Author's Thanks: Many thanks to Moy for
betaing this chapter! The portion involving the gang is mostly her
wonderful wording, and she had some other excellent suggestions. This is the final chapter, in case you were wondering.
The swampy planet below him was teeming with life forms. Never before had Luke felt the presence of the Force so vividly. It seemed to penetrate his very being, infusing him with the power to sense more than he ever could before. He felt almost as if he could leap tall buildings in a single bound, though the mental image that brought up caused him to chuckle.
Luke landed his ship in a clearing that the Force seemed to be pulling him towards, and he took a moment to surround himself with the Light Side. Let the Force be your guide, he told himself calmly. When he reached out to the Force, he sensed a strongly neutral region, as if two polar opposites on the planet were canceling themselves out. He moved towards the strange spot, weaving through the trees and undergrowth. As he dodged an angry-looking snake, he reflected that he wasn't as impressed by Dagobah as he had been by Epac and Namrepus. The latter two planets had possessed remarkable forests—and though the presence of large amounts of water was strange for the desert farmboy, he didn't like the mucky feeling of swampland.
At last, he came upon Vader in the neutral area. The Sith Lord seemed strangely unnerved and was pointing a red lightsaber at a small green alien. Sensing his presence, Vader turned and demanded, "Who are you?"
Luke blinked at Vader for a moment before giving a tentative reply. "I'm Luke Skywalker, and I'm here to rescue you..." Quickly, he added, "Erm, sir." It didn't look like the Sith Lord was in much need of saving, despite what was being said in the news, and Luke was beginning to feel rather sheepish. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea...
"Skywalker?" the Dark Lord echoed, turning to look at the alien.
The small being did not respond; he simply closed his eyes.
Luke was beginning to wonder if the Sith Lord had a bit of a hearing problem...Or perhaps the Dark Lord was senile? "The galaxy thinks you've disappeared, sir."
"Disappeared?" queried Vader in confusion.
Maybe he did have a hearing problem. "Yes, sir. When you failed to contact the Emperor, the worst was assumed."
"I assure you, I am quite alive...I came here to kill the last of the—" Vader paused, as if a thought had occurred to him. "Are you a Jedi, Skywalker?"
Luke hesitated. "I'm an Imperial citizen," he said carefully, dodging the question. "And I was wanting to talk with you about some of your policies, sir. You see, there are many in the galaxy who don't think that killing subordinates who have irritated you is—"
"Are you a Jedi?" thundered the Dark Lord.
Luke swallowed. He knew he would be unable to lie to this powerful Force user, even if it could mean his death. And so, he told the truth. "Just a—a Jedi apprentice...sir."
Vader pointed his lightsaber at the alien. "I have a son who has been trained as a Jedi?"
"I hadn't realized you had a son, sir. Is he on Dagobah, too?" Luke inquired curiously. He began looking around to see if he had missed someone.
"You are my son!" Vader said firmly.
"Excuse me, sir," Luke said, blinking in confusion. "What did you just say? Uh, no offense, sir, but you can't be my father—my father was a navigator on a spice freighter, and he died a long time ago."
Vader turned back to Luke. "You are my son! The Jedi must have hidden you from me." Darkly, he said, "They delighted in ripping children from their families."
"With family, he was," the alien noted calmly, though his expression seemed pained. "Said yourself, you did, that you are Anakin Skywalker no longer."
"My son should have been with me," Vader insisted.
"I am here, you know," Luke inserted after clearing his throat. Having gained their attention, he queried, "How did you know my father was Anakin Skywalker?"
Vader lowered his saber slowly. "Because I was Anakin Skywalker."
Luke shook his head adamantly. This was ridiculous. "You can't be my father."
"My saber hangs at your belt."
Subconsciously, the young man grasped at his lightsaber. How could Vader know that the saber had belonged to his father?
"What do your feelings tell you, Luke?" the alien asked gently.
Feeling almost fearful, not really wanting to know the answer, Luke considered simply leaving the planet. But he knew he couldn't really do that; he felt his destiny were somehow connected to this moment. Slowly and deliberately, he reached out to the Force, searching inwards. After a few moments, he clenched his eyes shut. "My father is...alive?"
