They stood on the brink, and the world burned around them.

It burned in Anakin's – no, Vader's lungs, but with a thought he used the Force to dull the pain, to open his airways, to send strength to his muscles. He ignored the sting of embers brushing his skin. This moment here, this was what he had been born for, the tides of destiny sweeping him and all those involved with him inexorably toward this very point. And now his vision was focused too, almost literally slimmed down to a point. His galaxy had narrowed to himself, the man up-slope from him, and the space between.

"You underestimate my power!" he called out. The look in Obi-Wan's eyes grew desperate as he realized what his former friend was about to do.

"Don't try it, Anakin!"

Flash.

Vader jumped. Obi-Wan killed him.

Flash.

Vader jumped. Obi-Wan cut off his limbs, left him burning on the solidified lava. Left him to die.

Flash.

Flash.

Flash.

Vader jumped. His lightsaber drove into Obi-wan's chest and came out the other side. His old Master didn't have time to give voice to whatever last words he could have spoken. He was dead before he hit the ground – or rather, before his clothes and lightsaber hit the ground.

Vader shut off his own lightsaber, swaying on his feet. He felt inexplicably exhausted, as though-

As though he'd just fought and killed the only father, the only brother he'd ever known.

As long as Padmé lives, Vader thought as he began the hike back to the mining buildings. It will be wroth it. Everything will be worth it.

He did not look back as Obi-Wan's clothes burst into flame.

Threepio had moved Padmé into her ship and stabilized her in the med bay. On his way to the cockpit, Vader stopped in, brushed his fingers over her cheek almost curiously. Anakin Skywalker would have been beside himself with worry. Anakin Skywalker would have been horrified to see the bruises blossoming on her throat. Darth Vader merely ascertained she was alive, and there were strong vitals from her and her womb. That was all that was important in this moment.

"Ani?"

He paused. The world where Padmé could call him by that name seemed far removed from this moment, though he had just been that man not hours ago. He heard his wife stir under the thermal blanket. "I'm here, my love."

"Ani..." he turned and saw she was trying to sit up, one hand brushing the bruises appearing on her throat. There was a small, distant twist in Vader's gut. He had put those there. "Anakin, I'm afraid."

"Don't be," he said. "Everything is now as it should be." Vader pressed his hand to her forehead, letting the Force flow into her. And then he felt it; not one, but two tiny presences inside her. Two little flickering lights in the Force that carried parts of his beloved wife, and parts of the man he had been.

That brought a strange satisfaction, one slightly removed as though it was happening to someone else. It seemed right that a part of his old self survived.

Then the sensation was gone.

Something must have shown on his face, because Padmé's voice was worried when she spoke. "Is something wrong?"

"Twins," he breathed. "You're carrying twins." Vader shook his head. "But what's important is that you rest now. You'll need your strength." He pressed the Force into her again, and watched as she dropped into sleep.

Sidious sat back, a very pleased smirk on his face.

"So," he said to the darkness of his office. "It worked."

When he brought Padmé's ship out of hyperspace near Coruscant, Vader was momentarily thrown by the sheer number of warships around the planet.

"My master must have called back half the fleet," he murmured. "Probably worried about lingering Separatist sympathizers, and..."

As he watched, another ship came out of hyperspace nearby. Even at this distance, Vader could see the distinct markings on the delta-shaped starfighter; this was a Jedi vessel. Vader's lip curled; the Jedi had betrayed his master and plotted against him, and worse, they would have let Padmé die. Well, that had all changed, hadn't it? This was a diplomatic vessel and thus had no weapons, nor was it nearly agile enough to take on the starfighter even if it had had armament, but he was in the middle of the Navy, and wouldn't have to lift a finger. The nearest cruiser, one now painted slate-gray rather than bearing the red stripe of the Republic, had dispatched several small fighters. Vader turned on the comm, tuning it to a wide band frequency.

"Is there anyone who can assist? Repeat, this is Jedi Knight—"

The fighter took a hit to her engines and lost control. The comm came alive with the pleas of the doomed Knight as she spiraled toward the atmosphere of the planet, culminating in a long, agonized scream as the oxygen in her cabin ignited—

"Turn it off!"

