A Jedi's Return
Summary: Darth Vader's thoughts on the events leading to and on the second Death Star.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. George Lucas does. As someone else said, I'm just borrowing the toys to play in the sandbox.
My Thanks: To DarthLex, for having been kind enough to beta this viggie for me even through his hectic schedule, and give me the confidence boost I needed to post this first work, and to my good friend JediElanor from for pointing out some crucial spelling and grammar points, as well as for her overall comments.
Author's note: This is my first fanfic, and I very much hope you'll like it. That said, any constructive criticism will be appreciated, but flames will be disregarded as such.
On to the story!
Deep in thought, a lone figure sat in a shuttle headed to the Sanctuary Moon of Endor. Darth Vader was his name, second in command to none other than Emperor Palpatine himself. He had been sent by his Master to go and collect young Skywalker, who was reportedly hiding on the Moon around which the Death Star orbited, on a mission for his precious Rebellion.
How he wished it had not come to this! How he wished his son had been reasonable on Cloud City! Then the situation would not be such a mess and he would not be obligated to submit him to the Emperor's relentless inquisition.
But these thoughts were only "what ifs", and it would not do to dwell on them. Long ago, he had learned that they only caused pain and heartache. No. He had to be pragmatic. He had to do his Master's bidding.
As the shuttle landed, his mind was resolved not to falter.
He exited the landing platform onto a ramp on a lower level, where his son would be brought up by the Imperial officer in charge of the Moon's defense.
The commander arrived, with Luke in binders by his side, two stormtroopers flanking him.
Is that how you keep custody of a Jedi? Vader thought. Is that how? You are lucky the Emperor asked that I execute his orders speedily, or else I would have taught you how.
Yet something in him was loath to showcase such a behaviour in front of his son.
"This is a Rebel that surrrendered to us," the Commander said, breaking Vader's thoughts and explaining the reduced number of guards. "Although he denies it, I believe there may be more of them, and I request permission to conduct a further search of the area."
Vader nodded his assent, locking his gaze with Luke's, and was surprised at how composed the young man was. If not for the blue of the eyes, he almost could have sworn he looked at the boy's mother's.
The commander then extended his hand, giving his superior a metal cylinder.
"He was armed only with this."
Vader parted his gaze from Luke's to take the weapon. If his son was only armed with his lightsaber, that meant…
"Good work, Commander," he said. "Leave us. Conduct your search and bring his companions to me."
"Yes, my Lord," the officer said, and turned to leave.
As soon as they were alone, Vader began, "The Emperor has been expecting you."
"I know, Father," the boy simply said. And something in the Dark Lord stirred, at being called so, something he had thought was long lost, a feeling of elation he had only known when…
He clamped an iron fist on his wayward emotions.
"So you have accepted the truth," he said, for once thankful of the voice moderator that allowed his words to seem expressionless.
"I've accepted the truth that you once were Anakin Skywalker, my father," Luke said.
Anakin. That name again! Vader steadfastly refused to acknowledge the feelings that name stirred. The last people to have ever called him Anakin were his old Master, Obi-Wan, and his wife.
"That name no longer has any meaning to me," he stated, a bit too forcefully.
He faced his son as the young man said, "It is the name of your true self. You've only forgotten."
Forgotten! Not one instant do I forget that name, Luke. The name of a weakling, who believed the Jedi would give him a better life, and who was betrayed by them. No, I have not forgotten. I have simply chosen another path than the one they would have had me take.
Oblivious to this sudden outpour of anger, Luke went on, "I know there is good in you. The Emperor hasn't driven it from you fully. That is why you couldn't destroy me. That is why you won't bring me to your Emperor now."
I could not destroy you because it would have served no purpose, you young idealistic fool. It wasn't out of the goodness of my heart, no. It was because I have foreseen that you will be by my side when I make my move on the Emperor.
Not answering Luke's prodding, he ignited his son's weapon. "I see you have contructed a new lightsaber," he said, changing the subject. He silently admired his son's work, making it go through a series of simple katas.
After having appreciated the blade's balance and maniability, he swiftly sheathed it, making the beam of light go back in the handle, then clipped it to his belt.
