Chapter 87
Remaining in a healing trance, a lifetime of memories passed through Anakin's mind. Good memories, bad memories, memories spanning the forty-two years of his life flashed through his unconscious mind as he fought to repair his injured body.
He saw his childhood friends, his mother…he relived beatings at the hands of Gardulla and Watto, saw the jagged outcroppings of Boonta Eve and experienced the thrill of pod racing…and then the day his Angel entered his life, and the ensuing battle…training for the Jedi Knighthood, and the return of the love of his life…marriage, passion, the agony of separation from her…and then the Darkness began…unspeakable acts, unforgivable betrayal followed by the darkest moment of his life…the sight of his Angel begging him to stay with her, the fear in her eyes as he reached out to kill her….
"He is growing agitated," the droid stated flatly as it watched Anakin's vital signs on the monitor.
Padmé frowned. "What is wrong?" she asked.
The droid could not find any reason for the change in Anakin's vitals; but his heart rate and blood pressure had risen considerably.
"Is he in danger?" Padmé asked, afraid to know the answer.
"Not at the moment," the droid replied. "But if these elevations continue to rise, he could be."
Padmé looked at Yoda, who was also present in the room. "What can we do?" she asked him.
"Reliving his life journey, he is," Yoda replied, having sensed the path of Anakin's thoughts. "Dark times he is remembering," he added. "A painful journey this will be for him."
"A journey that leads to redemption," Padmé reminded him.
Yoda nodded. "Yes, his journey is far from over," he said. "Need him, the galaxy does."
"We all need him, Master Yoda," Padmé said, turning and looking at Anakin once again. A thought struck her, a memory from long ago, before she and Anakin had even been married. She had found him on the terrace of the lake retreat. He had spent the night having nightmares about his mother, and was deeply troubled. What had he told her when she had started to leave? Don't leave…your presence is soothing… Anakin had always been soothed by Padmé's presence; would she have that affect on him now even when he was unconscious? It was certainly worth a shot.
She walked over to Anakin's bed and picked up his hand. She held it to her face, forcing herself to calm her own rattled nerves before she attempted to soothe his.
The pain of third degree burns was beyond anything he could ever have imagined, until the droids began to attach prosthetic limbs to the stumps that were left of his own arms and legs…nothing to numb the pain, nor even dull it, helpless to stop them, too weak to fight…Padmé where are you? Padmé, I'm so sorry! Make them stop! Make the pain end!
And then…. a soothing, warm presence entered his consciousness…and the pain went away, and the fear and the sorrow went away, leaving him with a soothing feeling, one of acceptance and love…only one person could elicit such feelings, the one person he had gone to Hell and back for…his angel, his Padmé...
"He is stabilizing," the droid announced. "Remarkable," it added, checking and rechecking the monitor.
Luke and Leia left their meditative state, opened their eyes and looked up at their mother. They had the power to heal their father's body, but only she had the power to heal his soul, as she had done time and time again over the course of their remarkable life together.
"You've saved him," Padmé said, embracing her children tearfully. "I'm so proud of you both! He's going to be alright thanks to you!"
"I think he did a lot of it himself," Luke told his mother. "We only guided him to show him the way to do it."
Padmé nodded, not beginning to comprehend the awesome power that her children and their father possessed. She looked down at Anakin. "Ani? Can you hear me?" she asked, not daring to hope that he could. She and the twins watched Anakin's face intently. After a few moments his eyes began to move slightly under their lids, as though he were trying to awaken from a deep sleep.
"Dad, we're all here," Leia said, taking his hand. "Can you hear us? Open your eyes, Daddy."
Anakin fought against the lethargy that had over taken him, anxious to rejoin his family. Slowly he opened his eyes, and was rewarded with the sight of the three people he loved more than anything in the galaxy.
"Welcome back," Luke said, smiling at his father.
"What happened?" he asked softly.
"The palace blew shortly after we cleared the planet," Luke told him. "Remember?"
Anakin frowned, trying to piece together the events of the past few days. He remembered the duel with Palpatine, racing for the shuttle…but then nothing until this moment. "Is everyone alright?"
Luke nodded. "You were the only one inured," he replied. "You didn't have time to get strapped in."
Yes, that's right, Anakin remembered. He looked at Leia next, giving her a weak smile to express his gratitude for what she and Luke had done for him. "You were very strong facing the emperor," he told his children. "I'm very proud of you both." Leia was too emotional to speak, and could only bend down to kiss her father's cheek.
Lastly Anakin's eyes turned to his wife. Padmé smiled at him, squeezing the hand she held in hers. "I knew you'd come back to us," she told him softly.
"I'm afraid you're stuck with me," Anakin managed to say with a smile. "All of you."