Vader cut the feed and turned to see Padmé leaning on the doorway, one hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry," he said, not meaning it but trying to slip back into that persona that had once been Anakin Skywalker. Padmé wasn't ready for who he was now, not just yet. "You shouldn't be out of the med bay."

"I'm all right," she sat in the copilot's seat, hands supporting her big belly. Vader stared at her, trying vainly to rouse some kind of emotion other than possessiveness and failing that, shrugging it off dispassionately. The bruises on her neck didn't bother him, either, as much as they had before. He had done this, sure, but it had only been because of Kenobi's interference, and Kenobi was gone now. He wouldn't have to worry about Padmé leaving him ever again. And when their children were born, everything would be perfect.

They were both silent as Vader transmitted code clearance to Coruscant's central control – and got his master instead. It seemed that he'd been anticipated, and Vader smirked, just a bit. He could now feel the thick, cloying presence of his master, and when the holoemitter beeped, he thumbed the appropriate button. The hologram that popped up wasn't the quarter-size full body, but rather a near life-size bust. "Darth Vader," the new Emperor intoned. "I trust you carried out the mission as ordered."

"The Separatists remain leaderless, and Kenobi is no longer a threat," Vader replied, ignoring Padmé's sudden look. "The last hope of the Jedi is gone."

Padmé made a noise beside him. His master nodded inside the shadows of his cloak. "Good. You have done well, Lord Vader. And—" he paused. "I sense Senator Amidala is with you."

"I believe," Vader said, "You may call her my wife."

"The Lady Vader, perhaps?"

"Skywalker," Padmé said sharply. "Senator Padmé Amidala Skywalker. I am still Senator?"

Vader glanced at his wife. He was no longer known by that name; soon she would have to accept his new name and title, and the new, reduced status she would have compared to being a Senator in the Republic.

Palpatine looked amused. "Very well. I am sending beacon coordinates to you now. Report immediately after landing, Lord Vader."

"My wife requires medical attention," Vader replied. "I'm taking her to the medical facilities first."

"You will do as ordered." Palpatine's voice carried a bite to it now. "Do you understand?"

Anger roiled in Vader's chest, but he gave a curt nod and set the ship to follow the beacons in. "As you wish, Master. Vader out."

The hologram flickered out of existence and Padmé looked at Vader, confused and hurt.

"Are you still the man I married?" she asked, and her voice was unsteady. The part of him that was still Anakin, still the Jedi who had had no idea how to court a Senator but the fierce drive to do so, clawed to the surface.

"Yes," he whispered. Padmé smiled.

"Good," she said quietly. In that moment, Anakin subsided, and Vader binked, then set his mouth in a tin line.

One more thing to work on – after he'd made sure Padmé would never leave him again.

"The clones are mopping up whatever Jedi they find," Sidious was saying. "Doubtless many that remain will band together, thinking there to be strength in numbers. This will allow us to seek them out more easily. The Empire may be young, but she is strong, and she inspires... loyalty among those who serve her."

"When will you teach me Darth Plagueis' techniques?"

Sidious glared at Vader. Barely a whole day into his new power as Sith Lord, and already he was proving much less tractable than he had been even when a Jedi. "All in good time, my apprentice," he drawled. Time was something they now had in abundance, after all. "We must provide a stable future before we can think about matters of the present. You do wish to permanently secure her safety?"

The result was laughably predictable: Vader nodded sullenly. "That is why I came to serve you, Master. I will wait."

But not much longer, was the unspoken conclusion. Sidious ignored it. "You both have been through a great ordeal," Sidious purred. "How does she fare?"

"She recovers. The twins will be born within the week, the medics say."

"And they are the best. Presumably why you deliberately disobeyed my command." Sidious paused. "Twins, you say."

"A boy and a girl." Unmistakable pride. Vader had ever been as easy to read as a youngling's reader. Still, it wasn't unwarranted in this case. Force-sensitive twins were quite special.

Sidious nodded. Pleasing news, indeed. "Your offspring will be quite strong, Lord Vader. I will watch them with much interest when they are grown and in training."

