Unfortunate Blessing

By Mireille

02/01/01 - 2016

Previously: Vader and a crippled Luke became stranded on Myrkr. While moving around the forest to avoid capture, father and son slowly bonded until they finally found transport off planet and escaped from the Imperial blockade. From there, they rendezvoused with a cloaked ship that held Anakin's secret medical laboratory.

There, Luke contacted the Alliance and found out that Leia's missing while Han has been delivered to Jabba the Hutt; the young Jedi decided to first save Han and organized a rendezvous point with his allies. He and Anakin also learnt about Leia's twinship with Luke, and that Palpatine had found her and was training her in the Dark Side of the Force. Finally, they learnt the horrific truth about what Palpatine truly did to Anakin's body when he 'saved' him on Mustafar, and ever since.

Hey everyone! Yup, I finally managed to get back to a GFFA! It's vacation time for me, and I am adamant that this year, the muses will get working and not be distracted or otherwise kept away from what they have been teasing you and me both with for years. Anyway, so far, so good, so here's some more to slake your thirst for more until I get more written.

Remember my promise: this story will remain alive until it is finished. Period.

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed this thing so far, as well as those who decided to follow/favorite it. Your continued interest despite the repeated delays really means a lot to me!

So, for all of you precious readers, here's the next part! It's short, but it's a start as well as a last transition toward the next big action/intrigue piece of this story :)

Please, don't hesitate to share your thoughts afterwards :D The more I know that people read and enjoy this fic, the more I want to post more ASAP and end up actually making time write more of it, like I did today :)

Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to me; everything belongs to Lucasfilm and Walt Disney Co. I'm only writing stories for fun.

Four days later, aboard the still-cloaked laboratory ship designated NB-3PR2, or as it was called by its owner, Naboo's Dream, said owner was undergoing a third complete purging of his bloodstream.

This time, the effects of the clean blood were more obvious, the annoying hitch, which he had first felt on Myrkr, now spreading to his whole body. Unlike then, he knew that it meant that his skin was finally allowed to heal and grow hair once again, at last. He did his best to welcome the unpleasant sensation, but it was very hard not to scratch bloody what was left of his skin.

Still, his son was there to help in that as well, taking care of this part of his healing while he encouraged his senior to focus his attention on his diaphragm, which had yet to awaken from its forced lethargy.

Together, and with the assistance of medic Te So with the medical protocols, the Jedi had not only hastened the cleansing and healing process, but they had made it possible to also surgically remove all at once the machinery that would have hampered the healing process. In fact, the healing trances were so efficient that the body had recovered his normal functions even before the critical first twenty-four hours had been over.

With Anakin finally on the mend and already fitted with the best prosthesis he had ever designed for himself, it had been Luke's turn to be operated on. Since time was of the essence, he, too, had decided to go with a prosthesis for his leg. Anakin had adapted one of his own to Luke's size and physiology and so, at long last, Luke was back on his two 'feet', at least figuratively speaking.

"No matter how good this prosthesis proves to be, Luke," Anakin commented while his son walked around the medical room to test his new appendage, "you are still getting that clone leg once Palpatine is defeated, or sooner if possible."

Doing his best to walk without a reflexive limp, the young Jedi raised his head to stare in disagreement at his companion. "Shouldn't that be 'my' decision," he reminded his overprotective father. "Besides, if that condition applies to me, then it applies even more to you, and I 'will' hold you to it."

Anakin, who was still getting used to having his authority challenged in regards to his overprotective instinct, crossed his arms over his bare chest and grumbled. "We'll see about that. Besides, I am more used to artificial limbs than flesh ones, so my recovery process will be quite long and tedious. You, though, still feel the pain of phantom limbs, so the reconnection and rehabilitation of your motion control center will be far easier, just like it was for your hand after..." Suddenly aware of what he was referring to, Ani shut up midsentence, unwilling to complete his thought out loud.

Not that his son hadn't understood what he was going to say, of course.

Luke pursed his lips at the unpleasant reminder and stepped back toward the older Jedi. "Be that as it may," the youth shook his head in continued obstination, "We either both wait until we can both take enough leave from the war for your recovery as well, or neither of us do."

"Luke," Anakin groaned and closed his eyes in wariness, silently asking the Force why his son couldn't be a little less stubborn when his own well-being was concerned.

The Force seemed to chuckle at him in answer – unless it was all the old masters to whom he had given plenty of similar grief in his young life?

