FROM THE ASHES

Chapter 20

Anakin tried to flee as fast as he could. He wondered how the local authorities could not have found and raided that compound. Surely they must be paid off. Corruption of the rankest kind infested this planet, and who knows how many others in the galaxy. So much has deteriorated while time and energy was wasted on a play pretend war! Something must be done, once this is over, to straighten it out. Padme would know what to do. Because of all the corruption, he didn't trust anyone on the planet with what he knew. The lives of Padme and Obiwan were too precious to risk, the situation with Gerapaline too volatile.A tear dripped from one eye as he thought of Padme and Obiwan, blind and captured, and in so much danger. He had sensed they would not be killed, at least not yet for Gerapaline would use them as bait. He hoped he'd be able to get them to the Coruscant med center before their eyes were too far gone to be saved. He remembered his own blindness, and how awful they must be suffering right now. Looking down at Luke, he was energized to go on.. He had to be strong, it all depended on him now. Luke gazed up at his father, cooeing and chortling. He was calmed by the force, and by the love of his father. Anakin hadn't seen him in weeks and could tell he had grown a lot. His face was cuter than it had been before. Then he thought of Leia. Where was she? If she was sold, surely it was to someone who wanted her, and someone with enough money to pay off Gerapaline's cronies, so she must be safe. Just the same, he had to find her and bring her back to her real family, he loved her, he wanted her. It was the right thing. He couldn't bear the thought of having a child lost somewhere in the galaxy, separated from him. He didn't want to miss out on her life. He had to find her.It would be so easy to give up and hide, but he had learned his lesson, that wasn't going to help anything. He had to be strong, it all depended on him now.

Anakin didn't know what to do with Luke to keep him safe. He had no family alive, Padme's parents were gone, her sister was surely being watched. He thought of taking him to the temple, but what could Tal and Yoda do? Then he remembered his mother's new husband on Tatooine, and his son and his girlfriend who was now his wife. That place again, he hated it, he wasn't being honest when he said he changed his mind. He heaved a heavy sigh and headed in the direction of Tatooine. It was terrible to have to see that place again, the place where he had buried his mother after finding her tortured and killed by the sand people. Her grave was there as he got out of the ship."You're a grandma." He told her, through the force in his mind, hoping somehow she'd know. He walked over to the grave and held Luke over it. "This was your Grandmother, Luke. Her name was Shmi and she was a very good person. I want you to know about her."

When he turned from the grave, he saw Owen and Beru standing there. "What are you doing here?" Owen complained. "You are nothing but trouble. Leave our peaceful lives alone."

Beru's eyes lit up as she gazed at Luke. "Is this your baby?" She asked.

"Yes, mine and Padme's. We had twins, a boy and a girl. The girl has been stolen. I must find a safe place for the boy while we find her."

"Oh no, not here, we don't need anyone coming around here asking questions. Next thing you know we'll be blaster fried!" Owen grouched.

Beru was saddened. "It's just a baby, Owen." He turned his eyes away from her. He didn't want to see that look. Since they had been married, they had hoped for a baby, but none had come. A doctor had told them they were unable to have their own, and Beru had been begging him to adopt a child. He wasn't ready to do that. "Can't he stay with us a little while?"

"If you promise not to get attached. He will be going home soon."

"I will do my best." She pleaded. Anakin also hoped she didn't get too attached. He didn't need any more trouble keeping his children, Leia had already been sold to someone. Anakin stood and scanned the entire area. What an ugly, ugly place this planet was, this moisture farm particularly. How sad it would be if Luke had to grow up here, and what unpleasant tasks he'd have to perform. They'd make him little more than a slave like he had been. He kissed Luke goodbye, promising to return soon.

"I appreciate it, I will make it up to you somehow." Anakin told Beru he hugged her goodbye.

"He will be safe with us. I will see to that." Owen turned and walked away, Beru waved until Anakin was long gone. He sensed this would be a safe place for Luke, for now.

