CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

"My luck has turned

Everything lost has come back to me

All the creatures of the night

Have snuck off reluctantly"

- Vik & Linda, The Blue Hour

Anakin watched her go with an almost dazed expression. "Padme!" he suddenly called impulsively.

She stopped and looked back at him over her shoulder but didn't say anything. He covered the distance between them in a few long strides. He turned her around gently to face him and when Padme looked up into his face, she could see there were tears in his eyes. He said her name softly again and then kissed her deeply, his fingers curled around the nape of her slender neck. Padme leaned into his kiss. She could never resist him when he was like this.

- - -

A long time later, Padme lay next to the warm, heavy body of her husband playing gently with his hair. His head was resting on her shoulder and he was sprawled possessively across her small form. Anakin could almost hear her thinking, so intently was she concentrating on some train of thought.

"I think Sidious thought I would kill you," Padme said softly, breaking the long contented silence between them.

"Well, that's not quite what happened," Anakin said with a smug grin.

"Be serious," she scolded but he could hear the laughter in her voice. It made him feel happy. It was one of the few things that did. "If I had killed you, it would have left the way clear for him to recruit Luke as his new apprentice," Padme said reasonably.

She could feel every muscle in Anakin's body tense the second she said it. She knew that he knew that she was right.

Anakin's mind was suddenly racing. It was such a devious, cunning, manipulative, creative and subtle plan that it reeked of Sidious' methods.

"Did you want to kill me?" he asked in a subdued voice.

Padme was silent for a moment. "No," she admitted, her surprise at herself evident in her voice. "I think, as I said earlier, that Sidious did not and could not factor the effects of love into his plan."

Anakin relaxed slightly. He believed what she said.

"Isn't it odd?" Padme continued. "He knew that I would be angry but he could not imagine for one second a reaction that was not self-serving. He doesn't understand that love demands that you give way to it, sometimes to the cost of all else that you hold dear," Padme said, more to herself than to Anakin.

A frown crossed his face as she spoke. Her words were to stay with him for a long time.

- - -

Vader carried on with his plans for the Death Star and the Empire generally with great bitterness of heart. He was sure that Padme was right in that Sidious had planned for his wife to kill him in order to leave the way clear for Sidious to get to Luke. Obviously Sidious thought he was unreliable in some way towards his son. He did not trust Vader to turn Luke to the Dark Side of the Force. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He was angry with his master for doubting him but at the same time, he had doubts about himself too. If it came down to turning his son or killing him, he already knew that he could not kill Luke. So where did that leave him? He had no option but not to fail.

He was not prepared for Sidious' quick return this time and it took him off guard. If he was surprised to see Vader still alive, he gave no sign of it but Vader knew that did not mean anything. Sidious was a master of controlling his emotions in order to give the impression that he wanted to give. He had used it to great effect to gain increasing power in the Senate all those years ago. One thing Sidious made clear was that he expected them to work together to turn Luke. Vader read between the lines; Sidious did not trust him.

It was not long afterward that he felt Luke's presence in a cargo ship going into Endor. He had to tell Sidious, he could not hide his own feelings from him for long. He risked his master's displeasure by visiting him on the Death Star after being told to remain on the Command Ship. He was sure Sidious was trying to keep them apart in order to get to Luke first.

Sidious sent him to Endor to find Luke and bring him back to his master. Vader could sense his master's displeasure. For once, he didn't care.

His son was brought to him in the long shadows of the forests of Endor. He examined him closely once more. He was even more like himself at the same age than he remembered. It made him confused and hesitant. He knew he should take his son to Sidious immediately but he delayed, examining the light sabre his son built with an odd mixture of pride and pain; so much potential about to be destroyed or twisted. Vader's heart was very heavy.

He attempted an explanation, to tell him why he had to take him before the Emperor. His son didn't understand. Nobody but Vader himself understood the terrible pull of his master's bidding.

His son looked at him with the same expression that Padme had so long ago, his words echoing hers eerily. "Then my father is truly dead." How many times had those that he loved told him that he was 'dead'? Was he really a machine now? Were they right?

When he brought him before his master, Vader was silent. His emotions were warring with each other; his old desire to obey and please his master with his love for his son and his son's mother. He looked up sharply when the Emperor told Luke that he could no longer be turned from the Dark Side. Was that true or did the Emperor just say that to discourage Luke from trying? He had used his master's pull over him many times as an excuse for his actions to Padme but deep down there had always been a small seed of hope that one day, he would get away from it without sacrificing Padme's life.

He examined his son's face as the Emperor spoke and remembered with sudden dreadful clarity, all the lies and half-truths that the Emperor had told him in order to recruit him. He was using the same ones on Luke, trying to whip up the boy's hatred and anger and fear, trying to play on his love for his friends and his desire to help them by attempting to kill the Emperor.

Vader almost couldn't bear seeing his son struggle as he had himself to resist the desire to strike down his enemy in hatred. It was the young Anakin and Count Dooko all over again. He had failed. He had given in to the Emperor's persuasion that revenge was 'natural'.

