Closed to morally_cryptic

[talentedscavenger]

Rey had experienced a whirlwind of events from locating Luke Skywalker's lightsaber to being pulled through time to meet the person who started it all; Anakin. The man was her grandfather, someone who was the 'chosen one' to bring balance to the Force. If that wasn't enough, she learned of her own powers and had to be trained to use them. It was an interesting time, spending weeks learning about the man and studying under him. They developed a friendship, a strange bond between two adults who happened to be generations apart. As much as she enjoyed her time with him, she was thrust back to her present time.

Anakin was right, it was like she never left. Everyone was still at the Cantina, looking for her. The First Order arrived...it was chaos.

But that was then, and this was now. She found out about Kylo Ren and the man he idolized so much. It pained her, no, angered her to know the same person she met had turned to the Dark Side. Rey kept her mouth shut to her cousin, managing to use the Force to keep him out of her mind and push him back. Now, she had a target on her back. The events didn't go well from there, losing her friend and semi-father figure, Han.

Now she was on a quest to find Luke. The man who could or could not be father. She didn't know how many children Anakin had, though she still remembered those strong Force visions of two children. Chewie and her managed to land the Falcon on the right planet, now she had to make the journey to find the Jedi. At least the time to herself would let her deal with her emotions. She was conflicted, angry, and hurt. From losing a friend to learning some of the truth about her grandfather...it was disheartening.

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[morally_cryptic]

"No, you're not." She's Luke's. Or she's going to be. Probably. If he has anything to say about it.

"But you're family and that's more important." He'd consider her family by now even if they weren't tied together by blood.

[talentedscavenger]

Anakin wouldn't have to convince Luke. If anything He would have to convince Rey. She had been abandoned by the man, assuming Luke was her father. Doubtful Leia would have been unfaithful or that Han was her father.

"You're one to talk about family," came her snappy reply.

[morally_cryptic]

"I am in fact," he says, eyes narrowing.

"You know what happened, but you have no idea of why." Luke couldn't tell her that. Kylo Ren most definitely couldn't.

[talentedscavenger]

"I don't want to know," she told him. No more learning more about the truth. No more stories or what was perceived to be the 'truth'. The man already disappointed her once. He didn't to keep digging his grave.

Rey continued her truck, coming across steps that lead to the top of a mountain. She was being stubborn about it but underneath that stubbornness was hurt. He wasn't her idol by any means, but he meant something to her.

[morally_cryptic]

Doggedly, he pursues her, talking at her back. "Before the Jedi found me, I was a slave on Tatooine. When they took me with them, we had to leave my mother behind. Years later I went back to find her only for her to die in my arms. She'd been tortured by Tusken Raiders for weeks. I'd been having dreams--visions about it but I took too long, I got there too late." She might remember they'd had talks about visions, once.

"Padme and I got married, secretly, just as the war started. It was one of the last few truly happy moments I remember in my life. After that, it was one long sequence of battle after battle. I didn't get to see her often though we did our best." Obviously, because she'd managed to conceive his children.

"The Council assigned me a padawan...I really didn't want one at first, I thought she'd just slow me down. But Ahsoka became like family too. Someone framed her for a terrorist attack at the Jedi Temple, she was expelled from the Order and nearly sentenced to death before I found the real culprit. The Jedi Council told her she could come back but she...walked away. I failed her, too." And it looks like he'd failed Rey as well but that couldn't be helped now.

"That's just...backstory for what comes next." And really, Rey had almost been a part of it. She had returned to now not so very long before the battle of Coruscant and the fall of the Republic.

[talentedscavenger]

Stubbornness truly did run in the family. He couldn't respect her wishes, he couldn't let everything that happen between them stay in the past. He had to talk, to explain his background further, making her recall the times they talked about visions--or what she felt when she saw visions of his past. He was setting the scene, getting all the dressings done so he could explain to her what happened. Why he went to the Dark Side.

"When everything fell and you went to the Dark Side," she told him, anger and hurt still lingering in her voice. She continued to move on, not bothering to look back at him.

If she were in a more rationale, more calm state of mind, she would have realized this was how things were supposed to work out. Otherwise, she would not have met him. She would have become the self-reliant girl she was. She wouldn't have found BB-8, met Finn, Han and Chewie.

[morally_cryptic]

He ignores her retort and carries on, "the Separatists made a surprise attack on Coruscant and took the Chancellor as a hostage. He was my friend. He'd been a mentor to me ever since I first came to Coruscant, almost. When we found him, we first had to fight Count Dooku. Obi-Wan was knocked out of the fight and I was the one who ended up defeating the Count. I took his lightsaber and held his and mine to his throat. Jedi don't kill in cold blood, particularly not someone who's been defeated and no longer poses a threat. But he'd been the source of so much bloodshed and we'd already fought so many times--it was he who took my arm in our first duel." She'd probably remember the cybernetic prosthetic he wore when she'd first met him.

