Chapter V

Leia knew something was going on behind her back. Oh, it wasn't as if she'd caught the grownups whispering or sneaking about, but their every action practically screamed that they were hiding something. It was strange how adults thought kids were so oblivious or stupid that they couldn't figure out things occurring behind the scenes. Not that she had given them any indication otherwise – on the contrary, she knew the only way to find the real reason they were on Tatooine was to be quiet and pretend she didn't know what was going on.

Dad had never spoken about her biological family before. He had never lied about the fact that she was adopted, but he had never talked about her birth parents either. Which was fine – she was perfectly happy as a member of the Organa family. And now… now she suddenly had an aunt and uncle on an obscure world on the edge of the galaxy. It was going to take some getting used to.

Aunt Beru was quite nice, she decided, as the two of them slathered frosting onto the just-cooled tava cookies and made preparations for dinner. She was so full of funny stories and friendly advice regarding the workings of the kitchen, and she was patient with Leia's lack of experience with cooking. When she had confessed that all the food preparation at her father's house was done by droids, Beru had just smiled, pulled an extra apron out of a cabinet, and announced "Then there's no better time to learn than now, is there?"

An hour later, with cookies neatly arranged on plates and the entrée sizzling in the cooking reactor, she washed her hands and pushed her dress sleeves back down. There was something satisfying about a job well done, no matter how messy it had been… and especially when you could literally taste the fruits of your labors.

Maybe I'll have to spend a little more time in the kitchen when we get home.

There were footsteps in the courtyard outside. Dad and Uncle Owen were still talking… about someone named Luke.

"Aunt Beru, who's Luke?" she asked.

Beru didn't look up from cutting vegetables for a salad. "He's our nephew. He's about your age. Have a cookie, tell me if they're any good."

Leia selected a small cookie, considering. "So that makes Luke my cousin?"

Beru didn't answer.

"Why is he in the hospital? Is he sick?"

"No dear, he was hurt in an accident," Beru replied. "He's fine now, though. Owen is going to pick him up before dinner."

Leia took a bite out of the cookie, savoring its spicy sweetness. Beru was being pretty vague in her answers. What was she hiding? And why?

"What kind of accident was it?" she pressed.

Beru slowly put the knife down and sighed. "I don't know if I should be telling you this without your father's permission, sweetheart…"

Her father? What did that have to do with this?

"…but I've never approved of hiding things from the children." She took a deep breath before going on. "Luke's father… Luke's father was hurt too. He was in the hospital too, and he's coming home with Luke."

Leia nodded. "So what's the problem?"

"Honey, Luke is a very sweet boy, and I don't want you jumping to conclusions when you meet him… or his father. Please, get to know him before you judge."

Leia frowned. "Of course I will. Why?"

Beru looked Leia in the eye. "Luke's father is a man named Anakin Skywalker… but most people now call him Darth Vader."

It was as if an icy hand had delved into her chest and squeezed her heart. Darth Vader… ever since she was little she'd had nightmares about him. She had only seen him twice, and then from a distance, but those two times were more than enough for her. And the day Dad had come home in a fearful sweat, telling how Vader had strangled an Imperial officer before the entire Senate without touching him…

"Darth Vader's coming here?" she asked fearfully.

Beru knelt before Leia and took her hands in hers. "Leia… people are funny. You can think they're black and evil and cold-hearted, and then… they'll do something that makes you stop and rethink what you think about them. I've always believed that everyone, no matter how badly they act, have some good in them…" She smiled. "I don't know if I'm making much sense."

Leia shook her head. "You're not, Aunt Beru."

Beru laughed. "A girl after my own heart. Always honest. To make a long story short, sweetheart, Darth Vader saved Luke's life. And he almost died to do it. He killed the Emperor to stop him from hurting Luke, even though it meant losing everything he had."

Leia felt her jaw drop. Vader had killed the Emperor? She'd heard rumors at school, of course, but to hear those rumors were factual…

"Why wouldn't my dad want me to hear this?" asked Leia.

"Because he wants to tell you for himself," came a stern voice from behind her.

Beru looked up, unapologetic. "She asked questions, Bail. You can't expect me to lie to her when she asks me point-blank…"

Bail cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Never mind, Beru. We'll talk later." His gaze rested on Leia, and his expression shifted from anger to nervous pain. "Leia, there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?" She hadn't seen him this emotional since Grandma Organa had died. There couldn't be… Mom couldn't have died while they were on Tatooine… she hadn't even been very sick when they'd left…

"Leia…" Organa placed his hands on his daughter's shoulders. "The kindest way to put this, Leia… is that you have a brother."

She stared at him. "A brother?"

"A twin brother. A brother named… Luke."

