The Lord of Sith's heart liquefied and became a puddle at her utterance of the word.
Father.
the word from her lips said with such love and respect had caused his legs to nearly buckle underneath him. He had to grip the doorway to keep from falling. Futile would be any attempts for him to cease from staring into those brown eyes of hers, her gaze burning him to the core of his being with it's strong display of affection, now blemished with worry in it.
She was the first to break their gaze, only just noticing the despairing position he was in, slumped and holding on to the doorway to keep himseld from falling to the floor.
"Father, are you alright?!" Leia asked alarmed, visibly grieved at the condition of the Sith.
"I.."
His mind could not properly function to form words.
Such a look to receive from his child that had despised him greatly..
What had happened? What had caused this?
Had he truly awoken from his slumber or was he still sleeping? So long it had been since he slept. Maybe he could no longer tell apart the world of dreams from reality.
Leia's hands reached out to his free gloved hand hanging at his side and lifted it and held it fondly, sandwiching it between her hands.
"Here." She said sweetly as she gestured with her head towards the bed.
"You need to sit down. Are you able to walk?"
It took a long pause for Vader's brain to register what she had just asked with his amount of confusion and incredulity.
At painstakingly last he gave her a slow nod.
Gathering strength from the force he used it to bring strength to his thighs, granting himself the ability to stand with his prosthetic legs and feet. He stood up cautiously, gathering his bearings the best that he could manage .
His legs wobbled like jello underneath him. Of it's own volition his free hand placed itself on top of his child's that held his other hand firmly to support him. Similarly as when one does when teaching a baby to walk she slowly led him to the bed and the Sith roughly let himself fall in sitting position on the mattress with a grunt.
He could feel drops of sweat run down his face behind his mask.
Leia still held unto his hand and her other hand went to rest on his shoulder as her eyes quickly darted over the face of his mask.
"Father, what is it?" She asked, concern full in her voice.
"So, if the baby is a girl, when will she be allowed to date?" Padme asked, teasing her Jedi Knight husband as he held her. The two stood underneath the stars, his chin resting on top of her head. It had been only hours ago since she had revealed her pregnancy to him. Padme could feel his body stiffen at the question. She let out a bubbly giggle in response.
"When she's ninety or dead." He answered bluntly, eyes becoming cold.
"Anakin, stop!" She joked as she playfully smacked his chest.
Anakin huffed and let out a sigh, warmth returning to his blue eyes.
"I don't want to think about that day when our child.. if it's a girl..comes home from school with a crush on some hormonal teenager. That boy for his sake better know self defense techniques against a Jedi."
Padme released a burst of laughter.
Anakin smirked.
"What shall we name our baby if it is a girl?" Anakin suddenly asked his still laughing wife.
When Padme's laughter stopped she looked up and smiled at him.
"I don't know. I haven't looked at names for the baby. I thought we could do that together."
Anakin's brows furrowed as he became deep in thought.
"...How does Leia sound to you?.. If our baby is a girl."
Delight flickered in Padme's eyes.
"Leia.." She said it out loud, testing out the sound of it. "Ani, that's... beautiful! Where did you get it?"
A sad smile went to Anakin's face.
"My mother. She would tell me fairy tales native to Tatooine before bed...One she told fairly often that I liked was about a beautiful princess named Leia... She was the fairest of all women on her planet, but would hide her beauty, not wanting to draw attention to herself, preferring to be known for her heart rather.
The princess's beauty she had inherited from her mother. She would wear masks or cloaks to keep her beauty hidden when in the presence of others, all besides her father.
Her father was a good man. A great king. Charitable to the poor and less fortunate. Provided food for the starving and water for those in need of it."
"Lovely." Padme smiled, captured by the story. "Go on."
Anakin cleared his throat before continuing.
"The king was a widower. His wife had died shortly after giving birth to their child. The king never remarried or considered it. Too heartbroken by his wife's death and much too in love with her to ever consider another.
His daughter was his pride and joy. They loved each other terribly and they'd spend long nights talking to each other about the other planets and their inhabitants and the stories they were reading in books and many other things.
