Luke hardly had time to settle down after his second mission when he was summoned to the third two days later. Veltra's new government was taking over, and as a deeply religious people, they wanted a Jedi to be present at the ceremony to give them their blessing. Relieved beyond words for not having any territorial problems to sort out, the young man was happy to go.
Veltra had been viciously bombarded by the Empire three years before. The capital had to be reconstructed, and this act would mark a new beginning for all. The symbolism in it didn't escape anyone.
Luke was packing his suitcase when someone buzzed at his door.
"Come in," he called.
The door opened and Commander Vaughan Worthwing entered the young Jedi's quarters.
"Hello, Vaughan, it's good to see you!" Luke greeted him warmly, reaching out. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, Master Skywalker. It's good to see you too," the young man replied respectfully, shaking Luke's hand and looking strangely self-conscious.
"Come on, Vaughan!" Luke burst out laughing. "How many times have we flown together? Don't let all this Jedi mystique inhibit you. I'm still the same. If you call me Master Skywalker I turn about, looking for my father."
Reassured by Luke's easygoing charm, Vaughan smiled, feeling immediately at ease.
"I heard that you're going to Veltra to witness their new government's take-over."
"That's right," Luke confirmed to him, holding back a smile. The same old Vaughan, always straight to the point.
Taking a deep breath, Vaughan straightened up, plucking up his courage.
"I'd like to ask permission to accompany you."
Luke's eyes opened wide.
"Why?" he asked.
The young man's features twisted for a second in an expression of pain and guilt that was all too familiar.
"I bombarded the capital when I was allied with the Empire." He swallowed the lump in his throat. "I took hundreds, thousands of innocent lives." He met Luke's eyes, torment and remorse plaguing his own. "I need to be there and beg their forgiveness. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't. If they want to judge me, I'll surrender myself to their authorities."
Luke's gaze softened.
"All war criminals have been judged and convicted already, my friend. We all took innocent lives. That is what war is about. Killing, murdering, destroying. The President enacted a universal pardon for all those who repented of their crimes, and that includes us."
The fact that Luke counted himself as a war criminal moved Vaughan to his very core, and he looked away, feeling terribly unworthy. Next to that man, he was nothing.
Then, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"I'll be honoured to have you accompany me. I understand your need to ask forgiveness. That gesture does you credit," Luke smiled fondly.
"Thank you," Vaughan managed to utter, holding back tears, feeling as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders.
Luke just shook his head.
"Hurry up and pack your things. We'll be leaving in two hours." He smiled playfully, the way he used to do when encouraging his squadron before going into battle.
A big smile spread across Vaughan's features.
"Yes, sir!" he exclaimed, turning about and leaving Luke's quarters at the double.
Luke's mission to Veltra might have looked uncomplicated on the outside, but it turned out to be emotionally devastating for all those involved.
The government's take-over was especially emotive, with the new President's solemn remembrance of all the victims, and all those whose lives had been marked forever as a consequence of the merciless bombing.
It had been agreed beforehand that Vaughan would deliver a short speech that he had written. With a trembling but unfaltering voice and a broken heart, Vaughan read the most moving declaration Luke had ever heard. He begged the forgiveness of all those he had killed, their families and friends. Then, in a totally spontaneous gesture, he faced all the survivors present in the Chamber and Veltra's government, and offered his very life to do with as they pleased.
The young Jedi could hardly hold back the tears when Veltra's President stood up, turned to Vaughan and enfolded him in his arms, in a gesture that felt like a true beginning. A true healing moment. For all.
The deeply felt ovation that accompanied the embrace was interrupted by Anakin's quiet and sudden irruption in the Chamber.
Luke stared at his father open-mouthed, unable to believe his eyes.
Dressed in a combination of Jedi robes and Vice-Presidential clothes that showed he was representing both sides of himself, Anakin walked up to the stand where Vaughan, Luke and Veltra's government stood. He placed his hand on Vaughan's shoulder meaningfully and with a respectful bow, he addressed the Chamber. The whispers and soft exclamations of astonishment slowly died down.
"Mr. President, members of the Government, gentlebeings," he began. "I apologize for my abrupt appearance here today." He briefly met Luke's eyes.
Not having the slightest idea what Anakin was up to, Luke sent all his love and support.
Anakin's eyes softened, and faced the audience that looked at him still in shock. "When I was informed of Commander Worthwing's intentions, I understood I could do no less, for my crimes against the galaxy are countless." He swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "This ceremony is a homage to your courage, a testimony to your resiliency and your capacity to move on, despite the calamities the Empire subjected you to." He straightened up and his bright blue eyes encompassed them all. "As the former Commander of the Imperial Fleet, I am responsible for every life that was taken here on that fateful day." His eyes reddened helplessly, but he firmly held his emotions in check. "I cannot bring back the dead. I can't take your pain away. Nothing I can possibly say or do will ever erase the massive damage myself and the Empire caused you." He bit his lower lip and reached out to everyone in that chamber with everything he was, with everything he had. "I can only beg your forgiveness and hope that you will allow me to try and make up for all the atrocites I committed. I promise, on my honour as a Jedi and father of my children, that I will serve you, and every being in this galaxy, with my life; and I will be ready to give it up for any of you, with no hesitation, anytime, anywhere and anyhow."
With another respectful bow, Anakin stepped back, his hands crossed in front of him, suddenly looking so singled out and isolated that Luke ached for him.
