Fortress Vader

Break It Fix It - Chapter 2 Reconnection

这一章略长，但其实只有两段，都是发生在EP8的内容。一段是关于Leia的，一段是关于Luke的。我一直都很想写Anakin的原力鬼和Leia之间的故事，现在终于有机会了。关于他们父女后面还会有更重的笔墨。我对EP8最大的怨念就是Luke的塑造，不仅是他想要砍死Ben这一点让人大跌眼镜，更是因为他在岛上表现得像个神经质，特别是最后烧圣书又舍不得，然后Yoda还要出来帮着烧还要莫名其妙地说教一番，就是为了突出女主长江后浪推前浪。Rey也很神经质，恋爱脑，居然因为听了Ben的一面之辞就殴打Luke，简直不能忍！感觉像是导演在跟星战老粉喊话：你们都过时了，经典都去死吧！真是“Let the past die”啊。

不过既然决定电影里演出来的设定就不会改，那我还是会保留Luke对Ben拔光剑，Rey殴打Luke，Luke烧圣书的情节，不过把背后的原因和动机丰富了一下。一半是借小安吐槽，一半是合理化剧情。当然最大的目的还是给Anakin加戏！（手动狗头）

AO3 同步更新

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Chapter 2  Reconnection

Hope had dimmed further and further. 

Pessimism started to grow furtively in Leia Organa's heart for the first time in her life. She counted almost fully on Rey's quest to find Luke Skywalker, and in the meanwhile trying to keep the last spark of the Resistance alive as long as possible, wishing that someday, magically, someone stronger would stand out to take over her mission, leading them to see the light of the Galaxy. As for herself, she didn't expect to see that day. She wasn't sure how much strength was still left within her.

Han was gone forever, together with their son, Ben, when he killed his father. 

Just days before that, Obi-Wan's ghost came to visit her, providing the last solution for turning Ben: Anakin Skywalker. "No!" She refused at first. For her, that man was only the problem, never the solution. “But Anakin is the only Jedi, alive or dead, that may be able to connect with Ben now .” Obi-Wan told her. Jedi? Maybe he was now. But everything he ever brought to Leia was just tragedy and suffering caused by the half-man-half-machine Sith Lord called Darth Vader, even after he died.

It was him who tortured her and Han, killed her friends and countless others, and forced her watching her home planet Alderaan blown up. It was him who brought the biggest horror to the Galaxy and became the worst enemy of what she was fighting for. It was him, when his true biological relationship with Leia was revealed by her political enemies, who jeopardized her entire political life and the opportunity of saving the New Republic from the First Order. And it was also him, who was idolized by Ben Solo and catalyzed his falling into the dark side.

It was always Darth Vader, never Anakin Skywalker. 

When they talked about Anakin Skywalker, that name always sounded alien to her. 

“You never gave him the chance to make up. " Obi-Wan pleaded, “If he caused the problem, he should be the one to fix it, right? Besides, what other solutions can you find now?”

Obi-Wan was right. Leia didn't have much to count on. Although letting “Darth Vader” go to bring his grandson back to the light side sounded ironic to her, she had to try every possible thing if she still wanted to turn Ben back.

Not unexpectedly, Anakin failed. It almost didn't upset her. Even when Obi-Wan told her that Anakin risked his own spirit to do so, she didn't show any shift in emotion, except that she got subconsciously desperate, and urged Han to bring their son back. And that, was the most regrettable thing she had ever done. 

She didn't know what Anakin told Ben, but apparently things became much worse after that.

In the end, neither Darth Vader nor Anakin Skywalker had anything good to do with her. 

She was all alone now, and Luke was still missing in the Force.

***

As the last Resistance cruiser Raddus was tracked down and attacked by the First Order star destroyers, Leia was standing in the bridge, thinking over their escaping plan. Then she sensed it, the force connection that was lost for years, now close enough for her to detect - the force field of her son, once Ben Solo, now Kylo Ren.

Ben was leading a group of TIE fighters for an assault to the bridge. When Leia and Ben became face to face in their vessels, they could almost see each other through the space between. They both kept silence in the Force, for there was no more to say. But a small piece of Ben's mind was moaning and struggling, trying to take control. In the end, he didn't push the button for firing.

