Disclaimer: Still no change.
I keep having to apologise for long waits. I am sorry, I just don't have a lot of time to write these days, what with work and classes. Really, really sorry. This fic will never be abandoned; there will just be the occasional long wait between chapters.
This was written weeks ago but for some reason I have been unable to update. No clue why, blame the site!
Chapter 10
Yoda frowned as Luke staggered slightly, as if exhausted but that was impossible, they hadn't started the days training yet. Luke managed to send him a puzzled look before he collapsed to the ground, something seeming to cushion his fall. Reaching out with the Force he was relieved to find the boy was simply in an extremely deep sleep but that in itself was worrying, he knew of only one person who could have done that.
"We need to talk Yoda." The jedi master turned and actually felt a flash of fear as he studied his old friend. He'd always known what Harry was but he'd never truly seen it, not as he was now. The young man in front of him bore little resemblance to the street waif he'd found four hundred years ago. Standing tall with anger poring off him there was no way to mistake him for anything but what he was, a warrior. The man standing in front of him was the Saviour of the Wizarding World, Gryffindors Heir, not his one time sparring partner and they both knew it, the Gryffindor battle robes and golden circlet on his head confirming that knowledge.
"Know I did not that kill you my actions could." He stated calmly, earning a bitter, unamused laugh.
"And that excuses you? What is it with old men and manipulating kids into their personal weapons? I went into it willingly, I knew what Albus and the others were doing and let them. Luke trusted you because I told him you were trustworthy. And you went right ahead and abused that trust! Damn it Yoda! What were you thinking? Were you thinking?"
"Too emotional he was, too attached to you."
"So that gave you the right to play god? I am disgusted with you Yoda."
"As am I." Harry didn't even look as the three ghosts appeared. It was Mace who had spoken although all three were giving Yoda various looks of disapproval and disappointment.
"I'll admit I had some concerns in the beginning but after watching the boy… What you did was unnecessary and cruel. It was on my urging that Harry brought him to you and that he took Luke as his apprentice." Mace shook his head, truly angry with the other master.
"I'm taking Luke home Yoda and you won't stop me." Harry stated calmly, the fact that his battle robes were moving in a non-existent wind and that his eyes were glowing slightly showed that it was an act, he was anything but calm. Harry was usually so laid back and easy going that it was very easy to forget exactly how powerful he was and how dangerous if angered.
"Remember you he barely does. Trust you he will not." Yoda reasoned.
"Then it's a good thing I have these three to back my story up. You guys can follow me home, I've altered the wards just for you." Harry stalked past Yoda and bent, gently lifting Luke in his arms and smiling fondly down at the younger man.
"I, Harry James Potter, Heir of Gryffindor, do hereby cut all ties between us Master Yoda of the Jedi. From this day hence we are as strangers. All debts have been repaid. So mote it be." With that Harry's magic seemed to explode, causing Yoda to cover his face. When he lowered his arms he was alone in the clearing before his small hut. Yoda sighed sadly, he knew that what Harry had done was a magically binding oath, that they were no longer friends and that saddened him. He would miss the child greatly but he had truly done what he believed was best.
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Harry carefully settled Luke beneath the covers of the bed that he had slept in all the time they'd spent in his home. He gently brushed the hair from the sleeping mans forehead, taking time to study his features. He knew that when he woke Luke they would be back at square one but with a bigger handicap than Harry having drugged Luke, this time Luke was disconnected from many of his emotions.
"This place is incredible." Harry smiled slightly at Obi-Wan's comment.
"Thanks. Did you guys have any problems getting here?" He still hadn't taken his eyes off of Luke's sleeping form.
"None. He won't disappear if you look away Harry." Mace commented, smiling wryly at his old friend.
"I…" Harry blushed causing the other three to laugh.
"Will you watch him? I need to get some things." Even with Mace's teasing he still couldn't look away. He'd finally admitted his feelings to himself only to lose him. Sure, Luke was lying right in front of him but this wasn't the Luke he knew, the Luke who would cuddle with him on the couch in front of the fire for hours on end, talking about nothing or who had flooded his bedroom one morning when he'd wanted to sleep in. This was a Luke he didn't know, a Luke who didn't truly feel things the way his Luke did. But he'd meant what he'd said the day they'd left the castle, he always kept his promises. He stood reluctantly and left the room, the three ghosts watching him leave. At least he was back to his normal look now, not the fear-inspiring warrior he'd been on Dagobah.
