A New Face

Luke would have preferred that his father end the suffering immediately but Anakin assured him a few days wouldn't make any difference and Luke bent to his wisdom while informing Mon of the action his father planned to take. She too was nervous but she trusted Luke's judgment. Luke smiled at the Kaminoes. "I trust you know the expense of such a procedure. This place was once shut down by the Emperor who feared an army of one man turning on him, but we've managed to keep a few things hidden, disguised. We have never cloned a Jedi before.

"Nor will you," Anakin stated. "You will be adequately compensated for the expense. And your discretion."

"There is a lot of expense involved in regrowing your limbs..."

"Skywalker...Anakin Skywalker," he repeated.

"The Hero With No Fear?" Anakin winced at the old title. It was one of many titles they had called him during the wars. She hoped she didn't enumerate his deeds during the war or his other titles. "We cannot accept your credits. Your victories and your sacrifices for Kamino have been told to me since I was a youngling. We thought you had perished during the purges."

"Due to an order put in by your Clones."

"You must understand the Kaminoes had no choice. Lord Tyrannus..."

"You mean Count Dooku..."

"I was under the impression that the Kaminos didn't have any loyalties."

"We are loyal to those loyal to us. For example Boba Fett."

"Boba Fett is alive?" Luke asked. "I thought he perished at Jabba's Palace."

"Boba is still recovering from a...rancor pit?" the Kaminos asked.

"Yes," Luke replied. "Now back to the procedure involving my father.

"Anakin Skywalker, you are the son of Anakin Skywalker."

"Was it not true that Jedi could not marry?"

"Yes," Anakin replied. "However, Luke's mother was the sun in a void. This is not about me. This is a business deal nothing more," Anakin replied darkly. "We are not here to discuss my life or lack there of, or the passing of my beloved wife. I would like to speak to the doctor who will be performing the operation."

"Yes, of course."

"I apologies on my father's behalf. This is of a very personal nature," Luke replied trying to soften the blow his father had dealt. I have been very patient in answering their questions, but enough is enough. No one has dared question me since I was a padawan. Anakin said through their force-bond. Luke just shook his head. It had to be demeaning to answer so many questions and he had been patient for him. In fact, it had been days since he had used the Force for anything other than communication.

"Yes, of course."

"I will see to the Doctor. It will be a moment."

Anakin looked down at the remnants of a Jedi robe and tunics that Luke had found for him. He had found form-fitting gloves and boots to not make him look so robotic. He opened and closed his right arm. He knew his injuries were extensive, he may never be the man he had been, but he wanted to.

"Father can I ask you..."

"How this happened to me?" Anakin inquired.

"Yes."

Anakin would never be less than honest with his children. "After I joined the Emperor, I went to check on your mother, and let her know where I would be just in case anything happened. I took Artoo with me. He had dispatched me after my assault on the Temple to dispatch the Separatists. Do you want to record this?" Anakin asked. Luke nodded and pulled out the holo-recorder.

"The Emperor sent me to Mustafar to deal with the CIS leaders. I had already dispatched Count Dooku or Lord Tyrannus, Dark Lord of the Sith, Leader of the CIS, on an earlier mission, so the only way to end the war was to finish the job. While I was gone, Obi-Wan visited my wife and he told her that I had joined the Emperor and just who and what he was. She was worried, and heavily pregnant. She knew I would protect her, I just had to find her. But...it didn't turn out like that. I was drunk on the power of the dark side. Some things the Emperor had said wouldn't leave my head. When I saw Obi-Wan on her cruiser, I couldn't think straight. Obi-Wan was my mentor, my best friend, and your mother represented everything good in my life. I couldn't understand how they could betray me, and I was sure they had," Anakin felt something wet on his cheeks and realized he had been crying. Even as his voice hitched and he felt Luke lay a hand on his shoulder.

"I thought I had killed her. But I couldn't have or you and Leia wouldn't be here. I did something I promised I would never do. I used the Force against her. I frightened her and then Obi-Wan and I fought. I put myself at a handicap. I gave him a true fight, instead of going in for the kill, there were several times I could have killed him, but I respected Obi-Wan. He had taught me everything I knew. But I had already achieved a mechanical arm in another fight. He gained the advantage by using the Force to reverse the polarity in my arm, but I wasn't out of the running yet. We fought above the lava of Mustafar, destroyed all the securities keeping the lava at bay."

