Anakin opened his eyes. He blinked them shut immediately. The light seemed so bright. He was aware of a presence near him. Slowly he cracked his eyes open to peer to his right. Luke sat there, dressed in a plain hospital robe.

Suddenly the memory of recent events flooded into him. He sucked in a deep breath and it disoriented him further to realize that he could suck in a deep breath. There was no horrible, rasping sound. He blinked his eyes open, daring the light and immediately realized there was no helmet view screen filtering his vision. He flexed automatically and realized he had a right hand he could flex. He glanced at Luke, who opened his mouth but didn't say anything.

He rose his hand and scratched an itch on his brow. No helmet blocked his way and fuzz hit his finger. He blinked. Hair. He scratched the top of his head. Stubble. His hair was growing back. Impossible. His burns had been to severe to allow it to return. Yet there it was. He took note of his hand, which looked like flesh and blood. It was a top of the line prosthetic, modern and normal looking. Most people would never be able to tell it apart from a real one.

He pushed himself up. And as he sat up and looked around he realized suddenly his other arm somehow felt different. He pulled it up and it matched the other. He looked at Luke, who had a faint, hopeful smile on his face. Clearly, he hoped he'd be pleased. He shifted his legs. It turned out they moved fine too. They felt strong. He carefully glanced under the light blanket covering him. He wore a light set of pajamas and the sight of his legs and feet made him blink wildly. He looked at Luke again.

Bewildered he said, "What did you do?"

"Saved you. They had to use some new experimental techniques, but it worked. How do you feel?"

"Ah...strong." He was surprised. "I thought I told you to leave me?"

Luke gave him a look of fierce pride and determination. "I told you I wouldn't."

Anakin stared in mild amazement. Perhaps parents who raised their children had opportunity to witness the way they combined the traits of the father and mother. For Anakin, finding out his son was still alive, it was a new source of wonder. His sheer stubborn determination to save him reminded him of his own refusal to let go of those he loved during the Clone Wars. And his refusal to abandon hope, well, that faith came of his mother.

"Impressive medical care you have here." He finally remarked. "I've been in that thing for your entire life."

Luke nodded slowly. "Time you were out then."

Glancing around and using the force almost without thinking, Anakin sensed no-one near them. No guards, no-one watching. "Does anyone know I'm here? Who I am?"

"Uh … not entirely."

"21B knows your my Father. I asked him not to tell anyone else. No one else knows anything."

"How did you manage that?"

"Well, you shed some of the armor before. You already had me take the helmet off. And I took off some of the uniform. They had no reason to recognize you."

"You lied to them?" Anakin instantly had misgivings. The lie he and Padmé had been forced to live had helped destroy them. If only they'd been able to share the truth with the Jedi, or Obi-Wan. He should've been able to tell Obi-Wan no matter what he feared.

"Not exactly. I just failed to mention where you'd been. I did say you'd been on life support."

Anakin shook his head. "It has to come out eventually. What about your friends? You lied to them too? Wait, are they all right? Leia? Your..." Anakin cut short.

"You figured out it was her, huh?" Luke flushed. "I guess I didn't keep that secret very well. Yes. They're fine."

"It sure came as a shock to me." He'd been a fool. How could he not recognize how like Padme she was, with her feisty, stubborn determination for what she believed was right? Had he been afraid to see it?

"Actually, there is someone missing." Luke said carefully. He hesitated to continue. Anakin waited. Clearly Luke wasn't sure about sharing this information.

"Obi-Wan should've been here by now. Or called at least."

Anakin stared at him. His last encounter with Obi-Wan had been an incredibly near miss on the first death star. Luke had run to rescue the droids - one of them an Artoo unit, which intelligence had found later had carried the Death Star plans. No plans, no way to destroy the Death Star. He'd nearly been overwhelmed by the stormtroopers when Obi-Wan unexpectedly broke off his duel, leaped into their midst and helped him escape. He had not gotten away undamaged, at least one shot had nicked him. In fact, the very leap seemed more than he could manage given how much his power seemed to have faded. Now he had an idea why he was so highly motivated. For a moment there, he thought Obi-Wan was going to let him kill him. He still suspected he had intended too.

