CHAPTER FIVE
The early morning sun glinted off the silvery surface of Anakin's customized H-type Naboo yacht as Luke loaded a supply crate into the hold. Artoo twittered gamely behind him and Luke turned to his father, "All set?"
Anakin nodded, leading the small party up the landing ramp. Settling into the pilot's seat, Anakin maneuvered the ship gracefully out of the planet's atmosphere while Luke entered hyperspace coordinates for Tatooine into the navcomputer. Moments later, starlines stretched before them and Anakin sighed, turning to his son, "I guess we are off."
Luke heard the tension in his father's voice and reached tentatively for his presence. Reached was probably the wrong word, for one never had to reach for Anakin Skywalker's presence in the Force. It was always there, surrounding his father. Simply put, the Force loved his father. He had heard the stories of his father's childhood and the circumstances surrounding his birth, but it was when they were close and totally open to each other that his father's "place" in the Force really hit Luke.
"It'll be fine, Father. You'll see," Luke offered, hoping to qualm his apprehension. "The best way to conquer ghosts is to confront them head-on, you've done it before – and won."
"You would know," Anakin agreed. "If ever anyone was good at confrontation, it was you...and your sister, for that matter," he added thoughtfully. He remembered the first time he'd seen Luke – a half-trained Jedi resolutely ascending the stairway of the carbon freeze chamber, too naïve to be afraid of the man awaiting him at the top, unaware of how much danger truly awaited him. And Leia – she had to be the only person from whom he had tolerated open hostility and blatant disrespect in the days before he knew her true identity. The Force had always guided him with his children, even when he was too foolish to do it himself.
Anakin was thankful that he had lived to see the Jedi fledgling grow into the man who sat beside him. And now Luke was going to be a husband, and perhaps a father himself, someday. Anakin had agreed whole-heartedly when Luke had decided not to follow some of the more asinine codes of the Old Republic Order and gave his blessing to Jedi who wanted to marry.
He thought of the romance his son had found and remembered those days of youthful promise. For a moment, he saw Padmé's face and was reminded of the empty place in his life – how different it could have been. He missed his wife every day, but she lived on through their children and grandchildren. Knowing that, he was content to be with them now, until he was with her again.
Luke's voice interrupted his reverie, "Credit for your thoughts."
Anakin regarded his son, "I am proud of you. As I'm sure your mother would be." Luke smiled. Anakin lowered his voice and said knowingly, "I really hope this isn't about helping with your wedding."
"No," Luke replied sheepishly. "I'm sure Leia and Mara have that under control." Anakin looked away at the mention of yet another ghost from his past. Luke had been hoping to breech the subject of his fiancé with his father. "She's nervous, too," he started. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Mara had not taken the bait and, sure enough, Anakin's response was the same. "No...it is between us." He turned back to Luke, softening his voice, "The two of you are happy?"
"Yes," his son answered sincerely. "Very much so."
Anakin nodded, "Then that is all that matters."
x x x x x x x x x x
The navcomputer's vidmap displayed their destination as: DARKLIGHTER FARM, FRESH PRODUCE AND GOOD CONVERSATION, STOP BY AND SEE US, though Luke hardly needed guidance as he landed the ship on the outskirts of the farm where he had grown up.
Anakin took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Thirty-five years. He had sworn he would never set foot on this wretched ball of sand again, yet here he was. The mission to recover the stolen plans for the first Death Star was one of the very rare occasions that he had not led his troops on the ground. He should have, he thought. He would never have authorized the slaughter of the Larses. What if Luke had been home? Would he have known? He banished such thoughts as the sandy terrain of Tatooine appeared before them. It was with a touch of incongruity he realized all it had taken was for Luke to bat his eyes and ask nicely to get him here. If Admiral Ozzel and Piett could see him now...
Luke came up behind him and rested a hand on his shoulder, "Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be," Anakin said resignedly, pulling the hood of his dark brown robe over his head.
"Let's go," Luke said with a smile. Descending the ramp, he recognized the familiar form of Jula Darklighter approaching the ship. Luke had known Jula's son, Gavin, for years as a Rogue Squadron pilot and noted the resemblance in the brown eyes and warm smile that greeted him.
"Luke," Jula extended his hand, "I'm glad you could come."
Luke returned the firm handshake, "It's good to see you again, Jula." He scanned the familiar landscape. "Everything seems to be running smoothly."
"Eh," Jula shook his head dismissively. "Smooth as it can. You know how it is here." The elderly man's eyes wandered to the tall figure standing silently in the background.
Luke turned slightly, "This is Master Spicewood." Anakin tipped his head politely in greeting.
"Welcome," Jula responded, glancing sideways at the setting suns. "Come on inside. We just have time for refreshments before I have to shut the power down."
Luke and Anakin followed him into the kitchen where a petite gray-haired woman met them. Silya Darklighter's face split into a grin as she embraced Luke and held him at arm's length for inspection. "You look well," she approved. "And getting married, I understand."
"Yes ma'am," Luke flushed. His private life wasn't even private in the Outer Rim. He introduced "Master Spicewood" who, again, nodded politely.
Silya motioned for them to be seated in the small dining area where she had already prepared hubba-rind tea and flatbread. "How is Leia?" she asked.
"Good," Luke answered somewhat distracted. "She's good." Silya continued to putter around the kitchen, commenting about how nice it had been to meet Luke's sister years before when Han Solo had gone missing in a sandstorm.
