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Resurgam

By Moriah Organa

                                Note: The title is a latin word meaning 'to arise' or something like that - probably have the the
                                tense wrong, I'm not latinist.
                                According to the Annotated Screenplays in early versions of ROTJ Ben, Anakin and Yoda
                                returned to life rather than just appearing as blue ghosties. I figured Yoda would feel eight
                                hundred years of training Jedi was plenty and send Qui-Gon instead.
                                Disclaimer: Everything is Lucas's planet, people, even the plot.

                                Luke made his way down the twig and vine walkway to his assigned treehouse. Faint
                                sounds of celebration continued behind him. Apparently they intended to make a night of it. He
                                didn't begrudge the others their joy but he couldn't share it either, not completely.

                                He'd saved his father's soul but not his life. He would never have the chance to know Anakin
                                Skywalker, and more importantly neither would Leia. She'd never have anything positive to
                                balance against her terrible memories of Vader. Without that would she ever be able to
                                forgive their father as Luke had? And if she couldn't what would that unresolved hatred and
                                anger do to her?

Luke ducked his head to enter the unlighted hut, halted as he made out a dim a human form
sitting on the sleep platform. Oops. "Sorry, must have miscounted." started to duck out again.

"Luke"

Whirled back. He knew that voice - stared disbelieving as the figure rose, towering some two
meters tall. It couldn't be - it was impossible -

"Father?"

"Yes, Luke."

Hesitantly he moved closer, reached out, grasped solid human flesh beneath layers of nubby
cloth.

"Father!" for a moment all he could do was hold on, fighting back tears as strong arms encirled
him and held him close.

"My Son, my Luke."

"I don't understand." he managed at last, felt his father shrug.

"Neither do I really. All I know is I've been given a second chance."

"We both have." said a third voice quietly.

                                "Ben?" Luke pulled a little away from his father to look towards the voice. All he could see in
                                the darkness was a second robed silhouette, the height was right but where was the blue
                                aura that always cloaked his late Teacher?

The figure bent and a lamp flared to life, straightened and Luke gasped.

                                Not the worn and weathered desert rat he'd known but a much younger man, smiling Ben's
                                smile and watching him with the familiar crystal blue eyes in an unlined face with brown hair
                                and short brown beard.

                                "Ben?" looked up at his father for help and saw not the middle-aged man from the Death Star,
                                miraculously made whole, but somebody his own age, with the same coloring and familiar
                                cleft in the chin. "You're young! You're both young."

His father nodded. "We've been given back the years we lost - or wasted."

"It wasn't all your fault, Ani." Ben told him.

"Of course it was!" father snapped back. "My decision, my failure!"

But Ben shook his head. "If I'd taught you better -"

A new voice cut in, deep, soft and authoritative. "Enough!"

                                Luke, wondering just how many Jedi were going to materialize out of the woodwork, turned
                                to face this new one. He was a tall man, as tall as his father but older with silver strands
                                shimmering in the short brown beard and the long mane spilling over the shoulders of his dark
                                Jedi robe. The face was broad and rugged, the eyes blue-grey and lucent, at once piercing
                                and kind. At the moment they were looking sternly over Luke's head at father and Ben.

                                "I am not going to spend the next forty or fifty years listening to you two argue over which is
                                the most to blame." he continued. "Mistakes have been made and paid for. A Jedi does not
                                dwell on the past. 'Without remorse, without regret.'"

"Yes, Master." father and Ben replied in chastened chorus.

Luke looked at them in astonishment, then back at the stranger who smiled down at him.

"Now will one of you please introduce me?"

"Luke, this is my old Master Qui-Gon Jinn." Ben explained, "Master, this is Ani's son, Luke
Skywalker."

"But - you said Master Yoda was your Teacher." Luke protested, confused.

"So he was for a time. But Qui-Gon was my Padawan Master."

Well that was as clear as a Tatooine sandstorm!

                                "And the Jedi who discovered me." father said quietly. Hands resting lightly on Luke's
                                shoulders, he looked over his head into the older Jedi's eyes. "I betrayed your faith in me,
                                Master, I'm sorry."

"I know you are, Ani." Qui-Gon replied kindly. "Don't waste your energies on vain regrets,
focus on repairing the harm you've done."

