Luke Vader 24

Luke Vader Series: From slave to Dark Lord of the Sith
Part 24: Reborn Hope
By SJ 12-12-00/26-12-00 (skyjade@globetrotter.net)

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to George Lucas. I'm only writing stories for fun.
See my homepage for more details.
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Special thanks to my shy, secret beta-reader and best friend, Adrianne, for her
help with the final editing of my new stories. Thanks for giving me some of your
precious time, my friend :)
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Three weeks later, after an afternoon of Jedi training with her brother, Leia
managed to convince him to go out with her for their dinner.

Luke thus found himself in a good but cheap restaurant, well, he amended, cheap
only when compared to the upstanding places he could now afford thanks to his
new status. In its own rights, the place was very nice, as his sister had told
him.

Now he understood why it was her favorite place when she was alone; it had a
particularly homey charm.

As he looked around himself, he also had to admit that it was doing rather well
for itself despite its humble nature: the waiters were in dress-uniforms, the
food was almost excellent, and they had an interesting selection of wines.

Nobody knew that they were serving Luke Vader though; for comfort reasons, he
had chosen to disguise himself with the Force. For one thing, he admitted to
himself, he was tired from his last mission and didn't feel like bearing up with
the constant gawking he got whenever he wasn't with a few select persons.

He also didn't want to be approached by any would-be courtesans; no matter that
his relationship with Mara was known, some people still wanted to have his
favor.
Yuck, he frowned in disgust.

He finished his study of the place and refocused on his sister.

She looked quite happy; this was a good thing, he nodded inwardly. She had
dressed in a fine yet not extravagant dress, and she had braided her hair
loosely enough to look relax.

He had to admit that more than ever, she was beautiful, both outside and inside.
She was also improving most satisfactorily lately; he refocused on her
accounting of her last trip to the beach.

"And you? When was the last time you went to the beach?" she queried warmly.

Luke had to think there. Had he ever been to the beach? Other than during
missions, had he ever stepped on a beach?..

"Hmm, I think it would be a first," he admitted while their waiter brought their
food.

He himself was ravenous and was about to start eating his bouquet as a salad.

"You mean you've never been to the sea?" his sister asked, incredulous. "Not
even here?"

"No, I haven't," he admitted in a small voice. "I haven't exactly had a lot of
free time," he reminded her somewhat glumly.

Suddenly not feeling exactly comfortable with the topic, he instead attacked his
plate of steaming meat and veggies.

"Oh, sorry," was all Leia said.

While they ate in near silence, Luke became aware that he had to steer away from
any subject that would make him realize what he had missed up to now and
generate regret in himself. The Emperor hadn't called on him yet for his
'deal', and he already had a feeling that he wouldn't like it, so, he reasoned,
he had better not give him any other reason to make it even more unpleasant.

Leia excused herself, cutting into his thoughts as she stood up. He
questioningly looked up at her; she barely nodded in the 'fresher's direction.
He didn't probe anymore and refocused on his surprisingly excellent frenls
steak.

She had barely turned the corner when he felt her sudden fear invade his senses.
For a split nano-second, he almost jumped to his feet, then he understood what
was going on, smirked as he felt that the new developments would be positive for
him, and let his sister deal with her aggressor.

As she walked toward the ladies' room, Leia reflected that her brother was more
tired than he was letting them see. He seemed to be worried about something,
but what, she wondered---

A large hand suddenly covered her mouth while the being pulled her inside a
small room. She barely had time to realize what had happened before she found
herself alone and locked with her attacker.

She prepared to attack him with the Force, then the light was turned on and she
lost her focus.

For a long moment, she could only gape in disbelief at the tall man who was
shyly smiling at her.

He couldn't be alive... she reminded herself--- then she threw herself in his
arms, forgetting what she had thought to be until now.

"Han..." she whispered as she hugged him to herself.

"Hello Princess," Han Solo whispered in her ear, then he gently tilted up her
face with the tip of his index.

Their eyes met for long, interminable seconds, then their lips followed suite.

At that very moment, Leia's universe made a churning 180 degree turn. She was
in love with that man whom she had believed to be dead... and now that he was
back, he was reawakening the old Leia of the Rebellion.

The one that would never have allied herself with Luke and Vader. She shut her
mind on those thoughts and simply focused on the man's presence.

"I thought I had lost you forever," she whispered when their lips parted.

