Hi!

I'm back!

Sorry for the long pause; I will try to make it up to you all (even though it's going to be a tough comple of weeks in school now after the holidays.).

Thank you for your patience.

Chapter 4

Vader watched the guards take away his son. Just moments ago that son had almost killed him, the son who had almost turned into a copy of himself 23 years ago. And now he was being taken away to a cell after being tortured before him. It all was surreal to him, that he nearly had turned his only child into a monster like himself.

He had almost felt pride swell inside him when Luke had stood up against the emperor, the words Luke had said echoed in his mind. 'You've failed your highness; I am a Jedi, like my father before me.' Luke had stood up not just for himself, but for his father as well. He still believes that there was good in him. 'Oh Luke, why do you have so much faith in me, I have already accepted the dark side, it's too late for me. Why do you still believe that there is good in me? He reminds me so much of…NO, I will not think of her (A/N: I'm referring to Padmé.).' His thoughts were interrupted by his master's voice.

"He is stronger then I then I predicted, but not strong enough for the both of us. His compassion for his friends will be his downfall, like father like son."

Vader didn't answer; he knew that his master was right. And there was nothing he could do to change it, which Vader found frustrating. The emperor felt his emotions through the force, and he smiled to himself. He knew how much Vader wanted his son with him, but he also knew that Vader wanted his son to serve himself.

Although Vader didn't know it, the emperor had found out about the proposal Vader had given his son on Bespin. He knew that he wanted his son to help him overthrow his master, so that he could rule the galaxy. Vader couldn't do it himself he had already tried a couple of years ago, but he had failed. The emperor knew that Vader needed his son, he might not be as powerful as Vader in the force, but he was much stronger and of course younger then Vader himself.

But the emperor would not give up his throne that easily. He would turn the younger Skywalker against his father; they would then have to fight to see who would stay as the emperor's apprentice. He needed the strongest one, and this was just the way to find out which one who is the strongest. He was going enjoy this.
He decided to break the silence that had filled the room, by questioning Vader.

"I hope that your feelings on this matter still are as clear as they were before these events?"

Vader was at first surprised by his master's question, but he knew that he's master could read his emotions easily.

"They are clear, my master."

The emperor eyed Vader carefully; his apprentice couldn't fool him. He knew that Vader was lying, he might want his emotions to be clear, but they certainly weren't. But he also knew that Vader wouldn't act on these emotions, even if he was a powerful Sith the emperor knew that he was deep down a coward. He wouldn't defy his master, without Skywalker's help, and with the emperor's plan that help would never come. He would have a Skywalker at his side serving him, either the older or the younger. Which one remained to see.

"Lord Vader you are excused, until I summon you again."

Vader bow and left the room, his conflict still going on in his mind.

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Everyone except Han, Leia and Chewie were asleep in the cell. Everyone was exhausted after the long day, and since no one spook they all soon fell asleep. But Han, Leia and Chewie couldn't sleep, the questions surrounding Luke kept them awake. They hadn't spoken to each other in a while now, but there was nothing they could say, all they could do was wait.

Leia suddenly shook, which caught Han's attention. He put his arm around her.

"Are you o.k., Leia?"

Leia looked up at him with a look on her face that Han didn't like seeing on her. She looked down again after a few seconds.

"I'm fine, Han. Just a bit cold that's all."

"Are you sure, you know I'm pretty good at listening to people." And then Han added.

"Even tough I can sometimes be - what was it again, oh right – a stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf-herder."

At that Leia smiled.

"Thank you for the suggestion, but there is nothing that I want to talk about at the moment."

Han tried again.

"We can talk about Luke, since we're both thinking of him."

But before Leia could answer the cell door swished open, and the three of the turned their attention towards it. In the doorway stood two stormtroopers; supporting a body between them. Before Leia could figure out whom it was the body was thrown on the floor in front of them by the troopers, who then left and shut the door behind them.

At first the body didn't move, but after a few seconds it slowly began to stir. It tried to get up, but failed and fell back to the floor letting out a moan. Just then it became clear to them who it was that was in front of them.

Leia got up immediately and took a step forward.

"Luke?" When he didn't answer she asked again in a loader voice that woke everyone in the room up.

"LUKE!"

As she shouted his name she ran forward and knelt down beside him. By then everyone's attention was on her and Luke, but Leia didn't notice. Before she could check for injuries he slowly began to turn around and sit up. He almost succeeded this time; he was almost all the way up into a sitting position when Leia stopped him.

"Luke lie back down, your hurt."

Luke looked up into Leia's eyes, and saw the concern in them.

"I'm fine, Leia. I'm just a bit sore." Luke answer as removed Leia's hand and sat up all the way. Luke stopped looked away from Leia and let his eyes wander, looking at his rebel friends trying to sense their feelings. He was met with different kinds of emotions; confusion, sadness, hurt. However, the ones that carved the most into him were the feelings of betrayal and hate that were coming towards him through the force. He didn't blame them; he too would have felt betrayed if he had been in their shoes.

Luke knew that he owed them an explanation; even tough it wouldn't be easy. But he knew that he had to try – no, do or do not, there is no try – he had to explain to them, and hopefully they would understand.

"I guess I owe you an explanation to everything."

But Luke didn't give one straight away; the truth was that he didn't know what to say. He had so much to say, but could not form his thoughts into words.

He had never been a good speaker, not once in his 23 years of life. Not even after four years in the rebellion. But this time it wasn't because he was a bad speaker that he couldn't get a word out of his mouth; this time it was because he felt like nothing he had to say would make up for the lies.