Father bowed his head obediently. "Yes, Master."

"And that goes for you too, Obi-Wan."

"Yes, Master." with a hint of a smile.

"Uh - anybody else coming?" Luke asked hesitantly.

Master Qui-Gon smiled. "No, we're it. We have been given new lives by the Force to help you
rebuild the Jedi Order."

Luke swallowed. "Not that I can't use the help but I'm not sure I want to have to explain that to
the Alliance Council.

Waves of amusement washed over him from the three reborn Jedi.

"I don't see any reason to trouble them with unecessary details." Qui-Gon said mildly.

"We can simply be three Jedi who somehow managed to survive the Purge." Ben suggested,
sitting down on the edge of the sleep platform.

Luke sat next to him - it had been a long day and the reaction was begining to catch up with
him.

"After forty years nobody is likely to recognize my name." Qui-Gon mused. "But Obi-Wan and
Anakin are a different matter."

Ben shrugged. "Nothing wrong with the name I've been using for the past twenty years, Ben
Kenobi."

"Any relation to Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Luke asked.

"Distantly." his first Teacher smiled back.

"As for Ani -" the Master began.

"My cousin." Luke interupted decidedly. "Named for my father." The other three looked at him.
"There's more than a passing resemblance here," he pointed out, "we have to be related."

"Cousins." father smiled faintly, sobered. "Your sister must be told the truth."

                                "I know." Luke agreed. Now Leia could get to know their father - but would she be willing to
                                give Anakin Skywalker a chance? Luke forsaw problems. Shrugged mentally *Like what else
                                is new?*

"What did you tell them - about me?" father asked.

                                Luke felt himself flush, raised his chin defiantly. "I said I defeated Darth Vader but it was my
                                father, Anakin Skywalker, who killed the Emperor." Tingling silence. "It's true!" looked straight
                                at Ben, "'From a certain point of view'"

His Teacher laughed but father looked troubled. "I don't want you lying to protect me, Luke."

"I'm protecting myself," he answered bluntly, "and Leia. Being known as the children of Darth
Vader could be dangerous, your enemies might target us for revenge."

"I hadn't thought of that." father conceeded but he still didn't look happy.

"Someday when passions have had a chance to die down a little I'll tell the whole story." Luke
offered. "But not now, it'd just make trouble for Leia and me."

That seemed to reassure him, but - "One more thing, son, lose the black. I've taken a dislike to
the color."

"I meant it as mourning for you and the rest of the Jedi." Luke explained. Shrugged helplessly.
"Where do you get Jedi robes anyway?"

                                "Good morning, sir." See Threepio trilled as Luke emerged into the early morning mists
                                entwining the treetop village. "Mistress Leia asked me to -" broke off, photoreceptors going
                                over Luke's shoulder to fix on the other Jedi. Pneumatic joints wheezed as the droid jerked
                                upright. "Master Anakin?!"

Luke stared at his droid, then back at his father. "You two know each other?"

"Oh, yes sir," Threepio said happily. "Master Anakin is my Maker."

"Your *what*?"

"I assembled him from salvaged parts when I was a boy." father explained calmly. "Hello,
Threepio, good to see you're still intact."

"Frankly, sir, it's a wonder that I am. With what I've been through these last twenty years -"

"Threepio," Luke interrupted. "Why didn't you tell me you knew my father?"

The droid pulled himself up in offended dignity. "Oh I couldn't do that, Master Luke, it would
have been *most* improper."

"Threepio's a Protocol Droid." Ben pointed out quietly. "His programming forbids discussing his
former masters or their affairs."

                                "Thank you, Master Obi-Wan, it's good to see you again too, sir. And Master Qui-Gon as well,
                                how remarkable." to father. "I'm afraid I'm a bit confused, sir. Her Royal Highness said you'd
                                been killed."

Anakin's face tightened slightly. "She was mistaken."

"Oh, I see."

"Leia told you father was dead?" Luke floundered.

"Not Princess Leia, sir, your mother Queen Amidala."

"*Queen* Amidala!" he echoed incredulously. "My mother was a queen?"

"You didn't see fit to mention that?" father asked Ben.

Luke's first Teacher shrugged apologetically. "There wasn't time for a lot of family history."

