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ANAKIN'S REDEMPTION

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Hello everyone and I'd like to thank you all for your support!

SSG Michael B Jackson: Thanks so much for your comments, I enjoy reading them. I look forward to getting to your fic as soon as I catch up to it!

Grace: Thanks for stopping by! To answer your question: yes, I suppose they shouldn't say "oh god." But to be honest, it's a pet peeve of mine when fanfics say "Oh gods" or "Oh the Force," or even "Oh Maker!" To me it sounds unnatural and it snaps you out of the story for a second. I prefer to stick to normal language, that's just me, and "Oh my god" is a more natural thing to say. Thanks for the feedback and hope you're enjoying the story.

Faith: Thanks! Your poems are so pretty.

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Chapter Seven – The Truth

She screamed.

The needle pierced her skin, sending poison coursing through her body.

The pincers burned her as she writhed and tried to get away.

There was nowhere to go.

The whole time he stood over her. He showed no mercy.

All she could see or hear was him.

His voice was everywhere.He was inside her mind.

She fought. She refused to let him in.

She was strong. She would not break.

She would not tell.

"TELL ME PRINCESS!"

"Never."

She imagined him smiling behind that cruel mask, as the sick black machine floated in front of her, finding new definitions of pain within her body.

She felt him searching her mind.

Get out!

He saw many things. Private things. All her memories.

But not them. She would not betray them.

He could kill her but she would not let him win. He would not find what he was looking for.

He pushed harder against her mind. She summoned what was left of her strength and pushed back.

And suddenly she could see into him

"Master Skywalker, there are too many of them, what are we going to do?"

She saw the blade rise.

No! He's only a baby!

NO!

"I don't know you anymore. Anakin, you're breaking my heart. I'll never stop loving you, but you are going down a path I can't follow."

"Because of Obi-Wan?"

"Because of what you've done . . . what you plan to do. Stop, stop now. Come back! I love you."

"Let her go, Anakin!"

She saw her mother fall.

NO!

Leia sat up, drenched in sweat and breathing hard.

It was only a dream.

Except it wasn't a dream. It had all really happened.

It was six years ago now. But she still saw it as clearly as if happened yesterday.

Leia looked down beside her. Han was fast asleep.

She got up and headed for the 'fresher. She stood under the steaming hot water, scrubbing herself as if she could wash him out of her.

But she couldn't. He was a part of her. He was in her very blood.

She could still hear the children screaming.

---

Leia was not happy.

Why were they all in her office? Why was HE in her office?

Somehow Luke had talked her into this. How, she wasn't sure.

The five of them sat in Leia's office around a selection of take away dishes such as roast bantha and gundark soup while Luke tried desperately to make everyone get along and pretend things were perfectly normal.

Leia frantically pounded away on her datapad, ignoring the others' pleas for her to relax and enjoy her dinner. Apart from trying to sort out the galaxy's problems, she was not enthused about sharing a meal with Darth Vader. She couldn't believe Han and Luke could just forget everything and sit there eating dinner like old pals. Well, just because they were stupid didn't mean she was.

Technically speaking, she was here against her will. What could she do when everyone just turned up in her office? She could have walked out…but it was her office! Why should she?

She couldn't believe that she was beginning to come off as the bad guy in all of this. Even Han was starting to take Vader's side. And now Chewie! What was wrong with all of them? Couldn't they see that he was still the same sick murderer he'd always been? Were they so fooled by this new handsome façade?

So what if he didn't wear the black helmet anymore? It was still him.

She shuddered, remembering her nightmare. She had seen what he was capable off, in and out of the mask.

Earlier that day, she'd seen him. He was standing in a hallway alone, probably waiting for Luke.

What if I just killed him, here and now? she found herself thinking. I could just pull out my blaster...problem solved. Goodbye Darth Vader.

She toyed with her weapon. Nobody's around...they wouldn't even know it was me. And so what if they did? Princess Leia kills Darth Vader. I'd be a hero!

All she had to do was take that shot and it would be all over. No more nightmares. She pulled it out.

She had the perfect shot. She lined him up in her sights.

Suddenly the weapon was gone from her hand. What the...

Leia spun around and found Chewbacca holding her blaster.

"Chewie! What are you DOING?"

/I can't let you do that/ he growled.

"Why?" she hissed, her blood boiling.

/I owe him a life debt./

"A WHAT? How can you owe him a life debt?"

/On Bespin. I threw a fit over Han, and Boba Fett aimed his gun to kill me. Vader stopped him./

Leia had just stared at him with a look of disbelief, shock, horror, confusion and rage on her face all at once. She couldn't even speak from rage.

