Chapter 6 – Failure

Author's Note: There are two chapters left, and they'll be released weekly. :)

~ Amina Gila

Luke pauses in spite of himself, even if he knows he should just keep running if he has any hope of avoiding this confrontation. He looks over his shoulder, to see her racing towards him, through the darkness.

"Leia, I –" He should go. He should run. He can't stay here. Unless –

"What are you doing?!" she yells, though he can see the hurt in her eyes, past her anger.

"You'd never understand," he protests, but it sounds lame to his own ears. (How can he do this to Leia? She's – she was all he had for so long, when Han was gone, and Chewbacca and Lando were out looking for him. He was all she had.)

"That's all you have to say?!" she demands, voice rising, "What are you doing? How can you do this? Why are you fighting for the Empire?!"

"I can't stay with the Alliance anymore, not after what they did!"

"So you go to the Emperor instead?!"

Luke jolts, eyes widening. How – how does she know that?

"It's the only way to –" No, he can't say that out loud. Not now. "It's the only way to bring peace to the galaxy. Join me, Leia. Come with me, and we can rule the galaxy – "

He stumbles back a step when she slaps him. "I don't want to rule the galaxy! What's –" She takes a step back, drawing in a breath, eyes suddenly filling with tears that spill down her cheeks, "Do you know what you're doing?! Even our father is afraid of this –"

Snoke slams sharply against his shields, ripping past the barrier that Luke put up.

Wait – Luke's eyes widen in shock and confusion, (and pain as he can feel the Emperor's fury radiating into his mind.) "Our father...? What?" he utters.

"I talked to him!" Leia replies, "I –"

"She's lying," the Emperor hisses, but Luke can't believe that, not fully. But what Leia is saying doesn't make any sense.

"You don't know what you've gotten yourself into, Luke. Stop this and come home."

He wants to, so much, but he already knows it's too late for that. "I can't, Leia. This is what I have to do. I know more about this than you." She doesn't know about Exegol. She doesn't know about – any of it.

"I know what our father said!" Leia yells, and an explosion suddenly rings out, much too close by. It snaps Luke out of his spiraling thoughts, dragging him back to the present, or maybe it's the Presence clawing at his mind that really gets his attention.

"You will cease ignoring me, apprentice. You are distracting yourself." He sounds furious, and something in Luke twists, fearfully. This is bad. If Snoke decides that Luke is failing his end of the deal –

"I'm sorry, Leia," Luke whispers.

He shoves her back with the Force, spinning and running as fast as he can. He doesn't slow down, even when he hears her calling for him, even when it breaks him into a million pieces. He'll get her to join him later, to understand. For now, it's probably better if she's away. He won't let her change his mind. (Even if he feels like that's already happening.)

His heart is pounding as he slides into his fighter again, and flees the system along with the rest of the Imperial Forces. He can feel Leia reaching for him, and he blocks it off, trying to ignore the pain ripping him apart, and the guilt – and the fear. This is not going to go over well at all.

The Emperor is going to be...

Luke swallows hard. (Whatever he asks, please do nothing to Leia.)

His fear can turn into hatred and anger most of the time, and it definitely is, but somehow fear is still whiting out everything else when he gets back to Exegol and heads for Snoke's throne room. It's worse that his master has been entirely quiet all this time when he could have been talking to him. That is definitely not a good sign.

Luke steps into the room, lowering himself to one knee as always.

"So you have returned, Lord Sicarius," Snoke hisses, and his terror spikes instantly.

"Yes, Master," he replies, "The rebels were –"

"You were distracted," Snoke snaps, and he can feel the Force coiling around his neck. Or maybe it's just the panic building in his chest that's making it so hard to breathe. "What have I told you about this? You must separate yourself from them. They are your enemies. It seems you do not want your father back as much as you claim."

Another wave of fear claws at him, desperation screaming through his mind, and the pressure on his neck finally disappears, leaving him gasping for breath. "I do, Master," he protests quickly, "I was – not expecting them there. It will not happen again."

