Title: Conversation With the Dead
Author: KelliLeanne
Timeframe: Just after RoTS
Characters: Darth Sidious, Original Character
Genre: Drama, Angst, One Shot
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Lucas owns everything; I'm just playing with his creations. I promise I'll put them back where they belong when I'm finished.
Summary: At the end of a long quest for ultimate power, Darth Sidious has one more loose end to tie up.

It is a horrible burden being the last surviving member of a family; the last one to carry on traditions and pass down family history to the next generation. Once her family was large and influential, but time and circumstance had not been kind to the once proud dynasty. This burden would not be hers for much longer; it would all end today. Her usefulness was at an end, and now she would join the rest of her family in death.

The elderly woman now waited in the antechamber of the new Emperor's throne room. Emperor, the title sickened and frightened her at the same time; but it did not surprise her. Her brother had always been ambitious and greedy beyond measure. She somehow knew that this day was the end result of his lifetime of scheming.

The door to the throne room opened and red-clad guards escorted her into the large room. As she passed the large doorway, she noted with little emotion that the next time she passed through those doors it would be her corpse being carried out. There was no use for emotion, she would not escape her fate, and begging her brother to spare her life would be useless. He was beyond such things now, and so was she.

The guards stopped directly in front of the large throne. The woman looked up to see a cloaked and scared figure occupying the chair. He did not seem to be paying attention the person who was brought before him. She wondered what he was thinking about; then she decided that she probably did not want to know. The woman spoke first, "What happened to your face?" The question was partly out of curiosity, and partly out of the fact that she did not want him to ignore her any longer.

The Emperor turned to her and gave her a smile that almost made her shiver, "Oh Sara, Didn't you hear? There was an assassination attempt. The Jedi are enemies of the state."

She laughed bitterly, "Too bad they didn't finish the job."

Palpatine ignored her comment, "The clones who arrested you said that you came willingly."

"What would be the point of resisting? I found out this morning that I was an enemy of the state, just like the Jedi. Tell me, is that how you are getting rid of those who are no longer useful to you?"

"You think you are here to die?"

"I know it beyond a shadow of all doubt. I do want to know one thing; am I to die by your hand or am I to be killed by one of your lackeys?"

The Emperor's laughter echoed throughout the chamber, "What would you prefer, dear sister?"

Sara cringed at the title; it was what he always called her when they were children. The last thing she wanted to be reminded of at this moment was their childhood on Naboo. "I think I would prefer you do it yourself. You've spent much of your career bloodying the hands of others; I think you should bloody your own hands, for once."

"You are more correct than you can possibly imagine." For the first time, she realized that his voice was different. No longer was he speaking in the friendly yet cultured tone that he had adopted for his political career. There was a sinister edge to his voice; one that his sister could not help but be frightened by.

"I can imagine a great deal."

Palpatine shook his head, "I do need to tell you, dear sister, I am a little disappointed. I was expecting you to come in here full of anger and accusations, like the last time."

The last time Sara had seen her brother was ten years ago; after the death of her only child. Asher had been the light of her mother's life ever since she was born; she seemed to exude joy and love wherever she went. She had been visiting Coruscant with her husband and son when a mysterious accident claimed their lives.

The investigation into their deaths was far from thorough, and Sara was frustrated when it was closed quickly with no real answers given. In anger, she traveled to the capital to beg her brother to use his influence to re-open the investigation; he refused. In retrospect, she should have known that it was useless to try to convince him to do anything that would not directly help his career.

Of course, ten years ago Sara still believed that her brother had some humanity left in him and that he would respond to an emotional appeal. She now knew how wrong she was. The next decade was filled with other deaths of family members. Whether they were from "accidents" or from separatist attacks, within just a few years she was the only one in her family left. She woke up every morning wondering if this day it would be her turn to be sacrificed on the alter of her brother's ambition.

Sara refused to look away from his hideous face, even though she could barely stand the sight. "Anger and fear feeds you, I won't give you the satisfaction." She remembered, with much disgust, the look in his eyes when she last confronted him.

As she was waving her finger in his face and screaming accusations, he seemed like he was enjoying it. It was not his expression, it was a mask of pity and sadness but his eyes told a very different story. There was pleasure evident; she remembered seeing them nearly dance in anticipation of her next verbal assault.

There was also something odd about the color of his eyes, for a moment they seemed to change to a yellowish hue only to change right back to the normal color. It was so quick that she thought she was only imagining it. Now, as she looked up at what was left her brother, she saw that same sickening color in his eyes, but now it was permanent.