The young man's every pore could feel his father's infinite repentance, and he prayed for Veltra's people to feel it too, because Anakin's future depended on how the Veltrans took his appearance here today, on this his first venture off Coruscant. If they rejected him, his days as Vice-President of the New Republic would be numbered. Even more, his father's chances of redeeming himself would be thwarted before even starting.
There was so much at stake all at once that Luke felt momentarily light-headed with fear and trepidation. He fixed his eyes on his father, sending him all his hope. There was nothing else he could do. His love was all he had to give.
And something in the soft tremor that shook Anakin told him he had felt it all.
Luke fleetingly wondered if there would ever come a time when he wouldn't admire his father more and more with each passing day. He strongly doubted it.
The silence stretched for seemingly endless moments, and Luke felt like screaming. But then, somewhere in the back corner of the Chamber, someone began applauding, almost timidly. That seemed to be the cue for people to shake themselves out of their stupor. Seconds later, the Chamber was shaking with the thunderous applause that truly marked the beginning of the former Darth Vader's redemption.
Anakin couldn't believe it. He watched the people he had ordered to be massacred three years ago rising to their feet and giving him a standing ovation, absolving him of his heinous crimes. He didn't know what kept him standing, but if only to honour that miraculous display of forgiveness, he would stand, for as long as it took. He paid no attention to the tears that streamed silently down his cheeks, that made Veltra's people redouble their applause.
Veltra's President approached Anakin and reached out his hand. Anakin took it in his own and the President shook it between both of his, emotion evident on his face. They bowed to each other respectfully and turned to the audience, still holding hands.
Luke looked down, losing the battle with his own tears. There was hope for them all. Blessed the Force, there was hope!
Veltra's capital was one of the most beautiful cities Luke had ever seen. Tall buildings blended with lush gardens beautifully. There were wide sidewalks and open spaces everywhere. Everything was luminous and exuded peace and calm, despite the hundreds of people walking up and down the quite busy streets.
Veltra's President had insisted on accompanying them for a brief tour of the most relevant parts of the city, to show them what they had accomplished as a people, and how proud they were of their achievements.
Luke and Anakin didn't stint their heartfelt praises for Veltra's citizens and Government. It was indeed an effort to be proud of.
Walking a few steps behind them, Han, Chewie, Lando and Vaughan also admired the city. Scattered here and there, droids controlled the traffic, tended the bushes, trees and lawns, and advertised sales and shows taking place in the capital's theatres.
The happy group ventured into one of the most important parks of the city. It was divided in green areas for children to play and a central recreation area with slides, swings, climbing walls and other playground equipment.
It was a bright and sunny day and the park was packed with families that had taken their little ones to have a good time there.
Anakin watched poignantly the children and their parents, envying the grown-ups their chance of playing with their offspring, watching over them and seeing them grow, safe and secure in the love of their parents.
A coloured ball hit him suddenly on the chest, pulling him out of his bitter musing. He bent down and picked it up as hurried footsteps approached him. A little girl who couldn't be more than six years old ran up to him. She had dark brown hair tied up in a ponytail and coal-black eyes. Anakin's heart ached when he pictured Leia at that age.
"I'm sorry I hit you, sir," the little girl said, looking very contrite.
"It's all right," Anakin shook his head with a smile. He squatted down and gave her back the ball, studying her fondly. She took it in her tiny hands and blinked, puzzled by his close scrutiny.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, blushing deep red.
"Because you remind me of my own daughter," Anakin replied, his voice full of sadness. "She has brown hair and dark eyes, just like you."
The little girl seemed to pick up the undercurrents of sadness and regret in his words.
"Why are you so sad? Is she dead like my brother? He died in the bombings three years ago, you know?" her voice started fading away at the mention of her brother, as if she was used to talking very quietly about certain subjects.
The pain made Anakin close his eyes. It was unbearable. Finding himself face to face with the consequences of the evil he had done.
Force, it was obscene listening to a little girl talk about bombings and death! And yet, he had brought this to her. Him!
"What's your name?" he asked out of the blue.
"Kara," the child answered shyly, looking down.
Anakin placed a finger under her chin and tipped her face up so that she had to meet his eyes. The eyes of her brother's murderer.
"No, Kara. My daughter is not dead, but I couldn't be with her when she was a little girl like you. I missed her entire childhood. And my son's too." His eyes misted over.
"Why? Where were you?" The little girl seemed alarmed by Anakin's words. In her mind, parents and children belonged together. The notion that a child could grow up apart from their parents was too scary to contemplate.
Anakin looked away, trying to find a way to explain the inexplicable.
"I was allied with the Empire, ordering the destruction of this city," he finally uttered, braving the innocent gaze.
Kara stiffened, as the implications of what Anakin had just said became clear.
"You... You did it?" She paled and moved back a step.
Anakin nodded, fighting the impulse to take off running and not stop until he collapsed under the weight of his crimes.
"Why?"
There it was. The question that no one could answer. Anakin least of all. But how to explain that to a child? A child who had only known death and loss since so early an age? Besides, what was there to explain? His actions spoke for themselves.
"Because I was evil," he choked on his words, falling apart at last.
An unmistakable hand settled on his shoulder then and squeezed it, conveying so much love and fervent support that he disgusted himself. He couldn't deserve the touch of his son's hand. The hand he had severed.
Yet, something inside him clung desperately to the love and absolution that touch offered. He reached up blindly and grasped the bionic hand on his shoulder, interlacing his fingers with it.
The little girl watched, mesmerized, the two men's wordless exchange.
"He's your son," she stated, seeing it with her heart more than with her eyes.
Luke smiled down at her and nodded, too moved to speak.
