Chapter 72:

Dan stared at the bunk above him, his head aching from the strain of keeping his emotions in check. He knew he could never hope to avenge his father against the two Sith Lords; they were far more powerful than he. He regretted helping them on Myrkr; he should have died rather than let them carry out their twisted schemes. Nothing they did to his family could be worse than what they had already done.

"You did what you thought best at the time," a voice said softly by his side.

Dan sat up so quickly this time he did crack his head on the upper bunk. His eyes widened, and he stammered, "D-Dad?"

The shimmering, blue-hued figure leaned against the side of the bunk, smiling down at his son gently. "It has been some time since we last talked, Dan."

"What are you doing here?" he asked curiously.

Daren's smile faded. "I've been watching over you for years, Dan, and I'm very proud of you. You've taken care of your mother and fought for what you believe in." Dan's eyes lit up with joy. "However, you've been doing it for the wrong reasons."

Dan looked confused. "What do you mean?"

He sat down on the bed beside his son. "You're letting your anger and desire for vengeance guide your actions. If you continue, you will only find pain and suffering, for yourself and everyone around you."

"But what am I to do?" the young man asked, his expression tortured. "I'm trapped here, and those… those monsters have won."

"Allow them to begin to teach you the ways of the Force, if they demand it. But never forget, I am watching over you, and never allow yourself to sacrifice what is right for what is easy." The Jedi Master smiled at his son, and said, "I love you, son. I always will. May the Force be with you."

Dan looked up, and sighed. Daren was gone. "May the Force be with you, Dad. For whatever good it will do."

As soon as they had made it back to the ship, Leia had locked herself in her quarters, wishing desperately that she could let her mind drift into oblivion. But she could not. Even when she tried to sleep, she dreamed of her friends surrounding her, accusations in their eyes. She gave up sleep after that, drawing on the Force to sustain here energy.

What haunted her was simple: her friends were condemned to suffering and death, an ignoble end to all their hopes and sacrifices, and it was because of her. They would think of her with hatred, knowing she had betrayed them. The thought cut at her heart, for the Alliance was as much a part of her as the Force.

Vader seated himself in his quarters and opened his mind fully to the Force, preparing himself to meditate on the recent confrontations. Almost immediately, however, he was hit with an overwhelming wave of anguish from his daughter, the likes of which he had seldom felt from her. It ravaged his mind with its intensity, and his love for her was a powerful pull on his heart. Anakin stood, and went to her, the lock on her door releasing with a touch of his hand. He knocked on the doorframe. "Leia, may I come in?" he asked, his voice soft and caring like it had been so long ago before the Clone Wars.

Leia didn't look up, her voice rough with emotion. "What more do you want from me? Am I to torture them as well? Kill them?"

Anakin bowed his head, ashamed of himself. Her words hurt him, although he knew that he deserved them for Vader's actions. "You are not a failure Leia," Anakin whispered, sensing the feelings behind her words, "far from it. I am." He turned and walked out of the doorway, hot tears forming in his eyes as he walked back to his own quarters. Once he had entered his quarters, he engaged the locks on the door and noticed Padmé was away as well. He slowly made his way into the 'fresher and slumped down against the wall next to the sink. He slouched forward, his head leaning against his knees and let loose all of the tears that he had been holding back over the years, all of his regret for his decision to become Sidious' apprentice, the harm he had done to his family, forcing Luke to become the same monster he himself had become, forcing his daughter to go through capturing the Rebel High Command.

His emotions cut through the Force like a blade, blasting aside all the barriers he had built around his consciousness to keep the Sith Lord in place. It tore through Leia like a turbolaser blast, leaving devastation in its wake. Shakily, she rose and stumbled down the corridor to her parents' quarters, fumbling with the lock in an attempt to open it. Eventually she was able to pull herself together enough to push at the lock, releasing it, and made her way to the refresher, sinking to her knees beside her father. She gently lifted up her father's tearstained face, and met his blue eyes with her brown ones. "I'm sorry," she whispered brokenly. "I'm… I'm so sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Leia." Anakin choked out between sobs, his tears continuing to fall. "I have everything to be sorry for, I have destroyed this family… and it was all because I was trying to save her." He continued slowly, his vision blurring from all the tears, "I killed all of my friends, my own Master, my brother."

"You were deceived by an evil man, and imprisoned by the dark side," Leia murmured. "The person who did those things was Darth Vader, not Anakin Skywalker. You cannot change what happened then, but you can choose what happens now. You are a good man, and I am proud to bear the Skywalker name, if you permit it." She watched him, cautiously, for his reaction. "Leia Organa Skywalker."

