Chapter 81

Leia ran through the corridors of the Raven Star after her father. She was desperate to talk to him, to make sure that the darkness she saw in his eyes would not claim him.

Anakin had reached the turbolift and stood waiting for it to arrive. The door opened and he stepped inside. As the doors were about to close, they were halted by someone. Anakin turned around to see his daughter enter the lift, the doors sliding closed behind her.

"I'm glad I caught you," she said, reaching over and activating the lift's brake.

Anakin frowned. "Why are you stopping us?" he asked.

"Because we need to talk," she replied.

Anakin was tempted to bypass the brake and set the lift in motion once again, but he resisted the urge. Obviously his daughter was hell bent on talking to him right here and right now, and the least he could do was listen.

"I'm listening," he said simply.

Leia looked up at her father, not even knowing where to begin. "I'm afraid," she said at last. "Really afraid."

Anakin sighed. "I know you are, Leia," he said. "I am too. I intend to have Obi-Wan brought on board the Executor in a medical capsule; we have much better medical facilities…."

"I'm not talking about Obi-Wan right now, Dad," she said, cutting him off. "I'm talking about you."

Anakin frowned. "Me? What do you mean?"

"Dad, I'm afraid you are going to turn back to the Dark Side," she said, trying not to let her emotions get the better of her. "I'm afraid that your anger over what happened to Obi-Wan will destroy you."

Anakin did not know what to say in response to his daughter's words. Her reaction shocked him, and yet, he could not deny the anger he felt simmering within him.

"I can't believe you would think such a thing," he said. "You of all people should know better!"

Leia could see the hurt in her father's eyes; but she couldn't concern herself with hurting his feelings right now. She knew she needed to be brutally honest in order to make him see reason.

"Perhaps it is because I know you so well that I can see it," Leia countered.

"See what?" Anakin challenged. "What is it that you think you see?"

Leia took a step closer to him, willing herself not to be intimidated by him. "I see Darth Vader," she said simply.

The look in her father's eyes told her that she had hit home.

"What did you say?"

"You heard me," she replied, summoning her nerve. "I know what Obi-Wan means to you," she said, taking his hand. "I love him too, and I'm angry over what happened to him just as you are."

"So what is your point?"

"My point is, you can't let this anger destroy you," she said. "You told me about how Grandma died, and what it did to you. Your nightmares about Mom dying only exacerbated things. Now you're afraid of losing Obi-Wan; please don't let this fear start you down the Dark Path once again," she said, looking up at him. "I love you too much to lose you now, Daddy."

Anakin felt his throat tighten with the flood of emotions her words evoked. He took her face in his hands. "You will not lose me, Leia," he told her. "I promise you."

"I know you don't want to," she replied. "I know the last thing you want is to become Darth Vader again. But you know yourself how dangerous anger can be, Dad. You know that it has already destroyed you once."

Anakin nodded. "Yes it has," he admitted. "That is how I know it won't happen again. I have done something no other person has ever done, Leia; I have returned from the Dark Side. I know better than anyone of its dangers. I promised you and Luke and your mother that I would never leave any of you again, and I meant it. The Darkness will not destroy me, Leia," he averred. "Rather I will be the instrument of its destruction. I will destroy the Sith, I promise you."

Leia nodded. "Just promise me something," she said.

"What is that?" Anakin asked.

"That you will take a few days to cool off before you confront the emperor," she replied. "I believe what you are saying, truly I do. But right now, at this moment, I can feel how angry you are. And when you are this angry, you don't always act rationally."

Anakin lifted an eyebrow. "Really," he commented.

Leia smiled. "Yes, really," she said. "I know this because I'm the very same way. And since you and I are so much alike…."

"I see," Anakin said. He sighed and folded his arms over his chest, looking at her intently. "Seems you've appointed yourself my special guardian," he commented, a hint of a smile on his face.

Leia nodded. "Yes, I have," she replied, folding her arms as well. "Any objections?"