Kara studied Anakin's features. She was in front of the man responsible for her brother's death, responsible for her family's pain and the pain of her neighbours. Feelings too complex for her to understand, twirled inside her in a rising tide. But on looking into Anakin's infinitely sad and tormented eyes, she couldn't find it in her to get angry at him. She tried to dig deeper, struggling to make some sense of them...
"You're not evil anymore. You're very sorry you did it," she said, finally getting it.
Anakin let out an agonizing sound, looking away again, unable to bear the intensity of those sweet, warm eyes that regarded him with no trace of malice, even after knowing he was responsible for something so unspeakable. He prayed for those beautiful eyes to never be touched by those ugly feelings, because that would mean that their innocence would be gone for good.
He was taken completely off guard when a pair of little arms wrapped themselves around his neck and soft lips kissed his cheek. Gasping, he held on to the tiny body and looked into the child's eyes when she moved back and met his gaze with a puzzled expression on her face. She seemed as surprised as Anakin by what she had done.
"Why did you do it?" Anakin asked.
"You looked like you needed it," she said with a shrug, a hopeful smile appearing on her face for the first time.
Anakin closed his eyes, totally at a loss to understand why Fates were being so lenient with him. He reached out and cupped the lovely face in his quivering palm, speechless.
Out of all those present, only Vaughan could understand what Anakin was going through, what he was feeling and how terribly hard it was. So hard that he had attempted to take his own life, desperate to find merciful oblivion in death, before living one more day with the burden of being alive when so many were dead because of him.
In an eerie way, he felt as if that child was absolving him too with that kiss, proving to him that real forgiveness was truly possible. But what he was seeing in Anakin's eyes was too familiar, it hit too close, and he had to look away.
Vaughan turned his eyes to the bright blue sky and took a deep breath, filling his lungs with clean, fresh air. He felt the sunshine on his face, warming his chilled body. His eyes roamed the streets surrounding them and he took in the vehicles speeding past the park, the pedestrians walking up and down the streets, engaged in animated conversations, the children playing on the lawns and in the recreation areas, the traffic and gardener droids abandoning their posts and approaching the park...
Something in the droids' suddenly coordinated movements made Vaughan do a double-take. It was a very dangerous move in the traffic droids' case, because on leaving their duties unattended, speeders could crash into each other in intersections.
The young man looked around him, realizing that the droids were creating a perimeter around the area of the park where they were. In unison, they opened a hatch on their bellies and drew out... blasters?!
"LOOK OUT!" He cried out instinctively. "Get down!" he ordered without thinking, drawing out his own blaster.
And then, all hell broke loose. Blaster fire filled the park in a millisecond.
Reacting like a well-oiled machine, Anakin and Luke threw themselves to the ground, Anakin covering Kara with his own body. Han, Lando and Chewie responded like perfect bodyguards and covered Veltra's President and his small entourage, drawing out their own blasters and beginning to repel the surprise attack.
'The civilians!' Anakin thought desperately. The civilians were always the first to die, because they were untrained in situations like this. It was paramount to protect all the children and their families who were totally helpless to defend themselves now.
Knowing that the specially equipped team that Mon Mothma had assigned to protect them had to be only a few seconds away, but maybe a few seconds too late, the older Jedi began crying out orders.
"Han, Lando, Chewie! Take the President to safety! We'll hang on in here!"
"No way, your Jediship!" Han immediately shot back, pushing the President and his entourage to a nearby tree. "There'd be only the two of you!"
"The President's safety comes first. Do it!" Luke joined in, drawing out his lightsaber and beginning to deflect the fire.
"Don't you know me by now, kid?" Han yelled above the deafening sound. "Besides, the moment we leave here, we'll be sitting ducks," he grumbled.
Just then, a dozen heavily armed guards arrived, and created a wider perimeter around those ambushed.
"The cavalry!" Lando announced, blowing up a droid directly in front of them. "How timely!"
"For once. So, what do you say?" Han asked him.
"I say we hand over the President and his people to them and go help those two heroes," Lando yelled, nodding in Luke and Anakin's direction.
"My thoughts exactly, buddy," Han replied, blowing up another droid. He took cover behind the tree trunk when a blaster shot missed his nose by five centimetres.
Anakin couldn't draw out his lightsaber because Kara was lying on it. The child was paralysed by fear, trembling under him.
"Don't move and hold on to me, Kara, all right?" Anakin whispered to her.
The little girl nodded and her little hands grabbed his robe, clinging to it for dear life.
Anakin looked up and absorbed everything that was happening at a glance. Luke stood beside him, deflecting blaster bolts like a maniac, and at the same time barking orders at the security team.
"Protect the civilians!" he cried out. "Get them out of here! We'll manage!"
Freer now that half a dozen guards were taking Veltra's President and his entourage to a building close by, Lando, Han and Chewie concentrated their efforts on covering Luke and Anakin. The fact that the droids paid no attention whatsoever to the team protecting the President made it obvious they were their intended target. Han communicated his intentions to Chewie and Lando with just a look, and the three of them continued blowing up droids from different angles. The more they blasted the more there seemed to be.
"We've got to get to them!" Lando yelled, frustration evident in his voice. "They're in the open!"
"Any suggestions?" Han asked.
"Got any hand-grenades?"
"Bad luck!" Han retorted.
"Typical!" Lando muttered, blowing up yet another droid.
Anakin and Luke had already surmised that the droids were after them. The security team had split up and most of them were evacuating all the men, women and children from the park, careful of the crossfire. The rest had stayed, protecting the Peace party.
