Disclaimer: See prologue

Chapter Two: Truth Revealed

Mon Mothma stood in contemplative silence aboard the unstained white bridge of Home One, staring out the wide viewport that opened to the endless crystalline stars and the lush Endor moon below.

"You've seen him, then?" Admiral Ackbar stood near her, finned hands clasped behind his back. He turned his head to face her, thick, gravelly voice tired. "Darth Vader is alive?"

Mon Mothma nodded once, eyes still locked on some unidentifiable point in the starscape. "The high cabinet members and a few other high ranking officials will be present for the announcement."

The Mon Calamari Admiral straightened and stiffened his lips. "The Republic has been given a chance to return now, Commander. That is all that matters."

The Supreme Commander smiled, a tired, thankful, smile that reached her blue eyes and made them shine with hope, recalling the young, idealistic senator she once had been. "Yes, Admiral. The Republic can return, and freedom will live on."

Ackbar nodded, a smile in his wide eyes as the amphitheater behind them suddenly began to fill with the sounds of laughter and celebration. The high ranking officials that had been called to the meeting had begun to file in, exultation running swiftly though the crowd. Mon Mothma exhaled slowly and took a last, long look at the galaxy she so loved. It was time to end the party.

She turned, her flowing white and blue dress robes swishing softly, and looked out into the room at the leaders of the rebellion who had sacrificed everything for this day – for this triumph. She saw Leia coming in the door, face tight and haunted, a stark contrast to the celebration around her. The Supreme Commander frowned ever so slightly at her protégé, wondering if she was all right.

Mon Mothma made a note to herself to try and talk to Leia afterward.

"Thank you all for attending on such short notice." Mon Mothma's call broke through the conversations as the other officials turned and moved to sit in their places around the amphitheater-like room

Mon Mothma turned as Admiral Ackbar took his place by her side, and her eyes suddenly found... "General Solo, why are you here?"

Han blinked in surprise, as if it were the most natural thing in the galaxy for him to be present. "Leia got a comm call to be here at seventeen hundred hours–"

"Last time I checked, General Solo, you were not Leia Organa."

Chuckles and snickers echoed throughout the room. This was by far the least organized and most high-spirited meeting Mon Mothma had ever presided over, not the most desirable situation for the information that was about to be revealed.

Han put on his best defensive face, but Mon Mothma had already turned to his companion. "And you, General Calrissian. Have you to come to honor us with your Leia impersonation as well?"

Laughter sounded freely once again.

"Oh, no, Ma'am," Lando shook his head decisively in mocking seriousness, all the while stifling a smile. "Han's a lot better at that than I am."

Leia, sitting next to them, seemed not to notice her companion's antics, sitting small and quiet at their side. Chewbacca, however, sitting behind Lando, let out an barking laugh as Han started and glared at Chewie and Lando in turn. "Nice," he muttered sarcastically. "Real nice."

Mon Mothma turned away slightly to hide a slight, insuppressible smile as more laughter echoed throughout the room.

When a major victory had just been won, it seemed pointless to leave unexcused irreverent breaches of protocol by some of the Alliance's most publicized heroes, who had, after all, caused the victory to be won.

The Supreme Commander looked over at Luke, standing silently by the doors. This was, after all, his arena today. He nodded slightly, a small, resigned smile on his face.

Mon Mothma pursed her lips as she eyed the three for a moment longer. "Well," she began dryly. "Now that we're all here, we can begin." She paused for a long moment, then began slowly.

"We have won a great victory today," she said, her strong voice trained to give speeches in a large room. "We have seen the beginning of the end of the Empire."

There was a sudden burst of uproarious cheers, and Mon Mothma waited patiently for them to die down before she continued. "But I have received important news of something that will greatly affect us all... Commander Skywalker?"

There were curious murmurs as Luke stepped forward. He was quite possibly the Alliance's most publicized hero, yes, and their only Jedi, but shouldn't the Admiral, or Mon Mothma herself, be presiding?

Mon Mothma stepped down from the floor and watched Luke take it, his calm demeanor nothing like that of the frustrated man she had come across in the Med Bay. "There's really no easy way to say this," he began slowly, glancing about the room at his audience. He was not used to giving speeches, Mon Mothma could tell, but if he was nervous, he hid it extraordinarily well. "Today, the mission to destroy the Death Star's shield generator was endangered… because of me."

Frowns and confusion carried swiftly through the crowd. The Commander was, quite frankly, one of the Alliance's best officers. He putting a mission in danger was downright laughable.