"We shall see," Snoke hisses, "Had you completed this mission, it may have been time to bring your father back, but now I see there is one task to deal with first."

His fear feels like a physical entity inside him now. "Whatever you ask, Master," he responds as evenly as he can, but he can't say he can promise it will be true. Whatever he's about to ask, whatever he has him do –

"We have little time to waste, but there are other of your former friends fighting a battle not far from here," Snoke replies, "Go there and eliminate them. There will be no more distractions, Lord Sicarius. They are nothing but a weakness that holds you back from your true power."

"I understand, Master," he replies, numbly. He doesn't know what 'friends' the Sith is referring to, and he doesn't know if he wants to, but he's about to find out. He can't say no, he can't – (come home, Leia had practically begged) – but after everything he's done, he can't let it all be for nothing.

"We shall see," Snoke growls, and he doesn't have more than a second of warning before lightning hits him, throwing him across the room. A blinding, burning agony engulfs him, and somewhere past it, he can vaguely register strangled screams being torn from his throat.

He doesn't know how long it goes on, but it finally lets up. "Your performance was pathetic. If you cannot control your attachments the way your father never could, you will always fail. Prove to me you are worthy of your power, Lord Sicarius, or you will be dealt with as are all Sith apprentices who... lose their way."

He knows what that means and – "I will not fail you again," he promises, as he drags himself back into a kneeling position.

Snoke tells him to get out, then, and he's more than grateful to ship from the room, even as his heart is hammering wildly in his throat, and he feels sick to his stomach. He doesn't know who Snoke just told him to kill, but he can't – he can't do anything else, can he? (He can be deliberately sloppy somewhere in the subconscious part of his mind, he knows, but he can't disobey orders again.)

This really is how Vader felt, wasn't it?

**w**

Come home. Leia's words echo through his mind again, and Luke squeezes his eyes tightly closed, burying his head in hands. His limbs are still twitching from the lightning, and he's hit with the sudden ridiculous urge to cry. He just wants his father back. Why does that – why is it so hard? And he wants to help the galaxy, but the Alliance can't do that anymore. This is the only way, and he... Going back to the Alliance would almost be easier, but then everything he did would be for nothing, and he can't let that happen. And he doubts they'd ever be able to restore any order to the galaxy.

Luke doesn't know why it doesn't hit him until this very moment that Leia said 'our father' not 'your father'. That's –

What did she mean implying that she was talking to Anakin?! That's impossible, but something about this doesn't make sense.

It doesn't matter right now, though. He needs to focus.

He doesn't know how he can do what he's about to or what it even is, but – His fighter comes out of hyperspace much too soon, to see a raging space battle between the Rebellion and Imperial forces. He joins the fight instantly.

Luke refuses to reach out with the Force, to see who might be here, but a distinct part of his mind is relieved that it's not Han, Chewie, or Leia. He thinks Lando may be here, though. And Wedge and... probably some of the others. And he's going to –

He tries to draw up the memory of that day when they'd all been mocking Vader, in the hopes it might make him angry, but if anything, he just feels totally numb. Mentally shut down completely. He can't feel anything at all, and maybe that makes it easier.

He opens fire on the Rebel ships, spinning skillfully between them with all the skill that he's learned and used for the years.

He doesn't know who's been shot down, who – who survived, but he knows somewhere in the back of his mind that people probably escaped from some of those crashed fighters. He won't even let himself think he hopes, just keeps moving forwards – and okay, maybe it's as sloppily as he can without being obvious about it.

Luke doesn't stop until the Alliance fighters are all gone

The moment he's given permission, he leaves, heading back for Exegol. He doesn't want to know what happened, who did or didn't survive.

It doesn't matter in the end. He needs to finish his missions – saving his father and the galaxy. The cost doesn't matter. (Yes it does.)

**w**

The meeting with Luke wasn't supposed to go like that. Leia is hardly sure how to feel about any of this as she sits in the hold of the Falcon. Or maybe it's just that she's feeling too much.