Something in Vader tensed and darkened – those had been the same words Palpatine had told him, a boy fresh out of the desert with the sand of his home planet still shifting around his boots. "Their care and training in the Force will be my responsibility," he said. "I can train them just as well as the old Masters."

"Of course. A father's prerogative, and surely the only way to take care of it now that there are no others left to instruct them save yourself and I." Sidious knew he would have to get one of those twins when they were old enough, after he had properly judged their talent and gotten it around Vader. Only the best would have the honor of training under him. But Vader was already possessive, and despite that he was such a simple boy, some things didn't escape him. Sidious knew that Vader knew that he wanted one of the Skywalker twins for his own ends. He had to keep his apprentice mollified, or at least occupied, in the meantime while his offspring grew.

"As a reward for your actions at the Temple and Mustafar, I hereby award you the position of Supreme Commander of the Imperial Navy. It will be your duty to oversee all matters of military action. You will need to act with initiative where I do not guide, and heed my orders when I give them to you. You will be my arm, the executor of my will."

"I am honored, Master."

"Now go and see to your wife. Arrangements will be made at the best hospitals here for when her time comes."

Vader bowed – a hair too short, Sidious noted. "Very well, my master," he replied, and swept out of the room.

Sidious smiled as the door closed behind him. Things were now in motion once more, and this time, there was nothing in his way.

"Why can't we go to Naboo?"

Vader set his datapad down. He'd been trying to wrap his mind around this project of his master's – some massive space station being designed by a bunch of scientists – and now Padmé was nagging him about this?

"It's not safe yet," he replied, as though talking to a child. Padmé drew up short at his tone, and he felt the ripple of her displeasure.

"What do you mean, not safe?" she demanded. Her voice was still rough from the treatments the med droids had done on her throat, or perhaps it was because of the strain on her since Palpatine's revelation, or of seeing her husband change so abruptly into someone she barely knew. Vader angrily shoved that last thought away. She would adapt when she saw all this was for her, and their children. Padmé was smart. She would understand.

"There are still Separatists and Jedi roaming about, who knows—"

"The droids were shut down," Padmé shot back. "You did it yourself!"

"All right then, the Jedi—"

"Stars, Ani, your children will be Jedi!"

"They will be what I make them to be!" Vader's voice rose as he did, anger roiling the Force and making some of the small items on the end tables rattle. Padmé drew back, hands protectively over her belly and fear in her eyes.

Fear of him.

Vader stopped, forced himself to calm, to some semblance of composure. Anakin Skywalker wouldn't rattle the things on the table in such a manner. And besides, he would not have her look at him that way.

"We don't need the Jedi anymore," he said, voice still tightly controlled. "We have all we need to train our children to be great. The galaxy will be perfect when they're born and my Master makes the Empire safe." He paused, posture slumping, then said quietly, "Please don't look at me like that."

Padmé seemed to relax a little, but still turned away from him. "I can only hope you're right," she whispered. "For our childrens' sakes, I hope you're right."

"I am right," Vader murmured. "I must be."

Padmé was silent at that. Then she sighed, and turned to face him, and there were tears in her eyes. "I don't know what to do, Ani," she whispered. "I've loved democracy since I was a little girl, and serving in the Senate was something I always wanted to do... but more than that... I love you. Now everything's changed, it's falling apart, I—" her fingers went to her throat. "I don't know you for the man I married, I don't know these new faces Palpatine surrounds himself with, I hardly know anything anymore."

"Padmé..." Vader rose. Seeing her so distressed did not make him as upset as it used to, but nonetheless he preferred her not to cry. "I am still here, and I will not leave you. I did all this to keep you safe, so we can have our family. That's why we can't go to Naboo to have the babies. It has to be here."

"You did all this for me." Padmé gathered her thoughts a moment, then looked him right in the eye, and Vader involuntarily drew back at the edge to her gaze. "Is that why you accused me of infidelity and tried to kill me, too?"

She turned and left, retreating to the bedroom. Vader stayed out much longer, lost in thought. Eventually he must have fallen asleep, because he woke up to morning light streaming into his eyes, and an empty apartment.

"I do not think Vader can be trusted, Majesty."

