Playlist:
❶ "Torn Apart"—The Force Awakens OST
⊘ Silence
❷ "Yoda and the Younglings"—Attack of the Clones OST
When the sun had set, Leia was more at peace. As the terrace cooled, she led Luke back inside to the opulent living room. White furnishings with a few touches of color in accent pieces reminded Leia of the Mountain Palace on her homeworld of Alderaan, and a pang of homesickness touched her heart.
Ben wandered out of his room to them, holding a few toys. "Mommy, mommy, pway wif me. You can be Daddy in the Fawcon, and I wi' be Dawt Vaduh in his TIE fighter." Then he gave Uncle Luke the toy X-wing Luke had left on the table earlier. "And you can be a Rebew fighter."
❶ He raced around the room, pew-pewing. He came up to Luke and shot down his fighter, giggling. He said in a dark voice, "You're dead, Jedi. That was all too easy."
Luke looked at Leia. "Hey, Ben, where did you learn this?"
Ben looked at him. "Nursewy."
Leia said with a nervous laugh. "It's part of the curriculum, to teach our children what it cost to form this New Republic. We don't want them ever to forget."
Luke scowled and wrinkled his brow. "Well, that's not how it happened, you womprat." He grabbed the little boy and tickled him a bit. "I'm right here, alive, in front of you."
Ben wiggled out of his uncle's grasp and continued playing with his TIE fighter. "Yeah, but that's not how it was suppost ta happen. He to'd me so."
"Who? Who told you?" Luke asked.
"Him," Ben said as he held up the TIE fighter. "Vaduh."
Leia dropped her mouth and raced forward.
Luke raised his hand to ward her off. "How do you know it was him, Ben?"
"He comes to me at night, in my dweams. He wears a dawk bwack mask and says he is Dawt Vaduh. He shows me how to do reawy neat fings, too. See." Ben narrowed his eyes, and the toy shot at the vase.
Luke snatched it with the Force at the last moment, stopping it microns away for a rare Alderaaian vase. Ben fought him for a moment and then lost interest.
Luke knelt beside the boy and placed his hand on Ben's scalp above his ears. He sent tendrils of the Force through the cortex into the hypothalmus, first calming him and then sending him into a Force-trance. Then he built a wall around the head, a glowing shield of energy pulsing.
Leia crossed to her brother on the couch, staring at the still form of her son in a Jedi trance. "Luke, what did you to do him? And is this safe? Won't Vader come to him in his dreams again?"
"Not in a Jedi-enforced trance. But Vader didn't do this, Leia."
"How do you know?" She remembered the time Vader had interrogated—tortured—her on the first Death Star. He was the one who held her in position, forcing her to watch her home world explode as the Death Star's weapons systems were tested. It was still hard for her to acknowledge that he was her biological father.
Anakin's ghostly form appeared before Luke and said, "Because I'm here right now."
Leia could not see the apparition. "Do you hear that voice? Where is it coming from?"
Luke turned to her. "Leia, I know it's not him, because our father is right here, right now. It is his voice you hear. He is part of the light." He frowned and bit his lip. "Leia, clear your mind of everything. Become at peace and feel the Force."
She sat down and put the toy on the table, her son sprawled on the floor a few feet away. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.
"Now open your eyes. What do you see?"
"You're not Vader."
"Not anymore. I am your father—Anakin Skywalker."
"Father?" she remarked with a look of disgust on her face, her nose and lips pulled back.
"Forgive me, Leia."
"I ... I can't." She turned her head from him.
The ghost floated in front of her. He reached out with his hand to cup her chin. "If I had known who you were, Leia, I would have never let Tarkin—"
"Hypocrite! My father was one of your closest friends, and you murdered him. You made me watch, but you knew who he was. You turned your back on him, on everyone in your life. And for what?" Leia's eyes glared, their warm chocolate glowing with an amber tinge.
Luke placed his hand on her shoulder. "Let go of your hatred, Leia. It will only lead to the dark side of the Force. Anger, hate, fear, aggression, release them."
"You don't understand, Luke." She scowled at Anakin's image. "You monster. I might be able to forgive you for torturing me on the Death Star. I might even be able to forgive you for destroying Alderaan and putting Han in carbonite. But I will never forgive you for seducing my son to the dark side."
"I regret those actions deeply, Leia, but I would never tempt my grandson. Who do you think told Luke to come here? I've been watching, but I can't interfere. If I could go back years ago and do it all over again—the right way—I would. And I would find a way to save your mother. She was the one who kept me in the light," Anakin said with his eyes watering.
Leia's anger swelled, emotions welling up in her as she absorbed it all. She turned her face once again as she remembered the images of her mother she had from right after birth. She remembered her beautiful, sad face crowned with stunning chestnut curls.
"Leia, look at him," Luke said with authority. When she refused to look up, Luke moved her head up and opened her eyes with the Force. "Do you see a mask on him? Our father has not been coming to Ben in his dreams. I don't know what it is, but it's not our father."
"Why? Just tell me why you turned, because then maybe—."
