Chapter 15: Luke Skywalker

"That's impossible!" Luke protested wildly, a hot glare directed at Han. "He wouldn't do that! My father may be an Imperial but that doesn't make him a murderer! And he's not Darth Vader! Look at the photo! Does that look like Darth Vader to you? Huh, does it?"

"Well, that's an old photo." Han stared right back at Luke. "Ask him for a current photo, Kid. I bet he won't send one."

"Of course he will! My father has nothing to hide!" Luke said hotly. The topic of his father possibly being Darth Vader wasn't funny anymore. In fact, it was making his blood boil. The idea that his father had actually killed Ben… "Besides, he cares about me! Darth Vader is a vicious monster! He couldn't possibly write the letters that I'm receiving! You must be mistaken, Han."

"Well, I still think he's Darth Vader." Han moved closer to Luke and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I know this is rough on you. No one wants to be related to that monster. But just stop and think for a minute! Didn't you say someone pushed him into that lava hole? Well, who pushed him?"

"His teacher…" Luke's blue eyes shifted from Han to the photo on the computer.

/No … it can't be!/

He closed his eyes, willing the idea away. He didn't want to believe that Ben could have done such a horrible thing to anyone, nether less to his father! How could anyone do such a thing?

"If it were me, I'd want revenge on the guy that did it…"

/I don't want to believe it!/

Luke had never dreamed that he had actually known his father's teacher, but then, hadn't Ben himself told him he was? Luke's eyes shot open as Ben's words flew back into his mind. He leaned backward, a loud puff of air escaping from his mouth. Then he glanced up at Han, the fight out of him. "Ben told me and I just didn't realize what he had been saying. He twisted it around and made it sound as if he had had two students, one of them my father and one of them Darth Vader. He then said that Darth Vader betrayed and murdered my father. But what if what you're saying is true and Vader is my father?"

/Darth Vader is my father…/

"Well, that's what I think, Kid." Han rested his hand on Luke's shoulder, trying to comfort him. He really didn't know how to help Luke with such a situation or what was the best thing to do. "Look, I never knew my parents, either. If I were to find out one of them was someone like that, I'd be shocked, too. I wish I knew what to say or do to make you feel better…"

/I'm writing letters to Darth Vader…/

No matter how Luke tried to connect the letters to Vader, he just couldn't. Vader was cold-blooded and didn't care about anyone. The man in the letters was passionate and cared deeply for people, even if he had been forced to live a bad life. How could the two be the one and the same? "Han, we must have made a mistake somewhere. I know you're convinced but if you'd just read Anakin's letters you'd see there's no way he could possibly be Darth Vader! Yes, he has the Force and he works on Executor, but that doesn't mean he's Vader!"

"So he never did any Vader-like thing?" Han asked, the hand gripping Luke's shoulder tightening.

"No! Of course not!" Luke blurted out without thinking. He wanted to protect his penpal and father from these accusations, these slurs of his character. But then the first letter popped into his mind and what had happened with the Tuskan Raiders. Coldness settled into pit of his stomach. No!

/I could just forget it and not tell Han. He'd never know…/

But the thought of lying made him feel guilty. "There was something he told me…"

Han knelt down next to Luke. "Tell me, Kid. You'll feel better."

"It was in his first letter." The young Jedi closed his eyes. "His mother had been kidnapped by the Tuskan Raiders. He went to go rescue her. But she died. He told me he killed them all. When I first read it I thought it was kind of … violent … but then I didn't know what I would have done in his place. Would I have done the same thing if I have had his training and fighting skills? I mean, I can understand why he'd do that. But that doesn't mean he's Vader, does it?"

"That's a though call, Kid." Han straightened and started pacing again. "Now say if that was Chewie and some creatures killed him, I'd probably go crazy, too. Would I try to kill them all? Probably. Anyone could turn into a killer in a situation like that…"

"But does that make him Vader?" Luke repeated, intensity in his blue eyes.

/Please say it doesn't! I don't want to be related to Vader!/

Han tossed his arms up into the air. "I don't know! We've gone around this thing so many times it's driving me crazy! Besides, I thought you said that old guy told you…"

"I just don't want to believe it." Luke admitted, his eyes downcast. "And if this crazy theory of ours is true, then what does that make Ben? I mean, my father said it was his teacher that shoved him into that lava. I don't want to believe Ben was capable of doing something like that."

