Chapter 10: Chapter 10
"That sounds like a better idea," said Luke.
"That's why I offered" she said
"Thanks" said Luke.
He held out his hand to her and together they reached out with their minds to find Vader. They found him brooding alone in his quarters.
"Vader" she whispered into his mind
"Isis?" he asked. At once alert and somewhat surprised by her contact
"yes and Luke as well" she answered.
"Why have you contacted me?" said Vader
"We need to speak to you" said Luke
"We son, so am I to assume that the lady will be there as well?" said Vader.
"Yes father" Luke answered.
Isis was absurdly proud of him for not flinching.
"So you have finally acknowledged that I am your father" said Vader
"I acknowledge that you were once Anakin Skywalker and that you fathered me" said Luke
"Ah so she verified my words instead of lying about them as Obi wan would have wished her to" said Vader
."She has never lied to me," said Luke
"No your right my Isis was always unfailingly honest, sometimes brutally so" said Vader
"I am glad she has your loyalty," said Vader.
"Yes she does now what do you want with her?" said Luke
"What I have always wanted of her, merely to see her" said Vader
"Why?' said Isis.
"Because I miss you," he said softly.
Isis was shocked to silence.
"Isis?" said Luke
"I'm still here" she said softly
"I grieved for you when he said you were dead, you cut me off so completely I didn't know either way if he spoke the truth" said Vader.
"We need to talk face to face" said Luke
"Yes we have much to discuss," said Vader.
"And very little time to do so" said Isis
"Yes my dear, so where would you like to meet?" said Vader
"There's a grotto about twelve clicks south of your base, it has a waterfall, meet us there tomorrow afternoon" said Isis.
"I shall look forward to it my dear," said Vader
"And Vader come alone" said Luke
"Of course my son, I wouldn't dream of doing otherwise" said Vader
"Until tomorrow then" said Isis
"Yes until then, goodnight Isis, Luke" said Vader.
Isis pulled back gently Luke did so after her. They leaned on the railing and contemplated the fact that they had just betrayed the rebellion. For better or ill just by talking to Vader they would be considered traitors.
"Tired?" she asked
"A little" said Luke.
"It's a side effect," said Isis
"If anyone asks I'm turning in for the night" said Isis
"What will you be doing instead?" said Luke
"Insuring that he keeps his word" said Isis
"You still don't trust him?" said Luke
"He's never been very good at resisting temptation" said Isis
"Ok I'll cover for you" said Luke
Isis slipped out of the Ewok's village. She snuck silently to where the speeders were parked and drove one towards the meeting place. She drove it as far as she could, and then walked to the glade. She stood there in the moonlight for a while wondering if they had made the right choice. She took a deep breath then did what she came to do. Using rocks and the tree themselves she set a ward around the whole clearing.
Now no one but Vader would even be able to find this place. Even if the person walked beside Vader the spell would stop them from entering the glade. Exhaustion was setting in so she headed back to the speeder bike. She drove back to the Ewok's village and slipped silently back inside. Luke had talked briefly with his sister before going to bed himself. She was under the impression that they meant to train some more tomorrow. It was a safe enough lie, unless things went drastically wrong.
The next morning found them enmeshed in an argument with Leia.
"Leia we will be back before the attack" said Luke
"I know but I need you here, I was hoping to leave some of the details to you" said Leia "Leia you know how bad at planning Luke is" said Isis
"Hey!" said Luke
"What its true!" said Isis.
Leia sighed in exasperation, they had been going around and around on this subject. She was loosing this argument she could see that already. So Leia reluctantly gave in to their demands.
Luke and Isis high tailed it out of there as quickly as they could. They took two speeder bikes and parked them on one side of the glade.
"I wish we didn't have to lie to her," said Luke
"I regret it too but can you imagine her reaction to the truth?" said Isis.
Luke grimaced and shut down his bike.
"Yeah that wouldn't be a very pretty picture," said Luke.
Isis chanted something over the bikes and they headed for the glade.
"So what did you do last night, I don't feel anything" said Luke
"You won't its not meant to work on you" said Isis.
"So what's it supposed to do?" said Luke
"Discourage tag a longs" said Isis.
They pushed the bushes aside and entered the glen.
"Did we give him a time?" said Luke
"Just the afternoon perhaps he's having as much trouble as we did getting away" said Isis. Luke leaned on a rock.
"This place is beautiful," said Luke
"Yes its breathtaking isn't it," said Isis
"Yes it is but not as breath taking as you" said Vader.
Startled Isis almost jumped; she managed to control the urge at the last minute. Vader strode confidently into the clearing and stopped in front of them.
"You've gotten taller" said Isis
"It's the prosthetics" said Vader
"It suits you" said Isis
"You've aged very well" said Vader
"Thank you, I think" said Isis.
The tension in the air seemed to multiply for a few minutes as both parties struggled to find something to say
. "You continued his training?' said Vader
"Yes, I finished what Obi- wan and Yoda started" said Isis
"I see you've taught him to make his own light saber" said Vader.
Luke unexpectedly offered the weapon to Vader for his inspection. Isis tensed somewhat and her hand unconsciously hovered over her own light saber.