Anakin dropped his head and bit back a tear. "For your mother."
"Liar." She shrugged off Luke's arm and glared once more at her biological father.
"No, let me explain."
She clenched her teeth together and lowered her head.
"Leia, I loved her so much I didn't think I could go on without her. I had visions of her dying in childbirth, and I knew that if I could just find the secrets the Jedi hid from me, I could save her." He knelt in front of her and lifted her chin. "Not unlike the visions you've had of Ben."
Luke opened his mouth and started to speak, but Leia cut him off.
"I have not had visions of Ben dying."
Anakin spoke, "No, but you have of him turning to the dark side."
Leia nodded and shuddered.
"I know you would do anything to save him, Leia."
While Luke wrapped an arm around her shoulder, she let a tear trail down her cheek. "Anything. Everything. We've got to save him."
Luke said, "You have to save yourself first, Leia. You have to forgive and let go of your hatred."
Leia inhaled deeply again. She looked at her father and stuttered, "I-I-I-I ... f-f-f-for ... give you, Father."
As soon as she said that, the ghost disappeared.
⊘ "Where did he go?"
"It takes a lot of power to hold him here, Leia, and it's been a rough day. I'm worn out," Luke said in a weary voice and nodding toward Ben whom he was still holding in a trance on the floor. He collapsed backward on the couch and fell asleep.
She kept watch over both Luke and Ben as they both slept, contemplating what the next move would entail.
❷ After Leia's night-long vigil, Luke arose, but Ben was still held in the trance. She greeted from the kitchen. "Good morning."
Luke stood up and stretched as he said with a yawn, "Let's hope it's a better one than yesterday. Got anything to eat? I'd even eat MREs right now, I'm so hungry."
"I think I can provide something slightly better than that. Breakfast will be ready in a minute." She poured him a stimcaf.
Luke sipped the hot liquid. "Mmm. Thank you." He then looked at his sister. "No sleep, huh?"
She looked at the bags under eyes in the reflection on the cooling unit and shook her head. "No, but I've survived through worse before." She carried the plates to the table. "I'm a mother, Luke. Sleepless nights come with the territory." She took a few bites of the zered egg omelet Threepio had cooked. "Is it normal for him to be out this long?"
Luke finished chewing before answering, "I'm holding him in a trance until I figure out what's going on."
"What is going on?"
"I'm not sure. There has to be some evil force out there seducing Ben."
"What are we going to do? How do I protect him from something I can't even see? And why Ben? Why not one of your Padawan or Naluma or even one of us?"
"He's Vader's grandson—has the Skywalker blood coursing through his veins. The Force is strong with him Leia, maybe even more than with me."
Leia set her fork down on the plate with a clatter. "But nobody knows he's a Skywalker except you and me and Han."
"No. The guy who gave us the lodge knew that Vader was Anakin Skywalker. And the whole galaxy knows we're siblings, Leia."
"Well, it hasn't been on the news vids. Maybe he was an isolated case."
"Maybe." Luke worked a piece of food from between his teeth with a toothpick. "But at least one other person in this galaxy knows. And I think whoever it is has a connection with those dark Force users from Telti. And, as much as the light side sends visions, I think the dark side can, too."
As Leia returned her attention to her breakfast, Luke continued. "Ben is a little young, but I'd like to take him back with me to the academy. If I can't turn him, the Jedi can at least contain him."
"Luke, there's good in him. I've felt it. I can turn him back to the good side," Leia said grabbing onto his arm. Please, not the academy. I know that's where he turns.. If I don't send him there, he'll never turn. "I have to at least try. Please don't take him from me. Luke, please, it's safer for him here. They won't be able to take him."
"Whoever this is has already influenced him, Leia, security or no security. He needs the Jedi guarding him."
"Not yet. He's still so young."
Luke nodded and sighed. "I think this is a mistake, Leia, but I cannot take him without your permission." He observed his sleeping nephew. "I need to train you in this Force-trance, though. You will need to be able to put him in a trance like this, or this vision will continue to haunt him, seduce him. And once he starts down the dark path, it will consume him."
"I know." Tears flowed down her face now as she nodded. She held out her hands and begged, "Teach me."
Did you know ...
● In the old EU, Leia had a hard time forgiving Anakin, too. In Bloodline, her biological parentage affects the rest of her life. Too bad the rest of the galaxy doesn't take Han's point of view.
● Leia inherited Anakin's personality, seasoned with a dose of Padmé's common sense and influenced by Bail's level-headedness.
● Luke has Padmé's compassion. We don't see it often, but he does have a touch of Anakin's temper, as well.
● Ben's speech impediment is based on my own. I underwent speech therapy when I was in first grade.
● With Han leaving all the time and Luke involved with the Jedi Order, Ben is the only emotional stability Leia has. As a politician, she cannot trust anyone else. It's a lonely life to lead.
Tell me what you think ...
● If Anakin is not influencing Ben, who is?
● What changes in their marriage would entice Han to stay with Leia and not run away?
● What is Leia thinking at the end of this chapter?