It was RIDICULOUS the way everyone got suckered in by him. The man had hurt each and every one of them, but they all just opened their arms and let him

And now she had to actually sit and share dinner with him?

Why was Luke always bugging her to forgive him anyway? Why the hell did it mean so much to him? Didn't he understand what it was like to know that half of you was pure evil? Luke was in such denial. He needed to see his father as a good man to see himself as a good man.

Leia wasn't that naïve.

She'd sit there, but she wasn't about to join in and make friendly chit-chat. No way.

"Father, tell me more about our family," Luke was saying. "Who were your parents?"
"My mother was a slave named Shmi Skywalker. She was… the most wonderful woman." Leia pricked up her ears at the mention of her grandmother and listened curiously, whilst pretending not to.
"The best mother a kid could ask for," continued Anakin. "We were slaves to a Toydarian called Watto. We didn't have much but we were always happy. It was just the two of us, until the Jedi came and freed me. I didn't see her again until years later when she was kidnapped by Tusken Raiders. I tried to rescue her…but it was too late."

"Oh that's so sad!" exclaimed Han. Chewie and Luke both turned and frowned at him curiously. Even Leia raised an eyebrow from above her datapad.
"I mean…uh, I mean," said Han gruffly, puffing himself up. "That it's…well it is sad."
"Thankyou Han," said Anakin. "I didn't take it too well as you can imagine. I slaughtered the entire Tusken tribe."
"Good for you," said Han over a mouthful. "I would have done the same."
"Well I was a Jedi," sighed Anakin. "I should not have done it."
Han shrugged. "I still would have."

"Who was your father?" Luke changed the subject.

Anakin shrugged. "I never had a father."

"You mean you don't know who he is?"
"No, I mean there was no father. It was a strange anomaly in the force. My mother simply became pregnant," said Anakin.
"That's not possible," scoffed Han. Leia rolled her eyes.
"The Jedi said that it was the midichlorians trying to cause balance in the force. I was supposed to be a chosen one, created by the force itself."
"What the heck are midichlorians?" asked Han.
"They are the organisms that carry the force," explained Anakin. "We all have them, but Jedi carry them in higher concentrations which is how we get our powers."
"So that's what it is," realized Han. "That's a bit more scientific than the hokey rubbish Obi-Wan always spouted. That I can believe."

"How did you become a Jedi?" asked Luke.

"A Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn, crashed landed on Tatooine…"

Leia focused her attention back on her work. She was not the slightest bit interested in hearing about her evil father's former life. She became engrossed in her data pad instead.

"…we defeated Count Dooku, and it seemed that the Jedi were winning the war."

"You sound like you were some big time hero," said Han, who had been hanging on every word of the story. "How did you get so evil, or dark sideish, or whatever it's called?"
Anakin sighed. "I was tricked by Palpatine. He was head of the Senate at the time, and worked closely with the Jedi. I didn't know it at the time, but he was grooming me to be his new apprentice. He placed thoughts in my mind, made me doubt the Jedi Council..."

Leia tried very hard to block out his words. She did not want to hear Vader's pathetic excuses for why he had thrown his life away, and become such a monster. She considered getting up and leaving the room. She was only sitting there because it seemed so important to Luke.

"…I turned on everyone, including Luke and Leia's mother…"

Leia's skin crawled at the mention of her name. How dare he even speak her name? She stopped listening and returned to her messages.

"…I loved her so much…I still don't know why I did it. Obi-Wan came, he tried to stop me, but we fought, and as you know, I ended up face first in lava, burning alive. Palpatine rescued me, and had me put into the suit to survive. After that I was his slave. I lost much of my strength in the force."

"You lost your abilities in the force because you were injured?" asked Luke.
"Yes, I think so," said Anakin. "But also more because I lost my will to live. I just didn't care anymore. Without Padme...I just gave up and blindly followed Palpatine."

"Oh Father," sympathized Luke.

"I was never quite the same after I lost your mother. Sometimes I still can't believe she's dead."

"Dead? My mother isn't dead!" said Leia absently, absorbed in her datapad.
"What!" Luke and Anakin turned to her in shocked surprise.
"Yes she is," said Anakin. "The Emperor told me. I saw the funeral on a holovid."

"No she's not," murmured Leia, still concentrating on her work. "She's very much alive and living on Naboo." She was met with stunned silence from Luke and Anakin. Han and Chewie looked confused.

Leia looked up, suddenly realizing what she had told them. "I shouldn't have told you that," she said with wide eyes, looking at Anakin. She shook her head in horror. "I shouldn't…oh I shouldn't have…oh God…"

Anakin slowly rose and took her by the shoulders.

"Are you telling me that Padme is still alive?"