Luke was closing his small suitcase when he felt the most comforting presence about to knock at his door. He took a deep breath, relaxing instinctively, and waited for the buzz. They were far beyond formalities, but they always respected each other's privacy, even if there were no boundaries between their minds. It was a tacit agreement they rejoiced in, despite its incongruency. Maybe because of it.
Anakin entered his child's room and grinned at Luke's greeting smile.
They stared at each other for a little while, reluctant to be the first to speak. Mind-talk was so easy that words felt clumsy most of the time.
Finally, breaking eye-contact, Luke picked up his suitcase and put it down by the door. Then, he slipped into a light green jacket. He squared his shoulders and faced Anakin.
"Too informal for a Jedi Knight?" he asked. "Do you think I should wear something more... traditional? Will they take me seriously if they see a runt dressed like a teenager?"
It was obvious that as soon as his father's soothing presence filtered through his defenses, Luke's fears had poured out of him like a flood.
Swept away by a wave of affection he was incapable of holding back, Anakin stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his child, hugging him tight.
Luke immediately returned the hug tenfold.
"If you think you're a runt, think of Master Yoda," Anakin teased, knowing exactly what to say to ease his son's fears.
Luke laughed out loud.
"Still, Master Yoda's reputation would have made him look like a giant before anyone's eyes," he argued.
Anakin moved back and grasped Luke's shoulders, looking down at him intensely.
"All right, you still have to earn that reputation. But you will, right from this assignment," he assured him emphatically.
Luke looked down, shaking his head with a sigh.
"I don't know if I find your faith in me encouraging or disturbing."
"Think positively," Anakin simply said. "Just as you've been teaching me all this time."
Luke raised his eyes to his father's and contemplated him with sheer adoration. He shook his head again and flopped down on his bed dejectedly.
"You'll have to try harder than that, I'm afraid; because I'm so uncertain of..." he threw up his hands, "...just everything!"
"That's why I'm here," Anakin replied cheerfully, messing his child's hair and sitting on the bed beside him. "First of all, I think you need some background on the people you're going to visit."
"That was going to be my first question," Luke admitted.
"From my experience 25 years ago, I came to the conclusion that they were thoroughly irritating, self-centred, petty and childish," Anakin said. "Of course, Obi-Wan and I only met their politicians, so we can't generalize. Peoples tend to be far more advanced and intelligent than their leaders. You'll have to bite your tongue, muster your patience and make full use of your diplomatic abilities."
"Help!" Luke groaned exaggeratedly. "What diplomatic abilities? And just how do I do all that?"
"Keep calm and reach for the Force. It'll give you balance," his father advised.
"I wonder if that will be enough," Luke muttered to himself, looking away.
"There's something else that's troubling you," Anakin stated, after a short pause. "What is it?"
"Everything." Luke was the living image of helplessness. "I'm a soldier, not a diplomat. I don't know the first thing about those people, how to approach them; let alone help them to solve their dispute. I..." he dropped his hands on his lap, in defeat. "...I'm not ready for this."
"Jedi were the keepers of Peace in the Old Republic, not soldiers," Anakin explained. "You've been exactly what Jedi never were, and I can imagine it's very difficult for you to make the transition from soldier to diplomat. But the only way to learn, is by trial and error. That's life."
"And if I fail? I'll feel responsible..."
"A wise man is the one who admits there are things beyond his capacities." Anakin didn't allow his son to wallow in his exaggerated sense of responsibility. "If you feel you can't help these people to reach an agreement, just say so and leave. It won't be your fault. It will be everybody's fault. And believe it or not, you'll learn from the experience. Unfortunately, we learn more from our mistakes than from our achievements." His eyes bored into his son's. "You're excellent material, my son. You only need to hone your abilities. The gift is in you. Time will make it perfect." He made another pause. "And it is time to start."
They looked at each other for a very long time, and Anakin felt Luke's confidence strengthening in a steady boost.
The young man shook his head.
"What would I do without you, Father?" he asked in a voice full of wonder. "Thank you!"
Anakin smiled, his heart growing too big for his chest. He reached out and held his son's hand.
"Follow your heart, your instincts and your intellect, in this order."
"Why in that order?" Luke asked, curiously.
"Because it was your heart that redeemed a Dark Lord. Even against the dictates of what reason told you." Anakin's voice was soft and sweet. "And I'll trust your heart blindly for as long as I live. It will never lead you wrong."
Luke's eyes misted with tears, and he blinked rapidly to clear them. He looked away, too moved to face his father's naked love and faith.
"You're very good at flattering me," he began, drawing a little shaky laughter from the two of them, "but I'll never stop needing you." He looked back at Anakin, pulling himself together. "I wish you could accompany me. It's not fair for you to stay here." He sighed. "You wouldn't have to do anything, just having you there would help me."
"I know," Anakin cradled his son's cheek in his palm. "This is too unexpected, and you've had no time to prepare. But I will be here, always," he pointed at the left side of Luke's chest. "We'll figure out something when you're back. I'm not happy with this arrangement, either."
The two sensed that their friends were on their way, so the young man stood up and headed for the door. He bent down to pick up his suitcase.
"By the way..." Anakin began nonchalantly.
"Yes?" Luke asked, stopping in mid-gesture and looking back at his father.
"Anything but that jacket, please," Anakin pleaded dramatically.
"Why you...!" Luke reacted in pretended outrage. He grabbed a small cushion and threw it at his father, who caught it when it hit his chest, doubling up with laughter.
Right then, the doorbell buzzed.
"Come in," Luke said.
His door opened and Luke greeted Han, Leia, Lando, Chewie and the two droids.
"Are you ready, kid?" Han asked his best friend.
"Yep!" Luke said cheerfully, grabbing his suitcase.
"Nervous?" Leia asked kindly.
"Oh, well, you know... the usual," Luke replied ironically. "But Father put some of my fears to rest."
"Good," Leia looked past her brother at Anakin, and nodded to him in gratitude.
Luke took a deep breath and squared his shoulders resolutely.
"Let's go!" he exclaimed, as ready as he could be.
"Luke," Anakin's voice was infinitely gentle, and the young man turned about without thinking.
Anakin walked up to his son and placed his right hand on the top of his head, the ball of it pressed up against his forehead. He closed his eyes and started muttering some indistinct words.
Somehow, Luke realized his father was giving him his blessing and summoning the Force to give his child the focus and guidance he would need. He closed his eyes, too, trying to keep the tears at bay. Untold peace filled his spirit.