He gave her his roguish grin. "Not on your life, Leia," he teased her lightly.
"As soon as I found out that you were on Coruscant, I made my way here and
waited for the right moment to contact you."

"You mean you managed to follow me without being detected?" she asked in
incredulity.

"Hey, you're talking to a man who's been outside of the law for all his life,
your Highness," he reminded her. "I can outwit them at any time."

Leia meant to argue, but Han didn't give her time. He turned serious.

"Leia, I know that we don't have much time. Myself and a few others are here to
rescue you from this place."

For a short moment, she felt elated, then she remembered who was with her at the
moment.

"It's impossible," she admitted with a sad shake of her head. "Not with Luke
here."

"Luke? You mean that bastard Vader?" Solo snarled. "He isn't here, I haven't
seen him and I scanned---" Solo began to assure her.

"He's with me, Han... He... He's my brother," she told him hesitantly.

As she had expected, Han pushed her away from him in shock.

"What do you mean your brother?" he gaped in disbelief.

"He's my twin, Han... And Vader is our father."

At first, the pilot seemed to reconsider his plan altogether, then his face lit
up as he understood something.

"You aren't like them, are you? You're still a prisoner," he stated.

"I'm... mildly trustworthy," she admitted sadly.

"And you live with the both of them?" Han asked, a sudden animosity flashing in
his eyes as he began to consider a new possibility.

"Yes, why---"

"With your help, Leia, me and the few others I spoke about could strike a
serious blow to that Emperor filth," he informed her, dead-serious.

"Wh---what do you have in mind?" she inquired, somehow dreading his answer.

"We could kill them both," he told her adamantly.

"What?!" she exclaimed. "Kill them? But..." she began, then she realized what
she was about to do.

No, she mentally berated herself, she wouldn't defend the darksiders, but they
were also her family, an inner voice reminded her... She couldn't betray them.

"I m sorry, I can't," she finally told him.

Han gently yet strongly took hold of her biceps.

"Leia, do you realize how many lives you will save if you help us take them
down?" he asked earnestly. "Do you have any idea what this could do to the
Empire?"

Leia listened to him, but a part of her soul was screaming to her not to listen
to him.

"It could be the end of the war," Han continued seriously.

For almost fifteen full seconds, Leia remained silent, gazing straight into
Han's hazel-nut eyes. He wasn't the same brash, no-care smuggler she had known
during the Rebellion, she realized.

He had changed, he had--- she stopped as the Force showed her something that was
most unexpected. Han Solo had become the new leader of the slowly recovering
Rebel Alliance, and he was here to rescue her because he loved her and wanted to
avenge what had been done to them.

He was out for her brother's blood...

She pulled herself free of his hold.

"Han, I love you too, but I can't help you kill my brother. I'm sorry," she
apologized glumly.

She knew that her answer didn't please him, but he accepted it. He slowly
stepped aside from the small path to the door.

"All right, Leia, but I'm still going to take you away from your golden cage,"
he promised her. With or without your help, I will find a way to free you."

"I wish it were possible," she conceded in a small, sad voice.

She slowly picked her way toward the door. As she passed by him, he touched her
shoulder once again.

"If you ever change your mind and want to help us, Leia, come to this
restaurant. I will be here."

She gazed at him wordlessly, then made her way out of the maintenance closet.
Behind her, Solo sighed heavily.

She made a quick detour by the 'fresher because she really needed to use the
installation, then, after taking a moment to compose herself, she headed for her
brother's table.

He had finished his plate and smiled when he spotted her. She forced herself to
smile back. She would find a reason to go back home early tonight. She needed
to do some serious thinking.

Luke fortunately didn't seem to notice it.

But Luke did notice.

Leia wasn't skilled enough to hide her thoughts, let alone her feelings.
However, her reborn hesitancy didn't matter this time since this new development
would force her to make a choice: either she would stay with them, or she would
resume her life as a rebel and become an enemy once more.

If she did, he would regret her fate, but he would obey his master.

Once he was home, he called his father and girlfriend via holonet to inform
them of the situation. Just like he did, he knew that they would feel the
change in Leia upon their return; he told them about his new strategy.

When he cut his transmission with his girlfriend, he knew that Leia would never
even consider the possibility of them knowing about her possible desertion.
He leaned back in his plush chair and considered the future once again.