Leia felt it. Maybe Ben still had some good in his heart, but it was too late, for her. 

Two other TIE fighters shot torpedoes to the bridge and blew everything out into the vacuum space.

The survival instinct helped Leia to summon the Force that protected her temporarily in the vacuum. But it wouldn't last long. Her body was frozen immediately, causing her floating in coma. 

***

A strong turmoil entered Anakin's meditation. It came from somewhere he couldn't tell, but was so intense, so much pain. It was some energy he never sensed before, but he knew it was her.

Leia!

Has she finally decided to contact me? - No, it was not a contact. It was a shared feeling - freezing, stifling - the feeling of the deepest fear and desperation.

“Leia! Leia! My girl! ...”

Anakin didn't know what happened. With panic, he sent out his calling into the Force with full strength. 

***

The Force field began to gather around Leia. Her body was slowly warning up. In her unconsciousness, she heard some vague and unfamiliar voice from far far away, waking her up little by little. 

“Leia! My girl...”

Who is that? It sounds like a young father calling his baby girl, but it's hoarse and anxious, and he's calling my name...

Father?

She suddenly opened her eyes, realizing who it was: It was the ghost with whom she shut off connection in the Force and never wanted to speak to. 

But now, in her moment of dying, he woke her up and sent her strength using his voice, his real voice, that was so different from the dark menacing mechanical sound. 

Leia felt blank for a moment.

Why not Luke? Why not Obi-Wan? Why him? Is the Force giving him a second chance to make it up with me? 

It must be a joke of the Force. I'm not as generous as Luke. Even if I owe him my life, I will never forgive him. I have sweared! 

But his voice was heartbreaking...

Leia clenched her teeth. There was no time for ruminating. She stretched out one hand, gathering all the strength she had left, and let the Force lead her back to the cruiser, where she was saved by the crew on board.

In her last waking moment before falling back to coma again, a question flashed upon her:

How many evil deeds are enough to make one truly beyond redemption and forgiveness, even as a father, or a son?

***

Squatting on the cliff of Ahch-To, facing the dark waves of the ocean under the moon, Luke Skywalker stretched out his hands on the stone, and opened himself again to the Force, after five years' disconnection. 

The first connection he found in the Force was his sister, Leia, who was woken up from coma by the strong perturbation he sent across the Galaxy.

And Anakin sensed it too. In no time, he appeared beside Luke.

“Finally you're back, my son! I've missed you so much!”

Luke stood up,“Father...” His hair had turned gray and silver, his face had more wrinkles, and his eyes were full of sorrow. 

Anakin's light mood of reunion sank a bit. He didn't expect his son aging so fast in these years. “Look at you. What have you done to yourself?”

“I failed, father. I failed Leia, I failed Han, and I failed... you. You gave up your life for bringing balance to the Force but now, it's all gone...” Luke bit his lip.

“The force has its own way, Luke. They said I was the Chosen One. Maybe I was. But the flow of the Force is driven by all lives in the galaxy. It's always changing. Don't be mad about yourself. Just tell me, what happened? Why did you leave?”

“Ben, he turned to the dark side.”

“I know.”

“And it's all my fault. Leia and I sensed the darkness in Ben and she trusted me to train him in the right way, but I failed to stop Snoke seducing him. He destroy the Jedi temple, killed his peers and joined Snoke and the First Order. I... I created Kylo Ren, father,  just like Obi-Wan created Darth Vader...”

“That indeed sounds familiar to me...” Anakin murmured, “And so you blamed and exiled yourself because of this?” He looked straightly into Luke's eyes, “Obi-Wan had failed much more catastrophically than you and I had done much more damage to the Galaxy than Ben... I'm really sorry... But looking back, I don't think Obi-Wan had much to be culpable for, neither did you.”

“But it was me who added the last straw.” Luke's teeth clenched, “I saw horrible things. I was so scared of the dark side hidden in him. In a flashing moment, I ignited my lightsaber upon him when he was asleep...”

“You did what?”

