Chapter 48

Anakin awoke the next morning to find that his son was gone. He sat up and stretched his arms above his head. Standing up next, he looked outside the tent and saw Luke in conversation with Yoda.

"Good morning," Anakin said.

"Good morning Dad," Luke replied with a smile. "How did you sleep?"

"Not bad," he replied. He looked at Yoda. "Master Yoda," he said, nodding in his direction. "It is good to see you."

"Anakin Skywalker," Yoda said. "Sensed your approach, I did. Good to see you it is."

"A lot has happened since we last saw one another, Master Yoda," Anakin said. "A lot that I need to atone for."

Yoda nodded. "A good start you have made," he said. "Young Luke has told me about what happened on the Death Star."

"I wasn't going to let Tarkin harm my daughter," Anakin replied. "No matter what the cost. Meeting her and then Luke made me realize all that I had lost, all that the Dark Side had stolen from me."

"Destroy the Sith you must," Yoda told him. "Part of the prophecy of the Chosen One it is. No doubts have I now that the Chosen One you are. Only the Chosen One could return from the Dark Side."

"Sidious will pay for what he has done," Anakin averred. "I promise you that."

Yoda regarded Anakin carefully. "Revenge is not the way of the Jedi," he warned him. "That is the way of Darkness, of the Sith. Be certain your motives are not founded in Darkness, Anakin, or lost in it you will be once again."

"That will never happen," Luke spoke up, Yoda's words unnerving him. "Will it Father?"

"I will not let the Dark Side take me from my family again, Luke," Anakin assured his son. "I promise you that."

Yoda nodded. "Glad I am to hear this," he said. "Strong is the emperor. Strong you must be to destroy him, Anakin. Strong with no trace of Darkness within your soul."

"I have rejected the Dark Side, Master Yoda," Anakin told him. "I will never allow it to dominate me again. I have a lot to make up for, and I realize that. The past twenty years of my life have been spent in utter darkness, committing acts of unspeakable evil. If it takes me the rest of my life, I will atone for those years, I swear it."

"Convinced us you have, Anakin," Yoda commented. "You sound as though perhaps you are trying to convince yourself."

"No, it is not me who needs to be convinced," Anakin replied.

Yoda nodded. "Your wife," he said. "She has remembered the past and is reliving the pain all over again."

"Pain caused by me," Anakin added. "I'm not sure she will ever be able to get past it. Look at what it did to her the first time."

"She will," Luke said. "I'm sure of it. Just give her time."

"Anakin! What are you doing here??"

The three looked over to see Padmé approaching them. She was looking directly at Anakin, her dark eyes full of indignation and anger.

"Perhaps the two of you could give us a moment alone," Anakin asked of his son.

Luke nodded, looking back at his mother, wishing he knew what to say to make things right between his parents again.

Padmé waited until Luke and Yoda had left before she turned back to Anakin.

"Did you follow me here?" she asked.

"No, of course not," Anakin replied. "I wanted to see Luke. He's my son too, Padmé."

"That is hardly the point right now," she said.

"Isn't it?" Anakin replied. "Perhaps we ought to put our own differences aside and focus on our children and their needs," he suggested.

"Why do you think I came here?" she replied.

"To get away from me?" he asked, attempting to lighten the mood.

"You think this is funny?" Padmé replied, her anger rising.

"No, of course not," Anakin replied, becoming exasperated. "There's nothing funny about any of this."

"At least we agree on one thing," she said.

"I think we agree on many things, actually," he said. The unpleasantness of her anger was tempered with the fact that she was back; he was witnessing his wife in old form, full of spirit and willing to argue a point to the bitter end. If the situation weren't so dire, he might have actually enjoyed himself.

"You think so, do you?" she asked, folding her arms over her chest.

Anakin simply nodded.

"Such as?"

"Well, we both love our children," he began.

"Yes, that is true," she conceded.

"We love each other," he said, almost dreading her reaction.

Padmé was silent for a moment as she considered his statement. She could not deny that she loved him; even if she did, he would know that she was lying. Love was not the issue though; trust and loyalty were, and once those things were gone, love could do very little.

"I won't deny that," she said at last. "But sometimes love isn't enough. You told me so yourself, remember?"

"I told you that when I was insane, Padmé," he replied. "Don't you understand that? The darkness within me turned me into a madman, an irrational beast. Why else would I have turned on you the way I did? Everything I did was to save you! As foolish as that seems in light of everything that happened afterwards, it was my motivation for everything I did, no matter how misguided that may be. I'm not sure you will ever be able to forgive me for that, but that is the truth."

Padmé turned away from him, unable to look at the expression of hurt in his eyes any longer. "I want to forgive you," she admitted quietly. "I want things to be the way they were between us, Anakin. The other night was so wonderful; it brought back so many memories of the times we'd shared together, of the way things used to be between us. I want that back more than anything."

"We can have that back, Padmé!" Anakin said, turning her gently towards him again. "Don't you see? I know you are angry, with good reason; but can't you at least consider that I've changed? I'm not the monster who attacked you on Mustafar; I'm not the monster who has terrorized the galaxy for the past two decades. I've rejected the Dark Side, and I want nothing more now than to make up for all that I've done. But in order for me to do that, I need forgiveness. I need it from my children; I need it from myself, from the galaxy…and you, because without your forgiveness, I am empty inside. I am only whole when you love me, Padmé."

