Here it is - enjoy!

Chapter 12

The party was already in full swing when Luke left the hut.

Unable to make merry like the rest of the party and unwilling to pull down everyone else's spirits, he decided the best thing was for him to remove himself from the general merriment. The others would miss him soon enough and come looking for him.

The walkways outside the Ewoks' common gathering area were deserted, only a few of the residents to be seen and as he moved further and further away, the area grew deserted and the music ever fainter. Luke had to smile at the cacophony - he wondered if it was audible to the Imperial installation, still several miles away through the forest. With a noise like that, it was a wonder the Emperor himself could not hear it on the Death Star.

It was the mood of a moment and it quickly evaporated, even more so at the thought of the Death Star and the evil old man brooding in its depths. In his mind's eye, Luke pictured a small, wizened caricature of a man, long claws extended from talon-like appendages, sunk into the lifeblood of the galaxy. The image was so ridiculously comical it allowed Luke's mood to ebb for a moment. Yet it too was nothing more than a fleeting impression, a minor distraction from the seriousness of the evening. His thoughts turned morose yet again and he continued to walk until he slowed in the middle of a remote walkway, far enough away from the ongoing revelries that the music was only a vague murmur in the distance, yet close enough to be found easily when the others began looking for him. He knew the others would find him - it was inevitable.

As he waited, Luke stared out into the darkness of the forest, wondering how he had arrived at this crossroads. Yoda and then Ben had insisted he must face his father, but neither had said anything about the true architect of the galaxy's troubles. By all accounts, the Emperor was powerful - a man whose cunning and mastery of the Dark Side of the Force had enabled him to engineer the fall of the Republic and the entire Jedi order, placing himself as absolute and uncontested ruler of the galaxy. Some months ago in the course of his training with Master Yoda, the aged Jedi master had confided in Luke, admitting he had once engaged the dark master in one on one combat and had had to flee the confrontation after losing his lightsaber. Luke had been astonished to hear his master speak of fighting a lightsaber battle, but as a Jedi, he must have had one at some point, even though Luke had never seen evidence of one. His knowledge of the lightsaber forms and sheer raw power and presence in the Force would have made him a powerful warrior at one time, regardless of his small stature and the initial comment to Luke about wars not making one great. If a Jedi as accomplished and powerful as Yoda had been had not managed to defeat the Emperor, what chance had he - a raw beginner - to defeat a being who had had decades of experience? Luke had no answers.

Standing in the darkness of the trees, Luke gazed out into the darkness, knowing he stared unerringly at the heart of Imperial might here on this moon in its remote corner of the galaxy. The presence drew his attention there like a spotlight - Luke would have known the direction blindfolded.

Vader was there, had been there since late that afternoon and was even now questing out in the Force, trying to locate his recalcitrant son. Just as it had on the shuttle on the way to the moon, Luke felt their connection in the Force singing out to him, calling him.

But this time it was different. During the incident on the shuttle, when he had deflected his father's senses from the rest of the group, Luke had learned a few things. He knew now he could defend his friends from his father's attention and hide himself in the Force. But once they moved out in the morning, the closer they drew to the installation, the more difficult it would become to do so. He had learned a few things but he was not a master - not yet.

Therein lay his dilemma - stay with the group and every step closer, every moment the risk of detection would grow until inevitably the dark lord would sense his son and the Imperials would be forewarned. Luke knew they had only one chance at destroying the deflector array and his presence had already compromised the mission with his father's knowledge of the son's presence. Darth Vader would almost certainly still be on the command ship if he had not sensed Luke as they had entered the system.

But what was the other option? Leave and stay away from the Imperial base? If he did that he would leave his friends to face the dark lord alone, one who would surely know they were coming. To do that would almost certainly doom them to their fates.

Try as he might, Luke simply could not think of any other way to avoid the growing assurance, which told him what he had to do. The Force whispered his next move to him and not for the first time, Luke found himself wondering if the Force really knew what it was talking about. To give himself up to his father seemed an act of suicide, one which would not accomplish anything, but serve to remove the Jedi from the galaxy in a most abrupt and final way.

But what other choice did he have? In going to face Vader, he could distract the dark lord, focused on Luke as he would be, allow the attack to proceed without his intervention, give his friends the chance to destroy the shield generator and the Death Star once and for all. And if the Emperor and his servant were on the monstrosity floating in space, so much the better - victory over the remaining Imperial forces would then become possible. In giving his own life away, Luke knew he would save the lives of so many...

Deep inside his consciousness, however, Luke felt another insistent whispering, an enticing murmur which told him all was not as it appeared with his father. He thought back to their confrontation on Bespin, the effortless manner in which Vader had defeated him, the awesome power the dark lord had displayed. And yet, although he could have easily defeated his son and made him one with the Force, Vader had not. Instead, he had extended his hand, attempted to entice the son into joining him.

Had it all been a ploy? Had it been part of a plan between the two Sith to effect the turning of the last Jedi to the dark side, ensuring their ultimate victory? Likely, yes. And yet, Luke had felt something at the time, an undertone to the dark lord's words, a whispering contrary to the sibilant entreaties to join his father in evil.