When Anakin finished his silent prayer, he put down his hand and looked down at his son, his eyes shining with pride and love.
"Good luck," he simply said when Luke met his eyes, drawing a short laugh from both of them.
"We should be back in four or five days," Luke told Anakin and Leia by the ramp of the Millennium Falcon. It had undergone a leisurely and thorough repair work for the past six months, and it was as good as new. Although it would always look like a hunk of junk to everyone's fond eyes. "Are you sure you don't want Father to start training you in the meantime?" he asked Leia. "It would help to make your days go faster, and by the time I'm back you'd already have some notions of it."
"No," Leia shook her head adamantly. "I'd rather wait for you to be here. I want to be monitored by the two of you at all times, especially now that I'm threading into uncharted territory. Once I start getting the knack of it and I feel more confident, I'll be able to handle just one of you."
Luke laughed out loud, delighted by his sister's cheekiness.
"I'll teach you some basic relaxation and meditation techniques, so you can set your mind to the right level of concentration when we start training you," Anakin offered.
"All right," Leia agreed, nodding. "We can do that." She looked at her brother and hugged him impulsively. "Good luck, Luke. You're going to make it, I know it," she assured him confidently.
"I hope so," Luke replied, returning the hug, still a bit uncertain. When they moved back, he smiled at her lovingly. Next, he reached out his hand to his father, who took it between both of his and squeezed it.
"May the Force be with you, my son," Anakin said one last time, smiling broadly.
Artoo beeped impatiently at them and Luke turned his head.
"I'm coming, Artoo," he told the little droid. "Take care of them for me, Threepio," Luke said to the protocol droid standing slightly behind his father and sister.
"I will, Master," the droid promised eagerly. "May your trip be a successful one."
"Thank you. I'll do my best," Luke winked at his family and with an impish smile, he walked up the ramp, disappearing inside the Falcon.
Anakin and Leia stepped back a few metres when the engines slowly roared to life. Little by little, the ship rose into the air.
Leia was watching the Falcon get smaller and smaller, when she felt her father shuddering from head to foot. She turned to him. Anakin's face was ashen and his breathing was uneven and ragged.
"What is it, Father?" she asked, placing her tiny hand on his arm.
Anakin closed his eyes momentarily, trying to grab the elusive feeling that had suddenly come over him.
"I-I... I don't know," he said, tilting his head to one side, as if listening to some inner voice. A new shudder made him look at the slowly fading ship. "Luke!" he exclaimed, paling even more.
For the next few days, Anakin hardly knew peace. He tried to pretend around his daughter, but Leia knew better. She tried to coax him into talking to her and sharing his fears, but he refused to tell her.
He was totally absent during his daily meetings with the Senate and when someone's direct question brought him out of his reverie, he answered in monosyllables.
Mon Mothma suspected what was wrong with Anakin, and although she considered he was worrying a bit too much, she kept it to herself. She wasn't a parent, so she didn't really know.
Anakin got in touch with Luke twice a day, and things seemed to be progressing smoothly. It had taken some time for Ansion's government to take such a young man seriously, and they tried Luke's patience to breaking point several times.
Right from the first transmission, Anakin told Luke to proceed carefully and watch out for anything strange or suspicious. And even though he didn't know the reason behind his father's request, Luke promised to follow his instructions to the letter.
On the morning of the fourth day, Anakin was awakened by an uncontrolled feeling of euphoria filtering through their mind-link, and he knew his child had made it. He sent back all his pride and joy at his son's achievement, and asked him once again to be careful and take care of himself. Luke assured him he would, and broke the communication with an infinitely grateful and heartfelt, 'Thank you for your faith in me, Father'.
Too keyed up to remain in bed, Anakin got up, washed up, got dressed and left his room, heading for the mess.
He had barely started on his scanty breakfast, when Leia burst into the room, grabbed a chair, sat down on it beside him and faced him with the same authority that had earned her her reputation as a righteous and implacable Senator.
"All right, Father. I want you to tell me what the devil's going on with you, and why are you refusing to trust in me."
Anakin blinked stupidly, staring at his daughter, unable to believe how such a tiny person could be towering above him.
It took him some time to react, but when he did, he realized he couldn't keep this from her any longer. They were a family, and family stuck together. In good times and in bad.
He put down his fork and turned to her.
"You're right, Leia. Please, forgive me for trying to keep this from you. You have a right to know."
"Well?" She asked, her eyes flashing. "Something's wrong with you since the Falcon took off. It doesn't take a genius to figure out you're worried about Luke, his assignment or both. So, spill it out."
Anakin looked down and shook his head. What a fool he had been! He had underestimated his child's capacities, forgetting she had been one of the brightest tactical leaders of the Alliance, tough and resilient when others had fallen apart. He had sold his daughter short. He would never make the same mistake again. He looked up at Leia with bright, intense eyes.
"When the Falcon was leaving, I had a feeling."
"What kind of feeling?" Leia asked.
"Foreboding. I felt that something would happen on Ansion."
Leia stiffened and her look hardened.
"Something dangerous?"
"Quite possibly," Anakin nodded, looking down.
"And you let Luke, Han and the others go, knowing they...?!" Leia exploded; but she immediately realized the blunder she was about to make and brought herself back under control. "No, I can see why you did it. Things have to be done, even if they're dangerous. I had to send Luke into battle many times, knowing he could be killed. The fact that this is a time of peace doesn't make any difference. He's a Jedi. It's his job, and he can't shirk his responsibilities just because there could be some kind of peril involved."
Anakin had recoiled from his daughter's rightful wrath at first, shrinking from her anger. But when she brought herself back under control, getting it on her own, he risked a glance at her.
She was looking at him contritely, as if she had just realized the power she had over him. The power of breaking his heart and hurting him beyond reason.
Leia reached out and placed her hand on her father's shoulder, squeezing it affectionately. He looked like a lost waif sometimes, so needy and desperate for love and approval that her heart ached for him. The wave of overwhelming love that surged up from deep inside her was almost scary, and it was becoming more and more difficult to hold back.
Sometimes, she wondered why she felt the need to hold back her feelings for this man in the first place. And then, she remembered. It broke her heart to see so much pain reflected in Anakin's face. And every time she touched him, as just now, and she felt everything he was feeling, the wall she had placed between them cracked a little bit more. It was a matter of time before it crumbled, she knew that. Both of them knew. But until the right time came for her to feel safe allowing that to happen, she had to learn to control her temper. There was no reason to hurt her father any more than she already did.