A brother. Luke was her brother, not her cousin. A brief, warm glow flared to life in her chest. She had a brother…

The glow died in an instant. That meant she had a father too…

"No," she moaned. "Daddy, no…"

"Leia, I wish I could change it…" Bail began.

She tore free from his grasp and bolted outside, never minding Beru's shout or Owen's attempt to block her path. She raced up the courtyard steps and to the stalls, where she flung herself into a corner and began sobbing. It wasn't possible! It wasn't true! Her father wasn't Darth Vader, it couldn't be… he was a monster, a killer… this was all a bad dream…

A huge muzzle nosed her anxiously, rumbling uneasily. Rocky had noticed the intruder in his stall and seemed oddly concerned for her. She wrapped her arms around the great square-nosed head and sobbed into his thick hide.

Break…

Luke and Biggs were so enthralled with the newest unlocked level of the "Mandalorian" game that neither of them noticed that Uncle Owen had entered the room. The farmer gave them a tolerant look, then turned to Vader, who was not participating but only watching from his seat on the edge of the bed.

Stang, he's aged, Vader thought. The last time he had seen Owen, the man had been a stubbled but fresh-faced youth, as yet unmarked by the harsh existence of Tatooine. Now his face was seamed and leathery from the suns, his hair unkempt and gray, his hands worn and calloused. Tatooine had not been kind to him. But the planet's harshness couldn't be blamed for all of it. Raising a Skywalker had its own stresses…

"Have a place set up for you near the garage," Owen said gruffly. "Not fancy, but comfortable."

Vader nodded. "Whatever you have will suit."

A mixture of emotions swirled across Owen's face – anger? Fear? Sorrow? It occurred to Vader that he knew so little about his stepbrother. This was a relative stranger (he had to smile grimly at that pun). A stranger who had raised his son in his absence, a stranger who had agreed to take him in and shelter him…

"You've changed a lot since we last talked," Owen said hesitantly.

"That is an understatement," Vader replied quietly.

Owen sat down on the bed beside him, not looking at him but staring at the back of Luke's head. "He's so much like you, you know. Sometimes I look into his eyes, and… and I see a Jedi Knight from long ago looking back. Do you have any idea how much that scares me?"

"Knowing what I have become, I can imagine."

"I didn't want him to know about you, you know. I thought that, if I raised him as a son, if I kept his mind and life on the farm, I could keep him from making some of those mistakes. That did as much good as trying to get an astromech to sing. He's got too much Skywalker in him. He's not a farmer… he's too much like you."

Vader didn't reply.

"Shmi would be proud of him, though. She would have loved him to pieces. From all the stories she told about you, he's just like you were at his age."

That was something else Vader hadn't ever considered before – Shmi had been HIS mother as well. He, too, had lost a mother when she had died at the hands of the Tusken Raiders.

"Owen," Vader told him, "thank you… for taking care of my son. It means… more than you can know."

Owen didn't look at him. "What made you do it, Anakin? What made you throw it all away? Your son, your wife… everything?"

Vader closed his eyes in pain. "I had no intention of throwing everything away. Quite the opposite. I clung to them. I desperately wanted a son, a child of my own. And when I had a vision of Padme dying in childbirth, I was willing to do anything – even give myself to Palpatine – to save her and our child." He clenched his fists. "I learned something about making a deal with a demon – the deal only works in the favor of the demon."

Owen gave Vader a startled look. "You joined the dark side to save Padme?"

"The Emperor… told me the Sith could keep people from dying," Vader replied softly, his voice catching. "He promised… to teach me… if I served him… he promised to help me save Padme…"

Owen shook his head. "I'd always assumed it was a power thing…" He reached over and clasped his stepbrother's hand. "Your mother… well, OUR mother… she wouldn't want me to hate you. She wouldn't want me to turn you out after all you've been through. I can't promise I won't still have issues…"

"It's okay, Owen." He felt a smile cross his lips for the first time today. "If you did not have issues, I would worry about you. But for now, a truce of peace… for the good of Luke."

Luke glanced up, as if just now aware that they had company. "Uncle Owen!" He dropped the controller and ran to embrace his uncle.

"Hey, Luke!" Owen exclaimed, returning the hug. "You must be feeling better."

"Are we going home now?"

"As soon as we get loaded up in the speeder," Owen replied. "Biggs, we'll drop you off at your place on the way. C'mon, let's go."

Vader helped the boys disconnect the game, smiling all the while. He had an unexpected ally in Owen, something he had never predicted. And the two of them had finally come to an understanding of sorts. Perhaps things would work out well for himself and Luke after all.