"Your skills are now complete. Indeed, you are powerful, as the Emperor has foreseen," he simply stated.
For a moment, the air was charged with electricity.
"Come with me," Luke repeated.
To what? Vader thought. To your precious Alliance? They would end my life without so much as a by-your-leave for crimes against the Galaxy. Don't be foolish, boy.
"Obi-wan once thought as you do."
As Luke stepped towards him, Vader added, "You don't know the power of the Dark Side. I must obey my Master."
"I will not turn," his son merely repeated. "And you'll be forced to kill me."
Vader felt pain grip his heart as he said, "If that is your destiny."
"Search your feelings, Father," the boy entreated. "You can't do this. I feel the conflict within you. Let go of your hate."
Once you start on the Dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, Yoda had once told a young delusionned Padawan. Everything else the green troll had thaught him was rubbish, but, Force! How that was true!
"It is too late for me, son. The Emperor will show you the true nature of the Force. He is your Master now."
As the Stormtroopers took him away, Luke launched one last attack on the soul he knew to still dwell in that dark armour.
"Then my father is truly dead."
And Darth Vader's heart weeped at such a stab. But it had to be true. Because Anakin was no more. Yet if Luke was the son of Skywalker, as his Master so quaintly put it, then why did Vader persist in calling Luke his son?
Such were the dark thoughts that accompanied him to the Emperor's Throne Room.
After too short a trip, the turbolift doors to the Death Star's Throne Room were whisked open.
Darth Vader entered, Luke Skywalker by his side.
They crossed the distance separating them from where the Emperor was seated, and Vader had to push down a sense of pride as, unflinching, Luke met Palpatine's malevolent gaze. And before he bowed to the Emperor, Vader saw something disturbing in his Master's eyes.
Wariness. And fear, unspeakable fear.
And suddenly he knew. He understood why the Emperor wanted young Skywalker to be turned or to die. Because if this foolishly idealistic young boy succeded into turning Vader back to the Light, then it would truly be the end.
"Welcome, young Skywalker," the Sith said, his voice dripping with fake politeness. "I have been expecting you."
Then, looking down at Luke's binders, he added, condescending, "You no longer need those."
With a flick of his gnarled fingers, more for effect than because he really needed to flick them, the binders opened quietly, and clattered to the floor.
Luke cautiously looked down at his own hands, then at the Emperor's neck, but steadfastly shed any thoughts of murder away. Those were thoughts of the Dark Side, and he was there for one purpose only: to bring his father back into the Light.
"Guards, leave us," the Emperor ordered.
The Dark Lord felt the Royal Guards exit the area, to give his Master more leeway in his treatment of Luke, Vader surmised.
Then, ever confident, the Emperor said, "I'm looking forward to completing your training. In time you will call me Master."
"You're gravely mistaken," Luke said, with poise and collection. "You won't convert me as you did my father."
The Emperor then got down from his throne to look Luke in the eye, driving his point home.
Luke kept himself from recoiling at the Sith Master's ruined face as Palpatine said, "Oh, no, my young Jedi," he said, as if the title were a curse. "You will find that you are gravely mistaken… about a great many things."
Vader then intervened, and presented his Master with his son's lightsaber.
The Emperor took it, admiring his prospective pupil's weapon. As his father, the boy was gifted with the hability to build complex machinery. And like his father, he would soon turn to the Dark. He would make sure of that.
"Ah, yes," he said, almost off-handedly, "a Jedi's weapon. Much like your father's. By now you must know your father can never be turned from the Dark Side. So will it be with you."
"You're wrong. Soon I'll be dead… and you with me."
At that, the Emperor let out one of his sinister laughs.
"Perhaps you refer to the imminent attack of your Rebel Fleet?"
Luke looked up sharply, puzzled.
"Yes," the Emperor said with a sinister grin. "I assure you we are quite safe from your friends here."
Vader turned to Luke to see his reaction to this piece of news.
"Your overconfidence is your weakness," he told Palpatine. No doubt he still counted on his father's defection.
"Your faith in your friends is yours," the Emperor replied.
So very much like your mother, Vader thought. Foolishly optimistic, like my Padmé.
