Chapter 26

That voice that had called his name, it was deeper, and different, and the face was older, but he was sure, and he sensed, this was the same young child who had spoken to him as he rampaged the temple on the dark side. "Master Skywalker, there are too many of them, what are we going to do?" How those words had haunted him! How his deeds had tortured him! Could it possibly be, no, it couldn't. But considering everything else that had happpened recently, why not? The young blond man explained that just before the clones reached them, the younglings and Padawans had recieved a strange message from Master Yoda, ordering them to leave.

"What kind of message, a hologram?" Anakin asked.

"No, it was like a hologram, but, different, it glowed...kinda, blue..."

A chill shot through Anakin's bones! Old Master Yoda, who had been so determined not to change anything and had learned his lesson, and somehow found a way to reach the younglings in the temple while in the past, and had alerted them to escape! These Jedi remembered Anakin, but not as the one who had betrayed them that night. They had no memory of it! It didn't happen! Anakin was so overjoyed to hear this! How his heart and soul felt so much lighter now! But he couldn't let on as to what had originally occured, so he just asked them "how did you come to be here?"

They explained that only one of the Padawans knew of an available ship and was able to fly, so they set out in it, fleeing the terror of that night. But due to their lacking piloting skills and collective youth and inexperience, they had gone way out of control and off course, crash landing here on this strange planet, unable to contact anyone these last 24 years! They had no idea about the Empire or anything that had happened! They were accepted by the local creatures, who fed and clothed them, and they kept up their Jedi practices just in case they were ever rescued. So here we had an entire order of Jedi no one knew about! If only they had been around in the days of the Empire, how interesting that would have been!

"So, you continued training on your own, from what you knew?" He asked.

One of the former Padawans, Tylem, spoke to him: "We were able to train under these limited conditions as best we could. We couldn't have done it without the help of Master Windu."

Anakin turned to them, his face ashen, his eyes bulging. "Mace Windu? I thought, he died..."

"No, he was hurt badly, he lost his hand, he was shocked, and he fell...he used the force to catch himself before he hit the ground, and managed to make it back to the Temple just as we were taking off."

Anakin's heart felt so much lighter to hear this too! "Master Windu is alive?"

"Barely." Another new Jedi knight explained. "He was injured, so badly injured he was unable to help us fly. He was unconcious for weeks. When we got here, we did not have the means to give him proper medical care here, so he has not aged well. He is now about eighty, in our, I mean, Coruscant years, and not in good health. We fear he is so weak he may soon become one with the force."

"Can I go to him?"

Several of the group stared grimly at each other. "I don't think he wants to see you, he said it was you who hurt him."

"Then you know the whole story?"

"No, only that he was trying to kill the Chancellor, and you cut off his hand. Why, Master Skywalker?"

Anakin wallowed in his shame, and lowered his head. "At that time, I thought the Chancellor was going to help me, and Master Windu was going to kill him. I am so sorry, I want to tell you that, I must tell him that." One of the young women, named Kyrie, smiled and took him by the hand, telling him she would take him to see Master Windu. He followed her, alone, into the forest, to a crude looking hut made of branches. The door creaked open, and there on a cot lay the once formidable Mace Windu, shriveled by age and poor health. He turned to look at the doorway, and was shocked by who he saw.

"Young Skywalker, is that you? Am I dreaming, have you become one with the force and I as well?" he moaned weakly.

"No, Master Windu. A lot has happened, a lot I am not proud of." He took some time to gently break the events of the last 24 years to him. He was devastated, and it seemed to take an even further toll on his fragile condition. He said he had sensed the disturbances in the force,but with no communications to the outside world, he could not get the details of the news.

"Anakin, how could we all have been so fooled? You are guilty of much, but if only Yoda and I had seen through the Chancellor! The Council is disgraced, and is no more."

"Master Windu, I should not have gone to the Chancellor's office. You said I would gain your trust if my news of him being a Sith Lord were true, and it meant so much to me to have your trust."

"Then how could you betray me? Why, Anakin, WHY?" He was getting upset, and the female Jedi, Kyrie, calmed him down.

"Master Windu, Palpatine lied to me, he tricked me! He told me that if I followed him, he would show me the way to stop the ones I love from dying. He promised me the life of my wife and child, he said he would teach me the power of Darth Plaegus..."

