The familiar white lights had begun their nightly ritual. Dim in the beginning, these tiny pin pricks dotted the night sky growing more intense and visible as day faded to evening. For thousands of years these stars had burned brightly; now long extinct, their final gasp of life shown brightly, piercing the darkness, and coloring the sky amidst a sea of cold infinity.

Gazing out, but failing to see or appreciate the contrasting symphony of colors in the twilight brilliance of the Forest Moon of Endor, the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader, shut his eyes. Burned, stretched, and scarred eye lids drew painfully down, and for a moment he was free from his sensor enhanced mockery of vision.

For a brief moment, he tried, yet again, to touch the Living Force that surrounded him, called to, and taunted him with every waking moment of his tortured existence. Of course, just as had happened countless times before, he failed almost before he had begun. Unwanted, yet not unexpected, his failure brought forth the unflinching reality that mocked him with a cruelly ironic demonstration of his failings and limitations. The demonstration of failure solidified, whispering and laughing in his ear, a horrid symmetry of his ever pain filled, ever tortured life.

Yes, he could sense the Living Force around him as easily as he could lay his gloved mechanical hand down on top of the primitive wooden guard rail. And while his suit would relay the tactile responses to his brain, Darth Vader could never truly touch what was all around him.
His eyes could see farther and with greater clarity than those of an ordinary human, and the strength that flowed from his mechanical limbs surpassed that of most thinking species the galaxy had ever known. His suit could also regulate body temperature, and modify oxygen levels allowing him nearly unmatched stamina. However, a lifetime ago, or so it seemed to Lord Vader, this reality had reluctantly shoved its way past the gleaming polished Durasteel helmet and into his flesh and bone skull - the cold, naked, awful truth that he had tried to bury and burn away for so long. It always tasted bitterly of regret  whenever the thought reluctantly surfaced in his mind’s eye.

He would trade it all, all his power, his fame, his wealth, his fighting prowess and even what remained of his connection to the Force itself; he would trade it all in an instant to hold Padme’s hand in his own, one last time. To apologize, as he had every waking day of his tormented life. To call out her name, and hear her beautiful voice instead of the silence that had always been the only reply. He longed, more so than anything, to meet her gaze with his own, real, bright blue eyes, and tell her he loved her so, and that he was so very sorry.

Vader frowned, his nightly tortured reverie interrupted by a sudden and startling new presence in the Force. Vader knew at once that it was something or someone very old, yet distantly familiar, and powerful. So powerful in fact that a flame of blue brilliance exploded so brightly in the Force that Vader had to calm his senses before being overwhelmed by them. He had no time in which to recover however, as the magnificent brilliance partially solidified and spoke to him.

“Ironic in a way isn’t it, Anakin? You were born into a life of slavery, but through the Will of the Force I was able to free you. Yet all the while when the Jedi were training you, the scars deep within you would not heal. And now I find you here, once again the property of another - but this time you wear your scars on the outside, as well as within.”

Vader’s involuntary gasp over rode his breathing monitor. Taking a quick step backwards he pivoted faster than the human eye could blink, and turned to face the voice. Behind the fearsome death mask, Vader’s mouth gaped open, scars stretching painfully. If he hadn’t been wearing his helmet and his hands were once again his own creation, Darth Vader would have rubbed his eyes in wonder, trying to wash away the doubt of his senses and sensors alike. But this gesture would do little to quell the emotions that now swirled inside of him.

Standing there, dressed exactly as he had been when they parted company for the final time within a fighter hanger on Naboo, was the ghostly apparition of Qui-Gon Jinn, his first mentor and instructor in the ways of the Force.
Hidden deep within himself, in places Darth Vader feared to travel, Anakin Skywalker felt an unwelcome, surprising, yet powerful, surge of happiness at seeing his first true mentor. This was the man who Anakin had so desperately wanted to be trained by. The only one Anakin Skywalker had thought ever truly understood him. Qui-Gon surely could have helped Anakinc free his tortured soul and mind, bringing forth the iconic all knowing, all powerful Jedi Master that he knew he could have been, once upon a time.

Although Darth Vader had not spoken, nor had his body language betrayed any of this thoughts and feelings, it became clear that the spirit form of Qui-Gon Jinn possessed not only the ability to traverse through time and space, but also to hear and commune with the thoughts of those around him. Distantly Vader realized that with this action Qui-Gon Jinn was casually demonstrating an ultimate mastery of understanding and connection with the Living Force; an ability that was searched for, yet never found by his master, Emperor Palpatine and all Sith that came before him.

Qui-Gon picked up on Vader’s mental cue, “You could have learned this, and so much more, long ago. The ability to understand the complex mysteries of the Force was given to you Anakin; handed over to you freely. What has taken myself, Yoda, and other Jedi Masters ages to discover would have come to you as naturally as your breathing once was. You, born of, and into infinite knowledge and insight; all you had to do was look inside yourself. All the answers were there, are still there, if you want them.”

Darth Vader could not comprehend the sudden, reluctant, exhaling of breath that flowed from his mouth and passed unchecked through his vocal processor. Of course Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith, could also never understand why he was speaking at that moment. But in truth it wasn‘t Darth Vader who spoke at all, he who could only listen as Anakin Skywalker, a young, scared boy who had just left his mother on Tatooine, spoke through Vader’s mask. In a rush, he tried to express the pain that had been held deep within him for more than thirty years. “But I couldn’t …. you weren’t there …  I didn’t know, I couldn‘t have known … Obi-Wan, and the Council they didn‘t….”