She can't shake the image from her mind of Luke fighting off Alliance members. Of Luke killing people. There's been rumors of a lightsaber wielder attacking them now, and she knew immediately from the start who it was, way deep inside, even if she didn't want to believe it. But seeing it is something entirely different.

She doesn't understand. Why is he doing this?! Yes, she knows he was struggling with what happened to Vader, but she doesn't see how... how can he think all of it is worth this? (What would she do, if it meant she could bring Alderaan back?)

She knows that the Emperor is manipulating him, but still. She was a little too upset seeing him for the first time like that to actually think clearly and try reasoning with him, and she regrets that more than anything now. She was just... half-hysterical, and that didn't help anything. And now, she has no idea when she's ever going to see him again.

But Leia does know one thing. She's done waiting. It's pointless and it isn't going to help anyone.

Anakin had warned her about the dangers of going to Exegol, but what other choice does she have? Leave her brother – her last living family member – in the hands of a monster who is slowly corrupting him?

She doesn't know what to think of seeing Anakin's ghost either. He looks so much like how he did in the holos of the Clone Wars she's seeing, and she doesn't know why she was expecting something different. Maybe for him to look older and darker? He looks so much like Luke, though. She can really see the resemblance, especially now.

She certainly can't say that she's let go of everything that happened between them, but he's... he wants to help her. And he saved Luke's life. That means something. She knows how empty and broken Vader always felt, for all the power he appeared to strut around with. She could feel otherwise, and now she knows what she was feeling was from the Force.

There's part of her that almost questions if she should trust him, but Ben does, and that's enough for now.

She always wanted to know her biological parents, and sometimes seeing Anakin, it's hard to associate him with the things she saw Vader doing.

She knows they're the same but it's still... (And he apologized for what he did. That doesn't make it all better, but...)

Leia has never done this before, but she knows what she needs to do now. She can't keep waiting, regardless of the consequences. If nothing else, if she fails to bring Luke back, the only one the Rebellion will lose is her.

"If I don't come back, you're the only hope for the Alliance," Luke had told her that night that had changed everything. She hates how it almost feels like it's true. At least the part of him being gone. But she doesn't know anything of the Force now, and there's no one to teach her, so staying away from Luke and with the Alliance for that reason is a moot point.

And she won't fall to the Emperor's manipulation. She won't. She's been through too much because of the Empire to ever fall for such tricks. (Luke was too though, wasn't he?)

"Anakin?" she asks to the empty space around her.

**w**

Anakin knew when Luke and Leia met again, it wasn't going to be the most pleasant of meetings, but he'd hoped things would go better than they did. Luke is... Leia actually needs time to talk to him, and now Anakin doesn't know when she's going to get it again. Sidious is manipulating Luke so much, the same way he once did Anakin and it makes him sick to see this happening to his own child.

Again, all Anakin can do is try to deal with the fallout. And a half-hysterical Leia.

Only, he wasn't expecting her to reach for him first this time.

"Yes, Leia?"

"I need to go to Exegol," she declares, crossing her arms, "Is there anything else you can tell me about it?"

Anakin freezes – as much as such a thing is possible for an embodiment of the Force.

"Leia, I warned you of the dangers there. I was there only briefly, and he had hundreds of Star Destroyers equipped to destroy planets. There was much beyond that as well that I did not see, but he is preparing for everything he can conceive of going wrong. Even if the Alliance invaded, it would be... Your numbers would not be enough." Not right now. And that means Anakin really doesn't know what they can do against him. They need a force far greater than they have now.

"We don't need to invade," she retorts, "Right now, we only need to get Luke back. If I went there, and tried talking to him..."

"Sidious will sense you," he warns. He wants her to go talk to Luke more than anything, but what good will it do if Sidious gets her too? If he gets ahold of both of them, and starts corrupting them to his side, there will be no one to pull either of them back.

"I won't let him," she retorts, stubbornly, "This isn't an argument. I need to know everything else you can tell me. I'm going."