"Anakin, it was still your decision, and you chose the wrong path! How could you betray us? Why did you believe him? There is no such power!"

"Yes, Master Windu, there is, but not like I thought. There is a power, for Jedi, for the good only, to come back from the force as a spirit maintaining your own consciousness. Qui Gon, Yoda and Obi Wan have already done this."

"What?"

"Yes, it is true. Once they know you are still alive I am sure they will come and teach it to you. You will not only become one with the force, but have immortality and powers beyond belief!" Anakin told him. Mace smiled, a light coming into his old eyes. He knew his time was not far off, and this news brought him much joy.

"There is more, Master Windu. Those dreams I told Yoda about, there were of my wife, Senator Amidala..."

"Anakin, you were secretly married? That is against the code, you know..."

"Much was against the code, at the time I felt you were all wrong! And you were wrong, wrong about Palpatine, and it cost you. But I was wrong about him too, and it cost me, greatly."

Mace saw the true regret in Anakin, and sensed it, too. "So, you turned on me, because he had promised you the life of your wife? You poor misled child! I do hold you responsible for your actions, but the depths that evil Palpatine sunk to are unfathomable. Had I only known the whole story I could have helped you. Why didn't you tell me?"

"How could I? I was..afraid. You were so hard on me, so steadfast in your ways and demanding. There was no other way but the one set in your mind. I didn't feel I could tell you, or any Jedi."

"As time has mellowed me I know I was arrogant, and it blinded me, it did a lot of harm. I have realized that I too was wrong. I have taught these young ones here in a different way than what I expected of you and I believe it will serve them well. It is not an easy thing to admit you were wrong..."

"I know, it was for me too. And for Yoda."

"Our own stubborness and arrogance hurt us all. We all played a part in the fall of the Jedi and the republic. I have changed, too, Anakin. I hold no anger or grudge. I am prepared to forgive you."

Anakin took his shaking hand. "This means much to me. Can I ever, ever gain your trust?"

"When you go from here, take the young ones with you. Return to the Temple, and start the order again. I sense something I never sensed in you before. I sense I can trust you."

This meant a lot to Anakin. Another old wound could be cured if he could gain the trust of Mace Windu. "I will. My son, Luke and I, we will rebuild the order. And you are coming with us."

Mace shook his head. "No, Anakin, I cannot make the trip. It is not my destiny to return with you. You must do it yourself, you, the younglings..."

"And my son Luke. I have a son, Master, a wonderful, strong, good son. He is every bit the man and Jedi I should have become. You will like him. But please, come with us.."

"I cannot. I will stay here and live my last days in peace among the creatures in this forest. I fear what awaits you back home will not be something I am strong enough to handle. You will."

Anakin wondered what he meant by that, but knew the force would show him. "If we are not able to return for you before your time comes, I will see you someday, in the force, my master." A tear blinked from his eye. Mace only nodded, held his hand up, and turned his head to the wall before Anakin and Kyrie saw him crying, too. Much was resolved for him, peace could come at last.

Anakin returned to the landing site, very emotional once again. He ran among the group, crying, hugging, back slapping, calling each one by name. They were all in their late twenties to late thirties, a dozen human men, a couple of women, the blue Twi'lek, a nephew of Saesee Tin, a niece of Shaak Ti. He was so happy to see them, and to know that they were alive! The others in the group came out to look, and to take great pleasure in the scene. What good fortune this was! The force was kind to them. All were in a good mood. Just then, Padme appeared in the doorway, and called out to Anakin. He turned around and walked to her. She stuck out both arms and they embraced.

"Can you ever forgive me?" He begged sadly with tears in his blue eyes, wetting their long, gorgeous lashes.

"I already have." She whispered in his ear. "It means a lot that these younglings are safe after all, as I am. But I realize that what you did in all those dark years were because of the bad influence of Palpatine, oh, darling, how could I not have seen what he really was?"

"How could the Jedi not have sensed it?" He added

She looked tenderly at him. "I know you thought you were saving me when you turned to the dark side, and I know you know now it was wrong. I know you suffered much because of that, and as Vader, and you regret it all and wish to make it right. I know how you were willing to give your life for me. I know how you saved our son."