One day when it was the day after Princess Leia's sixteenth birthday..in the olden days on Tatooine when this story first came about ..fifteen was when a maiden became an adult.. But, I digress..
He, the king was out and about handing out food and clothes to the less fortunate. He could have had his servants do it, but he enjoyed doing such charitable deeds, liked seeing the smiles that lit up the faces of his people when he did.
After he had handed out his last batch of food and clothing and when everyone had gone and left, he dismissed his servants and rode off into the nearby forest on his zaldi with the attention of sight seeing. He wanted to enjoy some peaceful quiet time and never before had he entered those parts of the forest.
He was enjoying the sounds of the birds singing and the smell of different kinds of fruit growing off of many of the trees of the forest when he heard what sounded like a woman screaming. It was blood-curdling, the sound of the scream.
So he rode off quickly as his zaldi could go and finally he spotted a woman that looked to be at death's door. She laid on the ground and appeared to have been stabbed repeatedly, her body covered with her dark red blood and open wounds-"
"And your mother told you this story when you were a child?!" Padme asked wide eyed and astonished.
"It has a good ending." He answered back with a smile. "Besides, fairy tales aren't always youngling friendly if you recall them. Remember the story of the four Banthas and the nerf herder?"
Padme gave him a look of disgust as her mind recalled the story. She raised a brow and grimaced.
"You're right. The Banthas set him on fire. You made your point. What are parents thinking telling their children these stories?!-"
Anakin lightheartedly cleared his throat, looking down at her with an impish smile.
Padme's cheeks burned red.
"I'm sorry. Carry on."
"It's fine." He muttered sweetly before giving her forehead a kiss.
"So, the king was shocked to say the least. Murder hadn't taken place on the planet for over five thousand years. He almost couldn't believe what he was seeing as he jumped off the animal he was riding and ran quickly over to the woman, prepared to place her on his zaldi and take her to the nearest hospital.
When the moment his hand finally touched the lady unanimously as it did she changed her appearance and no longer was she a dying woman covered in her own blood and in need of help, but now standing before him the woman had turned into what she really was: a Vari.
Padme's brow shot up.
"A Vari?" She asked at a loss for what that was.
Anakin smirked.
"They're fictional fairytail creatures made by the dark side of the Force. Their mission in life is to destroy good and by using the purest souls through taking over their body to do so. They are body snatchers. They're blacker than the darkest of nights and are creatures with no physical body only spirit. They have yellow eyes and long talon-like nails. They're nine feet tall and can appear in many shapes and forms.
This one had taken the appearance of a man before the king when it had changed. A man with cruel yellow eyes .
So, this creature laughed at the shocked and frightened king. Told him that he had been waiting the arrival of such a noble soul as his for near a millennia since after being created, wanting such a pure soul as he to be the one he'd first hijack. The king could do nothing, not even blink. He remained motionless against his will where he stood, snared by the Vari's magic when the Vari entered his body and took over.
Possessing all his memories the Vari then jumped on the king's Zaldi and rode off to the king's castle in haste.
He soon after his arrival ordered the poor and weak, the disabled and sick including the ones in the womb to be slain by his army. He told the people he ruled over that such types were a stain on society.
He said that they were good for nothing, but to place a burden on all the people and he also said they were better off dead and that they scarcely contributed to anything; You see..the Vari wanted to corrupt the people's hearts ..prepare their hearts deceitfully to the dark side by preforming dark sided behavior
So, a few days had passed and Princess Leia the King's daughter was journeying back from visiting another princess her age that was a close friend.
As she made her way back to her home land she was stopped by the poor and the disabled and the such that were her people that had fled and escaped from being slaughtered by the Vari king's army. They were taking shelter in the land they were now in.
They told the beautiful princess what had happened to her father: that he had become evil and ordered the deaths of such types of individuals such as themselves..That no longer did he give out food to the starving and the hungry or raise money for orphanages and widows..but now ruled with villainy.
The princess's heart broke and her tears fell on the ground. Never had a heart been so much in pain in all the world. She had been in so great a pain that her tears caused through the Force a river to appear once they touched the ground, marking that event for all of eternity that such a heartache had taken place.