Luke had rarely allowed himself to think of that day in any great depth. But when he had, the foremost memory in his mind had been the feelings he had sense in the Sith Lord. Now, many months after the event and his words with Ben and Yoda still fresh in his mind, Luke was able to think more clearly about his father and the emotions he had felt that day.

Contrasted with what he knew of Vader through his own experience, not to mention the Sith Lord's notoriety, the picture he had received from his father's thoughts and emotions, tightly guarded as they had been, had been almost unrecognizable. What he had felt from his father was undeniably conflict, although to be more precise than that was impossible. He was certain the dark lord had not wanted to hurt his son, but the habits and affiliations of twenty years had ruled him. Luke could not say anything further for certain, but he knew there was good in Vader, knew the Emperor had not managed to stamp out the last vestiges of Anakin Skywalker.

But would that help him? Would it be enough? Would the ties of blood and kinship be able to overcome two decades of evil, two decades of slowly eradicating whatever goodness and humanity had once existed in the soul of a man who had once been a Jedi?

Turning himself over to his father in an effort to turn him away from his dark path was the ultimate gamble and Luke could not be certain it would pay off.

On the other hand, he knew time was running out. The shield generator must come down and it was obvious the chances of it doing so while Luke was still in the area were slim. No, Vader and the Emperor had to be distracted and in the end, what greater carrot could there be than the man for whom they had searched for over four years?

Luke sighed and his thoughts quieted, the decision seeming to have been made.

You will know when you are at peace... calm, passive. Master Yoda's words floated back to him. It seemed the Force was content with his decision as well, as the pathway now seemed so clear to him.

Feeling a vibrancy through the Force he had rarely felt, Luke stretched out with his senses and touched the energy pent up around him. It was if all of creation waited, its collective breath held, time stopped while its ultimate fate was decided. It was a fanciful thought to be certain, but Luke could almost imagine a dam, preventing time itself from moving forward. All that was necessary was the sequence of events to play out, for the future to finally be decided upon. The course of the galaxy would be determined and the new order would arise. Would it be dark or light?

Determined, Luke vowed that the Emperor would be stopped, one way or another - this could not be allowed to continue. The implacable resolve replaced any doubts Luke had had before. There would be no more doubts. Only resolve... action.

Aware his decision was an important watershed moment in his life, Luke chose not to dwell on it any further. Consigning it to the back of his mind, Luke cast out his senses, touching the Force, immersing himself in its gentle flows. The forest around him teemed with life, that of his friends, the Ewoks, not to mention the creatures of the forest, nocturnal or otherwise. But the forest life did not hold his attention, nor did the Ewoks.

His friends were back in the village, preparing for the assault tomorrow and the prize at the end of the day. Han, he sensed, was enjoying himself, carrying on a conversation with the chief of the tribe, tormenting his translator in the process. Luke chuckled at the thought of Han and Threepio together. Some things never changed.

Chewie was busy making certain to go through the entire banquet by himself. Luke was reminded of the Wookiee's voracious appetite, which could keep his massive friend ensconced at the dinner table for hours.

And the other two members of the small group... The search party. Luke grinned - he should have known the two women would notice his absence and come looking for him.

And yet, as soon as the thought occurred to him, he knew he was not quite correct - although they both approached him they were not together. Leia cautiously made her way along the walkway, her thoughts guarded, but curious about why he had left. It was she who had first sensed him leave and had come looking for him. Arica was following behind Leia, clearly wondering about his solitude, yet a part of her oddly fearful. It was possible she sensed his introspection and had come on her own to investigate. It was possible she had an idea of what was bothering him too, considering she was the only other living being who know of his relationship with Vader.

Luke quested out with his Force sense and brushed against her, causing her to stop and return the gesture, although hesitant and uncertain. He sent a calming reassurance back to her, suggesting she wait until he had spoken with Leia. He felt her answering acquiescence and she stopped and leaned up against the railing of the walkway on which she stood. Her focus, however, stayed on Luke and he could feel her questing out yet, maintaining contact wit him.

For the moment, Luke put her out of his mind and concentrated on the princess. She approached hesitantly along the walkway and upon reaching him, placed her hand on his arm.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Luke said nothing in reply, transfixed as he was by her sense in the Force and the feeling of close kinship he felt with her at that moment. Now he knew what he was looking for, it was easy to tell she was Force sensitive, to feel the connection which had always existed between them. But her strength was different, her path separate from his - he suspected it would always have been thus, even if they had not been separated at birth. Whether they had planned it or been prompted by the Force, Luke knew Ben and Yoda had been inspired in their decision to send her to Alderaan, him to Tatooine. She was the diplomat and her strength in the Force would continue to be focused on those aspects of a Jedi's calling.

"Luke?" she asked again, her sense becoming more concerned.

"Wrong? I guess it would be correct to say things have been wrong since before we were born. But perhaps they can be made right again."

Leia's responding look was one of confusion, which Luke immediately set out to correct. His introspection was causing him to speak in riddles which he only half understood himself.