Luke closed his eyes and reminded himself it was beneath the dignity of a Jedi to gibber.

Threepio was also having a little trouble assimilating new information. "Actually, General
Kenobi, I thought you and Master Qui-Gon had died as well. I'm *sure* Master Luke said -"

"More mistakes I'm afraid." Ben cut in firmly.

                                "Of course." the droid accepted incuriously. "Things have been very confused these last
                                twenty years." continued wistfully. "Frankly I haven't understood more than half of what's
                                gone on."

"Things should be more settled now the Emperor is dead." father soothed.

"Oh, good. I really don't think I could have taken much more, sir. I wasn't designed for
emergencies you know."

"You've been a great help to us Threepio." Luke said firmly. "We couldn't have done without
you."

Somehow the immovable metal face managed to beam. "Thank you, sir."

"It would be best if you avoided any references to your former acquaintance with father and
Master Qui-Gon, and please call Obi-Wan Ben in the future." he continued.

"As you wish, sir."

Leia, hair down, wearing the dress she'd cobbled together out of skins, waited impatiently in
the 'town square' the linked platforms in front of the chief's hut and meeting house.

"It's the crack of dawn, sweetheart," Han yawned, "the kid's probably decided to sleep in - he
had a hell of a day yesterday."

                                "Like we didn't?" she asked dryly. But knew there was no comparison. Luke had given her
                                the bare bones of it; the confrontation with the Emperor, his death at Vader's - no their
                                *father's* - hands. She must remember that, count it in his favor against his crimes.

                                He'd sent her a message, or rather Luke's sister a message, he'd never known who she
                                was. For some reason that hurt. In a strange way she was going to miss him, miss Vader.
                                She'd always enjoyed matching wits with him, dueling with veiled words when they met,
                                calculating what he'd do next and countering it. And she'd always won - until that last time.

*I got careless, underestimated him. My fault - *

"Well what d'you know, here he comes." Han's voice broke into that all to familiar train of
thought. "Maybe Jedi don't need sleep. Who're those guys with him?"

                                Leia stiffened. The very tall, bearded man on Luke's right was a total stranger but the one on
                                his left looked *exactly* like the holos Bail Organa had shown her of General Kenobi. And the
                                very tall, fair haired man hanging behind as if reluctant to face her...She stood up, feeling the
                                blood drain from her face to tingle coldly in toes and fingertips.

All four stopped right in front of her.

"Leia -" Luke began.

She spoke past him to the fourth man. "You're supposed to be dead."

"I was." the voice shocked her, so different from the one she'd expected. "I've been given a
second chance - to repair the damage I've done."

"That isn't possible." she told him bluntly.

"I know." quiet, un-defensive, as if he agreed with her.

"Leia." Luke pleaded.

She looked at him. Noted distantly that they were very much alike her brother and father with
the same blue eyes and cleft chin.

"He's here to try. Give him a chance."

She blew out a sigh, let it go for the moment. Looked up at Han. Explaining this was going to
be fun.

He was eyeing General Kenobi in a wary, puzzled sort of way. Of course, he'd met him on
Tatooine - and seen him die on the Death Star."

"Hello, Captain Solo." the general smiled.

Han's eyes went wide at the voice. He looked wildly at Luke then back at Kenobi. "But - but -
you were an old man! Vader cut you in half!"

Leia saw her father flinch at the memory, or the name.

"Luke is going to need help reestablishing the Jedi." the general explained calmly. "The Force
sent us."

                                "Right...sure...why not?" Han said sarcastically. "Farm boys turn out to be princess's long lost
                                brothers; evil Sith Lords become good guys; Jedi Knights come back from the dead - Just
                                another day's work in the Rebel Alliance." he shrugged. "So who're your friends?"

"This is my Master, Qui-Gon Jinn." Obi-Wan introduced the tall bearded man who'd yet to say
a word. "And my former apprentice, Anakin Skywalker."

It took a moment for the name to register, for the pieces to fall together. "Vader?!"

"No!" Luke, sharp and commanding. "Anakin Skywalker, my father and Leias."

Han turned to her for help. "You said your father was Vader."

"That's right." father answered for her.

Luke opened his mouth to argue, was silenced by a firm hand on his shoulder.