Anakin shook his head. "None," he said. He thought for a moment, the smile on his face growing wistful. "I'll just bet you were a regular little firecracker when you were a little girl, weren't you?"

Leia laughed. "Now why would you think that?" she asked. "I was a proper little princess, I'll have you know."

Anakin nodded. "Yes, I'm sure you were," he replied. "Perhaps Senator Organa can verify my suspicions."

The look of surprised disbelief on his daughter's face caused Anakin to laugh.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I can't seem to resist teasing the people I love," he told her.

Leia smiled. "So I've noticed," she said. She reached over to reactivate the lift's controls. "Maybe we ought to get this thing moving before people start to worry."

Anakin nodded as he watched her start the lift up once again. "Thank you Leia," he said.

She looked back at him. "What for?"

"For loving me enough to be honest with me," he replied. "For worrying. I know that without you I never would have had the strength to abandon the Dark Side. It has been your constant love and support that have kept me in the light."

Leia smiled. "You're my father," she said softly. "Of course I would love and support you. I would do anything to keep you from the Darkness."

Anakin nodded and then as the lift doors opened, turned to see Luke and Padmé standing before them.

"What's going on?" Luke asked, looking from his father to his sister.

Anakin and Leia looked at one another. "We were having a little chat," Leia said.

Padmé looked at Leia and then at Anakin. She could see that whatever Leia had said to him it had calmed him tremendously.

"Everything okay?" she asked as she and Luke stepped onto the lift.

"Yes they are," Anakin said. "I think we need to working on our lightsabers," he told his children. "A few more days and we ought to be finished," he added, looking at Leia with a smile.

"Sounds like a good plan," Luke said. "What do you think, Leia?"

Leia looked from Luke to their father and smiled. "I think it's a perfect plan."

Imperial Palace-Coruscant

Palpatine sat drumming his fingers on the armrest of his throne. He had been waiting for nearly twelve hours for the report from the scout ship that had been dispatched to the Alderaan System. The longer he waited, the darker his mood became. He was beginning to suspect that something was terribly amiss when his comm. screen indicated that a message was coming through.

"What is it?" he snapped. "I don't like to be kept waiting!"

The hologram of the unfortunate individual whose job it was to contact the emperor bowed. "Your majesty, we have made a complete sweep of the Alderaan System. There is no trace of any of the four ships who were assigned to blockade Alderaan."

"What do you mean?" demanded Palpatine. "What happened to them?"

"It is our belief that they were destroyed," the envoy replied. "There is a large concentration of Rebel ships in the sector," he continued. "The Executor has engaged them, however," he reported. "So it seems that…"

"What did you say?" Palpatine interjected. "Did you say the Executor?"

"Yes sir," the messenger replied. "We spotted it clearly in the vicinity of the Rebel ships."

Palpatine frowned. "And you say it was engaged with the Rebel ships?" he asked. "You saw the battle?"

The envoy's eyes darted nervously. "Well, no," he replied. "We didn't actually witness a battle…"

"So how do you know they were engaged in a battle??" Palpatine demanded angrily.

"But sire, why else would the Executor be in such close proximity to the ships of the Alliance?"
"Why indeed," Palpatine muttered, his suspicions about Vader growing by the minute. "Bring the Viceroy of Alderaan to me at once," he said. "I want answers, and I will get them at any cost."

The envoy's expression grew fearful. "I'm afraid that isn't possible sir," he said. "The viceroy was not on Alderaan. We did a thorough search."

Palpatine's face twisted with rage. Skywalker and Organa are plotting against me…I'm certain of it now….

"Find him," Palpatine said at last. "I will deal with that traitor once and for all."

"Yes sir," the messenger replied, and ended the transmission quickly before the emperor decided that the dire news he had delivered merited a death sentence.

I will deal with you too as well, Lord Vader, he thought darkly. I can forgive betrayal only once. This time you will have to pay for it.