Anakin was overjoyed. "You understand, everything now, even my memories, and my true feelings?"

"While I was sleeping back there or in my trance like state, all was revealed to me."

"How? In the force, in dreams?"

"While I was out of it, or was I meditating, or drifting in semiconciousness?... I don't know, but the whole story, all those years, from the time you returned from the Outer Rim, until.. last I saw you. I felt your pain, Anakin. I could see it all, I could feel it all, everything, it must be like what you say about sensing through the force. I think, now that this has happened to me, the force is with me too."

Anakin smiled and hugged her, his heart beating with happiness. Maybe this meant that now she too could share in the afterlife of force users, and they would never have to be separated again! Yes, he could sense it. This was meant to be, it would happen. They, and their children, would be able to spend the afterlife together! He held her tightly, letting his own force presence engulf her, and he felt her own inside her. This was the best gift of all.

"Anakin, from this day forward, let us promise to always love and cherish each other, and to always share our deepest feelings, even fears with each other. Together, we can do a lot to help the galaxy. As I was given a new beginning, let this be a new beginning." She reached out her hand, and he took it. He motioned for Luke and Leia to come, and the entire Skywalker family hugged in one big circle. Then Padme started to cry again as she gazed upon the faces of her children. "You're both so beautiful, and so good. I am so sorry to have missed your growing up years, and all the happy times we could have had as a family if things had been different. But now, we have another chance to make it good from now, it's all any of us can do. Leia, I am sure you recieved much love with Bail Organa and his wife, they were wonderful people and I was proud to have known them. I am very proud of both of you, Luke and Leia, and I know the future holds much wonder yet to come." Again, they all hugged, and tears dripped down all four faces. Then she turned to Anakin: "I do regret so much missing out on their lives, though not as much as if I had not been given this renewal of life. I do wish we could have seen them as babies, and children."

Anakin was also feeling this way. "You have no idea how much that upsets me too. We have them now, and we will make the best of our time together. You know, Padme, instead of you being 5 years older than me, I am now about 18 years older than you. While you were brought back from your untimely death, I was healed, and restored to health and former appearance, but I did not lose years."

She wrapped her arm around his and latched them together. "You are beautiful, my love, same as you always were, and whatever we have is more than we had before. I am grateful to you, and Leia, and Luke, and Han and his ship, and the Force. But Anakin, do you think, maybe, someday, we could have another baby?"

Anakin smiled at this, knowing he was now healthy enough to oblige, and that she was still interested in making babies with him. "You just make sure, you don't die in childbirth and leave me too soon."

She couldn't help but laugh a little at this. "Darling, I wouldn't dream of it."

He laughed too. "I won't dream of it either, believe me." He winked, knowing it was his dream that started it all. There would be no more nightmares for Anakin. The family was together, and all was forgiven, and the future seemed like a new light in the sky.

"Hey, loverboy, get over here help me get this ship off the ground will ya?" Han finally called out. Anakin, Chewbacca and Han worked on the ship for a couple of hours, then readied it for takeoff. Han joked about naming the newly discovered planet after him, or should it even be known? Nah, he liked having the idea of a secret outpost he could turn to where no one else was going to show up. "That's it, we're outa here." He announced as he called all to get back on board for the final stretch of their journey.

One of the former younglings called out to him "You aren't just going to leave us here, are you? Take us back with you, to Coruscant!"

"Of course, come aboard! Master Windu has asked me to take you, to rebuild the Temple and the Order."

In all the excitement and shock, Anakin and Luke had hardly considered the extent of what this meant- if they were to take them back to Coruscant, they would have a ready made trained Jedi troop at their disposal. And the return of the Jedi to the temple could only be a good thing for the future of the republic, as long as it was done right, without the mistakes of the old masters. But having traveled time and space and time and learning about the afterlife, Anakin, and Luke, were deeply wise, and would use their knowledge well. Great times lay ahead!

"Well, looks like I'm stuck with the lot of you." Han said as he motioned them aboard.It was going to be crowded, and some would have to ride in the cargo hold, but they were going home. The Falcon picked up speed, and to the shock of the native creatures, was soon zipping beyond their view and back into space.