"We've got to get out of here, Father. I won't be able to hold them off much longer," Luke warned Anakin, deflecting the relentless fire with increasing difficulty.
Anakin cursed his inability to back up his son. But he didn't dare to stand up, because that would leave Kara unprotected.
"Help your son, help your son!" a terrified and muffled voice reached his ears amongst the deafening noise.
Anakin met Kara's eyes. The child was clinging to him for all she was worth, but in her frightened dark eyes, he saw a frantic desperation rising.
"Help him. Help him!" the little girl ordered. For a second, she looked older than her years. And her courage infused Anakin's heart with a savage determination.
"All right, Kara. But you've got to help me here. We have to do this together. At the count of three, okay?" He tried to sound casual, knowing it would calm her fear if only a little bit. "You hold on to me when we stand up. My son and I will protect you."
The child nodded, looking deep into his eyes one last and intense moment.
Anakin closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
'Luke,' he called through the Force.
'Yes?' Luke's reply was immediate.
'Let me be your partner now?' Anakin asked meaningfully, knowing his son would understand.
'Always and forever,' was the exultant answer.
Empowered by the love those words stirred in him, Anakin turned to the child in his arms.
"All right, little lady. Here we go. One... Two... Three!" he cried out.
The two stood up in perfect unison. Immediately, Luke and Anakin met back to back, keeping the child safely sandwiched between them.
Unhindered now, Anakin's lightsaber flew up to his hand, igniting halfway.
'Try to deflect the bolts back to the source. Let's use their firepower against them,' Anakin instructed.
'Yes, Master,' came Luke's respectful reply, in awe of his father's quick and clever thinking.
It took a while, but soon enough, more and more droids fell to the ground, disabled.
When they were beginning to turn the tables in their favour, the unexpected happened. A woman cried out, escaped the guard who was dragging her along and took off running towards them, her screaming loud enough to be heard above the mayhem.
"Kara! No! Kara!"
The little girl put out her head between Luke and Anakin's bodies and saw her. The woman was a perfect target for any deflected bolt or be caught in the crossfire.
"Mommy! Mommy!" Kara cried out, beginning to squirm, trying to free herself.
"No, Kara! Don't move!" Anakin yelled, pressing himself back against her, trapping her small body between his and Luke's even harder. He felt his son pressing back, too.
It was useless. Somehow, Kara managed to escape and set off running toward her mother.
Without stopping to think, Anakin hurled himself at her and brought them both to the ground as he felt a burning pain in the back of his right shoulder. Grinding his teeth against the pain, he saw in abject horror how the screaming woman got hit too and collapsed like a puppet when they cut its strings.
"MOMMY! MOMMY!" Kara cried out, fighting Anakin with all the strength her tiny body could muster.
In the midst of the child's screaming, Anakin suddenly noticed everything was silent around them. With his heart hammering against his ribs, he dared to look up. The droids had stopped firing and they stood frozen, arms hanging at their sides and their blasters on the ground beside them.
Tentatively, everybody abandoned their cover behind tree trunks and bushes. Luke reached out to his dizzy father. The young man was shaking now that everything was over, and the hole on his father's back only rattled him more. He squeezed Anakin's arm as the shock of what had just happened, settled in.
Anakin rose to his feet slowly, holding Kara in his arms despite the pain. The child was almost catatonic now, her eyes fixed on her mother's fallen body twenty metres away.
Han, Chewie and Lando surrounded their friends and the little girl, squeezing each other's arms and shoulders, reassuring themselves of their unharmed state.
"You okay, kid?" Han asked Luke, grabbing his friends's forearm.
Luke was deathly pale, but otherwise whole. He nodded.
"Anakin?" The Corellian made a grimace at the nasty wound on the back of the Jedi's shoulder.
Anakin looked at him and nodded sharply. The pain was more than evident on his face. But it wasn't only physical pain. He couldn't stop looking at Kara's mother, lying face down on the ground.
This attack had been against them. Maybe even against him alone. If he hadn't been here today, this family wouldn't have lost another member because of him. His body started trembling in shock.
Then, Kara began chanting. A soft murmur, full of anguish.
"Mommy. Mommy. Mommymommymommy..." her despaired moaning was more than Anakin could bear.
"Don't cry, Kara. Your mommy's all right," a young voice reassured them all.
Everybody turned and saw Vaughan walking up to them, holding a blaster in his right hand and some sort of device in the left.
"Vaughan!" Luke exclaimed, without relinquishing his hold on his father's arm. "What do you mean?" he asked.
Vaughan shrugged apologetically.
"When I saw her running up to you, I knew she was an easy target, so I did the only thing I could think of," he brought up his right hand, "I shot her myself in the leg to bring her down and move her out of the crossfire. She must be unconscious."
A stunned silence fell on them all, as they digested Vaughan's words. Then, as one, the group hurried to the woman's side. Luke kneeled down beside her and touched her temples. A second later, he sighed out loud and turned to his friends with a vastly relieved smile on his face.
"She's alive," he announced.
Anakin fell to his knees by the woman's body, and softly put Kara down. The little girl took her mother's hand.
"Mommy? Mommy!" She shook the unresponsive hand.
"Let me," Anakin smiled down at her. After Han and Lando turned the child's mother on her back, he reached out and placed his palm on the woman's forehead. A few seconds later, she began to stir.
Anakin withdrew his hand and allowed the woman to come round on her own, which she promptly did. She looked up at all the people bending over her and a dazed expression crossed her features.
"Mommy!" Kara cried out, throwing herself at her mother and wrapping her arms around her neck.
