Orbit, then Fandom, yay! [sunset]
Luke bit his lip as the Earth finally began to fill the window in front of him.
The trip back had been a long, quiet one.
His father had disappeared into the back of the shuttle and hadn't spoken more than three words together the entire time.
Luke was exhausted and worried, but he knew that there was someone else who would be equally exhausted and worried. As soon as they were in range, he picked up his comlink and made a call.
Rory needed to know what had happened.
Rory
Rory, who was sitting on her desk and anxiously looking out the window, picked it up the second her phone began to ring.
"Luke?" she asked, gripping the puppy in her lap a little tighter. "Everything okay?"
Luke
"I'm fine," the grainy image of Luke assured her quickly. "We're fine." His face looked pensive. "Well, the Emperor's dead, but that's a good thing, right? We're landing in about five minutes."
Rory
"He's with you? He's okay?"
The combination of both these things being true caused Rory to pull Vladdie against her so tightly that the puppy let out a sharp yip of protest.
"I'm coming out to meet you," she said. "Want me to bring a blaster? Did he hurt you? If you can't answer because he's holding a lightsaber against your throat, say 'bananas.'"
Luke
Luke laughed. "Honestly, it's fine." He turned more serious. "He's not Vader any more, Rory. It's...weird. I'll see you soon."
With that helpful bit of information transmitted, Luke turned his attention to landing the shuttle.
Rory
"...buh?" Rory asked her phone. The idea that Luke wasn't exaggerating was too good to be true. She sat on her desk, her mind racing.
And then she sprang to action.
Within five minutes she was outside to meet Luke in her coat, shivering slightly and clutching her phone in one hand while she watched the sky.
Luke
The shuttle landed moments later.
The ramp came down and Luke, looking like hell, came hurtling towards her.
It had been a long couple of days.
Anakin
Anakin stepped further into the shadows as the sunlight blasted into the shuttle.
This had seemed like such an obvious decision back on Byss. Now that he was back in Fandom, he was starting to reconsider.
He'd had a lot of time to think on the flight back, and the monumental weight of twenty years of atrocities was beginning to sink in. He didn't know it--he hadn't been able to face his own reflection yet--but the pain and guilt was obvious in his eyes.
Anakin had heard Rory's voice on Luke's comm and could feel her presence outside the shuttle. He just wasn't quite ready to face her.
Rory
Rory clung tightly to Luke. "You're okay, you're okay," she chanted into his shoulder. "I was so scared. I didn't know...."
She shuddered a little and pulled back enough to look at him. "What about...him? You said he's not Vader anymore. What does that mean?"
She didn't dare to let herself even consider the possibility that it meant she had finally gotten what she'd wanted for months.
Luke
"He saved my life," Luke said quietly, still holding on tightly. "The Emperor...didn't exactly appreciate me turning down his offer to turn evil and kill my father."
Rory
"He...."
Rory's mind was going too fast.
"Is he trying to keep you alive so you can join him?"
Anakin
Drawn almost irresistibly to the sounds of voices, Anakin moved closer to the ramp.
He leaned against the shuttle wall and hoped not to be noticed.
Rory
And suddenly, Rory cared very little about the answer.
She stared up over Luke's shoulder with wide eyes, her skin going hot and cold and prickly, and her stomach dropping down to her toes.
"Anakin," she breathed, barely loud enough for even Luke to hear.
Anakin
Anakin tried to say hello, but the words wouldn't come.
He took a deep breath, steeling himself for whatever was coming next, and walked down the ramp.
Luke
Luke caught the sounds of footsteps and finally pulled back from his hug.
His arm was still around Rory, though. He had a feeling she might be needing the support.
"He's not Vader any more," he repeated quietly.
Rory
Rory was just kind of staring.
And tuning out Luke.
And concentrating on taking in the sight of Anakin.
He was older than eighteen - she'd guess in his early twenties, actually. His hair was out of that stupid ponytail and braid. His eyes were sadder. He had a wound by his eye. He was taller.
He wasn't Vader.
She drank all of this in while Anakin approached, and by the time he reached the bottom of the ramp, she had control of her shaking knees and the tears in her eyes had recessed.
She knew what she had to say to him. She had to shut off her emotions, ignore the instict screaming to run into his arms, and approach with caution.