Palpatine took a moment to gloat. The smart ones – and the imbeciles who followed them – had been quick to adapt to the new status quo in his Empire. Though Mas Amedda may have been quick on the uptake, he certainly wasn't in the first group. It was always good to keep the smart ones at arm's length, after all.

"Of course he can't be trusted," Palpatine replied with mock patience. "Sith do not, as a general rule, trust."

"His motivations are what worry me, Majesty. He's obsessed with his wife."

"A fact that I will continue to manipulate, I assure you." The Emperor leveled a glare at his advisor. "I am not new to this game, Amedda."

"Of course not, my lord. I didn't think—"

"That much is obvious." Palpatine turned his chair to look out across the government district. "I will keep him on a very tight—"

"Master!"

For a heartstopping moment Palpatine was certain Vader had overheard them – the amount of rage boiling off him was certainly enough to warrant it – and he worried briefly that the boy would get it into his head to attack him. But one simply couldn't assume things with Vader. He had a habit of being unpredictable.

"Lord Vader," Sidious replied mildly. "Is something the matter?"

"Padmé has left me," the other snarled. "She left without my permission."

"Without her husband, who sacrificed so much for her? Curious, indeed." Sidious feigned surprise, though Amidala's actions didn't in the least startle him. She'd always been as impetuous as her husband, though with a good dose more of sense, and the brains to back it all up. "Though perhaps, the approach of her due date has rendered her mind... addled."

Vader's glare was as sharp as a new vibroblade. "Padmé is not feeble-minded," he hissed. "But it is not safe. I must go after her and ensure her well-being."

"Lord Vader." Sidious' voice became hard as ferrocrete. "That is not wise. You must remain here and help me secure the government against further depredations by the Jedi and the Separatists. I'm certain you know that there are Senators who yet sympathize with our foe."

"And there are still Jedi out there!" Vader yelled, gesturing out the window. "Heartless beings who wouldn't care if Padmé and our children died!"

Sidious stood, letting his full power loose to slam against his apprentice. "You will stay," he hissed, as Vader stumbled back as though from a physical blow. "Or you will face the consequences."

Vader's eyes were gold and sickly orange when they met his master's, and it was only by sheer will that Sidious remained unmoved by the instinctual reaction; Vader, at this stage, was an untamed predator, a killer not yet brought to heel, and he was angry. "If I stayed here and she died," he growled, "Then all this would have been for nothing. All the Force can't bring back to life what's already dead."

In a swirl of black cloth, he was gone, and Palpatine slumped to his seat heavily, perspiration on his wrinkled brow. He was angry, wrathful at the sheer insubordination and yet exhilarated by the power Vader had shown. If this was raw, unpolished Dark Side ability, by the time the last vestiges of Jedi discipline had been swept clean, he would have the perfect weapon with which to control the galaxy.

If Vader could be controlled. Even with certain tools at his disposal, the Sith Lord wasn't entirely sure that anything could be done in the face of that powerful emotion.

"Should I order him stopped?" Amedda asked. Palpatine, pulling the hood of his cloak up, shook his head.

"Let him take a ship and leave," he ordered. "Lord Vader will be punished upon his return, but let him go for now."

"As you wish, my lord."

Palpatine smiled as he saw one of the confiscated Jedi starfighters leave the Imperial hangar. What will you do, Vader? He thought, when what you are is too much for the one you love?

The lake country of Naboo was a place Vader knew well, and could get to unnoticed. He and Padmé – or rather, Anakin and Padmé – had spent a lot of time in this area,, and most of the memories he had here were good ones. Although now, they seemed like a lifetime away, as though they had happened to someone else. Perhaps they had.

This was a different world now. In the light of Palpatine's rise to power, the atmosphere in Theed was decidedly tense. Vader landed near Padmé's ship, and strode out onto the landing pad. "I need to know where the Senator went and when," he demanded of the first flight tech unfortunate enough to cross his path. Putting the weight of his mind on the poor woman and his hand at her throat, lifting her bodily off the ground, Vader narrowed yellow-flecked eyes. "Tell me now."

Terrified, the tech babbled a moment before finding her voice. "East from Theed," she said, face bloodless pale. "Not eight hours ago."