"Join me. We will kill this pathetic creature, and then we will overthrow the Emperor and rule the galaxy as father and son."
Luke looked at the sad Jedi—for he was a Jedi, Luke realized—and then at the proud Sith. He shook his head slowly. "I do not believe in coups, and I will not kill another sentient being."
The Sith was quiet for a few seconds before saying, "Then you will meet your death." He swung his lightsaber at Luke.
Luke blocked Vader's lightsaber with the lightsaber that had belonged to Anakin. It was hard for him to take in what had happened...
His father was two different people...At least, he had been two different people...
One of the people, the good one, had been known as Anakin Skywalker. He must have loved Luke's mother—somehow, Luke knew he had.
The other one, the bad one, was presently known as Darth Vader. He seemed to have love for no one.
But how could that be? How could one go from love to hate without a glance back behind at love?
As he parried one of Vader's blows, he wondered—what if Anakin weren't completely gone? What if he were simply buried beneath the hatred?
He reached out, trying to sense Vader's emotions, but all he felt was a wall of hatred. Maybe he could make that wall flicker...
Luke flipped over backwards, dodging a blow and buying himself a little speaking time. Vader was a good dueler, and Luke wasn't sure if he could talk and duel at the same time. If he tried, he'd probably get a limb or two lopped off.
"Father, do you remember mother?"
There was the flicker he'd wanted, Luke noted triumphantly.
"Your mother is dead because of the Jedi," Vader said coldly, stalking forward.
Luke backed up, almost tripping over a plant but catching himself just in time. "Did they kill her?"
The alien spoke up. "Died out of love, did she."
Vader slashed viciously at Luke, who barely managed to block it. Angering Vader was dangerous, but appealing to the man inside was Luke's only hope. He knew he couldn't last indefinitely, and he refused to kill Vader himself.
Trusting that the Force would keep him from losing any limbs and would guide him towards what he should say, Luke ventured, "She died after you turned, didn't she?"
Judging by the increased ferocity of Vader's blows, Luke figured he had hit the mark. "Why did you turn?"
"I turned to save her. The Dark Side is more powerful than the Light—I was going to save her, but she turned on me."
"It sounds...to me like you're...the one who...turned on her," Luke gritted as he was pushed back by Vader's onslaught. What had happened to the Dark Lord?
"You don't know the power of the Dark Side," Vader insisted. "I could have saved her."
"Father, you can't save everyone," Luke said seriously, parrying one of Vader's strikes.
Try though he might, Luke could not push back the insistent year-old memory that was gnawing at his conscience. He could still feel the cool night air whispering across his cheeks as he fought back the sneering and heavily armed gang surrounding a cowering rag-clad couple...Blood had pounded in his ears, his breath thundering as he fought...When the gang had fled down an alley and he'd turned to see if the couple was unharmed, he had heard the high-pitched scream of a young girl. He had moved as fast as he could, using the Force to increase his speed, but he wasn't fast enough. He had found her small limp body in a puddle of grease, still bleeding out from her fatal wounds. The Rodian who had killed her was fleeing, and Luke had nearly followed him, but his anger had been so white hot, he'd lost his vision for a few seconds.
The Rodian escaped, unpunished for his actions.
He'd been angry at himself for his failure, at the gang for preventing him from reaching the Rodian in time, at the couple for deciding to take a midnight stroll, at the Rodian for killing the girl...He'd wanted to kill, wanted to seek vengeance in some way. Obi-Wan's quiet words, uttered to pacify him, still echoed in his memory: "No one can be in two places at once, Luke; sometimes, it is impossible to save someone right in front of your eyes." Luke had wondered about that last bit, about the sorrow Obi-Wan had expressed, but he finally thought he understood the Jedi's sadness. Obi-Wan had been close to Anakin, but Anakin had fallen into darkness despite his efforts—for Luke knew Obi-Wan must have tried to stop him.
With every blow, Luke felt as if his heart were breaking a little bit more. This was not how it was supposed to be...He had dreamed about reuniting with his father, had dreamed that his father was not dead...They shouldn't be fighting; they should be talking. The father should not reunite with the son only to war with him.