"It is pointless to resist, my son," Vader said, suddenly feeling nervous at the prospect of fighting Luke.
Wanting to drive his point to the fullest, the Sith Master said with barely restrained glee, "Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design. Your friends up there on the Sanctuary Moon are walking into a trap. As is your Rebel Fleet! It was I who allowed the Alliance to know the location of the shield generator. It is quite safe from your pitiful little band. An entire legion of my best troops is awaiting them."
Vader did not know if that were entirely true, or if his Master was weaving that tale for his son's own benefit, but it did not seem so far-fetched from his usual schemes. At any rate, it looked to be working, as Luke grew nervous, his eyes darting from the Emperor to Vader, and to his sword now in Palpatine's possesion.
Driving the final proverbial nail in the coffin, the Emperor said, "Oh… I'm afraid the deflector shield will be quite operational when you friends arrive," his voice dripping with condescension and sarcasm.
"Come, boy. See for yourself," he urged.
Vader looked over his son's shoulder through the round window behind the Emperor's throne, and saw distant flashes he recognised as forming part of a space battle.
As Luke moved closer to the window to better see the event going on in space, the Emperor said, "From here you will witness the final destruction of the Alliance, and the end of your insignificant Rebellion." The end was uttered with so much spite it almost shocked Vader.
He saw Luke giving quick glances at the lightsaber resting carelessly on the armrest of the throne, and he knew his son was oh! so close to the brink of the Dark Side.
Sensing this, the Emperor taunted Luke, smiling and patting the weapon. "You want this, don't you?" he inquired. "The hate is swelling in you now. Take your Jedi weapon. Use it. I am unarmed. Strike me down with it. Give in to your anger. With each passing moment you make yourself more my servant."
Vader watched as Luke's soul was submitted to this form of torture. Why was it that now it didn't seem right? He was almost proud when his son shouted his denial.
Yet the Emperor was relentless. "It is unavoidable," he said. "It is your destiny. You, like your father, are now mine!"
As the three Humans watched the battle occuring below, a spectacular collection of fireworks if Vader ever saw one, he pondered the meaning of such a sentence. You are mine, the Sith had said. For some reason and for the first time after all these years, the mere statement sent shivers of repulsion down Vader's spine.
The Emperor totally controlled the show, now.
"As you can see, my young apprentice, your friends have failed. Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational battle station."
He actionned a comlink into the armrest of his chair, and gave those simple but binding orders: "Fire at will, Commander."
Then it seemed as if the Seven Hells of Corellia had broken loose as the superweapon's gigantic laser took ship afer ship after ship out of the Rebels' control. Blinding explosions of light and debris were seen, and in the place of the targeted ships, only the vacuum of space remained.
For a moment, Luke was numb with shock.
"Your fleet has lost," the Emperor drilled. "And your friends on the Endor moon will not survive. There is no escape, my young apprentice. The Alliance will die… as will your friends."
Vader watched as his son's eyes turned from hopeful to enraged.
"Good," his Master approved. "I can feel your anger. I am defenseless. Take your weapon! Strike me down with all your hatred, and your journey will be complete."
In a great moment of weakness, Luke gave in to his feelings of despair, and called his weapon to his hand, poised to strike the Emperor. He did not kill Palpatine, though, for Vader had blocked his stroke before it even got close to the Sith Master.
A mighty crackle of energy was heard, then Luke turned to fight his father.
The battle was no more flashy than the one that had occurred at Bespin, but the opponents were better matched. While Vader had lost a bit of his stamina, he still had experience on his side. And what Luke sorely lacked in situation training, he more than compensated in willingness and focus.
Slowly gaining the upper hand, he made his father back off, towards the stairs leading to the plateau on which the throne was set. Then, with a powerful shove, he flung him down the stairway and took an aggressive posture.
"Good," the Emperor cackled. "Use your aggressive feelings, boy! Let the hate flow through you."
The intervention of the Emperor suddenly defused Luke, for Vader felt him let go of his Dark feelings the time it would have taken a young Anakin to say 'bantha poodoo'.
Taking a step back and a huge breath, Luke sheathed his laser sword and calmed instantly.
"Obi-Wan has taught you well," Vader mused, probing his son's mind.