There really are moments that she reminds him so much of Padme. He can't deny being proud of her courage, but he's still afraid – no, terrified – of what it's going to lead to.

That's when Obi-Wan finally appears next to him. "Leia, this could be a mistake. If anything, this is what Sidious wants," Obi-Wan warns.

"I don't care," Leia retorts, "I won't fall for his tricks."

"Anakin and Luke both thought the same," Obi-Wan replies gravely.

"I know what I want. I'm not going to join him. I won't put anyone else in danger. If I don't get Luke back now, there may not be a later. I need to talk to him now."

Obi-Wan exchanges a glance with Anakin, every bit of him radiating 'why-do-you-Skywalkers-always-do-this-to-me'? "Very well," he concedes.

There's no point arguing with her further, so all Anakin can do is make sure she's as prepared as possible for what's to come. "Whatever he says, do not listen to him. He can twist anything, even the best of intentions, to use against you," Anakin warns.

Leia nods, though something about the former steel she always seemed to have when talking to him is gone now. He doesn't know if that's because there's little but desperation there now, or something else. It doesn't really matter.

His daughter is about to go straight to Sidious, and then the Sith will have both his children. And there's nothing Anakin can do to protect them. Not unless the Force lets him intervene, but that won't happen unless the barrier between and life is disrupted. And –

It's in that exact moment that Anakin feels a sudden disturbance in the Force. And it's... something is reaching for him.

"Anakin?" Obi-Wan asks, frowning.

But almost against his will he feels himself fading out, being yanked towards...

Something.

Luke.

**w**

Luke can't believe this moment has finally come. A strange sense of excitement and near giddiness is flooding him, even if it's hard to feel either when he's standing in the same room as Snoke.

The Emperor seems a great deal more pleased now, after Luke's last mission. He won't let himself think about it right now. He can't. The moment he's been waiting for is finally here, and he'll be able to bring his father back.

They'll finally be together again.

After that, he'll worry about it then.

They have to do a Dark Side ritual in order for this to work, and Luke settles across from the Emperor, letting himself sink into the Force, into as deep of a meditative state as he can get.

Once, it may have made his skin crawl to be doing this right alongside the Emperor, but they have to do it together. Luke already tried before, and he wasn't strong enough. Snoke was adamant that they needed to stay here in the throne room to do it, instead of trying it again on Mustafar. This place is also a Dark Side nexus, though, so it should work.

Luke loses track of all time as he reaches steadily deeper into the Force, letting it flow through him, until he feels like they're practically one with it, before moving forwards.

He reaches towards the very strong veil in the Force that blocks everything between life and death. It's the strongest barrier there is, but he and Snoke both know what Anakin's presence feels like, and now they just need to reach for it and pull.

Luke feels almost physically out of his body as they struggle together against it. Exhaustion is nagging at him, but he lets all of his emotions fuel him, dragging him onwards, heedless of anything from his body.

But something somewhere at the back of his awareness is suddenly warning him that something's wrong.

There's... he can sense someone suddenly, someone who isn't supposed to be here.

No, he needs to focus right now. That sensation... he has to be imagining. Right now, he needs to focus.

The barrier is starting to lessen, diminishing under the force of their attack as they try to pull through.

Suddenly, Luke is almost certain that he can feel Anakin.

The scene around him seems to shift, though he's not quite sure if his eyes are even open or not, but it looks like – not really in this world for lack of any better term to describe it. The area around him feels strangely bluish-grayish, but beyond that haze, he can still see the throne room around him.

And then, a very familiar figure starts to materialize in the middle of the room.

Luke's breath catches in his throat, and for a moment, all he can do is stare.

It's – his father.

For the first time in months, and he sees him again. He looks... Luke has no idea what he expected him to look like, but he looks so much like Luke. He looks around the same age too, but something about his expression shows that he's anything but happy.

He can feel him too, pulsing brightly, brilliantly. Except now it's like a star instead of the somehow still brilliantly bright black hole he'd been as Vader. He feels brighter now, though, then he ever did before.

