Chapter 22:

Luke leaned up against the wall, alone, his mind a flood of emotions….. anger, frustration, resentment against everyone. No one ever really understood him, not Leia, not Mara, though at least she had the courage to admit it. Even his father…. Luke remembered the way his father had pushed him and Mara apart, how angry, and….. disgusted, his father had seemed. He slammed his fist against the bulkhead at the memory, then forced himself to analyze his feelings about it.

He felt…. annoyed, that his father had imposed his will on the matter in that way. He had no right to; it was his choice, not Vader's. He idly began wondering whether he could find some way to annoy his father in return. Mara…. he paused, thoughtfully. He had spoken the truth, mostly, when he said he did not love her. She was very beautiful, and he liked her, a great deal. She stirred things inside him that he could not explain. He could feel that Mara was embarrassed by what had happened, and he felt a twinge of regret that he had caused her to be placed in that situation. If he could, he would make it up to her somehow. Regardless, it wouldn't happen again. The next thing that crossed his mind was the revelation of his sister. As a child, he had missed the companionship of a sibling, but he realized, to a certain extent, that the bond they evidently shared had left him feeling cut off from a part of himself. The memory of his sister was not an entirely pleasant one. He felt betrayed, he felt that she had turned against him, and their father, that she had rejected them. He assumed that, growing up as she did in a foster family, surrounded by the luxury of a Senator's household, brainwashed by their Rebel sympathies, she hadn't felt the loss of their connection as much as he had.

There was an uncertain tap on the door, and he whirled around as it slid open. Han stood there, an apologetic expression on his face. "Sorry to bother you, Luke, but we're about to land."

Luke's burning yellow eyes narrowed, toying with the idea of taking his anger out on him, then finally said, "Very well." He had an idea which amused him, and he prepared himself to carry it out. Han quelled the feelings of dread he got whenever Luke looked at him that way, and left the room as quickly as he dared.

Luke hid both his physical appearance and Force signature until he was at the entrance to the throne room. The royal guards knew he was to be admitted and not questioned and opened the doors for him. Luke however, on the other side, slammed them shut with the Force, using every ounce of his rage. He stormed up the stairs leading to the throne and knelt down in front of it. "Master."

The Emperor smiled as he felt young Skywalker use the dark side of the Force to slam the doors shut. He turned his throne until he was looking directly at Luke's kneeling form. The only thing that the Emperor could see was Luke's chin; everything else was hidden by a hooded black cloak. "Well, young Skywalker, you seem to have learned your last lesson well."

"Yes, master."

"I also see that you have taken an interest in my Hand." The Emperor got up and grabbed Luke's chin, forcing him to look him in the eye. "Mere lust and passion will fuel your connection to the dark side of the Force, my young apprentice. But do not let it under any circumstances become love, or it will be your undoing, my young apprentice."

Luke met the Emperor's cold, burning yellow eyes with his own. "I understand, master. I have no further interest in her."

The Emperor laughed at Luke for his last statement. "Don't try to deceive me, my young apprentice. I know you are still interested in her as she is in you. I have foreseen it. It will be a source of strength for you. A source to increase your power…. do not pass up that source of power, my young apprentice."

Luke smiled darkly at his master and finally after several moments of thought, said, "I won't miss any source of power that I can use to increase my own, master." His burning eyes glinted as he thought of the implications of Palpatine's statement.

"Good. Now it is time for you to learn how to properly fight with a lightsaber." The Emperor said as he suddenly drew a lightsaber hilt from his sleeve and ignited its blood-red blade. Luke's lightsaber was in his hand before the Emperor could even finish his sentence, and ignited its crimson blade as well, rising to his feet as he did so. The two blades met with a shudder of energy on energy, with such force that they were both thrown back.

The Emperor chuckled. "Good! You have strength, strength enough to block my attack." He twisted his blade around to slice towards Luke's feet. "But is your footwork up to the task?"

Now Luke's training under Yoda came into play. The hours and days he had spent running, jumping, dodging and climbing through the swamps of Dagobah had made him fairly light-footed. He leapt over the deadly arc and over the Emperor's head, but as he did so, he discovered that the slice had been a feint; the glowing blade hissed upwards towards his chest, almost faster than he could block. He managed to get his blade down in time to catch most of the attack on it, but it narrowly missed his shoulder, slicing cleanly through the sleeve of his cloak. Luke then tumbled to the ground, not quite landing on his feet, but allowed himself to roll a little ways off, and stand, tossing his cloak aside in order to acquire greater mobility.

The Emperor chuckled. "Not bad, not bad at all. You need to learn to sense your opponent's next move, to predict it. It will be your downfall, otherwise."

Luke didn't have time to answer, as just then the Emperor launched another assault, this time a flurry of quick blows from several directions. Luke was steadily beaten back, blocking some of the blows, only trying to dodge or deflect the others with the edge of his blade.

The Emperor shook his head, an expression of admonishment on his face. "You have anger, you have hate, but you don't use it."

Luke glared at him, and suddenly switched to offensive, utilizing the Djem So technique he had inherited from his father.

Palpatine glanced at him, mildly surprised. "You have had training in Djem So?"

Luke spared him a puzzled glance. "Djem So? Never heard of it." He slashed at the Emperor's side, causing him to have to parry.

"What technique are you using, then?" the Emperor asked, a trifle impatiently. He launched a thrust at Luke's chest.

Luke didn't answer right away, he was too busy getting out of the way of the saber thrust. "I haven't…. really had that much lightsaber combat training. Mostly….. just blaster deflection and such."

Now the Emperor was genuinely taken aback. "You mean to say, you've had no formal lightsaber training whatsoever?"

"That's right," Luke ground out, knocking Palpatine's saber out of the way and taking a swipe at his side.

The Emperor twitched his blade to the side, letting Luke's blade skid harmlessly off his own. As it slid towards the tip, he twisted the blade around, catching Luke's blade and ripping it out of his hands. He then brought the tip of his blade to rest at Luke's throat. "Your skills with a lightsaber are impressive. With training, you will be as great a duelist as the Sith Lords of old, Marka Ragnos, Naga Sadow, Exar Kun…." He shut off his lightsaber, allowing Luke to go and retrieve his own. "My Hand will show you where you and your….. advisor, will stay while you're here." Luke turned and saw Mara standing near the door, motionless. "I will summon you later for further lessons. For now, you are free to do what you will."

"Yes, master. Thank you." Luke bowed, and followed Mara out of the throne room, without another word.