"I will not fight you, Father," Luke repeated, like a mantra.
Stubborn, willfull little boy, Vader thought. When will you recognise the truth?
"You are unwise to lower your defences," the Dark Lord said as he regained the terrain he had lost.
Then he attacked, without pause this time, for he now knew the measure of his opponent.
Yet Luke still had a few surprises for him. Using the Force to enhance his movements, he made a graceful backflip upon the relative safety of an overhead catwalk.
"Your thoughts betray you, Father. I feel the good in you… the conflict," Luke insisted.
Kreth! When would the boy learn?
"There is no conflict," Vader repeated, annoyed.
"You couldn't bring yourself to kill me before," his son said, "and I don't believe you'll destroy me now."
This is truly beginning to sound like a broken holoprogramme, Vader reflected, beginning to feel a bit frustrated at his lack of progress.
"You underestimate the power of the Dark Side," the Sith Lord replied. "If you will not fight, then you will be destroyed!" His lightsaber suddenly left his hand to come towards Luke, slice through the catwalk, then return into Vader's waiting grip, causing Luke to tumble in a shower of flying sparks and roll under the Emperor's platform, out of sight.
Among the encouragements of his Master, the Dark Lord followed suit, eager to have it done at last. The end of the confrontation was near, he could feel it. And then, Luke would see the truth of his statement.
His black helmet almost touching the ceiling, he kept his lightsaber at the ready as he searched for his recalcitrant offspring. In the semi-darkness, it gave off a sinister blood-red light.
Very well, he thought. If his son could not be persuaded, then he would resort to less dignified means. Closing his eyes, he searched for his son's Force presence. He found it rather quickly, so similar was it in signature to his own, though still bathed in Light.
He now but needed a distraction.
"You cannot hide forever, Luke," he said.
"I will not fight you," the young Skywalker replied tensely.
In that fraction of a second, Darth Vader had been able to infiltrate his son's mind, strong as it was.
"Give yourself to the Dark Side. It is the only way you can save your friends. Yes, your toughts betray you. Your feelings for them are strong. Especially for…"
Vader searched a bit more, finding the faces of his son's friends come to him, of his son's Masters Obi-Wan and Yoda. Though this last one did answer a number of questions about his son's training, Vader found his attention diverted by the face of Princess Leia Organa, which was taking precedence over all others. He did not believe for even one second the reports that said they were involved, for he had been there when the Princess had declared herself to the smuggler Han Solo. So he did not understand…
Unless… No! It could not be! Obi-Wan! Padmé!
"Sister!" Vader roared. "So you have a twin sister. Your feelings have now betrayed her, too. Obi-Wan was wise to hide her from me. Now his failure is complete. If you will not turn to the Dark Side, then perhaps she will," he suggested.
This elected the appropriate response. Luke was so selfless that he did not care what happened to him, as long as his friends were safe. Threaten them, and you unlock the dam.
"Never!" Luke shouted, coming at his father with blinding fury.
Igniting his lightsaber, he rained stroke after stroke upon the Dark Lord, attacking him with a frenzy Vader had never seen before, sending sparks flying from the sheer strenght of the clash of lightsabers. The Force pulsated darkly around the young man, feeding on his despair and his rage, fueling the hate that was rapidly growing in his heart.
And this shocked Vader to his very core.
Is that how I looked when I attacked Obi-wan before I fell into shadows and flames? he wondered as he contemplated the cold ice that had settled in his son's eyes, the fury of his screams. Is that what I looked like? Is that what I really want for my son?
Yet it was too late for him, as he was pushed without mercy towards the edge of the vast turbolift shaft. He now had only one choice left. He had to back off, to retreat upon a bridge, the very opposite of what had happened at Bespin.
With one mighty stroke, Vader was pushed to his knees.
With another, his sword hand was severed at the wrist.
Closing his eyes, he acknowledged his defeat.
Such were the ways of the Sith.
He felt the heat of his son's emerald blade upon his neck. As nothing happened, he looked up to see his son hesitating.
One moment ago, he would have despised such an hesitation.
Now, he was only grateful for the respite.