                                "I was born Anakin Skywalker, became Darth Vader, then turned back late but not too late.
                                And I owe you more than an apology, Captain Solo. If there is any reparation I can make for
                                what I did to you on Bespin please let me know."

"I'd say drop dead, but you've done that." Han shrugged again helplessly. "I'll try and think of
something."

*He's taking it better than I am.* Leia thought. "You're quite a man Han Solo.*

Her father seemed to agree. A ghost of a smile passed over his face. "Thank you, captain."

"So - are we all going up to the command ship or not?" Han wanted to know.

"We are." Luke took her arm, steered her towards the walkways to the ground. "I don't plan to
tell the Council the whole story."

"Good move!" fervently from Han.

"Father - Anakin - will be our cousin. Ben a relative of the famous General Kenobi. Master
Qui-Gon -"

"Will remain Master Qui-Gon." the strange Jedi spoke for the first time, voice deep, warm and
amused. "I don't expect my name will be recognized."

"I sure never heard of you." Han agreed blithely. Garnering a surprisingly grim look from
General Kenobi.

"Naturally. I died before you were born." the Master replied, unoffended.

"Killed by a Sith." from father, bitterly. "My predecessor as Palpatine's apprentice."

                                The bitterness was directed at himself, Leia realized, for betraying Qui-Gon by becoming the
                                thing that had killed him. The Master glanced back at him, face unreadable, then smiled down
                                at her.

"You're very like your mother."

"You knew my mother?"

"You didn't tell me she was a queen." Luke accused.

She looked at her brother in bewilderment. "She wasn't. Her name was Padme, she was a
friend of my adoptive parents."

"Padme was her incognito." father explained from behind them. "Her real name was Amidala,
Queen of the Naboo."

"Amidala of Naboo!" the vine bridge swayed as Leia spun to face her father. "Mama was
Queen Amidala?!"

"I take it you've heard of her." he said blandly, a glint of humor in his eye.

                                "Of course I've heard of her! She was my hero when I was a child. I wanted to be just like her
                                when I grew up; strong and brave and principled -" her voice broke. "My parents told me all
                                about her." *But not that she was my own mother.* Leia felt betrayed, cheated.

"I'd say you've succeeded admirably." father said judiciously. "Your mother would be proud of
you, both of you."

"They knew about you too, didn't they?" she accused.

"Leia," Luke touched her arm sympathetically, "I wasn't told either. Ben claimed my father had
been killed by Darth Vader."

"And so he had been." Anakin said quietly.

"From a certain point of view." Luke and General Kenobi said in ironic unison.

                                But father shook his head. "In a very real sense I was dead, and buried inside Darth Vader.
                                Until Luke brought me back to life." to her. "If they lied to you, Leia, it was to protect you from
                                me. If I'd ever suspected you were my daughter -"

"You'd have come after me the way you did after Luke." she finished for him.

"Yes."

Why did that give her such a warm feeling?

                                "Why shouldn't it make you feel good to know your father cared about you?" Han asked
                                reasonably. "Even if he was an evil Sith Lord." looked thoughtful. "Come to think of it, if he
                                cared about his kids then he couldn't have been totally evil after all."

"That's what Luke said that last night on Endor. That there was still good in him and he had to
try to reach it."

"When the kid's right, he's right." Han stretched.

                                Leia took advantage of the movement to wriggle into a slightly more comfortable position. They
                                were lying together on her bed aboard the command ship, a tight fit but cozy, unwinding after
                                a hectic day.

                                "He's right about something else," Han continued, "Anakin really *isn't* Vader." She opened
                                her mouth to argue, he shut it tenderly. "I'm not saying he *wasn't* Vader. Just that he isn't
                                anymore." frowned. "Vader gave off a stench of evil even a guy like me could sense a mile
                                off. Anakin - doesn't. He's good. You can feel that too."

That was true. But he still felt like Vader to her. The cordially hated enemy she'd fenced with
and occasionally bargained with and known like a dark reflection.

                                He'd fascinated as much as he'd appalled her. And she'd sensed he returned her interest. It
                                had saved her aboard the Death Star, given her the courage to go on resisting. Somehow
                                knowing that he wouldn't let Tarkin kill her or resort to measures she couldn't withstand to
                                force her secret from her. Because to do so would destroy her and he wanted her intact.