******

While Leia began to torture her mind anew with strong ambivalence, Luke received
orders to report to his master for their 'deal.' His first instinct was to ask
for a delay given the new player in his plan, but he quickly changed his mind.
His master had allowed him to keep Leia alive for a while now, so he had to pay
for what he had gotten up to now.

Hence, he reported aboard his master s imposing flagship and accepted the
painful deal his master offered to him.

******

Meanwhile, on Coruscant, Leia's mind had reached a decision from which there
would be no turning back.

She walked down the streets toward 'the' restaurant, still slightly debating
with herself whether she should help Han kill her family or not. Inside the
restaurant, she sat at a table, ordered a simple drink which she began, then,
after spotting Han in the far corner of the restaurant, pretended to have to go
to the 'fresher.

She knew that the bodyguards wouldn't follow her this far.

Surprisingly enough though, they accompanied her all the way to the door.

Inside, Leia waited slightly, then she decided to pay a visit to one of the
stalls.

"You made the right choice, Leia," Han's voice whispered to her as soon as
she shut her door.

She almost jumped out of her skin in shock. She hadn't even felt him through
the Force.

"Han!" she exclaimed in a whisper. "Don't do this. Do you want us to be
discovered?" she asked him.

"Not really," he smirked. "So I take it that you changed your mind," he told
her as he stepped closer.

"If you kill them," she told him as she slapped her datadisk against his vest,
"I don't want to be anywhere close-by," she warned him.

Han took her hand in his, then sought her eyes out.

"Why do you care so much about them, Leia?" he asked her seriously.

"Because they love me, they are my family, Han..."

"Those two darksiders can't---" he began vehemently.

"Yes, they can..." she corrected, "but they are also evil, I know... and this is
the part of them that I want to see dead."

"But you just said---" Han pointed out.

"I don't want to see them die, but I want to know that their dark selves are
dead," she corrected before taking a deep breath to calm herself. "I'll wait
for your rescue, Han," she told him shyly before touching the door's control.

Han wasn't letting her go this fast though. He first pulled her in a passionate
kiss that made all her doubts melt away, well almost all of them, then he kissed
her forehead.

"Be careful, Princess. I love you."

"And I love you too, Han. I miss you," she whispered warmly.

They would have initiated another kiss if they had been alone, but they weren't.
They were both aware that Leia's guards were probably wondering what was taking
her so much time.

She pecked Han s lips once more, then left the small room, washed her hands,
then left him completely alone.

It was a good thing, she reflected seriously, that she had always been one to
stay for a long time in 'freshers. This time, it didn't look suspicious to her
guards.

Han watched her leave, his heart lighter due to his love for her, but his mind
more determined than ever to take out the darksiders who had tormented her.
While he waited for the corridor to clear from her bodyguards, he remembered
once again the day when he had seen the news about the new dark lord.

He had been with the very few survivors of the latest imperial assault. Like
himself and Chewie, they had escaped because they had been in space when the
ships had come up on them; they had managed to make the transition into
hyperspace before the imps had even been aware of their presence out there.

That day, his heart heavy with grief at the lost princess and the young Jedi he
had come to think of as a younger brother, he had distractedly listened to the
others plans to regroup and start anew, but he himself didn t intend to join
with them except to avenge his friends---- then a fighter pilot had rushed in
their small meeting room and warned them that something warranted their
immediate attention on the vid.

The moment the image had come up on the screen, Han had felt his jaw hit the
floor even as expletive curses and growls had emanated from his co-pilot.

There, at the Emperor s left, had stood the young Tatooine farmboy... but he
hadn t been a prisoner. Instead, he had been dressed almost like Vader himself,
with the exception of the mechanical parts of his suit. Even if Han instantly
understood what it meant, his mind refused to believe it, trying to convince
himself that the boy had been corrupted by Vader, as he had intended to do the
first time that he had captured him, but the Emperor s comment about how the boy
had proven his worth by destroying the Rebellion had shattered all his weak
arguments.

That day, Han s life had taken a drastic turn with a sole goal at the end of it:
to kill Luke Vader, the Emperor s new Dark Lord of the Sith.

The presentation had lasted for far longer than those few words, but he hadn t
listened anymore. Instead, he had tried to remember everything the bastard had
done and said while with them, trying to understand exactly what the kid was
capable of.

The only thing he had determined was that he would plan carefully before taking
him on. The traitor had fooled them all from the start, not generating any
doubts in either of them about the genuine nature of his almost dangerous
naivete. Instead, he had led them right where he wanted them all... and had
even captured Leia s heart.

