Padmè ran a small hand across her stomach. Seven months pregnant. Six months since Anakin's fight with Obi-Wan, six months since he disappeared, two months since the Emperor gained a new right hand, Darth Vader. Her eye caught the ring on her finger, her wedding band. It was all she had left of Anakin, besides the twins, which she wouldn't be able to keep once they were born. She wept at the thought that she might never see her children together again, for deep down inside she knew what her husband had become.
Anakin! Oh, Anakin!
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Lord Vader sat in his private sphere. As his thoughts drifted, a drawer on the side opened. He looked down in surprise and saw the drawer's single content, a ring. It was made of a smooth, off-white wood and had the same symbol etched all around the band. It brought back memories he had long since tried to forget.
A small boy sat shivering in a chair. As a beautiful girl neared him, he reached out and handed her a pendant. "I made this for you, so you wouldn't forget me. It's carved in jalap wood; it'll give you good fortune." The girl looked down in surprise, the wood was smooth and off-white in color, there was a symbol carved into the wood. "I don't need this to remember you, Annie." She smiled, "After all, how could I forget my future husband?"
Vader looked down at the ring, the symbol from the ring and pendant were one and the same. He reached down to a pouch on his belt and pulled out another ring. He had seen it on a chain around the girl's neck as soon as she'd been brought aboard. Vader wasn't sure how Senator Leia Organa had gotten it, but he was sure it was Padmè's. He could feel it.
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Luke Skywalker stared down at his hand. Before his father had passed, he had told him Luke was right and pressed something into his hand. There resting on his palm sat two rings, one warm and carved, the other cool and smooth. He looked closer at the smooth one, it was silver and had a strange stone inlaid round the ring. The stone seemed blue and green at the same time. It shimmered with an inner light that gave the impression of light playing on water. It was beautiful, and on the inner band was inscribed a single word, Padmè.