Luke and Leia laughed, as the almost unbearable stress of the past forty-eight hours finally fell away, leaving them with the feeling that everything was going to be alright after all.
"That suits us just fine," Padmé replied, bending down to kiss her husband.
"Well look who's finally awake."
Anakin looked over to see Obi-Wan standing at the foot of his bed. He smiled, relieved to see that his oldest, dearest friend was back on his feet. "Look who's talking," Anakin returned with a smile.
Obi-Wan laughed. "You gave everyone quite a scare," he continued, folding his arms over his chest. "I hope you're happy."
"Just wanted to keep everyone on their toes," Anakin replied, closing his eyes once again.
Obi-Wan nodded. He looked at the twins as their father drifted off to sleep again. "You did well," he said. "I'm sure your father is very grateful for what you have done for him."
"We are all grateful," Padmé said, looking at her children with adoration in her eyes.
"Now that the emperor is dead, we must move quickly to bring the rest of the Empire under control," Obi-Wan said. "Before factions begin sprouting up."
"Hopefully now that he is gone they will be willing to consider a cease fire," Leia said, watching her father as he slept. "I would hate to think that after all this the galaxy will still be in conflict."
Yoda nodded slowly. "Obi-Wan is right," he said. "Move quickly we must to sue for peace. Abhors a vacuum, Nature does. With the emperor dead, leadership will be needed. Anakin must be that leader."
Padmé looked at Anakin as he slept. "I'm not sure he will want that responsibility," she commented. "He has done so much already; he wants nothing more now than peace."
"We all want that," Obi-Wan agreed. "But he is the best chance we have of realizing it, Padmé; surely you can see that."
"Yes, I can," she concurred, realizing that the destiny of the Chosen One was far more complicated than simply destroying the Sith. Bringing balance to the Force entailed a great deal more than merely killing Palpatine; it would also mean rebuilding the galaxy, putting an end to the war that had ripped it apart for two decades, and reconciling enemies who had spent a life time trying to kill one another. Not a short order.
"I'm beat," Luke said at last, with a yawn. "I think I'm going to get some sleep."
"Sounds like a good idea, Luke," Padmé said. "You two are both exhausted I'm sure. I'll stay here with your father," she said, looking back at his sleeping face.
"You need to rest too, Mom," Leia pointed out.
Padmé smiled. "I won't sleep without your dad beside me," she said. "It's like part of me is missing."
Luke and Leia exchanged a smile. The love their parents shared was remarkable and truly awesome.
"Okay," Leia said, kissing her mother's cheek. "Just promise us you'll rest as soon as he wakes up, okay?"
"Okay," Padmé replied as she sat down on the chair that Luke brought over for her. "Have a good rest."
Luke and Leia left the room, accompanied by Yoda and Obi-Wan, leaving Padmé alone with Anakin. She picked up one hand and held it to her cheek, fighting the fatigue she felt threatening her despite her denial of it.
Luke and Leia met Han on their way to their quarters. Han embraced Leia tightly, relieved to see the worry gone from her face. "Your dad's gonna be okay?"
"Yes," she replied, hugging him back. "He's sleeping now, but he's going to be fine."
Han released her and looked down at her. "That's great news, sweetheart," he said with a smile. "Your dad is a pretty amazing guy," he added.
Luke and Leia looked at one another. "You just noticed that, did you?" Leia asked with a smile.
Han laughed. "Well, I'm a slow learner, remember?"
"Not slow, Han," Luke said. "Just stubborn."
Leia laughed, loving the expression on Han's face.
"Luke!"
Luke turned to see Ylla walking briskly in his direction. "How is your dad?" she asked.
"He's going to be fine," Luke replied as Ylla kissed him on the cheek. "He's pretty resilient," he added with a smile.
Ylla nodded. "Yes, I can see that," she said. "So you and Leia were able to help him?"
"I'm not sure how much we did," Luke admitted. "I get the feeling that he did most of it himself."
"I'm sure the two of you had a big part in his recovery," Han said. "You and your Jedi tricks."
Leia rolled her eyes. "Not tricks, Han," she said.
Han grinned, loving to tease her. "Yeah yeah, whatever you say, sweetheart," he said, putting an arm around her and kissing her on the cheek. "You two have anything to eat recently?"
"Not for a while," Leia replied.
"Well then let's rectify that," Ylla said, linking her arm through Luke.
Anakin awoke an hour or so later, already feeling stronger than he had earlier. He smiled when he saw his wife who was sleeping with her head resting on the bed beside him. He sat up and lifted her out of the chair and brought her into the bed beside him, tucking her in the crook of one arm and then pulling up the covers over her. Padmé, although still sleeping, nestled up against him. Soon Anakin was asleep again too, his angel at his side once more.