At that moment, Han had somehow known that the woman he loved was still alive,
that the monster had taken her with him to enjoy her company for a while longer.

The moment the transmission had ended, then that the present men had cursed
until they could only seethe in silence, he had spoken--- and had taken
leadership of the ragtag group of surviving rebels.

With their help, he had established that Leia had indeed been taken to
Coruscant. While he himself and a few commandoes had made their way to the
imperial world to rescue her, others had begun to rally new allies for a soon to
be reborn Alliance, but unlike the old one, they kept their activities secret.

However, the time to rise against the Empire would soon be at hand, Han thought
grimly as he refocused on the present. With the two Vaders out of the way and
Leia back with the Alliance, they would free the galaxy once and for all of the
oppression of the Empire.

Eventually, he left the ladies room.

******

A week later, the whole Vader family was miraculously home at the same time, and
they even had some time to enjoy their being together. They had first shared a
copious meal, except for her father, and they were now slowly digesting their
feast while discussing some idle topics.

They were sitting in one of her father's many living rooms; this one was
decorated in tones of dark green, burgundy and gold. It was very soothing for
her mind, as was the whole situation; it was a welcome feeling considering the
past days that she had spent reconsidering her decision over and over again.

Her brother and his girlfriend were slouched together in a corner of the long
couch while she herself was curled up in the other corner; her father was
comfortably sitting in a large, deep, plush armchair that was across from them.

"I still think that there are too many holovid channels now," she commented
diplomatically as she smoothed a wrinkle out of her long skirt.

"It's not this bad," Luke disagreed, "it means more variety for those who like
to watch it."

Mara, who was safely enclosed in his arms, scoffed: "Yeah, like you can talk,
flyboy."

"Okay, so perhaps I'm not the best connoisseur there is," Luke conceded, "but I
still watch it often enough to know that it offers a wide choice of programs,"
he defended lightly.

"It certainly is entertaining," her father agreed quietly.

"Yeah," Mara added, "but it also explains a lot of things about the commoners
and our missions," she reflected out-loud while she shifted slightly against her
boyfriend.
"What do you mean?" Leia queried softly.

She dimly noticed the slight wince that barely showed on her brother's face when
his girlfriend spoke, but she couldn't say if it was caused by his lover's
thought, or because she had accidentally poked him in the ribs with her elbow.
She dismissed it as being inconsequential. She refocused on her friend who was
answering her question.

"They like violence, pettiness and destruction," the red-head commented
seriously.

"No, they don't," Leia instantly argued.

"Perhaps not when they suffer from them," her father cut in quietly, almost
wisely, "but I agree that they do show a very strong inkling toward those low,
dangerous tendencies," he stated from his years of experience.

Leia meant to defend those citizens who were unjustly accused of faults, but
her brother was faster to reply.

"It doesn't mean that they wish it for anybody, Leia," he added thoughtfully,
reasonably, "but they do like to watch it when it's faked."

"Or to afflict others with torment when they are stronger on the physical plan,"
Mara added seriously.

Leia knew that she couldn't exactly argue with them about those things; she had
been around in the galaxy long enough to know that those things were
unfortunately true... but at the same time, she was loath to concede her point
this easily.

They seemed to be forgetting themselves, she reflected with some frustration.

"What about the three of you?" she asked them, not aggressively, but not gently
either. "How do you think that you are seen when it comes to those three
things?" she inquired, miffed.

"I never attack the innocents," Mara retorted with a shrug of her shoulders.
"My targets are always despicable and have hurt many people before I take care
of them," she pointed out.

"Point taken," Leia sighed in resignation. "What about you?" she asked her
brother.

"I don't relish to cause pain," he began, "but I love being in the fire of the
moment... as long as my victims aren't innocents," he finished also seriously.

Like any other soldier, Leia realized with a nod of her head. She turned
toward her father.

"My job requires me to use harsh techniques sometimes," he admitted, "but like
Luke, I don't like them, and I try to save the innocents when I can. I'm also
glad when the 'action' is over and peace is everywhere."

Not like a monster at all, she noted mentally. The three of them had strained
the point that they tried to save the innocents, and, she admitted to herself,
she knew that they did.

