"What did you say?" Vader blinked several times in shock as he looked at the two innocent faces before him. He knew he must have heard them wrong.

"Our last name is Naberrie Amidala Skywalker." Leia replied, smiling up at Vader.

"No… no…" Vader repeated over and over as he ran a hand through his blond hair.

"Yes, it is." Luke answered back, casting Vader a look of confusion as he tried to figure out why Vader was disagreeing with him.

"It can't be!" Vader's voice rose, the startling announcement making him break his attempts to remain silent and not wake up the rest of the house.

"Santa? What's wrong?" Both Luke and Leia frowned at Vader as they watched him start to pace between the two of them.

"It can't be. It can't be…." Vader continued to repeat as he paced the floor of the children's home, his black cloak billowing out behind him. "She's dead! I saw it!"

Paling at his words, both children's chins began to tremble in fear as they watched Vader's progress across the room. "Santa, what's wrong?"

Stopping in mid stride and throwing his hands up onto his head as if staving off an intense headache, Vader turned towards Luke and Leia. "How old are you?"

The Sith's sudden movement caused the twins to jump in fright. Unable to speak, the two twins merely raised four fingers in the air in answer to Vader's question.

The Sith planned to yell at the children and force them to speak the truth, but something in the Force warned him to take a moment and look closer at the children that claimed to be his. Luke had his sandy blond hair and vibrant blue eyes. Vader could also sense a bit of his own recklessness, but Padmé's unfailing resolve. Leia seemed to share the same physical attributes as Padmé, but something in the Force told him she could be as stubborn as he was. It was almost like Vader was looking at miniature versions of Padmé and himself.

"Santa?" Both Luke and Leia asked with ever growing concern, their voices were small and tentative as they prodded Vader to answer them.

"Where is your mother?" Vader asked, needing confirmation of what he had discovered.

"She's sleeping." Luke and Leia answered together. "Wait!" Both called out when Vader abruptly turned on his heel towards the back rooms of the cottage, searching for the bed chamber that would give him the proof he needed.

Ignoring the children, Vader started using the Force to open up doors. The first one revealed a small play room with various toys scattered across the floor. A few paces from that was a small bedroom in shades of pink and lavender. "That is my room." Leia stated behind Vader, but the Sith ignored the child and moved on.

The third room was decorated in blue and green and there were spare droid parts and clothing scattered throughout. "Mommy's room is the last one down the hall." Luke explained as Vader peered into his own room.

Shaking with nervous anticipation as he approached the door Luke indicated, Vader held his breath as he opened the door and peered inside. The room was dark except for the Nubian moonlight that filtered through the windows, falling across a lone figure atop the large bed against the room's far wall.

"Padmé?" Anakin whispered to himself, his feet moving automatically to his wife's bedside. His heart beat frantically in his chest; never in a thousand millennia would he have ever suspected that she was alive. He seriously wondered if he was dreaming that her silken curls were tangled against the pillows as she slumbered peacefully in bed. However, the fact that he could feel the insistent tug of two small hands on his trouser legs seemed to disprove that this was solely his imagination at work. It was an unfamiliar sensation he was certain he could not imagine on his own.

"Shhh!" Luke and Leia both hushed Vader rather loudly. "You'll wake her up!"

Vader did not care what Luke or Leia had to say, he wanted answers. Why had Padmé never come looking for him, and why did she fake her death. He wanted to kiss her and shake her awake, but he had not figured out what he wanted to do first. For five years she had haunted him, but now sleeping peacefully in her bed was the woman he loved and evidently the mother of his children.

Brushing aside a tear of joy, Vader then reached a hand out to Padmé to awaken her, but he was stopped by the sound of a familiar cultured accent echoing in the Force. "I can sense your presence, my padawan. Do not round on Padmé for this, I can explain everything."

"Obi-Wan?" Anakin murmured, his hand slipping to Padmé's cheek as he looked around the room for Obi-Wan's presence.

Before the voice of his former master could answer, Padmé gave a deep sigh and she reflexively turned her cheek into Vader's hand. "Anakin." She mumbled sleepily, a small smile forming on her lips.

"That's what she calls daddy." Leia explained in a whisper.

As everything bombarded him at once, Vader's knees buckled and he settled himself on the floor. All that had kept him enshrouded in darkness had been a lie and although he felt he should have been irritated by this, he could not find room for any anger. Finding his wife alive and safe and meeting two children he never knew he had, filled Vader's heart with such love and joy that it left no room for darkness.

"Santa, are you all right?" Luke and Leia whispered, drawing closer to Vader, but being careful so they would not wake up their mother.

Obi-Wan's voice filtered through the Force before Anakin could answer. "Be careful padawan, they do not know about any of this. I can explain, but you will need to delay your family reunion for a moment. I'll be outside waiting for you."

Vader heard Obi-Wan's instructions and the Force whispered the wisdom of hearing the story that had brought him and his family to this point. However, for a moment all Vader could do was indulge in what he had found. "Everything's fine. Come here you two." Vader whispered softly to his children, opening his arms wide so they could enter his embrace.

Tentatively both children stepped closer to Vader, unsure of what to make of his recent erratic behavior. However, this seemed to be forgotten as they each gave Vader a hug and settled themselves into his lap. Raising a hand to his neck, Vader tugged at the pendant of japor he wore and placed it gently in Padmé's open hand. Anakin could not help the grin that spread across his face as in her sleep Padmé reflexively closed her hand around the tiny pendant.

"Is that a present for Mommy?" Luke asked as he watched Vader lean away from his mother before drawing both him and Leia tighter into his embrace.

"It is very pretty." Leia commented. However there was a frown on her face and her tone was rather glum. "But she would be happier if Daddy was here."

"I'll make sure your father is home for Christmas and that he stays for good." Vader murmured in response before placing a light kiss to the foreheads of his two children.

"Really?" Luke and Leia spoke excitedly, causing Padmé to stir restlessly in her sleep. The previous statement that "Santa could not bring back the dead," was forgotten.

Eyes twinkling with unshed tears of joy, Anakin pressed a finger to his lips to hush his young children. "I promise you." Vader whispered, before scooping his children up into his arms so he could carry them to their beds and tuck them in for the first time before he would leave to hear Obi-Wan's explanation. Although he had no desire to leave his family now that he had found them, Vader knew he had loose ends to tie up if he intended on keeping his promise to his children

No matter what Obi-Wan told him, Vader had a Christmas to save. However, it would not be a Sith that took on this rescue mission. With love and joy filling his heart, the darkness could no longer cling to the man that had been Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith. In the wake of the darkness his former self emerged. Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker had returned.