Title: Vader's Quest Chronicles
Chapter 16
Timefrarne: Beginning between ROTS and ANH
Disclaimer: Star Wars is the property of George Lucas. No disrespect is intended with this story.
Notes: Only the Epilogue remains after this chapter. And yes, this has wandered into an AU story. That is just the direction "my" Darth Vader demanded the story go. I hope reading it has entertained you as much as writing it has entertained me! May the Force be with you.
He lifted the shrieking old man high overhead and with a sense of determined satisfaction, hurled him into the depths of the station's core. As he did so, he heard himself borrowing liberally from Leia's extensive vocabulary of epithets -- Thanks, Leia, he thought, but you really shouldn't have used such language. And now that I know you are my daughter, you are in for a lecture! If I survive, that is! He desperately tried to catch himself as his momentum nearly carried him over the edge after Palpatine.
Exhausted and in pain himself, Luke grabbed his father and they both collapsed. Anakin had no doubts about his son's survival, but he expected his own body to begin a spectacular series of malfunctions. However, nothing happened, except in the remains of his right arm, which had gone completely useless. Awaiting what he felt was his own impending death. Anakin let the exhaustion overtake him -- That corpulent old sarlacc's spawn had been heavy, especially with only one of my hands of any real use. And that lethal back washing of Sith lightning didn't make it any easier!
Luke struggled to his feet, took a few deep breaths, then reached his arms around his father to help him up. "Come on, Father. We have to get off this satellite before it blows!" Luke got the older man onto his feet, and together the made their halting way to the shuttle bay.
Thanks to Vader's reputation for ruthless revenge, his personal shuttle was one of the few remaining. At the bottom of its ramp, they stopped to rest.
"Luke, help me to take this mask off." He wanted the cursed thing off, and there was no way he could manage the latches with only one hand. Besides, his head itched -- unbearably!
Luke protested. "Father, you'll die!"
"Well, there's certainly no stopping that now! But, Luke, I think that it's not going to be for quite awhile1 feel remarkably well, despite the amount of lethal energy I absorbed from the backwash! Are you all right, Son?" He directed his question at Luke who nodded.
With the helmet and mask off, Anakin felt free. He reached up to scratch his head and encountered -- hair? He remembered the stupid hairpiece. Well, it had been worth a try; he pulled it off, grinned at Luke and stood up. "Come on, Luke, you're right -- this thing is going to blow. And," he added, "you were right about me, too. There is still good in me -- and I have a lot to try to make up for; I just hope I have many years left to me, because it'll take years to atone for only a small part of my Sith lord inhumanity.
"By, the way, I guess that I'm the heir-apparent to the Imperial throne. Want to help me rule? You can be Prince Luke, and I'll be... uh... Emperor Skywalker." It sounded silly, even as he said it.
"Father! You have to be kidding! I'm a Jedi! And so are you; that is, if you really have renounced your ties to the Dark Side and the Sith lord is gone."
Luke expertly piloted them out of the bay and away from the rapidly disintegrating Death Star. His father sat quietly and merely watched. Luke, he thought, you are every bit as good a pilot as I was at your age -- you fly like I do, you let the Force flow through you and guide you, tell you what your next move should be...He relaxed and closed his eyes, content to place himself in his son's capable hands.
"Uh, Father? Back there, you…er... uh... used some rather... um... colorful phrases; I'd never heard most of them before. where did you pick up...?"
He opened his eyes at Luke's question and began chuckling. "Brace yourself, Son. I learned a lot of them from your sister!" He burst into laughter at Luke's shocked expression. "Believe me, son, she has an incomparable vocabulary of curses." He then gave Luke a brief synopsis of Leia's capture and interrogation aboard the first Death Star. By the time they landed on the Forest Moon, they were laughing easily together, trading stories of their dealings with Leia, and Luke was calling him 'Dad'.
As they prepared to leave the shuttle, Luke hesitated, "Dad, how do I introduce you? What name? Are you Vader or Anakin? Because I don't think you'll be very welcome as Vader!"