"Hello, Lord Vader."
Her voice was soft and hoarse, but definitely loud enough for him to hear.
Anakin
And Anakin knew he deserved that.
It didn't stop his heart from twisting in his chest, though. It didn't stop him from flinching hard enough for it to be noticed.
And it didn't stop him from coming closer.
"That name no longer has any meaning for me," he said quietly, eyes scanning her face.
Rory
"Do you have a new name I should call you? I mean, you're not Anakin, and you're not Vader, so what are you? The Sith Formerly Known as Vader?" she replied softly, looking up at him.
Some incredibly traitorous part of her was still taking in his features. She had to compartmentalize. She had to shut that out and concentrate, or she'd drown. She couldn't be sure he wasn't just trying to weasel his way closer so he could hurt Luke.
So he could hurt all of them.
It wasn't every day that you got what you wanted. Rory didn't exactly know what to do.
Anakin
Even more hurt flashed in Anakin's eyes, but he recovered quickly.
"I am Anakin Skywalker," he said, and it was still strange to say that out loud. "And I remember, and take responsibility, for everything I did as a Sith. And I don't deserve your forgiveness."
And yes, he'd been practicing this little speech by himself for the last few days. It sounded very rehearsed.
Rory
"So who fed you those lines?" she asked harshly, without a fraction of the gentleness she'd used to coax Vader week after week. "Do you honestly think I'm so stupid that you can spend months here being evil and repeatedly insisting who you're not, and then come back and have me believe you simply because you look like...like you used to?"
Rory's tirade faltered slightly, and she quickly cleared her throat. There was time to be emotional later. It's not like she didn't already need therapy.
Anakin
Anakin hunched his shoulders and allowed her words to wash over him.
"I don't expect anything from you, Rory," he said, finally looking back into her eyes. "And I certainly don't expect you to believe me." He stared down at his hands. "But you can try to believe Luke."
Rory
Rory almost, almost smiled at him. He looked so much like her Anakin, and in the back of her head, she was replaying memories from the warmer months.
That all halted abruptly when his words fully registered.
Rory. She had screamed at Vader for saying it because she hated the sound of his mechanics wrapped around her name.
Now she hated how much it sounded like her Anakin when he said it.
"No," she said very softly, and before she knew it, her hand had flown up and she had hit him across the face with all her strength.
Anakin
Anakin's head snapped back and a bright red hand print showed up almost immediately on his cheek.
He didn't let out a single sound of protest.
Rory
Rory watched him, shaking out her hand a little.
"I've been wanting to do that for months," she whispered. "Why are you back? Why are you...like this?"
Anakin
"Palpatine tried to kill my son right in front of me," Anakin said, steel in his voice. "That was unacceptable."
He shrugged. "I didn't expect to survive his retaliation."
Luke
"You didn't," Luke whispered in a choked little voice.
Anakin
Anakin gave Luke a very, very small smile.
"Never underestimate the power of the Force," he said quietly. He ran his hand through his hair, still getting used to the feeling of both. "Although having a cloned body around helped."
He turned back to Rory. "The Emperor would go from one body to another as the Dark Side ate him from the inside out. I picked up more about the process than I was supposed to."
He scuffed his boot against the ground. "I have a lot to make up for. Death seemed...a little easy."
Rory
There were so many things she wanted to tell him. So many reactions that felt right.
But she didn't spend all those hours training to just throw it away because his face belonged to the Anakin she loved. Not to mention the 'must make things as tough on myself as humanly possible' attitude that she'd always found alternately charming and frustrating.
"I plan on making it difficult, Lord Vader."
Anakin
Anakin flinched again. "I wouldn't expect anything less from you," he said softly.
He gave Luke a small nod and began walking towards his house.
There was no swagger in his stride. At all.
Rory
Rory watched him, noticing how...quiet his walk was.
Maybe he really had changed.
Reflection would have to wait, though, because as soon as he was far enough away for her to relax, Rory's knees buckled and she crumpled down onto the ground, shaking violently.
Luke
Luke was next to her immediately, putting his arms around her and holding on tightly.
Rory
Rory was hyperventilating and holding on as tightly as she could.
Which, given the shaking, wasn't all that tightly.