"This is tearing him apart. I can't believe Master Yoda did that." Obi-Wan commented.
"He shouldn't have, there are too many ways for it to go wrong." Qui-Gon replied. They watched the young jedi as he slept, knowing their talking wouldn't wake him since he was under the effects of a rather powerful spell.
"What of Harry's feelings for Luke?" Obi-Wan asked.
"We let things develop as they will. If Anakin and Padme hadn't had to hide, perhaps…" Mace trailed off but they knew what he was saying.
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Harry slammed his fist into the wall, angry tears finally allowed to fall. He let out a sobbed breath, trying not to totally break down. Why? Why did those he trusted always betray him? Only this time he wasn't the one paying the price, Luke was. You'd think after his childhood and his treatment by the fickle Wizarding community he'd be immune to this feeling but in a way it only made it worse. For four hundred years he'd trusted Yoda, thought of him as a beloved mentor and this was how he repaid Harry's trust. Yoda was the only reason Harry had become involved in the Clone Wars, he had been contentedly living on a nice remote planet near the rim. True, he never would have met Aille or Luke if he hadn't tried to help but Yoda's betrayal hurt so much. He turned so that his back was against the wall and slowly slid to the ground, tears running unchecked down his cheeks.
"Siting there is hardly helping matters my boy." He looked up and managed a weak smile for the portrait that had spoken. Albus Dumbledore smiled down at him. It wasn't a true Wizarding portrait since Harry had down it from memory and imbued it with those memories but it was a close as he may ever get to having his chosen grandfather with him again due to his seeming immortality.
"Maybe not, but its better than my going back and torturing Yoda to death Grandfather."
"True, very true. What did he do to make you so mad?" So Harry explained everything the portrait making the appropriate comments when warranted.
"There are spells and potions dealing with memory restoration of course but his emotions? That may be harder. Of course once he remembers having had those emotions it may be easier."
"So I should focus on his memories first. Thanks."
"Anytime child."
"You do realise I am far older than you now Albus?"
"But of course! However, you will always be a child to me Harry. Now, go help your friend. Run along!" Harry laughed as Albus popped a lemon drop in his mouth and wandered out of the frame. He headed for his potion labs, already going through the various memory potions in his mind.
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"Any luck?" The other two ghosts turned to see that Harry had entered the room, looking more hopeful than when he left, hence Mace's question.
"Maybe. I've been advised to work on his memories before his emotions so that he can actually remember the emotions before trying to reattach to them."
"Makes sense. When do you plan to wake him? It's been almost a week now." Qui-Gon said, worried about Luke's health.
"I could keep him like that for years without any side effects Qui, that's the beauty of the spell. It's kind of like a form a magical stasis. But I'm going to wake him now actually. You three better hang around to back up my story." Harry perched on the edge of the bed and carded his fingers through the soft blond hair before reaching out to the spell, releasing it and reluctantly removing his hand. It was only seconds before Luke began to show signs of waking.
Luke sighed, rolling over slightly. His bedroll was a lot softer than he remembered it being and the usual post-training exhaustion was missing. He quickly became aware of the four presences with him and his eyes snapped open even as he rolled off the bed and into a defensive stance. He blinked in shock seeing the ghostly image of Ben with two others and a young man, Harry wasn't it? But where?
"Where are we? Where's Master Yoda?" he didn't relax since the last thing he remembered was Dagobah and preparing for the days training.
"It's all right Luke, you're in your room."
"My room?" Luke looked around; the room didn't look at all familiar.
"What are you talking about, Harry isn't it?" If he hadn't been so busy looking around he would have seen Harry flinch at that but the other three saw it.
"Yeah, I'm Harry. This is your room Luke; you're the only guest I've ever had here. You don't remember do you?"
"I've never been here."
"Yes you have Luke."