"It didn't take much urging from Palpatine for me to execute him then and there," Anakin's voice has gone dispassionate for that part. "After that, it was merely a matter of carrying Obi-Wan until he woke up, escort the Chancellor up to the bridge, fight off the droids stationed there, and then somehow land a ship that had been so destroyed by turbolaser fire that we were really only left with the front half." At least that he could be proud of.

"But yes, things fell apart after that. The Jedi didn't trust the Chancellor and of course the Chancellor definitely didn't trust the Jedi though I didn't realize just how much then. They both tried to play me against the other and increasingly I began to see the Council as the hypocrites they were." Great leaders, maybe, but even now he believes they spouted hypocrisy. "And I started having visions again. I couldn't sleep without seeing Padme dying in childbirth." Knowing that there had been children, knowing because he'd met Rey, hadn't actually helped. It didn't tell him what he should do to ensure that happened. He'd still been terrified of choosing wrongly and losing her and their children.

"Palpatine revealed to me that he was the Sith lord who had been manipulating things from the very beginning. I wanted to kill him then and there but...I didn't. He didn't raise a hand against me. He told me he could help me save Padme. And I believed him when he said that. We were taught the Sith lie but Palpatine had always helped me before." He shakes his head. "I went and told the Council anyway and basically they told me they were going to deal with him themselves and left me behind. I tried to do the right thing. I thought they'd take him to trial, I thought he might still help me." Obviously, he'd thought wrong.

"But no, they went there to kill him," remember what he said about Jedi and execution and hypocrisy? "I couldn't stay behind. I couldn't let them kill my only hope to save Padme. Master Windu died because of me," even if he hadn't actually landed the killing blow. "And I realized in that moment I had turned against the Order. It felt like I only had once choice left and I chose to kneel before Palpatine."

He'd spare her the gory details of how what Palpatine had him do next only cemented his place in the Dark Side. "In the end, I didn't save Padme. She still died, even if the children lived. In the end, I nearly died myself when Obi-Wan defeated me. If he'd had the mercy to kill me outright instead of leave me on a lava bank to die, the shape of the galaxy might be different now." And no, Anakin doesn't think he's overstating his importance here. "I stepped into the Dark Side for love, Rey. I stayed there because of despair."

Until Luke.

[talentedscavenger]

When he started to explain what happened, the events that followed her departure, Rey stopped. He wanted her to understand, why he did what he did. Why he became the man that had terrified the galaxy, why he committed one murder after another. Though she was proof that his legacy would continue on, his visions made him doubt. He didn't want to lose his wife, willing to give up everything he had to protect the one thing that mattered in the universe. She lowered her head, taking in his story and the emotions he had to have felt in those moments.

The Council of Jedi fell because of its own hypocrisies. A group of people who followed the code of 'do as I say, not as I do.' Neither side was right, and if they were still around, the galaxy would be different and perhaps, she would not have been born. If Council found out about Padame, or his children...if they trained to train Luke and Leia...they wouldn't be who they were now. Yet, the pain of losing her friend and learning the truth...it weighed heavy on her heart. He wanted to be there for his wife, for his children and grandchildren.

He wouldn't have left her there on Jakku... That was the source of her pain. He knew she had been left behind, forced to live on her own, wondering if tomorrow her family would come back for her. Tears were starting to prick at the corners of her eyes, but she didn't let them fall. There was no point in getting upset. She steeled her feelings, but slowly turned to look at him. Her hazel eyes locking onto his, silently telling him she understood.

She hated what happened...but she can understand why he gave into the Dark Side.

[morally_cryptic]

He smiles at her, a little grateful, a little relieved. Grateful because of course he'd hoped for her forgiveness. Relieved because he really, really hadn't wanted her carrying around that anger. It wouldn't have done any of them any good.

"Feel free to tell me I talk too much now," he says lightly. Gentle teasing in place of the hug he can't actually give her.

[talentedscavenger]

Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.

Luke told her the wise words of Master Yoda, trying to explain in further detail of the Dark Side. The temptations and how they could mark a Jedi's heart. It was rather nostalgic and bitter-sweet for her to hear the explanation, recalling the time when Anakin explained the same thing to her.

This moment was bitter-sweet for her too. Finally able to see the man she had grown fond of in a short time, but unable to touch him. A hug would have been fine, even necessary for what she learned about him. The first time she hugged him had been awkward and weird. When they shared another one, it was tight and comforting...and the last one before she was thrown back to her correct timeline.

"Yeah, you do. Think you might enjoy the sound of your voice a little too much," she told him, a weak smile dancing across her life. Rey averted her gaze to take a deep breath, composing herself further. Finally she turned to fully face him and took a seat on the steps.

"Does Luke know?" About his past? About meeting her?

[morally_cryptic]

So he doesn't tower over her in all his ghostly magnificence (hah), Anakin settles into something of a crouch instead when she sits. "Not...really. He knows about Darth Vader of course." A smile tugged at his lips. It was Luke after all that had kept faith in him. Luke was the reason he could be here at all.

