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Epilogue

Meeting ∞

20 ABY

Things continued as Luke had planned, and he did end up having. . . something. . . with Vader, even if it was tentative and disapproved of and against all odds. Vader did end up giving them world-changing information, and Luke sensed that this, along with his importance to Luke himself, was the only reason Leia tolerated the man.

The trip to Endor came about a few months later, and Luke, Leia and Han were naturally the first ones to volunteer. Vader made it abundantly clear to Luke in their frequent, one on one conversations that when he reported that the Emperor was building a new Death Star his intention had not been to allow Luke to throw himself into further danger. Luke, who'd even begun to enjoy those meetings of theirs and now considered himself on good terms with the Sith Lord, had essentially told him to butt out of his business.

The mission on Endor had gone surprisingly well, despite the last minute discovery that the Emperor himself was personally overseeing the construction of the superweapon. The trio had managed to get the shields down, with a little help from the local wildlife, and the pilots of the Rebellion had blown the thing - with His Imperial Majesty on it - to smithereens.

The war ended shortly afterwards, the rest of the Empire having little idea of what to do now the head of the snake had been severed. The New Republic's flag was flown from the top of the Senate building on Coruscant, and war criminals were put on trial.

Vader's sentence was reduced to an exile on, ironically enough, the jungle moon Yavin 4, partly because of his work with the Rebellion and how it helped end the war, partly because of the New Republic's mandate against public execution. He set up home there and lived a fairly uneventful life. Luke visited occasionally, having established something of a bond with the man during those months before Endor, when he could spare the time, and his sister never visited at all.

They'd planned to never tell Vader of Leia's parentage, but one day a particularly zealous reporter found out, and the whole galaxy learned before the man himself did.

Amidst it all, Vader did perhaps the only thing that might ever come close to improving his image in his daughter's eye: He saved her son.

The moon of Yavin 4 was just as sweltering and humid as Luke remembered it being two decades ago, shortly before the destruction of the Death Star.

He looked down at the teenager next to him. Ben's hair was oddly neat, considering the rat's nest it usually was, and Luke wasn't sure whether it left him happy or uneasy that his nephew was so. . . excited. . . to finally meet his grandfather.

He'd known he was alive, of course - it was no secret in the family that Luke still visited his father regularly, and had even developed a sort of familial bond with him. But Leia had refused to have anything to do with the man, and kept her son away from him as well. Ben had barely even known that Luke's father was Vader, and Luke was sure he only knew that from eavesdropping from the Skywalker twins' arguments on the topic.

But then the galaxy had found out who General Leia Organa's biological sire was. And with it, Ben.

The political upheaval it'd caused hadn't ever died down - rather, it'd become old news. A photo would be released about Leia, someone would compare it to leftover records of the Sith Lord from during the days of the Galactic Empire, random media outlets would start harping on in or against Leia's defence, and then the whole thing would blow over before it started again. And Luke could see the toll it took on his sister, and how very tired she became.

Luke had been facing this for years - he'd never broadcasted that Vader was his father, but he'd never denied it either. And so, to protect her political career, he and Leia had kept their biological relationship under wraps, and Ben grew up believing that the man he called "Uncle Luke" wasn't really his uncle, just a very close family friend.

And hadn't that been a lovely thing to explain when everything had come out.

Ben's strange. . . obsession. . . with Darth Vader had been a worry for his parents for years, and once Ben realised that Luke knew the man personally (was his son) he'd begged him to let him visit. Luke had always refused; as much as it hurt him to disappoint the kid, Leia's death glares were pretty off-putting.

But maybe a few months after the scandal had been released, Luke had walked into the Solo-Organa household on Ben throwing a teenage temper tantrum, claiming that Vader was his grandfather and that he had the right to know my own family members. Han taken a deep breath (and a drink) and dragged Luke aside.

"Can you take him to visit?"

Luke had been taken aback. "What?"