Bail Organa was in his office at the Imperial Senate building, speaking with his wife the Queen of Alderaan by hololink. "Yes, my love, she's just as beautiful now as she was last night. I will be taking time off to be with our new daughter." He stared and smiled at the healthy girl in the image. "Dearest, are you sure this adoption is abover reproach? In my position, we can't have anything going wrong.Are you certain this adoption will not fail? I have never heard of the agency."

"I have known the lawyer for years, he is a fair man. He has assured us the baby is of noble blood, not the child of the unknown poor as most children put up for adoption are."

"But, if her family is so well to do, why can they not care for her?"

"They got themselves into some trouble and are now considered unfit."

"Don't they have any Grandparents who can take them?"

"He told me both the mother and father have no living family who can take them. Stop worrying, you wanted a little girl, and I got you one, beautiful, healthy, and with high quality breeding."

"Getting into trouble is high breeding? Would it not have been just as well to have the child of honest poor folk? What have her parents done?"

"I was told they were murderers, both of them, unfit to raise this little girl."

"How sad. I am glad we have her. She will have a life of opportunity and love."

"Yes, she will. She need not ever know the history of her family." He agreed with a smile and broke the hololink. His wife had held out hope for years they would be able to have their own children, but when all of the best medical experts in the galaxy were unable to help her, she finally consented to seek adoption. Organa had accessed many agencies, but none were able to connect him with a healthy newborn human girl until he was offered this one. She was two months old now, so not a newborn, but beautiful, and as promised, from a family of quailty bloodline. This was important to the Queen, if she could not carry on her own ancient dynastic line, this was the next best thing. Most of all, she didn't want to take a child whose parents would ever want to come back and try to claim her and break her heart. Bail had no idea that the lawyer he had considered a friend for years was a member of the crime syndicate connected to Gerapaline. He did wonder about how the baby came up so easy and so fast, but wanted her so badly he decided not to dig too deep and find out something he didn't want to know. He wasn't sure that the baby was Leia Skywalker, but it wasn't hard to start suspecting it considering the timing. If he did find out, it would be easy to label Padme as unfit. He was very upset about seeing Padme on the news in unsavory ways, and was very suspicious of her true motives since he had become paranoid after being so tricked by Palpatine. He was suspicious of the wrong person, for he had just been taken for a fool again by a lawyer with connections to the worst crime syndicate in the galaxy other than the Hutts. Gerapaline had his money, and was not going to reveal who the baby was, or who had taken her.

Anakin returned to Coruscant. He alerted Yoda as to what had occured, of course he had felt the disturbance in the force. Anakin told him he wasn't coming back to the temple, he must secure help and return to save Obiwan and Padme and catch Gerapaline. Arriving at the senate building, he sought out Jar Jar Binks. As he entered his office, he found it empty! What had happened? Was he all right? Soon an aide arrived and said sadly that Jar Jar had been caught in a scandal involving misuse of his private ship, and was asked to step down. He had been sent home. Anakin was furious! What kind of planet was Naboo to allow Gerapaline to get away and hide out untouched while poor blind Jar Jar was persecuted for helping his friends? It was only a ship! Now Anakin had no one here he felt he could trust. So much for raising an army to go spring the compound. He was at a loss as to what he should do next. Whatever he did, it looked like it was going to have to be alone. When he left the Senate building, he found that the the ship Jar Jar had given him was gone! It had been confiscated as part of the 'scandal'. Anakin couldn't help but wonder if someone on Naboo was involved in this, trying to stop him from returning. Now he was becoming as paraniod as Organa, but he couldn't help it. Now what would he do for transportation?

Furious, he stomped back into the building. There he noticed large numbers of people bearing gifts and balloons and pastries. He stopped one and asked what it was for. One Senate aide informed him there was a surprise party being given for Senator Organa. "Is it his birthday?"

