Chapter 4 - Grand Finale

DISCLAIMER: We (unfortunately) do not own Star Wars. :P

Author's Note: If you enjoyed this and want more, just let us know! This is supposed to be the end, but we might write additional chapters if enough people want them. :)

~ Amina Gila

The moment Luke's spent so long preparing for has finally arrived. And he knows what he must do, regardless of what the consequences will be. Stepping away from Vader, he deactivates his lightsaber and throws it aside.

"Never! I'll never turn to the Dark Side. You've failed, Your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me."

The Emperor's expression slowly morphs to one of unadulterated rage, and he raises his arms. "So be it, Jedi. If you will not be turned, you will be destroyed."

Bolts of electricity shoot from his fingers at Luke – but never reach their target. In a blur, an all too familiar, one foot tall being lands between Luke and the Emperor, raising his hands to throw up a Force barrier as the lightning reaches him. Yoda? Seriously? How did he even get here? And how did no one notice? This is… not good. He's probably going to accomplish nothing more than his death, but this is clearly a fight far beyond Luke's training. There's really nothing he can do but watch, as much as he hates it. At least not right now.

"Surprised?" asks Yoda, a wicked smirk on his face.

"How – what kind of trickery is this?" splutters the Sith in shock, pausing the assault for a moment to get a better look at the creature before him. "I killed you over twenty years ago!"

"The will of the Force this is," Yoda retorts.

"It sounds like there's more to the story," snarls the Emperor, unleashing another attack at him again. Yoda blocks the lightning, forming a Force-shield in front of himself. Luke watches with a myriad of emotions raging through him. He wishes he could help, but he doesn't know how. There's nothing he can do. If only he'd been taught how to deflect lightning. He doesn't want to risk the child like that, but there's not a choice.

Yoda's expression slowly turns darker, angrier, as the battle of Force powers continues. "Taken everything from me, you have," growls the creature furiously, "My Order, my former padawan, my friends, my whole family, but now, come your time has. At your greatest moment, lose all that you have gained, you shall. At an end, your rule is at last." Yoda's expression twists back into an evil smirk, which somehow manages to look far more adorable than it should on him.

The Emperor scoffs. "Your arrogance blinds you, my little green friend. As I said last time we met, you shall learn the true power of the Dark Side." The intensity of the lightning increases, and Luke realizes, to his horror, that Yoda is beginning to struggle. Don't let the shield give out. It could kill him.

"Blinds you, your arrogance does, my ugly Sith friend," Yoda mimics in a tone that sounds as much like Sidious as someone so young possibly could. It would be amusing if not for the situation. "And now learn, you shall, the true power of the Light Side." A sudden Force-shove – one Luke is certain came from Vader – throws Luke out of the way just as an explosion rips through the area as Yoda's shield gives way, totally contrary to what he just said.

The powerful blast of energy that explodes between them throws the pair many, many feet apart. Luke scrambles to his feet again, calling his lightsaber back to his hand as he takes in the scene. If Vader hadn't thrown him out of the way just in time, he probably would have been injured. He can't help but throw a grateful look at his father. By the minute, it seems Vader is becoming more and more Anakin.

Across the room, Sidious makes his way back towards Luke as Vader slowly stands up. Yoda is nowhere to be seen. He vanished just as mysteriously as he appeared. That's not good at all. He better be fine. Luke finds himself closer to panicking than he has been the entire time. Yoda can't have just killed himself.

Sidious looks around before cackling evilly. "He's dead." Lightning shoots out of his hands towards Luke again. This time, there's no one to stop it. Luke ignites his lightsaber and tries to block it, but the blade flies out of his hands. He falls to the ground as the agony rips through him.

"Young fool. Only now, at the end, do you understand," laughs Sidious, lightning continuing to arc from his hands. "Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the Dark Side. You have paid the price for your lack of vision."

Yoda was able to stop it, but that took far more training than Luke has achieved. He's going to die unless someone helps him. Yoda's gone, which only leaves Vader. Even now, Luke can still feel the conflict radiating from him as he struggles to break free from the darkness. Another wave of lightning strikes Luke, and he writhes from the pain. "Father, please. Help me," he finally manages to gasp out.

Vader slowly looks between them but doesn't react. Not yet.

"Now, young Skywalker, you will die," cackles Sidious. The intensity of the electricity increases for a second, but then suddenly stops. Luke looks up to see Vader carrying the Emperor over to a shaft, throwing him down it. He somehow manages to stand despite the lightning pouring through his body, clearly short-circuiting his life-support suit. Sidious falls out of sight, and Vader collapses next to the shaft.

From a corner on the far side of the room, Luke hears a childish voice shout, "Haha! Yes! Die trash!" Ignoring the nearly unbearable pain in his body, Luke pushes himself off the floor and crawls to his father's side, pulling Vader away from the shaft before collapsing onto the floor again.

Suddenly, a tiny figure scurries out of the shadows, looking between the two with concern. Yoda. "Daddy?" he questions worriedly.

"I'm fine," Luke assures him wearily. They need to get out of here. Now. Vader is dying, and the Death Star is about to blow up. If they hurry, Vader can still be saved.