"We did it," she finally mumbled against his shoulder, hiccupping as the sobs finally started.
Luke
"We did," Luke said as his own eyes welled up.
Rory
"Are you sure?" she finally managed, her face buried in his shoulder. "Are you sure it's him and not a trick?"
Luke
Luke nodded. "I bet my life on it."
And it almost didn't work, but Rory didn't need to know that right now.
Rory
"I...Luke, he's - "
Her head was too full.
"We actually did it. We did it. Oh, my God. We did it."
Luke
Luke nodded again, leaning a little more heavily against Rory. "It's a whole new universe now.
Rory
"We...."
Rory's thoughts were beginning to come together a little more coherently.
"Is he all right? I - I was mean, I thought I should be, and I don't know how to be...like we used to, and I can't and is that what he expects from me?"
Luke
"He didn't say more than five words together at a time since we left Byss," Luke said, biting his lip. "Physically, he's fine. And in the Force..." Luke searched for the right words, "he's incredibly strong. He's," drowning in guilt seemed overly dramatic, "processing. I don't think he wants anything from anyone. He doesn't think he deserves it."
Rory
"What happened to the suit? I don't understand," she said, shaking her head and trying to get her voice under control.
Luke
Luke's hands started shaking. He clamped them together quickly and hoped Rory hadn't noticed.
"The Death Star plans had been leaked," he said softly. "The Emperor was trying to destroy the entire Rebellion. I went to confront...Anakin. I knew there was good in him." He gave Rory a ghost of a smile. "You showed me that. But it was a...bit of a hard sell. He took me up to the Death Star, where the Emperor tried to turn me to the Dark Side."
His knuckles were turning white under the stress he was putting on them. "And when I said no...the Emperor shot lightning at me. He was going to kill me. My father threw him down the elevator shaft. And was electrocuted for his trouble."
Luke swiped his hand across his eyes. "He died, Rory," he choked out. "How he ended up on Byss...the clone thing...I don't understand at all. And I'm pretty sure my head'll explode if I try to right now. I'm just thankful he's here at all."
He swallowed hard. "Because he shouldn't be."
Rory
Rory had already mourned Anakin once with her whole being. The pang she felt at hearing a new death for him was barely an echo of that.
"What if it's a trick?" she asked hoarsely.
Luke
"It's not," Luke said, staring off into the distance. "I can feel it. He's confused and guilty and in so much pain..." he broke off abruptly. "It's not a trick," he repeated.
Rory
She was still, lost in her own thoughts.
Finally: "How can I help?"
Luke
Luke reached for her hand. "I have absolutely no idea."
Rory
She gripped his hand with her shaking one. "What does he need? What can I do?"
She looked at him, tears still trailing out of the corners of her eyes. "Luke, I'm sc-scared."
Luke
"Give him some time," Luke said. "He might look young, but he remembers everything he did. And that's eating at him." He wrapped his arm around Rory again. "Don't be too hard on him."
Rory
"He deserves that," she said, trying for vehemence. But the image of Anakin's - her Anakin's - haunted eyes was too fresh in her mind for there to really be any heat in the statement.
Luke
Luke nodded. "I know he does," he said quietly. "And so does he."
He bit his lip. "Do you think he's trying to escape justice by coming here?"
Rory
"Wouldn't justice truly mean he'd have died?" she asked quietly. "Do you think the Force would let him come back like that? I don't really know what to think."
Luke
Luke looked conflicted. "Ben said his old master told him that calling something the will of the Force was a nice way of saying we don't have the first damn clue. I think it would have been a lot easier on him if he'd died. He wouldn't have to face up to all the lives he ruined." He ran a hand through his hair. "Because to be Jedi, he needs to...balance. To accept and move on. I don't think I could do it."
Rory
Rory swallowed hard. "Maybe this is his hell, or at least purgatory," she suggested softly.
Luke
"Then he went into it with his eyes wide open," Luke said. "He asked to come here."
Rory
She was still, gaining quiet control of her emotions again. She could cry more later. It was too important to be focused now.
"If we're nice to him, doesn't that defeat the purpose? He said he expected me to make things hard."
Luke
"I have no idea what he's thinking," Luke told his knees. "But he's my father. I'm not going to go out of my way to make things more difficult on him. He's making them hard enough on his own."