"No, it's a shower. He and his wife have just adopted a beautiful baby girl!" Shockwaves pummeled through Anakin at these words. His daughter was missing, then suddenly, Organa has adopted a baby girl. He tried to think he was just being paranoid, but his feelings told him otherwise. Combined with Organa's recent odd behavior, he couldn't help it. There was something to worry about here, and it was going to have to be dealt with very delicately.

Anakin felt desperation coming back, as it had when he had turned to the dark side. His little girl had been sold, possibly to a very powerful politician and Queen of Alderaan. The eyes, and the lives, of Padme and Obiwan hung in a precarious balance. A dangerous and evil man was on the loose and a threat to the entire planet. He must get back to Naboo, and had no ship other than his starfighter which would not be large enough for them all. He went to the temple and told Yoda everything. He did not have any ship at the temple that would hold three full grown humans. Anakin confessed to him he was considering stealing a ship, and of course Yoda lectured him on this. Yoda told Anakin to go ahead and leave for Naboo immediately in his starfighter, and he would meditate on the problem and find a way to send someone else or come himself. Anakin felt better that Yoda had talked him out of committing another crime, and that he had his full support and backup. All he could do now was just as Yoda said, get to Naboo as quickly as possible, and hope for help later. He went directly to his starfighter and prepared to leave.

Remembering what Obiwan had said, he knew he'd have to find a way to protect himself from being blinded and gassed. He went to the med center and asked them if there was some kind of special mask he could use. The droid led him in the direction of a back closet. Inside, he saw a hideous black mask, with round eyes, snub nose and a triangle grid for a mouth. It was completed by a large, rounded headpiece. Anakin was chilled to look upon it. "Well, if I wear that thing, at least they'd be afraid of me! It should be enough to protect my eyes, but will it keep me from breathing gas?"

The droid explained that the mask was part of a suit that was intended to act as life support for someone with nonfunctional lungs. If he wore the entire suit with the mask, he'd be able to breathe through the air produced by the suit and circulated throughout it. He would even be able to breathe on planets whose atmospheres were not hospitable to humans. "Where did this thing come from?" He asked the droid. "Doesn't look like something you can just go buy at a store."

"It was a special suit for a special person." The droid explained. "Chancellor Palpatine himself had it ordered and made, just before his government fell. He said he had 'forseen' that it was going to be needed by someone close to him and very important."

Anakin's spine began to shiver. Could it have been- for him? Was he meant to have needed this ominous looking suit after Mustafar? Was he, as "Darth Vader", supposed to have to go about using this suit for the rest of his life? It was too eerie to think about. The droid allowed him to try it on. He was even more surprised, and disturbed, to find it was a perfect fit!

"Just my size." He said through its voice modulator as he looked at himself in the mirror through the mask. He must have been the one Palpatine had ordered it for! He had escaped his intended fate! He didn't need the suit after all. So if his injuries had been a punishment, his healing and health were a reward for making the right decision in the end..That made him feel better about himself. He realized now that when he changed his mind on Mustafar, he changed history. All the wrong, all the evil that might have been never became reality. What unspeakable things that may have befallen the galaxy were now avoided! Anakin was in awe of that revealation, and his significance in the force as the Chosen One. He knew now his current life was meant to be, that he was worthy, and he still had a purpose. He was going to make sure he did everything right now.

As he admired his reflection, he turned in all directions, looking at the cape, the helmet, all parts of the suit. With the height of the helmet and the boots, he was even taller than he was regularly. This was sure to intimidate Gerapaline! He felt very prepared for what awaited him. It had the mask to protect his eyes from the blinding powder, a self contained breathing system so he could never be gassed, and armour to protect his body. He thanked the droid, and walked out of the med center wearing the black suit and mask. Everyone in his path stepped aside as this dark vision strode past. He was "Darth Vader" on the outside, but Anakin Skywalker still dwelled inside. Literally.