The woman's arms returned the embrace instinctively, until her memory returned and she remembered what had just happened.
"Kara! Oh, my goodness, Kara!" Tears streamed down her face and she crushed the tiny body to her.
No one said anything and they looked away respectfully, not wanting to intrude on the private moment between mother and daughter. When the two calmed down enough to let go a little, the woman let out a moan of pain, reaching down to her left calf. Her hand came up stained with dried blood.
"I'm sorry I had to shoot you," Vaughan apologized, offering the woman a handkerchief he carried in a pocket. "But you could have easily been killed by the crossfire or any deflected blaster bolt."
The woman was trembling, shaken by the whole experience, but she managed to remain calm. She took the proffered hanky and applied it to the wound.
"You did right," she excused the young man. She looked up at him and smiled tremulously. "It was a stupid thing to do. I put Kara in danger. She was safer with you two." Her eyes shifted from Vaughan to Luke and Anakin. "If she had..."
"It's all right." Anakin placed his hand on the woman's wrist, not wanting her to wallow in the guilt he knew she was feeling. "I am a parent too and as far as our children's safety is concerned, we just can't think rationally."
The woman smiled sadly, understanding Anakin only too well.
Noises began filling the air, as Veltra's security forces and sanitary services arrived and took charge of the situation.
Kara's mother held Anakin's hand first and Luke's second.
"Thank you for saving my daughter. I will never be able to..." she choked on her words, losing the battle with her tears.
Kara clung to her mother's neck, crying softly, and the woman hugged her child to her, helpless to express her gratitude.
"This is our reward. This is all we need," Luke answered for all of them, stroking the top of the child's head affectionately, looking deep into the mother's eyes.
The woman nodded, staring into the young Jedi's sweet blue depths.
A couple orderlies arrived out of nowhere, placed the woman and the child clinging to her on a floating stretcher, and took them away.
The terribly moved group watched as the two women disappeared from their sight. Then, they turned to each other unable to say a word, still trying to grasp everything that had transpired.
"W-what happened? Why did they stop firing at us?" Lando asked at last in a trembling voice, looking at the inexplicably immobilized droids.
Vaughan brought up the device he still carried in his left hand.
"What's that?" Han asked.
"A jamming device," Vaughan explained. "When I saw the amount of droids attacking us, I knew we couldn't possibly destroy them all. Then I remembered that Veltra's Defense Department was only two blocks away, so I hurried there and asked for a jamming device." He nodded in the droids' direction. "I discharged their batteries," he smiled impishly.
The silence stretched for so long that Vaughan looked at his friends, in confusion. They were staring at him as if he had just grown another head.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Do your parents still live?" Anakin finally asked.
"Yes. Why?" Vaughan's eyebrows arched, in puzzlement.
"Because if they didn't, I'd adopt you."
Anakin's extravagant praise shook everybody out of their collective stupor, and they burst out laughing hysterically in relief, patting Vaughan's back and congratulating him riotously.
Luke walked down the main corridor of the medical centre where all the wounded people in the ambush on the park had been taken hours ago. Considering the massacre it could have turned out to be, the actual number of casualties was a true miracle. Three dead – one of the members of their security team and two citizens of Veltra, husband and wife, who left two orphan children – and 36 wounded, 6 of them in critical condition.
The young man had been battling his instinct of healing them all. But he knew only too well that as soon as his healing gift was discovered, his life would change for good, and not necessarily for the best. He felt torn, because should any of the wounded die, he'd feel horribly guilty.
He needed answers, he needed guidance.
He needed his father.
Walking past the busy doctors and nurses, the young man entered his father's room. It was empty.
"Excuse me, sir," a robot-nurse said when she saw him walking out of the room with a perplexed expression on his face. "Are you looking for the man occupying that room?"
"Yes, I am," Luke nodded.
"He's visiting the woman that was brought here first and her daughter. They're one floor up, room 515."
"Thank you," Luke smiled kindly, berating himself for his stupidity. He could have followed his mind-link with his father in the first place. It was a testimony to his current state of mind that he had totally forgotten about it.
With a sigh, Luke climbed up the stairs leading to the next floor. The medical centre looked brand new, as did most of the city, and it was as homey and comfortable as such a place could be. He was so lost in his musings that he actually started when he found himself right in front of door 515.
He buzzed softly for entrance and the door immediately opened. The sight that greeted his eyes was so heart-warming that the young man couldn't help but smile. Kara's mother was holding his father's hand between both of hers in a gesture that said it all. Both of them looked so moved that Luke had to look away. He could guess what had happened there, and his heart swelled in his chest with joy.
"Luke! Hello, Luke!" A child's voice greeted him, and a blur dashed for him.
Opening his arms automatically, Luke let out an exclamation when Kara jumped at him and flung her arms around his neck, hugging him enthusiastically.
"Ouch! Hello, Kara!" he greeted back happily. "It's good to see you again."
The little girl pecked his cheek with a giggle and Luke pretended to blush as he approached the bed.
"Good evening, ma'am," he politely greeted the woman in it.
"Rayka, please," Kara's mother told him with a sweet smile, wiping away a tear furtively.
"Rayka," Luke smiled back, stopping next to his father's chair by the bed. "How're you feeling?"
"As good as new," the woman replied cheerfully. "My calf hurt like hell at first, but with the painkillers I don't feel a thing right now. That young man shot me in the place where he was likely to cause least damage to my leg. Doctors say I'll heal soon."
"Vaughan's one of the best shooters I've ever met. Bless the Force for his quick thinking." Luke felt all of them were in Vaughan's debt after what he had pulled today.