"Maybe things just escalated out of control and it all happened so fast that he didn't know what he was doing anymore…" Han suggested, trying to soften the impact. "When two people get into a fight, they do crazy stuff. It's worst when you got two people that care for each other. The emotions involved are stronger. Husbands can kill the wife they love and vice versa. That's how people act when you toss things like jealousy into the picture."

Luke sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's just he seems to genuinely care about me and well, I just can't picture Vader caring about anyone."

"Words are cheep, Kid." Han commented as he rubbed at his tired eyes.

Luke brought the letter to the front of the screen and started to read. Maybe he could find some piece of information in here to prove to his buddy that his father wasn't Darth Vader at all. More importantly, he needed to prove it to himself. There was now a bright desire burning within him, a quest for the truth. Like the lava that had burned his father, it sizzled within his heart and mind.

/There must be something in here! There just have to be some mistake!/

Yet fear had crept in, too. It whispered dark thoughts at the back of his mind.

/Han is right. Your father IS Darth Vader./

It would explain so many things that Luke had ignored over the past few days. He truly wanted to believe that his father had just somehow escaped the Purge that had wiped the Jedi out of existence, that for whatever reason that Vader had allowed him to live and had even given him a job on his ship, Executor. Perhaps it might have been something so simple as him having been friends with Vader or even Palpatine. Or maybe when he had been injured they had brainwashed him. Something, anything! He didn't want to think that there was only ONE person on Executor with Jedi-like powers or that only one person could explain about the Sith. He didn't want to think that there was no way a trained Jedi could hide their Force abilities from a Sith. Anakin had even admitted to holding inspections at the same time as Vader.

/I'm just deluding myself thinking he's not Vader…/

His heart sunk low as gloom settled in.

/How could this happen to me when I just found him? It's so unfair!/

Luke read the first paragraph of the letter hope springing his heart upward. Excitedly he called to his friend. "Han! Look at this! He was crying! He was so happy to get my photo that it made him cry! Now does that sound like Darth Vader to you?"

Han turned to face him. The smuggler paused for a moment, thinking and then shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, Kid. People often act different in private than they do in public. Who knows what Vader does when he's alone? He could do any number of things…"

"But crying? Come on, Han!" Luke waved his hand, insisting that Han come closer. He pointed at the monitor with a finger. "Read that! Now does that sound like Vader to you?"

Groaning, Han walked over and uneasily stood next to the game table the computer sat on. "I don't know, Kid. I feel funny reading your mail."

Luke shifted over and patted the seat next to him. "Come on, Han! You're my best friend! How can I prove it to you that he doesn't sound like Vader if you won't read it!"

Exhaling loudly, Han slid into the seat and focused his eyes on the monitor. "Just the first paragraph?"

"Read the whole thing if you want…" Luke offered. "But I only read the first paragraph so far…"

"All right." Han started to read, his eyes quickly moving up and back from left to right.

Luke rested in the seat and leaned back. He was itching to read the entire letter and find out what his father had said to him. Yet he couldn't get the idea of Darth Vader out of his head! Was it possible for a person to be so different? His father seemed caring and concerned about him. Sure, the first few letters had been a bit cool but you had to expect that. But now that they had formed a relationship and got to know each other better Anakin was letting his warm feelings out.

/A cold-blooded person wouldn't cry at seeing a photograph!/

No, it was clear that Anakin was emotional.

/Is Darth Vader emotional?/

Luke didn't think so, but then he knew almost nothing of Vader.

Han stopped reading and glanced at Luke, anger in his voice. "You told him we're on Hoth? Luke, how could you! He's giving you advice on how to stay alive here in artic conditions, blabbing on about hypothermia and snow blindness!"

"No, of course not!" Luke cried. "I just said it was a cold, icy planet! I didn't give him the name!"

"Yeah, like he can't use that information to figure it out!" Han eased out of the seat and rubbed at his haggard face. "I was up all night, my eyes are burning, I have a banging headache and now I found out you told him we're on an icy planet! I don't need to be worrying about the Imperials breathing down my neck."