"And I left," Luke finished bluntly. He saw his audience's shocked reaction (Desertion?!), and moved quickly to further explain. "Darth Vader was with the Imperial Fleet today. He could sense me, he knew where I was. I had to leave."

So it was Jedi business, then. Some of the more cynical leaders of the Alliance shifted restlessly in their seats. Skywalker's Jedi abilities had always been helpful, yes. But to desert on account of them?

But this shed new light on the rumors that the Executor had been in the space battle earlier – rumors which also recounted the destruction of that ship. A wild hope surged through the Council. Had they unconsciously dealt two blows to the Empire today?

"We eventually met, and he took me before the Emperor." Mon Mothma frowned slightly. The young Commander was definitely skipping over something. Something big. But Luke continued hastily before she could stop him. "They thought they could turn me to their cause." A small, satisfied smile played across his face. "They were wrong."

The Council had schooled careful neutrality into their faces, waiting for Skywalker to get to the point he seemed to be so carefully dancing around. Whatever this important news was, it was becoming evident that it was not of a pleasant nature.

Luke looked up around the room again, watching his waiting audience. He seemed to take a deep breath, then said clearly: "The Emperor tried to kill me when I refused. Darth Vader killed him, to save me."

Shock. Complete and utter shock coursed so thickly through the room it was almost tangible. Suddenly the room was full of shouted questions, shocked exclamations, and snorts of disbelief.

"What?!" The roar was loud enough to suddenly silence the rest of the room, and all eyes looked to see Borsk Fey'la, head of the Bothan Spynet faction Deep Ear, on his feet in front of his chair, rigid with shock. The Bothan glowered down his long nose at Luke. "Explain, Commander!"

Luke turned to face Fey'la. "Darth Vader did not let the Emperor kill me. He has defected."

There was total silence as Fey'la stood rooted to the spot, stunned along with everyone else in the room. "Impossible," he snorted with a wave of his hand. He turned to Mon Mothma and the Admiral, through Luke still had the floor. "You believe this?" he demanded.

"If he has not truly defected," Mon Mothma answered coolly, "Darth Vader is a valuable prisoner of war, and will be treated as such."

Luke bristled at her words. "He has defected, I can promise you!" he insisted.

"Commander Skywalker!" Fey'la was addressing him again. "This is ridiculous! What in the galaxy would ever make Darth Vader defect?" He paused, exclamation bringing another question to the minds of everyone in the room. "And just why would he save you?" there was an undercurrent of suspicion in his voice.

Luke stiffened and whirled to face Fey'la again. "He…" he stopped suddenly, looking around the room at his audience. "I sensed his sincerity," he said stiffly, trying to stay in control. "If you doubt his, then you doubt mine."

Fey'la snorted. "Your sanity, perhaps."

"Representative Fey'la, that is enough!" Ackbar exclaimed. The Mon Calamari Admiral looked around the room, then turned to Luke, standing in the middle of the room, hands clenched at his sides, the only sign of his discomfort. "Commander Skywalker, Fey'la's question is legitimate. Why did Vader save you?"

Luke stared at him for a second, then said softly, almost resignedly: "He's… he's my Father."

Gasps shot through the crowd, and Han, who had been sitting silently through the meeting, shot to his feet and shouted: "WHAT?!"

Leia pulled him back into his seat and Han sat down again with a thud, eyes turning to Leia in shock.

Mon Mothma didn't hear what Captain Solo said to Leia as the room erupted into chaos, everyone questioning and gasping and yelling at once.

She frowned, lost in memories that seemed to come from ages ago. She remembered the first time she had talked to Luke, shortly after the battle of Yavin. A Skywalker had come to turn the tide of battle once again, it had seemed.

But if Darth Vader, not Anakin Skywalker, was Luke's father, then what –

And then suddenly she knew.

She remembered Anakin Skywalker, the tall, grand Hero With No Fear, the poster boy for the Jedi during the Clone Wars.

She remembered rumors from the Clone Wars of Jedi who had just snapped, died on the inside. Fallen, the gruesome whispers had called it. Taken alive by the Dark.

She remembered the attack on the Jedi Temple that horrible night on Coruscant, how more whispers had said that no amount of Clonetroopers could have stormed the Temple and won, that it must have been an inside job.

She took a quick intake of breath as she came to terms with one of the most terrible acts of treachery she had ever seen.

Darth Vader, the Scourge of the Jedi, was Anakin Skywalker.

A/N: Reviews are better than chocolate! Can we have some? Please:-)