He was suddenly sure that he wanted his son to resist, succeeding where he had failed. He waited tensely, suffering with his son.

When Luke finally gave in and reached for his weapon, Vader was ready with a counter blow. Even now, Vader could not stand by and let his master be destroyed. The conflict in him was as strong as ever. He could feel tears of despair and frustration at his own confusion momentarily come to his eyes.

His own confusion was weakening him with the Dark Side, he could feel it. It was too easy for Luke to gain the upper hand. Vader was thrown off balance and for the first time since his battle with Obi Wan on Mustafar, he stumbled in a duel. He found himself falling backward down a flight of stairs.

To his amazement, his son did not come after him. Luke sheathed his light sabre with a look of desperate determination.

"Obi Wan had taught you well," Vader said without thinking. He was proud of his son but he knew that he could not back down in front of his master. He climbed back up the stairs and went on the attack.

He tried to ignore the things his son was saying, denying the truth that he knew too well. He was conflicted about fighting his son. He couldn't listen to the part of his heart that his son was touching so painfully, it disconnected him from the Dark Side; the source of his power.

He cleverly trapped his son under the walkway and waited for him to come out. His son refused to fight him any further however. Vader did not know how to deal with this any other way than that of the Dark Side. He used his son's emotions against him. He could fell Luke's love and fear for his friends and…

Vader's heart constricted painfully.

And his sister! Luke had a twin sister, he could feel it.

Vader felt light-headed for a moment as the realization struck. Not only had Padme hidden his son from him all this time but his daughter too!

A true apprentice of Sidious, he used the bait of Luke's sister to tempt him out of his hiding place. "If you will not turn to the Dark Side then perhaps she will," he goaded.

It worked. It worked too well. Vader had not been prepared to face a son who was as strong as himself. With so much conflict weakening his access to the Dark Side, Vader found himself easily being beaten back by his son until finally he found himself on his knees, his sword arm once more sliced off cleanly by a light sabre blade. He was vividly reminded of Mustafar and for a moment, the two experiences blurred in his mind.

He could hear the Emperor cackling with pleasure and a white hot poker of rage forced its way upwards towards his brain. He wanted to kill his master and for the first time, he knew he could really do it.

To Vader's amazement, once more Luke sheathed his light sabre. The boy's confused blue gaze went from his father's missing mechanical hand to his own gloved one. Perhaps he saw the resemblance between them suddenly and didn't like it, Vader thought.

He watched his son do what he himself had never been able to. He threw his weapon away and refused to fight or defend himself. In a moment of clarity, he saw the immense power of his own connection to the Force and Padme's character combined in the son before him. It was a formidable combination. Vader was fascinated.

He did not have long to contemplate this revelation before the Emperor got up in a rage like Vader had never seen. Had Sidious ever failed to recruit a new apprentice, Vader wondered? Judging by his reaction, he had never been thwarted before.

Vader struggled to his feet as the Emperor sent vicious bolts of lightening into his son's body. He moved closer to his master's side. He had undergone this treatment many times himself. He expected Sidious to stop fairly quickly but he didn't. His master was laughing insanely and uttering threats. Vader looked at him anxiously and then back at his son. Luke was obviously becoming spent. He himself had been punished until he was unconscious but he was afraid that Sidious wouldn't stop in time. His son was pleading with him for help. The torturous dissonance inside Vader was becoming intolerable.

The intensity of the lightening increased and suddenly Vader knew that Sidious had every intention of killing his son. In a flash, Vader could hear Padme's words echoing in his memory:

"You have other choices, Anakin."

"When are you going to finally know that no amount of power is worth this?"

"One way or the other, I should have known that one day you would destroy him. You destroy everything that you love."

"Sidious doesn't understand that love demands that you give way to it, sometimes to the cost of all else that you hold dear."

Suddenly it was as though all the pieces of a puzzle that he had been trying to solve all his life finally came together. He finally knew the solution. Without hesitation, he walked over to the Emperor and lifted him bodily into the air. He could feel the Emperor's power weakening from using all the vicious bolts of electricity to kill his son.

When Sidious turned his crippling lightening on himself, Vader no longer cared. If he could destroy the Emperor, then Luke and Padme would be free and so would his daughter that he had never met. Even if it cost him his own life, it was more than worth it to set them free.

He lifted Sidious into the air and cast him down the bottomless shaft in the room's central core. With a burst of wind, the Emperor's body exploded. Vader staggered and fell. The lightening had affected his life support system once more and he was struggling to breathe.

Luke ran over to him, his young face anxious. "Father!"

"Take me to the Command Ship. My life support is failing," Vader gasped through his mask.

Luke lifted his father in a fireman's hold and hurried to the hanger section. Once Luke sealed the ship, Vader took off his mask in the pressurized environment. He sucked in air quickly and immediately began to feel better.

He noticed Luke was staring at him in fascination. He knew he was astonished at how similar they were even taking into account the age difference.

"We need to get to the Command Ship quickly. My medical droid can fix my life support there," he instructed.

With a quick nod, Luke obeyed and took off from the hanger just as the Rebel Alliance was spreading out through the Death Star to destroy it once and for all. Anakin sank back into his seat, drifting in and out of consciousness.

