Chapter 4:
On Yavin the celebrations continued for hours, many medals were given to the pilots that fought for the survival of the Alliance. Anakin was at the bar, drinking heavily. However not too much as to get drunk. His mind was still processing the fact of Qui-Gon. He had just been speaking to his old, dead master. If he could speak to Qui-Gon, why couldn't he speak to Obi-Wan? It was all extremely confusing.
Anakin when he was in his own time, didn't manage to have a drink often. It was usually frowned upon by the Jedi Order if a Jedi got drunk. But there was no Jedi code or Order to stop him.
Anakin felt lost, he didn't know what to do. Does he abandon the alliance when the 'time is right' to go to Dagobah, or does he keep his promise to aid them and disobey Qui-Gon?
Luke was searching all over the temple to find Anakin. Luke would frequently get stopped by an admiring pilot or an impressed commander.
Luke grabbed the com-link off of his utility belt.
"Leia, it's Luke. Do you know where Anakin is?" Luke asked.
"No, I haven't seen him. He hasn't left the temple I know that much. Ask around, maybe check the bar." Leia responded before ending the communication.
Luke would walk through crowds of celebrating rebels until he reached the bar. It was quite packed but he could make out Anakin in the chaos. He was being hassled by numerous rebels, but ignored all of them. He wasn't depressed, nor was he happy. He was just simply confused by his very existence in this time.
Luke walked through more crowds of drunk Alliance members and gently placed a hand on Anakin's back. Anakin turned to greet him. Anakin gave a warming smile to Luke and motioned for him to sit.
"So I assume you have some questions for me?" Anakin said. It was difficult for Luke to hear in the crowds of rebels, but he could make out what he was saying.
"You would be correct. I want to know about mother. I heard you mention something when you were injured. How you wanted death when she died"
Anakin's heart sank at those words, he couldn't bring himself to tell Luke about his real identity. Anakin still didn't completely know, but assumed Padme was dead. Otherwise why would Luke be on an Imperial Station with Obi-Wan and raised by Owen? This whole ordeal was very confusing.
"She died a long time ago Luke, Tusken raiders. She passed and I only remember snippets, but I have flashbacks almost, I see her last moments when I sleep and it makes me not want to live anymore if I'm being honest" Anakin whispered. He didn't like talking about his mother, but he had to give an answer to Luke.
"How old were we?" Luke asked.
"I was two and you were one, you had a twin from what I can remember" Anakin said. He didn't truly know where he got the 'twin' from, however it felt like the truth. As if Luke did have a twin, the force works in mysterious ways.
"A twin?!" Luke was extremely shocked, from what Anakin said it seemed as if he didn't know what happened to them.
"So was what Ben told me true, was our father a Jedi? Like yourself? And why were you a Jedi and I a farmer?" Luke asked
"Our father was the Hero with no fear, Luke. I was named after him, from what I remember he and mom were very young when they had us. It was forbidden for the Jedi to form attachments, seems as if he wasn't good at that rule" Anakin chuckled "Obi-Wan trained our father, when he passed, he trained me whilst Owen took you under his wing. The reason in which we were separated was our force signatures. Most likely Vader would sense our power if we were together. Obi-Wan was going to train you when you were ready." Anakin explained, he suspected Obi-Wan was going to train Luke after the Death Star.
"I guess it makes sense, but why wouldn't Owen tell me about you? He told me father was a navigator on a spice freighter." Luke said.
"I don't know Luke, but we're together now and with the Alliance. Do you know what the plan is from here?" Anakin asked.
"I assume to relocate, the empire knows of this base now."
"I guess, ask Leia she seems to be running things" Anakin said before taking a swig of his drink.
"Are you ok? I know things have been hard for you." Luke said, he was quite interested in how Anakin got put in the same detention block as Leia.
"I'm fine Luke, if you're wondering how and why I was on the Death Star then I don't know what to tell you. I was minding my own business in Mos Espa before passing out next to the space port, I then woke up in the detention centre, completely unaware of everything." These were all fabricated lies, but Anakin had to put Luke's questions and doubts to rest. Anakin took another swig of his drink.
"Anakin I want you to train me in the ways of the force, like father before us" Luke said, he hadn't forgotten what Anakin said on the Death Star.
"I will teach you Luke, but I'm no expert myself. Don't expect a man of wisdom like Obi-Wan" Anakin chuckled, most of his time with Obi-Wan was either nagging or brotherly love. Obi-Wan was the closest Anakin had to a father, and yet a lot of the time they didn't see eye to eye. However they respected and cared for each other until the end. Like family.
"I think we should go and see Leia, she might have something for us to do" Luke said, he didn't like being useless.
"There's no need Luke, enjoy yourself" Anakin said before sliding his cup across the table to Luke. Luke took a swig and gagged immediately. The two shared a laugh like brothers. Anakin knew he had to tell Luke the truth eventually, but Luke for now would be the brother he never had.