"Take him to visit Vader. Y'know," the smuggler had swallowed then. "Meet his hero and all that. Maybe then he'll idolise the man less, if he finds out the horrible things he did first-hand and what sort of state he lives in now. C'mon, Luke." Han was unnervingly close to begging, now. "Please?"

"Never meet your heroes," Luke murmured, then threw a look at the closed kitchen door. He did not mention that any one of the three them could recount at least a handful of terrible things Vader did - the scars were still, even after fifteen years, far too fresh. He sighed, and conceded. "Alright; I'll take him with me on my next visit."

"Thanks, kid," Han had said, clapping him on the shoulder, smile not quite genuine. He'd never dropped the nickname, even when Luke was beyond what anyone would consider a child. "You take care of him, alright?"

"I will."

So now the two of them were trekking through Yavin 4's humid jungle atmosphere, and his nephew was looking thoroughly disillusioned with his daydreams of the glory of his grandfather.

Or at least, a little disillusioned.

"Does he live in the Massassi temple the Rebellion used as a base?" Ben asked eagerly.

Luke huffed an almost inaudible breath. "No - I'm pretty sure that'd be blasphemy of some sort." On so many levels.

"Where does he live then?"

"On a little estate in the middle of the jungle. He rarely goes outside - his respirator's an old model, and can't handle too much humidity, but he refuses to get another one, no matter how much I try to tempt him with promises of advanced technology. . ."

Luke trailed off, suddenly realising how nice it was to talk about his father with someone in a cordial tone, talk about the little quirks and imperfections the man had (and Luke was oddly fond of) that if he mentioned to anyone else - even Han and Leia - all he'd get was disgust.

Not that his nephew idolising his grandfather was a good thing, but still.

It was. . . nice.

"What's he like?"

And that was it, wasn't it? The question only his nephew would ever ask him, because some people's actions (rightfully) spoke louder than their words. What is Darth Vader actually like when he's not trying to kill you?

"He's. . . strange," Luke surmised weakly. Ben shot him a glance, like there was no way that was detailed enough for him, but that temper of his seemed to let up when he realised (sensed, more like - his nephew was strong in the Force, but Leia had, understandably, never entered him into any sort of training) that Luke wasn't holding back out of reluctance, but out of being at a genuine loss for how to describe him.

They turned another corner on the path, and Luke drew up short when he saw the twisted iron gate amongst the foliage ahead, and the pathway leading into it. "Here we are." Ben looked around, a sort of wonder on his face.

Luke pressed the buzzer, and waited as the silver protocol droid his father had built approached down the (unused) garden path. "Hello, my name is C-4B2, human-cyborg-"

"Yeah, I know. Hi, Forbeetoo."

The protocol droid gasped - really, sometimes he reminded Luke of Threepio in a way that was more than just the type of droid; it was like they were made by the same person or something. "Master Luke! Such a pleasure to see you! And you must be-" He turned to Ben.

"Ben Solo," his nephew replied. "We're here to see-"

"Master Darth," Forbeetoo guessed, and Luke stifled a laugh. The poor droid had never quite picked up that "Darth" was a Sith designation, not his father's actual first name. His father shouldn't technically be going by the name "Darth Vader" at all, but since he refused to reclaim Anakin Skywalker, and a third name would become too confusing, they'd had to make do. "I'll alert him to your presence. Do come in."

Shooting his nephew a quick smile - because oh, wouldn't this be an interesting conversation - Luke followed.

Vader stared at his grandson and wondered - irrationally, cruelly, unnecessarily - if this was similar to what Luke or Leia had looked like as a teenager, or if he got his looks from that reprobate Solo.

He knew what the Princess had looked like as a child - her face had been all over the holonet, considering Alderaan's status as the most beautiful planet to exist - but one thing that had lingered on his mind since said holonet had so graciously informed him that his son had a twins sister was whether the girl had ever looked as innocent and carefree as Luke - and now, Ben - had.

She probably had.

That was probably just another thing the Empire had stolen from her.

He cleared his throat; Luke had left the room with Forbeetoo, the backstabber, and left him alone with his grandchild, who was now staring at him with wide, dark eyes - just like his mothe- "Why did you want to meet me?" he asked frankly, unable to bear the silence any longer. Silence amongst his talkative family was rarely a good thing.