"Nothing specifically is wrong, Leia, I'm just thinking. Something is about to happen... I just want to be certain I am strong enough to handle it."

"What is it Luke?"

But Luke ignored the question. "Leia... do you remember your mother? I mean your real mother."

It seemed the last thing she had been expecting to hear. Her eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed, and Luke half expected her to demand to know what he was thinking about. In the end, however, she took at deep breath and responded to his question.

"No, Luke, I don't remember her. I was told she died when I was born."

Luke nodded his head, his attention never wavering from his sister's face. "I have no memory of mother either. I never knew her."

"Luke, why are you asking me this?"

"Because I may never get another chance."

Leia's eyes widened and fear shone in their depths; this talk of not being there was clearly unnerving her.

"Luke, tell me what's wrong."

Luke sighed and rubbed his temples wearily, before taking her hands in his own and directing his attention back to her. "Vader is here... now. On this moon."

The alarm was now showing plainly on her face. "How can you know?"

"Remember when we were on the shuttle and I said he was on the command ship?" At her answering nod he continued. "I can feel his presence when he is near, just like on the shuttle. The closer we go to the installation, the more clearly his presence will shine out to me."

"But why is he here? Did we miss something?"

"No, Leia," Luke continued, his voice still calm and steady. "He's come for me. As I can sense him, he too can sense me."

"Can you hide from him?"

Luke nodded. "I can to a certain extent, but the closer we approach the generator, the more difficult it will be to do so. At some point, I won't be able to hide any longer and he will become aware of my presence."

Leia said nothing in response, but Luke could tell through her Force sense she was becoming more concerned with every passing moment. She could see the complications his presence was bringing to the mission.

"Yes, Leia, I must leave you. As long as I stay with you, I'm endangering everyone and putting the whole mission in jeopardy. I must face him."

"Face him? What are you talking about?" Leia was quickly becoming distraught and tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.

"It's my destiny. The dark lord is my personal nemesis - one which I must face and overcome to become a Jedi."

"Luke you are talking nonsense now. Face him? Stay away from the assault if you must, but to face him is insanity. Don't you remember what happened last time?"

Luke could not help but be amused at Leia's assertions. She still did not know him well if she expected him to slink off and hide, back down from a confrontation. They had always called him impulsive and reckless - the man who had walked brazenly into a massive space station to rescue a princess and braved a powerful evil man in his den while still a raw recruit. Luke had never backed down from a challenge in his life.

"I remember, Leia. But I've learned a thing or two since then. Besides, there are... complications you don't know about. It's time I told you."

Her expression grew intense and she leveled a glare at him, some of the fire which had made her the youngest senator in the history of the galaxy and quelled the resistance of more than one rebel recruit once again showing in her manner. "What is it, Luke."

"I have to face Vader because he is my responsibility. He is my father."

"Your father? How could that be? How could such a monster even father a son?"

"I have no answers for you, Leia," Luke responded, clutching her arms and willing her to believe. "I do know that once, he was Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight and apprentice to Ben Kenobi. He was not always as he is now."

Luke watched as Leia struggled to absorb this new intelligence, knowing what he was about to tell her would be even more difficult for her to hear and accept. He had no way of knowing if he would ever return from his self-appointed mission to save the dark lord and if he failed, Leia needed to know everything.

When she looked back up at him, he could still see the doubt in her eyes, but there was also acceptance. He took a deep breath and continued.

"Yes, Leia, it's true. And there's more. It won't be easy for you to hear it but you have to. I'm going to meet the dark lord and it is my every intention to succeed, but if I don't come back, you and Arica are the only hope for the Alliance."

He could sense her confusion and denial, but Luke knew he had to make her believe. Much depended upon her.

"Luke, don't talk that way. Everyone does what they can, but I'm of no more importance than anyone else. Arica I can see. You... you're both Jedi. You have power that I don't understand and could never have. You are the hope of the Alliance, not I."

"You're wrong, Leia. You have that power too. The Force is strong in you and in time you will learn to use it."

"What are you talking about, Luke?" Leia demanded. "I'm not strong in the Force! Do you think the Emperor and Vader would have let me live if I was?"

"I don't claim to understand it, Leia," Luke responded, allowing her a glimpse of his conviction through his words. "You are Force sensitive. I missed it before, but now I know what I'm looking for, it is clear to me. Somehow, you naturally suppress it, hide it from those around you, but it's there all the same. You have within you the potential to be a very powerful Jedi - all you need is the instruction to help you realize it."

"But how?"

"The Force is strong in my family, Leia. My father has it, I have it... and my sister has it."

Incredulity warred with disbelief in her face. As she gazed up at him, her expression softened. He could see she read the truth in his eyes, felt it glow through the Force, whether she consciously invoked the assistance of the Force or not. She was beginning to understand.

"I know Luke... I think maybe I always knew."

"Then you know why I must face him."

"No! Why must you face him? Is this some stupid Jedi honor code or something? Why is marching willingly to your own death the only way to handle this?"

