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ANAKIN'S REDEMPTION

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CHAPTER TWO: Confronting the Past

Luke wondered what all the commotion was as the ship landed on Endor. The whole forest moon seemed to be lit up, and as the hatch opened, Luke and Anakin could hear raucous cheering and loud music overwhelming the normally peaceful natural environment.

"What is all that noise?" Luke wondered out loud.
"They're celebrating the destruction of the Death Star," replied Anakin. "And the end of the Empire."
"Oh yes," said Luke, suddenly realizing. He turned to his father. "In that case…maybe it's best you wait in the ship. It will take a lot of explaining for Leia and Han to understand why Darth Vader is coming to his own defeat party."
Anakin nodded with a slight smile. "Yes, I think you're right. I might not be the most welcome guest at this particular event. Anyway I need to rest. My lungs are not completely healed. Enjoy your celebration Luke. You earned it."

Luke spotted Leia and Han celebrating amongst the Ewoks. He strode triumphantly towards them. Leia smiled with joy and ran into Luke's arms. Han shook his hand and hugged him. Luke allowed himself to finally relax and enjoy himself. Things were good. Things were very good. The Emperor had been defeated, the galaxy was free. He had found his sister. His father had been freed from a life of evil servitude. He was the hero of the galaxy. For the first time in his life, Luke was truly happy.

He turned, sensing something. There, standing to the side were the spirits of Obi-Wan and Yoda. They were smiling at Luke. Luke nodded to them. They had been so very wrong about his father. But he could never have done any of it without them.

Anakin laid back, weary from the days events. He felt strange. He felt free. In his life, he had never known what that feeling was. Now he had finally found freedom. He was filled with joy, and as he was he felt his lungs expand. It seemed Luke was right. The more he took in the light side, the more his body healed.

"Well, well, well," a familiar voice spoke up. "Look who decided to join us here on the light side." Anakin raised his head. His eyes widened when he saw the blue glowing spirit of his former mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi flickering before him.
"Obi-Wan!" he exclaimed.
"Yes, it's me. Funny, I once said you'd be the death of me, and it turns out I was right after all."
"Yes…I did kill you…but you let me kill you. Why did you just stand there like that, why did you let me strike you? And why did you disappear like that?" asked Anakin. He felt like he had a million questions to ask and couldn't get them all out.
"During my years of exile – I guess I have you to thank for that – I studied under our former Master Qui-Gon. You might remember him, you were only a young boy at the time."
"Yes I remember," said Anakin. "He was the one who discovered me. But he died before he could train me..."
"Well," continued Obi-Wan. "He has discovered the pathway to eternal life. He taught me all he knew about the force. Qui-Gon was indeed a wise master. Very knowledgeable about the living force. The Jedi Council never agreed with his ways. But perhaps they should have…look where they – we – ended up."

Anakin dropped his head in shame. "Obi-Wan…this is probably much too little too late…but I must apologize…for everything…what I did to you…the Jedi…the younglings…there are not enough words to explain how sorry I am. I'm sure my words are meaningless to you. But for what it's worth, I am truly sorry and I have paid for my mistakes."

"I do accept your apology, Anakin. "And it does mean a lot to me, to hear you say it. But I feel it is I who also must apologize to you."
Anakin raised his head in surprise. "You apologize to me? What for? You were a great master, a loyal friend…I threw it all away…"
"Yes Anakin, you did," nodded Obi-Wan thoughtfully. "You followed Palpatine and pledged yourself to the dark side. That was your decision and yours alone. But I am not without some responsibility. As your Master, I should have taught you better – "
"I don't hold you responsible for my actions," interrupted Anakin. "Yes I was your Padawan, but I was a grown man when I made my decisions. If I had still been a youngling, then yes maybe you could be held to blame. But I was an adult, I was a full Jedi, and I knew what I was doing."