His words moved her, for she could see how sincere he was. But yet, part of her was afraid to allow herself to be won over by them. She was hurting, and her defense mechanisms were still doing their utmost to shield her from more hurt.

"I will leave if you want me to," he said at last, seeing that his words had not seemed to have any affect on her. "I don't want you to be uncomfortable, and I can sense that you are."

"It wouldn't be fair to Luke if you left now," she replied. "You're right; we have to think about our children."

Anakin nodded, trying not to read too much into her attitude. "Thank you," he said at last. He hated the formality that had suddenly sprung up between them. Mere days ago he had been teasing her, joking with her, and she had been completely at ease with him. And now the tension was unbearable.

"Good morning, Mother," Luke said as he rejoined his parents. "Yoda has asked me if the two of you would like some breakfast."

"Sounds great," Anakin said, relieved that Luke had arrived in time to break the tension. "Coming Padmé?" he asked his wife.

Padmé nodded. "Yes, I'm coming."

Sixth Planet of the Hoth System

Echo Base was a hive of activity as the Rebel forces desperately tried to evacuate before the impending Imperial juggernaut. Several transports had managed to lift off before the Imperial armada was close enough to stop them; however it wasn't long before they had set up a blockade around the icy planet, making the Rebels' escape attempts difficult and dangerous.

In addition to the blockade above the planet surface, a squadron of heavily armed clones equipped for combat in extremely cold conditions, had landed on the surface, as well as the dreaded Imperial walkers. At least two dozen of these armored behemoths bore down upon the Rebel base. Their objective: the shield generator.

Rebel pilots swarmed over the battle field, waving in and out among the herd of walkers, inflicting as much damage as their weapons could manage. On the ground, the Rebel infantry did their utmost to prevent the Imperials from reaching their objective. It wasn't too long before it became apparent that there would be no stopping them, and the mission simply became one of buying time for the members of the Alliance still within the base. Many soldiers did so with their lives, knowing that every second counted if lives were to be saved.

Han Solo was not a man who panicked easily, but the rumbling of the walkers outside, the constant sound of cave ins and the alarm klaxons over head were just about enough to do the trick. It wasn't that he hadn't been in his own share of dangerous situations; quite the contrary. Normally he thrived in such condition. But normally he was only trying to save his own skin; this time there was someone else's life that mattered more to him than he was willing to admit.

Reaching the command center, he stepped over a fallen piece of equipment to reach the people inside. There were only two: Leia and the communications officer.

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

Leia looked up at him, the fear evident in her eyes, despite her best efforts to hide it. "Why aren't you on the transport with Obi-Wan?"

"What? And leave the Falcon behind?" he asked. "Never mind me, what are you still doing here?"

"Someone has to coordinate the battle," she told him. "Get out of here while you can!"

"Not before I see you onto that last transport," he replied.

Leia looked up at him, appreciative that he had thought of her rather than saving his own life first. She was about to reply when a dire announcement was heard over the loud speakers.

"Imperial troops have entered the base! Imperial troops have entered the base!"

"Come on, that's it," Han said. "There's no more time, Leia."

Leia nodded, and turned back to the communication officer. "Give the evacuation code signal," she ordered him. "And get to your transport!"

Leia joined Han and the two of them headed out of the command center, dodging falling debris as they went.

"How did you manage to convince Obi-Wan to go to the transport without you?" Han asked.

"I told him I forgot something in my quarters," she said.

"And he believed you?"

Leia shrugged. "I guess I'm getting better at shielding my thoughts from him," she replied with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess so," he responded. "Watch out!"
Leia screamed as the ceiling gave way, blocking their path completely.

"You okay?" Han asked as he helped her to her feet.

Leia nodded, brushing snow and dust from her pants.

Han looked grimly at the obstruction, and then activated his comlink. "Transport, this is Solo," he said. "You'd better take off, I can't get to you. I'll get her out on the transport."

Han and Leia turned back the way they came, racing in the direction of the hangar where the Falcon was. As they got there, Chewbacca greeted them with an angry growl.

"We're coming!" Han shouted back as he and Leia ran to the ramp of the freighter.

"Captain Solo!" See-Threepio cried as they boarded the vessel. "Where have you been? We have been waiting…."

"Shut up Goldenrod," Han retorted. "And strap yourself in. We're taking off right away."

"But sir!"

"This bucket of bolts is never going to get us past that blockade!" Leia said as Han furiously activated switches in an attempt to start the recalcitrant freighter.

"This baby's got a few surprises left in her sweetheart," he muttered. Through the view screen they saw a small group of clones burst into the room, lead by a tall figure dressed in black robes.

"Chewie!" Han said, not even needing to give the order. The Falcon's main gun exploded in a spray of laser fire, leveling the clones before they had a chance to set up their artillery weapons.

"Punch it!" Han said and the Falcon took off, leaving the remaining clones and their leader behind.

"I don't know who that was," Han told Chewie. "But it looks to me like the emperor has a new henchman."

Leia nodded. "A Sith," she said, having felt the darkness of the black robed figure from across the hangar. "My father's replacement, no doubt."

"Great," Han said. "Just what we need, another Vader."

Leia did not reply, and simply sat back and let Han and Chewie do their best to evade the Imperial blockade that was rapidly approaching.