She ordered her servants that had protected and served her as she made her way to visit her royal friend and also during the time of their journey back home up until then to stay there in the land they were in and to take care of their people who had escaped.
Despite the pleading of her servants and the escaped people she took off on one of her servant's zaldi and rode off, hoping and believing she might be able to persuade her father to turn back from his now evil ways.
As she rode quickly, the dust kicking off of the Zaldi's feet that she rode, she heard a whisper from the Force..it was the first time she had ever heard from the Force...
The Force had spoken to her that the being ruling over her father's kingdom and land was not her father and explained to her what it was: a Vari. It told her also how she would be able to save her father, the king from the body snatcher.
Meanwhile the creature that was in the king's body had been expecting the princess to return and knowing she would not be one to obey his evil instructions no matter what.. he set up ways to kill her inside the castle when she entered it. She was such a pure soul that he wanted her to die painfully. It hated her extremely for her goodness.
The first thing he had placed in the castle to take away her life was a giant beast: an akurakona. It would attack only her, spellbound by the Vari's magic to attack only the princess and no one else.
"I've never heard of such a creature." Padme spoke.
Anakin looked down at her and grinned. "It's an ancient Tatooine mythical creature. Basically a dragon with multiple heads and the power to summon and use the fires of Tatooine's suns on it's victims."
"Ah, I see."
"Continuing on... he knew from the king's memories that the princess was easily fearful and had expected her to be so frightened that she would be rendered immobile and burnt to a crisp or devoured by the akurakona.
He hadn't known that she knew what he really was nor did he know how the knowledge of what he was had brought about great courage in her, rooted in love for her father making her not care about her life if it meant saving him..
So, Princess Leia slew the akurakona, using an esekka, a type of ancient Tatooine sword that she carried with her at all times at her side, sliding underneath it and slicing open the beast.
The next thing the Vari had set up to kill her was a swarm of bijen awaiting her: mythical very large human sized flying and stinging insects. She cut them into pieces.
The princess was not a fighter, but her strong desire to save her father and her people from the Vari gave her the ability to fight stupendously through the Force.
The next thing after that she encountered that the Vari had arranged was in fact this time something not intended to kill her, but to serve as a warning that is if the princess had made it thus far. It was placed in the stairwell leading to the king's throne room. And even if she did not heed the warning she would be weakened and made into an easy kill.
Beautiful smelling flowers she had never seen before covered all over the walls of the stairwell and on it's steps. The princess poked at a yellow flower with the blood covered blade of her esekka and nothing happened.
Cautiously she made her first step ..and this is where it gets dark.. The flowers instantly sprayed at her with fumes of green smoke.
The smoke burned away at her skin like acid and made her feel a bit of her energy had evaporated. Her knee-jerk response was to take a step back from the step she had taken and when she did the spraying had ceased.
Go away. Leave this land.
The voices were from the dark side of the Force. The Vari had bewitched the flowers to speak this to her. They spoke in deep menacing voices
The princess looked down at her hands. They were red and had boils that covered them. She felt her face and could feel boils there too.
Save that splendid face and body of yours the trouble and get out. Save your life while you still have the chance.
The princess gritted her teeth angrily at the voices coming from the flowers.
"I'm here to save my father and his people. Not to win beauty awards. Let my beauty become as much as hasslic slug for all I care."
And with that she ran with all her might up the stairs, the fumes burning away at her skin further and further burning her more and more as she ran up the steps. Her eyes she had kept tightly shut to keep from being blinded.
When she reached the end of the stair well and exited it she was now standing in the throne room, panting for breath and burnt to unrecognition and her hair scarcely left. She felt exhausted.
And there she was, now standing before the Vari king as he sat on her father's throne. The Vari put on a face.
"My dear Leia! What happened to you?" He cried out with huge crocodile tears falling down his face. He was of course pretending to be her father.
Sneakily his hand went to the dagger hidden in the royal cloak he was wearing.
He ran to the princess and hugged her, mimicking the care of a father before stabbing the princess in the heart. The creature let her fall cruelly from her father's arms that it was using, but the Vari was turned shocked by the smile on the dying princess's face as she laid on the ground.
"Why do you smile?" The Vari demanded bellowing at the nearly dead princess. "Answer me!"