"You have become wise," said Obi-Wan approvingly. "But as a Master, I could have done many things differently. I could have kept a closer eye on Palpatine, for one thing. I should have said or done something about you and Padme, instead of turning a blind eye." Anakin visibly flinched at the sound of her name. Obi-Wan went on. "I could have prevented a lot of what happened, had I opened my eyes and seen what was going on around me. And, as I said to you in Mustafar, I failed you Anakin. And I failed you twice. Once you turned I thought it was too late. Yoda and I believed once a Sith, always a Sith. I should have tried harder to bring you back. I came to Mustafar with the intent to kill you. And I should never have left you there to burn. I may not have become a Sith, but was I not also acting in anger? Is that not also the dark side? I may have been fighting for the side of right, but the dark side is the dark side, no matter what cause you use it for. And surely, allowing a good friend and apprentice to take the dark path, without even attempting to save him makes me no better than Palpatine himself."

Anakin stared at him for a long moment. "You are much too hard on yourself. You tried to stop me. You tried to save...
P-Padme…from me. You did all you could."
"Thankyou Anakin," said Obi-Wan. "You truly have returned. All these years I believed you were dead. Luke was the only one who could still see you there inside Vader. Your son is indeed a fine young man."
Anakin glowed with pride at the mention of Luke. "Yes he is. And a great Jedi…"
"…like his father before him,' finished Obi-Wan. "Take care my old friend. We may meet again."

"Thankyou Obi-Wan," Anakin called after him, as the spirit disappeared into the force. He laid back on his bed, thinking

The party had lasted until well into the morning. Han and Chewie finally rose to make some much needed repairs to the Falcon. Leia busied herself preparing breakfast, and in typical Leia fashion, doing a thousand things at once by also communicating with various Rebel Leaders and Senators and generally trying to run the galaxy single handedly. As she passed one of the windows, Leia spied a strange figure walking through the forest. Something about him was familiar to her, and caught her curiosity. She grabbed her macrobinoculars to get a better view. The man was completely bald and strangely scarred. As he turned she got a glimpse of his face. He appeared to be human, but his face was also scarred, like a burn victim. It took Leia a moment to figure out who he was. She had never seen this burned, disfigured man before. But one look at the suit, the cape, those gloves…

"Vader!" she screamed. "It's Darth Vader! He's supposed to be dead! Luke, Luke come and see, he's here, he's found us, we have to get out of here!"
Luke walked up behind her. "Calm down Leia. I know."
Leia spun around. "You know? How, you sensed it? Why didn't you warn us, we have to run!"
"No we don't," said Luke calmly. "He's no danger to us anymore."
"No danger? NO DANGER? Have you lost your mind? He is the most evil man in the galaxy! How the hell did he survive the Death Star blast anyway?"
Luke shrugged. "I rescued him."
"You WHAT?" shrieked Leia. "You…oh god, I have to sit down…you rescued…you… oh Luke, you fool...how could you…oh my god…"
"He's not evil anymore," insisted Luke.
"Not…not evil? Oh Luke how stupid can you be? People don't just stop being evil. You can't just turn it off with a switch! He's DARTH VADER Luke. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Darth VADER."
"He has turned back from the dark side of the force," explained Luke. "He's good again."
Leia rose to her feet. "Good again. GOOD again? How can you say it like you're talking about the weather. Do I have to spell it out for you? PEOPLE LIKE DARTH VADER DO NOT JUST TURN GOOD AGAIN!"
"Well…." said Luke. "…he did."
Leia looked at him like he had turned into a Hutt. "My brother is a naïve fool. I can't…oh I can't believe you've done this Luke. Just when we thought we were free of the Empire. Oh…"
"It's okay, Leia."
"Okay? It's NOT okay Luke. Nothing is okay. It may never be okay again. Oh god, I have to do something, I have to evacuate everyone, we need a plan of attack. I'll make some calls...yes...maybe Mon Mothma will know what to do."
"Leia," said Luke, trying to stop her as she pushed past him.
"I can't speak to you right now Luke," she snapped. "Just don't come near me for a while. A long while."

Luke sighed. Han appeared in the door just as Leia stomped through it. He looked back at her and then at Luke. "What did you say to her, kid?" he asked in bewilderment.
Luke shrugged. "You know Leia."