"I'm sorry, Father," she apologized, her voice soothing and gentle. "Next time I'm about to dump all this crap on you, I'll count to ten first."
"No, you're partially right," Anakin shook his head in a gesture of helplessness. "I didn't know what to do." He looked away. "I feel as if they were pulling at me from a thousand different directions and I couldn't decide what to do. And I know that doing nothing is just as bad as making a decision. Any decision."
Leia squeezed her father's shoulder one more time and rolled her eyes, knowing the feeling only too well.
"I know how it is, believe me," she sighed dejectedly.
"My first reaction was preventing him from going. But then, I realized it's useless to try and interfere with Destiny. Whatever is destined to be, it will be; it doesn't matter how much we try to stop it." Anakin rubbed his eyes with his fingertips, tiredly. "Then, I thought that maybe I was overreacting. I felt that something would happen on Ansion, something potentially dangerous. But somehow, I knew that if Luke's life had been in mortal danger, I'd have felt it. Luke is a Jedi Master now, and he's got to earn everybody's respect, independently of me. He's got to be able to stand on his own."
"And you also want to protect him from your former identity. You don't want his reputation to be soiled by associating with you in these assignments." Leia voiced what Anakin didn't dare to say out loud.
Anakin's eyes reddened and he nodded, looking away.
"But Father, you're a Jedi Master too. Sooner or later..."
"I'm also the Vice-President of the Republic," Anakin reminded himself as much as his daughter. "I can't cross my President's wishes for personal reasons. I can't question her decisions just because they're in conflict with my personal wishes. I have a responsibility to billions of beings, too. I let them down once, and I won't do it again."
Leia pursed her lips, understanding her father's feelings and motives, but she also realized something else. Something that had to be buried deep inside her father's psyche and he either didn't dare to acknowledge out loud, or wasn't consciously aware of. The fear of turning to the Dark Side again.
The fierceness of her feelings about that took her by surprise. For she knew, without the shadow of a doubt, that her father would never turn again. She didn't know how she knew, she just did; with everything she was and everything she felt. And she knew Luke also knew. But Anakin had been thoroughly traumatized by his past, and he couldn't see himself as objectively as his children and friends could.
Still, it was only a matter of time before her father saw it.
"I warned Luke as soon as he landed on Ansion's capital." Anakin's words shook Leia out of her musings. "I didn't tell him everything because I didn't want to worry him and distract him from his mission needlessly, in case it didn't turn out to be that serious. But that faceless danger, along with... all those other considerations, is unsettling me greatly. If I can't prevent it from happening, then I should be there with him!" he exclaimed in anguish.
"What I don't understand..." Leia interrupted the downward spiral of her father's thoughts quite intentionally, "...is why can't Luke feel the danger. Logically, the person who's going to face the situation should be the one to feel it."
"Those are the ways of the Force," Anakin explained, cryptically. Apparently, there were no answers to those grey areas.
"Don't worry then, Father." Leia patted Anakin's forearm reassuringly, "I have the feeling that you wouldn't have been warned beforehand if you couldn't prevent somehow what's bound to happen." She grabbed a little olive from her father's plate and put it in her mouth. "Hurry up with your breakfast." She stood up, pointing at his plate. "The meeting with the Senate was moved forward to 11:00 hours, remember?"
Anakin's jaw hit the floor, amazed at his daughter's self-confidence. Her total trust in him and his abilities to keep Luke safe, even from Coruscant, left him speechless.
"Oh... oh, right!" He stammered, unable to react in a more intelligent manner.
As usual, the daily meeting with the Senate was as boring and unnecessary as it had been for the last week. Anakin honestly saw no reason for his presence. He was only there to 'swell the numbers.' He couldn't shake off the feeling that he shouldn't be there, that this wasn't the place he was meant to be. The past few meetings had been a mere formality, and he knew that if Mon Mothma had allowed him to accompany his son, no one would have noticed and the galaxy would still keep on turning.
Sitting beside him, Leia could feel the uneasiness coming out of her father in waves. He was squirming in his seat like a Rivan eel.
As soon as the meeting was adjourned, Anakin practically bolted from the Hall, whispering to his daughter he needed to meditate and please do not disturb him.
Anakin sat cross-legged on his bed, his favoured place for meditation, facing the early evening sunshine entering through the large window. He took a few deep breaths, closed his eyes and tried to slip into the first level of meditation. It happened so easily this time that he allowed himself a brief moment of surprise. For the past five days, he had been so restless he had been unable to go beyond this state, even after hours of trying it repeatedly.
His mind wandered aimlessly, and Anakin let it roam free, wherever it wished to go. He felt a sort of acceleration and then an abrupt halt. He opened his eyes and looked around him.
He wasn't in his room anymore, but in a lush forest. In a daze, he started walking in no particular direction as something vague nagged at his mind. He knew this place. He had been here before. But he couldn't quite pinpoint...
All of a sudden, he heard something on his left. He turned his head and saw Han Solo and Chewbacca walking beside him.
What the...?
"Hey, kid, I hope today's success won't go to your head."
And then, he found himself answering!
"I'm not sure, Han. After all, you bet with Lando that they would 'trounce me.'"
"You know it was nothing personal, Luke. But a bet is a bet."
And he answered again.
"In that case, you'll be happy to make Lando a rich man now, my friend," he smiled mischievously.
A familiar laughter let him know Lando was walking on his right.
Awestruck, Anakin watched how they were arriving at a clearing where the Millennium Falcon waited for them, one hundred metres away.
It was then he recognized the landing platform. Ansion! He was on Ansion!
Suddenly, as if through a stroboscope, his sight moved at lightning speed until it settled on a dug up spot on the ground, directly in their way. A tiny metallic wedge sticking out of the soil drew his attention.
And then, in a horrifying flash of clarity, Anakin knew. A land-mine! His son was about to step on a land-mine!
A blood-curdling scream tore his throat, leaving it raw.
"Luke, it's a land-mine! No, my son! NOOOOOOOOO!"
He heard a robotic beeping and an explosion, and everything went dark.
Anakin was thrown out of his vision and back to the reality of his quarters. He was sweating heavily, panting, trembling from head to foot. His stomach churned with nausea and he covered his mouth with his hands, as the bitter flavour of bile filled his mouth. He dashed for the bathroom and vomited his guts out there, before passing out.
"He's coming round," said a faraway voice. "Talk to him, let him hear the sound of your voice."
"Father, Father, can you hear me? It's Leia, Father. Wake up, please. Open your eyes and look at me."
