An Even Greater Sin

Chapter 5: The loss of soul...

Luke was ecstatic. Here he was, witnessing the final concert of his favorite band! He knew that immediately after the end of the Clone Wars, the lead stringer died- officially of a spice overdose, unofficially of an Imperial poisoning to keep the rest of the band quiet. It was a viewing laced with anticipation. It was any Phloide-Phan's wet dream to see them again live.

The rest of the crowd was just as eager as he was- but probably less likely to understand. He sat six rows up- the front five were exclusive paid seats- and almost exactly in the center. He was shocked to see how few people there were in the amphitheater, but he figured that the recent battle overhead had some people paranoid about being out in the open. Several seats on either side of him were open, and he smirked. The best free seat in the house for the last Pynque Phloide concert of all time. What a trip.

His hangover by now had faded entirely, so he had no worries about loud, pounding music. If he remembered the articles correctly, a laser show would accompany the concert. After the establishment of the Empire, laser shows had been banned because it was too easy to mistake a show laser for a blaster bolt. So it was a double treat for someone who had grown up with only recordings of the music, only holograms of the shows.

Suddenly, it occurred to him. How was Anakin going to send him the coordinates for their next encounter? He had no comlink, and even if he did, Anakin didn't have his code.

'He'll find me,' Luke thought. 'He'll know where I am.'

The music started, and Luke was blown away.

Padme` was late. She could hear the introduction to "Coruscate, Crazy Corusca" blaring, and she ran as fast as her rapidly expanding belly would allow her to. Paying for a fifth-row seat, she hustled her way in.

She stopped. The child, which had before been restlessly tossing within her, abruptly settled down, to an almost eerie calm. Placing her hand on her abdomen, she begged it for a sign that it was merely rest, not- she couldn't bear to think of what it might be. She was rewarded by a much less violent kick, then another. Sighing with relief, she could somehow- was it the Force?- tell that the child was all right. She took a seat, in front of a blond male-

-eyes-

-who smiled politely. Glancing down at her pregnant stomache, he asked, "When are they due?"

"Mid-Firstmonth." She felt an immediate liking for this stranger, but there was something there that... unsettled her.

"Ah." The man- boy, really- leaned back. "Good luck, and may the Force be with you." Wait... did the man say "they?"

After Luke turned away from his mother- he was certain it was her!- he felt a melancholy funk settle over him. Now he knew her face- but still, not her name. And if Jedi were forbidden to fall in love, then she probably would have preferred if he hadn't mentioned anything.

Returning his attention to the music- it was the beginning of "The Factory is Open"- he thought with amusement that his mother was a Phloide-Phan. So not everything came from- from Anakin.

He still couldn't bring himself to call the man by his relation to Luke..

Padme` was irritated. During "Want a Death Stick," some scum with antennae came and seriously offered her a death stick. The boy sitting behind her, though, leaned forward and said to the man, "The lady doesn't want to buy any death sticks."

The sleazebag repeated the sentence, and walked away.

At the opening of "The Same Old Fears," Padme` felt a strange vibration in the air. It had always been her favorite song- but lately, she couldn't help but think of Anakin when she heard it.

The child- or was it children?- began to kick, almost in protest- as though something was wrong. It- they? always seemed to sense danger- much like their father.

She heard sobbing, harsh, fierce, anguished, and she turned to find the blond boy, his hands in his hair- one was gloved, she realized- trying to hold himself together. "Why did you become like this?" he whispered to some unseen memory.

Luke had never put it together- why he had loved this song forever, why it struck him like it did, why he was helpless to it. But now- all he could think of was Vader. And Anakin. And all of the questions of why they were one and the same.

He could still not think of either as the one who sired him.

The woman in front of him- his mother!- asked, "Are you okay?" Reaching towards him, she touched his artificial hand before he could draw away.

The Force exploded with strange energies, twisted, confusing... He knew, then, that to remain near this woman would create some sort of paradox. To come in contact with his fetal self- it was disturbing the natural order of things.

She knew it, too. Luke knew she wasn't proficient with the Force, but her instincts were strong. Backing away and clutching her stomache, she gasped in pain, and glared at him.

"You've hurt my child!"

"I didn't do anything! You touched me!" He couldn't keep the accusations- the pain- out of his voice. If his unborn self was in pain, that meant-

Leia!

"I need to go!" He bolted up just as the concert came to a conclusion, and ran like hell.

Anakin Skywalker was in a bad mood. Windu had asked him to report on Palpatine's reaction to the news of Grievous' location- which was spying. Anakin hated duplicity, and although he was adept at it, he was sure that the wise Chancellor would catch on.

And he did. During their conversation, Palpatine had mirrored Anakin's own concerns regarding the motives of the Council. Anakin had a new admiration for the man. He knew his friends, and he knew who he didn't trust.

But during the conversation, his senses flared up with pain. Padme`... and Luke. Both of them were in anguish. Not in his nightmares, but now... and Palpatine knew it, as well. He didn't know about Luke, but Anakin was sure that his pain showed up on his face as they spoke.

Palpatine had told him a tale of a Sith who could prevent death...

Perhaps he could save two people he loved...

And kill this "Vader" that Luke feared so much.