Prologue
Silently, he strode down the cold, white halls of the Imperial Palace. His dark cape billowed out behind him as he moved quickly towards his master's chamber. He didn't know why his master had summoned him. It was not his duty to know why. It was his duty to obey.
From down the hall, the dark lord heard an unconcealed giggle. From behind his impenetrable mask, Darth Vader rolled his eyes. Who did the child think she was anyway?
It took a little effort to work out her hiding place. She was crouched down behind one of the large pot-plants that lined the halls. Not altering his step, he continued forward, pretending that he hadn't noticed her presence. The best thing to do was always to just humour her and let her have her own way. Otherwise, she would lose her temper.
Darth Vader was not afraid of her outbursts. But he was afraid of his master, the Emperor. The girl was one of his most prized possessions. Whoever made her angry or upset paid dearly.
As he came closer to the pot-plant, which she was behind, she leapt out in front of him. Darth Vader stopped in his tracks, staring emotionlessly at the child. She whipped out a small blaster and aimed it at him. "Stop!" she cried. "Where are you headed?"
For a moment, Darth Vader studied the little girl. She was of medium build, though tall for her age, with long, straight dark brown hair tied up in a simple braid. Freckles dotted the four-year olds cheeks and her eyes were a deep mahogany brown.
"Very amusing, Jade," Darth Vader said sarcastically. "Now I have something important to do. Get out of my way."
Jade pouted, placing her hands on her hips. "No!" she said stubbornly. "Patrol the hall with me, Darth Vader."
"I've got more important things to do. My master is expecting me." With that, he brushed past Jade, giving her a gentle push to the side using the Force.
"Stop!" She raced down the hall after him, sprinting as fast as her legs would allow. Even through Darth Vader was still only walking; she found it difficult to keep up with him.
He whirled around to face her. "Jade!" he snapped, his breath hissing loudly. "Enough of this nonsense! Where's your nursemaid?"
Darth Vader was able to strike fear in the hearts of the bravest men. Great political and military leaders trembled before him. But young Jade didn't even flinch.
She scowled. "She's not here any more."
"What," asked Darth Vader. "What are you talking about?"
"She went away." Jade didn't need to say anymore. Darth Vader knew exactly what had happened. It had happened many times before. Despite the large amounts that the Emperor was willing to pay her nursemaids, they always ended up running away, tired of the naughty child.
"Not another one," Darth Vader muttered angrily. "We only just managed to capture your last one that ran away. I think we're going to have to swap to droids." On second thoughts, maybe that wasn't such a good idea. Jade had a fascination for electronics and a bad habit of taking apart any droids that she saw.
"I'm going with you," Jade said firmly. She tucked her blaster into her belt and grabbed the corner of his cloak.
"Let go," Vader hissed. He yanked his cloak out of her small hands. She grabbed it back. He pulled it away again. Folding her arms, Jade took a deep breath in and held it.
Vader smiled to himself. This was trick that she liked to play on her mindless nursemaids. She would hold her breath until they did as she said. He wasn't going to fall for her silly games. He knew that she would let her breath out eventually.
But she didn't. She just looked into Vader's mask, determination written all over her face. Slowly, her face started to turn a pinkish colour. Vader could sense that she was slowly losing consciousness. If she didn't let her breath out soon, she would surely knock herself out.
For a moment, he started to panic. The Emperor would be outraged if anything happened to her. Reaching out with the Force, Vader opened her lungs, forcing air into her throat.
Jade was astonished. None of her nursemaids had ever been able to do anything like that. She looked up at Vader, trying to decide whether to be angry, or delighted. She grabbed hold of his leg and clung to it. He lifted his leg and started shaking it, trying to get her off him without hurting her.
But she kept her tight hold on him, laughing at his efforts to remove her. There was no time for such silly games! Ignoring the child clinging to his leg, Darth Vader continued down the hall to the Emperor's chamber. Before he went inside, he reached down and pried Jade away.
Angrily, she kicked him in the leg. Her attack didn't hurt in the least. She was like a small insect that he would gladly crush beneath his thumb. If it weren't for the Emperor...