Vader dropped the tech and strode toward one of the for-rent landspeeders. Ignoring the stricken vendor, he got in and sped off.

The house by the lake was just as beautiful as it had been on his wedding day, over three years ago. But that wasn't what Vader saw as the launch he'd taken to the island docked beside the one already there. Inside, he could feel the presence of several people, one of them Padmé. He could also feel the tickle that came from his children, and lengthened his stride.

"Padmé," he called as he rounded a corner – and there she was in a room surrounded by attendants, and she was on a table – just like my dreams.

"No!" he bellowed, and before he could think his lightsaber was in his hand and he was slicing through the droids trying to get to Padmé, shoving people out of the way—

"Anakin, stop! What are you doing?"

Rage still coloring his vision, Vader's head nonetheless snapped up at the sound of Padmé's voice, and saw she was sitting up and staring at him incredulously. "What is all this?" he demanded.

"Just getting a health check – they were going to induce labor. Anakin—"

"No, this has to be done naturally," Vader snapped. Why it had to be, he wasn't sure, but the prompting of the Force had driven those words. And he'd grown up on Tatooine around women giving birth almost without assistance or even basic pain medication. Whatever the reason, it was imperative to him, but Padmé fixed him with an icy glare, and the part of him that was yet Anakin Skywalker recoiled from the anger of his wife.

"I don't think you get much say," she replied frostily. "These are our children, but they're in my body, and right now—" for only a moment her expression slipped into one of pain, then back "—I don't think you should be here, around them."

"What did you say?"

"I said, I don't want you here!" Padmé rarely yelled at him, and so it came now as a shock. "Not until we've had time to talk about what's going on and when I've found you again."

"You want to talk?" Vader took a step into the room, and the techs all drew back. "We have all the time we need right now."

"What's happening to you?" Padmé blurted out, voice breaking on tears. "It's like I barely know you anymore! First the Temple, then running off to Mustafar, and-and—" her fingers went to her throat, the bruises still livid there, and she squeezed her eyes shut against tears. "And Obi-Wan never came back—"

"Don't talk to me about him," Vader snarled. "He wanted to manipulate you against me, separate me from my children—"

"Our children—"

"He wanted them to grow up under the lies of the Jedi—"

"Anakin, you are a Jedi! Or at least you were, because I refuse to believe you'd put our family in danger by falling!"

"Don't call me that!"

"What, a Jedi? The man I married, he is a Jedi, a hero. If you're not him, who are you?"

Vader glared back at her, though the acid in her voice stung. "I'm still your husband," he said at last. "But the Jedi are gone. We can live openly as husband and wife now."

"Is that why you did all this?" Padmé's eyes were full of tears now, though her voice didn't crack again. "For that selfish – don't look at me like that, it's selfish." She paused. "What happened to your eyes?"

"They are evidence of my new power," Vader answered sullenly.

"They're like—" Padmé suddenly stopped, an odd expression on her face. Then she cried out. Some of the monitors around her began beeping insistently. One of the medics bent over her, and panic rose in Vader again, rising higher as a stain began to spread down her shift.

"Padmé?" he said, not bothering to contain his voice anymore. "Padmé, what's wrong?"

"Sir," one of the other medics said nervously. "Sir, the stress has sent her into labor. We need to move her to the birthing room, all our equipment is there-"

"I can walk," Padmé insisted, as Vader slid arms under her legs and shoulders. He did sway a moment – she was a lot heavier than the last time he'd done this – but got his balance and followed the medics directing him into a room they'd designed for this birth. Now that it was upon them, their previous quarrel was momentarily forgotten.

"She's early," Vader said, worry and fear creeping into his voice. "She's at least a week early."

"Shouldn't be much of a problem," the medic announced, more comfortable now that he was back in his element. "She's far enough along. She'll be fine."

The whole process didn't make it seem fine to him. Padmé didn't need to be a Force-sensitive for her pain to resonate with him, at least until the medics administer a hypospray to deaden the pain. Vader's fear grew with every whimper Padmé made, and the Force presences of the twins began to echo that too, fear at the strange new world they could sense just a short distance away, fear emanating from their father.

Padmé's grip on Vader's hand was tight, her brow sweaty and flushed. "Promise," she gasped.