"Indeed," Rayka nodded earnestly. "He was here an hour ago, apologizing again for shooting me. I told him I'd rather limp for the rest of my life than miss a second of my daughter's life." She looked at Anakin and smiled meaningfully.
Anakin smiled back, a bit shaken. Rayka reached out and squeezed the Jedi's hand again.
"Did your father really cut off your hand?" Kara asked Luke out of the blue.
"Kara!" Her mother chastised her daughter, shocked at the child's question.
"It's all right," Luke said calmly, looking not in the least upset by the little girl's bluntness. He put Kara on the floor and kneeled down at eye-level with her. "Yes, he did," he admitted, looking deep into the girl's eyes. "He was lost then. And angry. He lived in a black, dark world and didn't know how to get out. He didn't even know there was a way out."
"And you're not angry with him for what he did to you?" Kara asked innocently, her eyes shining with unusual intensity.
"I was, for some time," Luke confessed. "I didn't understand how could a father want to hurt his child, no matter how angry he was." He closed his eyes, remembering that time of madness and pain. "But then, I realized there was a way to help him and help myself."
"What way?" Kara's eyes opened wide in anticipation.
Luke smiled softly. "Love. I only had to love him with all my heart. Love him so much and so hard that he had no choice but love me back." Luke's misted eyes turned to his father, who looked at him with tears rolling down his face. He met Kara's eyes again, grinning in delight. "And it turned out he already loved me, he always had. But he had buried that love so deep inside him that he had forgotten it was there." He swallowed the lump in his throat. "We helped each other, and we found out love is the only answer. Love and forgiveness are the most powerful forces in the Universe. They give true peace to the soul." He reached out and framed his father's cheek in his hand, wiping the tears away.
Anakin could only smile weakly at his child, speechless, snuggling his cheek up to the warm palm.
And Luke smiled back, tilting his head to one side endearingly.
Unnoticed by the two men, Rayka nodded to herself and reached out to her daughter, who promptly climbed the bed and cuddled up against her.
"And sometimes, some of us only need to hear the right words to open our hearts and let go of our hatred as well," she muttered out loud, her fingers combing through her daughter's hair, in a soothing motion. "It's easier when there is peace inside; there's no greater truth." Her hand halted her rhythmic movements and reached out to Luke.
The young Jedi held it in his own and rose to his feet, followed by his father.
"Thank you, for everything. I..." Rayka was beyond words.
Luke placed his other hand on top of Rayka's reassuringly, and then blinked, looking down at her. He made a weird face.
"What is it?" Rayka asked, curiously.
"C-could you... could you please lie down?" he asked, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips, trying to clear his thoughts.
"Sure," Rayka obeyed.
Luke grabbed the bedcovers.
"May I?" he asked.
The woman nodded, and Luke pulled back the sheets. Then, he put out his hands, palms down, and began moving them up and down, a few centimetres above her body, as if scanning it. They stopped right above her stomach.
"Have you... Have you felt anything strange about your stomach lately?" he asked.
"Well, now that you mention it..." Rayka's eyebrows skyrocketed. "I feel as if my digestions took longer than they used to, and my stomach feels like... as if it burned sometimes, and I feel slightly nauseous every time I eat spicy foods. I guess it's just acidity. Why?"
"Excuse me." Luke placed his palms on the woman's stomach then, and a small shudder ran up and down his body. He closed his eyes and concentrated.
Rayka frowned when a strange tingling sensation began in the pit of her stomach and spread all over her abdomen. A few seconds later, she smiled, feeling vaguely euphoric, not knowing why.
"W-what are you doing?"
Luke's eyes opened and blinked a couple times. The spark returned to them.
"Should you feel that acidity returning, give me a call," he cracked, imitating the voice of a broadcaster well-known across the galaxy.
They burst out laughing.
"Whatever you did, thank you," Rayka sat up and reached down to scratch her wounded calf. "Damn, it's itching now," she commented.
Luke looked up at his father and Anakin shrugged, the twinkle in his eyes more than evident. Smiling back at him, the young man sat down on the bed and pointed at Rayka's leg.
"May I again?"
"Of course," the woman nodded, expecting him to put his hands on her leg and make the itching stop. That's why it puzzled her when he began untying the bandages, until he exposed the wound. It never crossed her mind to stop him, and she wondered offhand at her total trust in him. He placed his palms under her calf and closed his eyes again. The warm tingling didn't take her by surprise this time.
As before, a few seconds later, he opened his eyes and moved his hands away.
There was no trace of the wound. None whatsoever.
Rayka and Kara looked at the healed leg, unable to believe what they were seeing. Finally, Rayka's eyes looked up into Luke's.
"I-I—I..." she couldn't go on; she was too overwhelmed for words.
Luke smiled and shook his head.
"You healed mommy!" Kara exclaimed, throwing her arms around Luke's neck in a crushing hug. "Thank you, thank you!" She kissed his cheek time and again.
"It's all right, Kara. It's all right," Luke laughed, hugging the child back. When they separated, he looked into the girl's eyes. "I have a favour to ask you now," he dropped his voice, as if he was about to tell them a big secret.
"What favour?" Kara asked, dropping her voice instinctively, too.
"Please, don't tell anyone about this," he got serious.
"Why?" the child asked, her eyes opening like two saucers.
"Because if people knew, his life would be a mess, Kara," Rayka explained to her daughter, immediately understanding Luke's reasons. She started bandaging her healed calf, hiding the evidence of Luke's powers. "The media would go after him, and he wouldn't be able to live a normal life. Besides," she met Luke's eyes with a smile full of admiration and respect, "he'd rather keep the secret so people won't feel in his debt. He's that generous."
