Chapter 80

AN: Thank you to everyone for your great reviews!

Ari's mouth fell open. How could Vader by Luke's father? Luke's father had been a Jedi, not one of the most feared beings in the entire galaxy. Once this initial shock had passed, she shook her head slightly. Her wide eyes were still on Luke, who was just watching her reaction. "How? No. No, Darth Vader cannot be your father. He killed your father," she told him.

"That is what Ben told us. However, I sense that what Darth Vader told me is the truth," Luke answered, even as Ari shook her head. "Ari, you have to understand. I am connected to him in a way that cannot be explained, except through a shared bond. Like sharing the same blood." Even in the dark, Ari could see the shiver that ran through him, as if that very blood had turned to ice.

"He could be lying," Ari tried again. It was hard to wrap her mind around the idea that Vader could in fact be the father of her best friend. The same best friend who had always been there for her, the one who she had laughed with and spent hours upon hours with. The best friend she knew was growing up quickly. He was now an adult. He had been since he had rushed home to find his family dead, the farm destroyed.

"He isn't," Luke sighed deeply. He looked up at Ari, blue eyes showing the anguish that this information was causing him, and Ari realized that is what had been troubling him earlier.

"Does anyone else know?" she asked, for lack of anything better to say. Everything in her wanted to protest this news, though she knew it was true. Somehow, the black clad monster was the father to her blonde haired, blue eyed, kind friend. It seemed impossible, but it was the truth.

"No," he answered quickly. "And you can't tell anyone. Promise me." His voice held such conviction that Ari nodded before she even realized the full impact of the words. She wanted to help lighten the emotional load that seemed to be overpowering him. "Not even Leia knows," he added.

Ari had figured out that much. While Leia was strong, Ari doubted the Princess could handle any more shocking news today. It might also cause gossip to emerge about Luke, and Ari was not about to let that happen. The Alliance needed him, and rumors might destroy the trust Luke had built with his men. Ari could only imagine what it would be like if a rumor caused all of her men to lose trust in her. "I promise," she assured him, placing one hand on his arm.

Luke was not looking at her though. He was looking at his mechanical hand, clenching it into a fist then unclenching it over and over.

"Luke?" Ari asked. She might be Force sensitive, but that did not mean she could read his mind. There was no answer for a while, and Ari wondered if he had even heard her.

"Anakin Skywalker is Darth Vader," Luke stated, voice quiet. There was no question in his tone, as he was accepting this as best he could. "My father is the one who responsible for all of this," he continued and looked up at Ari.

His blue eyes were wet with tears and before even realizing it; Ari had her arms around him, hugging him tight as a few tears escaped from his eyes. They stayed like this for just a moment, Luke not crying, though she was sure he would need to later. Even after being friends for so long, he never wanted her to see him cry.

As they pulled away from each other, Luke wiped at his eyes and when he looked back up at Ari, he was able to force a smile.

"At least know the truth about him. My father. Anakin." It seemed as if saying the name was helping him, but it was also helping Ari. She understood why Siri and Taylor had not told her anything about Anakin. They had been trying to hide the truth. She would have to see them in the morning.

In fact, she would do more than just that. She would bring Luke with her. She had planned on letting them meet, and now she was sure that the sooner they did this, the better, for everyone. "Luke?" she asked after a slight hesitation.

"I did training while you were gone. I met some Jedi."

"What?" he asked, shocked. "Jedi? Where?"

"They were on board. One was named Taylor, and the other was Siri…Siri Kenobi." She watched his eyes for reaction to this name.

"Kenobi? Was she related to Ben?" he asked, immediately picking up on this. Ari could tell by his thoughtful expression that he was trying to take in all of this information and Ari knew it was a lot.

"She was his wife," she answered with a small smile.

"He was married?!" he exclaimed, unable to help himself. It had been almost the same reaction that Ari had.

"Yes. Siri told me they had to hide it, because it was not allowed. I guess when the Jedi Order was still around they had a lot of rules, including prohibition of marriage. They felt emotions would could the judgment of the Jedi."

"How did you meet them? I want to hear everything and don't leave any details out," he insisted. His sad blue eyes were now showing a spark of his normal self.

Ari could not refuse. Luke was her best friend, and another Jedi. Not only that, but she had wanted to share this with him for a long time. This was the first chance they had gotten and she did not know the next time such a chance would present itself.

The young Naboo native started her tale from the beginning, when R4 had first started to act strangely, to her vision of Cloud City. Throughout the entire tale, Luke's full attention was on what she was saying, interjecting many questions so it took much longer than she originally thought.

"I would like to meet them," he stated after Ari had told her entire story."

"We can go to their quarters in the morning. And we can use the holo that Siri made me as well, so that we can train."

"I just can't do any lightsaber training," Luke answered, giving a tired sigh, the dark look coming over his features again. The spark of excitement that Ari had seen before was once more gone.

"We will work something out," Ari was quick to assure him. She didn't want him to lose hope. After everything they had been through, sometimes hope and luck were the only things that got them through.

Luke nodded and lifted his real hand to tuck a strand of messy Ari's blonde hair behind her ear before kissing her cheek in a very chaste manner. This caused Ari to smile and even cause a slight blush to spread across her cheeks. She was thankful that the room was dark, so that Luke would not be able to see it. The silence that followed was comfortable, but all too soon, Ari knew she had to break the moment. "I guess that means we should get some sleep. It is almost morning now, and I don't know about you, but I am tired."

As to agree, Luke laid his head back on his pillow, watching Ari as she slid back into her own bed. While she had enjoyed talking to Luke, the comfortable blankets and soft pillow felt wonderful and she burrowed a bit deeper into the blankets. Once comfortable, she gave Luke a small smile. "Good night."

Her eyes closed and she as she started to drift off to sleep once more, she heard Luke's reply.

"Good night, Ari."