"What?"

"Promise me," she continued, "You won't leave us."

"Vader creased his brow. "How could I leave?" he replied. "I have you and the children..."

"You left me once, and when I found you—"

"Push!" the medic ordered, and Padmé's hand tightened even more, face scrunching up as she strained.

"Just one more, I can see the head—"

One push later, a long, healthy cry filled the room. The medic cut the umbilical cord and wrapped the squirming, crying newborn in a soft cloth, and gently transferred the whole bundle to Vader's arms. "It's a boy."

"A boy," Vader repeated, fascinated by his son. The eyes were pale, crystalline blue, the color of the Tatooine sky at the horizon. His eyes, that man who Vader had abandoned.

Padmé struggled up to her elbows, chin tilting up. "Let me see him," she panted. "Let me see Luke."

It was a good name, and Vader nodded to the recorder droid to confirm. "Luke Skywalker," the droid repeated. "Born at 2023 on..."

But neither parent was listening, as Padmé brushed her fingers along Luke's damp cheek, an exultant smile on her face. "Oh, Luke," she murmured. Then the labor pains began again, and the whole process repeated itself until another infant, a baby girl, was handed to Padmé.

Things happened in a flurry immediately thereafter; the afterbirth was delivered and disposed of, Padmé was given a sponge bath and the table was tilted up somewhat, allowing her to nurse the twins in turn. And when they were done, Vader got to hold each, his eyes bleeding back to blue, so happy he was to be able to hold his children in his arms. After three years of war, after the last horrid three days – had it only been three days? - It was comforting to know he could do something other than destroy and kill. All that slipped away as who he had been came once more to the fore of his mind, and he could be Anakin for his family.

And Padmé was so happy, so relieved to see a glimpse of the man she'd married, that she put off the discussion she'd planned, and tried only to sleep comfortably in their bed, her hand clasped tightly in her husband's. Between them, the twins that were the future of the galaxy slept, knowing only that they were loved.

Palpatine himself waited on the landing pad when they returned, surrounded by the Red Guard. They may have towered over him, but it was the stooped man who commanded Vader's attention the moment he was off the ramp.

Shifting Luke in his arms, Vader turned to Padmé. "Take the children back home. I have to speak with my Master in private, and I don't think it'll be pretty."

Three weeks away from Coruscant had improved his mood; three glorious weeks on Naboo with Padmé and his children, cementing the bonds he had with them and doing what he could to repair his relationship with Padmé. The twins were distinct personalities, distinct presences, and yet there was a subtle blur between their minds. Vader had spent the better part of his impromptu vacation playing with them, learning the things that made them different and reveling in the ways they were alike.

But that was all secondary now; Vader knew he'd crossed his master by leaving Coruscant, and now he would have to pay whatever price was exacted from him for it.

Padmé's eyes were worried, but she gestured her faithful attendant forward and Vader reluctantly transferred Luke to the woman, unable to resist stroking the soft blond hair on his head.

"Ani..."

"Shh. I'll be back to you when I've done this."

"You'd better. I'm not doing this alone."

"We'll never be parted now," he said emphatically, and kissed her. It felt heady, to be finally able to do this in public. "I promise."

Padmé smiled at him uncertainly as she and Dormé made their way to the waiting speeder, but Vader had already started over to his master, knowing he'd delayed much too long. He could sense tightly controlled anger from Sidious, and set his jaw. Padmé made everything worth it, and now he could face whatever the Emperor wished to punish him with. He knelt, five paces from his master, and bowed his head.

"What is thy bidding, my master?"

The cell was cold, crackling with Dark Side energy. Sidious stared dispassionately at his apprentice, still twitching on the floor from the shocks. "You disobeyed me," he said. "You disobeyed my order to remain at Imperial Center in favor of running off to Naboo."

Vader said nothing, only lay still on the plascrete, breathing heavily. Sidious considered another dose of lightning, but decided against it for now.

"I wonder if you place your wife above your devotions," he mused aloud. "Perhaps I should have her removed to somewhere else where she won't be such a distraction."