Understatement of the millennium, in his father's estimation. "Anakin Sky walker, of course! Vader is dead; he died with Palpatine." He glanced down at his clothing -- the 'Vader suit'! Damn! "Listen, Luke, can you get me some clothes? This body armor has to go! And," he suddenly caught a whiff of his own rank body odor, "I really need a shower!"
Luke looked at him a moment. "I think I can find something of Han's -- he's closer to your size than I am. I don't know about boots, thoughAnd a shower? I'm not --"
"Don't worry about boots -- these are new, anyway, especially made for me. Just find me some clothes! And get some clean ones for yourself, as well! I'll be in the shower." He turned toward what Luke had assumed was a closet. Sensing Luke's confusion, he laughed. "This is my ship; I had a shower facility installed. You'll find that cleanliness is just one of my little idiosyncrasies. Hurry and find us clean clothes and you can take a turn in the shower! Oh! And Luke, can you find me a cloak, one with a hood?"
Quirking an eyebrow at his father's last request, Luke nodded and left the shuttle on his mission of wardrobe replenishment. Anakin entered the refresher, closed the door, and stripped. This is going to feel so good!
Hampered somewhat by the lack of his hand, he still managed to be finished and was wearing a towel when Luke returned. The pants, shirt and vest all belonged to Han, but the Jedi cloak was Luke's own -- it would be a bit short, but it had the requested hood. While Luke showered, his father dressed. He wasn't sure about the white shirt -- he'd have preferred black -- but the sleeves were nicely full. Surveying his reflection, he decided that he liked the swashbuckling effect ... might be a nice change, after all the years of wearing unrelieved black.
Luke finished his shower and joined his father. "Thanks, Dad. That felt good. I could get used to regular showers! I'm guessing that you remember how infrequent a real bath was on Tatooine?"
Anakin shuddered -- it was something he had spent years trying to forget. "Surely, Luke, you get to bathe more often now? I know that it can easily become an addictive obsession after living on Tatooine"
"Sure, Dad, I know, but it has been awhile since I had a good long hot shower." He pulled on his boots and stood, then noticed his father's unshod feet. "Uh, Dad? Were you planning to wear your boots, or just carry them?"
Anakin raised the remains of his right arm. "I found that I'm a bit handicapped in that regard, Son. How soon do you think I can get a replacement for this? You know, the others all recently malfunctioned and I had them replaced with the newest technology available, but was ... uh... recalledbefore I could convince them to replace this one also. Maybe that was just as well -- it would have been a waste of time, technology and credits!"
"Sorry, Dad. I was just so afraid for Leia's safetyBut we'll take care of it; my own needs a little maintenance anyway." He cast an amused glance at his father's head. "Glad you decided to deep-six the hairpiece; it really looked a bit silly . Your own hair is a bit sparse, but it's fine. Maybe you could look into hair implants; they are pretty good...Are you ready? Because I have a suggestion..."
Anakin liked the symbolism -- the 'Vader suit' with mask and helmet would be a suitable stand-in for Vader on the funeral pyre. Solemnly, Luke lit the kindling and together they watched it bum. As fire consumed 'the suit' and the mask and helmet turned to smoke and ashes he felt for the first time that Darth Vader was truly gone and that he was once more fully Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight. If only Padmé ...
When the last embers had burned out, the Skywalker men joined Luke's friends for the Rebellion's riotous celebrations.
At Luke and Anakin's appearance, Leia flew to hug her brother, with Han close behind. The joyful reunion lasted several minutes, while Anakin looked on in envy -- the ties among these young people were close ones. Beginning to feel forgotten, Anakin cleared his throat to attract his son's attention.
Luke remembered his manners. Keeping an arm across Leia's shoulders, he turned to his father. "Leia, Han, this is Anakin Skywalker -- Leia, he's our father."