Break…

The battered freighter dropped to a shaky landing beside Bail Organa's ship, shedding a few pieces of plating in the process. As Obi-wan watched, a landing ramp was lowered, and a tiny form hobbled down from the ship, clutching a gnarled wooden cane and regarding his fellow Jedi with half-lidded green eyes. The moment his clawed feet left the ramp, the ship rose and streaked away.

"I was wondering how you would manage to get here, Master Yoda," Obi-wan noted amusedly.

"Providential it was that seeking a hiding place on Dagobah that smuggler was," Yoda replied, matching Kenobi's strides as they made their way to the house. "And an easy matter to convince him it was."

"And I trust he'll remember nothing of this?" asked Obi-wan.

Yoda chuckled mischievously. "How fares young Leia?"

Obi-wan sighed. "She ran off crying when she learned who her father was. We still haven't managed to talk her back into the house."

"And young Luke?"

"Owen just left to pick him and Vader up a few minutes ago."

Yoda frowned. "Strong is their bond in the Force. Felt anything of the sort I have not. Never before has this happened within the Jedi Order."

Obi-wan said nothing for a long time. Yoda had been a part of the order for centuries, and every Jedi had considered him the foremost authority on all matters of the Order. Obi-wan had once heard him comment that there was no problem so bizarre that he could not find a solution from his experience. If he hadn't seen a situation before, it was a remarkable situation indeed.

"Trained Luke must be," Yoda said at last. "At all costs."

"His father will not approve," Obi-wan replied. "He has insisted that only he be allowed to train his son."

Yoda shook his head, his ears quivering with the movement. "Disastrous that would be. Too corrupted by the Sith Vader has become. If train his son he did, lose both of them to the ways of the dark side we would."

"Funny," Obi-wan remarked. "That's what HE said. That we would accuse him of being too tainted by the dark side to mentor Luke." He leaned against a vaporator and watched the dual suns drop toward the heat-shimmering horizon. "It's not as if we're taking Luke from him; he would still be allowed to be a father, wouldn't he?"

"No."

Obi-wan turned to Yoda, startled. "No?"

"Hate the Jedi Vader does. And pass that hatred on to his son he will. As long as around his father Luke is, difficult training will be, if not impossible. With us Luke must come… and separated from his father he must be."

"I must disagree, Master Yoda," Obi-wan protested. "Luke needs his father in his life. Young boys need a father figure. I had Qui-gon, you had your Master, Anakin had… well, he really didn't have anyone, and look how he turned out. Luke needs that kind of role model…"

"Call Vader a role model you do?" Yoda raised an eyebrow.

"Well, he's better than nothing!"

A robed figure emerged from the homestead's courtyard. "Master Yoda?"

Yoda nodded at the newcomer. "Good to see you again, Senator Organa."

"And it is good to see you." He offered a bow. "I'm sure you know about our dilemma…"

"Decided we have that best for the Order and for Luke it will be if split up the Skywalkers we do," Yoda replied. "Necessary it is."

Bail nodded, relieved that he was not alone in his thinking. "If I may, I would like to offer my home to young Luke. He would be close to his sister and have access to schools…"

"He should stay here with his aunt and uncle," Obi-wan countered. "He needs some stability in his life. We can't uproot him from everything he holds dear."

But Yoda gave no ground. "Discouraged attachments should be, and learn this Luke must. A Jedi of the most serious mind must be, dedicated to the Force, to his studies. Live with Bail he shall."

"Owen won't approve," Obi-wan reminded him.

"He wants what's best for his nephew," Bail replied. "I'll try to get him to understand that this is best for him."

This latest development only disturbed Obi-wan. How could they simply rip Luke away from everything he knew and loved? They had done that with Anakin, and while it was largely Anakin's choice to turn on the Order, separating him from those he loved had contributed greatly to his fall. What if Luke reacted to the loss of his family the same way Anakin had? And how in the galaxy would Vader react when he learned of their plans? For that matter, just how was Yoda planning on convincing Vader to turn Luke over to their care?

"Displeased you are, Obi-wan." Yoda leaned on his cane. "What feel you?"

"I feel this is a bad idea," he replied. "First, Luke is not a Jedi youngling in the care of the Temple; he is a young boy with family ties. Severing those ties completely will shatter him. Second, I don't think you've taken Vader into account. How do you expect him to go along with this?"

Bail winced. "Good point. Who's to say he won't kill us all when he finds out…"

"Forget you do that a powerful Imperial leader he is no longer," Yoda pointed out. "Seek him two factions do – the Council of Moffs, to destroy him… and a resistance against the Empire, to capture him at all costs."

"You're not suggesting…" Obi-wan began, stunned.

"Seek his death we will not," Yoda replied. "But if in the custody of the resistance he is, then a danger to us he will not be. Bail, inform your friends of this you will. The location of the Lars' homestead give them. Send troops they must – underestimate Vader they should not."