Sitting across from Anakin at the same table where Uncle Owen had declared his father dead was a surreal feeling Luke had not expected. Anakin, too, appeared to be lost in his thoughts.
"-your room? Luke?"
He startled at Silya's question. "I'm sorry. What was that?"
"Would you like to spend the night in your old room?" she repeated.
"No," he answered quickly. "We don't want to impose. We'll stay on the ship."
Jula joined them at the table with a small datapad bearing a schematic. "Your Aunt Dama marked the area where she believes your grandmother is buried. She said her memory isn't what it used to be, but that you could comm her when you arrived."
"Thank you, but that won't be necessary," Luke responded. He felt his father withdraw into himself even further. "I...found some old records. We'll go out in the morning and mark the exact location."
Jula and Silya exchanged glances, but said nothing. They weren't aware of any other Skywalker relatives, but it was not lost on them that Luke and his quiet older companion had the same color eyes.
x x x x x x x x x x
The Tatooine moonlight sifted in the window of the cabin where Anakin had been tossing in his bunk for the past couple of hours. He had overcome his inability to sleep in the last few years, a small peace settling over his life. Tonight, however, was a different story. It had been a night much like this when he had first tapped into the Dark Side all those years ago. He shook himself mentally. That memory was somewhere he did not want to go.
Feeling restless, he got up and dressed. He clipped his lightsaber to his belt and pulled his robe around him as he exited the ship. This would have garnered warnings from the Darklighters had they been awake, for the Tuskens made the night perilous on Tatooine. He was not afraid of Tuskens.
Going on memory alone, Anakin made his way out beyond the western edge of the sand berm. He knew this particular location on this Force-forsaken planet better than any other. He had been to it in his dreams and nightmares repeatedly over the last thirty years. He walked toward the patch of land that drew him like a magnet. The night wind had died down to a slight breeze as if in anticipation of the coming confrontation. Anakin sucked in a breath as voices of a woman and young boy long ago dead whispered in his head...this was the place. He drew the Force into him and let it guide him.
He must have meditated there for a while, because Tatoo I was starting to peek over the horizon, painting the sky a dark violet orange hue. While the darkness still comforted him, he placed the boulder he had moved to the site and drew his lightsaber.
x x x x x x x x x x
Tatoo II had made its way partway into the early morning sky when Luke found his father. Using the coordinates that Dama marked, he found the gravesite. His father stood, a lone figure with two flat-faced boulders facing him. Luke looked at the markers, the words "Shmi Skywalker" on one and "Cliegg Lars" was on the other. His father had carved their names intricately into the stone with his lightsaber. Luke walked up and put his hand tentatively on his father's shoulder as not to startle him. "Somehow, I knew you would be out here this morning."
"That predictable, am I?" Anakin queried.
"Actually, yes," Luke said with a small grin.
"Good," Anakin said with a hint of humor. "That means we know each other well, because I knew you would come looking for me."
Luke smiled, noticing a glint of silver as his father tucked a tiny datapad into his robes. It was the holojournal where Shmi had recorded her thoughts, fears and hopes after surrendering her son to the Jedi. Silya had given the journal to Leia not long after it had been discovered buried under a moisture vaporator. Years later, Leia had returned it to Anakin as a peace offering between the two of them.
"Are there gravesites for Owen and Beru?" Anakin broke the silence.
"No," Luke said, his voice taking on a sad note.
Anakin decided to leave it alone. "What do you say we get moving? We can get to Naboo by nightfall there and get you back to Coruscant by tomorrow night."
Luke and "Master Spicewood" showed Jula and Silya the markers and thanked them for their hospitality. As the ship took off for Naboo, Anakin breathed a sigh of relief at having finally faced one of the biggest fears of both this life and his life as the Dark Lord – Tatooine.
As the gondola pulled up to the dock at Varykino, Luke inhaled a deep breath. The sweet smell of flowers assaulted his senses. He had never found a place more beautiful than the lodge that his mother and father had called "home" in their time together. The peaceful garden was his mother's final resting place where the family came to pay their respects periodically.
Luke sensed that his father had withdrawn into himself again, but knew that this time it was for different reasons. He and Leia had noticed that the visits here often left their father with a quiet kind of sadness. They also knew there would come a time when they would be able to tell by these visits that he was ready to be with their mother, but that it was still a long time off. He had many years with his grandchildren yet.
Luke stood outside in the garden as Anakin reviewed the latest documents that were needed to run the lodge with the caretakers. He reached up and snapped a red flower from an overhead branch. Standing before the statue of the lovely woman who had stolen a young Jedi's heart so long ago, Luke knelt and placed the blossom on a stone that bore the name Padmé Naberrie Amidala Skywalker.
Strolling along the balustrade, the image of a young couple exchanging vows before a holy man appeared in his mind's eye. The couple turned and faced the lake as the vision disappeared. With a smile, Luke decided to talk to Mara about taking their vows here. It seemed the perfect way to seal his love to the woman with whom he would spend the rest of his life.
Anakin walked onto the veranda and crouched before the statue of his wife with a bundle of flowers. Luke left his father to spend a moment of solitude with his mother while he continued along the perimeter of the stone patio, his thoughts lost in hopes for the future.
to be continued...
Feedback is, as always, appreciated. :)
A/N: References to the Darklighter family/farm and Shmi's holojournal are from Troy Denning's wonderful novel, Tatooine Ghost.