Dreams that are Reality
By Jedi Potter
Disclaimer: I don't own the character Palpatine from this story, but I did create his wife and son, Anna and Jarod.
"What happened?"
"Mommy, it's the bad man. He came again in my dreams."
"Did you see what his face looked like?"
"No, he had a hood on. He said I had to submit myself to the darkness…or else." The seven-year-old Jarod shuddered. "Mommy, I'm scared. What if the man comes back again?"
Anna tried to comfort her fear-stricken son. "Listen, Jarod, I'll never let anything happen to you. We'll figure out a way to stop these bad dreams."
"But mommy, I don't think they're dreams. They seem so real. I think the bad man is a real person, and he's coming after me."
"Don't worry. We'll get through this together." Anna was worried. Her son Jarod had been having these dreams for two months, and she was starting to get the strange feeling that something was about to happen, and she would lose her son forever.
"Yes," said Palpatine, looking at his son with what seemed to be genuine concern. "There's no need for you to worry. We'll protect you." But somehow, Palpatine's smile seemed fake, as though it was just a cover-up for something dark hidden inside him.
But naturally, Jarod and Anna didn't notice this, for they only thought of Palpatine as the gentle, caring man they knew him as. They would have never dreamed he could be deceiving them.
Palpatine seemed to think for a moment, then said, "But maybe we should look into something about this. A psychologist, perhaps."
"Tomorrow," said Anna, "we'll look for a psychologist tomorrow. We should rest today after that long trip yesterday."
Palpatine sighed. "Yes, I guess you're right." Determination shown clearly in his face. "But tomorrow we will. We'll find someone who can help our son through these hard times."
* * *
Jarod might have been only seven years old, but he wasn't stupid. He realized that his parents were just putting on an act for him, and there was probably nothing that would be able to stop these nightmares he'd been having.
He also knew that he was causing his parents to worry. They were worried about him, because they didn't know what might happen to him. They were desperate to find anyone or anything that would be able to help Jarod, even if they thought it was unlikely.
And Jarod was thankful for that, because it showed him that his parents really loved him.
But the dreams were becoming more and more scary, and Jarod sensed that tonight would be the night. The identity of this man would be revealed.
And so he went to bed that night shivering in fear. He lay awake for several hours before finally falling asleep.
* * *
Jarod was running. Running through the streets. He heard the sound of footsteps behind him. Someone was chasing him.
He kept running, fighting the fatigue that threatened to slow him down. He turned down streets and alleys, trying to lose the man that was following him. The bad man.
He knew what might happen if he was caught. He tried not to think about that, and looked over his shoulder as he ran, trying to discern the man's facial features. But a hood obscured his face with darkness.
Jarod kept running and running, and after what seemed like hours, his luck finally ran out. He turned down a narrow side alley, too late realizing it ended in a dead end.
He turned around, ready to face the man that seemed so intent on turning him to darkness.
The man stopped in front of him, and Jarod could feel the sense of evil he was giving off. "And now," the man said in a cold, cruel voice that seemed vaguely familiar, "I will reveal to you my true identity."
Jarod drew back in fear as the man reached up to remove the hood from his head. Nothing could have prepared Jarod for what he saw. He had seen that face before, but it had looked much more gentle and kind. Now it seemed so…so cruel, so evil, so merciless.
He buried his face in his hands, letting the tears flow freely. The man advanced on him, and Jarod looked up once again at the face of his father.
"Jarod, it is your destiny to join me now…to embrace the darkness."
"No!" Jarod found himself screaming. "This can't be true!"
"Jarod, don't deny the darkness within yourself."
"What happened to you? You…you've become a monster."
"Jarod, Jarod, Jarod…it isn't a good thing to go around insulting one's father." He paused for a moment. "You realize, of course, that if you don't join me, I will be forced to kill you. I cannot let you live to oppose me."
"No…No, this can't be true…No…No…Someone help me…Please…Help Me…My father…"
* * *
Jarod awoke in his bed with perspiration on his forehead. He was breathing heavily. Then he remembered the dream he had just had.
Not sure what to do, he climbed out of his bed. He'd go get his mother and get her as far away from his father as fast as he could. Yes, that's what he'd do.
He started running toward the door. But before he reached it, the same cold, evil voice from his dream spoke from behind him. "Not so fast, Jarod."
Jarod turned around in horror to see his father standing there, in the corner of his room.
Palpatine continued. "I don't think you should go looking for your mother at this moment, for fear of what you might see when you find her." His face showed an evil smile.
"What did you do to her?" asked Jarod.
"I simply made sure that she would not be able to get in my way in the future."
"You…you killed her?"
"I prefer to think of it is giving her a peaceful death, rather than a more terrible one that she would most certainly receive in the wars to come."
"Wars are coming? Will you cause them?"
"I do not want to waste time revealing my plans for this galaxy until you have agreed to serve me."
"I will not serve you." Jarod could hear the cold fury in his own voice. "You deserve to die, whether you are my father or not."
"Jarod, you must have seen by now that it is your destiny to join me, and rule the galaxy at my right hand!"
"I will not serve you," Jarod repeated. "I would rather die than help such a great evil as you rise to power."
The anger was clearly evident in Palpatine's face. "Then maybe I was wrong. It is not your destiny to rule the galaxy with me. It is your destiny to die here now!"
And Palpatine raised his hands, prepared to shoot deadly Force lightning out of them.
"Father, sometimes death is better than life without meaning."
This seemed to anger Palpatine all the more. "You are wrong! Now die!"
Jarod had already realized his fate, and it did not try to avoid the millions of volts of electricity that were shot into his chest. It took less than a second for the electricity to do its job, and Jarod collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
Palpatine did not seem to regret having killed his son, and now seeing him dead. In fact, he almost seemed to relish it.
And then he walked over to the communications center of his expensive apartment, and called the Coruscant Police, telling them that he had awoke in the middle of the night to find his wife and son dead.
THE END