Luke blushed to the roots of his hair and looked down.
"Do well and dread no shame?" Kara summed it up perfectly.
"That's right, baby," Rayka hugged her daughter and kissed the top of her head.
"Okay, I won't tell," the child promised. "I hope I can do it. Sometimes, I get so excited that I can't help it, you know?" She looked down, feeling very self-conscious.
Luke laughed softly.
"I know how it is," he confessed. "When I was even shorter than I am now I had the same problem." He bent down and kissed the little girl's forehead. "Take care, brave Kara. And take care of your mommy, too."
"I will," she promised him, her sweet face lighting up.
The young man reached out his hand to Rayka, who took it between both of hers and squeezed it.
"Thank you, so much," she said, her voice betraying her emotion.
"You're welcome. Any time," Luke smiled and winked at her casually, letting go with a parting squeeze.
Anakin took Rayka's hand and held it intensely, reliving their devastating conversation in his mind. It had been terrifying, but he owed it to her. He owed it to every single being in the galaxy whose life had been affected by his decisions, or decided firsthand by his crimes. It hadbeen unbearable, but ultimately the most beautiful lesson in forgiveness and compassion. For both.
Rayka's eyes met his and Anakin felt blessed by their selfless gift of absolution. His eyes filled again.
"You've got an angel," she whispered to him, looking at Luke, who was already heading for the door, giving them privacy.
Anakin looked at his son's retreating back, and all of him seemed to illuminate from within as he looked back at Rayka.
"He is an angel. My guardian angel. So much like his mother." A shadow of infinite sadness and pain crossed his features.
A warm hand on his shoulder brought him out of his memories.
"And so much like his father, too," Rayka felt a lump forming in her throat.
Anakin let out a strangled sound, too moved to say anything.
Nodding to each other one last time, Anakin shifted his gaze to Kara and with a smile, he bent down and kissed the top of her head. Kara flung her arms around his torso and buried her face in his chest, hugging him as completely as only a child could. Anakin returned the embrace tenfold, immediately thinking about Leia and daring to make a wish. When they let go, he found the presence of mind to speak.
"Bless you."
And then, he rushed to join his son.
The walk back to Anakin's room was made in silence, occasionally broken by soft, meaningful touches when their arms brushed against each other.
When they reached Anakin's door, the older Jedi turned to his son with a knowing look on his face.
"It wasn't 'acidity', was it?" he stated more than asked.
Luke got serious and shook his head, unable to help a sigh of relief.
"No," he said simply.
Anakin squeezed Luke's upper arm, unthinkably relieved, too, and without saying another word, they entered the room. The big man flopped down on his bed, emotionally exhausted.
Luke sat down beside him, lost in thought.
"Any news by now?" Anakin's voice was clipped.
"Han, Lando and Chewie are due to pick us up in an hour or so," Luke informed his father. "When I left, they were contacting the President and the emergency cabinet, and giving them a brief account of what happened." He took a deep breath and continued. "Veltra's Security Forces have got to finish their investigation on the site, and prepare a preliminary report we can take with us. Mon Mothma wants to take immediate action, and we need to gather all possible data first."
"In that case, there's no time to lose." Anakin jumped to his feet and took off his robe. He opened the small closet by the bed and took out his already clean clothes.
Luke winced at the sight of the dressing covering the wound on his father's back. The blaster bolt had hit the back of his shoulder at such an angle that it had caused severe damage and tearing of the flesh.
But Anakin seemed totally oblivious to it. He had withdrawn into himself, obviously brooding. His agitated state of mind swept Luke away like a wild sea.
"Father."
His accent was enough to bring Anakin out of his gloomy mood. He turned to his child, his top in hand.
"Come here." Luke patted the bed and smiled his special smile, the one he reserved for his father only.
Drawn to the warmth of his child's aura like a moth to a flame, Anakin complied.
Luke moved up behind his father and began to undress the wound.
"What are you doing?" Anakin asked, perplexed.
"What do you think I'm doing?" Luke asked back, in amusement.
"Oh!" Anakin remembered then.
Shaking his head fondly, Luke couldn't help a grimace at the extent of the damage. Not knowing why, his eyes filled with tears. His father had been ready to die for that little girl. That notion both scared him to death and made him feel terribly proud.
He covered the wound with his palms and focused all his love on the torn tissues and burned flesh. He smiled to himself when he felt his father squirming a little.
"It's true. It tingles," Anakin commented, a smile in his voice, too.
"I must be doing it right, then," Luke replied.
"You do everything right, Son," Anakin leaned back against his child's strength. His agitation vanished as if by magic.
"There we go..." Luke announced, moving his hands away when the healing process was complete. "As good as new!" Impulsively, he bent forward and kissed the healed area.
The unexpected kiss froze Anakin for a second. Then, he turned about and looked at his son with the happiest expression on his face.
"Your grandmother used to do that when I was a child," he said, a dreamy quality in his voice.
"Aunt Beru did it for me, too," Luke smiled merrily.
Anakin reached out and messed up the blond hair.
"We're a pair of hopeless saps," he commented, triggering their laughter at the slang word.
As Anakin put on his top and his boots, Luke remained silent, studying his own boots, feeling the heavy mantle of his responsibilities falling on his shoulders again.
"And now that you patched me up, allow me to do the same for you, if I can?" Anakin entered his son's field of vision, sitting on a small armchair right in front of him.
The young Jedi looked away, smiling sadly.