"Come in, my servant...and my young apprentice." Vader heard his master's words in his head. To his surprise, so did Jade. She was stronger in the Force than Vader had suspected.
The girl reached up, trying to press the control panel to open the door. Growing tired of watching, Vader reached forward to press the button himself.
"No," cried Jade. "I can do it."
"As you wish," he said, hiding his irritation. After what seemed like ages, finally Jade managed to reach high enough to press the door release. She darted into the room while Vader came in a more dignified manner.
"Welcome," the Emperor said in his rasping voice. He was seated on his large, throne-like chair, his face hidden by a cowl. Much to Vader's disgust, Jade leapt up onto the arm of the Emperor's throne. How could he let her do that? To his relief, the Emperor pushed Jade off the chair and told her to stand still next to him. She scowled at the old man.
"What is your bidding, my master?" asked Vader as he dropped to one knee. The Emperor told Vader of a colony that he wished for him to visit. Jade was bored from listening to their conversation. They were both very dull in her opinion. Darth Vader wouldn't patrol with her and the Emperor wouldn't let her sit on the arm of his chair.
Something new caught her interest. The two scarlet guards that stood on each side of the Emperor's throne. She approached one of them and looked curiously at his red mask. Many times she had seen these men guarding her master, but they had never talked to her.
"Hello," she said brightly. "My name is Jade. Want to play with me?" The guard stared straight ahead, not even acknowledging her presence. Hoping to have some fun, she whipped out her blaster and pretended to shoot the guard. "Zap! Zap!" she cried.
For a second, the guard looked down, hiding his astonishment. The moment he saw that it was not a charged blaster, he looked up, once again ignoring Jade. This upset her. She did not like being ignored. "Zap! Zap! Ha! You're dead!" she yelled.
"Jade! Stop that now. Go back to the nursery at once!" the Emperor snapped. It was amazing what a different effect her Master's order had on her than Vader.
Immediately, she put away the blaster and looked wide-eyed at him. "I can't," she said.
"Speak up child. Why not?" The Emperor frowned at his young apprentice. But she did not shrink back under his powerful glare.
"The nurse is gone," she said, without flinching.
"By the Sith!" cried the Emperor, his voice rising in anger. "That's the second one this month. We'll have to post a bounty on her. I'll teach her to run away." He made a visible effort to calm himself before turning back to Jade. "I'll have to get a nursemaid droid up here right away." Jade grinned. She'd never seen inside one of them before. Her master read her thoughts. "And don't even think about dismantling it. Wait here until it arrives."
"All right," Jade said grudgingly. Sulkily, she went over to a corner in the throne room and sat down, facing away from everyone. She took out her blaster and inspected it, turning it around in her hands. Someday, someone would teach her how to use it.
It was so lonely living in the Imperial Palace. Sure, she had nursemaids - when they weren't running away - and many tutors, but there were no children her own age. No one ever wanted to play with her. It seemed that everyone in the palace disliked her.
Of course, everyone she met pretended to like her. They would shower her with compliments about what a dear sweet girl she was. But Jade knew that they were lying. She didn't know how she knew, but when she concentrated really hard, she could tell what people thought of her. Most people thought that she was an uncontrolled brat who shouldn't be living in the palace.
Once Jade had been looking through the Emperor's vast library with her old nurse. She had shown her a holo-projection of some children. They seemed so happy. They were laughing, singing and playing with each other. With all her heart, Jade wished that she had someone to play with her.
Countless times, she had asked the Emperor whether she would meet any other children. He had told her that it wasn't necessary. He said that friends weren't important. He said that the only person that you could ever really count on was yourself.
Somehow, Jade knew that wasn't true. Surely the Emperor must get lonely sometimes. Even Darth Vader must sometimes wish he had someone to confide in. She couldn't imagine how anyone could spend their lives alone without friends or family.
Unfortunately, Jade had no family. She had no memory of her parents, only the Emperor. At first, she had liked to think that he was her grandfather, but he soon put a stop to such thoughts. He told her that she had no family.
Frowning, Jade pointed her blaster at an imaginary target. Maybe nursemaid droids were programmed to play with their assigned children. She'd just have to wait and find out.
And now, 15 years later...
