Chapter 74
Anakin and Padmé met their children in the hangar bay, having themselves been alerted of the Alliance's message. They were soon joined by Yoda and Obi-Wan.
"Where is Han?" Padmé asked.
Leia glanced at her father before replying. "Well, he wasn't sure if he ought to join us," she said.
"He's part of the Alliance, isn't he?" Anakin asked.
Leia nodded.
"Then he has a say in this," Anakin replied. "He should be there."
Leia and her mother exchanged a look of surprise, and Leia walked away to content Han on her comlink.
"I'm pleased to see you're starting to warm up to Han," Padmé told Anakin.
"Well I wouldn't go that far," he told her. "But I did promise to be civil."
"You know Anakin," Obi-Wan put in, "I think once you get to know the young man, you will find the two of you have many things in common."
"Yes, so I've been told," Anakin said, watching Han enter the room moments later. "Come on, let's go," he said, turning back to his wife and son. "Time to get this over with."
The short trip over to the command ship seemed longer than usual to everyone on board. No one, even the Jedi among them, could predict what the decision would be.
Leia had learned of her mother's conversation with Bail Organa, and was secretly pleased that she had done so. Leia had already voiced her own feelings about what had happened; but her mother had lost so much as well. She had lost her children, her husband, twenty years of her life; it still astonished Leia that her mother could be so forgiving and positive considering all that she had been through in her life. A lesser person would have spent the rest of their life wallowing in resentment and self pity; but Padmé Amidala Skywalker was a person of singular strength and integrity, a person that Leia was tremendously proud to call her mother.
"Relax, Anakin," Padmé told him as they neared the rebel ship. "It's going to be fine, I just know it."
"I wish I could share your confidence," he told her. "But Bail Organa and I have a long and less than cordial history between us."
"Yes, I know that," Padmé replied. "But a lot has happened since then, Anakin; that will make the difference."
"Perhaps," Anakin replied, feeling the tension within him growing with each passing kilometer.
The delegation was escorted to the conference room upon their arrival at the command ship. They walked along in virtual silence, the tension becoming almost unbearable as they drew closer to the conference room. Anakin held his wife's hand tightly as the escort came to a stop and stood aside, allowing them to enter. He looked at her briefly as the doors opened and Luke and Leia proceeded into the room.
As soon as the door opened, the rebel leaders looked up, Bail Organa included. His eyes met those of his Leia first, and he smiled at her. He stood up and went to her, hugging her tightly. "I'm so happy to see you," he told her softly. Leia returned his hug, realizing for the first time just how much she had missed her adoptive father.
"It's good to see you too," Leia told him as she pulled back. "I want you to meet someone," she said, turning to Luke. "This is my twin brother, Luke."
Luke held out a hand and shook Bail's hand. "Nice to meet you, sir," he said.
"Yes, same here," Organa replied. He then looked to see another young man move up to Leia's side. "You must be Han Solo," he said, recognizing him from the holo communications.
"That's right," Han said, holding out his hand as well. "Pleased to meet you, sir," he added as they shook hands.
Organa nodded, sizing up the young man who was obviously so taken with Leia, as she was with him.
"Senator Organa," Yoda said as he entered the room next. "Good to see you it is. A long time it has been."
Bail smiled as he greeted Yoda and Obi-Wan, pleased beyond words that his dear old friends had survived.
The last ones to enter the room were Anakin and Padmé. Organa looked at the doorway as his eyes met those of Anakin, the smile fading from his face.
Anakin did his best not to show open animosity towards Organa, but it was not easy for him. All he could see when he looked at the viceroy was him holding his newborn daughter in his arms, walking away from Padmé as she suffered the trauma of child birth.
As for Organa, the sight of a restored Anakin Skywalker was utterly shocking to him. He knew that it had happened, he knew that Darth Vader had been remade; but seeing it with his own eyes was something altogether different. He looks like he did twenty years ago, Organa thought in astonishment. It hardly seems possible…
"Welcome," Mon Mothma said, sensing the tension between the two men and wishing to diffuse it before it grew worse. "Please, sit down."
Anakin pulled a chair out for his wife and then took a seat beside her, as Leia took the seat on his other side, while Luke sat on Padmé's right. Anakin felt empowered with his family surrounding him. The strength he felt in their love and support buoyed him, and made him feel as though with them he could face any adversity.
"I'd like to thank you for your patience," Mon Mothma began. "I am sure it has not been an easy few days."
