Chapter 43

Padmé willed herself not to look back at the house as the gondola made its way over the lake. She knew that Anakin was watching her; she could feel his eyes upon her. It wasn't that she had doubts about her course of action; but she just couldn't bear to see him, couldn't bear to see the look in his eyes. I loved you, how could you do this to me? She thought in anguish, her heart aching. How could you betray me that way?

Padmé had resolved to return to Theed, to her mother's home. From there, she had no idea what would come next. All she knew at this point was that she needed to put some distance between she and Anakin in order to sort through all that she had learned. Do the children know about all this? Do they know that their father was Darth Vader? They must, she reasoned; Anakin had told her that he had saved Leia from the Death Star. And yet they have accepted him, they love him…I love him too, this wouldn't be so painful if I didn't.

Almost as though she was incapable of controlling her actions, Padmé turned back to look at the house once more before it disappeared from view. Sure enough, she could see Anakin standing on the terrace, watching her. The sight of him only made her misery greater, and caused fresh tears to flow. She turned away, forcing herself to be strong, and did her best to put the image of his face from her mind.

Anakin watched until the gondola turned and disappeared from sight. The anguish that had filled him was slowly morphing into something darker, something volatile. You did this to me, Sidious, he thought angrily. You took her from me, just as you did twenty years ago. This time I will make you pay for it...no matter what it takes, I will see to it that you pay…

Dagobah

Luke ran through the swamp, feeling his heart hammering within his chest, his master strapped to his back. Every so often the rough terrain required him to jump over an exposed root, or leap over a large puddle, and he did so with grace and agility.

"Run! Yes," Yoda encouraged. "A Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger... fear...aggression. The dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight."

"Is the Dark Side stronger?" Luke asked, stopping to catch his breath.

"No," Yoda replied immediately. "Quicker, easier, more seductive."

Luke nodded. "But…how am I to know the good side from the bad? My father was destroyed by the Dark Side, did he truly know what was happening to him?"

Yoda sighed. "Chose the Dark Side, your father did," he told Luke.

"To save my mother," Luke reminded him. "What choice did he have?"

"Chosen he could have to honor the Jedi code," Yoda replied. "Personal attachments, forbidden they were. Fearful of losing his mother he was as a boy, fearful of losing his wife as a man. Fear leads to anger, and anger to the Dark Side."

Luke considered the Jedi's words. From what he said, it seemed as though Anakin's destiny had been preordained, that turning to the Dark Side was part of a plan that he had no say in, as though he was merely a player in a play. "Master Yoda, do you think that his turning to the Dark Side was part of the prophecy of the Chosen One?"

"Meditated upon this I have," Yoda replied. "Unprecedented it is that a Sith return to the Light. Highly possible it is that in order to defeat the Sith, the Chosen One must first become a Sith."

Luke nodded. He wanted to ask Yoda a question, but was almost afraid to hear the answer. Yet, he needed to know.

"Master Yoda, do you think it's possible that my father could turn back to the Dark Side?" he asked at last as he gently set Yoda back down on the muddy ground.

"Difficult to see, the future is," Yoda replied. "Convinced you are of your father's redemption? Rejected the Dark Side utterly he has?"

"I believe he has, yes," Luke replied. "And so does Obi-Wan. I think now that my father has seen the destructiveness of the Dark Side, he will not let it into his heart again."

Yoda nodded. "Let us hope not, young Luke," he said at last. "A powerful Sith Vader was. Now that he has been fully restored, he would be unstoppable."

Yoda's words chilled Luke. He will not allow the Dark Side to triumph, he thought resolutely. He will not let it destroy him again.

"Come," Yoda said, seeing that Luke was becoming mired in his own thoughts. "Time for saber practice, it is."

Sixth Planet of the Hoth System

The tauntaun beneath her stomped her hoof impatiently, anxious to be on her way. Leia patted the beast's long neck reassuringly. "I'm as eager to get back to the base as you are," she told her mount. "But we haven't made all the checks yet, girl. Han will be contacting us soon."