"Good!" the Emperor said from above. "Your hatred has made you powerful," he said to Luke. "Now, fulfill your destiny and take your father's place by my side."
In all his years of service to the Emperor, Vader had never seen him be so tactless and off-cue as he had been with Luke just now.
And for that he thanked the Force, for it was all his son needed to focus back in the reality. Looking from his father's now useless electronic stump to his own biomechanical right hand, Luke straightened, closed his eyes, released his anger and sheathed his lightsaber.
Then he hurled it away.
"Never," he said, his voice firmer than ever, having passed the test of fire.
"I'll never turn to the Dark Side. You've failed, Your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me."
Vader then felt something he had not felt in the longest time. A heat coming from his chest, unfurling, expanding like a blooming flower in the fields of Naboo. Pride unparalleled and more, that his son had been able to do what he himseld hadn't.
And he could not help but wonder and thank the Force that the boy had Anakin's power and his mother's compassionate spirit.
But the Emperor had an altogether different view on the matter.
His glee turning to rage, he said, "So be it… Jedi!"
The Emperor approached, his gnarled hands extended in an unnatural position. As Luke stood still, Vader wanted to warn his son, but found that his voice would not co-operate.
"If you will not be turned, you will be destroyed."
And flashing bolts of Dark energy flew from the tips of the Sith Master's fingers, attacking Luke. For one moment, Luke was able to repell them with the Force, but the Sith was persistent, and soon overwhelmed the young Jedi.
Vader slowly got up as his son went down with knees buckling from the sheer pain of the physical abuse.
I am a Jedi, like my father before me.
Before in time or before in space? Vader wondered. Could Master Yoda have been wrong? Could one really turn back to the Light?
"Young fool… only now, at the end, do you understand."
Vader watched his son fall almost unconscious from the speed and power of the lightning, as, unbidden, came to his mind echoes of his past life.
You talk of the prophecy of the Chosen One? You believe it's… this boy?
Yes.
Luke attempted to catch a banister to stop his body from shrieking, but to no avail.
"Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the Dark Side. You have paid the price for your lack of vision."
Vader watched his son writhing on the floor under the Emperor's assault.
I won't fail you again, Mom. I promise.
His son's hand reached towards him.
"Father, please. Help me," he groaned.
Vader stood, looking at the Emperor and then at his son.
One day I'll be the greatest Jedi ever! I'll even learn how to stop people from dying!
Then the Emperor said, "Now, young Skywalker...you will die."
I dreamt I came back and freed all the slaves.
Broken promises and unrealised dreams came flooding back to him as cleansing and powerful as the waterfalls of Theed, hammering at the tight armor surrounding Vader's heart, breaking through all the locks, unleashing a fury inside of him he had never felt before, not even when he had fought Obi-Wan; a fury at long last directed towards the one cause of all the pains of the Galaxy, the man who had betrayed his own home planet's peaceful ideals. If eyes could have stared vibroblades, not one spot of Palpatine's decaying flesh would have been left unscathed.
As the bolts of Dark power increased in energy, Vader thought, I won't let you add Skywalker's son, my son, to your trophy list, Palpatine! I won't let it! You won't take Luke away from me, as you've taken everything else. "Young Skywalker" won't die if "Old Skywalker" can do anything about it. I won't stand by and do nothing to try and save the only blessing that's happened in the mess of my life. I'll do at least that one thing right.
And so it was that the unthinkable happened. So it was that a son's love and prayers were answered.
Darth Vader was no more. In his place stood Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight of the Old Republic, here to exact justice on the Galaxy's most dangerous Slave-Master.
The Son of the Suns had returned after an eclipse of more than twenty years.
He let go of all the rage he had accumulated in his misguided service to Palpatine, and for once directed it at the right person: the Sith Master.
When this cleansing outburst was passed, he felt his Darkside bonds being severed one by one. And he knew what he had to do. After a long life where most of his actions had been self-centered, for once he put others' needs before his.
Because his son needed him. And because he needed to do at least one right thing before the Force recalled him into her embrace.
Summoning all the energy he had left, he used his one good hand to lift Palpatine from behind. He felt the amount of Dark energy sourrounding the Sith and wondered again why the Jedi hadn't felt it when the Naboo crisis had happened.
