Okay, so I haven't updated since...um, mid-May? And I feel really terrible about it. I just never got around to posting. I'm really, really, REALLY sorry. If anyone is still reading this, I have this and the next chapter written. I should have time to post again on Saturday. Reviews are always appreciated--I don't think I quite got around to replying to the last batch, but I WIL do that as soon as possible.

Chapter 6

Luke found Vader after only a few minutes of searching. He'd felt drawn to the man, somehow, by some unseen force.

The man was standing in the middle of a wide circle, gazing at a blank screen. Vader turned to face Luke, and he almost wished he hadn't come. But it was too late for that, now, and he ignored the shivers running down his spine as he stepped forward cautiously.

"Hello," he said uncertainly, shuffling his feet.

"Hello, Luke," Vader acknowledged him simply, before turning away and ignoring him.

Luke bit his lip and summoned all the courage he could find, taking a few tentative towards the imposing figure. Vader was hunched over a screen covered in letters that Luke couldn't read, but he didn't appear to be looking at it.

Luke stood about a foot behind Vader, pulse racing. He disagreed with Leia; he didn't really believe that there was anything to fear. But it was hard to avoid being nervous around this…thing, whatever he was. He was a giant monster of a man, if he even was a man, and he looked like he belonged in storybooks or legends, not real-life, right here.

"Where is your sister?" Vader said, his metallic voice grating, "Why have you come alone?"

Luke spoke before he thought. "Leia's scared of you. She thinks you're gonna kill us."

He stepped back as soon as the words left his mouth, unconsciously afraid that by saying it, he would make it true.

To his surprise, nothing happened. Vader paused, staring stiffly downwards, and the only sound that came from him was his breathing. But Luke didn't feel any change in the atmosphere, no sign of impending danger. Vader swiveled in his chair. "And why does she think that I would do a thing like that?" he asked mildly.

Here Luke hesitated. No matter what he thought, it was impossible to be really sure of whether Vader was good or bad. But really, the man just seemed so inviting, and there wasn't any reason why he shouldn't…he thought Vader was saying something, but he wasn't quite sure.

"I should tell you why my sister won't see you," Luke said dully, a strange feeling in the back of his mind that he'd heard something like this just a second before…but he knew he hadn't said anything, and he didn't remember Vader saying anything…

"Leia says you killed Obi-Wan," Luke finally said, stopping abruptly.

Vader turned away from him, his enormous figure stark and imposing against the dull whites and greys of the rest of the room. "Death is no more than Kenobi would deserve," he said sharply, agitation causing him to move from leg to leg and tug at his cape.

"What did he do?" Luke asked, desperately curious but doing his best to keep his voice calm.

Vader stilled instantly, facing away. "Obi-Wan Kenobi is responsible for the death of my wife. He kidnapped my children. He destroyed my body beyond any use. I didn't always look like this, you know," Vader added, bringing a gloved hand up to touch his face.

Luke was startled. His first thought was, Vader had a family? This was followed in a tidal wave of foreign emotions—disbelief, doubt, and anger all poured into Luke at once and he felt like a bottle close to bursting. Life on Tatooione had given him little experience with dealing in things like this, and he struggled for footing in the conversation. "Obi-Wan always seemed so nice…are you sure it wasn't someone else?" He said finally.

"I'm sure," Vader boomed threateningly.

Luke stood quietly where he was, contemplating this. It seemed unlikely; but then, why would Vader lie to him?

The door opened, hissing air, and Luke jumped. He turned and saw Leia. She glared at him, but it didn't have quite the effect she wanted—the yards of black fabric that hung over her body rendered her almost laughable.

Vader turned instantly. "Ah. Leia," he said, sounding almost happy to see her, "We were just speaking about you."

Leia was scared, Luke could tell, but she was better at hiding it than he was. She strode confidently towards her brother and Vader, stopping beside Luke and looking defiantly at the enormous black giant before her. Luke could see, though, that she was slightly pale, and he could feel her shaking as she stood close to him.

Luke felt Leia take a deep breath as she stepped forward until she was just a foot from Vader. "I just wondered," she said. "Where we were going."

"We are going to see the Emperor," Vader told her unhesitantly.

"The Emperor?"

"Yes," Vader said, "The Emperor. Have you not heard of him?"

Luke wished he could grab Leia and tell her to lie, lie lie lie, but evidently she didn't get the message, because after a brief pause, she said, "No."

And when Vader laughed, Luke began to have the annoying feeling that this conversation, if that's what it was, had gone past the point of making any sense. At least, he certainly didn't have the slightest idea what was going on.

Vader laughed. "You mean Obi-Wan hasn't said anything about it? I was so sure he would have told you everything. You mean he hasn't been telling you his exact opinion on the shitty state of the galaxy and how everything's gone to hell? He has changed."

Leia wrinkled her nose at Vader's swearing—Obi-Wan hated swearing, he said it was uncivilized and vulgar. "You mean you knew Obi-Wan?" Leia asked. Luke braced himself for the explanation Vader was going to give her—Leia would hate it, she didn't believe Obi-Wan could do anything wrong.

But Vader didn't tell Leia any of the things he'd told Luke. He just said, "Yes. Once."

Leia nodded. "Okay. Hey, can I go? I'm pretty tired."

"Yes," Vader allowed, "rest."

Luke watched in stunned disbelief as Leia glided down the hallway. She had just disappeared around a corner when he felt something cold and hard on his shoulder. He shuddered at the uncomfortable situation, and pivoted on the spot. Vader's hand was on his shoulder.

"Luke," the man boomed in his great, sonorous voice, "What do you know about the Force?"