“Yes, I had a flash of intention to kill him. Although it was gone instantly. But he saw it, and revenged, and... that was the point of no return.”

Anakin's eyes widened.“Luke, this was not you. You were the one who saved me, even when you knew how deep in the dark side I was! How could you think of killing your own padawan nephew just because you saw some darkness within him? I don't understand!”

“I had visions of the future, father. In you, I mean, in Vader, I felt you would turn back to the light side. But in Ben, I only saw him turning away. Since he was born, both Leia and I have seen his future of becoming another... Darth Vader.”

Anakin went into silence. A rueful smile appeared on his face before he spoke again.

“Is that the reason why Leia tried to hide Ben away from me?”

“She was scared. She didn't want you to interfere with Ben...”

“So... She never trusted me. I'm forever a monster in her mind.” 

“I tried to explain to her but...”

Anakin raised his hand to stop Luke. He had already heard too much of these words from Luke and Obi-Wan. If a ghost had a heart, it would have been aching badly for him now.

“You never asked me how I fell into the dark side.” Said Anakin after a brief silence.  

“Obi-Wan told me that he failed you and Palpatine seduced you...”

“Ha, it's so kind of him trying to make your Jedi father look innocent in your eyes.” Anakin smiled, “But that's not the full story.” He looked up into the endless ocean, “I saw a vision. A vision of your mother, dying in childbirth. I believed that was the doomed future, so I went crazy to try to prevent it from happening. But in the end, it was myself who made it happen.”

Luke gasped. He immediately saw how much similarity it had with what happened to him and Ben.

“You see, Luke, the vision of the future can be misleading. Sometimes it's a trap of the dark side. You were fortunate not to turn into the dark side yourself, but it still got you. It destroyed your last hope for the Jedi. You fell into that trap, too.”

Luke slowly lowered his head. He had known there was something wrong with himself, but he had never thought he had been repeating his father's mistake.

“I should have known better. I should have told you about Ben's situation much earlier.” He frowned in pain, “Actually I had many questions about the dark side and thought you might know the answer, but I didn't dare to ask you...”

“You didn't trust me either?”

“It's not like that, father. I just... just don't want to burden you with the past.”

“The past is not a burden. It's a learning, a resource.”

“But Obi-Wan asked me not to disturb you with the unpleasant memories. He said you needed to get rid of that guilt in order to stabilize…”

“Stabilize the force energy.” 

“Yes.”

“That's what Master Yoda told me to do. But it's useless. They all want me to separate myself from Darth Vader, but I can't just ignore what I've done and pretend I'm a different person. I was able to walk away from Anakin Skywalker when I was Darth Vader, but when I'm Anakin Skywalker again, no, all the past is with me now.” 

“Father, you are already forgiven. You can let go...”

“Forgiven only by a few, not all others, not even Leia! And I know... she never will... With this deadly affair of Ben, I'm only bringing her more harm.”

“Ben's fall had nothing to do with you. You didn't even see him...”

“But he idolizes Darth Vader. It's what I have done that inspired him!”

Luke was stunned, not by what Anakin was saying, but by the huge pain he felt from the Force field of his father. 

“I tried to fix it. I thought he might listen to me, but I was too sure of myself. He only listened to what he wanted to hear.”

“You finally saw him?”

“Obi-Wan asked Leia to remove the Force barrier. But now I see it was a big mistake. Leia was right. I should not have appeared anywhere near Ben. I must be cursed... This is a punishment... I can never git rid of it!”

“What happened?”

“I... I was Vader again when I saw Ben...”

“How is that possible?”

“It was the dark side of the Force. I underestimated its effect on me. I didn't totally lose my mind but I got into a strange rage. And with that appearance to Ben, he misunderstood every word of me...”

“What did you say?”

“It was me who caused Han's death.”

“What?” Luke was shocked, “Why? You told Ben to kill him?”

“I didn't... but I think that was what he heard.”

Luke breathed a sigh of relief: “Then it's not your fault. This kid is just hopeless.”

“No.” Anakin disagree, “I saw his struggle. He was still unsettled, like the very early days of... of myself... He has a raw, untamed power, but swinging... He’s not deep in it yet, Luke, there's still hope, a lot of hope.”