"Again, your insight is very correct." The Emperor got up from his throne and grabbed his sister's arm. "Come, there is something I want to show you."

He led her toward the large window that overlooked Coruscant in all its glory. He pointed to a building right in the center of the view. "Do you know what that is?"

Sara reluctantly answered, "It's the Jedi temple." She wanted this over and done with; she did not want to speak to him anymore.

In her peripheral vision, she could see a triumphant smile on her brother's scared face. "There's something you need to know, dear sister, something that very few people know. I know the ways of the Force."

Sara knew what the Force was, most educated beings in the galaxy were intellectually aware of the mysterious energy field that the Jedi claimed gave them their power. Of course, like most of the galaxy, she had no knowledge of how they really used that energy field. She turned towards the Emperor, "What are you talking about?"

"What if I told you that I have discovered the key to unlimited power? Would you believe me?"

"You've maneuvered yourself becoming Emperor; that gives you a lot of power. Whatever these ways of the Force are, they have not given you unlimited power. There is no such thing."

The Emperor laughed again, "That kind of statement shows just how limited you really are. I'm quite disappointed in you."

Sara closed her eyes, wishing he would go ahead and kill her. Listening to his voice was becoming more and more difficult. "Your opinion of my so-called limitations means nothing to me. Get on with it, end this now."

"You are in no position to demand anything, my dear sister." He again pointed to the Jedi temple. "The Jedi weren't the only ones who know the ways of the Force. Of course, they served the Force instead of making the Force serve them."

"And now the Force serves you?"

"Yes, my master taught me everything about the Force, and how to bend it to my will."

Sara shivered at that last statement; it seemed like the room was getting colder. She turned away from the window to look at her brother's face again, "And what I see before me was the price you paid for this knowledge? Tell me the truth; it wasn't the Jedi attack that made your face like that. Wasn't it? For some reason, this power you were taught did something to you. It changed your face like it changed your eyes."

"Yes, what you saw before was a mere mask."

She was surprised that he admitted it so readily; for the last month he had been claiming he was scarred by one of the Jedi assassins. "There was a time, long ago, when it wasn't a mask."

"That was lifetimes ago."

Sara nodded and looked back out the window, "How long has it been since you've known the ways of the Force." She would have asked how long it had been since greed and a lust for power did not rule his heart; but she had always known her brother to want those things. His overwhelming ambition was evident from an early age.

The Emperor gave an exaggerated sigh of annoyance. "If you must know, I began learning from my master when I was twenty."

Twenty! She shook her head in disgust. "And for forty years you have been scheming to take over the galaxy while pretending to be a upstanding champion of democracy."

"It was easier than you might think."

"Now that you're being so honest, can you tell me one more thing? The unfortunate "accidents" that have befallen our family were your doing, aren't they?" Sara knew what the answer to that question was going to be, but she wanted to hear her brother say it.

He laughed again, "They were all loose ends that needed tidying up; you are the last."

Tears began to fall down Sara's wrinkled cheeks; she cursed herself for her weakness. "Asher?"

"You know the answer to that; I think you always did." The Emperor closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and smiled, "I can feel your hatred, dear sister."

"End it now, please." Her voice was weak and barely audible as she pleaded with her brother to dispense the very thing he was hardly capable of, mercy.

"You know, I think I'll grant your request. After all, you asked so nicely. Is there anything else you wish to ask or say before we proceed?"

"Only this, I wish your reign short and fruitless. No matter how much power you think you have, you cannot escape death, no one can."

"You have no idea what true power is."

"One more question, what happened to this person you spoke of that taught you the ways of the Force."

What was left of the Emperor's eyebrows knitted in confusion. "I killed him."

Sara laughed, "If he was so powerful to teach you. How did he not escape death?"

"He got sleepy at the wrong time. I promise you, I won't make that same mistake."

"No, I don't guess you will." Sara looked again at the horrific visage of her brother and realized something. "My brother, you are already dead. You died the moment you accepted the training of this master of yours. Before then, there was still a chance for you. Now, there's nothing left for you but power."

The Emperor raised his hands, "And I have a great deal of it."

"Think of me and this moment the day it finally chokes you."

Those were her last coherent thoughts. Immediately, what looked like lightning began to come from his raised hands. She screamed as pain like she had never experienced coursed through her frail body. The last thing she saw before her body gave out was her brother looking down onto her withered form. "Guards, dispose of this body."

The End