“Stop, Anakin!” came Qui-Gon’s sudden, urgent, reply. “Stop feeding yourself the lies that have helped you hold on to your illusion of sanity. Anakin, you were given a gift. Your very existence is a gift from the Force. But still, you think everyone around you failed you in one way or another. Obi-Wan, Padme, Shmi, the Council, even myself. No Anakin, you failed us. You turned your back on all of them, as you turned your back on the Living Force. By embracing anger and impatience, and questing for power, you warped the very fabric of the Force until now it is a twisted blackened shell of what it once was; much as you appear before me now.

“You are unique, the prodigal son of the Force.” Qui-Gon paused, seeming to calm and center himself before continuing. “Attachment is forbidden. Did you ever wonder why the Council adopted this rule?”

Darth Vader stared blankly at the specter, unable to speak, barely able to breath.

“With attachment, any attachment, comes desire. The desire to protect, the desire to control, the desire to own. And through those actions and feelings, a fear of loss evolves. It continues to grow until it consumes all around it, and the reasons that we had the attachment to begin with are now just as twisted and convoluted as the actions that have lead you here. But despite all of your failings, despite turning your back on the Living Force and those who loved you, you were right about one thing.”

Vader waited silently, unmoving, servomotors within his limbs seeming to have locked in place. His breath, always labored, was now a rasping wheeze, and cold sweat beaded upon brow, running unchecked into his eyes causing them to blur and sting.

“You once told Padme that compassion, which you defined as unconditional love, was encouraged. Therefore the Jedi encouraged you to love.”

Qui-Gon went to him now, resting a ghostly hand upon Darth Vader‘s shoulder. Vader was keenly aware that Qui-Gon was peering right through his mask to meet the gaze, the human gaze, that once, long ago, belonged to a man named Anakin Skywalker. A brief moment of eternity passed between them before Qui-Gon broke the silence. “And Anakin, … you were right. But you failed to see the difference between love and obsession.”

Darth Vader took a step backwards, his mind whirling, emotions running unchecked. But through this typhoon one emotion rose to the surface, breaking through the emotional sea that churned within him and slithered into all he was.
Fear. Naked, terrible fear.
And even more troubling, he was unsure as to the exact cause. He towered over this spirit who stood before him, and certainly it could not defeat him, not now. If that power had ever existed, it would have been used long ago.
So what was scaring the man who once upon a time was known as the “Man without fear?”
The voice of Anakin Skywalker whispered in Darth Vader’s ear, “It’s the truth you fear…”

“Despite all you have done, Anakin, despite all the suffering you’ve caused yourself and others, soon you will again have a choice. You will either rise above all the Jedi that have come before you, or fall away into the black abyss that has been calling your name for so long now it is your most loyal companion. And as it was before, the choice will be yours alone, Anakin. And Anakin, despite everything that you are, everything you have been, I still believe in you, as does your son.”

Qui-Gon paused then, and a familiar hint of warmth and approval lit his eyes. “Your son, he is stronger than you are, Anakin. His strength does not lie merely in swinging a lightsaber. There are greater aspects to the Force than mere combative ability, aspects greater than a will to dominate and control others.

“The Council was only partially correct when they taught that the Dark Side was not stronger than the Light. But I think now, finally, you know this to be true, don‘t you? You know the Dark Side is quicker and more than ready to give you the edge in a fight. Yes, Anakin, you can take the lives of all who stand against you, but what wisdom, what knowledge is there in that? Where has that path taken you?

“Your son is stronger than you, Anakin. But it’s not because he can best you or even best the Emperor in combat. He is stronger because he’s seen the darkness, seen the power it grants. He has held it in his hands, tasted it, even on some levels enjoyed it. But ultimately he succeeded where his father before him had failed. Luke opened his fist, and let the power drain away.”

“However, even as far as Luke has come he is still largely untrained and incomplete. Much as you were when I found you on Tatooine, his knowledge in the Force comes from trial and error. He has learned so much already, but still, he lacks an understanding of the Force that even one such as yourself has learned, if only briefly forgotten.”

Qui-Gon paused, then reluctantly told Anakin the truth. “You can still best him if you choose to.”

For Vader the thought held no comfort at all.

“My time with you now is coming to a close, Anakin. But remember today the words that I have spoken. I know you are conflicted, and I can see Anakin Skywalker clawing up through Darth Vader’s mask. You can do this, Anakin, you can take the hard road, and in doing so you will sacrifice all that you once thought was true. Your actions will either take your life, or the life of your son. And again you will need to choose. You will choose between all that is evil, cold, and familiar and the uncertainty of letting go. Rise above it all, son of the Force. You were born a slave Anakin, but you don’t have to die as one”.

And with that, the shimmering apparition of Qui-Gon Jinn disappeared from Darth Vader’s mechanical view, leaving behind only powerful echoes in the Force as confirmation that the exchange had actually taken place.

So moved was the Dark Lord, that he did not notice the reluctant tear that spilled from his eye, and rolled down his cheek.

With a sickening hiss of hydraulic air escaping, the AT-AT’s door slid open. A commander who’s name Lord Vader had never cared to learn, stood waiting nervously, hoping that Lord Vader would notice him. In the Force Vader could sense the terrified officer and felt his fear of death seeping in, knowing that others had been executed for interrupting Lord Vader during his meditations.
But before the officer could stammer out a fearful apology for the interruption, Darth Vader turned and quickly strode into the AT-AT’s loading bay.

He had a choice to make, and a destiny to fulfill.