"We realize that making a decision of this magnitude takes time," Padmé replied, ever the diplomat. "And we appreciate that you have taken our offer seriously enough to give it that time."
"So what is it to be?" Anakin asked, leaning forward, cutting to the chase. He was in no mood for courtesies or small talk.
Mon Mothma looked at Anakin, and then at Bail. "Viceroy? Would you like to address this question?" she said.
All eyes turned to Organa, who felt the pressure of the enormous decision weighing on him.
"This has been a most…unexpected turn of events," he began. "Had someone told me one year ago that I would be sitting down with Darth Vader and discussing the possibility of an alliance, I never would have thought it possible."
"You are not sitting with Darth Vader," Leia spoke up. "Darth Vader no longer exists. He is gone forever," she added, turning to Anakin. He smiled at her, and reached out and gave her hand a squeeze.
A jolt of jealous ripped through Organa as he witnessed the obvious closeness between Leia and her biological father. She used to look at me that way, he thought wistfully. I truly have lost her…
"Yes, we all know that," Mon Mothma said. "Obviously if it were Darth Vader we were dealing with we would not even be having this civil discussion." She looked at Anakin. "Clearly Darth Vader has been destroyed," she said.
Anakin nodded, appreciating her support.
"Yes, there is no denying that," Organa said at last, looking at Anakin. "I want to thank you for doing what you did to save Alderaan," he said. "I understand you enraged Grand Moff Tarkin tremendously," he added with a wry smile.
Anakin nodded a hint of a smile on his own face. "He was properly annoyed," he replied, remembering the red faced Tarkin raging at his underlings. "It was rather amusing, actually."
Organa chuckled. "I'm sure it was," he said. "But seriously, Anakin, I thank you on behalf of the people of Alderaan." He paused before continuing, swallowing his pride in order to say what he felt he must. "I…I also want to thank you for saving Leia's life and protecting her the way you did. I am very grateful to you for that."
"Leia is my child," Anakin replied, looking intently at Organa. "My flesh and blood. Once I knew that, nothing else mattered."
Organa nodded, understanding completely. Leia may not be his flesh and blood, but he knew that he would have done anything to save her life just as Anakin had.
"There are other factors to consider in this matter, however," Organa said next. "The matter of a lifetime of crimes perpetrated by Darth Vader, the thousands of lives destroyed by him and his shock troopers. While no one here can deny the …miraculous transformation that has happened to you," he said, addressing Anakin, "the twenty years you spent terrorizing the galaxy cannot be denied either."
A sinking feeling started to blossom in Anakin's stomach. The past would never be forgotten, it seemed; he would never be able to escape from it.
"No one here denies that Darth Vader was a monster of epic proportions," Anakin said, knowing that everyone was thinking it, "I included. I cannot offer any excuse for what I did, I do not ask for forgiveness, for I do not deserve any. What I do ask for is the chance to undo some of the damage I was responsible for. Destroying the Empire, destroying the emperor is the best way to do that." He stopped and looked at his wife. "My family has given me a second chance," he said, "the doctors on Polis Massa have given me a second chance; I am asking you to give me that chance as well."
Organa listened to Anakin's impassioned words, and they helped justify what he wanted to say next.
"Forty-eight hours ago I had made my decision," Organa stated, looking at the members of the Skywalker family. "I felt that I had enough information to decide wisely and fairly, and in the best interest of the people of the galaxy. But then something happened." He turned his attention to Padmé. "I was given a rather rude awakening by a good friend," he said. "I was angry at first, because I was forced to listen to some things I didn't want to hear, face some truths I'd rather not have acknowledged. But I did hear them, and I did face them. And they made me think that perhaps my decision had been the wrong one, and I began to second guess myself." He paused for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. "Seeing you here with your family has been eye opening," he told Anakin. "Seeing how much they love you, how much they believe in you, has made me feel that I have indeed made the right decision."
"And what decision is that?" Leia asked, hoping that she was reading him correctly.
Bail looked at her next. "I have decided to give your father a second chance," he said, giving her a smile.
For a moment there was no reaction, and then everyone started talking at once. Anakin could hear everyone around him offering their congratulations, their support, their relief; but he only had eyes for one person.
Turning to his wife, Anakin pulled her into his embrace, at a loss for words. Padmé held him tightly, too emotional to speak for a moment; but when she was unable to hold back her tears when she heard him whisper two simple words into her ear. "Thank you."