"Granddaddy?" asks Yoda worriedly, looking at Vader next. Oh, right. Of course, he would decide Vader is his grandfather.

"We need to go," Luke says simply, struggling to his feet. He pulls Vader's uninjured arm over his shoulder and heads towards the hanger bay with Yoda right behind them. The Death Star is shaking from explosions. They barely manage to make it over to a shuttle before Luke collapses again from the strain.

Yoda scurries over to them, sitting down next to Vader, his eyes glistening with tears. "Let you die I will not!" he insists. He moves forwards and rests his hands on Vader's arm – probably because it was the only part of the former Sith which he could reach without actually climbing onto him – and closes his eyes in deep concentration. Luke can feel the Force surging around them. "Get on the shuttle, we must," Yoda says finally, "Concentrate I cannot when about to be blown to be blown to bits we are."

Gathering the remainder of his strength, Luke carries Vader up into the shuttle before hastily climbing into the pilot seat. They need to hurry, before the Death Star blows up. They blast out of the station with less than a second to spare. As they speed into the void of space, the Death Star explodes behind them.

**w**

As Luke guides the ship down towards the towering trees of Endor, he makes out what appears to be a huge celebration. The forest where the Rebels are gathered is lit up, and he can almost hear the sound of a celebration.

"A party we are missing!" exclaims Yoda, hopping onto the control panel to get a better look out the front viewport.

"Yeah… But we can't really land there," Luke points out, "I can't imagine they'd be too happy knowing that Father is with us." He's not even sure how he's going to go about approaching the Rebellion about Vader's survival, actually.

"I am sure I would not be the most welcome guest," Vader agrees. He seems to be in much better condition now, after Yoda spent a long time healing him.

"I'll have a lot of explaining to do," Luke sighs, "Maybe after the celebration is over, I can talk to them."

"Go to the celebration, you should," advises Yoda, "Remain here with Grandfather I shall."

Luke looks over at his father for a moment. "Yes, you should go," agrees Vader as Luke lands the shuttle. "They will be expecting you."

Luke disembarks from the ship and after walking through the woods for several minutes, finds himself approaching the celebration. Leia spots him first and immediately rushes to greet him. "Luke!" she exclaims with relief, "Your back! And do you, by any chance, know where Yoda went? I haven't seen him since you left."

He can't help but laugh. "He decided to come with me anyway."

She frowns. "Is he alright? Where is he now?"

"He's staying with the ship."

"Why?"

"I'll explain later," he decides hastily, suddenly thinking he'd rather have Yoda with him for this conversation, "Let's get back to the celebration for now."

The atmosphere is filled with excitement and relief as the rebels celebrate their victory and the death of the Emperor. Finally, after many long years of struggling, they can see the light on the horizon. With the Emperor dead, they're far more assured of their victory. Luke finds himself caught up in the mood, cheering and celebrating with his friends, and even going so far as to sample some of the drinks which Han and the other pilots are passing around. Eventually, he ends up falling asleep.

He's still feeling energetic and happy as he slips away early the next morning to check on his father and Yoda. He knows he probably doesn't need to be concerned, but the child is incredibly mischievous, and he just needs to be certain that everything is alright.

As Luke steps onto the shuttle, he can hear Yoda's animated voice coming from the cockpit as he – what in the world are he and Vader talking about?

"Everyone told me not to stroll on that beach. They said seagulls gonna come and poke me in the coconut and they did!" He walks into the cockpit to see Vader reclining in the pilot seat, Yoda perched on the control panel, brandishing his stick as he continues the tale.

"Had me goin' like –" He rocks back and forth, wildly flailing his stick back and forth before faceplanting straight off the control panel and landing on the ground with a startled yelp.

"Nothin' I could do but yell when those birds attacked me!" he continues, leaping back to his previous position, "When I tried to run, I fell, and then the other younglings started laughin'!"

"How distressing," Vader comments dryly.

Yoda huffs. "If I had your giant feet out there on that beach, I could've outrun those birds!"

"What in the name of the Force are you talking about?!" Luke splutters, finally recovering his voice after being shocked speechless.

Yoda whirls towards him. "Just hold your breath and see, when the time is right, birds will fly at your face!" he threatens. When Luke eyes him like he's gone completely crazy, he continues ranting, "Listen boy, someday when you are older, you could get hit by a boulder, and when you're lyin' there screamin' 'Come help me, please!' the seagulls will poke your knees!"

He crosses his arms. "Good to know, but we need to focus on right now. We need to… take care of informing the Rebellion."

"Ah, yes," agrees Yoda, "Go with you and speak to them, I shall."

The conversation – no, argument – with Leia was a little more dramatic than Luke had anticipated, with her screaming that Luke and Yoda were officially insane and that Vader needed to be arrested this instant. It ended up attracting the attention of literally everyone nearby, all of whom rapidly sided with Leia when they heard what the fight was about.

"How could you even think about saving him?" rages Leia, "We must send out people to arrest him at once."

A light Force-shove – more to get attention than anything – sends everyone but Luke stumbling back a few steps. Yoda leaps into the air, landing on Luke's shoulder and glaring as fiercely at everyone as he can manage.