"How could I Ben? I went straight to Yoda after the ambush. Harry gave me a lift but that's the only time I've ever seen him." Luke looked and sounded honestly confused. He didn't know what they were talking about.
"Luke, we spent a year together, I rescued you from the Empire after the ambush and you spent your recovery in my home on Corellia. After that we posed as smugglers for a while before coming here to further your training." Harry was fighting to keep the overwhelming emotions he was feeling from coming through his shields. He didn't need Luke picking up on his anger and despair.
"That's impossible, I would remember if that had happened. Besides, what training? You're not a jedi."
"Harry is a Wizard Luke, as are you. He was training your magical abilities to hopefully give you an edge against Vader and the Emperor."
"Who are you?"
"Forgive me, I am Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan's Master. Our other companion is Jedi Master Mace Windu."
"I served with Yoda on the Jedi Council before the purges. I am sorry that I ever encouraged Harry to take you to him, if I hadn't…" Mace trailed off, shooting a guilty look at Harry.
"Not your fault Mace, you didn't know."
"Know what?"
"That Yoda would go so far as to tamper with your mind." Obi-Wan answered, knowing the answer would be taken better coming from him than any of the others.
"But why… Yoda wouldn't, he's my Master." Harry looked at Luke and couldn't take it any more.
"Excuse me." He all but ran from the room, ignoring the calls for him to stop.
"What?" Luke's confused question brought their attention back to him.
"Harry cares for you Luke, a lot. Seeing you like this, not remembering the close friendship the two of you built is hurting him deeply. He made you a promise before leaving with Yoda, you both knew there was a good possibility that the training would change you emotionally. You made Harry promise to not give up on you if that happened, to not stop until he brought you back to the old Luke. Harry never breaks his word, he will spend the rest of your life doing this if that's what it takes to get your memories back." Qui-Gon explained. Luke simply stared at the door Harry had run through in shock.
"What happened to me?"
"Yoda altered your memories and dulled your emotions, he feared your attachments would make you too vulnerable to the dark side. But I believe Harry was right, like his your emotions are an asset. Yoda should never have tried to mess with them and for that we are all sorry." Mace answered.
"There's something else." Luke was sure of it, they were hiding something. The three exchanged a look before Obi-Wan answered.
"Yoda could have killed you and Harry. Shortly after he rescued you Harry swore a magically binding oath to always protect you and that oath caused him a fair amount of pain when Yoda interfered. Much more damage to it could have killed both of you. That is how Harry knew something was wrong." Luke had paled slightly at that, his Master had almost killed him because he didn't approve of his friendship with Harry?
"How do we fix this?" He asked, if Yoda was wiling to go to such lengths to make him forget then he had to fix it. Harry was obviously still in a lot of pain and it wasn't right.
"We can do nothing, what was done cannot be undone using the Force. Now that you know the memories are false ignore them, try to push past them. Harry is researching various spells and potions to help restore your true memories." Luke nodded at Mace in understanding.
"Here's trial number one." They looked to see Harry was back and with an oddly coloured vial clutched in one hand.
"Get comfortable on the bed Luke. I can't promise this won't hurt, in fact it will in all likelihood hurt a lot and it may not work." Luke lay back down on the bed and Harry sat next to him. Harry put a hand behind his head to support him and then held the vial against Luke's lips. The young jedi looked at Obi-Wan who nodded encouragingly before looking back to Harry. The other man had been crying recently.
"You were crying for me?" Harry nodded.
"I miss you Luke." The green-eyed man answered softly, hesitantly brushing his fingers against Luke's cheek. Luke opened his mouth and Harry tipped the contents in. Luke gasped as the liquid burned its way down, body going rigid before convulsing even as Harry changed positions to fully support him, not that Luke was aware of it as he quickly passed out. The three dead jedi looked on, helpless to do anything but talk to Luke as his body continued to convulse in Harry's arms.
"Is this?"
"It's normal. If it doesn't work we'll have to wait a few days, maybe even weeks before potions to give his body time to recover." Harry said as he held Luke as still as he could to keep the younger man from accidentally hurting himself. Everyone sighed in relief as Luke began to relax before going totally limp.
"Now what?" Harry looked up at Obi-Wan.
"Now? Now we wait."
TBC...
