Disclaimer: Why bother...see first post.

Thank you all for the kind reviews. You'll hate me after this, though. Ahem...

Part V

Jabba was evil-tempered, even for a Hutt. So you imagine his reaction when he found out we'd killed his favorite pet. I shouldn't have been surprised when he ordered for us to be literally thrown to the sarlacc. Of course, being told of how I will be slowly and painfully digested for a thousand years did not help one bit. It was kind of ironic – out of the frying pan and into the fire. Trust the kid to get us both into even more trouble. I shot him a glare, assuming that the black blur next to me was him. I wasn't sure if the whole time I'd seen him he'd ever worn black. Well, this would be the first and last time I'd see him wear black, because soon, or not so soon if Jabba was correct about us slowly being digested, we'd both be dead.

We were on a skiff with some of Jabba's guards, Lando among them. To be frank, I had no clue of what he might have been doing there – what business did he have with Jabba? Unless he was involved in my botched up rescue…Well, there was no way out this time. Like it or not, we'd soon be forced to walk the plank. I attempted to make conversation and said the first thing that came to mind, aside from our impending doom.

"I think my eyes are getting better. Instead of a big dark blur, I see a big bright blur."

"There's not much to see. I used to live here, you know."

"You're gonna die here, you know. Convenient."

"Just stick close to Chewie and Lando. I've taken care of everything."

"Oh…great!" I couldn't keep the sarcasm out of my voice. What the hell was he going to do, anyway? Use his Force mumbo-jumbo? Right, kid. Last time I remember, I was pulling your scrawny butt out of trouble.

From farther away I could hear Goldenrod say something about our death and us begging for mercy. As if that would ever happen. I stepped forward.

"Threepio, you tell that slimy piece of…worm-ridden filth that he'll get no such pleasure from us! Right?" Chewie growled in agreement.

"Jabba! This is your last chance. Free us or die." Kid, I wish I had your confidence…With that, he was prodded toward the ramp, where he saluted. I smirked, despite the circumstances. He then proceeded to jump – to his death…

Total chaos ensued. A split second later, he was back on the barge, blasting away at everything with a blaster he'd seemingly produced out of nowhere. The next part was just a hazy blur of fighting. That's what usually happens – you slip into the fight mentality and time pretty much has no meaning. Your instincts take over and you move without thought. Not that it's a bad thing – this was no time for thinking.

Before I knew it, we were flying away at top speed from the sail barge, which had transformed itself into a gigantic ball of fire. We had made it – barely, but we'd escaped nonetheless.

In about half an hour, we arrived to at wherever the Falcon was stationed. After helping Chewie, who'd been wounded at some point, onto the Falcon, Luke and I took a moment to just stare at each other I did a double take. Who the hell was this guy and what had he done to my friend? He was wearing something that resembled that old man Kenobi's robes, except for the fact that they were black, and one black leather glove. He'd never struck me as one for weird fashion statements, but what else could it be? He was paler and thinner than I remembered, but that could have just the black that made it seem so.

But the more definite changes were in his eyes, the way they were no longer bright with excitement and enthusiasm, instead they seemed sadder…older. It was hard to believe that only two weeks had passed – he seemed to have aged a decade. Of course, appearance-wise he still looked barely out of his teens, but the naïve farm kid was gone for good.

"So, why don't you leave that crate and come with us?" I asked in an attempt to relieve the tension, indicating his X-Wing. He shook his head.

"You go on without me…Leia needs you." I stared at him in shock. After staying with the rebels for three years, he was just going to abandon them? After constantly trying to convince me to stay, he was going to leave himself?

"What, you're not coming back?" Distant, he shook his head again.

"I'm sorry…" He said quietly. "Tell Leia I'm sorry." This was getting really absurd. I had no clue whatsoever of what he might have had to be sorry for, but then, I'd been out of it for awhile.

"Then why don't you come with us and tell her yourself?"

"I won't be coming back. There's something I have to do…I don't think I'll be back for a long time." He smiled softly, but the smile was wan.

"Well, we can always slave your ship to mine and I'll drop you off at wherever you're going."

"Right." He replied shortly, staring off into space again.