Anakin locked his tear soaked eyes onto Leia's, shock emanating throughout him as he continued to sob. A small smile formed on his face as he pulled Leia into a tight embrace, tears continuing to fall from his eyes. "I love you Leia." He managed to choke out between sobs.

Leia hugged her father close, tears finally beginning to form in her own eyes. "I love you too, Father." She reached up with shaky fingers to wipe the tears from his eyes. "It will be okay," she whispered, and tried to smile. "Our family is too stubborn to be destroyed."

"Tell that to the monster I created." Anakin whispered in response, a frown on his face as he felt more tears forming in his eyes.

"If I have to, I will." Leia told him, seriously. "Now, you've always been a man of action. You cannot erase the crimes that have been committed, but you can work to redeem yourself with good deeds, and you know that Mother and I will stand by you no matter what."

"As will I."

Obi-wan Kenobi's blue aura gradually faded into the room, and he smiled gently down at his former apprentice. "Padmé knew, all along, that there was still good in you. Only she could see Anakin behind the mask of Vader. But she has been proven right in the end. Rejoice, my old friend, in the chance you have been given, and do not let the shadow of Palpatine blind you to the light any longer."

"Obi-wan!" Anakin said excitedly, before his grief overwhelmed him again. "What of my son? What of Luke, Obi-wan? He lost himself to the dark side because of me."

The old Jedi's face creased in a frown. "He is filled with anger and hate, and may direct it against you. Make him understand, as Leia and Padmé have, that you love him unconditionally, and in time you may be able to bring light to his darkness."

Anakin lowered his head again in shame. "You seem to forget something Obi-Wan. I trained him to hate the Jedi… my own friends who were slain by my hands. Once he finds out that I have returned to the light, he will hate me… think that I betrayed him, and… you know what happened when I thought you turned against me." Anakin whispered, laying his head once again between his knees, sobbing.

"Of the dark side, despair is," a stern voice admonished. They turned to find Yoda leaning on his gimer stick, surveying Anakin calmly.

"What must I do, Master Yoda?" Anakin asked softly, meeting his eyes with his own.

Even as the words left his mouth, there was the unmistakable sound of durasteel being ripped apart as the door to Anakin's quarters was hurled into the room. Atrox stormed into the room, his crimson blade ignited as he marched towards his father's refresher, the sight that met his eyes filling him with a coursing black rage.

Leia stiffened at her father's side, but met her brother's gaze evenly, determined not to let him see her fear. Both the Jedi turned towards the young Sith Lord gravely. No one spoke, until Padmé rushed into the room, freezing in the doorway, the words dying on her lips. "Anakin…"

She pushed past her son to reach her husband, taking him into her arms. "Oh, Ani…" she murmured softly. "What happened to you?"

Atrox's burning gaze never left his father, or the Jedi surrounding him. "You would betray me, for Jedi," Atrox ground out, his voice inhuman from the dark side coursing through him.

Anakin met his son's eyes with difficulty. "I have never betrayed you, my son. Nor will I."

Atrox continued to lock eyes with his father. "If you were any other man I would kill you where you are," he ground out, his eyes turning bright red from the hatred that was coursing through him. "I am the Dark Lord of the Sith, if you do not wish to die by my hand, you would do well to stay out of my way, Jedi." Atrox turned towards the entrance to the quarters, then paused and turned back. Stretching out a hand, he seized the lightsaber from Anakin's belt and clipped it to his own. "I will take this, in memory of my former master, since it is unfit for a Jedi to bear." He stormed out of the room, his dark cloak swirling behind him.

In the silence that followed, Obi-wan observed quietly, "Even for him, there is still hope."

Padmé's eyes searched her husband's face, fearfully. "A-Anakin? What's going on?"

Anakin refused to meet her eyes, unwilling for her to see the pain haunting them. "You heard what the Dark Lord said."

Leia said in a low tone, "Father has… has rejected the dark side, once and for all… and Atrox has claimed the mantle he cast aside."

Padmé turned his head gently to look at her as tears began flowing down his cheeks again. "Oh, Ani…" Words failed her, and she simply held him, her heart feeling as though it were torn asunder once more as part of her rejoiced to have Anakin back, and wept at the loss of her only son.

The two ghostly Jedi exchanged glances, and left the family to mourn together in silence.