Author's Notes: I came up with this while listening to Melissa and doing the dishes and I had to write it.
DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all publicly recognisable characters, names and references, etc are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd, Lucasarts Inc and 20th Century Fox. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author. The song used, "Silent Legacy", belongs to Melissa Etheridge and Island Records.
Why did you steal the matches
From the one room motel?
Once they gave you answers
Now they give you hell.
“He wasn’t always as he is now,” Amidala said softly, holding one child in each arm. Her angels. Luke blinked his eyes sleepily and Leia held fast to a chunk of her mother’s long hair. “Your father was a great man. He . . . he just lost sight of who he is.” She fought back sudden tears. “He is a good man. The man I love. I know he’ll see someday that it is they who are wrong. He will remember.”
They will never understand
They wonder where did they go wrong
How could you be so selfish
Why can't you get along?
“He has done evil things now, yes. But doing evil things doesn’t make a person evil. Remember that. It is one’s heart that truly shows who they are, not their actions. A person’s actions are sometimes merely things they do to survive when they don’t know another way.” A sad smile made the queen look older than she was. She had undergone much, especially for someone so young. There was a tiredness in her eyes that had not been there nine months before. But not defeat. Never defeat. “I just wish that the people he hurts now could have known him as I did. When I met him, he was only a little boy, you know.” She smoothed the fuzzy hair on Luke’s head and sighed. “We were both a lot younger then.”
And as you pray in your darkness
For wings to set you free
You are bound to your silent legacy
“I don’t think he knows what to do now. I-I don’t think he sees a way out.” Leia gurgled happily, making Amidala smile as well. “I wish I had been able to show him that he could stop. Palpatine wouldn’t have made it easy, but . . . together, we could have defeated him. We still can,” she added quickly. It got harder each day to be hopeful, to remember Anakin as he had been instead of as he was. “He feels trapped. And when your back is against the wall, you either surrender or fight. He chose to surrender.”
You've seen it in the movies
And you've heard it on the street
Craving the affection
Your blood is full of heat
They don't listen to your reasons
As original as sin
Deny all that you feel
And they will bring you home again
The queen gently laid Luke down on the blanket before them and shifted Leia to her other arm. The baby looked from her sleeping brother to her mother’s sad face. “I know he wants us still. If only . . . But if only doesn’t do us any good, now does it? Maybe someday your father will stop walking down the path of the Dark Side. Then we can all be together again as we should be. I know Anakin would love you as much as I do.”
Your body is alive
But no one told you what you'd feel
The empty aching hours
Trying to conceal
The natural progression
Is the coming of your age
But they cover it with shame
And turn it into rage
“There was so much anger in his eyes when I told him I wouldn’t go with him.” She absently brushed away her tears with the back of her hand as Leia tugged on her black silk dress. “I was afraid. Afraid of my husband. Afraid of the man I love. That was when I knew that there would be no way for us until he changes. I pray for that change every night.” She smiled down at her beautiful daughter, at her son sleeping close in front of her. “I want you to know your father as I knew him. I want you to see his smile, the light in his eyes when he gets excited about something. He is a gentle, kind, wonderful man. He was.”
You are digging for the answers
Until your fingers bleed
To satisfy the hunger
To satiate the need
They feed you on the guilt
To keep you humble keep you low
Some man and myth they made up
A thousand years ago
“He always wanted more, wanted something better. I know Obi-Wan tried to teach him all he needed to know and to keep him pleased with the pace of the training, but your father lacked patience. And I don’t think he ever trusted Obi-Wan as he did Qui-Gon. I tried to tell him what I knew of Obi-Wan, of how he had helped us for so long, to make him remember how hard it was for Obi-Wan as well to lose Qui-Gon. I don’t think he ever really heard when I spoke of it. He didn’t want to. But he followed the training. I guess that when Palpatine began tempting him to use the Dark Side... It is faster, easier, Obi-Wan tells me. I suppose your father thought he could control it, use it to get where he was going a bit quicker than before.
Mothers tell your children
Be quick you must be strong
Life is full of wonder
Love is never wrong
Remember how they taught you
How much of it was fear
Refuse to hand it down
The legacy stops here
Oh my child...
Luke made a soft noise in his sleep and Amidala picked him up again. She knew it was almost time. There was no stopping the tears that blocked her vision now. Soft sobs escaped her as she held the twins. “I am sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t save your father. I’m sorry... ” She kissed them both on their foreheads.
The door to her room slid open and Obi-Wan stood sillouhetted in the doorway. “Are you ready?”
Each time she saw him it surprised her somehow how quiet and sober he had become. Then she would look into the mirror each morning and see the same haunted eyes staring back at her. “Yes. I guess.”
He came into the room and knelt in front of her where she sat on the floor. Slowly he took Luke from her arms. The boy stirred but did not wake up. “He will be safe, I promise you that. And I won’t fail another person I love.”
She leaned forward and kissed the Jedi on the cheek. “You didn’t fail anyone. You did all you could. We all did. More than that, you have kept me sane. And now you’re saving Luke too.”
Obi-Wan sighed and shook his head. “I guess it’s hard to see it that way sometimes.”
“Thank you, my friend.” Leia suddenly began crying. “She knows too.” Amidala’s voice caught. “Leave. Please. If you don’t, I won’t be able to let you go.”
He squeezed her hand, then rose. The door opened, then shut again, leaving Amidala and Leia alone.