Anakin could sense the stifled laughs of the officers. He didn't lose face, but he just pressed on.
"I can prove to you that I won't lie by not going on this. How can I possibly betray you if I'm watched during the entire mission?"
The officers seemed to consider this for a minute. He could sense that they were trying their best to disagree with them, but they couldn't pass this one.
"I endorse him," Luke said after a long moment. Luke knew that some of them might cede, such as Wedge Antilles, but he could never be sure.
"Me too," Leia said, standing up next to her brother. If this didn't work, then they could have troubles with it.
--
Tears were streaming down Anakin's cheeks. The people had only ceded because of Luke and Leia. They were heroes of the New Republic, and no one could really disagree with them. They, Han, Mon Mothma, and Admiral Ackbar had trusted him so far. Anakin could sense that that Wedge persona was beginning to trust him, but he wasn't sure how much yet.
A sharp knock came from the door. "Come in," Anakin called, trying to hid his sniffs.
"You can't hide tears from m," Luke chided, sitting on the edge of his father's bed.
"I should have known that," Anakin reprimanded to himself. "What do you want?"
"I want to have a father who doesn't care what other's think of him," Luke answered calmly. "You are learning to come down from power and ultimate fear of other's around .You learned to thrive on it. They don't understand what happened to you from lack of understanding of the Force."
Anakin didn't say anything. He knew Luke was right, and that Luke could only have learned this from Obi-wan. "How did you find Obi-wan?"
Luke took a deep breath as he remembered. "I intercepted the plans of the Death Star in R2. It said Obi-wan Kenobi. R2 ran away and I found him near Sand People. They attacked me, and Obi-wan revived me. He took me to his place and that's how I learned about you and the Force."
"I remember looking for those," Anakin reminisced. "I was stupid then."
Luke passed this off, but he knew is father was beyond stupid. "Tell me how you met my mother and Obi-wan."
"Obi-wan, his master Qui-Gon Jinn, and the Queen were plying back to Coruscant after trying to deal with the Trade Federation. That seemed to be the beginning of the Empire. Sort of like the border of a puzzle. They had lost their hyper drive and needed the part. They landed on Tatooine, where I was living at the time. They came to my master, Watto, hoping he had parts. They only had Republic Credits, so they tried bargaining. Qui-Gon found the Force strong in me, so he gambled for my freedom and the hyper drive part in the Boonta Eve Pod Race. I won, and was free to learn the Jedi ways. I was to leave my mother behind.
"I had met Padmé when Qui-Gon and Watto were bargaining. I fell in love with her, and later went against Jedi Law and married her. When the Clone Wars started, we were forced apart. She was a Senator and I a Jedi. We later had two children that she never knew. You and Leia were her children, my children."
"What about Obi-wan?" Luke laid his hands on Anakin's cold ones. His hand jerked with the cold, but then rested on them again.
"He became more than my mentor," Anakin responded. "He became the father figure I never had. He also became a brother to me. A trio wrapped in one."
"He was like that to me, too," Luke reminisced.
"Obi-wan was a better man than I am, Luke. Remember all that he did for anybody. He never hurt anybody without being attacked first. Use his lessons to guide you. You will achieve your goals if you just follow your heart."