"Your training is still incomplete," Vader rumbled, staying on the offensive. "I can complete your training. You can become more powerful than the Emperor, Luke."
Luke shook his head. "I do not want power...I do not want to kill...All that I want is for my father, Anakin Skywalker, to return."
"That name no longer holds any meaning," growled the Sith Lord.
Desperate for a lifeline, Luke spoke to the wizened alien. "Master Jedi, can you describe my mother?"
Luke winced as Vader's fury increased, but the Jedi's words were almost like a healing salve upon Luke's spirit.
"Strong, Padmé was. Stood up for what she believed in, she did. Loved Anakin, she did—so much so that live without him, she could not."
"She didn't want to live without you, Father," Luke panted, trying to make the Sith Lord believe in his words. The young man's arms were trembling with fatigue, and he knew he soon would be out of the duel. "She's gone now. But I'm here, Father...And I don't want to live without you either."
Vader extinguished his lightsaber with his left hand, using his right hand to gesture towards Luke. A moment later, Luke found himself slammed viciously against a tree with the Dark Side of the Force. He cried out in pain.
At Luke's gasp of pain, Vader moved his eyes to his son's torso. He was certain that for a moment his heart stopped.
The power behind Vader's Force throw had caused the two-foot stub of a tree branch to pierce Luke's chest.
Vader dropped his lightsaber. "Luke," he whispered hoarsely. "What have I done?"
Luke's eyes were clenched shut in pain. He moved his hands to cover his wound, but blood soon seeped out through his fingers.
The young Jedi opened his eyes. Tears shone in them, but they weren't caused by his injury. "It's all right, Father," he whispered. "I forgive you. I love you, and I forgive you."
The armor-clad man moved forward, kneeling at his son's feet. "Luke...Luke..."
Luke reached out a blood-soaked hand to touch Vader's helmet. "Father...Would you—would you take the mask off?"
"Anything, Luke," his father whispered. He removed his helmet, revealing a pale face with two tear-filled orbs.
Luke smiled. "I knew there was good in you," he said simply before slipping into unconsciousness.
"Yoda!" the stricken man cried out after fumbling to put his helmet back on. His son was losing so much blood—he was losing his son! "I've done it again. I've killed—he's—"
"Hope for the boy, there still is," Yoda said quietly. "But only you can do it...I am too old, too tired...Enough, the Dark Side will not be—with destructive force, you cannot heal. To the Light, you must reach."
Trembling, Vader tried to touch the Light. It had been so long, he wasn't sure he knew how, but there it was, shining like a beacon, waiting for him to embrace it. He removed his son from the tree with the Force, placing his hands gently on his son's chest. Embracing the Light Side, he began to pour healing energy into his son.
He felt Yoda—tired old Yoda—trying to help him, and though the alien's effort was not much, combined, the efforts of the two Force users were just enough.
The bleeding soon stopped; tissues were being repaired. Luke would live, but his father and Yoda were too drained to finish the job completely, so they pulled back from the Force.
"We need to get him to a medcenter; the medical stores in my ship are primitive...Yoda, will you come with me?"
As Yoda looked at his formal pupil, he sensed the earnestness behind the request. Giving a gentle smile, the alien replied, "Support you in this, I will, Anakin."
While in hyperspace, to get his mind off what had happened to his son, Anakin began contemplating how to overthrow Palpatine. He had a feeling Luke wouldn't help—the youth had said outright that he didn't support coups, and somehow, he knew his son would adhere to his beliefs even if he knew of Palpatine's true character.
At the sound of a moan, Anakin got up from his seat, his black cape swishing as he moved to his son's side. "Luke?"
The boy frowned, looking puzzled. "Are you dead, too?"
Anakin laughed, though the synthesized version of his laugh was somewhat frightening-sounding. "You're not dead, Luke. Yoda and I helped heal you...Luke, I want you to know that you saved me. You saved me from myself."
The youth took a few moments to take everything in before he grinned at his father. "I guess we're both quite the heroes, huh?"
His father chuckled. "You're quite the hero, Luke. Who would have thought you'd be saving Darth Vader?"
As Luke closed his eyes, he said sleepily and matter-of-factly to his smiling father, "Everyone needs a hero, even Vader."