The tauntaun snorted through her nostrils in response, causing Leia to smile. The Rebels had discovered a number of indigenous creatures over the course of the past few weeks, some of them too dangerous to consider taming, while others, like the tauntauns, were proving to be useful and even pleasant companions. Their ability to tolerate the cold and traverse even the deepest snow made them invaluable to the scouts whose job it was each day to check for any sign of Imperial presence. Leia had grown up with a pony of her own, so she was already quite an accomplished rider. Granted, a tauntaun was quite a different beast, but it didn't take her long to get the hang of it.

"Echo Seven to Echo Two, do you read me?"

Leia brushed the snow from her comlink and activated it. "I read you, Han. Anything to report?"

"Hell no," Han replied. "Lots of snow, plenty of ice…that's about it."

"Okay," Leia said. "Let's get back to base."

"Sounds good to me," Han replied. "I'll meet you there."

Leia nudged her tauntaun into motion with a light kick on the beast's hindquarters. Only too happy to comply, she took off at a trot, kicking up snow as she did so. Leia held onto the reins tightly with one hand as she pulled her muffler up over her face to shield her from the bitter cold wind. Suddenly a strange feeling came over her, a feeling of tremendous anxiety, as though she was anticipating something dreadful. It's Father, she thought as she focused her mind, he's in pain; terrible pain…Leia frowned, her father's pain becoming her own. What has happened? She wondered, and the she realized what it must be. He told Mother about Mustafar, she thought. She knows…

Giving her animal another nudge, she urged her to go a little faster. I have to talk to him, Leia thought anxiously. I have to make sure he's alright.

Leia rubbed her hands together to warm them as she sat at the comm. screen in her quarters. Who says rank doesn't have privilege? She reflected with a smile as she thought back to how she had convinced General Dodonna that she, as a member of the Senate and a princess ought to have her own personal communication station. If he knew who my real father was, he never would have agreed to it…

Leia waited impatiently for one of her parents to respond to her hail. She had calculated the time difference, and reasoned that it was not nighttime there, it was not even midday. So where are they?

Finally she saw Anakin appear, and relaxed. However, when she saw the look in his eyes, the anxiety returned. It still amazed her that she had been able to sense his distress from clear across the galaxy.

"What's wrong?" she asked without preamble.

"She knows," he told her simply.

"Mother?"

Anakin nodded.

"She didn't take it well, then," Leia said, stating the obvious.

"That is an understatement," Anakin replied. "She is furious, hurt, resentful….not that I can blame her. She has every right to feel that way."

Leia nodded. "Yes, she does," she agreed. "But she loves you, Dad," she reminded him. "She will get past her anger."

"I don't know, Leia," Anakin replied. "I've never seen her so upset. She has gone back to Theed, she can't even stand to be around me."

"Well maybe that's for the best," Leia said, trying her best to make the situation more bearable for her father. "Give her some space and some time, and she'll come around."

Anakin sighed. "I don't know," he said, shaking his head. "You didn't see the look in her eyes, Leia. She may never come back to me. I may have lost her forever."

"No, I won't accept that," Leia replied with a frown. "I know she loves you, Dad. The way she looks at you makes it plain to see. Once she has time to think about everything, she will see that you took a tremendous risk in helping her regain her memory. You knew that she would remember everything sooner or later, and yet you were still determined to help her do so. That says a lot about the sort of man you are."

"Perhaps," he concurred, looking down at his hands folded on top of the desk. "Perhaps she will never want to see me again."

Leia looked at her father, her heart aching for him. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I wish I was there for you right now."

Anakin looked up at her. "You are," he told her with a smile. "You always seem to know when I need to see your face."

Leia smiled. "I knew you were feeling down," she told him. "I just sensed it. I'm sorry you are, but I'm confident that she will forgive you in time."

"How can you be so sure?" he asked.

"I have foreseen it," she told him with a smile.

Anakin laughed, surprising himself. "Do you know how much I love you, Leia?" he told her.

Leia nodded, trying not to let herself get emotional. "I think so," she said. "But it's nice to hear it all the same. I love you too, Dad."

Dagobah

Luke woke up in the middle of the night from a very vivid dream. He had been dreaming of his father. Something is wrong, Luke thought as he sat up in his sleeping bag. Something is very wrong…