Leia's welcoming smile vanished. "You... you're... you can't be... you're Darth Vader?" She spat out the despised name. "Luke?" She whirled to face her brother. "Is this some kind of sick joke? You brought him here? The Sith lord? Has he gotten to you, turned you into another such as he, a walking pit of evil and corruption?"
Her brother tried to smooth things over. "Leia, calm down. Vader is gone, along with the Emperor. Leia, you know me. Would I put you or any of my friends in danger? Besides," he suddenly grinned and gestured to Anakin, "Wicket likes him!"
They a11looked to see the young Ewok hugging one leg of the embarrassed man. Anakin awkwardly patted Wicket's head while Han and Luke hooted in laughter. Even Leia faintly smiled, although she quickly recovered.
"Fickle Ewok!" laughed Han. "And here I thought that I was his favorite human!" He peered more closely at Anakin. "Say! aren't those my clothes you're wearing, Skywalker? Luke, old buddy, could I have a word with you?"
"Come on, Han, I would have asked, but you and Leia were, um.. too involved in playing 'kissee face' to notice me. So I borrowed the clothes and left. We'll get some new ones for you, if that's the problem, but Dad won't hurt them -- it's not like he's dirty or anything!" Luke was becoming upset, his frustration at the situation rising.
"No, he's just a filthy Sith lord!" Leia hissed. She spat out a few choice epithets, to the astonishment of Han, and to Luke's reluctant amusement. Atiakin felt that it was time to speak for himself.
"Leia, don't start. I know that you can go on for hours without repeating yourself, but I would much prefer to be deprived of still another chance to experience your extensive knowledge of obscenities and curses."
She sputtered to a stop, and stared at him as the realization dawned on her that this man had already heard most of her vocabulary, including some things that she blushed to recall. She stood there, her mouth open, as he continued.
"Whether you like it or not, you are biologically my daughter. I may have been a 'filthy Sith lord' but I do not condone such language! I do have ethics and standards. You shame your mother's memory. She was a lady who always knew the proper behavior, whatever her situation. And your foster parents, the Organas, were her friends and colleagues -- none of them would have condoned your unrestrained filthy mouth. So Daughter -- mind your tongue, before someone decides to wash your mouth out with soap!"
Leia could only stare at him, in openmouthed, speechless fury. Han and Luke hid their grins, watching the father-daughter confrontation. Leia seemed to have finally met her match. And Anakin had never even raised his voice!
A golden protocol droid approached, breaking the tension. He was accompanied by a bleeping and trilling astromech droid. "If I may interrupt, my noisy little companion here keeps repeating 'It's Anakin! It's Anakin!' and insists that he must greet him. I'm so confused! He says that we once belonged to him, which is very strange, because I can't seem to recall..."
"Hello, Threepio. That's all right, a memory wipe or two will do that to you." Anakin then turned his attention to the astromecli, listening intently a moment. "Yes, Artoo, I'm very glad to see you, also, and no, I didn't realize that it was you I fired at. I'm sorry. So you are accompanying my son now as his astromech..."
The little droid booped and beeped, trilled and whistled; Anakin nodded as if in understanding. "He says," translated Threepio for the benefit of all, "that if it is all right with you now, Master Anakin, he would prefer to stay with Master Luke."
"Of course it is," agreed Anakin. "But what about you, Threepio? I suppose that you belong to Leia now?" At the droid's assent, he laughed. "I knew it! I've lost both of my droids to my children. Oh, well, I suppose that they need you more than I do..."
In a snippy voice, Leia said, "Well, I certainly don't want a droid that actually belongs to you...!"
"Oh, come off it, Leia, you're just mad because he lectured you for cursing at him, You know that Threepio has been yours ever since we've known you!" Luke's was a quiet voice of reason.
"Besides," added Anakin, "I gave Threepio to your mother as a wedding gift. She obviously wanted Leia to have him."
"Oh, thank the Maker! It's settled." said Threepio, provoking laughter from Anakin.