Luke was still shaking his head over Leia's outburst as he approached the shuttle he and Anakin had escaped in. He found his father trying to make repairs on the shuttle with his one hand.
"Hello Luke," he said without turning around.
"Morning, Father," said Luke. "How are you feeling?"
"Better. Much better. It's a miracle. I can breathe more clearly all the time!"
"Wonderful, Father," said Luke warmly.
"How was the party? How is everyone?"
"The party was fun. Everyone's fine. But you might want to stay clear of Leia for some time though," warned Luke.

"Ah," said Anakin. "I expected that she might not be overcome with warm daughterly feelings toward me. Does she know?"
"If you mean does she know you're our father, then yes, she knows. Though she didn't react much when I told her, strangely enough. But she sure reacted when she found out you're still alive, and here on Endor with us."
"I'm sure she did," mused Anakin. "I can imagine I'm not her most favorite person."
"She'll come around," said Luke. "She acts tough, but she's quite soft deep down."

"You really do see the best in everyone, don't you Luke?"

Luke shrugged. "I try. Didn't see much in Jabba the Hutt though." Anakin laughed.
"It's a good trait Luke, a good trait. Speaking of good, I had a visit from an old friend last night," Anakin told him.
"Really?" Luke was surprised. "Who? Who knows you're here?"

"Obi-Wan," answered Anakin. "He visited me."
Luke's face was a vision of disbelief. "He did? But..but…he said – he thought…"
"That I was dead?" smiled Anakin. "That I was Vader and could never return? I think up until last night, he still believed that. But now he has seen with his own eyes. He admitted he was wrong. He took the blame for a lot of things. But I couldn't let him do it. It would be easy for me to say 'I turned because Obi-Wan pushed me on Mustafar', or 'I turned because the Jedi never listened to me.' But I was a grown man Luke, I can't blame anyone but myself. Yes Palpatine tricked me, but who's the more foolish...the fool or the fool who follows him?"

Luke suppressed a smile. "You're sounding more like Obi-Wan every day."
"Well I could do worse than become like Obi-Wan," laughed Anakin.
"But aren't you angry at him?" asked Luke. "For cutting you and leaving you to burn?"

Anakin sighed. "It was the only way to stop me. I was trying to kill him. Before that I had killed all the children in the Jedi Temple. I was arguing with your mother when Obi-Wan turned up. Then we fought – we fought for a long time until Obi-Wan got the higher ground and was able to disarm me. He cut of my legs and left arm with one stroke. I fell and slid into the lava, where I caught fire. But I don't blame him for any of that. I mean, of course I did, but if I'm really honest with myself I can only blame me in the end. I suppose he could have pulled me out of the lava, then Palpatine could not have found me…"

"Why didn't he?" asked Luke, horrified. "Why did he just leave you there? He was your friend!"
Anakin shook his head. "I don't know. We talked about it last night. Obi-Wan believed that once one turned to the dark side, it was too late. That is what we were always taught as Jedi."

Luke nodded. "Yes, he didn't believe you could be saved. I tried to tell him there was good in you but he wouldn't hear it. He said Anakin Skywalker was dead and you were more machine than man. He tried to talk me out of saving you. When I said I couldn't kill my own father, he said that then the Emperor had already won. He really believed that the only way to defeat you was to kill you. But if I had…I'd probably be sitting beside Palpatine right now."

"Yes," agreed Anakin. "Obi-Wan is a great man and he taught me well. His faults are the faults of the Jedi training, not his own. When I was a boy, there was an ancient prophecy about a 'Chosen One' who would bring balance to the force by defeating the Sith. They thought that I was this chosen one and that I would one day destroy the Sith. In the end even Yoda had started to doubt this prophecy. He thought that perhaps the Jedi had misread it. I don't know if I even believe in prophecies, but I do think now that you can't destroy Sith by killing them, as we once believed. Obi-Wan came to Mustafar to kill me, and he pushed me further into the dark side. Another Jedi, Mace Windu, tried to kill Palpatine, and got killed instead. You tried to kill me, and you almost fell yourself. But I think you may be the first person to unlock the secret to defeating the Sith Luke."

"I am?" questioned Luke. "How?"

"You save them."