                                But on Bespin he'd seemed to have lost interest, to want only Luke. That apparent rejection
                                had hurt. Scared her too, her one defense gone. It was with relief she'd heard him order her
                                taken to his ship. Found herself thinking, incongruously, 'he still cares'. And now she knew
                                why.

                                "I wasn't really surprised when Luke told me who Vader was. Like deep down I'd always
                                known or would have if I'd let myself." she chewed her lip a minute before continuing. "We
                                were enemies, I hated everything he stood for but I'd always felt this - bond - between us. A
                                connection, and sometimes that scared the hell out of me."

"I bet it did."

"If I'd known why I felt like that, if my parents had told me the truth about him -"

"You'd have felt even worse." Han told her. "Your own father your worst enemy? I can't
blame your folks for keeping that from you."

She barely heard him. *If I'd known I could have done what Luke did, could have turned him
back. And with him on our side Alderaan might never have been destroyed!*

Anakin Skywalker paced restlessly up and down the walkways outside their tree house. The
three Jedi had returned to Endor to sleep having no quarters aboard ship.

                                It was all very well for Master Qui-Gon to say 'focus on the moment.' he didn't know - no that
                                wasn't right - he knew but at a remove, he hadn't had to live through the nightmare of the past
                                twenty years. Maul had spared him that.

*I should be grateful. If Qui-Gon'd lived I'd have betrayed him, broken his heart as I broke
Obi-Wan's.*

"Ani?"

                                He turned, seeing for a moment not his Master as he was now but the worn, weary old man
                                he'd faced aboard the Death Star. Obi-Wan had been spared nothing; the purge, twenty
                                grinding years of exile and finally death at the hands of his own apprentice.

"I killed you." Anakin said painfully. "I can't believe I did that. How could I? Why did you let me?"

"Let you?" Obi-Wan inquired with a lift of his brows.

                                His student snorted. "You were always my master with the sabre." he reminded, Anakin
                                Skywalker could admit that even if Darth Vader couldn't. "Twenty years out of practice or not
                                you could still have carved me for dinner."

"I ran out of time." his Master explained. "I was cut off, reinforcements were on their way.
Luke had to go and I knew he'd never leave me alive so..." he spread his hands.

But Anakin shook his head. "You could have killed me."

"No I couldn't." was the quiet answer. "Not even for Luke. I told myself I should - but I just
couldn't bring myself to do it."

For a moment Anakin could barely see for tears. Even after all those bitter years, after
watching the destruction of the Jedi, Obi-Wan had still loved him that much.

                                He swallowed the lump in his throat managed, "I kept your lightsabre." that meant nothing, a
                                trophy. "And your robe." that did mean something, he could have had only one reason for
                                hanging onto the shabby halves of his Master's Jedi cloak. "I sent them off on a shuttle before
                                we jumped for Yavin so they weren't lost with the Death Star." dredged up a smile. "They're
                                tucked away in a closet in my fortress. Along with Master's old robe and a trunk of Amidala's
                                things -" a momentary diversion. "I should get that for Leia, Ami'd want her to have them."
                                back to the main point. "I couldn't bear to look at them often but I couldn't let them go either.
                                Force only knows what Palpatine would have done if he'd ever found out."

Obi-Wan smiled a little. "Sounds like you weren't much of a Sith, Ani."

"I wasn't. Almost as bad a Sith as I was a Jedi." a grimace. "I should have stuck with
pod-racing, I was a real good racer."

"I wasn't much of a Master either, Ani."

"Now don't start that again!" almost irritably. "The flaw was in *me* not my training. I'd have
turned no matter who my Teacher was - not even Qui-Gon could have prevented it."

                                "Maybe not." Obi-Wan conceded softly, perching on the rail. "But he wouldn't have lost faith
                                as I did. Wouldn't have pinned all his hopes on Luke. Wouldn't have tried to convince your own
                                son to kill you."

                                *And how much of that was Yoda's influence, his idea, not yours?* Anakin wondered. The
                                little Jedi Master had never trusted him, Chosen One or no. *And he was right, wasn't he?*
                                But whatever his feelings about the father he'd done a fine job training Luke for which Anakin
                                would always be grateful.