Ben's face lit up, but he seemed confused. "Why wouldn't I?" His bewilderment felt genuine through the Force, and Vader was stumped as to how someone would look forward to interacting with him so much - other than Luke, of course. But Luke was a remarkably forgiving person. "You're my grandfather! And you're Darth Vader! You did all sorts of cool things!"

Vader's bewilderment only grew. "Such as?"

"You wielded a lightsaber! You could choke people without touching them! You were the best star pilot in the galaxy, and the Commander of the Imperial Fleet! You could do anything!"

This sort of enthusiasm wasn't the sort the boy might've acquired in the months since he'd learned the truth - it was the sort that was a product of years of obsessive idolisation. Vader, head spinning, was beginning to understand why General Organa had finally capitulated and allowed her son to meet him.

"Your uncle can do those things too, I believe; the difference between a good man and a Sith Lord is that he doesn't."

Ben seemed at a loss at that. He scratched the back of his head, glanced the floor, then back up again. "Yeah, but like, Luke does what the New Republic tells him. He has to. He gets all sorts of fire from the media for his honesty regarding you and your relationship, not to mention other things, and he's as powerless to stop it as Mum is. But you-" At this his face lit up like an ignited lightsaber- "You never were. No one dared to speak out against you."

"I believe," Vader pointed out again, "that your parents and uncle are living proof that that is not true, young one. No one can control what other people say about them."

Ben scowled at the infantile name, but continued, even more invigorated, "But- People died when they insulted you!"

"Because I killed them. Something my son has been lecturing me on the immorality of for more than the past decade. You are aware that killing people is considered wrong by everyone in your family - nearly everyone in the galaxy?"

"Yes," Ben grumbled sullenly. "I didn't mean I want to kill people who insult me, I meant-"

"You don't want people to talk," Vader finished solemnly. "You don't like being in the centre of all the media fire, and people you've never spoken to having negative opinions on you. You don't like people being cruel, so you found a historical figure whom no one dared be cruel to, because he was too cruel in return, and attached yourself to the image. Is that correct?"

Ben seemed left speechless. Vader sighed.

"You cannot retaliate every time someone is mean," the reformed Sith Lord said gravely. "That's something I've learned by the grace of your uncle during my exile here. You have to prove you're better than them. What is that phrase Luke is fond of? You have to be the-"

"You have to be the bigger person," his grandson finished, tone flat.

"Quite." Vader hoped his tone came off as amused as he felt; one could never tell, with the vocoder. "And your uncle always is; physiological impossibility notwithstanding-" Ben had to laugh at that; he'd inherited his father's height, and as such was the same height as if not taller than his mother and Luke. "-he is always trying to be the bigger person. Which is why he still associates with me, even after all the heat the media gives him for it."

"But Uncle Luke knows how to deal with it-"

"He doesn't," Vader interrupted again. "No one does. He just tries to ignore it, and not let it get to him." He sighed. "Your family knows full well the pressures of being in the political eye, Ben." It was the first time he'd called his grandson by his given name. "Trust me when I say, they are exhausted. But Leia has played this role since she was adopted by the Organas. Solo has played this role since he married your mother. Luke has played it since he blew up a Death Star and became a legend."

Vader shrugged. "If you need help dealing with it, ask them. I can assure you, they are never as 'okay' as they appear to be."

"What did you do?" Leia whispered to Luke a day after they returned from Yavin 4. Ben had already thrown out all the research he'd done on Darth Vader, and had full out admitted to having been contacted by a political extremist group known simply as the First Order.

Luke shrugged. "Nothing," he replied. "It was all Father. I just made lunch with Forbeetoo."

Leia glanced at her son's bedroom door, then back at her brother. "You think he'll be alright?"

Luke smiled. Solidarity - familial solidarity, that's what the Skywalker bloodline had always lacked. And now. . . "Yeah." He took Leia's hand. "I think we all will."

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