“But even as Vader, you wouldn't kill your own father, would you?”

“I... I don't know. I don't have a father...”

“Fine...”

“But I know Ben wasn't determined to kill Han. He was just... stimulated...”

“But you didn't want to kill me even when the Emperor urged you to. I knew you restrained your force in our fight!”

With the memory suddenly brought back by Luke, Anakin couldn't help but smiling in his heart. That was the warmest moment in his Sith life when he decided to sacrifice himself to fulfill his son. “It's not the same, Luke. Believe me, Ben is naive, foolish, and maniac, but he's not that kind of evil creature you are thinking about.”

Alright, the former Sith Lord must know it better. Luke softened: “Well, even if there's still light in him, what can we do? Should I go after him?”

“Not yet. He only wants to kill you now. But I can go.”

“You said the dark side...”

“Yes, I need to figure out how to stabilize my spirit in the dark Force field. And I need your help.” Anakin started to look around, “This is the first Jedi Temple and there should be a bunch of Sacred Jedi Texts here right?”

“That's true. They are in the tree library.” Luke pointed to the direction uphill. 

“Good. Although I'm not a fan of the ancient lore, I'll see if I can find something useful.”

Anakin followed Luke, floating to the tree library. There in the heart of the giant trunk lied several bound books and scrolls, all in very antique texture. 

“Have you read them all?” Asked Anakin.

“Just part of. They are dry. And I don't remember reading anything about the dark side.”

“Hm, I should have expected it. Jedi never teach the real knowledge about the dark side, except to avoid it like plague.”

“Father...” Luke stared, “That doesn't sound like a Jedi talking. But frankly, I have to agree with you.”

“Oh...” Anakin found himself unconsciously repeating what Darth Sidious used to say to him, “Damn it. But some of his words do make sense.”

“Who?”

“Never mind.” Anakin raised his eyebrows, “Help me searching the texts.”

Luke felt headache looking at the stack of books. “That will be tedious. Each book has thousands of pages and they didn't even make an index!”

“Ah, I see you hate reading as much as I did.” Anakin chuckled, “Don't worry. I'll do the searching myself.”

He floated above the book stack and sat in the air with legs crossed. Using his spirit's eyes, he quickly looked through the texts trying to find the words “dark side”.

“Got one.” Before long, he spoke to Luke, eyes still closed, “Take the book Aionomica Volumn 2, turn to page 8325, read.”

Luke took the heavy book, followed his father's instruction and read out in the ancient Jedi tongue:

 “When the Force Dyad is formed, it will resurrect the Dark Side to its full power, and the Chosen One will meet... his end...”

Deadly silence.

Anakin opened his eyes, baffled, “What is that?” 

Luke started to turn the pages madly, trying to figure out the context. “It looks like some... prophecy... but no indication of time...” He panted.

“A Dyad? That's interesting.” Anakin's voice was much calmer, “Do you know what a Dyad is? It's the strongest connection in the Force between two people. They can be connected mentally and even physically without the restriction of space. I remember it was also mentioned in some Sith text...”

“Father!” Luke interrupted, “You didn't hear... 'the Chosen One'?”

“Ah, yes. So what?”

“He will... will...” Luke stammered, unable to speak out that phrase.

“Don't worry Luke. It has nothing to do with me. The Force Dyad is such an ancient thing. No one alive has ever seen it. As for the Chosen One... hm, there might be hundreds in the whole Jedi history, who knows which one it refers to? This prophecy may have already been realized long ago.“

“But I have only heard of one Chosen One. That is you, father.”

“Or it might be a new one in the far future.”

“Father…”

“Come on! I'm dead. My job is done. I'm ended already! Whatever happens in the living world has nothing to do with me. There's only peace in the Netherworld. How can anything hurt a ghost?” Anakin got impatient, “Or maybe I'm not the Chosen One at all!” He paused, gazing at Luke.“I killed Sidious not because I wanted to bring balance to the Force. It was because of you, Luke!”

Luke's eyes became watery. “But you still fulfilled the prophecy.”