                                "Happily Luke had his own ideas. And the courage of his convictions." Anakin's thoughts
                                passed naturally from son to daughter. "Leia took it better than I thought she would. At least
                                she'll talk to me."

"You two have history." not really a question.

Anakin nodded. "I knew her well as Vader." a sidelong look. "I was considering taking her as
my apprentice, before I found out about Luke."

Obi-Wan's head jerked up in shock.

"I never realized she was my daughter but I sensed the Force was strong with her. And I
saw something of myself in her, some of the same weaknesses, I was sure I could turn her."

"But you never tried." his Master said, regaining his composure.

                                "No. Somehow I kept putting it off. After the destruction of Alderaan - it was the perfect
                                moment. All that churning rage and grief. It would have been easy. But Luke rescued her, took
                                her out of my reach..." He looked up at the darkening sky. Stars were beginning to come out -
                                though most were actually ships, the Rebel Fleet and surviving Imperial destroyers. "I can't
                                believe I never guessed who she was. I should have known, she has her mother's eyes and
                                my mother's face." a sudden thought. "I wonder, was that why I only played with the idea of
                                turning her instead of doing it? Because in my heart I couldn't bear to corrupt their memory?"

"Only you can answer that, Ani."

He smiled as he shook his head. "Not really. I did my best to avoid introspection when I was
Vader. Too many things I didn't dare think about; my mother, Amidala, you.."

Sadly. "I wish I'd tried harder to bring you back, Ani."

"I'd have only killed you sooner." Anakin put a hand on his Teacher's shoulder. "I'd steeled my
heart against you, Master. No matter what you said all I'd have heard was Palpatine's lies."

                                Invisible in the shadowed doorway of their hut Qui-Gon Jinn nodded approval. Ani and
                                Obi-Wan were coming to terms with their past, moving beyond fault finding to acceptance.
                                Soon they'd be ready to focus on the present. And the future.

                                As for himself, he harbored no illusions that he could have changed things had he survived
                                Maul. His mistakes would have been different from Obi-Wan's, but mistakes he would surely
                                have made and the end result would have been the same.

                                And he was on his guard against guilt. He had done as the Force had moved him. He could
                                have done nothing else without being false to himself and It. His actions had led to terrible
                                consequences as a result of other people's choices. To assume responsibility for those
                                would be a presumption on his part. No guilt then, but he could and did grieve for the suffering
                                and the losses. And above all for the child who had so terribly lost his way.

                                He was glad to have this chance to help Anakin find his right path, to finally fulfill his promise.
                                And of the opportunity to see with his own eyes the great Jedi he'd always known Obi-Wan
                                would be.

                                Qui-Gon was prouder of his Padawan than he could ever say. Faced with the ultimate
                                disaster and the loss of all he had known and cared for Obi-Wan had never lost his courage
                                or his hope. Had continued the fight to his last breath - and beyond. He had perhaps taken a
                                bit more blame upon himself than was strictly deserved, had transferred his faith from Anakin
                                to Anakin's son but those were minor faults.

                                And then there was Luke. The Master smiled, he sensed a kindred spirit there. The boy might
                                not know it yet but he had already chosen the Living Force as his guide. It had given him the
                                insight and the compassion to save his father. He reminded Qui-Gon of his grandmother, he
                                had her gentleness and her courage. If only Shmi could have known her grandchildren.

                                She would have been a great help with Leia. For Ani was right, there was a lot of him in his
                                daughter. That didn't worry Qui-Gon. There was no Palpatine to lead Leia astray, to twist her
                                best qualities to evil. But he sensed it worried her, that she would be reluctant to learn the
                                ways of the Force fearful of falling as her father had.

                                Shmi or Amidala would have been able to sooth her fears far more effectively than any Jedi
                                Master ever could. But her mother and grandmother weren't available. Her father and brother
                                and Obi-Wan and himself would have to do what they could. And hope it would be enough.

                                The former Darth Vader was about the last person Han Solo'd expected to have something in
                                common with. Not that he was holding Bespin against the guy, he didn't believe in holding
                                grudges. If somebody did him dirty he'd do his best to return the favor but if they both
                                survived he'd just as soon drop it. he'd seen what nursing a grudge did to the grudger, no
                                thanks.