When Padmé was invoked, it was almost pathetically easy to get a reaction. Vader's head snapped up, orange-red eyes glaring "No!" he cried out. "Master, please – you know—" he sagged against, muscled shaking from intense abuse and lack of time to rest and repair. "You know I can't be without her. You know she's why I abandoned everything I had before."

"Yet her children bear the name you left behind," Sidious retorted. "Luke and Leia, heirs to the name of Skywalker—"

"It was Padmé's wish!"

"Do not interrupt me!" Lightning crackled ominously around Sidious' hand, but he did not release it. "It is just as well they do. It will be a household name for a while longer."

"Master..."

Vader's resilience was commendable, Sidious thought idly. Another factor to test; it would provide a good idea of the same trait in his offspring. The two things anchoring Vader to his past.

"Master, I beg you – leave Padmé alone. Leave my twins alone. I will do anything you ask of me."

"Including heed my orders?"

Vader hesitated, then nodded, struggling to one knee. "I will not do this again, Master."

"See to it that you don't, Lord Vader," Sidious said. "Stray too far, and you will not like the consequences. Rise."

Vader swayed when he made it upright, but stood resolute, yellow flecking in his eyes. Sidious gestured and the door slid open. They walked through it.

"My Empire will require a great deal of effort to secure," Sidious said, the stick he walked with now clicking on the floor of the detention block. "There are many instances of unrest in the wake of the wars; the Separatists may be gone, but the divisive spirit remains, even in the Senate."

"Do you wish me to quell this as I did on Mustafar?"

The problem with Vader, Sidious thought, was that he was entirely too blunt an instrument; good for large, sweeping action but useless on the finer details. The boy simply didn't have a single subtle bone in his body. "In the Senate? I think not, my friend. They are not openly rebels, not yet." He raised a withered finger to his lips in thought. "They will require a certain finesse when being dealt with."

He could easily sense Vader's trepidation. "Master... are you sure that they should be handled so lightly? They speak in dissent of you."

"Your wife is one of them."

That made Vader clench his jaw. "I know she doesn't like the Empire now," he admitted. "But she will soon see it's what's best for her and for Luke and Leia."

"I hope so," Sidious replied, in the tone he'd often used with Anakin-that-was, one laden with doubt. "I would not want to see something untoward happen to her."

"I will speak to her when I return home."

"May I suggest," Sidious said delicately, "That you and yours take residence in the palace upon its completion? I had intended a suite of rooms for you in any case, bu the plans can be expanded to include your family."

"That—" Vader actually slipped back into that bovine-eyed youth from the Rim. "That's very generous of you, Master. I would discuss it with Padmé first, though..."

"The plans must be altered quite soon," Sidious interjected silkily. "Before construction begins in earnest."

Vader hesitated, then nodded. "We would be honored."

"It is but a recognition, long overdue, of your loyalty to me. And think of it – there will be no safer place in the galaxy for your family. Your children will have the very best."

Vader appeared to relax at this. "No less than they deserve."

"Certainly." They stepped into one of the many turbolifts that led to the public levels of the Senate building. "As the son and daughter o the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Navy, they will deserve much... as the children of my protege, they will deserve even more."

Vader may not have had the ability to play the games that his master could; may not have had the finesse to plot. But he knew when to be wary. All the warnings that he'd been given during his indoctrination by the Jedi still roiled about his mind.

Not to be trusted.

Liars out of habit.

Vader didn't doubt that his master wanted Luke and Leia for some purpose, whatever it was; he also didn't doubt that they would need to be kept safe while the Empire was being secured – and while they were most vulnerable to his master's influence. But for now it was time to go home, and try to be Anakin Skywalker for his wife.

Truth be told, he wasn't sure how long he could keep up the act. Though that man had come out when his children were born, the part of him that had been that man was walled up deep inside, burned by too many betrayals, too much use for this or that end. And on top of that was a curious sort of disjointed feeling, as though he ought to be elsewhere. Perhaps it was an effect of Light meeting Dark, he thought. It was something to look into at any rate. He couldn't afford a lack of focus, not when the board had already begun to move. Not when he had a family to think of, a family he'd sacrificed everything for.