“Did I?” Anakin asked wryly, “Look what is happening now. How long was the Force being ‘balanced’? Do you think the Force waited for thousands of years, just for the Chosen One to bring back the balance that can last for only ten years?”

Luke was at a loss for words.

“You look disappointed.” Anakin lowered his voice, “To tell you the truth, I never wanted to be the Chosen One. Because of this title, I lost everything...”

“I understand, father.” Luke said with a lump in the throat, “No matter what, it should not be your burden anymore. You deserve peace now."

“So, don't worry. There won't be a Dyad, there won't be any resurrection, and nothing will happen to the Chosen One, no matter who that is.”

Anakin was smiling, and Luke tried to smile back, although both of them knew that the prophecy showed up for some reason.

Just at that time, a muffled roar came from underneath. It was not an ordinary sound, but more like a wave propagating in the Force.

“The cave!” Luke was alarmed.

“This is dark...” Anakin immediately felt it, “And this feeling...” He suddenly opened his eyes widely. 

“What's the matter?” Luke sensed there was something more than the darkness.

Anakin didn't answer, but just asked,“Who's in there?”

“It must be the girl, Rey.” 

“The girl sent by Leia to find you?”

“Yes. She has a strong power of the dark side, comparable to that of Ben.”

“Did you train her?”

“A little bit... But I'm not sure I was doing the right thing...”

“You fear she'll become another Kylo Ren...”

“I... I don't know. She seems to have a mixed power of the light and the dark. And she has our lightsaber...”

“The blue one? That's remarkable." Anakin stroked his chin. "How did she find it? Or, how did the lightsaber find HER? Kyber crystals recognize people... I remember you lost it a long time ago, in Bespin, right?”

“Yes, when you chopped off my hand...”

“You don't need to mention that detail, Luke.” Anakin rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I feel this is not a coincidence.”

“You mean she might be related to you?”

“Of course not!” Anakin felt a little insulted, “I only have you and Leia! Or is it you?”

“You must be kidding, father...”

Anakin laughed, but the laugher didn't last long. He felt something really strange in that girl. There was some kind of connection he could not explain.

***

Unable to find anything useful in the Sacred texts, Anakin went back to the Force Netherworld after asking Luke to watch that girl closely. When Luke returned to the hut to find Rey, he saw something that blew his mind.

Rey sat beside the bonfire, carefully stretching out one hand. When Luke looked more closely in the Force, he saw the other side. Rey was touching another hand, a hand that belonged to... Ben Solo.

“...connected mentally and even physically without the restriction of space...”

This is a... Force Dyad!

“Stop ! ! !” 

Luke shouted with panic and rage. The shock wave of his force blew up half of the hut. 

He didn't know that Rey was in a rage too. She just learned from Ben that Luke tried to kill him in his sleep. They fought like two animals losing their mind. With Rey unleashing her power of the dark side, Luke was stricken down. He had to tell Rey the truth about what happened to him and Ben that night. But when Rey said Ben could be turned back to the light side - Just like Anakin told him earlier, Luke knew it would be much more complicated than that.

The Dyad... then the resurrection of the Dark Side... then the Chosen One...

No! I can't let it happen!

“This is not going to be the way you think!” 

“Rey, don't do this…”

Luke was almost begging her, but Rey was so determined to go to turn Ben that no words could change her mind. 

Watching Rey left, Luke felt he was seeing his younger self going to the Death Star in the Endor system. But this time he sensed a totally different atmosphere. He suddenly saw the other side of the impulsive courage and righteous bravery carried by Rey and the young Luke, something he never thought about: In the end, who was it that took the consequence? 

Last time, his father died. And this time...

He was so afraid to think any further. The prophecy seemed to be telling something even more grave.

The prophecy...

He suddenly turned around to the tree library, eyes full of fury.

The deceptive visions, the poisonous prophecy, the useless Jedi Order, the twisted will of the Force! - All shall be ended!

Driven by the furious anger, Luke arrived at the tree library with a fire torch. He was going to burn it down. 

In his glimmer of hope, if the Jedi Order were ended, if all the relics were gone, it might be possible that the prophecy would be no more…

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前一章：Chapter 1 The First Visit

后一章：Chapter 3 The Will of the Force