'They will probably never forgive me. Not after betraying them like this.

Across the room Mon Mothma was sitting quietly, looking at the scene that played out before her. She had, like everyone else, been woken by the sound of Luke's name being shouted out. She had been surprised by the state Luke had arrived in. She hadn't expected Vader to treat him like this; he was after all Luke's father. 'Although' she thought 'Vader had said that the emperor had wanted to see him, and the emperor wouldn't care if Luke was hurt or not.' He would just try and get what he wanted, no matter who got hurt in the process.

It had always been like that; probably since the first time she had met him and before that too. He had just been very good at hiding it from everyone around him; he had always worn a mask of kindness. That mask had been the downfall of the Republic and the downfall of democracy. The betrayal of a man she trusted had cut deep into her, and everyone else in her surrounding.

When Luke had confessed that Vader was his father she had felt that very same betrayal. She had trusted him, and he had lied to her and her friends – his friends.

But now, when he was lying in pain in front of her, she felt confused. Had he betrayed them, or not? She wasn't so sure anymore. However there was one thing she was sure about; and that was that she wanted answers.

When Luke had stopped talking and it looked like he wouldn't continue, she spoke up.

"Luke why didn't you tell us the truth? Why did you lie?"

Luke was quite for a moment - looking like he was searching for the right words – and then he looked up at her.

"I guess I hadn't really accepted it myself. To tell you the truth I was afraid, afraid how you would react and afraid of want I what I was so close to doing on Bespin. I was very close to taking his hand when he offered it; but in the last moment I changed my mind for the better."

It was true what he said; he had almost chosen to join his father on Bespin. He had been so confused at that moment when Vader had revealed the truth about Luke's past. He had felt almost all bad emotions there is at the same time; confusion, anger, joy (his father wasn't dead), betrayal and so on. Luckily he had chosen not to believe Vader, and had - instead of taking Vader's hand – jumped.

Han's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"But you didn't join him. Even though you thought of it you still didn't do it; and that's all that matters to me and hopefully everyone else in this room." Han started looking round the room to see if the others agreed with him.

Luke also looked away from Han and let his eyes fall on the others in the room, as he - at the same time – reach out with the force to feel their emotions. To his surprise most of the feelings he had sensed when he first entered the room had changed, but not for the worse as he had thought. The emotions he could make out were compassion, pity and anger. But the anger was directed towards him, it was directed towards Vader. He had not expected this; not only was he the offspring of their enemy, but he had also revealed that he nearly had joined the other side of this war.

Of course he didn't only feel these compassionate feelings; there were still feelings of betrayal in the air. Feelings of fear also hit him when reached deeper into the force; fear of himself. That he could understand; that was the emotions that he had expected.

The room was filled with silence, everyone was thinking about what Han had said. After thinking many of them came to the same - chocking - conclusion; they couldn't hate him, no matter how they tried. Even if he was - as some might have put it - a Sithspawn, and even though he had lied to them; they had already forgiven him.

Maybe it was because of everything he had done for them and the Rebellion; no one had made the same sacrifices and no one had been put through as horrible things as that young man had. He had earned their respect through the years he had been with them; they had all watched him grow from a green kid - as Han put it – into a courageous and honourable man. And although they now knew the truth about his past, they couldn't let the things he'd done for the pass.

The silence was once again broken by Han; much to everyone's relief. Although, Luke didn't like the question he asked; even if he knew that it would come.

"So…what happened after you left with Vader?"'

"He took me to see the emperor."

Luke stopped there, and it looked like he was not going to continue. But just when Han was going to ask what happened next; Luke spoke again.

"The tried to convince me to join them and the emperor is very good at convincing people; he explores their weaknesses and uses them to get what he wants. He taunted me for a while, then he made me fight Va…- my father."

That got everyone's attention.

"You fought with Vader, as in fighting with lightsabers? How did that go?" Leia ask him shocked.

"Better then last time; this time I didn't want to fight him and I'm also more skilled then I was last time. But it wasn't because of that that I won the battle." Luke took a deep breath and continued. "It was because he had made me so upset that I couldn't stop myself from attacking him; he was using the same tactics as the emperor uses. In my anger I managed to disarm him; I was standing over him with my lightsaber pointing at his neck fuming with anger."

Luke once again went silent.

"Did you kill him?" Somebody asked. Luke was too deep into his thoughts to pay any attention to who it was. But he answered the question nevertheless.

"I could have; but if I had I would no longer be on your side. Killing Vader was exactly what the emperor wanted me to do; it would make me his new apprentice. When the emperor told me to kill my father I realized what I was on my way to becoming; I was turning into the very thing I had sworn to destroy. That pulled me back in the last, and I turned to emperor and told him that I would not kill my father.

"The emperor wasn't to please with my decision; but the only thing he did was smile and tell me that I would turn, that I had just chosen the hard way. That was when he sent his force lightning at me…"

That made Han interrupt him.

"Force lightning? That doesn't sound good, what is it?"

"It's just what it sounds like; it's blue lightning that powerful forceusers can create with the help if the force."

"And that's how you got your injuries?" Leia asked, with a touch of concern in her voice.

Luke nodded.

"Yes, and after he was finished the stormtroopers brought me here."

Luke's words were once again followed by silence. Everyone was trying to comprehend all the things Luke had told them.

"So…what happens now?" Somebody asked.

Luke answered.

"We will just have to wait and see. But I can tell you that this is far from over."

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Fin.

That was the end of chapter 4, hope you enjoyed it.

I will try to update as soon as I can. )