"I can't hide anything from you, can I?" he asked, rhetorically.
"Do you want to?"
"No!" The vehemence in Luke's voice surprised them both. "It's just that..." He sighed in defeat. "...I always seem to come up against some conflict between my Jedi powers, my obligations as a member of the Government and just plain time!"
"In what way?" Anakin edged closer instinctively. His son's nearness was his light in the dark, and somehow he seemed to have the same soothing effect on Luke. Damned if he knew why.
"This healing gift of mine..." Luke began with some difficulty, "...what's the point of having it if...?"
"If?" Anakin prompted, edging even closer.
"There are six people in this building in critical condition. They could die any minute," Luke exploded at last. "There are lots of medical facilities on this planet alone with people dying or suffering. Millions of people across the galaxy..."
"And there's only one of you," Anakin finished for him.
Luke met his father's eyes and nodded, his misery plain to see.
"And what if my healing gift became known all over the galaxy? Can you imagine how much my life would change? My privacy, my... Force, I'd become a freak. I would..."
"Easy, easy, my child," Anakin reached out and placed his hand on his son's shoulder. "Calm down," he squeezed lovingly.
"I'm scared, Father. This gift is too much for me to bear. I already feel guilty for all the things I'm not doing." Luke's wide open eyes reflected how torn he felt.
Anakin moved from the armchair to the bed and sat down beside his son. He wrapped his right arm around the young man's shoulders and cuddled him.
"It's all right, my boy. It's all right."
Luke took a deep breath, trying to relax, and sought his father's warmth and the peace only he could give him.
Anakin chuckled helplessly.
"You really should give your brain cells a break, Son, or they will short-circuit."
Luke laughed despite himself and pressed up closer to his father.
"You're almost perfect, Luke. But I think this is your only flaw. You think too much." The older Jedi kissed the top of the blond head resting on his chest.
"Master Yoda said that, too," Luke commented. "I was always asking him the why of things. Why can I do this but I can't do that? I was a handful."
"I bet you also made him grow a few more grey hairs than he already had."
The two laughed at that and then remained silent for a minute, enjoying their closeness and basking in the moment.
"Look at me," Anakin said at last, placing his fingers under his son's chin and raising it up until their eyes met. "Luke, you have an incredible gift, never forget that. But wielding such power is always a double-edged sword."
"Help me, Father," Luke asked, his earnest, trusting eyes fixed on Anakin.
Anakin closed his eyes, praying for help.
"Trust the Force, my son," he found himself replying. "We are Jedi, but we are human, not superhuman. We have to live healthy lives to keep our minds sane. Accept the fact that to help others, you must help yourself first. If you start travelling from one side of the galaxy to the other without sparing a thought for yourself or your own well-being, you'll self-destruct."
Luke looked away, deep in thought.
"You wouldn't have been given this gift if you weren't destined to do your best with it. Use it wisely, but learn to ration it no matter how much it hurts, because in the long run, it'll pay off." Anakin made a sympathetic face. "You're not all-powerful, you just can't help everybody. You'll help those you're destined to help; nothing more, nothing less."
Luke closed his eyes and began to nod his head in acceptance.
"I've also been meaning to talk to you about this way of life you've been leading lately, Luke," Anakin continued, a bit cautiously now. "As soon as you're back from a mission, you're already taking off for the next. You'll endure this implacable rhythm for some time, but you'll fall apart sooner or later. A period of rest is advisable in between missions. You're the only Jedi available, and for that very reason the Government should be more careful about the number of missions they assign you." He made up his mind. "We have to talk to Mon Mothma, although we have more important matters to take care of now." His voice lowered noticeably, conveying the seriousness of their actual problems.
Luke sobered instantly.
"You're right. As usual." He looked at his father in sheer adoration. "What would I do without you by my side? You make everything make sense."
Anakin smiled affectionately.
"You get a little wound-up occasionally, and it's my privilege to help you."
Luke stood up with a chuckle. Sighing out loud, he rearranged his clothes and headed for the door.
"Son," Anakin called, still sitting on the bed.
Luke turned around.
"Yes?" he asked.
"What about the six people in critical condition?"
"I was on my way to heal them," Luke replied, as if the answer was self-evident.
"You're willing to risk being discovered? They're likely to be monitored, you know."
"They risked their lives to protect us, Father. I couldn't bear not helping them."
Anakin smiled sweetly.
"I'm not telling you not to heal them, Luke. But there are... other ways."
The look of sheer mischief on his father's face immediately let Luke know that Anakin was up to something. He walked up to him. "What do you have in mind?" he asked, a smile already forming on his lips.
"Can you control the flow of your healing gift?" Anakin began. "I mean, can you make it stop at a certain point, if you so wish?"
Luke thought about it.
"I think I can," he nodded. "I only have to move my hands away before feeling that the process has been completed."
"In that case," Anakin smiled, "you can put your hands on them in an apparently comforting gesture, and strenghten their systems so they can fight their wounds on their own. Just get them out of their critical condition. That way, no doctor will suspect that you had anything to do with it."
Luke just stared at his father, his mouth hanging open, blown away.
"Father, you're a GENIUS!" he exploded at last, throwing his arms around Anakin and hugging him enthusiastically. When he moved back, he grabbed his father's shoulders. "Where did you learn to be so sneaky?"
"I must be catching your tendency to sit on the fence," Anakin teased back unashamedly.
Luke punched his father's shoulder in mock-indignation.
"Thank you for the compliment," he said, recovering nicely.
Anakin laughed heartily.
TO BE CONTINUED...