Through mass-destruction, it was always difficult to spare the lives of the ones
they didn't target, but they themselves always managed to spare at least three-
quarters of the untargeted population. Perhaps she was too harsh with them and-
--

"What about you, Leia?" her brother asked her seriously. "Where do you stand on
this topic?"

At first, she wanted to answer that she was completely violence-free--- but she
suddenly remembered all the imperials she had killed during the Rebellion, all
the deadly orders she had given... She was just as bad as they were, she
realized in shocked horror.

"I... I'm a soldier too," she finally conceded.

A long silence then stretched between the four of them, solely interrupted by
her father's breath, then Luke talked about the new ship that he had seen while
he had been at the spaceport the previous day.

The two others also jumped in, displaying yet again how much they loved
starships and anything that had to do with them.

While she listened to their sharing of statistics and comparison grids, she
thought, not for the first time, that she wished that she had never known them
like she did now...

She didn't want them to die, not the parts of them that were normal like the
rest of the population... If she didn't know that about those aspects of their
personality, they would have always been darksiders, enemies, and that would
have been it , but now... they were her brother, her father... her friend.

She could never betray those individuals, yet... she already had, she whimpered
inwardly.

As soon as they had all been in the castle, she had secretly warned Solo via
the comlink he had given to her. He had told her that he would attack during
the night...

And now, she couldn't even tell them about the upcoming attack without betraying
the man she loved.

Life was unfair, she pouted while striving to retain her impassible mask.

The topics changed from ships to politics in the outer Rim; she tried to
distract her tormented mind by involving herself to the fullest in this more
than familiar topic.

******

Two hours later, Luke and Mara retired for the night, saying that they had a
tough day waiting for them the next day.

Well, they did, Luke knew. After all, they had to prepare their next, joint
mission, then practice their flying and fighting skills. Tonight, though, that
part of their life was far from their mind, but what Mara had in mind wasn't
matching what he had.

Up to now, which meant since her return the previous day, he had managed to hide
his new injuries from her; he didn't want her to know that he had been hurt
again, but he knew that she was ravenous tonight.

He had returned and still returned her attentions of course, but unlike
normally, his hands hadn't attacked his clothes yet, instead keeping her from
doing it to him by pulling her as close to himself as he could.
She had already managed to open his first two buttons before he had stopped her,
but he had forgotten that she was resourceful.

She used the Force to undo the rest of his shirt. The moment she touched his
back with her hands, he let out an expression of pain while she drew away in
shock.

"Luke?" she gaped, asking him to deny what she had felt.

When he began to avoid her gaze, she took hold of his biceps, whirled him
around and lifted his now open shirt. She openly gasped as she saw his still
healing injuries.

"What the--?? When were you going to tell me about that?" she asked him, dark
annoyance creeping in her voice as she let him go.

"You don't want to know," he half-whispered.

Unable to face her disappointment, he crawled on four on their bed before
settling on his stomach, the least painful position he could occupy in his
state. She was already beside him.

"No, I do want to know, and you will tell me," she told him firmly.

For a long moment, Luke considered ignoring her and just trying to go to sleep,
but when he realized that she'd just dig up in his mind to find her answers,
something which he couldn't keep her from doing thanks to their link, he decided
that he was better to tell her.

"It is part of a deal with the master," he said quietly.

"What deal?" she queried seriously.

"I suffer... Leia remains alive and 'free' from him," he explained sadly.

Mara nodded in understanding, then she covered his back once again before laying
beside him on the bed. She knew exactly what he had been through, he realized.

"How can you know?" he asked her in a whisper.

"Do you think you're the only one who makes deals with him?" she asked him in
compassion.

"What deal?" he asked, suddenly exchanging their roles.

"The right to be solely yours, Luke... to not be given any harlot missions..."
she told him truthfully. I hid it from you, I m sorry, she explained even as
she showed him a remnant of her own deal with their master.

Ignoring the pain that was lancing in his back as he moved, he pulled his arm up
and around her, then drew her closer to himself where he could kiss her forehead
in gratitude and comfort.

"Oh, Mara," he sighed. "I love you."

"And I love you, Luke," she whispered back, accepting his invitation and
cuddling even closer to him than she could.

The two lovebirds easily found sleep a few minutes later.

******

TBC in part 25: Sacrifice

Copyright 2000, SJ (skyjade@globetrotter.net)
Well, liked it? (Any positive stuff is welcome, but any mean stuff won't even be
read.)