Luke's POV

As I walked into the spare cabin on the Falcon, I let the covers fall away, let the mask fall to the floor, let the lie vanish and let the ever-present frailty seep through to the outside. After all, wasn't it alright to be weak when there was no one there to see you in such a vulnerable state? I literally let myself fall, with the lies, with the lie that was me, to the floor. I could have lain there forever, waiting for my end, but something still drove me forward. Maybe it was because I had to face my fa – He's not—don't call him that, and he won't be. I had to face him again, even though it was so much easier to let everything unravel and fall apart.

Hours could have passed, but I wouldn't have realized it. I had become so immersed in the construction of a new lightsaber that, for a moment, I had forgotten everything. It was that, or the half-empty bottle of liquor beside me. I took yet another swig. It burned its way down, numbing me to the core. I seldom drank and wouldn't have were I in my right mind, but it was the only thing that could kill the pain…short of death, which was the one thing I could not have.

I slid the last component into place. Finally, it was complete. I held it at arms length, igniting it. It was a brilliant green blade, as intense as my previous one, but not as stainless as the last. A change for the better, for it too had been a lie, had it not? It had been a relic from a past long-forgotten. Had it also been founded on deceit? How could one ever hope to vanquish evil with a lie? I lowered my gaze to stare at the now extinguished saber.

…It is the weapon of a Jedi Knight…

…a Jedi Knight…

Of Anakin Skywalker. Of Darth Vader? No, not Vader. My father's weapon.

…He was the best star-pilot in the galaxy, and a cunning warrior…

And everything I was not, and would never be.

…Wars not make one great…

I of all people should have known that by now…No matter how many wars you lived through, you stayed the filth you were. Filth…scum…vermin…sithspawn. I took another swig of the liquor. Some Jedi I made. I laughed bitterly at the irony of it all. If only they could all see me now. I wondered what they'd think of their golden boy, their last hope, if they saw him like this. Nothing, probably. After all, was it not exactly what I had become? And I was nothing to them.

…For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice…

Peace? I snorted in derision. Hypocrisy if I'd ever seen it. All they seemed to want was war.They had used and manipulated me, lied to and deceived me to twist me to their will, to forge me into a living, breathing weapon. They wanted me to kill my own father. I had had blindly trusted, I had written off my soul to them. I had followed them devotedly, unquestioningly. And for all my devotion, they had betrayed me.

Did I call myself one of them? Could I call myself one of them? No. If that was what being a Jedi meant, I would never become one. My destiny did not lie with them, or Vader, or anyone. Destiny was just another way to force someone into doing something without justification, just another word for drawn out, unceasing agony. So I ripped it all from the inside and threw it away.

No Jedi. No destiny. No meaning. No reason to fight. So the pain came back to fill me until I could break under the infinite weight. I emptied the bottle. The fire spilled down, but this time it only seemed to burn away the remnants of my twisted, mangled soul. I writhed under the flaring pain. As I lost the will, I withdrew a small vibroblade from my belt. I absently fingered it. It glinted in the scant lighting of the cabin, and a picture of the same blade glistening with blood floated across my mind.

I had the power to end everything now. No more anguish, no more lies, no more betrayal, no more darkness. I started to plunge it into my torso, but thought better of it and raked across my flesh, reveling in the pain. I plunged into my left forearm, smiling in satisfaction, jerking it hard, feeling tear through my flesh, laughing as the blood ran down my skin to spatter on the deck. I withdrew it and watched the floor stain crimson. Take that, Vader. I hope you feel it. I hoped both Vaders felt it.

Detachedly, I wondered if this could be fatal. Either way, I had nothing to lose. But I still had to save him. I had to try.

Do or do not, there is no try.

Shut up! I wanted to scream, but the last thing I wanted was to wake up the whole damn ship. They would have thought me insane. Maybe they would think right, for the last vestiges of my sanity were slowly fading away.

I had to try. It wasn't for the Jedi. To hell with them. I hated them. Maybe it was best that they had all had died in the purges. Maybe it was for my dark father, hopelessly trapped in the evil, drowning deep in the endless dark. And stars, I wanted nothing more than to save him, to bring him back, to resurrect him. And it was for the Force. My loyalty lay in the Force, and only in the Force.

I let the blade clatter to the floor and curled up on the deck. My weary, wasted mind waned, and all the feelings drained from me. Eternal blackness beckoned, and I prayed for it to take me. And slowly, it did. The world faded out, taking with it the merciless onslaught of agony. And I knew no more.

A/N: Muhahaha...I love tormenting people with cliffhangers.