A/N: Thank you soooo much to all of my reviewers! It means a lot to me that you guys are reading AND reviewing this story. : ) and that you like of course too. lol. This is a longer chappie than the others! Yay! Enjoy and review!

Chapter 12

As Janira was driving the ship, Anakin and Luke were having a playful discussion in the back. They were laughing together, enjoying a father son conversation that was long overdue. Anakin was doing everything that he could to not bring up what he had done in the past, afraid that it would hurt both him and his son. But at last, the question that Anakin had been dreading came up.

"There has been something that I've been meaning to ask you, father," Luke said softly.

Anakin cleared his throat. "Yes, my son?"

"What made you turn to the dark side, many years ago?" Luke asked while trying to make eye contact with his father, who was avoiding it.

Anakin sighed. "Honestly, I don't have the slightest idea. I didn't even know that Palpatine was the Sith Lord until Janira told me."

Luke furrowed his brow in thought. "Boy, I sure wish I knew what caused you to turn. Then maybe I could understand you better. But right now, it's hard to see any reasoning behind your turning, except for your lust for power."

Anakin placed a comforting hand on his son's shoulder. "I know, Luke, I know. I wish I understood it myself."

Just as the two men were contemplating on what to do next, a blue figure formed besides them. Luke was the first to look up, sensing the familiar presence.

"Obi-wan!" Luke exclaimed. On his first sighting of his old master, Luke felt relieved, for now maybe Obi-Wan could explain what had happened to his father. Obi-Wan was there, so shouldn't he know?

When Anakin, too, felt the familiar presence, he glanced up to see his old Master standing before him. Hearing his son say Obi-Wan's name, confirmed that he was in fact really there. His old Master was different from the way he remembered him. He was no longer the man with the brown beard and hair, instead he was much older. His hair was now white and wrinkles accented his features. Anakin even wondered for a moment if this really was the same man, but the presence that Obi-wan brought into the room confirmed it.

"Master…" said Anakin softly.

"Hello, Luke," Obi-wan said while looking at the boy, and then he turned to his former Padawan. "Anakin…"

"Boy am I glad to see you," Luke said.

"Yes, I sensed that you were confused and frustrated. I thought that I could be of assistance."

"I sure hope so," began Luke. "Could you possibly tell us why my father turned to the dark side of the force?"

Obi-Wan sighed and looked over at Anakin with sad eyes. "Nobody knows of his reasons for leaving the Jedi order. No one understood it. The best explanation I can give you is that his greed and lust for power led him into the darkness. The Emperor twisted his mind until he was no longer Anakin Skywalker, your father, but Darth Vader, your enemy."

"I was my own son's enemy?" Anakin blurted out.

"Oh yes, didn't anybody tell you? You tried to kill your own son," retorted Obi-Wan.

"But, I could never do that…" said Anakin while looking at his feet.

"Not only did you attempt to kill Luke, but you also aided in the death of your wife."

"What?" Anakin shouted as he stood to his feet, glaring at the transparent figure of Obi-wan before him. "You're lying…"

"Why would I lie to you? Luke asked me tell him all that I know, and I am responding. It is only my duty."

Pacing angrily around the compartment, Anakin never took his eyes off the floor. He was afraid of looking at Obi-Wan; he knew that his Master was telling the truth, but Anakin was not yet ready to face it. He could not bring himself to face the truth that he had harmed his wife in any way; he loved her too much. His master had to be lying, just as he had lied about the Jedi… Abruptly, Anakin stopped his pacing and looked straight at Obi-wan, realization hitting him straight on. All his memories came flooding back to him. Killing Count Dooku, killing Master Windu, raiding the Temple, killing Jedi, and finally attempting to kill Obi-wan. All these thoughts flooded the young Jedi's mind, giving him a painful headache, yet he had to tell his son and his master why he had done such horrible things.

Still looking at Obi-wan, Anakin said, "The Jedi were planning to take over the Senate."

"That is nonsense Anakin! Did Palpatine really twist your mind that much to make you believe such preposterous things?" Obi-Wan said harshly, while Luke just sat there, taking in all that he was witnessing.

"It wasn't only that," continued Anakin, "he told me things…"

"What things?"

"That I could save her… But to do so I needed to learn something that a Jedi could not teach, only a Sith."

"Save who? Padme? Well you did a fine job of that," Obi-wan said sarcastically.

"Yes, save Padme," while casting his former Master a glare. "I was having visions in my sleep that she would die in childbirth. I was so afraid of losing her that I would do anything; believe anything. Even if it meant betraying all I knew. I had to save her! No one understood, except Palpatine. He told me that he could teach me the art of saving people from death, and that I could learn this, but not from a Jedi. So I pledged myself to him."

"You could have spoken to Master Yoda or myself, Anakin. You didn't have to go through such extreme manners," reasoned the Jedi Master.