But ultimate all this was for the better, Vader thought. He could openly be with his family, not slink around in the shadows as though this love was shameful. He could finally tell everyone that he alone had won Padmé's hand. He was the father of her children.

When he pulled his speeder up to the balcony, he was greeted by Padmé with Leia in her arms. The infant's eyes had begun to darken now from their original blue. He figured they'd be the same shade as her mother's – and with a smile, he took her in his own arms and held her close. She grinned a toothless baby grin, grabbing onto his tunic to keep herself close. Her brother was stretched out on a blanket, grabbing for brightly-colored toys that Artoo kept just out of his reach. Much to Vader's surprise, Luke actually looked up and focused on him when he came closer. Those eyes would never darken; they'd always be that bright blue.

"They're already getting big," he murmured, setting Leia beside her brother. "Barely a day away and it's like they're already grown."

Padmé slipped her arm through his. There was still a tension in her movements around him. The bruises on her neck had faded, but they may as well still be livid purple. That betrayal might never be forgiven. "They'll change fast enough, so enjoy them while they're this size," she said.

"I don't want things to change," Vader said sharply, more so than he'd meant. Being around his master today had been trying. "Though there may be some good yet. The Emperor—"

"Palpatine—"

"—he's offered us a suite of rooms in the Imperial Palace when it's complete, in recognition of my new post."

Padmé looked at him disapprovingly. "I hope you didn't accept. We can't recognize this dictatorship as legitimate."

"I did." Vader stared at her. "He wants to provide for our children, too. They'll have the very best."

"But at what cost? Living under the shadow of that man? Our children growing up Sith, like him?"

"The Sith are more powerful than the Jedi could ever be," Vader snapped. "They'll be safe. You'll be safe."

"We can take care of them, we don't need Palpatine's help."

"You were so eager to take Obi-Wan's help," Vader muttered nastily. On the blanket, Leia started to fuss.

"Maybe the two of you really were in league—"

Padmé made an exasperated noise. "Don't start that! I love you, I married you! What more proof do you need?"

"That I serve democracy, not authoritarianism!"

Luke's blue eyes were filling with tears, and it took Leia letting loose with a wail for both of them to stop and look at their children. Padmé picked Leia up, cradling her close and turning to walk into the room that had become the nursery.

"Anakin," she said, and Vader looked up after a minute. Padmé was still turned away but her voice was full of tears. "I just want your love, and to raise our family together. I don't want to worry what one day Luke will look at me with those horrible yellow eyes..."

She trailed off, then walked away. Vader seethed until he felt a tiny ripple of fear, and realized it was coming from Luke. Somehow, feeling his own son afraid of him made him all the more guilty, and Vader picked Luke up to sit him in his lap on the couch and wrapping him in layers of soothing feelings.

Sidious turned away from the window. Even now, Vader was conflicted about his choice; that could lead to disaster. Vader's feelings for his wife and family had been easily manipulated to get him to this point, but if they continued causing this effect then he could have to eliminate Padmé, or at least drive a wedge between them. Not too much not enough to send her into hiding – he wanted those twins – but enough to make it so they weren't a distraction to the Supreme Commander.

A chime sounded, and he turned to see a detachment of troopers came in. Their armor had the red markings of Senate guardsmen. One of them carried a steel dewar flask.

"Did you obtain the samples?" he asked. The lead trooper nodded, and held out the flask.

"Two each, my lord," he said. "One from the source, the other from the Temple. Medical records were kept for each Jedi, which included a blood sample and DNA swab."

"Is that so? Most interesting." Sidious smirked, curling his lips up. That was a not entirely unexpected development, but one that would provide much amusement for him – and much gain. "Take these down to medical and instruct them to create a profile and then send the samples to Kamino with a set of instructions I will provide. Also, I'll ready a list of other of these medical samples that you will pull from the Jedi's records and carry out the same."

"Yes, sir!"

Sidious turned back to the window. Vader's conflict had calmed, and reaching out, he could sense even the faint tickle of the twins, barely there. The boy would be more useful than the girl, he decided. In time, one or both of them would come to serve him in some capacity. And then he would have total control. And even if things didn't go as planned...

He smiled. There was no chance of that, not anymore. If things here turned out ill, there were now ways around failure.