His son just wouldn't back down. "I am not going to benefit from that advanced and more natural technology if you, who have been living with prosthesis for two decades, don't first. You deserve it much more than me, and Te So can only operate on one of us at a time."

Anakin groaned, defeated yet unable to surrender to the logic of his son's words.

"I'm sure that Te So will agree with me anyway, and besides, you are her Lord, remember? Her priority?"

Scratching his chest as he felt his frustration increase the hitchy sensasion there, the ex-Sith reluctantly sighed in defeat. "Fine, when the time comes, we'll do it together. We can only hope that we'll ever be able to stay away from the war for six to eight months or else, you have just doomed yourself to never benefiting from this miraculous technology."

"That time will come someday, Dad," his son reassured him confidently. "I can Feel it."

"Huh-uh, I'm sure," Anakin groused before he picked up his reading pad from the bunk's surface. "Here, this is what I was reading while you were with Te So: the latest report from the Imperial Intelligence network, courtesy of the Noghri. Xizor has become my replacement in the Imperial court and as Supreme commander of the Fleet."

Luke took the proffered pad and read. "I suppose that his delivering Leia played a role in that nomination."

"Perhaps, but Palpatine always likes to pit us one against the other, aware that our hatred for one another is reciprocal."

"Hatred? Dad..." warned reflexively.

The ex-Sith lord raised his hands in his defense. "Hey, this one is not my fault. I don't know why he hates me so much." Luke quirked his lips and raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Other than usual cutthroat politics, I mean," Ani amended quickly. "All I know is that he wants my head on a platter, as well as yours now that he's found out about us, and that makes me dislike him very much. He's also a criminal who manages slave rings and profits from them, so..."

"After Palpatine, he's your second natural nemesis in the order of things, I understand. Still," the youth raised a finger in warning, adopting his more mature expression once again, "Don't feed your hatred of him either, huh? Once Palpatine is dealt with, we'll see what we can do to put an end to Black Sun's slave-related activities, at the very least."

"If the war doesn't take precedence once again," Anakin stated, deadpan.

"We'll see," Luke reassured him. "For now, though, should I call Te So in for the next phase of your treatment? Or do you want to rest some more?"

Just as he asked the question, the door of the room slid open to allow passage to the slim medic.

And there they went yet again, both Skywalker men silently sighed in resignation.

Still, the sooner they completed Anakin's treatment, the sooner they could leave for Tatooine, rescue Han, and from there, go after Leia and Palpatine.

Who knew what the vile viper was putting her through…

'Curse you for this affront, 'brother', Leia fumed silently from her location in the deep shadows of the throne room. 'I'll kill you for your betrayal, even if it's the last thing I do.'

Because she hadn't succeeded the latest tests that her master had devised for her, he did not deem her ready to publicly stand by his side, let alone reveal her features to anyone but him. In fact, if she hadn't insisted that she could be of use to him with at least her new mind-reading skills, she would yet again be limited to her training/living quarters. Provided with only minimal amenities in a safe wardrobe-like room that was tucked in the far wall of the room, the main room was like a constant non-lethal death trap that she could only survive by destroying the traps in it.

While she was able to soothe her pain and accelerate her healing with the Force, her latest fracture still hurt a lot, her muscles ached in places she didn't know they could, and she kept failing against the new challenges that now waited for her in her training room.

The original models of the battle droids – those that had been used by the Trade Federation during the Clone Wars – were very hard to defeat, let alone without gaining debilitating injuries in the process.

But, if her master Knew that Luke, her treacherous twin brother, could mow through them without breaking a sweat, then so could she.

So could she... And if not, she definitely would once she killed her twin and gained all the Force powers that she would have had, had she been a single child in her mother's womb.

In front of her, sycophants came and were dismissed, some with a positive answer to their plea, but most with no answer of any kind.

And that was one other thing that she would take care of once she had regained all her rightful powers.

She would kill Palpatine and avenge her mother's broken life and dream by ruling the galaxy like she would have.

But without a democracy. That was a waste of time, as she had learnt long before she had joined the Alliance.

Like the shadows in which she was relegated, she remained still and bid her time, waiting for the Force to strengthen her when the Sun that was her brother's presence would fade, at long last.

So that was the last 'as time goes by' transition part for now :) How did you like it? I wanted to give a little glimpse into how Leia was evolving as well. Hope it worked for you as well :)

Next stop, Tatooine! At last! What surprises await them there given all the twists and turns that the galaxy has taken so far? Well... plenty :)

Laters!