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ANAKIN'S REDEMPTION

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Chapter Twenty Two: Showdown

NO!" screamed Anakin, lunging forward. "Let her go you disgusting piece of –"

"Calm down Father," Luke whispered, pulling him back. "You won't help her like this."
Anakin closed his eyes and breathed. "She's going to kill Padme," he said helplessly.
"Remember what you taught me? Never rush in? Never let your attachments drive you to anger?" Luke reminded him quietly.
Anakin put his head down and nodded. "Yes. I have taught you well my son."
"We've been in this situation before," said Luke calmly. "We always find a way out."
"Not this time," laughed Jessa, clearly enjoying the entertainment. "I had planned to just kill her and send you the remains. But since you're all here, this could make quite a show. Unlike my father, I do not believe in overly elaborate and easily escapable executions. No Rancors or Sarlaac Pits for you. Guards, bring her to me!"

Two Gamorrean guards walked in dragging Padme between them. Her head hung down and her eyes were firmly on the floor.

"Padme!" Anakin called her name in anguish, and again had to be restrained by Luke. Padme did not look at him. He felt the familiar hatred and rage welling up within him. But without the ability to use the Force, he didn't get the same power that he once did. He just felt weak and helpless like he had his entire life. The guards shackled Padme to the same wall Han had once hung from in his carbonite prison.

"Now," said Jessa. "Kill her."
The guards raised their blasters.

"WAIT!"

The attention turned to Anakin. "Take me instead."

"You?" said Jessa. "Who are you? You are nothing to me. This woman killed my father. I must take one of her family as retribution. Guards -"

"I am Leia's father."

The guards hesitated, looking to Jessa for guidance. "Her father? I was under the impression her father was Darth Vader, is that not correct?" queried Jessa.
"I am Anakin Skywalker, formerly Darth Vader and the biological father of Leia. If there is a debt to be paid, let me pay it. She killed your father, now you may take hers. Just let Padme go."

Jessa paused and considered him for a moment. "Is this true, Princess Organa?" Leia looked at her father, her face filled with dismay. 'Y-yes. Yes he is. My true name is Leia Skywalker and this is my father."
"Very well," said Jessa. "The exchange may be made. But do not try anything funny or they will both be killed."
"Thankyou, Your Excellency," Anakin bowed to her.
"Father!" cried Luke. "Are you sure about this?"
"It is the only way I can save your mother," said Anakin, as a Gamorrean guard pulled him roughly away. "And the only way to make up to her all that I took away…"

Padme was released from the constraints. She ran into Leia's arms. "Oh Mother, thank goodness," breathed Leia.
Padme turned back to Anakin who was now being chained to the wall. "He – he saved me," she whispered. "He's giving up his own life for me."
"Yes, Mother," murmured Leia into Padme's ear. "He loves you."

Luke was torn, a mass of terror and confusion. He was in an impossible situation – either way one of his parents would die. He could not use the Force to stop the blasts, or choke the guards. He eyed his lightsaber, sitting beside Jessa. Without the Force he would never move fast enough to grab it and get back in time to stop the blasts. And they were surrounded by guards who would shoot him the moment he moved…

"Now," boomed Jessa. "No more interruptions, no more noble sacrifices."
"I need to say goodbye!" cried Leia, running forward. She was immediately stopped short by the guards turning blasters in her face.

She looked Anakin in the eye.

"I love you, Father."

Anakin nodded. "I love you too Leia."

"Enough! No more sentimental rubbish!" roared Jessa. "Kill him."

Suddenly a blast rang out, shattering the lights and plunging Jabba's palace into total darkness. Several more blasts sounded, before the guards joined in and soon the place was in chaos with blasts flying. "Get down!" cried Luke, grabbing Padme and throwing her down to the floor. He threw himself protectively over her.

There was a sudden snap-hiss and the blue blade of Luke's lightsaber shone through the darkness. There were sounds of grunts and groans, as the lightsaber slashed furiously in the air. Then abruptly, everything was silent save for the humming of the lightsaber. Luke raised his head from the floor and, to his surprise, saw Leia's face illuminated in the glow. Luke then realized that he could once again feel the Force flowing through him. He leaped up and used it to pull one of the guard's blasters to himself.

"What is this?" screeched Jessa. "Fix the lights! One of Jessa's many servants managed to light a lantern, revealing the scene around them. Gamorrean guards littered the floor, all shot dead. The ysalamiri cages were in pieces, scorched by blaster bolts, the ysalamiri blown to shreds. Leia was standing in the middle of the carnage, wielding Luke's lightsaber with a fierce expression on her face.

"KILL THEM! KILL THEM!" Jessa rocked back and forth on her podium, waving her arms frantically. The palace once again plunged into anarchy as various guards and bounty hunters scrambled for weapons while others dashed for cover. Han and Chewie were quick to acquire blasters and join the mêlée .