Rory
"He hurt me worse than anyone in my entire life, in every way possible," Rory said quietly. "I can't exactly welcome him back with open arms."
Luke
Luke nodded, then swallowed hard. "I understand."
Rory
She dropped her head against Luke's shoulder. "I didn't think we'd win. I...need time to process."
Luke
"I know the feeling," Luke said, shifting closer. "But we brought him back. This part has to be easier, right?"
Rory
"He looks - "
She faltered.
Luke
Luke pulled her more tightly towards him and waited for her to finish her sentence.
Rory
"Like...mine."
She didn't know how to put it better. She couldn't figure out how to express the confusion that seeing Anakin's face right there had brought about.
Luke
Luke tilted his head, watching her carefully. "Is this going to be too much?"
Rory
"Could I do anything about it if it was?" she asked with a wry little smile.
Luke
Luke pressed his lips together. "I could make him leave..."
Rory
"No," she said with more force than she'd expected. "No, don't do that. I just need time to understand it and...you know, adjust."
Luke
Luke closed his eyes and rested his head on top of Rory's. "Me too."
Rory
She stayed quiet for a few minutes, letting the pieces put themselves together in her head. "Is he still going to teach?"
Luke
Luke had been drifting off to sleep right there on the cold concrete. He snapped himself awake. "Huh? I don't know. I think so. I'm not sure what he's going to tell his students, though."
He bit his lip. "We didn't do a lot of talking on his way here."
Rory
"Everyone's going to know unless he comes up with a cover story. Like he...I don't know, time-traveled to help you defeat Vader, or something. I don't know. He's just going to have to deal with a lot of problems if everyone knows who he was, and I don't want him to," Rory said, chewing on her own lip as she thought.
She ignored the fact that this contradicted the statement she'd made to Anakin about his difficulty in Fandom.
Luke
Luke nodded thoughtfully. "I agree. I don't think he was exactly heading down to tell the pirate everything, but we tend to...not plan things out," he said. "He'll need to get his story straight before classes next week." He paused. "Especially looking the way he does now. There were people who missed him."
Rory
"No shit," Rory said with a snort. "Sorry, that was uncalled for. But yes, he needs a story. And yes, I know you guys don't plan things out. I think it's in your genes."
Luke
Luke's cheeks went pink. "It normally works out fine anyway," he pointed out. "On paper, walking up to a Sith Lord and hoping he'll change his mind about being evil seems kind of futile."
Rory
"Yes, don't do things like that," Rory said seriously. "Not now that we've...won this. I like being a brunette. I'd rather not go gray before I hit twenty."
Luke
Luke kissed the top of her head. "Not for a long time," he promised. "I want to go back to only seeing one Rory when I look at you first."
Rory
She smiled a little, and then abruptly smacked him upside the head.
"And that is for not warning me," she said sharply. "Would it have been so hard to tell me over the comlink that he looks like he does?"
Luke
That had hurt a lot more than it should have. Luke winced. "I said he wasn't Vader anymore," he said.
Rory
"That's not the same thing, Luke," she sighed.
Luke
Luke sighed too. "I'm sorry."
Rory
"It's okay," she said, shivering a little. "I'm the teensiest bit on edge."
Luke
"Can't imagine why," Luke teased softly, then stood up and teetered for just a second before holding out his hand to Rory. "Let's get inside. I could use a cup of hot chocolate."
And to sleep for about a week, but he wanted to be sure Rory was all right first.
Rory
Rory smiled genuinely at that before getting up and taking his hand.
She held on a little more tightly than strictly necessary. "Will you stay over tonight?" she asked very, very quietly.
Luke
Luke gave her hand a small squeeze. "Of course. I'll stay as long as you want me around."
Rory
"Do you think he's at all happy to be back?" she asked after a moment.
Luke
Luke had caught the way his father had been looking at Rory.
But if she hadn't, he wasn't going to push it.
"Yes," he said simply.
Rory
She nodded, lost in her own thoughts.
"Good," she said after a moment.
Luke
"Let's go home," Luke said, giving her hand another squeeze.
[OOC: Preplayed with the lovely rory__gilmore, no IC interaction possible. That Anakin is back--very much for broadcast. The conversations? Not so much.]