                                Now if Vader'd hurt Leia - but he hadn't. Hell, he didn't even put her in a cell until she
                                demanded to join her friends. Besides, it was real hard to dislike a guy who not only
                                appreciated what a fine piece of machinery the Falcon was but all the work Han'd put into
                                her.

"I see you've cross-connected the hyperdirve with the sub-light drive to give it extra power.
But how'd you get around the system incompatibility?"

                                "That's what these babies are for." Han wriggled past his guest, the drive compartment really
                                wasn't large enough for two when one was the size of Anakin Skywalker, pointed out two
                                diamond faceted black boxes in nests of wiring.

                                "Kreplarian transformers?" Anakin asked puzzled, then his eyes widened in comprehension.
                                "Of course! if they can cross connect standard generators with organic circuitry adjusting
                                them for hyperdrive/sublight would be a snap." He gave Han an admiring look. "Good thinking,
                                General, brilliant in fact. The Star Fleet made a big mistake when they let you get away."

Han found himself blushing. "Actually they threw me out."

"Damn fools." Anakin shook his head ruefully over the folly of the Imperial Fleet, smiled at Han.
"I've been wanting to get my hands on this ship ever since I first saw her perform."

"Which makes you the only Skywalker to appreciate her. Luke called her a piece of junk and
so did Leia."

Anakin shook his head sadly. "I apologize on behalf of my children, General, obviously
nobody'd taught them to recognize fine machinery when they saw it."

"They learned better." Han conceeded. "But it took them a while."

"And I go lumbering after you with a squadron of Star Destroyers! What I needed was light
pursuit ships but we didn't have any so I turned to the Bounty Hunters."

"You were number two guy in the Empire, if you wanted pursuit ships why didn't you just
build them?" Han asked curiously.

                                "Because Palpatine was in love with size and brute power!" an irritated snort. "Siener and I
                                tried to make him see the advantages of smaller, more flexible ships but as far as he was
                                concerned the bigger the better."

"Like the Death Star."

                                "Exactly! We could have built a whole second fleet with the money and material that behemoth
                                cost us - and manned it with the troops it took to run it!" Anakin shrugged. "I was always
                                against the project - but Tarkin was all for it and he carried more weight. Neither he nor
                                Palpatine ever understood terror is a two edged weapon, pushed to far it turns on you."

                                Han nodded agreement. "You got to use the carrot as well as the stick. Reward the guys who
                                go along with you and come down hard on the ones who don't. Pretty soon people see
                                where the profit is."

"If maintaining control is the goal." Anakin corrected. "I thought it was. I was wrong."

"Huh? Then what was?"

"Destruction." Anakin's eyes were haunted. "That's the nature of the Dark Side." he
shuddered. "I could never accept that. Maybe that's why I wasn't consumed like Palpatine."

"And that's why Luke could bring you back." Han realized. "Because you were still you."

"And that's why I'm responsible for all the things I did as Vader. Including torturing you,
General."

                                Han met his eye squarely. "I was a smuggler you know, a pirate, a criminal. I've done things I
                                hate to think about, not in your class maybe but bad enough. Point is you're not the only guy
                                around here with a past to make up for."

Anakin smiled faintly. "So stop feeling sorry for myself and get on with it." he finished.

"Yeah." Han tried to lighten the atmosphere a little. "Come to that I bet a lot of fathers would
like to do what you did to a guy sniffing around their daughter."

Anakin actually laughed. "There may have been an element of jealously." He admitted. "I didn't
like the way Leia looked at you one bit."

"Hey it wasn't all bad. I finally got an 'I love you' out of her. Who knows how long she'd have
gone on playing games if it weren't for you."

"'I've got duties and responsibilities and so do you.'" Anakin quoted. "'We're completely
different kinds of people. A relationship between us would be too complicated.'"

Han stared. "That's just what she said! How'd you know?"

"Her mother used the same line on me."

"How'd you get her to change her mind?"

"The same way you did, nearly got myself killed."

There was a moment of meditative silence, then Han said, "There's got to be an easier way."

Anakin snorted. "If you find it let me know."

"Have fun?" Luke asked as two crumpled, oiled smeared figures entered the main hold.

"Yeah," Han was practically glowing with excitement. "your old man's got some ideas about
adjusting the drive couplings to give us more speed."