"Well…if I might ask, where did he go?"

"We got word that some of our people who we thought were dead were actually crashed and had been stranded on a planet for the last few years. He knew some of them and went to check it out. It was surrounded by Imperial patrol lanes so he figured one person could make his way in and check it out better than a group. Of course, he was also complaining he was too old for this…"

Anakin blinked rapidly. "It's not physical age. He's just had a hard life."

Luke shifted uncomfortably. "Because of you?"

Anakin's smile flickered. "He put me in that mask Luke, not vice versa." Memories of burning on Mustafar made the smile fade. He had felt so betrayed. In fact, he had betrayed Kenobi. Never had he been so cognizant of how his own emotions could lie to him before. "But I know I broke his heart. He was my best friend." He considered for a moment. "And I'm sure I gave him the gray hair. Started that long before I fell in fact." He observed ruefully. "He tried to talk me out of that fight, out of that final jump that scarred me for life. So, yes, I had something to do with making his life harder. Or at least, more complicated." He paused, thinking. "Do you know where he went?"

"Yes."

"Got a datapad?"

"Sure." Luke blinked and handed him a datapad he'd been perusing. Anakin punched in commands and handed it over. Luke blinked at it as he took it.

"Try this. Scan the imperial frequencies on there and run that decryption algorithm. If anyone captured or … well, spotted him, they would've tried to contact me or the Emperor. They still might be trying too."

Luke grinned rising and headed for the door. "Thanks."

Anakin shook his head. "No more than I owe."

"I'll be right..." Rather abruptly Luke crashed into a small astromech who was blocking his passed. He'd been busy studying the data. "Artoo! I'm just going to the ..."

Artoo squealed, shook his head negatively.

"Artoo, I'm fine! And I'm only going to run this ..."

Anakin's eyes widened in recognition. Not only the blue and white form, but every beep and whistle was familiar.

"Artoo-Detoo?"

The droid squawked to a halt. He swiveled his domed head to face Anakin. He nudged forward. Luke fell back and sat. Artoo rolled in and he tried to move passed him again. Artoo let out a scolding series of beeps and retreated to the door. Luke sat down again, frowning, and looked at his father. Anakin had a hand over his mouth, trying to hide the half smile.

"Artoo, I don't need a baby sitter."

Artoo ignored this and carefully rolled up to Anakin. He studied him for a moment then started squealing and rocking in excitement.

Artoo stared at him. Suddenly a holo appeared, he and Obi-Wan fighting.

Anakin flushed and looked away. "I know Artoo. I know I … really went wrong." He refused to look at the image further. Memories of the fire and sulfur and smoke of his own burned flesh. His unreasoning rage at Obi-Wan and Padm´e, triggered entirely by his own guilt and self anger was something he'd need to meditate on and accept. It was a day of crimes of horrid consequence.

The droid whistled questioningly.

"I fell for Palpatine's lies. It's a long story." How could you explain it to a droid? "It's kind of like you letting someone trusted you to reprogram you and they lied and turned you into a bomb or something."

The droid gave an unhappy sound.

Someone knocked some sense into my head." Anakin glanced at Luke with a warm, proud smile.

Luke felt an undeniable flush of warmth as he realized Anakin was proud of him.

"How did you two end up together?" Anakin asked Luke.

Luke was staring in bewilderment. "He was Leia's. He carried the Death Star plans."

"Of course he did. What other droid would be trusted with something like that." He grinned, ignoring the scar tissue it stretched.

Artoo bleeped cockily.

"Do you actually understand him?" Luke suddenly gasped, the implications of the conversation suddenly sank in.

"Yeah, don't you?"

"Some. How do you know him?"