"You are thanking your maker, Threepio; I built you, I'm 'the Maker' -- I know you don't remember and it is better that you don't; I wish that I didn't remember most of it!"
The little family party was then joined by several of the other Rebels and conversation became general. Anakin was welcomed and accepted simply as Luke's long-lost father; no one mentioned his former alter-ego -- it just didn't seem relevant to anyone except Leia. She nevertheless kept his former identity secret, although she remained aloof from him. He had to quietly endure many very bad and very scurrilous (but very funny) 'Vader and the Emperor' jokes, and laughed as loudly as anyone. In all, he had a wonderful time.
Anakin invited Luke to spend the night in the shuttle, holding out the bribe of hot showers. Laughing, Luke accepted, admitting that the lure of plenty of soap and hot water was a strong one. Sitting in comfortable seats in the shuttle's lounge area, Anakin offered Luke a taste of his dwindling supply of sulfurous Thraen water. His son's reaction to the taste was allhe could have wished -- Luke spat it out immediately, spluttering to rid himself of the foul taste, sending his father into gasping gales of laughter. Then he told Luke the story behind the water's presence on his shuttle.
Anakin suppressed a pang of sorrow at the memory of Vader's friend. In his own way, Wilhuff Tarkin had been as evil and twisted as Vader and Palpatine had been. But he had, usually, been a good friend to Vader, as good a friend as either knew how to be, as either would have sold out the other to Palpatine to save his own skin, had the need arisen. Anakin pushed the thoughts aside, and, in Jedi fashion, let go of the memories. He turned to his son.
"How about it, Son? Should we rule the Empire ourselves? We could do a damn sight better job than the bureaucrats have been doing!"
"Dad," protested Luke, "get serious! Leia and Mon Mothma are the politicians; let them get the New Republic off and running -- they'll know how to do it. I have a counter proposal for you -help me form a new Jedi Order, one without the restrictions that brought down the old one -- no ban on marriage, no isolation in a Temple, separated from the ordinary people. I have talked with Ben and Yoda and someone named Qui-Gon; they all agreed to help guide us. You are in a unique position, Dad -- you are the last of the old Jedi, but you can also be one of the first of the new."
In the air before them, Anakin saw the Force spirits of Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Qui-Gon, smiling at him. Yoda's voice echoed through his mind, he knew that Luke heard it as well:
Come through your greatest trial, you have, Anakin Skywalker. Time, much time have you taken your destiny to reach. In that journey much you have suffered and much have you learned. Now indeed ready a Jedi Master to become you are. May the Force be with you, Master Anakin Skywalker. The three figures faded, still smiling. Anakin looked at his son.
"Luke?"
With a broad grin, Luke answered, "Yes, Master Skywalker?"
"No, Luke, Master Anakin." The last person to call him 'Master Skywalker' had died with a quick flash of a lightsaber wielded by Vader; he could never again be comfortable with being 'Master Skywalker' ; besides, there would soon be another Jedi Master in the Skywalker family, Luke's skills were nearly complete. A warm feeling swept through Anakin; he was at last a Jedi Master! He didn't really want to run the stupid Empire anyway; he hated official paperwork! Let someone else do it -- there would be candidates enough -- probably old Sate Pestage was already taking up the reins, with Ysanne Isard right at his heels, openly offering assistance while sabotaging the whole show behind the scenes -- that was ever her way, a true student of Palpatine's methods!
Anakin knew that he had never in the very beginning wanted that kind of power, anyway. He had just wanted to save Padme, to have his family, and to be a Jedi Master. Well, he had his family, albeit without his beloved wife, and he could now be a Jedi Master also.. He tried it out again in his mind: Master Anakin Skywalker. It sounded wonderful! He turned to Luke.
"Someone once told me that the Jedi are extinct, that their fire had gone out of the universe, Well, the fire didn't go out, though it did burn pretty low, and now those embers are growing brighter. Okay, Luke. You have a deal. With Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Yoda to keep us on track, we can't fail!"