"Father," Luke whispers, suddenly so choked with emotion he doesn't know what to say. He's been working for this moment for so long. This – this is all he wanted for months, and now he's here and in front of him, and within moments, they'll be together in person again.

"Son," he sounds – he sounds like he did right before he did, only his voice is not so weak and he's –

"So you have chosen the face of the Jedi again, my apprentice?" Snoke asks, the tone dark and sinister, and –

Something about that tone he's using Luke does not like.

"I will never be your slave again, Sidious," Anakin retaliates, expression darkening.

"We're here to bring you back, Father," Luke interjects. He can't believe he's really talking to him again. He needs a chance to do so without Sidious, but that will have to wait until after he's alive again.

"Did he not tell you the cost of this, Luke?" Anakin asks – he doesn't sound angry, more... desperate almost. But definitely not pleased. What is he talking about? He – how would Anakin know what he's done? And suddenly for hardly the first time, he's filled with an all-consuming shame.

What is his father going to think when he hears what he's done? The way Anakin feels now – it's so light and pure, unlike how Vader had always felt.

"I did what I had to do," Luke argues, finding his voice, "I can explain."

"We have no time for this talk," Sidious cuts in, "You will come through, Lord Vader, and even if you do not, your ghost shall not leave this place."

Luke's head snaps to him. "What?"

Anakin ignores the Sith, eyes never leaving Luke. "The cost," he repeats, "Luke, you and Sidious will be bound to me in the Force. If you go through with this, if any of the three of us die, all of us will go, too."

"What?!" Luke's eyes widen. That wasn't – that wasn't part of the deal!

Ever.

Sidious – apparently that's his name – never told him anything about that.

"Does it matter, my boy?" Sidious asks, "He will be back, and you both will serve me forever, as it was always meant to be."

"Do not," Anakin grows, furiously, and that unsettling anger even as Vader is suddenly there, "Speak to my son that way. Ever again."

The Force is shifting strangely around them – something is changing, and Luke isn't sure what. He doesn't know why he has the feeling that Sidious is doing something.

Something bad. Something else that also wasn't part of the deal. Why did he ever trust Sidious wouldn't have a contingency plan for the things Luke's been considering too?! He never trusted him but he – he did underestimate him.

Anakin's expression twists, and his expression looks almost far away for a moment. "No," he protests to seemingly thin air, but then out of nowhere the last person Luke ever wants to see again appears.

Ben.

"Luke –"

He whips around, his shame and sudden uncertainty vanishing, replaced with a boiling rage. He swings out wildly, childishly, uncaring, punching at the blue-tinged face. His hand goes right through it anyway, but somehow it still feels satisfying. "Get out!"

Sidious laughs, the sound dark and menacing. "So you have trapped yourself here as well, Kenobi," he sneers.

What is he talking about? What does he even mean? Whatever Sidious is doing, it's not what he told him. What does he mean he's 'trapping' them here?!

"Luke, you can't do this," Anakin continues, almost desperately, "You can't bring me back like this."

"I can!" Luke argues, "We can – we can figure it out once we're alive." He tries to pull at his father's Force presence again, but he and Sidious can't go any further unless Anakin agrees to come through.

And he's stubbornly resisting their efforts.

"Luke, it's not worth it," Anakin says, though there's a distinct note of pain there.

"What?" he half-yells. So what if he sounds hysterical now?! He came all this way, and they can't continue unless Anakin agrees to come through. And he's not.

"I can't come through, son," he repeats.

"Why?!" Of all this time, he never thought the very person who'd block this would be Anakin himself, and Luke doesn't even understand why. Yes, they'll be bound together, but there has to be some way they can break that, right?! They can't be forever tied to Sidious. There's – even if they are, maybe they can find a way to contain him! He can't just give up. Not now. Not after everything he's put into this moment, after everything he's done!

Sidious cackles again. "Then you will be trapped here forever, for an eternity, to torment. We may not be able to bring you back without your choice, but you and Kenobi will never leave this place again."

Anakin's eyes narrow. "So be it."

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