The Moons of Iego: The Padmé Amidala & Anakin Skywalker Website

FAN FICTION : CLASSIC TRILOGY ERA

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Save Him

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Summary: Another take on the scene at the end of Return of the Jedi, why Vader decides to save Luke from the Emperor, aside from the obvious.

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: All characters in this story do not belong to me and come from the mind of the great flannel man, George Lucas.

Notes: This was originally posted in the Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker Character Thread, but I'd been thinking for awhile to post it individually since I know there are people out there who probably have never read this before. Possible Revenge of the Sith spoilers.

Bolts of energy shot from the Emperor's hands towards him. The young Jedi tried to use the Force to deflect them. At first he was half-successful, but after a moment the bolts of energy were coming with such speed and power the young Jedi shrunk before them, his knees buckling. The wounded Sith Lord struggled to his feet, and moved to stand at his master's side.

"Young fool...only now, at the end, do you understand." The Emperor laughed, grinning as he continued his assault.

He was almost unconscious beneath the continuing assault of the Emperor's lightning. He clutched a canister to keep from falling into the bottomless shaft as the bolts tore through him.

//Save Him.// Vader heard vaguely, the voice sounding familiarly like her voice.

Anakin smiled, holding a hand on her stomach. This was the life he helped create, their lives belonged to him. If the Jedi Council knew, they wouldn't understand. It was selfish of him but he didn't want them to be taken from him, or Padmé. When he was a boy, he had a choice to either stay with his mom or go with the Jedi, and he chose to go with the Jedi. He believed then and he still believed his destiny was with the Jedi but he wanted a different destiny for his children. Anakin wanted them to have normal lives, to play and be children. He was never allowed to play, or act as a child in the Jedi Temple because Temple Masters frowned upon such childish games.

Padmé smiled and moved away, relaxing on the couch. She smiled briefly and then frowned solemnly, remembering the reason for her husband's visit. "How long?"

"I don't know," he said, "I don't think the mission will last long..."

Padmé sighed and fidgeted, "Come back to me, Ani. I want you to be here with me when I give birth to our children."

Anakin grinned, sitting beside her and kissed the palm of her hand, "I know," he whispered, "I want so much to meet them...I can't wait to be a part of their lives, teach my son everything that I know." Anakin kissed her hand again and Padmé leaned over and hugged him, somehow feeling this was the time she would ever see him.

//Save Him.// he heard the voice again, //Anakin, he's your son...You must save him.// the voice pleaded.

Anakin looked again to his Master and then to his son. Luke writhed on the floor in unbearable pain, reaching weakly up towards him. In his eyes, he could see Padmé pleading with him too. "Father, please. Help Me!" he cried. Luke looked away and moaned as every part of his body ached from the lightening bolts.

//Save Him. Ani, please save him.//

He was the life he felt. He didn't know why in the beginning his existence intrigued him. It was because this boy was his son. In him, he saw himself as a young apprentice, always looking to the future and never focusing on the moment. He remembered his former Master saying to him that a Jedi's reality was the here and now, and to be mindful of the future but not to get wrapped in it.

//Save Him.//

Vader looked towards his Master again and then to his son, lying on the floor. His will was like hers, fighting until the end. He was stubborn like him, wanting to be a Jedi like him but his will came from her.

"Now, young Skywalker...you will die."

Although it would not have seemed possible, the outpouring of bolts from the Emperor's fingers increased in intensity, the sound screaming through the room, causing Luke's body to writhe in pain.

//He cannot die. Anakin, you must save him...he's your son.//

For Her. For years, he had forgotten about her, erasing her face from his mind. She was the reason he stopped being Anakin and let himself become Darth Vader. He didn't want to remember her but another part of him wanted to remember her always. His son, their son, was a part of her and his sister too. He waited a moment for the voice to say something to him, but it was silent. It didn't matter.

Vader grabbed the Emperor from behind and he stumbled with his load as the sparks rained off his helmet and flowed down over his black cape. He held his master high over his head and walked to the edge of the abyss at the central core of the throne room. With one final burst of his strength, Darth Vader hurled the Emperor's body into the bottomless shaft.

The Emperor's body spun helplessly into the void. Once the body was far down the shaft, it exploded, creating a rush of air through the room. Vader's cape whipped by the wind as he staggered, and collapsed towards the bottomless hole. Luke crawled to his father's side, pulling him away from the edge of the abyss to safety, both father and son too weak to move.

The End

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