Anakin's voice had become hollow as he continued, "Somehow, he had gained the high ground, and even then he warned me. But I was tired of his teachings, tired of living in his shadow. I thought I was more powerful, and I jumped intending to deal him the killing blow and instead, he took my remaining limbs. I fell and rolled into the lava. I should have died. It would have been a kindness to kill me. It would have been a kindness to kill me, but he left me for dead and I swore revenge. It was a real dark place for me, even as I watched him pick up my lightsaber and leave with my wife." There were more memories, but that was what Luke had asked for. "I was a Jedi Knight when Order Sixty Six went down, the Order to exterminate Jedi."

Luke now understood more of the conversation between his father and the Kamino. There was a darkness within his father, but there was light too. That had been one of his father's worse moments, that was true, and he couldn't understand how his father could get to that dark place, and he hoped he never would.

"But Father we can make it better. You have destroyed the Emperor and the Empire, and we will make things work."

"I don't deserve amnesty, Luke."

"We can make it right, Father."

"Perhaps, my son. There are many sins upon my soul. I don't deserve to be anything but a monster."

"Father, how can you say that?"

"You don't know what I've done. I willingly joined the Emperor. I wasn't forced. I listened to the wrong advise and made my mistake, one self-less act doesn't make up for that."

"And being the Hero With No Fear? I want your help in rebuilding the Jedi Order, in finding the hidden Jedi. If anyone can find them it would be you."

"I spent two decades wiping out the Jedi."

"So now use your powers for good," Luke admonished. The Doctor walked in.

"Mr. Skywalker."

"Actually, Doctor, it's General," Anakin replied. He had never been simply Mr. Skywalker.

"Their appears to be a number of things we will have to do to get you in optimal peak performance. The poisoning of your lungs has weakened them, which you already know since I have had a chance to review your medical file. It appears your skin hasn't seen daylight in decades, so once the regrowth is done you will burn easily. You may be weak for several weeks while your limbs are regrown and readjust to your body, given the sensors time to work, to adjust to your body temperature and regulate the movements. These will be just like your old limbs, General Skywalker. The extensive damage to your lungs may take months to remove, especially since the poison functioned as a parasite, feeding off of your lungs, without killing you. It's a wonder you are still breathing, General. Your skin will have to be regrown, and in time you should see eyelashes, eyebrows, and hair returning. You will look and become the man you haven't been in over two decades."

Anakin Skywalker thought about it. He would look like the man he had been when his life yet lived. He didn't deserve it. It was the reason he hadn't had this done before. The technology had existed, he himself had worked on making robotic arms more human-like even though he hadn't used it himself. He had replaced his own limbs several times over the years, as his trust in the Emperor had decreased to a point where there was treachery from both him and the Emperor. Take the Emperor's Hands for example. They were supposed to be secret, they were Force-users that all had the intention of taking his place, since they suspected the loyalty he held for the Emperor was hollow. He had several Hands, and none of them knew about the others. But he had known. There was something about the Hands that bothered him, he just couldn't put his finger on it. "Thank you, Doctor. I would like to proceed immediately. And I must have your discretion."

"Absolutely. A doctor isn't a doctor without a code. Much like the Jedi, I am told." Anakin's lips thinned, wondering if she knew everything about him and was mocking him.

"The Jedi," he spit out the word, and his eyes flashed yellow, "knew nothing of loyalty. Breathe a word of this and your fate will be the same as theirs."

"Father," Luke stood up placing himself between the doctor and the man who had been Darth Vader. "Doctor, I apologize. You see my father left the Jedi Order on very bad terms. He's been under a lot of stress lately. Once this is completed, he will feel like his old self again." Luke watched as his father's eyes reverted to their normal hue.

"Of course, Commander. If you will both come this way, we will get your father more comfortable and begin the operation immediately. No time to waste."

Luke and Anakin were led into a sterile room where Luke helped his father into a hospital gown. Luke was able to feel fear, his father was afraid. It was why his mental sheilds had slipped, and why he had reacted so terrible. It was how Vader had acted, and Vader wasn't completely vanished. Anakin placed a hand on Luke's arm. "There is a Jedi that I have never harmed. I do not know where she has gone, but I can find her. I have never sought her out, and am surprised she stayed hidden."

Luke's ears perked up. "Who is she?"

"She was...my apprentice, my padawan."

"How can she be a Jedi if she was your apprentice?" Luke asked.

"She was given to me by Master Yoda and Obi-Wan for me to train in the ways of the Jedi. She was expelled from the order through no fault of her own. Ahsoka Tano," and with that the world faded away as Luke was left astounded. His father was going to help him. He would help him rebuild the Jedi Order. Starting with Ahsoka, and his father.