"I ..I..died ..willingly." She murmured with her last breath before she succumbed to her fatal injury.
The Force had told her the only way to rid the world of a Vari was to willingly sacrifice one's self out of love for the person who's body was being invaded...to allow the Vari to kill you.
When the Vari heard her final words the dagger slipped from his hands in misery and he cried out in anger.
By the power of pure love such an evil being was forced out of the kind King and was burned by flames of the Force ..of the light side of the Force into non existance.
Now, there are different endings to the tale. Some where the princess isn't brought back to life, but is made highly honored and remembered by the people and especially her father who ends up adopting all the children that were orphans in his land in honor and love for his deceased daughter.
My mother chose to tell me the happier version: the princess is brought back to life, skin and face healed by the Force and given luxurious long hair down to the floor as her father weeps over her. She sits up feeling strengthed and reveals to her father the king that when one willfully dies out of love to save a person from a Vari they are granted their life back.
Afterwards the King and Princess bring back goodness in the land and all goes well for eternity."
"That's..a good name and a great story, Anakin." Padme sighed, resting her head on his chest, meditating on the tale.
"If we have a little girl we should teach her to be just as courageous and loving..to live up to the character she's named after."
Anakin considered her words, placing his false hand on the back of her head and combing it's fingers through her hair.
"Hm..well if she ends up being like her mother we won't have to." He smiled.
.
.
Both of Leia's hands were settled on the sides of his mask and she stared at him sternly as Vader snapped back into the present day. He had just experienced a vision from the Force of a memory long ago.
How long had it lasted? He asked himself.
"Father, If you don't answer me right now in the count of three I'm going to take off that mask of yours and get some cold water from the bathroom and splash the water on your face, so you better-"
Vader's hands went up and laid them on top of Leia's softly.
"Allow me to train you."
Leia was startled by the sudden words of the previously unresponsive Sith and at the words he had spoken.
She raised a brow.
"What?-"
"The Force is strong with you. I can sense it now. I know you're sensitive to the force my daughter. Putting the pieces of the puzzle together I know that you must've communicated to Luke telepathically to keep him from going to Jabba's palace..
I had remembered as my hand was being repaired that when I was a Jedi in the Jedi temple I'd see padawan younglings learning to use the Force and sometimes they would not execute a proper balance of their usage of the Force.
If they were lucky to escape death they'd end up with a warning from the Force by passing out or having a nose bleed or some other sort of physical symptom, but sometimes they would have multiples ones. Like you yourself had."
A grin could be heard in his voice.
Eyes big, Leia swallowed hard, listening intently.
"Last night before returning to my room Admiral Piett informed me that no communication devices were found on your friends and Mr Solo.
Before learning this, after I had had my hand repaired I took a bit of your dried blood that was on my suit and I personally examined it. Your midichlorian count is exactly the same as mine. With such a high midichlorian count you must be Force sensitive!
Leia remained speechless, staring at her father.
"..Allow me to train you Leia to become a Sith. And a marvelous Sith, I'm sure. Such talents you have exhibited and I sense without any training..you of a surety will be stronger than I...
Leia... Young one... If you are trained you can defeat the Emperor or we can both together do so and then afterward we can rule the galaxy as a family."
He gave her hands a loving squeeze.
"I know by your new feelings towards me that you have now that you must have experienced something strongly from the Force to get such feelings.. and to have that-that look...of..love in your eyes towards me..." His voice trembled, overwelmed by her affection that he could feel via the Force.
"It would have taken only an encounter with the Force to have such a change in your heart towards me so suddenly, my daughter.
It seems the Force has answered my silent prayers. You don't have to tell me what it was you experienced..I need not to know what it was I'm just thankful for it and the effect it had on you...
That is enough for me...but do tell me..that you'll join me, Leia. Such a strong Sith you would be!..it's remarkable..you had no master and I sense no training in you yet you were able to communicate with your broth!-"
Vader suddenly stopped himself. He hadn't meant to say that. That was not the way he wanted Leia to find out about her relation to Luke. He wanted it to be more formal.
Leia's face softened and she gathered in a deep breath and released it.