The trip back had been a long, quiet one.
His father had disappeared into the back of the shuttle and hadn't spoken more than three words together the entire time.
Luke was exhausted and worried, but he knew that there was someone else who would be equally exhausted and worried. As soon as they were in range, he picked up his comlink and made a call.
Rory needed to know what had happened.
Rory
Rory, who was sitting on her desk and anxiously looking out the window, picked it up the second her phone began to ring.
"Luke?" she asked, gripping the puppy in her lap a little tighter. "Everything okay?"
Luke
"I'm fine," the grainy image of Luke assured her quickly. "We're fine." His face looked pensive. "Well, the Emperor's dead, but that's a good thing, right? We're landing in about five minutes."
Rory
"He's with you? He's okay?"
The combination of both these things being true caused Rory to pull Vladdie against her so tightly that the puppy let out a sharp yip of protest.
"I'm coming out to meet you," she said. "Want me to bring a blaster? Did he hurt you? If you can't answer because he's holding a lightsaber against your throat, say 'bananas.'"
Luke
Luke laughed. "Honestly, it's fine." He turned more serious. "He's not Vader any more, Rory. It's...weird. I'll see you soon."
With that helpful bit of information transmitted, Luke turned his attention to landing the shuttle.
Rory
"...buh?" Rory asked her phone. The idea that Luke wasn't exaggerating was too good to be true. She sat on her desk, her mind racing.
And then she sprang to action.
Within five minutes she was outside to meet Luke in her coat, shivering slightly and clutching her phone in one hand while she watched the sky.
Luke
The shuttle landed moments later.
The ramp came down and Luke, looking like hell, came hurtling towards her.
It had been a long couple of days.
Anakin
Anakin stepped further into the shadows as the sunlight blasted into the shuttle.
This had seemed like such an obvious decision back on Byss. Now that he was back in Fandom, he was starting to reconsider.
He'd had a lot of time to think on the flight back, and the monumental weight of twenty years of atrocities was beginning to sink in. He didn't know it--he hadn't been able to face his own reflection yet--but the pain and guilt was obvious in his eyes.
Anakin had heard Rory's voice on Luke's comm and could feel her presence outside the shuttle. He just wasn't quite ready to face her.
Rory
Rory clung tightly to Luke. "You're okay, you're okay," she chanted into his shoulder. "I was so scared. I didn't know...."
She shuddered a little and pulled back enough to look at him. "What about...him? You said he's not Vader anymore. What does that mean?"
She didn't dare to let herself even consider the possibility that it meant she had finally gotten what she'd wanted for months.
Luke
"He saved my life," Luke said quietly, still holding on tightly. "The Emperor...didn't exactly appreciate me turning down his offer to turn evil and kill my father."
Rory
"He...."
Rory's mind was going too fast.
"Is he trying to keep you alive so you can join him?"
Anakin
Drawn almost irresistibly to the sounds of voices, Anakin moved closer to the ramp.
He leaned against the shuttle wall and hoped not to be noticed.
Rory
And suddenly, Rory cared very little about the answer.
She stared up over Luke's shoulder with wide eyes, her skin going hot and cold and prickly, and her stomach dropping down to her toes.
"Anakin," she breathed, barely loud enough for even Luke to hear.
Anakin
Anakin tried to say hello, but the words wouldn't come.
He took a deep breath, steeling himself for whatever was coming next, and walked down the ramp.
Luke
Luke caught the sounds of footsteps and finally pulled back from his hug.
His arm was still around Rory, though. He had a feeling she might be needing the support.
"He's not Vader any more," he repeated quietly.
Rory
Rory was just kind of staring.
And tuning out Luke.
And concentrating on taking in the sight of Anakin.
He was older than eighteen - she'd guess in his early twenties, actually. His hair was out of that stupid ponytail and braid. His eyes were sadder. He had a wound by his eye. He was taller.
He wasn't Vader.
She drank all of this in while Anakin approached, and by the time he reached the bottom of the ramp, she had control of her shaking knees and the tears in her eyes had recessed.
She knew what she had to say to him. She had to shut off her emotions, ignore the instict screaming to run into his arms, and approach with caution.