Luke fought back a grin. Well that was one worry out of the way. Han and Father were
getting along just fine.

"Any word yet?" Anakin asked.

"No, but I'd be very surprised if we didn't go."

"It should be safe enough." Father assured him. "Both Palpatine and I had a vested interest in
seeing there was nobody capable and ambitious in a position of power on Coruscant."

Han snorted. "No wonder the Empire's such a mess."

Anakin nodded ruefully. "We didn't dare use capable men, too dangerous. I don't think
Palpatine ever really trusted anybody except Tarkin - maybe."

"Not you?" Luke asked curiously.

"Me least of all." his father shrugged. "And rightly as it turned out."

Leia arrived shortly thereafter, with Ben and Qui-Gon, and confirmed the Alliance Council had
indeed voted to establish themselves on Coruscant.

                                "It's been the central system of the Galaxy for tens of thousands of years," she explained,
                                "trying to change that would be more trouble than it's worth. According to our agents the
                                Imperial administration's pretty much fallen apart now the Emperor's dead, we'll just step into
                                the vacuum."

Her brother shrugged. "I always wanted to see Coruscant."

"You'll hate it." Anakin made a face. "I always did."

"Yeah," Han areed, "a real anthill."

"I wasn't very fond of it either." Leia admitted. "No grasslands, no rivers, even the sky was
crowded."

"Still I'd like to see it." Luke objected mildly.

"A good place to visit," Father said, "but not to live." and smiled at the two other Jedi.

Ben smiled back. "True. I never realized how oppressive Coruscant had been until I settled on
Tatooine." glanced questioningly up at his Master.

"I felt it too, I think we all did." Qui-Gon shook his head, remembering. "We secluded ourselves
in the Temple and tried to shut out the confusion. We didn't quite succeed."

"Are you planning to reopen the Temple?" Leia wanted to know.

                                "For just four of us? I think not. Besides, as Anakin said, Coruscant isn't really a good place
                                for Jedi." the Master turned to Luke. "In ancient times we lived scattered in hermitages and
                                commanderies across the Galaxy. I suggest we return to that tradition."

                                "I guess that would be all right." Luke didn't quite stammer. The Masters and his father had an
                                embarrassing habit of defering decisions to him, insisting they were just there to advise. It
                                made Luke uncomfortable, they all knew so much more than he did.

"Would it be possible to make a slight detour on our way to Coruscant, General?" Anakin
asked.

"Detour where? and stop calling me General will you, we're practically family." Han smirked
significantly at Leia who blushed a little.

"To Moloc, my stronghold. There are a few things there I want."

"Moloc!" Leia made a face. "Wonderful, the volcanoes should be lovely this time of year."

Anakin laughed. Luke looked at his sister curiously. "You've been there?"

"Once. My ship was damaged by a meteor shower and we had to put into Moloc for repairs."

"A very convenient meteor shower." Anakin said. Looked down at his daughter. "You were
spying your Highness."

She looked back demurely. "That's a very serious charge, Lord Vader, have you any proof."

"And of course I didn't." Anakin explained to the others. "Leia was far to clever to give me
any. It was intensely frustrating."

                                At first it had troubled Luke to hear Leia call their father by his Sith name. She didn't do it often
                                and Father didn't seem to mind. Gradually he'd come to understand they shared a few
                                memories they didn't mind recalling.

"You two must have had a very strange relationship." he said.

"Yes, we did." Leia glanced up at her father. "I used to look forward to seeing you at Imperial
Receptions."

"You must have been the only person who did." he answered drily.

                                She laughed. "You can say that again! Nobody could kill a party like Lord Vader. I always
                                knew when you'd arrived, the conversation would drop about eight decibels and people'd
                                start edging away from me."

"From you?" Han repeated puzzled.

                                "Because they knew I'd seek her out." her father explained. To his daughter: "I looked forward
                                to seeing you too, at least the Anakin in me did. The Vader part would be so disturbed I'd have
                                to spend a couple of hours in meditation afterwards to subdue all the memories and feelings
                                seeing you brought out." To Luke. "You had the same effect on me."

He smiled gently. "I know. I sensed the conflict in you, that's how I knew I could save you.

To be continued ->