful look crossed Bail Organa's face and he briefly squeezed Leia's shoulder before turning and walking towards Luke.
Luke knew someone was there but he didn't acknowledge whoever it was, hoping they would go away. No such luck.
"Your friends are greatly worried about you. They want to help you but they have no idea how."
Luke was surprised to realize that it was Leia's father. He had of course met the man and run into him on many occasions, but they had never gotten to know each other. Luke turned to regard him with slight curiosity, wondering why he was taking an interest in this. To his confusion Bail was not looking at him but out at the sky as he himself had been.
Bail continued speaking, not acknowledging Luke's reactions to his words, "I often find myself looking at the stars, wondering why I am still here. Wondering why my planet was blown to bits and I survived. Wondering why all my hopes and dreams for my people had to be destroyed."
Bail turned shining eyes towards the younger man, "Sometimes Luke, our dreams are shattered, they may die quietly or it may be in a flash of glory like Alderaan herself. But loosing your dreams does not mean you can't build new ones Luke. Dreams die and are born or reborn daily. You must keep dreaming, you must continue to believe in something."
"Why?" croaked out Luke, surprised himself that he was listening and answering.
Bail looked back out at the stars, "A woman I once knew watched as all her dreams crashed around her. She could do nothing to halt their destruction, but she still held onto hope. She believed in goodness and never stopped trying to find it, even in the darkest of places. I saw her work a miracle with her goodness Luke, she managed to have a tribe of Gungans spared from the Emperor's wrath because she touched some goodness. She managed to touch what was left of Anakin Skywalker within Darth Vader."
Luke didn't know how to react. He stared at Bail Organa in utter disbelief and confusion.
"Y…you know?" he finally managed to ask.
"I have always known. That woman was your mother. I was there when she brought you into this universe, I was there when she sobbed at the thought of being separated from you, I was there as she watched Obi-Wan carry you away to Tatooine. I was there when she died Luke, and she never gave up hope. She always believed hat somewhere inside your father still held a portion of light and out of respect for her memory I have always tried to find some validation for her beliefs. Perhaps what goodness he had is in you Luke. You are your father's son, not your father. Your choices are yours alone. Rebuild your dreams, find something to believe in. And then follow it. Destiny is what you make it, there will be things that happen in your life that will hinder you and make you changed plans, but ultimately you find your own destiny. Anakin stopped believing, he stopped midway in a destiny of his own choosing because he lost faith in himself and in goodness, Luke, and he was left with only emptiness."
With that Bail turned and walked away, leaving Luke to his thoughts.
The next morning Leia was startled when Luke greeted her with a warm embrace. She looked at him and a genuine smile lit her face as she saw the light once again in his eyes, it was tempered with knowledge, but more importantly, with wisdom.
"Leia, I have something I need to do in the Degobah system before our rescue mission for Han. I'll meet you in a few days at the rendezvous point."
"Ok," she said then hesitantly she asked, "Are you okay now?"
"Better," was Luke's reply.
Ok, ok, I know completely unrealistic and uncannonical, but fun to contemplate anyway. Just my first dabble in the Star Wars universe.