The Unchronicled Adventures of Ahsoka Tano, Book Seven

Chapter Forty-Eight: He Who Giveth Taketh Away

ANAKIN SKYWALKER

Anakin watched as Ahsoka’s eyes widened, and he pulled Luke aside. As everyone else went to talk about the battle, he walked, with his son in tow, into a narrow cleft in the rock. They would have more freedom to talk here.

“You are my dad, aren’t you?” Luke asked.

“Yes.” Anakin struggled to find the words to explain it. “Your parents probably told you that your dad and mom where dead.”

“Yeah, but you’re not. That nice lady with the curly hair is my mom, right?”

His eyes widened. “How did you know?”

Luke crossed his arms, the spitting image of what him at that age. “I’ve seen the way you look at her. Who else could it be?”

“She is your mother, but it’s hard to explain. You see, a very bad man, whom everyone thought had good intentions, ever since he found out about me, wanted me to work for him.” Satisfied with the explanation that was slowly forming in his mind, he continued. “He wanted to take me away from the good people I had grown up with. I didn’t figure it out for many years, but by the time I did, it was too late.”

“Too late for what?”

“I had already broken your mother’s heart with what I’d done to try to save her, and because of that, she died giving birth to you,” he said, then corrected himself. “Or at least, I thought she did. So, because I didn’t have anything left to live for, I went to work for the bad man.”

“You did?” Luke looked shocked.

“He had me do bad things, things I’m far from proud of. But I managed to break free of him, in a way, and I came here. I knew that Ben Kenobi, who was an old friend of mine, was here, and I wanted to tell him I was sorry about what I did. But then I found you. I recognized you, and I knew that I just had to get to know you.”

“I never knew,” Luke said in a whisper. “But… But now that you’re here, can’t you stay? I always wanted to know my mom and dad, and…”

A single tear dripped down the boy’s cheek, and Anakin bent down to wipe it away. “I know, buddy. But there are mean people in this galaxy. And if they knew that I had a son, then they could do bad things to you. And… Luke, do you trust me?”

“I trust you with everything I have!” he said, brightening despite the tears.

Anakin smiled sadly. Luke really had no idea how much that meant to him. “Then you have to trust me on this, Luke. You have to trust me.” Then he waved his hand and focused the Force towards his mind. “You will forget the events of these last two days ever happened.”

He didn’t want to this, but he had to. “You will forget that myself, Jayl, Rex, Ben and the soldiers in white were ever here. You will tell Beru and Owen that you and Biggs went looking for an adventure in a Tusken Raiders camp.” His voice shook with emotion. “But they saw you, and you were running away from them through the Canyon when you got lost. You found a cave and slept there. Then you managed to find your way back to the Lars’s home a few hours later.”

Luke nodded, his expression blank. Anakin started to cry for real now. “Luke… I know you won’t remember this, but know that you are loved. I love you, my boy, my son… And so does your mother. We love you.”

After telling him that he would regain his real memories if someone said the words ‘Ahsoka Tano’ in his presence, he sent the boy to find his friend. He did the same to him, except that Biggs’s mindblock was irreversable.

As he watched the two boys leave, he sobbed silently. When they were gone, he sank to the ground, unable to contain his anguish. Suddenly he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Padme standing there.

She said nothing, simply sitting down next to him in the hot, dry sand and holding him, while he cried over losing one of the things that he so desperately wanted to keep.

*Luke has had his mind wiped, and the now last thing that Anakin can't always be there to protect is safe from harm. But the Dark Side always finds other ways to hurt its enemies... Will Lux be all right? And how will Ahsoka react to seeing Padme Amidala, thought dead by all, alive again? You'll find out in the next thrilling chapter of The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano!

Ahhhhhh.... Man, we've been having such LOVELY weather these past three days! I was actually able to walk home from school with only my cardigan and my shirt on for once! And it's like only March, which the calendar most often decrees has to be rainy and ugly. It came in a nice fashion for once!

Become a Jedi Padawan to Qui-Gon Jinn after nearly getting sent to AgriCorps and may the Force be with you,

Sharron