Luke chuckled. "I'm gratified by your faith in me."

The comment elicited a slight smile from her through the tears which now moistened her cheeks, but it was gone in an instant. "You know what I'm saying. What is so important about facing him?"

"Everyone must face their own personal demons, Leia. It's part of growing and developing beyond what we are to what we are to become. For a Jedi, that confrontation is far more intense and usually involves the dark side. I will never be what I was meant to be if I play the coward and avoid this confrontation. And besides, you know me; do you really expect me to back down from a challenge now?"

"I do know you, Luke," Leia responded with a small laugh. "That's why I'm worried."

"I know you are," Luke said tenderly, his hand brushing the tears from her face. "I'm worried myself. I can't predict what will happen any more than you can. I only know this is what I must do. In the end, if I can do nothing more than distract him and allow the attack to succeed, then I've done my part. The Alliance must win - all depends upon it."

The tears fell steadily down Leia's face now, but her lips raised in the semblance of a smile. Luke knew acceptance had made its bitter way through to her heart.

"Besides, there is good in him."

The smile turned to an incredulous stare. "Good in him? You can't be serious!"

"I've felt it. He won't turn me over to the Emperor. I can save him - I know it. I have to try, Leia. He's our father."

There was nothing to be said after such a pronouncement. They clutched one another for comfort for several moments, tears streaming down both of their faces, mixing together a bittersweet symbol of their common bond and sibling connection. He had never, not even when pursuing her as a possible romantic interest, felt so close to her as he did now at the end, when he must leave her.

Finally he eased away from her, murmuring comforting words to her. "Good bye, Leia. I never imagined I had a sister, but now that I've found you, I can't imagine one more perfect. I will be back if I can."

Luke turned away and strode down the path, putting as much distance between them as he could. He was unwilling to see her continue to cry. He felt Han approaching and knew he was leaving his precious sister in the hands of one he trusted above all others. It was the best he could do under the circumstances.

He stopped after several moments and composed himself, willing his Jedi calm to return to deal with the next ordeal. Arica's sense washed over him and he could feel her worry and apprehension. He beckoned her to join him, even as he considered what he could possibly say to her. He had given her his promise to train her and show her the ways of the Force, but now knew he may have to foreswear that promise. This good bye he knew would be even harder than the one with Leia. Leia was his sister - Arica was quickly becoming part of his soul.


Mara stood alone in the darkness of the Ewok pathway and shivered. Although she was not cold, she had a bad feeling something was about to happen which she would not like, knowing it revolved around Skywalker. But then again, recently what had not revolved around the Jedi?

She had sensed him leave immediately, but caught up as she was in the spectacle she had not given it a second thought, assuming he had just left to get away from the press of small, furry bodies. But she should have known. His Force sense had been erratic all day, ever since the incident on the shuttle and the near miss with Vader. It had progressively gotten worse throughout the day until she now knew something heavy was weighing on his mind.

It had not been until Organa left that she had stopped to take notice. The princess leaving had galvanized her into investigating and she could now tell the introspective nature of his thoughts, the solemn and slightly gloomy manner in which he had carried himself most of the afternoon.

Now standing out on the walkway, holding her arms around herself for comfort, Mara waited, doing her best not to imagine what was being said between the two friends. Since the conversation with Solo she had paid close attention to Skywalker and his dealings with Organa once they had caught up with her that evening. What she saw had served to reassure her that there was nothing going on between the two of them, but still Mara could not be certain and her mind was in hyperspace, thinking about how she may have lost him, just when she was about to find him.

Mara shook her head, determined to root out the thoughts which seemed to have taken hold of her. The Force senses of the two friends spoke of long held affection and friendship, and maybe even something deeper. But it was certainly not a romantic love between the two. No, there was something else going on here and although Mara was afraid to find out exactly what it was, she knew by instinct she would not like it, no matter what it was.

"What are you doing out here?"

The voice startled her and she spun toward her assailant, her holdout blaster appearing in her hand without a second thought. Behind her, Solo stood with a gleaming smirk on his face.

"Solo!" Mara was incensed, but reluctantly slid her blaster back in its holster on her wrist.

"What's the matter, Arica? Surprise you?"

The laughter in his voice only made Mara angrier. She gave him a disdainful sniff, before turning back to her vigil. Things seemed to have reached a conclusion between Organa and Skywalker as he was now moving away from her.

"Have you seen Luke or Leia?" Solo's voice once again penetrated the night.

"Yes, they're just up ahead," Mara replied grudgingly. "Skywalker is moving away from her now, so you should be able to go and see her. I'm going after Skywalker."

"Wait!" Solo ran to catch up to her and peered at her through the gloom. "What's going on here? What were they talking about?"

"I don't know, Solo, but I intend to find out."

Mara brushed past him and hurried off into the night, bypassing the pathway where Organa stood, not wanting to talk to the princess. She followed a circuitous route which took her beyond the heavily populated areas of the Ewok settlement and through the outermost branches of the massive trees. But her attention remained fixed on Skywalker - she could feel him in her heart and could have found him anywhere, no matter how hard he tried to hide.