"You would have expelled me from the Order! I would have felt betrayed and even more alone!" argued Anakin.

"You felt betrayed and alone anyways, didn't you Anakin? You turned from the Order anyways, didn't you? Sounds to me like you were confused."

"But when I went with Palpatine, it was my choice! I held the power to do what I wanted! I would rather have broken my oath to the Jedi, rather than ever have to be expelled!"

"So it was your lust for power then. That and your fear of loss," Obi-Wan concluded softly.

"But it will not happen again," Anakin said strongly. "I will not let myself betray my family again. I swear it," Anakin finished as he looked at his son.

"If it makes you feel any better, Anakin, you sacrificed your own life in the end to save Luke. You returned to the light," replied Obi-Wan.

"I did?" he asked, astonished that he had done something good after all.

Obi-Wan only nodded his head before his form disappeared into the air, leaving father and son to once again indulge in conversation.

It was a few moments before either Jedi said anything. Both were unsure of what to think of the new situation, now that they knew what really happened to Anakin. They were both afraid of how the future would go now. Luke trusted his father's words that he would not do what he did again, but there was still a flicker of doubt in his mind. For just seeing Anakin sitting there with a look of deep concentration and awe on his face, brought the same feelings to Luke, creating the doubts to swirl in his mind. Luckily, the silence in the room was interrupted by Janira entering for the first time.

"What are you two up to?" she asked while looking around the room, with her gaze landing for a few seconds at a time on each of the Jedi.

"Oh, nothing important," replied Luke as he looked at Anakin, who was sitting with his eyes on the floor, still in deep concentration.

"Liar," Janira responded playfully, a smile spreading across her face. "I sensed someone in the room earlier. Now you have two choices. You can either tell me what happened, or you can tell me what happened."

Looking up, Luke too had a smile on his face. "Boy, that sure is a tough decision. What do you think, Father?"

Anakin shot his head up. "What?"

Luke and Janira both began laughing their heads off. Unfortunately, Anakin did not find everything so funny.

"I'm glad that you two find everything so hilarious, but I have a serious problem!" Anakin said firmly as he stood up.

"Sorry, Father," Luke replied while he looked at his feet.

"Wait a minute. What is going on here? Did I miss something?" Janira asked, very confused.

Luke took a deep breath and told Janira about the experience with Obi-Wan and the revelations that Anakin discovered. The whole time Luke was explaining, Anakin watched Janira's reaction carefully. He knew that she had already seen his past, but she did not know the reasons behind everything. Through the story, Janira did not seem too phased by any of it, actually, she didn't seem to care too much. At last Luke came to the end of his experience and looked at his apprentice expectantly.

She showed little emotion as she spoke. "Why is this such a big deal for everyone? We already knew what Anakin did. So we found out why. It still doesn't change anything."

"Yea, but it makes me understand so much more about him and why he did what he did. Of course, it still doesn't justify his actions, but still… I understand why so much more."

Anakin's eyes widened at what he was hearing. "I am appalled and sickened by what I did. Yet you two don't seem to mind. I am disgusted with myself, guilt tearing me apart, and you two are fine with it?"

"We are not fine with it, Anakin. But we only knew you as Darth Vader before. I guess we were used to what evil acts you were doing. And now that we know why you became Darth Vader, it makes us see that you were just confused and vulnerable. You shouldn't blame your self, Anakin It was Palpatine's fault. He was the one who twisted you and made you into his pawn of evil. Of course nothing you did was justified, but sometimes one believes that they must do something wrong in order to make it right. It is only human nature. Any human would have done what you did in order to save someone they loved dearly."

"But I was not supposed to be like everybody else!" Anakin cried. "I was supposed to be a Jedi! One who wasn't prone to normal human behaviors! I was supposed to be above all of that!"

"No one can be above all that, father. Even when you were a Jedi, you were still human," reasoned Luke.

Anakin looked down angrily, but didn't reply.

"I just need to think some things over," mumbled Anakin as he went into a room in the back.

Luke and Janira stared sadly after him, but neither of them said anything. Janira shook her head and sighed before she went back into the cockpit. Her Master stayed in the other room, though. He, like Anakin, wanted to think things over. But his thoughts were interrupted by Janira's voice coming in over the intercom.

"We're nearing Tattooine. Prepare yourselves for landing," she said.

Luke sighed and readied himself for his home planet. Deep down, Luke had absolutely no desire to go back there. So much pain was there that he did not want to remember, it was too sorrowful. He also sensed that his father did not want to go back either, for there lied one of his worst memories.

This is going to be a long trip, he thought as he felt the ship land.

A/N: I hope I did justice to Anakin's feelings... it was difficult... Hope you enjoyed the chapter though!

It is a fanfiction sin to read and not review!