"Hello, Lord Vader."
Her voice was soft and hoarse, but definitely loud enough for him to hear.
Anakin
And Anakin knew he deserved that.
It didn't stop his heart from twisting in his chest, though. It didn't stop him from flinching hard enough for it to be noticed.
And it didn't stop him from coming closer.
"That name no longer has any meaning for me," he said quietly, eyes scanning her face.
Rory
"Do you have a new name I should call you? I mean, you're not Anakin, and you're not Vader, so what are you? The Sith Formerly Known as Vader?" she replied softly, looking up at him.
Some incredibly traitorous part of her was still taking in his features. She had to compartmentalize. She had to shut that out and concentrate, or she'd drown. She couldn't be sure he wasn't just trying to weasel his way closer so he could hurt Luke.
So he could hurt all of them.
It wasn't every day that you got what you wanted. Rory didn't exactly know what to do.
Anakin
Even more hurt flashed in Anakin's eyes, but he recovered quickly.
"I am Anakin Skywalker," he said, and it was still strange to say that out loud. "And I remember, and take responsibility, for everything I did as a Sith. And I don't deserve your forgiveness."
And yes, he'd been practicing this little speech by himself for the last few days. It sounded very rehearsed.
Rory
"So who fed you those lines?" she asked harshly, without a fraction of the gentleness she'd used to coax Vader week after week. "Do you honestly think I'm so stupid that you can spend months here being evil and repeatedly insisting who you're not, and then come back and have me believe you simply because you look like...like you used to?"
Rory's tirade faltered slightly, and she quickly cleared her throat. There was time to be emotional later. It's not like she didn't already need therapy.
Anakin
Anakin hunched his shoulders and allowed her words to wash over him.
"I don't expect anything from you, Rory," he said, finally looking back into her eyes. "And I certainly don't expect you to believe me." He stared down at his hands. "But you can try to believe Luke."
Rory
Rory almost, almost smiled at him. He looked so much like her Anakin, and in the back of her head, she was replaying memories from the warmer months.
That all halted abruptly when his words fully registered.
Rory. She had screamed at Vader for saying it because she hated the sound of his mechanics wrapped around her name.
Now she hated how much it sounded like her Anakin when he said it.
"No," she said very softly, and before she knew it, her hand had flown up and she had hit him across the face with all her strength.
Anakin
Anakin's head snapped back and a bright red hand print showed up almost immediately on his cheek.
He didn't let out a single sound of protest.
Rory
Rory watched him, shaking out her hand a little.
"I've been wanting to do that for months," she whispered. "Why are you back? Why are you...like this?"
Anakin
"Palpatine tried to kill my son right in front of me," Anakin said, steel in his voice. "That was unacceptable."
He shrugged. "I didn't expect to survive his retaliation."
Luke
"You didn't," Luke whispered in a choked little voice.
Anakin
Anakin gave Luke a very, very small smile.
"Never underestimate the power of the Force," he said quietly. He ran his hand through his hair, still getting used to the feeling of both. "Although having a cloned body around helped."
He turned back to Rory. "The Emperor would go from one body to another as the Dark Side ate him from the inside out. I picked up more about the process than I was supposed to."
He scuffed his boot against the ground. "I have a lot to make up for. Death seemed...a little easy."
Rory
There were so many things she wanted to tell him. So many reactions that felt right.
But she didn't spend all those hours training to just throw it away because his face belonged to the Anakin she loved. Not to mention the 'must make things as tough on myself as humanly possible' attitude that she'd always found alternately charming and frustrating.
"I plan on making it difficult, Lord Vader."
Anakin
Anakin flinched again. "I wouldn't expect anything less from you," he said softly.
He gave Luke a small nod and began walking towards his house.
There was no swagger in his stride. At all.
Rory
Rory watched him, noticing how...quiet his walk was.
Maybe he really had changed.
Reflection would have to wait, though, because as soon as he was far enough away for her to relax, Rory's knees buckled and she crumpled down onto the ground, shaking violently.
Luke
Luke was next to her immediately, putting his arms around her and holding on tightly.
Rory
Rory was hyperventilating and holding on as tightly as she could.
Which, given the shaking, wasn't all that tightly.
"We did it," she finally mumbled against his shoulder, hiccupping as the sobs finally started.