The urgency in the voice was so compelling that Anakin obeyed it without question. He followed the caring concern in the soft accent and let it rouse him to consciousness.
His eyelids seemed to weigh a ton, but he forced himself to open them. A blurry spot greeted him and he winced. He tried harder, focusing on what appeared to be a rounded shape right in front of his line of vision. Little by little, the shape started rearranging until it became his daughter's lovely face, who was looking down at him, her brown eyes filled with worry.
"Hello, Father," she smiled shakily. "Welcome back."
Wearily, Anakin looked around. He was lying down on a bed in the Temple's infirmary. 2-1B was on his right and Leia stood beside the bed on his left, the warm touch of her hand on his wrist a soothing balm for his soul.
"Leia, what am I do-" Right then, his vision came back to him in a terrifying flash. "Luke! Oh, my goodness, Luke! NO! No, my son!" he cried out. His spirit was fleeing his body in sheer horror as his worst nightmare came alive for the second time.
"Shhh, he's all right. Luke's all right, Father." Leia's hold on his wrist tightened reassuringly.
"W-what do you mean? How do you know?" Anakin asked, tears streaming heedlessly down his cheeks.
"Because I talked to him 30 minutes ago," Leia smiled tenderly. "Everybody's all right and they're already on their way to Coruscant."
Anakin blinked in confusion. His heart was hammering so hard in his chest that his ribs almost hurt from the pounding. The room was spinning.
"30 minutes? H-how long I was out?" he demanded to know.
"Two hours," Leia replied.
"Two HOURS?!" Anakin exclaimed.
Leia nodded gravely.
"We couldn't bring you back. Your heart stopped beating several times, and every time 2-1B resuscitated you it stopped beating again. It was as if you were refusing to return." She bit her lips in anguish, and her cheeks lost the almost healthy colour they'd had a moment before. Her grip on his wrist became stronger. "I..." she looked down self-consciously, "I had to enter your mind and tell you that Luke was alive. Only then you returned to us."
It took a while for Anakin to comprehend what was happening and what Leia was trying to tell him.
"Is it true?" he practically moaned. "Is Luke all right?"
Leia's eyes filled with tears and with something else Anakin was unable to fathom at the moment. She reached out and wiped away the wetness on his face.
"Check it out for yourself," she said in a trembling voice, touching his forehead with the tip of her forefinger.
Anakin met his daughter's smiling eyes, and his heart jumped with both joy and dread. He didn't dare to believe...
"I'd never lie to you." Leia got serious, reading her father's fear. "Besides, I'd be incapable of holding on so nicely if something had happened to my brother." There was a slight rebuke in her words.
"I'm sorry. Please, forgive me," Anakin apologized, feeling infinitely tired all of a sudden. His mind was exhausted, and it took him some time to concentrate enough to achieve the barest hint of serenity. He closed his eyes and tentatively reached out with his mind. He was terrified of receiving no answer. He didn't want to live if the purest, most beautiful part of him had gone for good.
'Luke?' he timidly sent.
As if it had been waiting for him to open that tiny window to the outside world, an infinite wave of love and affection swept him away.
'Father! Oh, Father!' came the sweetest mind-voice.
Tears rolled down Anakin's face again. He almost blacked out for the second time that afternoon, only this time with indescribable joy.
'Luke! My precious child! Are you all right, Son?' he sobbed in absolute relief. His life had been handed back to him.
'Yes, Father, I'm fine. We all are, thanks to you,' Luke replied, sending a grateful mental caress.
'Me?' Anakin asked, uncomprehending.
'Yes. I'll explain everything to you when we return home. We'll be there in six hours. Rest now, Father. You'll see me beside you when you wake up.'
'But...!' Anakin was reluctant to break the contact. It had been so unthinkably horrendous...
'Sleep,' Luke insisted, almost irresistibly. 'I'm in one piece, I promise.'
'All right,' Anakin relented, his heart aching inside. 'I'll see you soon, my son.'
'Soon, Father,' came Luke's loving promise before the contact was softly broken.
His mental equilibrium just barely regained, Anakin turned to his daughter.
"What happened?" he asked matter-of-factly.
Seeing that her father wouldn't take a 'later' for an answer, Leia cast a swift look at the medical droid.
"His condition is stable now," 2-1B answered her unvoiced question.
"There was an explosion on the landing platform," she began, hesitatingly. "Someone buried..."
"A land-mine, I know," Anakin took a deep breath. "Who? Why?" He inquired flatly, exuding authority.
"We don't know, yet." Leia's expression was rightfully troubled now. "Mon Mothma has already been informed and an emergency cabinet is meeting right now. Of course, I have been excused from attending," she smiled softly and reached out, holding her father's hand. "I was so worried about you. I thought..." her voice cracked and she looked away.
Anakin's hand settled above her own and squeezed it lovingly.
"I know, my daughter. I know." He respected Leia's need for some distance, although her genuine caring and affection for him were unmistakable. Her physical and emotional emanations were incredibly powerful.
"I heard your screaming from the corridor and I found you unconscious in the bathroom," she confessed in a weak and vulnerable voice, looking back at him, her eyes fearful and frightened.
"It mustn't have been a pretty sight," Anakin remembered his condition before passing out only too well. "I'm sorry you found me in that state, Leia."
The Princess shook her head, dismissing her father's words as inconsequential. The depth of her feelings for that man had taken her by surprise, and she wasn't prepared for it. It was... unsettling. To think she could have lost him! And Luke, and Han and all her friends! Her legs began trembling and she had to sit down on a stool beside her father's bedside.
"Leia!" Anakin felt his daughter's lifeforce wavering and he reached out to her.
"I'm... I'm all right now, Father," she assured him, recovering quickly.
"You should lie down as well, your highness," 2-1B intruded on the father-daughter conversation.
"No, I'm fine now," Leia insisted, stubbornly. "How is he, 2-1B?" she asked the droid.
"Stable and improving," he replied. "But I will inject him with a mild sedative. He needs to rest."
"No!" Anakin exclaimed. "I want to be awake when Luke arrives. I need to..."
"Father, it'll be another six hours until Luke gets here. What's the point of you lying here all that time, wide awake and fretting with impatience?" Leia tried to reason with her irrational parent. "Let us take care of you. You'll be awake before Luke arrives."
Anakin acknowledged the wisdom in his daughter's words. He yielded, albeit grudgingly.
"A very mild one," he demanded.
"You got it," Leia smiled, not bothering to hide her relief. "Proceed, 2-1B."
