Chapter 17

Leia stared back at Vader for a few moments as she processed the events she had just witnessed. "You killed her," she whispered, her voice trembling with fury.

"I might as well have," Vader replied.

"Might as well have?" Leia scoffed. "I saw you! You strangled her to death!"

"I did," Vader confirmed. "And for the rest of my life I thought that I had killed her then and there. But she didn't die there Leia. You and Luke are living proof of that."

Leia paused, realizing that Vader was right. "It doesn't matter," she said. "You would have killed her if Obi-Wan hadn't intervened." Vader said nothing, making no effort to defend himself. For some reason, this infuriated Leia even further.

"You said you loved her!" Leia yelled at him, her anger boiling over. "You… you…" Leia stammered, unable to speak due to her rage. Her vision darkened as she recalled watching her mother gasp for breath.

"I always hated you, but I never knew you could be this evil," she said darkly. Leia heard a loud cracking sound from somewhere underneath her, but she payed it no heed as she grabbed her lightsaber. "You deserve to suffer for what you've done!" A billowing gale seemed to surround her as she approached Vader, drowning out all sound or rationality. Lighting her saber, Leia swung at Vader blindly with a yell. "I hate you!" she cried as Vader quickly stepped away from her, avoiding the blow.

"Leia, stop!" she heard someone call out from far away. Ignoring the voice, Leia continued to swing savagely at Vader, who had backed up against the railing. With a heave, she sliced downward at Vader's ghost, the blade passing right through him and into the marble railing. Unaware or simply unwilling to acknowledge that her blade had no effect on Vader, she swung again, but this time was blocked by a green lightsaber. Looking to her right, Leia saw Luke, wearing nothing but his sleeping pants, holding his lightsaber with two hands.

"Stop this now," he demanded seriously, pushing Leia back until he was standing in front of Vader.

"Step aside, Luke," she told him, unfazed by Luke's superior strength. "You don't know what this man has done."

"I do," Luke replied calmly. "I saw it too. In a dream."

"So you know he doesn't deserve your devotion," she snarled back. "He's a monster."

"Leia, you need to calm down. You can't hurt him, anyway."

"Step aside," she repeated menacingly.

"I will not."

Frustrated by Luke's obstinacy, Leia pushed Luke back using her lightsaber which was still pressed against Luke's, causing him to fall to the ground. Luke looked up with a shocked expression as he saw Leia raise her lightsaber threateningly. Acting out of defense, Luke pushed her back with the Force, propelling Leia backwards into the house where she crumpled into a heap on the ground. Standing up, Luke watched as Leia rubbed the back of her head.

Leia looked up at Luke with a dark expression. With unnatural speed, she propelled herself to her feet and flung herself at her unsuspecting brother. His heightened Jedi reflexes saved him as he blocked Leia's vicious blow.

"Stop this at once!" Vader bellowed from behind Luke. The twins ignored him, however, and began to duel fiercely. While Luke was more experienced, Leia's skills seemed to be elevated by her fury. Pushing Luke back with a rapid series of deafening overhead blows, Luke fell over and dropped his lightsaber which fell off the patio into the darkness.

"I warned you," Leia told Luke severely.

"And you say you're nothing like me."

Leia hesitated, looking to her left to see Vader's ghost glaring at her. Looking back down at Luke she saw raw terror in her brother's eyes as he trembled in fear. Leia felt her anger seep away at the pitiful sight in front of her. Extinguishing her weapon, Leia closed her eyes. "I wasn't going to kill him," she said, as much a reassurance to herself as it was to Vader.

"Does that matter?" Luke stood up cautiously, his eyes never leaving Leia's now deactivated lightsaber. "I wanted you to hate me," Vader continued in a steely voice, "so that you wouldn't become me."

"I-I'm not going to become you," Leia insisted.

"Oh really? You strangled the one you love and just nearly killed your brother." Leia gulped as she realized how hypocritical she was being. "The darkness is powerful within you," Vader told her passionately. "Don't let it consume you like it did me."

Leia felt hot tears emerge in her eyes as a powerful wave of remorse crashed over her. Dropping her lightsaber, Leia began to sob uncontrollably. "I'm not like you, I'm not. I won't be," she blubbered. Leia felt comforting arms pull her close as she continued to cry. "I'm not like him, I'm not like him," she repeated to Luke who held her with a somber expression on his face.