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Obi-Wan hated going into Mos Eisley. He hated the smell of it, a mixture of sewage and animals. He hated the people who fought and killed on the streets and he hated the way the sand piled up around the buildings. And yet, here he was, heading into town for the second time in as many days. If he was going to be able to do anything for Luke and Leia, he would need a real ship. As it was, he didn't even have his landspeeder—Vader must have taken it. He had made the walk into town before; and it had taken about two hours. He had been walking for half an hour, and he was already miserable. His face was raw and stinging, and he was sure he felt a blister forming on his left foot. His mouth was dry and parched, and he was painfully hot inside his robes. Add to that the still lingering pain in his face, back, and abdomen from whatever Vader had done to him last night. He felt he was on the verge of collapsing with every step he took. Frequent stops to drink from his canteen full of water sustained him, but barely.

A beeping from his pocket told him that he had a call. He pulled out his commlink, and was relieved to see it was Leia. Her face was ashen and scared, but Obi-Wan was really just grateful she was unharmed.

"Hello there, Leia," he said, his eyes flicking back and forth between the commlink and Leia's face, "Did you manage to find out where Vader is taking you?"

"Yeah," she said matter-of-factly, "he just told me."

"Did he," Obi-Wan said grimly, "well, if he keeps making mistakes like that, this won't be too much trouble at all. Where is he taking you, Leia?"

"The Emperor? That's all he said."

Obi-Wan clenched his jaw to stop himself from shouting a number of obscenities. It was something he had always attempted to refrain from doing in front of the children. The Emperor. Providing he even managed to make his way through the innumerable security measures surrounding Palpatine, it looked like he would have to fight his way through the two most powerful Sith Lords in the galaxy to get the twins back.

"Obi-Wan?"

He shook his head. "Luke—Leia, where's Luke? Is he alright?"

She hesitated. "I think he's okay. He's actually with Vader right now."

Obi-Wan tightened involunatily. "What are they doing."

She looked down. "I don't know."

Obi-Wan continued driving for a minute, neither of them speaking. When he finally looked down again, Leia was crying.

"Look—don't cry, Leia, I am very sorry." Leia looked up at him tearfully. "I didn't mean to get us into this mess, and I promise I'll get us out of it. Just hang on, Leia, it'll all be better."

She believed him, and he almost thought it would be better if she didn't. "Okay," she said. "Do you need me to do anything else?"

He couldn't make her do anything else, not now. Not like this. "Just get some rest," he told her.

She nodded, and, without saying anything, ended the conversation. The screen turned to static.

By the time Obi-Wan arrived in Mos Eisley, the twin suns had begun to set. The city was basked in a pinkish light, and a slight breeze drifted through the streets.

Obi-Wan stood uncertainly at the end of a row of shops. He had never needed anything other than basic supplies in Mos Eisley, and he had no idea where to begin. Was it even possible to find a ship in Mos Eisley? He would prefer not to have to barter for a ride with one of the numerous smugglers who were always docked here. If worse came to worse, he would make his way to another town. Mos Espa, maybe.

A gust of sand took Obi-Wan out of his dream-like stupor. He began to make his way down the street, glancing into shop windows as he went. Nothing looked promising at first; most of what he saw were either the supply shops he routinely visited or bars.

He made it to the end of the row and still hadn't found anything. Anxiety took over, and he began striding more purposefully down the second alley of shops. About halfway through, he glimpsed something that looked like it might have potential. He halted and turned where he was, almost crying with relief at what he saw.

It was an open lot, set between two shops. A toydarian hovered in place above it. And the sandy lot was entirely covered with ships. Even from a distance, Obi-Wan could see that they were old, and some of them didn't look like they would run well, but he didn't have time to be choosy.

Obi-Wan tried to remain as dignified as possible as he bolted towards the lot at a speed somewhere between running and flat out sprinting. "Excuse me, are these ships for sale?" he yelled at the toydarian, who fluttered over to Obi-Wan as soon as he spoke.

"That depends on how much you have to offer," the alien replied slyly.

"I have a landspeeder," Obi-Wan said. "It's almost brand new, in perfect working condition. And I have—well, I have a holovision…" The landspeeder was three years old, but he didn't use it that often, and as far as he knew a new model hadn't come out.

"The holovision I am not interested in," the toydarian said dismissively, "and for a landspeeder I could only give you a very old ship. There must be something else."

"There isn't," Obi-Wan said, doing his best not to sound desperate. He didn't even bother attempting a mind trick, dimly recalling that toydarians were immune. "But if you'll come take a look at the speeder, I'm sure you'll agree that it's a very fine machine."

The toydarian agreed to take a look, and so Obi-Wan lead him back down the streets he had traveled only moments before. He hurried along, barely looking up. It was much lighter when he arrived, wasn't it? Some of the stores had lights on now, and the suns had almost entirely disappeared below the horizon. He needed to hurry.

"Well, this is it," Obi-Wan said impatiently, waving his hand at the speeder.

The toydarian considered for a moment. He disappeared underneath the speeder, and, with Obi-Wan's permission, stepped inside and tested it briefly by running it about one-hundred yards along the sand. "It appears to be in good condition, but it is still not very valuable. The best I am willing to give you is an older ship. It was made about ten years ago; it still works, but not very well."

"I'll take it," Obi-Wan said immediately. If there had been time, he would have stayed and looked for something better, but as it was…

Twenty minutes later, the suns were completely gone and Obi-Wan was in his own ship, preparing to exit the Tatooinian atmosphere.

Sorry again! Next update should be Saturday or sooner.