"Artistic and elegant I see her influence in your craftsmanship" said Vader
He handed the weapon back and Isis relaxed somewhat.
"Have you considered my offer?" said Vader.
Isis looked at him quizzically
"Yes I have but with some alterations" said Luke
Isis stiffened and looked at Luke funny. Was she about to be betrayed?
"They wanted you to kill me didn't they?" said Vader
"Yes, they were hoping I would see you as dangerous enough to eliminate" said Luke
"Do you, son?" said Vader
"Yes and no, but I know there is someone a lot more dangerous out there" said Luke "very good my son, you've learned much" said Vader
"I had a good teacher" said Luke.
He nodded towards Isis. "Yes son you have" said Vader
"So what did you really wish to discuss?" said Vader.
Luke bit his lip and looked at Isis. She nodded at him to go ahead.
"I just wanted to get to know you," said Luke
'Ah I see" said Vader.
Vader got quiet for a little while almost as though he were contemplating something. "And you, Isis what did you want to say to me?" said Vader.
"I'm not sure what to say to you anymore" said Isis
"I suppose they thought you would train him to despise me" said Vader
"I wouldn't have, and for the record I never despised you" said Isis
"Really? How interesting" said Vader.
"Where did you grow up Luke tell me?" said Vader
"On Tatooine with Uncle Owen and aunt Beru" said Luke
"And did they tell you of me?" said Vader
Luke shook his head no
"No they lied to me, so did Obi- wan at first" said Luke
"Then my sweet Isis blew their plans out of the sky with the truth now didn't she?" said Vader
"Yes she did" said Luke
"For all this time all of these years I never dreamed my child even survived, and then when I find out he did, he's with the man who tried to kill me" said Vader.
"If I recall you tried to kill him first," said Isis
He snorted, "Very well we tried to kill each other, happy my dear?" said Vader.
"Semantics doesn't change the fact that I wear this mask because of him," said Vader.
"I thought when I saw you together that he raised you, raised you to despise me" said Vader
"I wouldn't have let him do that' said Isis
"I thought you shared his hatred so I wasn't sure" said Vader
She shrugged
"I used to but all you do now is make me sad" she said.
Vader sighed, in what sounded like relief.
"One without hope should be sad," said Vader
"You always had hope you just had to find it within yourself" said Isis
"You were my hope, until you vanished" said Vader
"Where were you?" said Vader
'Closer than you thought" said Isis.
She raised her glamour for a split second. Vader looked at her in shock
"Loren?" said Vader.
Isis dropped the glamour
"Yes and no, we are one and the same" said Isis
"You were there all the time" said Vader
He sounded shocked
"No wonder I never found you" said Vader
"You didn't know where to look" said Isis.
"Where, were you?" said Vader
"On Naboo, I took Padme home and couldn't leave" said Isis.
His breath hissed sharply as if he had taken a sharp breath.
"Thank you" said Vader.
He bowed his head and Isis sensed there was an internal conflict raging behind that mask
."My master wishes me to bring you two to him, Luke so he can twist his mind to the dark side" said Vader
"And me?" said Isis
He looked up at her.
"You he wants to make suffer" said Vader
"I told him what Obi wan claimed, that you were dead, he sensed the sadness in me" said Vader. Isis smiled at him.
"My death made you sad?' said Isis
"Yes it broke my heart to think I would never be able to speak to you again" said Vader. Isis looked away suddenly very uncomfortable. His words were filling her with confusion.
"To think you were near me the whole time and you probably watched over Luke the whole time" said Vader.
"Yes she did, she used to send me gifts too" said Luke
"Like what?" said Vader
"My first speeder for one" said Luke
"Really how interesting, you did that for my son?" said Vader
"It's what friends are for" said Isis
"Are we still friends?" said Vader.
"We can be, that's entirely up to you," said Isis.
Vader looked down at his feet. Luke was watching them both silently.
His father's emotions were all over the place.
"It seems I have wronged you more than I realized," he said softly.
"You made bad choices that's all, and I've forgiven you for them a long time ago" said Isis
"You have?" said Luke and Vader simultaneously.
Vader raised his hand to his face and his shoulders were shaking slightly. Isis stepped forward. Hesitating ever so slightly she reached a hand out and rested it on his arm.
"Yes I have, its ok now," said Isis.
Vader's hand closed over hers.
"I'm, I'm so sorry, I was such a fool," he all but sobbed.
Luke came forward and rested his own hand on his father's shoulder.
"It's ok, were here now that's all that matters" said Luke.
Vader slowly regained his self-control.
"Will you help me? Help me to be free of him?" said Vader
"Who Palpatine?" said Luke
"Yes son, I'm as much his slave as I was when I was a child" said Vader
"Of course we will father," said Luke.
"Thank you son, Isis?" said Vader
"You know all you had to do was ask" said Isis.
She put her arms around him gently in a hesitant hug. Vader closed his arms on her and pulled her close.
"Anakin you're crushing me," she hissed.
"Anakin, is your real name?" said Luke
"Yes, but I no longer have the right to bear it" said Vader
"You will again" said Luke
"So you will help me?" said Vader
