Chapter 17

Anakin stood with his back to the old Lars homesite, knowing Luke was going to emerge from it, probably armed. He did not turn around. Obi Wan vanished in his ghost form for now, but kept his presence. He wondered if Luke could sense him as a ghost as Anakin had. There were anxious moments of deadly desert silence. Then, being as quiet as he possibly could, Luke began to climb out of the hole in the ground and advance. His lightsaber was drawn but not ignited. As he approached Anakin from behind, he ignited it, and held it in a position to strike him from behind. Anakin could not only sense Luke, he could hear his approach, and see his shadow, though he had not turned around and did not plan to- yet. When he was squarely behind his father, Luke raised his lightsaber and took a swing. Instantly, Anakin ignited his own lightsaber, and blocked the blow backward over his shoulder without even moving the rest of his body. He didn't even need to see. Once the lightsabers were locked and humming, Anakin turned around to face Luke. He remembered what Obi Wan had said, don't tell him you can see again, so he tried his best not to focus on the lightsaber, or make eye contact with Luke, while still seeing the action. For a few seconds, the lightsabers did not move. Then, Luke spoke.

"You old blind fool. How did you manage to get out here with that starfighter?"

"I came with an old friend."

Luke looked around. "Is this, friend, here?"

"It doesn't matter. This is between me and you." Anakin said strongly. "I came to stop you and punish you for blinding me, and stop you you from reigning more terror on the galaxy!"

"You are one to talk about terrorizing the galaxy!" Luke chuckled harshly.

"I have changed, Luke, I intend to make ammends for my tragic mistakes. Starting with preventing you from repeating them!"

Luke smiled wickedly. "It's not going to be easy for you, is it? What a pity this will be your last fight."

Being so close to Luke, and his evil attitude, Anakin's temper was fuming. He was having a hard time controlling it. He broke the stalemate and moved his lightsaber. Luke easily blocked it. "You pathetic blind fool! How dare you think you can challenge me?" Luke taunted. Anakin only meant to defend himself, but wanted so badly to teach Luke a lesson. Luke gritted his teeth and took a swat at Anakin. It was prompty blocked. Back and forth they went, each meeting the other's blow, Luke with Vader's old red lightsaber, Anakin with Luke's homemade green one. Luke, knowing that a ravine dropped off sharply and deeply a few yards away, and thinking his father still blind, intended to drive him backward off of it, injuring him enough to end the fight early. Anakin realized he was being backed up, but never looked back. He planned to spring his true and fully operational skills on Luke when the time was right. He held back, only making weak defensive moves, until he felt himself losing his footing and falling backwards. Luke grinned with evil delight at the thought of humiliating his father. But the old Jedi instinct kicked back in, and Anakin, who was actually no longer blind, of course, peeked back over his shoulder as he fell, saw the distance between him and the ground and made his calculations. He turned his downward drop into a graceful backflip, Jedi spin and perfect landing on both feet in the ravine below. He amazed even himself. All those years in the suit had stifled his agility, but now he was free of it, and had more lightweight artificial limbs, so his old skills came back to him and he was able to execute them fully. He stood at the bottom, looking up at Luke, who was still holding his lightsaber and looking a bit stunned the fall had not stopped him.

"Impressive." He said to Anakin, as he had once said to him. "Most impressive, for an old blind, limbless wretch!" Just then, Anakin bent slightly at his knees, raised his arms,and launched upward, jumping, almost flying, to the top of the ravine and landing solidly on the edge beside Luke.It was the best he'd done that since the elevator as he and Obi Wan were rescuing Palpatine years ago.

Anakin, even out of the Vader suit, still had a good 3-4 inch height advantage on his son. He stood tall and steady, holding his lightsaber in attack position, and stared menacingly at Luke. He did not speak, but Luke did. "Father, you can see, can't you?" He realized no blind man could have saved himself from that fall, or gotten back up so easily. He felt Anakin's intense eyes piercing through him.

Anakin grinned at him with much satisfaction and said "Your feelings serve you well, my son. I warn you, I am more than able to take you in a fight. You know that. You defeated me in Palpatine's throne room, but I was wearing the suit. I am not anymore. If we fight now, I will regard you as any other worthy opponent. You have abused your Jedi powers tyrannically. You tried to blind me, you tried to kill me. I will do what I must."

"You will try."

Watching but unseen to Luke, Obi Wan felt much concern.

From Padme's bedroom closet, Leia heard everything said between her mother and Obi Wan. This told her a lot. A story she did not really know. A story that hurt her personally, because it was about her parents. Thinking Obi Wan gone, Padme rushed into her room to change to travel clothes. She had almost forgotten about Leia. After changing in the bathroom, she faced her. "I'm sorry Leia, something has come up, you will have to go."

"No, I'm coming with you."

"Oh, no, you cannot. Please, be kind and leave me."

"If I am kind, I will not leave you. I am here to save your life."

"My LIFE? What is this about?"

It was now or never. "Senator Amidala, I am your daughter. I have come from the future to stop what is going to happen right now. Anakin is going to be badly injured, and you, are going to, die."

Padme turned ashen white. "How is this possible?" She wondered if it was true. It could be, if Anakin's dreams came true, why not this? Then she thought, there is no such thing as time travel, this girl must be a spy. Her mind was still wrestling with belief in her story, and fear of a spy or assassin. She remembered the attempts on her life, and wondered if this was part of the plot. Had she only looked into Leia's deep brown eyes and saw her own. If she had only listened to her heart, and searched her feelings, she would have known. But she didn't. "I don't know who sent you here or what this is about, but I have to go. Now."

"No, mother, don't!" Leia cried out. This moved Padme deeply, so much she almost stopped. But some unseen fate was dragging her away. Threepio came in and told her the ship was ready. She went with him. Leia ran after her, begging all the way. She didn't turn back. "I must find my husband. If you are still here when I get back with him, we will discuss this matter with him." That was all she said as she jumped into her ship and flew away. Leia made one last pitiful lunge at the ship, clawing with her fingers on the edge of the deck and crying. When the ship was gone, she squeezed her fingers into a fist and pounded the ground, crying harder than she ever had. Unknown to her, Obi Wan had stowed away. They were going to Mustafar, where her father would be maimed and her mother choked and left dying. It wasn't fair. She had been sent to save them, and she had failed. Then she thought what Han had told her. Maybe you can't stop fate, maybe you aren't supposed to. She couldn't let that stop her. She knew the ship was heading for Mustafar. She had to find Han and see if he would at least make an attempt to track Padme down. If they did, they could stop the lava fight too. Unless it was already written in the book of fate, she was going to change the outcome.