Luke
"We did," Luke said as his own eyes welled up.
Rory
"Are you sure?" she finally managed, her face buried in his shoulder. "Are you sure it's him and not a trick?"
Luke
Luke nodded. "I bet my life on it."
And it almost didn't work, but Rory didn't need to know that right now.
Rory
"I...Luke, he's - "
Her head was too full.
"We actually did it. We did it. Oh, my God. We did it."
Luke
Luke nodded again, leaning a little more heavily against Rory. "It's a whole new universe now.
Rory
"We...."
Rory's thoughts were beginning to come together a little more coherently.
"Is he all right? I - I was mean, I thought I should be, and I don't know how to be...like we used to, and I can't and is that what he expects from me?"
Luke
"He didn't say more than five words together at a time since we left Byss," Luke said, biting his lip. "Physically, he's fine. And in the Force..." Luke searched for the right words, "he's incredibly strong. He's," drowning in guilt seemed overly dramatic, "processing. I don't think he wants anything from anyone. He doesn't think he deserves it."
Rory
"What happened to the suit? I don't understand," she said, shaking her head and trying to get her voice under control.
Luke
Luke's hands started shaking. He clamped them together quickly and hoped Rory hadn't noticed.
"The Death Star plans had been leaked," he said softly. "The Emperor was trying to destroy the entire Rebellion. I went to confront...Anakin. I knew there was good in him." He gave Rory a ghost of a smile. "You showed me that. But it was a...bit of a hard sell. He took me up to the Death Star, where the Emperor tried to turn me to the Dark Side."
His knuckles were turning white under the stress he was putting on them. "And when I said no...the Emperor shot lightning at me. He was going to kill me. My father threw him down the elevator shaft. And was electrocuted for his trouble."
Luke swiped his hand across his eyes. "He died, Rory," he choked out. "How he ended up on Byss...the clone thing...I don't understand at all. And I'm pretty sure my head'll explode if I try to right now. I'm just thankful he's here at all."
He swallowed hard. "Because he shouldn't be."
Rory
Rory had already mourned Anakin once with her whole being. The pang she felt at hearing a new death for him was barely an echo of that.
"What if it's a trick?" she asked hoarsely.
Luke
"It's not," Luke said, staring off into the distance. "I can feel it. He's confused and guilty and in so much pain..." he broke off abruptly. "It's not a trick," he repeated.
Rory
She was still, lost in her own thoughts.
Finally: "How can I help?"
Luke
Luke reached for her hand. "I have absolutely no idea."
Rory
She gripped his hand with her shaking one. "What does he need? What can I do?"
She looked at him, tears still trailing out of the corners of her eyes. "Luke, I'm sc-scared."
Luke
"Give him some time," Luke said. "He might look young, but he remembers everything he did. And that's eating at him." He wrapped his arm around Rory again. "Don't be too hard on him."
Rory
"He deserves that," she said, trying for vehemence. But the image of Anakin's - her Anakin's - haunted eyes was too fresh in her mind for there to really be any heat in the statement.
Luke
Luke nodded. "I know he does," he said quietly. "And so does he."
He bit his lip. "Do you think he's trying to escape justice by coming here?"
Rory
"Wouldn't justice truly mean he'd have died?" she asked quietly. "Do you think the Force would let him come back like that? I don't really know what to think."
Luke
Luke looked conflicted. "Ben said his old master told him that calling something the will of the Force was a nice way of saying we don't have the first damn clue. I think it would have been a lot easier on him if he'd died. He wouldn't have to face up to all the lives he ruined." He ran a hand through his hair. "Because to be Jedi, he needs to...balance. To accept and move on. I don't think I could do it."
Rory
Rory swallowed hard. "Maybe this is his hell, or at least purgatory," she suggested softly.
Luke
"Then he went into it with his eyes wide open," Luke said. "He asked to come here."
Rory
She was still, gaining quiet control of her emotions again. She could cry more later. It was too important to be focused now.
"If we're nice to him, doesn't that defeat the purpose? He said he expected me to make things hard."
Luke
"I have no idea what he's thinking," Luke told his knees. "But he's my father. I'm not going to go out of my way to make things more difficult on him. He's making them hard enough on his own."