The command centre was filled with laughter and cheers from the rebels, everyone was celebrating their triumph over the Empire. Leia was the only quiet one, she missed her family. She believed the only person who knew of her pain was Anakin, yet she hadn't really spoken to him. Leia was glad he hadn't left them, and that he planned to stay. But she felt something was quite off with him. She just had a feeling.
Leia decided to contact Luke, she wondered whether he had found Anakin yet.
"Luke, have you found Anakin?" She asked.
"Yes princess" It wasn't Luke that said it but rather Anakin, he seemed to immediately have started laughing after speaking.
"Are both of you drunk?" Leia asked sternly.
"n-no, we're sober" Luke said, it was a blatant lie as he was slurring his words.
"You were sober Luke not that long ago, how many have you had? Are you a lightweight?" Leia chuckled.
"To answer your question, I've had four dri-rinks Leia. Why do you ask?"
"No reason" Leia said. She then noticed Luke immediately turned off his com. She shrugged it off as Luke being incredibly drunk.
A day would pass, the celebrations were now over and the gravity of the situation played in. They had to find a new rebel base as soon as possible.
Luke, Han and Chewie stayed on the falcon for the night whilst Anakin would have blacked out at the bar. He woke up to the Rebel Alliance rushing to pack any supplies they needed. Anakin would have a hangover, so he wasn't in the mood for Han's sarcasm or Leia's quips. He wanted to know what the plan was.
Whilst walking toward the command centre, he was stopped by Wedge, who wanted to thank him for the award.
"Thank you General, I didn't think I deserved it"
"Well you did Wedge, far more than me. Take care of yourself" Anakin said, passing by wedge and placing a hand on his shoulder.
Anakin would reach the control room, there he would see numerous rebel commanders and Leia ordering rebel troops to evacuate and pack supplies.
"What's going on here?" Anakin asked.
"We're leaving. It's too risky staying here any longer. Are you coming with us?" Leia asked.
"That's the plan princess, but where are you going?"
"We*" Leia corrected him "We intend to use the fleet instead of a base, until we find a suitable location. Any ideas General?" Leia asked in quite a sarky tone.
"Well there are a few ideas princess, Hoth is quite remote, pretty much anywhere in the outer rim would suit us" Anakin said, he rather quite liked the idea of using Hoth as a base.
"Hoth has a damaged ion cannon, as well as a shield generator, it's near an abandoned cave. If we repair the cannon and shield then if the Empire did find us, we could evacuate everyone in less than an hour." Anakin continued.
"That would work, we need to scout ahead before we dig the fences In however. Have you healed enough Anakin?" Leia asked.
"I'm fine princess, I'll go alone-" Anakin said before being cut off.
"Like hell you will" An unexpected voice spoke, it was Han's, beside him was Luke and Chewie.
"Do you really expect us to let you go alone?" Luke said, he wasn't fond of the idea that Anakin, after recently being injured goes on a solo mission.
"I won't be alone then, I'll take R2" Anakin said. Suddenly, from the corner of the control room, R2 whistled audibly and shook excitedly. R2 was happy to fly with Anakin once again.
"You can't be serious" Leia, Luke and Han all said in sync.
Anakin smirked and walked over to R2, placing his metallic hand on top of his dome head.
"R2 will watch my back, have me covered. He had you covered during the trench run Luke" Anakin stated.
"It's not that I don't trust him, it's just he can't shoot a blaster, or fight off whatever may be there" Luke said.
"Luke" Anakin walked over to Luke and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"This droid has probably killed and saved more people than I would like to admit. He'll have my back, won't you buddy." Anakin said, R2 replied with agreeing beeps and whistles.
Luke lightly pushed Anakin's hand off his shoulder and hugged him, Luke in the short amount of time he had known Anakin cared more for him than anything else.
Anakin reciprocated the hug, after releasing each other Anakin shook Han's hand, he had learned to respect him. Anakin looked over at the towering wookie, Chewie immediately grasped Anakin into a hug, lifting him off of his feet. Anakin after being let down by Chewbacca turned towards Leia, who even seemed to have a lone tear in her eye. Leia hugged Anakin, she had been a wreck and blamed herself when he got stabbed.
"Will you come back?" Leia asked as Anakin turned towards the door.
Anakin turned back and looked at Leia, R2 by his side.
"That's the plan princess" Anakin said before walking out. That phrase had sort of become an inside joke between him and Leia, but Leia found it rather distressing.
Anakin entered the hangar bay, R2 followed closely behind him. Anakin found the same bomber he used on the attack of the Death Star. R2 used his boosters and secured himself. Anakin force jumped into the cockpit and booted up the power converters. Before the hatch sealed, Anakin saw Luke across the hanger. His arms were crossed in a disappointed manner. Luke was probably pissed that Anakin didn't take him.
Before Anakin took off, he realised he had forgotten his Lightsaber in the med bay, as well as Obi-Wan's. He immediately jumped out of the cockpit.