"Enough of this arguing, there is," he growls, fixing everyone with a glare to be remembered, "The Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, I once was. Knew Vader as Skywalker, I did. The destruction across the galaxy that you blame on him, the fault of the Emperor, this was. Perhaps completely innocent he is not, but before further action we take, level heads must prevail. Under my authority to decide what to do, it is, because once a Jedi he was, and in charge of the Jedi I am."

"The Jedi Order no longer exists –!" Leia begins to shout but is suddenly cut off by an ear-splitting roar.

Luke whirls around, the Force warning him of a very nearby imminent danger. Brush slashes aside, a there's a crash as nearby log balanced against another tree hits the ground before a towering creature stalks into view. It's about seven feet tall, with a remotely humanoid body. Instead of the kind of legs he'd expect to see on a beast like this, the creature has feet that look very much like those which would be on a giant duck. It has four arms, with long claws glinting in the sunlight. And its head… it resembles a chicken's, but it's face looks just like a woman.

"What's that?" hisses Leia, all anger evaporating. Yoda lets out an incomprehensible shriek and dives behind Luke.

The creature snarls again as its eyes zero in on the gathered rebels. Great. It seems to have decide they're going to become its dinner. Luke backs off a few steps, keeping his lightsaber in his hand in case it decides to attack. Han, Chewbacca, and three other rebels raise their blasters and fire. A mistake. As the blaster bolts fly at the creature, it roars angrily, leaping through the air towards them. They fire again, but none of the blasts even hit near their target as it charges at them.

Luke's lightsaber hisses to life as he leaps through the air, slashing into the creature. If only Yoda would actually help for once when he really needs him. Instead, he's – where is he anyway? Hiding under the leaves somewhere?

One of its clawed arms strikes Luke hard, knocking him to the ground, his lightsaber rolling away into the brush. Han fires at the beast's head again. Almost on impulse, and as if expecting the coming attack, it grabs Luke and throws him in the path. The bolt stops midway, suddenly turning sideways and striking a tree as Luke falls to the ground, wincing. He wasn't injured too badly, but those claws did cause some minor scrapes.

Luke senses his presence the same time he sees him. Vader steps out from between the trees, using the Force to lift the creature off the ground. It snarls and roars, struggling to free itself. Vader never loosens his grip, and Luke can only marvel at his father's strength. Vader ignites his red lightsaber, hurling it through the air, and presumably using the Force to guide it as it plunges into the creature's right eye. It howls with pain and fury, making Luke cringe.

Vader, of course, doesn't even hesitate, calling the lightsaber back to his hand before tossing it into the monster's neck, severing the spine and killing it almost instantly. He drops the body, and it crashes to the ground with a resounding thud. Luke can feel the shockwaves where he's sitting, at least two hundred feet away.

"What was that?" wonders Luke, shakily pulling himself up.

"A chicken-duck-woman thing, it is," calls Yoda's voice from somewhere amidst the treetops.

"A what?"

Just then, Obi-Wan Force ghost materializes next to them. "Forty-nine times Anakin and I fought that beast. It had a had a chicken head with duck feet, with woman's face too. And it was waiting in the bushes for us."

All eyes are focused on the Force ghost – well everyone who can see it. "Then it ripped off your dad's face," Obi-Wan declares, turning to Luke, "He was screaming something awful. In fact, it was this huge mess, I had to change the floors."

"The floors?" he repeats, confused, silently wondering if Obi-Wan has also gone crazy.

"You see, his blood… it drained into the boards. And I had to change them." Obi-Wan insists.

Luke turns his gaze to his father with a frown. "Did anything like this happen?"

"No!"

"Mmhmm, yes it did!" Yoda's tiny figure darts out of the brush, stopping next to them. "How Anakin got his scar, this was."

"Why were you not helping Luke when the creature attacked?" Vader demands, changing the topic. A good question. Luke is still wondering the same thing.

Yoda's expression promptly morphs into a sulk. Oh no. It is never good when this happens. "Child labor, that is. Mean, you are being." He disappears back into the brush without another word. Alright, then. The noise that escapes the vocoder sounds suspiciously like a smothered laugh.

"But we all got a chicken duck woman thing, waiting for us," warns Obi-Wan interrupting them, "Every day I worry all day, about what's waiting in the bushes. 'Cause something is waiting in the bushes for us. Something's waiting in the bushes."

"Why does a Force ghost worry about that?" mutters Luke, completely exasperated with the whole situation by now. Maybe there's something on the planet which is driving everyone to insanity. It's not a pleasant thought to consider.

"Every day I worry all day. About waiting in the bushes. Something's waiting in the bushes for us. Something's waiting in the bushes," Obi-Wan raves, "Every day I worry –"

Vader waves a hand in his face. "Obi-Wan, snap out of it." From the way they're acting – especially because of the boredom and fond exasperation in his father's tone – Luke assumes they must have already talked everything out while he was arguing with the rebels. The Force-ghost suddenly disappears.

"Does someone mind telling me what in the world is going on here?" demands Han, stepping forwards, "Why is everyone talking to the trees?"