"He was your Mother's. She gave him to me to take care of me during the Clone Wars. Well, she said she wanted me to take care of him, but it was easy to tell who was really taking care of who."

Artoo beeped proudly.

Luke's jaw hung open at this. "My Mother?"

"You did know you had one, right?" Anakin said dryly, even as agony ripped through his heart. Padmé. His dear wife. He'd broken her heart in his effort to save her. Suddenly it registered that if Artoo had witnessed him fighting Obi-Wan, then he probably had a holo of what he did to Padmé. Nausea gripped him at this. He didn't want Luke to see that. He had only just forgiven him. Could he forgive that? He hadn't even been able to forgive himself. Would Artoo keep silent if he asked him too?

Luke wanted to inquire further. But the sudden flare of pain in his father made him pause. He wanted to ask if he loved her. But he realized he didn't need to. He could sense his love for her, his sense of loss. He felt a profound relief at this. His mother was clearly not just some woman that passed through is Father's life.

Artoo beeped abruptly grabbed the datapad out of Luke's hand and rolled to the door.

"I guess he'll take care of it." Anakin remarked.

Luke and Anakin fell silent, partly because they were both still weary from their shared battle. The medical droid came in and gave Luke a cursory check and ran more tests on Anakin.

"Your body is responding well. However, your system will need some time to adjust to a more natural chemical balance. Also you should not overtax your immune system at this stage. How are you feeling?"

"I'm disoriented. My stomach is doing loop the loops and my sinuses hurt." His limbs did too, but that was phantom limb pain and the remains of the limbs getting used to the new prosthetics attached.

"That is because you've been on an unusually liquid diet. The sinuses are reacting because they have to readjust to normal air with particulates. It will be worse when you first go planet side and you should have medication before attempting it."

"Bleah." Luke murmured from the other side of the room.

Anakin's smile flickered, stretching old scars. "I did eat solid food occasionally."

"However, even that was concentrated." The droid clearly knew his limitations.

"Are you trying to make me hungry? Suddenly I'm realizing I haven't had decent food in Luke's entire lifetime."

"That was not my intention. I would suggest started with the healthy, light appetizers rather than a main course or dessert."

"So don't go downing a case of corellian ale?"

"That would not be advisable until you are further along in treatment."

"Figures. Thanks doc. When can I … ah … get out of the infirmary?"

"You might rather soon, but I would not recommend strenuous activity for at least a week. Even then you should keep an inhaler and certain medication with you."

"Beats the way I've been living." Anakin mentally considered if he could shorten that time with jedi healing techniques. He'd never been very adept at them. But the light felt strong now, stronger than in years. And meditating in the light would help him regain spiritual equilibrium in any case.

Luke waited until the droid left before rolling on his side and looking at him. "In a hurry to leave?"

"Leave?"

"You asked when you could get out of the infirmary."

Anakin raised his newly grown eyebrow back at him. "And you tried to leave to read communiques."

Luke just looked at him a moment. "I'm worried about Obi-Wan."

"And yet Artoo can run the communiques." Anakin smiled slightly. "Your bored and hate being stuck in the infirmary out of the action."

Luke's lip twitched in a half smile. "It really is unnerving how you predict me."

"It's really bizarre to look at you and see bits of me and your mother." He looked away suddenly.

By now Luke knew the pattern. He sensed the surge of pain whenever he mentioned his mother. "Are you worried about Obi-Wan at all?"

Anakin sighed. "He's a survivor. But yeah, kind of. I'd really like to talk to him. Yell at him. Plead with him. Just … not fight. Hash things out. We both made mistakes. But in the end, Palpatine knew he had to get him out of the way to get to me. If anyone of the Jedi could've prevented it, it was him."

"Is that one reason you were so angry? You felt he should've been there."

"Yes, kind of. And yes, I know it's not reasonable. I think most of all I'd just like to thank him for training and taking care of you."

Luke blushed at this newly open affection in his father's voice. "It sure is taking Artoo a long time, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is."