"I know that Luke is my brother, father."
"How?!-"
"And yes..you're right..I did communicate to him.. But to join the Dark Side is something I'd never do. In fact I won't."
Vader's hands dropped from hers in despair.
"If..if I ever choose to utilize my force abilities one day, I'd choose to be trained a Jedi."
"Then I would be ordered by my master as a Sith to kill you then!" Vader snapped coldly, his voice raised, but Leia could hear a desperate plea to her against the idea inside of it.
"The emperor is a Sith Lord. If he knew of you being Force sensitive and your desire to be a Jedi he'd order your execution by my hands if he believed there was no chance of you becoming a Sith."
Leia smiled causing Vader to be perplexed at the sight.
"I know you wouldn't kill me. Afterall, you turned to the dark side for our family." Leia answered back with a playful tease.
Vader gawked at her.
"How.. do you know such things?"
Leia paused, thinking how to respond.
"Let's just say you're not the only dreamer in the family." She answered with a smile.
Love won't save you, Padme. Only my new powers can do that!
But at what cost? You're a good person, don't do this!
I won't lose you the way I lost my mother. I am becoming more powerful than any Jedi has ever dreamed of, and I'm doing it for you. To protect you.
I'm doing it for you. To protect you.
I'm doing it for you. To protect you.
I'm doing it for you. To protect you.
My baby..
My baby..
Don't leave me, please! Don't leave me my dear sweet Princess! Daddy's got you!
A loud cry of defeat ripped through Vader and the mattress underneath him shook from from the dark side of the Force. Leia from fright at the scene took a few steps back from her father.
Vader's gloves squeaked as his hands turned into fists.
He could not kill her.
He would not be able to.
Nor Luke for that matter and as a Sith that meant there was only one thing left for him to do: he would have to find some way in his physical condition to kill the emperor himself to protect his children and his own life. Who knows, maybe soon after they would join him to become Sith as he ruled as emperor? And if not he would still keep them protected and in his custody.
He stood up and walked over to Leia, towering over the princess and pointed a finger at her.
"Alright! ..You will allow me to train you to block others from reading your mind, do you understand?" He loudly snarled and ordered using all his parental authority. "It's something both Sith and Jedi learn! it's not an exclusive dark side ability nor Sith teaching."
Leia gave a slow nod, a large smile speading across her face.
"Good. Your lessons start after your meeting with Solo. It will benefits us to keep the Emperor from reading your mind and thus making sure he doesn't find out you're Force sensitive and know things we need kept secret." The Sith said, turning from her and facing the window of the room.
He placed both of his hands behind his back, holding on to one as he stared off into space grasping for the peace that he usually felt when he stared off at the galaxy.
Fear was coursing through his body and his heart was beating loudly in his ears. How could he defeat the Emperor with the way he was physically?
If only he had not sustained the injuries that he had on Mustafar. He mentally cursed in hutteese at Kenobi.
The repeating sound of his respirator over the deafening sound of his beating heart felt like it was mocking him and his physical health with each breath that he took as the fear of his children's life and of his own reached a pinnacle inside of him. He felt like he was going to explode from the fear.
"Thank you."
Her precious voice sliced through the fear, shattering it into millions of pieces and burning it away. And with that it was gone.
Vader turned around slowly and looked at his royal daughter Leia. Gratitude shined in her eyes and she was beaming. She had a glow to her face that he had never seen before.
He sighed.
She has lived up to her name.. Proudly he thought.
Vader gave her a slow nod before turning his head back to look at the stars, choosing to at the time being to rejoice in her happiness and appreciation. It was enough to cause him not to worry or fear..
For now.
He chose to bask in his child's joy.
My child...
He closed his eyes, remembering one of the many times he had placed his hand on Padme's stomach during her pregnancy and felt a kick.
I have both my children alive that I had once believed to be dead. One is living near my room and now loves me.
His heart flew estatically at the thought and he was beyond grateful to the Force. The gifts he had received from It of his children was beyond priceless.
He took in a deep breath and released it, tension leaving his body before the Dark Lord gave a bit of a jump, startled at the two arms he felt wrap themselves tightly around him, embracing him in a hug.