And suddenly she was there. He stood on the edge of a large platform at the end of the village. Beyond him the walkway curved around the trunk of a giant tree, fading down to the forest floor. The location caused Mara's already heightened sense of wrongness to soar to new heights. All was not as it should be.

Skywalker himself appeared to be lost in thought. His face was a carefully drawn mask, deliberately drawn over to conceal his emotions and shield from her his intentions. Through the Force, she could only sense his shields, which were now working to cut him off from her as completely as she had ever known. He almost reminded her of herself.

"Arica," his voice drifted to her softly in the night. She gazed up at his eyes, startled to find them trained on her. The gloom was too pronounced for her to see much more, but she thought she could see an infinite sadness in their depth.

"Skywalker..." she began, and for a moment her voice failed her as her courage ebbed.

He held out his hand, summoning her to join him on his lonely vigil. She screwed up her courage and stepped forward, taking his proffered hand, her distracted mind noting yet again the feeling of rightness which swept through her. She knew it was all right - she could ask him anything.

"What's going on here? Shouldn't you be back there helping Solo plan the assault? It's not every day little stuffed animals offer to help take on a heavily defended Imperial installation you know."

Her remark had the intended effect, as his lips curved into the shape of a grin, his eyes twinkled. "No, I suppose it isn't. I can think of a couple of scrapes in the past few years where their help would have been welcome."

He was silent after that and Mara stayed carefully silent as well, her knowledge instinctive. There was no pushing him this night. He would get to the point when he was ready.

They stayed that way for several moments in companionable silence, enjoying the night together as each focused on the other to the exclusion of everything else. Mara was unwilling to break the spell which seemed to have been woven about them. Unfortunately, all things must come to an end.

"I'm not helping Han with the planning because I won't be part of the assault tomorrow."

Mara was shocked and could only stand staring at him with a dumbfounded look on her face. It was several moments before she was able to gather herself.

"Won't be part of the assault... What kind of idiocy is this?" Of course, confusion had given away to anger. It was her personal nemesis.

"Arica. You have to listen to me. It won't be easy for you to hear this, any more than it was for Leia, but I need you to listen and understand, even if you don't agree."

She did not know how to respond to his plea, but nodded her head at him, even while a lead weight of fear formed within her middle. No, there was no way she would like what he was about to say.

"Arica... do you feel anything different from the Force tonight. Specifically in the direction of the Imperial base."

She was not certain what his meaning was, but questing out with her senses, Mara directed her thought out in the direction he had indicated. The Force was vibrant, filled with the essences of the moon's residents, but other than the strange feeling of anticipation in the air, something she attributed to the impending confrontation between the forces of the Alliance and Empire, she could detect no discernable difference. But even as the thought passed through her mind, she knew there was something different. The atmosphere on the moon had changed and not for the better.

She looked up at Skywalker in silent question and he smiled, his Force sense beckoning her into a closer arrangement. She carefully locked those places she did not want him knowing about behind walls as strong as she could make them and acquiesced to his request.

The experience was beautiful and awe-inspiring, not truly a full joining of souls - they both held parts of themselves away from the other - but it was a further taste of all they could be to each other if they could only find a way to stay together through all the madness which was about to enfold. But Mara also knew with clarity that whatever aspirations she had to a relationship with Skywalker, there would be no true meld of Force users unless she was able to go into the joining completely and without reservation. Not to mention without hiding any part of herself from him.

Which meant if she was to keep her past a secret from him, there would be no such union, now or ever. It was a sobering thought, because part of her craved that union, craved as though it was the only thing which could sustain her physically and spiritually. But still, a relationship with Skywalker could be a wonderful thing even without the added dimension of a full Force bond. At least that was what she told herself.

When she came to her senses, she noticed Skywalker regarding her, a curious expression on his serene face. Knowing she had stayed silent far too long, Mara smiled at him, indicating her readiness, and together they reached out to the Force.

At once, Mara could appreciate the reason for Skywalker's strange mood. The feelings she had sensed on the shuttle had returned and were amplified.

Her eyes snapped to Skywalker's. "Vader."

At his silent nod, she searched his eyes before continuing. "How long has he been here?"

"He arrived some time this afternoon. To tell you the truth, I'm not certain exactly when."

"So what does this mean?"

He regarded her as though debating within himself whether he wanted to tell her. In the end, his statement was simple and direct. "Arica, I have to leave you."

She regarded him, incredulous at his sudden declaration. "What do you mean?"

"I've already compromised the mission due to my presence. If I stay with the group, I will only end up imperiling the mission even further. What do you think Vader will do if he senses me approaching with a company of rebel commandos at my back?"

Mara had already grasped the implications of Vader's presence. What she was not yet able to determine was what exactly Skywalker intended to do about it.

"So what are you suggesting? Are you going to leave the troop and stay away from the battle?"

"No, Arica. The time has come to face my destiny. Both Yoda and Ben told me I would have to face Vader and that time has come."