As he lifted Palpatine away from his son, the Sith turned his lightning towards his former apprentice, arching it towards Anakin. For a moment, the former Sith struggled under the combined pressure of the Dark bolts and Palpatine's weight, but his determination was greater than the hold of his ex-master. And so was the love he felt for Luke. And for Leia, his unknown daughter, for Padmé, for the Jedi, for all of the Galaxy for that matter. Only at last, when it was almost too late, did he understand what the Jedi said when they spoke of compassion.
For even in this most hurtful of moments, he did not hate Papatine. He could not. He only felt endless pity for the man, who had turned his back on love, Life's greatest power.
He finished walking towards the edge of the abyss, and, pushing Palpatine high up in the air, he flung him over the banister. With his last burst of strenght, he pulled onto the power of the Force to hurl Palpatine at the central core of the station, into the botomless shaft beneath him.
Then, spent, he crumbled to the ground. Completely exhausted but, at last, at peace.
The Prophecy had been fulfilled.
No Light, no Dark. No Master, no Apprentice.
One lone Knight who knew both sides of the coin.
A clean slate upon which could be built a new Jedi Order.
Only now was the circle complete.
He almost didn't feel the cold wind announcing Palpatine's death or his son hoisting him and dragging him out of the Throne Room, so broken was his circuitry from the late Emperor's last act of vengeance.
Anakin saw all the chaos created by the loss of the Galaxy's most ruthless ruler in a daze. As Luke painstakingly dragged him through turbolifts and halls to the main docking bay, he mostly kept his eyes to the ground.
No one bothered to help the one they still refered to as Lord Darth Vader. Not when the Rebellion, at last having the upper hand, rocked the mighty station with all they had.
As they reached the main docking bay, where his shuttle lay abandoned by crew and staff, he felt his son falter beneath him.
He is short, he thought, as if noting the fact for the first time.
They got as far as the boarding ramp to his shuttle. Then Luke collapsed.
Now is the moment, Ani...
Taking his son's hand, Anakin said, "Luke. Help me take this mask off."
"But you'll die," Luke replied.
Oh! If only it was happening another way, Anakin wished. But wishes were useless…
"Nothing can stop that now. Just for once…" he pleaded, "let me look at you with my own eyes."
Understanding that no arguments would convince his father, Luke reached for the controls holding the plasteel contraption in place. First the helm went off, then his face plating.
Mercifully for Anakin, he did not recoil as white corded scars were revealed to the light of day.
After so many years, the old Jedi's eyes did not focus easily, but he still succeded to see his son's features. Tentatively, he tried a smile. He hoped it did not look too much like a scowl.
Feeling himself depart already, he said, "Now… go, my son. Leave me."
In denial, Luke repeated, "No. You're coming with me. I can't leave you here. I've got to save you."
"You already have, Luke, you already have," he said, his damaged body claiming its rest. "Tell your sister… tell her… you were right."
Forgive me, Leia, my beautiful daughter…
So like Padmé… Why didn't I recognise you before…
Padmé… I am coming, Angel…
And among the falling debris of the battle station, a son cried for the loss of his father, gone too soon after he had found him again.
Luke took his father's body with him on the shuttle, and incinerated it on a site removed from his companions. They would not understand. And it would be some time yet before he could speak of tonight's events with his sister. As much as he loved Leia, he knew she was still too angry to talk of Anakin without prejudice.
And so it was with a heavy heart that he went to the celebration. It hurt to see people cheering for his father's death, but he knew he would have to wait for the debriefing to set matters straight.
Though, he wryly reflected, there was still truth to such rejoicing… from a certain point of view. Anakin Skywalker had most certainly cast Darth Vader back to the Dark Shadows from where he had come.
Turning one last time in the direction of his father's pyre, he saw the shimmering shape of Obi-Wan and Yoda smiling at him as if exchanging a private joke. Then, appearing out of nothing, there stood Anakin, his youthful, unmarred frame garbed in the robes of a Jedi Knight.
Understanding it was their final goodbye, Luke saluted, then turned to the comforting embrace of his sister.
His sister… he had one lifetime to tell her all.