"Yes, your highness."
A few seconds later, his child's face started becoming blurry and Anakin clasped her tiny hand tighter, in sudden fear. He felt her returning the pressure tenderly.
"Can you-can you please... raise my bed... a little?" he requested before unconsciousness claimed him.
It was a very pleasant dream. He could hear voices in the background. He strained to listen to what they were saying and he realized they were talking about him. He could feel their concern, their sincere and heart-warming caring, and a sweet joy suffused his being.
"He's waking up," said a kind female voice.
"Yes," replied another voice, very close to him.
The unashamed love in the second voice tore at Anakin's heartstrings and in a sudden rush of brutal, desperate need, he opened his eyes.
The bright light in the room made him close them again with a painful wince, and he immediately felt a soft but intense pressure on his hand.
"Shhhh, easy, Father. I am here, with you."
"Luke," Anakin said the word like a prayer, like a gift from the heavens. He struggled to open his eyes again.
"Yes." The naked emotion in his child's voice was overwhelming. The pressure on his hand intensified, and another hand settled softly on the right side of his face, the thumb caressing his cheek with heartbreaking gentleness.
Anakin's eyes filled with tears as his son's mind softly touched his own. He finally opened them a tiny slit and saw Luke's smiling face, leaning over him. There was a gash on his forehead, a swollen bruise on his left cheekbone and several cuts and abrasions scattered all over his face. But none of them seemed to bother him, as he grinned down at him, love written all over his boyish face.
Anakin reached out and hugged the young man to him for all he was worth. This was all he needed, even more than all the smiles and reassuring words in the world. The warm and sweet presence of his son's living body in his arms.
"Oh, Luke! Luke! Bless the Force you're safe, my child! If something happened to you...!" he buried his face in his son's shoulder.
Luke returned the embrace, holding on to his father's top just as desperately. Even though he had been unconscious at the time, somehow he'd felt that his father had 'died,' and when he had awakened aboard the Falcon, he'd cried out for him, his mind trying to reach him frantically. Only when he had touched his father's lifeforce again, he calmed down enough to let his friends tend his wounds. It had been the second time he felt his father's living essence slipping through his fingers and for a moment, he thought he'd die with grief. It had been devastating losing him on the second Death Star, but losing him now would simply kill him. He vowed to himself he would never go through such a thing again. Never again!
They clung to one another with need and despair. Unwilling, unable to let go. Finally, when they lessened their hold and moved back, their eyes roamed each other. They smiled bashfully and reached out at the same time. Luke wiped away the teartracks on his father's cheeks, and Anakin fingered the cuts and bruises on his son's face with the utmost tenderness.
Suddenly, they seemed to notice they weren't alone and they turned to their friends.
"Sorry!" they exclaimed in unison.
"See what I mean?" Han told his friends. "Twins."
Anakin studied the others. Han's face was also covered with cuts and bruises. He had a deep cut across his upper lip, a bruise on the right side of his forehead and several abrasions. Lando's jaw was raw and swollen and his face scattered with cuts, and Chewie had no visible wounds, but his hair was singed in several places.
"What happened?" he asked, dead serious.
"There was a land-mine buried in he ground on the landing platform," Luke explained. "I was about to step on it, but I heard you in my mind yelling at me to stop, so I did." He took a deep, shaky breath and continued. "R2 detected it with his scanners and started beeping like crazy. Apparently, the land-mine also had a short-range sensor and I must have stopped within its range, so it exploded anyway."
Anakin shuddered inside at the mental image Luke sent him. He hissed and pressed his palm hard against his son's cheek. Luke covered his father's hand with his own, reassuring him.
The infirmary's doors opened and C-3PO and a visibly damaged R2 entered the room.
"Excuse me," the golden droid announced, "the President sent me to ask after you. The emergency cabinet just finished its session, and Her Excellency wants to know if all of you will be ready to meet up with her tomorrow at 10:00 hours."
Everybody looked at each other and they nodded, in silent mutual agreement.
"We will be ready, 3PO," Leia answered for them.
"Also, Her Excellency asked me to tell you that she'll come down to visit you all shortly," 3PO said, placing his hand on R2's dome protectively.
Anakin looked down at himself and made a grimace.
"I'd like to wash up and change first. Is it all right for me to return to my quarters?" he asked 2-1B.
"I would advise you to be careful for a couple days, sir," the medical droid replied. "Your system suffered a very severe trauma. But if you want to rest in your quarters instead of the infirmary, I have no objection."
"Deal!" Anakin jumped out of the small bunk. A fleeting dizziness made him freeze and he felt Luke's arm wrapping itself around his waist, steadying him. He squeezed his child's shoulder reassuringly.
A long session of meditation was in order now. There were a lot of things to sort out inside his head. Issues he had been avoiding and putting off for months that were screaming at him to make a decision once and for all. His indecisiveness had been about to cost his son's life today, and he would never forgive himself. Tonight, those issues would have an answer, for better or worse.
"Well!" Leia began, making an effort to sound cheerful, snuggling up to her beloved's body, desperately needing Han's touch. "I suggest we all wash up, change our clothes and meet at Father's quarters, to wait for Mon Mothma."
"Good idea, honey," Han agreed, holding her close and nuzzling her beautiful hair in a heartbreaking needful gesture. It had been a terrible day. The first time since the birth of the New Republic they had faced their own mortality again, after years of war against the Empire. They had gotten used to the safety Peace seemed to promise, and today, they had been reminded brutally of the work there still was to be done. But right now, he just needed to bask in his beloved and his friends' soothing presence, and celebrate life.
Everybody headed for the door, but Anakin's soft voice stopped them in their tracks.
"Han, Lando, Chewie," he called.
The three in question turned about. Curiously, all of them had remorseful expressions on their faces.
Anakin approached them with a kind smile on his face.
"I want to thank you for protecting and taking care of Luke."
The three looked at each other, as if they couldn't believe what they were hearing.
"W-what are you talking about?" Han stuttered, in astonishment. "We failed miserably in..."
"You protected my son." Anakin insisted. "You couldn't prevent what was destined to happen, but you were there beside him when it happened; you got hurt trying to protect him, and I'll be forever in your debt. I thank the Force you're all safe." He reached out and placed his hand on Han's shoulder, squeezing it gratefully. "I'm so happy Luke's got such good friends. I am so blessed to have you all in my life!" he said from the bottom of his heart. He reached out his other hand and squeezed Lando's shoulder. When the man moaned and flinched, Anakin realized he was hurt there too, so he moved his hand away with an apologetic face. Lando smiled and nodded, indicating it was all right. Then, Anakin scratched the Wookie's fur, already expecting what happened next. Chewie ruffled his hair thoroughly with his big paw.