Rory
"He hurt me worse than anyone in my entire life, in every way possible," Rory said quietly. "I can't exactly welcome him back with open arms."
Luke
Luke nodded, then swallowed hard. "I understand."
Rory
She dropped her head against Luke's shoulder. "I didn't think we'd win. I...need time to process."
Luke
"I know the feeling," Luke said, shifting closer. "But we brought him back. This part has to be easier, right?"
Rory
"He looks - "
She faltered.
Luke
Luke pulled her more tightly towards him and waited for her to finish her sentence.
Rory
"Like...mine."
She didn't know how to put it better. She couldn't figure out how to express the confusion that seeing Anakin's face right there had brought about.
Luke
Luke tilted his head, watching her carefully. "Is this going to be too much?"
Rory
"Could I do anything about it if it was?" she asked with a wry little smile.
Luke
Luke pressed his lips together. "I could make him leave..."
Rory
"No," she said with more force than she'd expected. "No, don't do that. I just need time to understand it and...you know, adjust."
Luke
Luke closed his eyes and rested his head on top of Rory's. "Me too."
Rory
She stayed quiet for a few minutes, letting the pieces put themselves together in her head. "Is he still going to teach?"
Luke
Luke had been drifting off to sleep right there on the cold concrete. He snapped himself awake. "Huh? I don't know. I think so. I'm not sure what he's going to tell his students, though."
He bit his lip. "We didn't do a lot of talking on his way here."
Rory
"Everyone's going to know unless he comes up with a cover story. Like he...I don't know, time-traveled to help you defeat Vader, or something. I don't know. He's just going to have to deal with a lot of problems if everyone knows who he was, and I don't want him to," Rory said, chewing on her own lip as she thought.
She ignored the fact that this contradicted the statement she'd made to Anakin about his difficulty in Fandom.
Luke
Luke nodded thoughtfully. "I agree. I don't think he was exactly heading down to tell the pirate everything, but we tend to...not plan things out," he said. "He'll need to get his story straight before classes next week." He paused. "Especially looking the way he does now. There were people who missed him."
Rory
"No shit," Rory said with a snort. "Sorry, that was uncalled for. But yes, he needs a story. And yes, I know you guys don't plan things out. I think it's in your genes."
Luke
Luke's cheeks went pink. "It normally works out fine anyway," he pointed out. "On paper, walking up to a Sith Lord and hoping he'll change his mind about being evil seems kind of futile."
Rory
"Yes, don't do things like that," Rory said seriously. "Not now that we've...won this. I like being a brunette. I'd rather not go gray before I hit twenty."
Luke
Luke kissed the top of her head. "Not for a long time," he promised. "I want to go back to only seeing one Rory when I look at you first."
Rory
She smiled a little, and then abruptly smacked him upside the head.
"And that is for not warning me," she said sharply. "Would it have been so hard to tell me over the comlink that he looks like he does?"
Luke
That had hurt a lot more than it should have. Luke winced. "I said he wasn't Vader anymore," he said.
Rory
"That's not the same thing, Luke," she sighed.
Luke
Luke sighed too. "I'm sorry."
Rory
"It's okay," she said, shivering a little. "I'm the teensiest bit on edge."
Luke
"Can't imagine why," Luke teased softly, then stood up and teetered for just a second before holding out his hand to Rory. "Let's get inside. I could use a cup of hot chocolate."
And to sleep for about a week, but he wanted to be sure Rory was all right first.
Rory
Rory smiled genuinely at that before getting up and taking his hand.
She held on a little more tightly than strictly necessary. "Will you stay over tonight?" she asked very, very quietly.
Luke
Luke gave her hand a small squeeze. "Of course. I'll stay as long as you want me around."
Rory
"Do you think he's at all happy to be back?" she asked after a moment.
Luke
Luke had caught the way his father had been looking at Rory.
But if she hadn't, he wasn't going to push it.
"Yes," he said simply.
Rory
She nodded, lost in her own thoughts.
"Good," she said after a moment.
Luke
"Let's go home," Luke said, giving her hand another squeeze.
[OOC: Preplayed with the lovely rory__gilmore, no IC interaction possible. That Anakin is back--very much for broadcast. The conversations? Not so much.]