Not able to believe her ears, Mara stared at him. Was he really suggesting braving the dark lord in the Imperial stronghold? And to what end? Was he really naive enough to believe the Imperial garrison here on the moon would allow him anywhere near the dark lord, he a notorious rebel and dangerous threat to the security of the Empire? Certainly he could not be so foolish.

"Skywalker," she growled, more than a little irritated, "what are you talking about? Are you going to challenge Vader to single combat? You'll never even get close to him."

"I'm not going to challenge him, Arica. I'm going to save him."

Of all the things he could have said, all the crazy, impulsive, reckless things she knew to be within his ability to conjure up, this was perhaps the last thing she could have expected. Her disbelief must have been plain to read on her face, as Skywalker's face assumed the earnest expression which drove out all disbelief in his sincerity. He was completely serious in his declaration!

"Am I hearing you right? You want to redeem a man who has been the means of destroying the Jedi order, of committing atrocities without number, save a man who has been steeped in the dark side of the Force since before you were born? Even you can't be that reckless."

"And you are an expert on my recklessness?" he responded, a tiny smile displayed in the corners of his mouth.

"I've certainly heard enough about you to guess at the rest," she shot back. She could not believe what she was hearing - she had thought she had considered all the scenarios, determined all the ways in which her carefully thought out plans could go awry. This was one thing she could never have imagined happening. That Skywalker would give himself willingly into the power of his greatest enemies was beyond anything she could comprehend.

"I guess you have at that," Skywalker responded in that irritating, calm manner she had come to know so well. Strange it had not irritated her recently as it had when she had first made his acquaintance.

"Yes, Arica, he is all those things and more. But he is also my father."

"Was your father. I think he gave up that right many years ago when he chose to become what he is now. What makes you think he is so worth saving now?"

"Is any being not worth saving?"

"How about the Emperor? You interested in saving him as well?"

Skywalker sighed and turned his face away. "The Emperor is not a part of this conversation, Arica. I know nothing of him, beyond what I have heard on the holo-news and experienced over my time with the Alliance. My father, though, I have personal experience with. And I can tell you through that experience that whatever he has become, the Emperor has not managed to stamp out all the goodness in his soul. I've felt it."

"Are you listening to yourself, Skywalker?" Arica demanded, becoming desperate. "Whatever you believe about your father, he is under the thumb of his master and I can tell you with certainty - the Emperor is not about to give any credence to your overly-sentimental feelings regarding your father."

Skywalker regarded her, a frosty expression on his face. "Arica, I am not unaware of the exact nature of the relationship between the Emperor and my father."

"And you will become even more intimately familiar with it if you allow Vader to take you before the Emperor."

"I don't intend that at all," he responded, his voice quiet and even.

The confusion showed in her face. "What do you mean?"

"I don't believe my father will take me before the Emperor at all. He can be redeemed, Arica, I know it."

Redemption for Vader - was there any way Skywalker knew what he was talking about? Could the most notorious man in the galaxy be reformed, changed into something completely unrecognizable from what he had existed as the last twenty years.

No, it was impossible. She knew Vader, knew what he was capable of, knew the black giant's level of ambition, of his contempt for everyone and everything around him. He was not a creature to be reformed by the unfettered love of a dreaming young man who happened to be his own progeny, no matter how the event had originally happened. What Skywalker was contemplating was utter lunacy and she could not allow him to do this to himself.

To do this to them.

"Skywalker, don't you think you're being a little unrealistic here? You've wanted a father figure for so long it's affecting your judgment."

She was amazed by the sound of her own voice, how she was utterly calm and rational where her mind screamed at her to vent her fear and frustration on the obstinate Jedi.

"No, Arica, not this time. I know what I have to do."

"What you're contemplating is suicide!" she screamed as the bubble of her calm disintegrated under the weight of his continued intractability. "You're going to walk into an Imperial encampment and get yourself killed. Then where will the Alliance be if you do this?"

"In your capable hands, Arica."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. You have some of the teachings of the Jedi and in time you will learn more. If I don't return, I need you to stay strong and continue the legacy of the Jedi."

"You want me to..." It came out almost as a squeak.

"Yes, Arica," Skywalker responded, as he wiped a tear off her cheek with one calloused finger. "You must continue to learn and to grow, become the Jedi I know you can be. I'm fully aware of what the possible consequences of my actions will be and I know there is every possibility I may not return. I have every intention of coming back to you, but if I do not, then you are the last hope of the Alliance. You and Leia..."

"Leia?" Now Mara was bewildered. What did the princess have to do with any of this. Unless...

"Yes, she is Force sensitive."

The revelation was the last blow in an evening full of unexpected and unwelcome surprises. She was not certain she could assimilate it all.

"Please, Arica, if I do not return, teach Leia what you know. Between the two of you, I know you can return the Jedi order to the galaxy as a force for good and justice. Please do this for me."

"Skywalker," Mara began, choosing her words carefully, "please, do not do this. It makes much more sense to take the Emperor out from a distance. If we can bring down the shield, the Death Star can be destroyed with him on board and his evil can be snuffed out forever. Don't throw your life away needlessly."