As one, the deeply moved group left the infirmary, with a lot of bruises to heal and an extremely disturbing unknown to face.
It was 08:30 hours and Anakin was watching over his son's sleep. He had been unable to separate from his child's side all evening, and when it was time to retire for the night, he had procrastinated as much as possible in Luke's quarters.
Understanding the reason behind his father's reluctance to leave, and inwardly craving for his nearness, the young man took out a blanket from his closet and the second pillow from his bed, and put them on the couch. Then, he turned about, a shy smile on his face, his invitation more than obvious.
As he rejoiced in his son's peaceful sleep, the sight of his noble, boyish features scattered with cuts and bruises, made Anakin feel such a deep pain that he had to sit down on his child's bed. Luckily, Luke didn't awake.
It wasn't the first time he felt like this. As a matter of fact, he was thoroughly familiar with the feeling since he had become a father. It was a constant pain in his chest that could be called by many names: worry, uncertainty, need to protect, downright fear... but all those separate feelings coalesced in one single word. Love. The most immense and sublime feeling in the Universe.
It was a pain he knew would accompany him for as long as he lived; but he wouldn't change it for anything. It was the feeling that defined him as a sentient being. He was a father. A Father. He was meant to protect his children, to provide for them, to love them beyond reason; to die for them happily and with a smile of contentment on his face.
As a father, he lived in a perpetual state of alarm and trepidation. A parent never knew peace, for the world out there was never safe enough and good enough for their children. And unfortunately for them, the kind of life they led, didn't make it any easier.
Major conflict there, no question about it. He wanted his children safe, but he couldn't interfere with their destinies. They had chosen that path, it was what they were meant to be. He could only pray and shield them from harm as best he could, knowing it would not always be possible.
He bit his lower lip at the notion of his children getting seriously hurt, or worse. He shook his head sharply, casting away the unthinkable thought. All parents lived with those fears. He was no different.
He could learn to live with those fears, but that didn't mean he had to accept it. He never would. And the sight of it before him now was too painful to bear.
Anakin reached out a suddenly trembling hand and cradled Luke's cheek in it. He was instantly drawn to the swollen bruise on the left cheekbone, and he touched it with his fingertips. It was hot and throbbed a little. He winced.
Remembering how his child had healed his body on the Death Star, Anakin closed his eyes and concentrated hard. His other hand blindly parted Luke's fringe, and he rested his palm on the warm forehead, covering the deep gash there. He summoned the Force, trying to detach himself as much as possible, trying to coax the torn, raw tissues into regenerating.
A couple minutes passed and nothing happened. Frustrated, Anakin tried it with every single technique he remembered, but none of them worked.
"Damn!" he cussed in sheer helplessness, taking a break to catch his breath.
"Annoying, isn't it?" came Luke's soft voice, making him jump and open his eyes like saucers.
"I tried it aboard the Falcon, but it didn't work," Luke went on, grabbing his father's hand from his forehead and squeezing it fondly. "Apparently, my healing gift doesn't work on me."
Anakin watched his son silently, inwardly cursing his inability to heal even those minor wounds.
"I considered healing Han, Lando and Chewie, but... I chickened out. I guess..." Luke trailed off.
"You were afraid that your healing gift would put them off," Anakin finished for him.
The young man looked away and nodded.
Anakin sighed.
"I see we still have some things to set straight inside this nut of yours, my boy," Anakin chided affectionately, knocking softly on his son's head.
The unexpected slang took Luke by surprise and he laughed out loud, despite himself.
"Your friends' love for you is not subject to your abilities, never mind how extraordinary they are. They love you for who you are, not because of the things you can do. I think you're selling them short, even after all the years you've known them. Deep down, you know it."
Luke nodded, acknowledging the truth in his father's words.
"We talked about this the other day after the fork incident. But I feel this issue runs deeper." Trusting his instinct, Anakin edged closer to his son. "Why are you so reluctant to use the Force around your friends, even your sister? Why do you feel the need to control your feelings and emotions so much?" Tentatively, he dared to voice the question. "Is it because of what happened between us on the Death Star? Are you afraid of falling, should you allow yourself the tiniest bit of anger or any negative feeling?"
Luke's eyes flashed with something akin to fear, shame and something else Anakin was unable to identify. He sat up on his bed, crossed his legs and reached out one hand. Anakin immediately took it between both of his, answering the silent plea.
"Partly," Luke admitted, staring at their joined hands as if they held the mysteries of the universe. "But also because of... other issues."
"What issues?" Anakin pressed gently.
Luke bit his lower lip and remained silent. Finally, he took the plunge, not meeting his father's eyes.
"Since I can remember, I was the kind of kid who was sort of the son of Chaos, if you know what I mean. When I got excited about something, I was dangerous. I was so desperate to please that I always made a mess. And the harder I tried the worse things turned out. On one occasion, I burned out the electric installation of the farm, while trying to fix the water piping. It took three days for Uncle Owen to repair the damage I caused. I still don't know how I did it."
Anakin smiled fondly, knowing only too well how his child felt. He had been a bit clumsy as a teenager as well, trying to please Obi-Wan, Master Yoda and all the other Masters. The difference between him and his son was that Obi-Wan and the others had exhibited an amazing amount of patience and understanding, every time his attempts to please resulted in chaos and mayhem. Thankfully, as he grew up and gained self-confidence, he also grew out of that phase.
But the pain in his son's eyes told a whole different story. He squeezed the smaller hand in his, offering all his support.
A self-deprecating expression crossed Luke's features momentarily, before he continued.
"I was a bit of a whine, too. But looking back now, I think it was because I wanted to draw people's attention. I wanted them to look at me and... I... I just needed them to say that I was all right."
Anakin smiled, barely holding back the impulse to do just that.
"I wanted them to be proud of me. I wanted them to see how hard I tried, to encourage me and tell me they were there for me if I failed. That I wasn't alone." He closed his eyes, a searing expression of pain coming over him. "And I always felt alone... deep inside.. so utterly alone..." he confessed, his eyes filling with tears at the remembrance.
"Owen wasn't too kind to you, was he?" Anakin stated, a wave of brutal resentment rising in his chest.
Luke tilted his head to one side and pursed his lips, in a bitter gesture of melancholy.