"R2 keep the engines running, I won't be long" Anakin said before darting out of the hanger, he headed straight to the med bay.
Anakin entered the medical ward to be greeted with the medical droid that oversaw his healing.
"Greetings Skywalker, do you have any questions regarding your healing"
"Where are my belongings?!" Anakin asked, extremely impatient.
"They are in the drawer next to you, I'm surprised you have only just noticed you didn't equip them. The probability of that outcome was 7567 to 1"
Anakin opened the drawer, taking both Obi-Wan's lightsaber and his own. He equipped both of them to his belt.
Anakin left the med bay once again and headed for his Y-Wing bomber. He classed it as his own since the Death Star trench run. When Anakin arrived at his ship, R2 gave a series of annoyed whistles for leaving him.
"See R2, I wasn't that long." Anakin said before force jumping back into the cockpit and initiating pre flight checks. Everything was in tip top shape before he directed power towards his engines and left the base.
"Generals, General Skywalker has just departed the base. Should we make contact?" A rebel administration officer said, directed towards Leia and Luke.
"He's checking out a potential location for us, he'll be back" Leia said before gazing towards the main console in the control room. A red dot symbolised Anakin in his bomber.
"Leia why are you always so worried about him, he's a Jedi. He'll be fine" Luke said. He didn't know the full story between his brother and Leia. For starters how the hell was Anakin able to keep his lightsaber in prison, and why was Anakin and Leia in the same cell. He assumed by the gaping hole intertwining the cells, that Anakin cut his way through.
"It's just I know what he's going through, I wouldn't blame him if he just left the Alliance and never came back. He's trying to hide it, trying to change but I know he still wants revenge. But he's also scared of Vader." Leia said. Leia had no information or reason to believe her words, she just knew.
"I know how you feel, but I would worry more about yourself, you've lost so much and you shouldn't worry about Anakin. That's my job now princess" Luke chuckled, mimicking the way Anakin said princess in a very sarcastic voice.
"I know farm boy, I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back home" Leia said, putting on a very proud and kiddish voice.
"Oh shut up" Luke said before laughing, Leia laughed too as they both sat down and talked for ages about the events they've shared together. Hours would pass as they would talk about all the events that had unfolded.
"And when Chewie punched Anakin-" Luke couldn't contain his laughter "Anakin looked like he was about to murder him" Luke chuckled.
"That could have been much more serious Luke, it wasn't funny at the time-" Leia said before being cut off by Luke's laughter once again.
"I know, I know. But it is now" Luke chuckled.
"And what about when Han chased off the stormtroopers-" Leia said before bursting out laughing.
"If I were them I would run too, they outnumbered him 5 to 1-" Luke said, practically crying reminiscing over the events on the Death Star.
"It's only been a couple days, yet it feels like an eternity" Leia said.
"You're telling me, I've found out that my father was a Jedi, my brother is a Jedi, I had a twin and I have the ability to become a Jedi. Life is much more complicated now than farming."
"Did Anakin tell you how he ended up on the Death Star?" Leia asked.
"No, he didn't. That's just one of the things he isn't telling me. But I trust him and his judgement." Luke replied.
"Speaking of Anakin, we haven't heard from him" Leia said, she turned around to the main control desk, the red dot symbolising Anakin was no longer there.
"Leia before you start freaking out, it's only just gone off. The trip to Hoth is a few hours In hyperspace. He's only just got there, he isn't dead." Luke said, he could immediately sense Leia's distress without even seeing her face.
"Leia you need to learn to let go, I'm worried about Anakin too, but we've got to trust him. I mean, he survived Vader for crying out loud. Im sure he can survive the cold." Luke said.
"I can't let go Luke, not after my parents, not after Alderaan. I don't know what I would do if Anakin was killed, or if you were. I'd even be upset if Han died" Leia said, although she would immediately regret it when the smug and confident voice of Han bellowed through the control room.
"Wow, you care about me that much princess" Han quipped.
"Not nearly as much as Luke and Anakin, but yes I guess I do somewhat care about you." Leia replied.
"Are you sure princess, how many scoundrels do you have in your life? That's right you love having a scoundrel near you don't you?" Han quipped once again, he found it funny seeing Leia all pissed off, but he also somewhat liked her.
"I like nothing of the sort, the less scruffy looking nerf-herders the better" Leia responded, completely shutting Han down.
"You'll warm up to me soon princess, everyone needs a bit of unpredictability in their life" Han said before turning away and out of the control room.
"Well that was odd, wait... you like Han don't you?" Luke asked.
"I think he's a natural born leader, good for the cause" Leia said, oblivious to what Luke was implying.
"Sure thing Leia, I'm going to find Biggs. Let me know when Anakin is back." Luke said before leaving the control room.
Leia sighed before turning back toward the control panel, there was nothing for her to do for the time being, she guessed she could just wait for Anakin's return without being bothered by Han, or nagged by C-3PO on when R2 would return.