Skywalker sighed and shook his head, a sad smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I'm sorry, Arica, but the die's been cast. It was likely cast before you or I were ever born. I must do this - everything I've trained and fought for has led me to this."

He moved to turn away and Mara, desperate to persuade him otherwise, blurted out the only thing that came to mind.

"What about us?"

Clearly caught by surprise, Skywalker turned to face her once again, his shocked features illuminated in the distant glow of the Ewoks' fires.

"What?" he breathed, his eyes searching hers.

Discomfited, Mara tried to enunciate what was in her heart. Her general lack of experience in these matters, combined with her own lack of any true knowledge of what exactly she was feeling, made that difficult.

"I thought... I had begun to feel... that there was something between us."

His answering gaze was smoldering once again with the desire and regard she had felt with him back on the Alliance command ship.

"I hope there is, Arica."

"There is no way to find out if you go haring off now to your death. Please, I'm asking you - I'm begging you to stay. I... I need you."

Skywalker said nothing immediately in response. Instead he reached out and gathered her in his arms, pressing her against his chest in a gesture once again alien, yet comforting to Mara. For a brief moment she thought she'd gotten through to him, as he stroked her back and murmured comforting words into her ear.

"I've hoped there was something between us as well, Arica, but I was not completely certain of your feelings. I promise you, I will do my best to return to you, but my path is set. I must do this."

Her heart fell as the importance of his words sunk into her psyche. He was going to leave her and nothing she could say would influence him into changing his mind.

"Besides, Arica, for us to truly have a relationship, we need to be completely honest and truthful with each other and we cannot do that with you continuing to hide part of yourself from me. I want to know you - everything about you, but until you let me in, the future you desire cannot be."

The specter of Solo's words from the afternoon ghosted into her consciousness and a fleeting moment of panic set in. As the former smuggler had predicted, Skywalker had not been fooled for an instant by her deception. It had all been for naught.

"What makes you think I'm hiding things?" she queried, too drained to think of anything else to say.

"How about the way you hid part of yourself away from me just now?" he asked, his voice calm and measured. "I don't know what you're hiding, Arica, but I can sense it's something you think I will hate you for. Don't you think I should be given the opportunity to determine my own reaction?"

Mara's voice failed her and her jaw worked silently. She had been less successful than she had imagined in hiding herself from him.

"Can you tell me what this great secret is?"

Her mind worked furiously, but try as she might, she could not think of any way out of this. Skywalker had seen through her and although he was willing to trust her, he was not willing to take her at face value. For a moment, her secret almost spilled out of her.

But then she remembered the things she had done in the Emperor's service: her first kill, the parts she had played to gain a target's confidence in order to get close enough for the killing blow... the fact that she had been sent to kill Skywalker himself. Her relationship with him seemed to be spinning out of her grasp, never to be within her reach again. But whatever was to happen, she knew she would be unable to stand the weight of his anger - or even worse, his disgust - over her past. She simply could not tell him.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Skywalker," she responded, the lie bitter on her tongue.

Skywalker regarded her with compassion and leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead. To her it seemed a harbinger of the ultimate farewell she knew she was bidding to her dreams.

"Arica, I'm not accusing you of anything evil or underhanded. I just want you to be up front with me. Please, stay with the group; help them bring down the shield. We will discuss this further when I return."

Mara stood rooted to the spot as he moved away, his gait steady and certain. Her thoughts were a jumble of warring states, bidding for supremacy over her consciousness. All her plans were in shambles, accomplished in the space of a few minutes, torn down by Skywalker's pointed observations, keen intelligence and stubborn adherence to a child's dream.

At length, she glanced around her, the tears streaming down her cheeks unheeded. What was she to do? Should she stay with the rebels and help them bring down the shield as he requested?

As soon as the thought occurred to her, she knew she was incapable of following his wishes. She simply had to be close to him when he met his fate, whether or not she could take the emotional and psychic fallout such an event was certain to expose her to. Besides, if the Jedi were to fail, as she suspected would be the case, she would have to be there when he was brought to her master.

She laughed, abruptly and brokenly at the thought as she remembered the Emperor's assertions during their conversation when she had been on Dagobah. It was all happening the way her master had assured her it would - Skywalker giving himself up willingly to be led to her master as he had predicted. She was a fool to have believed anything else.

Silent as a ghost, Mara edged forward, creeping down the stairs which led to the foot of the forest below, her senses casting after the retreating Skywalker. She would follow him to the base, use her codes as Emperor's hand to commandeer a ship and make her way to the Death Star in another manner, follow her master's orders to be there when the Jedi was brought to him. Skywalker should be sufficiently preoccupied with the confrontation with his father, she should be able to arrive unnoticed and undetected by the last Jedi.

With any luck, the rebels would eliminate the shield protecting the Death Star, and she could at least die with him when it was destroyed.


Luke travelled through the forest, his thoughts focused on his self-appointed task. The thoughts of what and who he had left behind were too painful to dwell upon. Tonight, he would be the Jedi Ben and Yoda expected him to be, the Jedi his father could have been if he had chosen more wisely.