"My father's not going to do us anything!" Luke insisted, wishing he could truly believe it.

/Anyway, I hope he's not…/

"Luke, it's his JOB to do something about us or did you forget?"

"Yeah, I know…" Luke hung his head sadly. Why did his father have to be on the opposite side for? Why couldn't they both be together? Why did everything have to be so difficult? It was hard enough when he had discovered Anakin was a commander on Executor and now with him maybe being the Sith Lord himself… "I just want to think he'll do the right thing."

"The right thing from whose point of view? Our right thing is far different than Palpatine's right thing!"

"Look, I'll just ask him for a current photograph, OK? Maybe that'll solve this argument as to if he's Vader or not." Luke shifted on the seat until he was in front of the computer.

"Why don't you just ask him if he's Darth Vader?" Han suggested.

"I can't do that!" Luke paused, his eyes widening as he shifted his gaze to the smuggler.

"Why not?" Han pushed. "Are you afraid of his answer, afraid he might say yes?"

"Of course I'm scared of what he might say!" Luke shouted. "What if he says he is? Then I can't pretend and hope that he's not anymore! And if he's not Vader, he'll think I'm an idiot or something! Or he may get the wrong idea about me. He may think that a rank of Commander isn't good enough for me and that I want my father to be a Lord! How will he feel then? I have to consider his feelings. He was just hurt so many times…"

"All right." Han conceded. "Go ask him for another photo. But don't you dare tell him we're on Hoth!"

"Don't worry, I won't!" Luke started to read the letter from the beginning.

Han stumbled towards the cockpit, mumbling. "I don't believe it. Luke's writing a letter to Darth Vader on MY ship and I'm letting him. I must be crazier than he is!"

Luke's heart leaped when he read that the other man in the photo was Anakin's Master.

/So Han was right. That IS Ben./

Compared to the other things he knew, the thought wasn't comforting.

After reading the entire letter through, Luke began to compose his own.

Dear Father,

Thank you for your letter and photo. It means a lot to me. I showed the photo to my friend and he says that the other man is Ben Kenobi. Is that who your Master was? He looked vaguely familiar to me but I couldn't remember where I had seen him. I'm not sure how my buddy knew. I guess it's related to his various occupations, if you know what I mean. When I met him he looked a lot older with white hair and dried-out skin from living on Tatooine. Did you know that Darth Vader killed him? How do you feel about that? Or didn't Vader tell you?

It's interesting to see you as a young man. Our eyes look the same. And our hair is similar, too, although mine is shaggier. I had no idea that Jedi apprentices had a certain hairstyle they had to wear. It's all very interesting. Ben really didn't have much time to tell me about the old Jedi Order. I will greatly appreciate anything you can tell me.

Was Ben the one that tried to kill you?

I just find that hard to understand. He seemed normal when I met him, although I admit he lied to me. He told me you were dead. My uncle had told me a similar story while I was growing up, but in that story you weren't a Jedi but a pilot. The only similarity was both said you were dead.

Thank you for the advice on surviving on this ice world. Hopefully I wont have to be here too long. I never heard of snow blindness so I'll be extra careful. I doubt if anything lives out there though; it's just so frigid! But I'll keep my eyes open just in case. I suppose you're right about life finding a way to live almost anywhere. I just hate to think of what kind of creature could live in these conditions … and what it eats.

I don't mean to be a pest, but I'd really like a current picture of how you look. Could you please send me one? I know your sensitive about your appearance, but if we're ever going to meet somewhere I'll need to know what you look like. Besides, I want to see my father just as much as you wanted to see me. I can understand how it troubles you after being so handsome. But I know that you love me and care for me. That's what's really important.

As for why I was depressed, well, my buddy got a bit upset when he found out I was writing to an Imperial. He's over that now so its all OK. Like I told you, he doesn't exactly like the Empire.

I'm keeping warm on my friend's ship. The room I was assigned here is freezing!

Hope you are doing OK.

Write back soon!

Your son,

Luke

Luke smiled; thinking his innocent question about Ben was quite clever. Pressing the button, he sent the letter on its way.

To be continued…