Next chapter...

Sorry for all the delays. I'm afraid this holiday season was even crazier than normal. A trip to Disney, plus spliting the hols between recently divorced parents for the first time. *sighs* No excuses though, I'm going to upload as many chapters as possible tonight. Enjoy!

Also, if you have read this, but not my Star Wars fic "Legacy" please check it out, and feel free to suggest improvments and characters. Thanks!

Nine

Padmé Amidala-Skywalker wandered aimlessly through the wide, pristine corridors of Kamino Base, completely immersed in thought. She didn't know where she was walking, nor did she care that it was the middle of the night, local time; she let her feet guide her where they may. All that she cared about was unraveling her tangled thoughts.

Padmé had done her best to hide her emotions while she was with Luke, Leia, and Han, but from the way Luke had been staring at her, she didn't think he had been fooled. Padmé grinned, slightly. She of all people should have known how hard it was to deceive a fully trained Jedi such as her son and husband.

The smile dropped from Padmé's face as she thought of Anakin. She had dared to hope that he was still alive, thinking that, somehow, Obi-wan had been mistaken, but no. The uncomfortable expression on both Luke and Leia's faces when she brought up the subject was more than enough confirmation for Padmé.

Anakin was dead. There was no doubt.

As much as she could try to be strong for her children, the shock of what they had told her was starting to get to her. While she had been encased in a stasis unit for exactly twenty years, the galaxy had changed beyond recognition. There had still been democracy when she had been suspended, albeit only a modicum. Now, the Senate had been disbanded, and the galaxy was truly ruled by terror.

At least my children are trying to fight back, she thought, sighing heavily. And that Solo, too. He's such a nice man.

As lost in thought as she was, Padmé didn't notice where her wanderings had led her. Stepping boldly into a new corridor, her train of thought crashed at the sight of her son.

He was meditating, but not in a way that Padmé had ever seen before. He was sitting in the standard crossed-leg position, but he was levitating several centimeters above the ground—as was everything with in a five-meter radius. Dressed as he was in a sleeveless sleep tunic, the polished metal of his mechanical arm gleamed blatantly, making his resemblance to Anakin all the more striking. Padmé was very careful not to disturb him, and began to sneak away as quietly as she could.

"Hello, Mother," Luke said calmly, though nothing at all changed in his appearance. Padmé swore mentally at failing in her attempt to get away unnoticed, and judging by the little smirk that lit up Luke's face, he had heard it. Luke finally opened his eyes, eerily glowing in the soft light. "Would you like to join me?"

"Alright," Padmé said softly, settling herself on the floor beside her son. To her surprise, she found herself rising up to Luke's level, and she let out a little laugh. "I'd forgotten Jedi could do that."

Luke smiled, and closed his eyes again, gently setting Artoo and several storage containers back down on the floor. Padmé felt Luke's presence brush up against her mind momentarily, washing her with love and affection before leaving her and looking somewhere else. Frowning suddenly, Luke pulled out of the meditation and looked back at his mother. "Is something troubling you?"

"In a way," Padmé admitted, trying to keep her thoughts light, though a slight frown creased her forehead nonetheless. Yes, something was definitely 'troubling her', as Luke so delicately put it, and she didn't need to even look at her emotions to know what they were. Or whom they were for. With a sigh, she gave in.

"Luke?" she asked, long-repressed tears finally welling up in her eyes. "What happened to Anakin? How did he die?"

Luke stared at her for a long moment before his gaze dropped back down to his quite-obvious cybernetic hand.

"He didn't."

Hope and ecstasy flooded Padmé's mind as she took in her son's words.

"Where is he? Why isn't he with you?" Why did Obi-wan tell me he was dead?

Luke looked up at her then, his eyes shining with unshed tears of pain and betrayal, his jaw set in a hard line that suggested he was aged far beyond his years.

The words he spoke shook Padmé to her core.

"Do you really want to know?"

What is this secret that everyone is keeping from me? Why am I being kept in the dark?

"Of course I want to know!" Padmé exploded angrily, jumping to her feet and glaring down at her son. "He is my husband! I am his wife, for Force sakes! I want to know what happened to my Anakin!"

Luke looked up at her, the expression on his face stopping her cold. Are those tears? Is my son crying? Ani, what have you done to get such a reaction from your own son?

Luke heard the last thought, apparently, because he looked down and answered for his father.

"He turned."

No... Obi-wan had said changed, not turned! Anakin, how could you?

"Tell me," she demanded. "Tell me everything right now. Don't leave anything out. I want to know it all." Luke looked up at her.

"I'll ask again: Do you really want to know?"

To Padmé, it seemed that what he was really asking was, 'Do I really have to tell you? Do I really have to say it aloud?'

Padmé didn't answer. The look on her face was answer enough for her son.

"Sit down," he said, indicating the floor beside him as he visibly braced himself for the story. "I'll tell you."

"Everything," Padmé said, more of an order than a request. Luke nodded.

"Everything."