It was several miles to the base and Luke felt the chilly night air beginning to be uncomfortable by the time he reached the vicinity of the base. It was laughably easy to avoid the patrols of stormtroopers which circled the installation and protected the base. Their minds were as weak and malleable as Ben had once told him.

Finally, upon reaching the innermost perimeter of the installation's defenses, Luke allowed himself to be captured by a pair of stormtroopers. They confiscated his lightsaber and placed binders on his wrists, leading him to the watch commander in a nearby office. The watch commander was no better than the troops under his command, easily dominated by Luke and forced to take his nominal prisoner before the dark lord.

In a matter of moments his objective was obtained and he stood before the intimidating presence of his father. Luke tried to consider his father objectively. Certainly the darkness was present - he would hardly have expected it to be gone over a matter of a few mere months and one conversation with his son, a conversation held over crossed lightsabers, no less.

But for Luke, he found faith that his hope had not been in vain. The dark lord brooded behind his mask and to the world he was the same black fiend he had always been. But to Luke, the underlying conflict between the man he had been for all those years and the father, which he now knew himself to be was obvious and pronounced. If Luke could only widen those cracks, allow the man he had been to emerge, he would accomplish his goal and release his father from his servitude to the darkness.

"So, you have come to me."

The mechanical noise of his breathing apparatus leant a sinister air to the deep and layered voice. But where before the noise had brought fear and uncertainty to the young Jedi, now it engendered... not pity, for his father would not accept that - either as he was now, or as he had been before he became Darth Vader. No, Luke could now feel sadness for the man that had once been and for the torment his father had endured over the years since he had been confined to that infernal suit. Luke had no knowledge of what had led his father to renounce the Jedi and join a being as reprehensible as Palaptine, but he knew that to a certain extent, the suffering he had undergone and still endured was in part responsible for the being his father was now.

"I have."

The dark lord seemed to take his son's new-found confidence as natural and continued. "The Emperor is expecting you. He believes you will soon be a powerful new ally."

"I know... father. But I can tell you right now, he will be disappointed. I will never swear fealty to him."

"So, you have finally accepted the truth," Vader replied, ignoring for a time his son's statement of affiliation.

"I have accepted the truth you were once Anakin Skywalker, my father."

"That name no longer has any meaning for me. You had best forget it and be content in relegating it to the past where it belongs."

Knowing he was playing with fire, Luke nevertheless continued with his plan. His father was closer to Anakin than he himself realized. "It is the name of your true self. You have only forgotten it."

The dark lord said nothing, but Luke could feel his indecision grow, which in turn bolstered Luke's confidence. "I know there is good in you yet, father, the Emperor has not driven it away completely. That is why you could not destroy me before. That is why you won't take me to your Emperor now."

The dark lord was still silent, the only response given was the ignition of Luke's lightsaber which lay casually in the grasp of one gloved hand. "You have constructed another lightsaber," he commented at length.

Luke smiled slightly at the note of praise in his father's voice. "This one is mine. Yours was lost on Bespin as you well know."

The blade retracted and Vader turned to face his son. "Your skills are complete. You are powerful as the Emperor has foreseen - a worthy addition to our ranks."

"Father, you are deluding yourself. You know the Emperor is cunning and cruel, do you really think he will allow us both to exist under his command? He would always be under the threat of us joining together to betray him. He would never take the chance."

"You do not know my master as well as you think, my son," Vader corrected. "The only thing he thinks about is power and having you call him master only increases that power. He will do anything to maintain this new order he has created and sees you as the means to do so."

"What of your role, father?"

"I am as I always was. I will continue to be my master's right hand and you will be his left."

Luke shook his head, his mind desperately trying to think of anything which would sway his father's mind. The cracks in his carefully held persona were still there, but nothing he had tried yet had been able to free the man he had once been.

"You are forgetting one thing, father. I will not turn. You will be forced to destroy me."

"If that is your destiny."

"Search your feelings father," Luke urged, trying one last desperate sally against his father's defenses. "You can't do this. Let go of your hate and come away with me. Together we can end this pointless war, not with the power of dark side as you once suggested, but with the power of the Jedi. Let's defeat the Emperor and bring freedom back to the galaxy."

"Some one has filled your head with foolish ideals, young one," Vader replied, immovable as a mountain. He signaled to the troops which had withdrawn a respectful distance away to approach. "The Emperor will show you the true nature of the Force. He is your master now."

Miserable at his failure, Luke could only watch as the stormtroopers approached to take him into custody once more, the shattered ashes of his plans falling about his feet as so much dross. So miserable was he, he almost missed his father's final words, softly delivered so that no one else could hear.

"It's too late for me."

"Then my father is truly dead," Luke responded as he turned away with the guards.

He stepped away from the man who was his father and escorted by the guards, made his way toward the shuttle which was to take him to his fate. His progress was interrupted by the sound of his father's voice; the sardonic amusement flowed off him in waves.

"So good of you to join us, Emperor's Hand."