Padme lay frozen, curled up in a ball. After all those years living her peaceful, reclusive life, she was suddenly in the middle of all this shooting. Maybe if she closed her eyes it would all go away.

Opening one eye slightly, she saw her daughter boldly engaged in battle, swinging left and right with a lightsaber. Turning her head slightly, her son Luke was valiantly blasting guards.

Padme saw an image in her mind, someone she used to know. A young woman with a blaster in her hand. Her eyes were determined. This was a girl who knew what she wanted, who let nothing stand in her way.

The young woman was herself. Padme Naberrie Amidala. Youngest Queen of Naboo. Senator. Warrior. She had once fought off a vicious Nexu with no weapons. At 14, she'd kept blasters in her royal throne. She knew how to fight. That girl was still there, somewhere. She had not been destroyed, merely buried.

She shook herself and slowly rose to her feet. It was like waking up from a long sleep. Padme Skywalker had been curled up in fear for too long. No more.

She bent to retrieve a nearby blaster. She crouched in a corner and fired. Before she knew it she was taking out the attackers with deadly accuracy. She hadn't forgotten.

Luke turned and looked at her with a surprised smile. She nodded to him, a new focus in her eyes. This was her family, and she would protect them. The old Padme she had hidden for too long, was back.

Boba Fett stepped out and aimed his blaster towards Leia, who had her back turned. Sensing it immediately, she spun around and deflected the blast with the precision of a Jedi Master. Anakin wrenched his arms and legs, pulling the shackles clear out of the wall. "That's my daughter you're shooting at!" Anakin roared at Boba.

He flew out from his restraints and force pulled his own saber from Jessa, who was desperately clinging to it as though it might save her. With super speed he was suddenly in front of Boba. "No one shoots at Darth Vader's daughter, bounty hunter." Boba didn't even have time to feel afraid. With a slash Boba was gone.

Anakin and Leia made short work of the bounty hunters with their lightsabers, while Luke, Padme, Chewie and Han shot the rest with their stolen blasters. Soon it was just them and Jessa, still flapping around frenetically.

"Who wants her?" snarled Leia, brandishing Luke's saber threateningly.
"No," begged Jessa. "Don't kill me, don't kill me!"
"Father," said Leia, her eyes ablaze. "Would you like to do the honors?"
"No," said Anakin, regarding her peacefully.
"Well then," said Leia. "Allow me." She stepped forward, as Jessa cowered before her

"STOP!" commanded Anakin.

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Kent: Thanks for the reviews, you really put a lot of thought into them and I love reviews like that.
Just wanted to address a few things:
I'm really confused about your rant about cussing, I haven't used any swear words in this story. Not quite sure what you meant there, I don't even use cuss words in my NC-17 stuff, certainly not a G rated story.
About lightsabers being too fast: It did take several weeks. I just didn't spell it out because that would drag out the story.
About Mara Jade: Apart from the fact that she's a EU character and technically doesn't count in the canon Star Wars world, Luke doesn't know about her and doesn't find out until Tim Zahn's Heir To The Empire several years later. As for Obi-Wan and Yoda, they may have a reason not to mention her to Luke.
"Just because its AU doesn't mean you can just make stuff up." Uh, yeah it does! That's the very definition of AU! Besides, there's a lot of argument that she could have faked her death, see msg board on star wars dot com.
Wedge Antilles and other characters: Don't care about 'em. If they ain't Skywalker, they ain't interesting and ain't relevant to this story anyway.
Anyway hope that explains some things for you, and do keep reading because some things you've mentioned get explained later in the story!

Tigerstar: About Jessa: I made her up, she's named after someone I know (giggle)
Ysalamiri were invented by Tim Zahn...um you got me there on pronounciation...I say "sallameery" but that could be wrong. There is a book that explains all the aliens and characters with pronounciation, I'll check it next time I'm in the bookstore.

Sayuri: You're so funny, I hope you write a comedy story hahaha! I'll read it! Hmm, maybe I'll write a character called Sayuri Akimoto into my story, who just jumps out from behind corners to smash Padme with a vase. And then disappears. And everyone's like "What the heck was that???"

Darth Riven: Yes I know that Hutts are both but as you said, they can become female. There is one of the novels..can't remember which where there is a female Hutt who had been a male, one of the NJO I believe. I don't wanna fill up my story with unnecessary detail like Hutt reproduction though, especially at a critical moment...

On second thought, that could be funny...
Luke: This one seems to be a girl...
Han: Actually Luke, Hutts are both male and female and only become female during reproduction...
Luke: I didn't know that! How interesting Han, I never knew you knew so much about Hutts.
Han: Oh yes Luke, Hutts are a fascinating species! Did you know they give birth to live young?
Luke: Really? How exciting!
Jessa: Excuse me, can we get back to the killing please?!