"He wasn't my father," he summed it up perfectly. "His attitude to me puzzled me more often than not. I knew he cared about me. I could feel it. But he held back a lot." He frowned, as if trying to understand even now. "Sometimes, I could see... apprehension in his eyes when he looked at me, and I didn't understand it. There was no one around as simple as me, I always seemed to fall short of his expectations and still, he feared me?" He shook his head and took a deep breath. "Now I know why, but it hurt me back then. The harder I tried to please him the harder I failed. Until I quit trying and resigned myself to the fact that I'd never be whatever he wanted me to be."
Anakin closed his eyes and cursed himself once more, for being the cause of his child's not-too-happy childhood.
"Last week, when I was meditating," Luke went on suddenly, "I remembered something that happened when I was almost five years old and I had forgotten completely." He swallowed hard, his voice unusually low. "It was Uncle Owen's birthday and a few days earlier, quite by chance, I had found out I could levitate things. So I practised alone in my room and prepared a surprise for him. When we were in the kitchen, I told them to pay attention because I was going to do a trick. I levitated the cutlery and started cutting up the cake, serving it on plates, filling cups and such. Out of the blue, Uncle Owen began crying out to me to stop it. He scared me so much that I dropped all the objects at once, and the knife slashed through aunt Beru's arm." He made a pause, hissing softly. "The moment he saw the blood on aunt Beru's arm, he lost it. He grabbed my arm and slapped my face, telling me to never ever do that again, because it was evil, and I was evil for doing it. That I was a 'little monster' because I had hurt aunt Beru with 'those powers from hell.'" Luke began trembling helplessly, deep in the grip of that terrible memory.
Anakin inched closer and wrapped an arm around his child's hunched shoulders.
"I was so frightened. I had never seen him like that. And thank heavens, that was the first and last time he hit me. Aunt Beru cried out to him to stop, that I was only a little boy. Then, Uncle Owen realized what he was doing and released me. I ran to my room and hid under my bed." He closed his eyes and the tears fell at last. "I wanted to die. I thought I shouldn't have been born, that no one really wanted me. That I was bad."
Tears streamed down Anakin's cheeks, and he leaned his forehead on his son's, sharing his pain, wishing to take it upon his soul.
Soaking up his father's all-encompassing love, starved for it, Luke found the strength to finish his story.
"I don't know how long I was hiding there." He bit his lower lip nervously. "But at some point, my door opened and Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru came in. They saw me under my bed and talked me into coming out. Uncle Owen looked awful. He begged me to get out of there. He told me he got scared when he saw me doing that, and that it had been his fault that Aunt Beru got hurt, because he startled me into dropping the cutlery. I felt he was truly sorry and he needed my forgiveness, so I came out and they hugged me. Uncle Owen apologized over and over, swearing he would never hit me again, and asked me to please never levitate things again, because people could think I was weird and they could give me the cold shoulder for it." He made a sarcastic face. "Many kids already called me weird, so I figured Uncle Owen was right. I never did it again and the whole thing was forgotten." He let out a trembling sigh. "I guess that besides being too small to remember, I got so traumatized by that event that I blocked it completely from my memory."
"Until that flying fork pricked my finger," Anakin said, understanding now only too well.
Luke nodded and sniffled, wiping away the tears on his face with firm determination.
"Every time I let go, someone gets hurt," he affirmed.
"That's not true and you know it," Anakin cut him short. "Accidents happen; but your feelings, your awesome capacity to love and forgive, are what makes you the best human being I've ever known. Your feelings saved me. I owe you my life, I owe you my very soul," he kissed Luke's temple, so moved he could hardly speak. "I can't change what happened back then, and I'll curse myself forever for not being there for you when you needed me the most." He swallowed the lump in his throat with great difficulty. "You have to get over those past hang-ups." He squeezed his child's shoulder. "If you trust your instincts, your inner voice, you'll never be wrong. Even if you fail."
Luke didn't move, and remained silent.
Anakin reached out and turned Luke's face, forcing him to meet his eyes.
"Don't hold back, my son, because it's the restraint of emotions that is wrong. I'm the living example of that." He sighed out loud. "It's good, and desirable, to control our ugly feelings, our 'dark side,' and behave like civilized beings; but such a brutal restraint is unnatural." His gaze intensified. "You're still very young, you're still leaving your childhood and teenage flaws behind. There's no trace in you of the whiny person you claimed to be. You're strong and resilient."
Luke bit his lips and looked up at his father, his eyes wide open, clinging to every word he said.
"All of us need to vent our feelings once in a while, and although it's not a pretty sight, it is good for our emotional health. It's normal to be angered by the injustices of life, it's human to hate evil in any form. Anger and hatred lead to the Dark Side only if we allow them to corrupt our morals and rule our lives. Love and hate create a balance inside us, but we make the decision to let either Light or Darkness guide us."
Luke looked aside, opening his eyes to a whole new way of facing his greatest fears he hadn't considered.
"You're afraid of getting angry and growing to hate something or someone because you think that it will automatically lead you to the Dark Side, as it almost did on the Death Star." Anakin could see right through his son's soul, and smiled at him. "But I know better. You could never turn, Luke. Then or now. You know why?"
Luke shook his head, holding his breath.
"Because you've never hated anyone. You hate evil in people, you hate their actions, their opinions, their morals. But not them as sentient beings. You respect life too much to take it unremorsefully. It doesn't matter how angry you can get or how much hatred you come to feel. You will never turn because love is what you value the most, not material things. You don't crave for power, you harbour no feelings of dominating others and bending them to your views, you don't presume to know what's best for them. You only aspire to love and be loved, to live and let live." Anakin shrugged. "You're just not good Dark Side stuff, Son. You never were and never will be."
They laughed softly at that.
"And you did crave those things?" Luke asked, getting serious. He was honestly curious to know what was the big difference between them that had meant his father's downfall in the end.
Anakin looked up regretfully, trying to find a way to explain himself.
"Not at first. But I was very disappointed with the Old Republic. It didn't work anymore. Any system that was so self-complacent that it couldn't see the dangers that were so plain to see, wasn't a good system anymore. Just because something has worked for centuries doesn't mean it has to work forever. Peoples change, and the system's got to change too, adapt itself to the beings it is supposed to protect and serve, not the opposite. Also..." he looked down, in deep shame, "...I was so arrogant that I thought I knew what was best for people. I thought beings were too dumb to know what was good for them. They only cared about their little, insignificant lives, and couldn't see the bigger picture. I could. We needed someone wise to make the decisions and watch for our rights and best interests."