"Then prove it," she heard Vader reply sharply. "Defeat the darkness or suffer my fate."

Leia continued to sob into Luke's chest for a few minutes. "I'm so sorry," she told Luke over and over. "I'm so, so sorry." Luke held his sister with his chin rested on top of her head, his own eyes wet with tears. He looked up when he heard footsteps approaching.

"What's happening, what's going on?" he heard Ruwee call out from the hallway.

"Leia, are you alright?" Han's voice asked. Han and Ruwee's figures emerged in the doorway, the sound of more footsteps indicating that more people were behind them. "Oh no," Han said when he saw the carnage in front of him. A massive crack ran along the middle of the patio, originating from where Leia had once been standing. A large chunk of the marble railing was also gone, sliced through by Leia's lightsaber.

"Ruwee, what's happening?" Jobal asked from the hallway. Han and Ruwee looked up at Luke with shocked expressions on their faces as they saw Leia sobbing in her brother's arms.

"Please go," Luke whispered to the two bewildered men. "We will be with you shortly." Nodding, Han placed a hand on Ruwee's shoulder.

"Come on," he told the elder man. "Give them some space." Perplexed and deeply concerned, Ruwee nevertheless obliged and followed Han back into the house.

After a few more moments, Leia regained her composure and ceased crying. Sniffling, she stepped away from Luke. "Sorry about that," she whispered sheepishly as she watched Luke try to wipe away the tears and snot on his bare abdomen. Luke said nothing and gave her a sad look.

After a long while, Luke finally spoke. "Come on," he said hoarsely, clearly unsure about how to deal with the situation. Following Luke, they made their way down the hallway into the house where they found Ruwee, Jobal, Sola, and Han all waiting for them in the living room with concerned expressions on their faces. Sitting down in a large armchair, Leia suddenly felt very small as she looked down to avoid everyone's gaze.

"Luke, put this on," she heard Jobal say as she handed him a cloak.

"Thanks," Luke muttered, wrapping the cloak around his bare shoulders. As he sat down, everyone looked back and forth between Luke and Leia, evidently waiting for one of them to speak. "Sorry about the patio," Luke said finally in a small voice.

"It's no matter," Ruwee replied awkwardly. After a long pause, Luke spoke again.

"We haven't been fully truthful with you all," he said finally, causing Ruwee to stiffen.

"You're not Padme's children, are you?" he asked sternly.

"No, no, it's not about that," Luke said dismissively. "We are, by the way," he added for clarification. Ruwee nodded, once again feeling silly for his cynicism. "No, we haven't been truthful about our father."

"Luke, no!" Leia said suddenly, raising her head.

"They deserve to know, Leia," Luke replied evenly.

"Please don't, it'll ruin everything!" she pleaded.

"You have already done that yourself," he retorted sternly, shocking Han who had never seen Luke raise his voice at his sister. Leia shook her head but said nothing, her bottom lip trembling.

"What is this about? Is Anakin not your father?" Sola asked Luke.

"He is," Luke replied. "But he also went by another name. After our mother died." The room was silent in anticipation. Luke gave one last glance at Leia, who was now looking steadfastly at her lap in shame. "Anakin Skywalker is Darth Vader."

"What!?" Sola exclaimed. "What do you mean? I thought Anakin died in the Purges."

"He did not," Luke said. "He turned to the Dark Side because he feared losing our mother in childbirth."

"That's not true –" Leia tried to say, but Luke cut her off.

"You will let me explain!" he told her sharply. Receiving no retort from Leia, Luke continued. "Leia and I just learned this from our father. He showed us what happened twenty years ago." Luke paused for a moment as everyone waited in silence, waiting for him to continue. "He thought that she had betrayed him," he said softly. "He was so angry that he… he choked her."

Sola and Pooja gasped while Ruwee grabbed the arm rest on his chair forcefully. "He killed her?" Ruwee asked angrily. "He killed my daughter?"

Luke shook his head somberly. "She was still pregnant at the time, but he must have thought that he did." Ruwee shook his head angrily, too stunned to speak.

"Leia didn't take the news well," Luke continued. "She attacked me when I defended him."

Leia began to quiver again as she felt tears reemerging in her eyes. "I'm so sorry," she repeated for the umpteenth time. Quickly standing up, Han crossed the room and sat down on the arm rest of Leia's chair. Wrapping his arm around her back, Han comforted her as she cried softly once again.