- - -

Padme spun around as the suite door opened. Anakin had been in an odd mood the last time he left her and had been away much longer than usual. She had an awful feeling of foreboding. She was afraid for Luke.

She frowned when she saw a strange young man come in carrying Anakin without his mask.

"Anakin!" she said fearfully, running over to her husband.

"He needs the medical droid," the young man said.

She nodded and ran through to the medical niche and turned on the droid. The young man carried Anakin to the niche and put him on the bed. "He collapsed on the way from the hanger," the young man said as Padme anxiously waited while the droid gave Anakin oxygen while he worked on his life support.

"His arm!" Padme exclaimed.

How did Luke tell this beautiful woman that he himself had cut it off?

"It will be easy to replace," the droid said as it worked on the life support.

There was quiet as the droid worked and they both watched anxiously.

Luke examined the woman's profile surreptitiously. There was something familiar about her but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. He wondered what her relationship was to the frightening man who was his father.

"Excuse me but you look familiar to me," Luke finally said politely, unable to control his curiousity anymore.

The small woman barely glanced at him, her eyes fixed on his father's face. "Do I?" she replied.

"Yes. I wouldn't have seen you before, would I?" he asked.

The woman smiled oddly. "I doubt it. I have been here for over a decade and a half. I've barely seen anyone in that time," she replied, still not looking at him.

"Are you his slave?" Luke asked, repulsed by the idea.

This time the woman's smile was very peculiar. "Yes and no," she said.

"Who are you?" he finally asked, exasperated.

She glanced up at him with a frown finally. "I'm his wife," she said simply.

Luke stared at her. "How long have you been married?" he asked faintly.

"Nearly 23 years," she replied, looking away again.

Luke felt dizzy. He was standing in the same room as his mother and he hadn't known. If she hadn't been so anxious about his father, she probably would have recognized him. Luke suddenly knew why she looked so familiar; it was because she looked like Leia.

"Mother," he whispered, suddenly not able to speak any louder.

The woman stiffened suddenly and she looked up sharply at him. Her large, autumn brown eyes darted over his face, examining every feature.

"Oh my God!" she said, suddenly standing up and covering her mouth with both hands. Tears welled up in her beautiful eyes. Her face crumpled as she stared at him. "You look so much like him, so much like he was back on Naboo! Why didn't I see it immediately?"

The things he reminded her of were obviously painful as well as happy because there was a kind of ache in her expression as she looked at him hungrily. She walked around the bed until she was standing in front of him. "I haven't seen you since you were a year old," she said, her lips trembling as she spoke. "My baby," she whispered. Her small body was trembling. She put out her arms to him and he gathered her against him in a hug.

"Mother," he said, holding onto her. "I missed you so much!"

"I couldn't see you after you turned one. It nearly killed me," Padme said, wiping away her tears as he let her go finally. "But we had to protect you from the Emperor and from…" she looked away to the still unconscious form of her husband. She couldn't finish the sentence. "Obi Wan was watching over you, so I knew you'd be safe but I so wanted to hold you all those years," she said and started crying again.

"Don't cry, mother!" Luke said. "We have all the time in the Universe now," he said happily.

"It's the time that we can't regain that hurts me. I missed out on seeing you grow up," she said sadly.

"Leia remembers you," Luke said encouragingly.

Padme looked at him with wide eyes. "You know about your sister?" she asked.

"I met her in the Rebel Alliance," Luke said. "I didn't know she was my sister at first but Ben, I mean, Obi Wan told me. He started my training, you know," Luke said proudly.

"I miss Obi Wan," Padme said sadly, looking away for a moment.

"I can still see him," Luke said comfortingly.

"Say 'hi' and 'thank you' for me next time, will you?" Padme asked with a sad smile.

"I'm hoping to still see Yoda too," Luke said.

"Yoda? Is he dead?" Padme asked with a small gasp.

"Yes, he died only a short time ago. Didn't you know?" Luke said kindly.

"No, I didn't," Padme said, the tears coming back. "I so wanted to see him again one day. I miss him too."

"He wouldn't want you to be sad," Luke said.

"No, I know," Padme said. "It's just that… so many people that I knew and loved have gone now."

"You have me and Leia and father," Luke said comfortingly.

Padme smiled at him. "You remind me so much of Anakin when he was your age," she said softly.

Suddenly on the bed, Anakin opened his eyes. "Padme," he said weakly.

She was beside him in a flash. "I'm here Anakin," she said, looking down into his face and stroking back his hair.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Luke is here still too," she said beckoning to Luke.

Anakin looked at his son, his anxiety leaving him. "I couldn't do it Padme," he said, looking back at her. "Sidious was going to kill him because he wouldn't turn and I just… I just couldn't let him do it…"

"He risked his life to kill Sidious and save me," Luke told his mother solemnly.

"Sidious is dead?" Padme asked faintly.

"Dead and gone forever," Luke said.

"And my Anakin has come back to me," Padme said, leaning over and looking into her husband's eyes lovingly.