"And you thought that man was Palpatine," Luke nodded compassionately.
Anakin nodded back at him.
"The Clone Wars broke something inside me. Years of carnage, of being misunderstood by my fellow Jedi, and above all, the pressure of knowing I had committed the 'crime' of getting married to your mother when Jedi weren't supposed to feel any kind of attachment, were taking their toll. I was caught up in a spiral of suspicions, insanity and violence that Palpatine made sure to stir up inside me. I became paranoid, I thought they were condemning me, I was certain they were conspiring behind my back. I got angry at Padmé, too. I... I just lost it." He squeezed his eyes shut, shame and guilt eating away at his soul. He shook his head, his expresion conveying a scathing self-contempt. "If beings were so stupid not to see what was best for them, then they should be forced to see it and take it, whether they liked it or not. They ceased to be people in my eyes. Just dumb creatures who couldn't put two and two together. Years of pent up hostility, misunderstandings, unfair rules and emotional repression blew up at last, and turned me into a monster. Not even your mother's love could save me then." He bent his head. "I would make my own destiny, I would be the judge of what was best for people, not the other way round. And all that accumulated anger, hatred and need to control lasted for over 20 years," he finished his tale with an air of hopeless finality.
There was a long silence after Anakin's speech. Luke slowly digested what his father had just poured out and nodded to himself, understanding Anakin's feelings better than he thought possible.
"That is the main difference between you and me, Luke," Anakin suddenly said. "You can't hate people. I can. I hated people instead of my own faults, instead of all the ugliness and darkness in me. I was too self-centred to put the blame on me."
"I disagree, Father," Luke immediately rose to his defence. "You were given no choice in the rules that were imposed on you, and you knew there was an alternative, that it could be possible. But you weren't allowed to question anything. And so, you were inexorably pushed to your breaking point. Sure, you had faults and flaws, like all of us do. But those faults shouldn't have led you to the Dark Side. If that was so, half the Jedi would have turned throughout their History." He made a sad face. "How's that old saying: 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions?'"
Anakin smiled ironically.
"Yes, something like that." He took a deep breath, wanting – needing - that subject closed for the present. "It took me decades, but I learned my lessons." He closed his eyes as the weight of his crimes hit him all over again. "No learning process is worth a single life, and mine took millions."
Luke held his father's hands now.
"As you wisely told me days ago, we learn more from our mistakes than from our achievements. Pain, guilt and regret are the best teachers." He reached out and held his father's cheek in his palm. "I am here, Father. I am here for you, forever."
Anakin's chin started trembling and he bit his lower lip.
"You are wise, and the best Jedi Master I, or anyone, could possibly have. From the places you ventured into, places that no one had ever visited before, you uncovered certain truths that no other Master would have ever unveiled. From your own personal experience, you can teach me now that all feelings are valuable because we can learn from them. Even from the negative ones." Luke smiled, as all those truths blossomed inside him too. "You've taught me that in holding back my emotions I'm forcing a control on an important part of me that could backfire in the long run." He wiped away the tears that started to roll down his father's face. "Your teachings will save millions of lives in the future, I can feel it."
Anakin let out a strange sound, halfway between a moan and a sob.
"Thank you, Son. You do know how to soothe my soul." He pressed the smaller hand to his cheek. "Bless you, my child."
"No, Father," Luke shook his head, moved down to his very core. "Bless you."
Father and son stared at each other, finding an immeasurable comfort in their wordless exchange.
"Time's running short," Anakin finally said. "The meeting's in an hour, and we should get ready."
"Yes," Luke nodded, wishing he could help his father to carry the burden of his past. Sometimes, he wondered how could Anakin still remain sane.
He rose to his feet and searched his closet, looking for the appropriate clothes to wear for the meeting.
Anakin was about to leave the room when Luke suddenly turned about and grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks.
"You will never turn again, Father, so fear not."
Anakin's eyes bulged, taken aback by his child's insight. He had been very careful to hide his deepest, most rooted fear from his offspring and friends, or so he thought. But it was obvious he had failed all the way through.
"You've known both sides intimately, and your mind and your heart chose to love instead of hate. You know love is the only way."
"In a way, love led me to the Dark Side," Anakin reminded himself as much as his son.
"Because your love was somehow betrayed by those who should have cherished and nurtured it inside you, not crushed or forbidden it," Luke reasoned. "You were allowed to care, but not become too personally involved. And there's a contradiction in terms in that. Any caring is a personal thing. It is impossible to care and detach yourself from that caring at the same time. Love led you to the Dark Side because you were forbidden the physical and emotional expressions of your love. Repression is a mutilation of the spirit's wings, and as you said, those feelings twisted and rotted inside you; and along with your growing resentment, and your guilt feelings for knowing you were doing something strongly disapproved by those you admired and aspired to imitate, turned you into a time bomb. It was just a matter of time before you exploded."
"Oh, Force!" Anakin groaned. He never thought he would ever be understood so utterly. He had never been given a more precious gift.
"You are free to love and be loved now, Father." Luke's eyes filled with tears. "You are free to grow and become that which you were meant to be all along. There is no need to hold back or be afraid; not anymore. You can start training a new generation of Jedi who will be given the best of both times. You cannot fail now."
"Luke..." Anakin whispered, feeling as if the burden of a lifetime was being lifted from his shoulders.
"But it's more than that, Father." Luke went on, unwilling to stop, "We all know you'll never turn again. You can't. You're stuck with our love; your soul is one with the Light. Goodness is in you, it always was, even in your darkest times. Darkness isn't strong enough to stand up against your integrity and your love. You are brave and Darkness is cowardly. It took advantage of you when you felt alone and bereft, betrayed by everyone. It fed you with the only things that could fill the emptiness inside you. It gave you a purpose, something to hold on to when everything else had deserted you and you had nothing else to believe in. But you know better now." Luke smiled and squeezed his father's arm. "I read a poem once. It said that Evil will never touch again those who have known it intimately and still freed themselves from it. They emerge purified by the battle against it, and they will be free forever."
Tears fell down Anakin's face. He had never known such peace and total validation of who he was and who he was meant to be.
Eerily, it connected perfectly with all the things he had seen and felt during his meditation the previous night in that room, lulled and cradled by the sound of his son's breathing. Now he knew he would do the right thing, it didn't matter how hard it was or how much authority and firmness he had to display.
Casting his son a look and a smile that felt to the young man like a baby's first laugh, Anakin left the room.
TO BE CONTINUED...