"But no, we haven't spoken quite like this. I told him about his mother because no one else had. I told him how very proud of him I am. I told him things like that." Because Luke didn't need the whole story, there were other things Luke had needed from him.

And he'd only ever appeared to Leia once.

[talentedscavenger]

If Anakin had continued to stand and tower over her, she wouldn't have cared. It wasn't that she was physically tired, but emotionally. She pushed back a few wisps of her hair and drew one knee to her to lean on. So she was the only one he told his story to, his past--the events that lead up to him being Vader. He spoke to Luke like a father, telling him things he naturally had questions about. Who knows if he was able to the same with Leia...

And if he could speak to Ren...he wouldn't try to be a Sith Lord.

Part of her wanted to ask if he knew why she was left behind. If he tried to tell Luke or Leia, but he probably couldn't. Certain events had to happen...but hopefully, she would get the answers she wanted.

"You know how to make someone feel special, then," she gently teased.

[morally_cryptic]

"I have my moments. Few and far between, but they happen." He smiles over at her before looking up toward the top of the island. "He's good you know, Luke. He's a far better man than I ever was. But that was probably thanks to his mother."

[talentedscavenger]

Rey had to hold back her tongue, wanting to say at least Anakin wouldn't have left her. No, she needed to let go of that part of her. Carrying that weight in her heart wouldn't do her any good.

"Suppose I should take your word for it," she told him, looking out over the top of the island too. The water, the lush forest...it was calming to say the least.

[morally_cryptic]

[ooc: I really really hope we find out that something else happened and Luke or Leia didn't really just abandon her on Jakku. :( ]

"Or you could talk to the man yourself and make your own decision," he suggests pointedly. That's what she was here for, wasn't it?

[talentedscavenger]

[ ooc: me too, but she did look happy at the end to see him. So there is hope!!]

She was there to see him and give him back the light saber. Though, now it belonged to her and Anakin had been very adamant about that.

"I know I have to talk to him," she told him in a thoughtful tone.

"Not sure what I'll actually say to him, though. "

[morally_cryptic]

"You could start by saying hello, long time no see."

He didn't entirely mean that in a joking way either.

[talentedscavenger]

Rey let out a light scoff, turning her gaze to him then back to the scenery. She didn't think that would be the proper way of doing things. It was still hard to wrap her head around that her father was Luke...or that Kylo Ren was her cousin.

"Don't think that covers everything." 'Long time no see?' No, that didn't cover a single second of what happened.

[morally_cryptic]

"It's a start," he points out. "You've got to start somewhere. It's not like you'll have to introduce yourself."

Even if he hasn't seen her in years, Anakin has no doubt that Luke will be able to recognize her on sight.

[talentedscavenger]

"Do I want it to start, though?" A pointless question to ask, considering she wanted to find her family until this point. She was scared, nervous too. Could he blame her? After wandering and waiting, she was nervous to meet the person she had wanted to see in her life.

"He may not even remember me. Might even ..." claim he wasn't her father, or that she was actually Leia's. If that was the case she and Ren would be siblings, which was even more frightening to think about.

"It's a lot to think about, to take in. The past few days have been more of a whirlwind than anything else."

[morally_cryptic]

The question was pointless enough that Anakin didn't bother to dignify it with a response. "Of course he'll remember you. He can't not. Trust me."

"And," he says with a wry tilt to his mouth, "didn't you think about it while you were flying here?"

[talentedscavenger]

"Honestly?" she turned to look at him, the tiredness in her eyes easy enough to see.

"All I thought about was giving him back the lightsaber and dragging him back to Leia. Whether or not I said five words to him didn't cross my mind." She had been dealing with her emotions in her own time. Sure, in front of the others, she had everything under control. She looked fine, but in private, she let some of those walls come down.

"I wasn't expecting to see you, or talk to you. Thought after I last saw you, that was it."

[morally_cryptic]

He nods, confirming, "honestly. I mean, I'm not very good at lying."

Dragging him back to Leia might be easier said than done, but Anakin was thinking it would be very interesting when Rey finally talks to the man and he sees that she's already had some training in the Force. How she explains that should be fun.

"And you and me both. I mean, until," waving a hand vaguely, "recently."

[talentedscavenger]

Rey didn't even want to think about what would happen when Luke would start to train her. How easy she would pick up on things, or be able to do things. That was opening a whole new can of worms for her. What might be more odd would be for Luke to learn the people she was closest to were a BB-8 droid and her grandfather. Of course, Poe, Chewie, and Finn were there as well. However, she spent more time with Anakin and BB-8.

"Could be better at lying than you are with humor." More gentle teasing, as she wasn't in the spirits to really banter with him.

"Considering everything that's happen...did you try to contact me before?"

totally making up how Force ghosts work as I go along

[morally_cryptic]

"Before when?"

Before just now? Before BB-8 landed in her lap? Before she was ever on Jakku? There's a lot of befores in there.

And then a slight shake of his head, "not exactly. Mostly. You weren't ready. I can't just magically show up to anyone. Although that could be fun," his eyes twinkle mischievously for a moment. "