Author Note: Warning: Last chapter, and a very fluffy chapter! You have been warned!
Offices of Reetvarts Construction and Destruction
Random Office Building
Outskirts of Imperial City
Imperial Center
9 months later
Maximus Piett entered the last figure into his 'puter, began the computation, and leaned back and closed his eyes.
There would, of course, be an answer when he opened his eyes. The 'puter models for blowing up buildings were remarkably quick. But he was tired so would take a break.
Very very tired. This had been a challenging project with an insane deadline. It had involved many long days and a good working group to actually get it done only a week late.
There was a strange noise in front of him which caused Max to open his eyes and leap to his feet. Before his bewildered gaze, he saw the window to his office was now open!
He had been told, when hired by Reetvarts Construction and Destruction, that the architect of his building had designed the windows to open so that workers could get the benefit of 'fresh air and sunshine.'
Which was a total absurdity. This building wasn't that old, and smog and noxious fumes had been a way of life in this sector for many many decades.
He had never seen the windows open before. And why would one just open randomly in the middle of a steamy afternoon?
A moment later, while Max mulled away in a bewildered fashion, a black clad form suddenly flipped through the open window, revealing the familiar face of Prince Luke Skywalker.
Max leaped to his feet incredulously, "Lars!"
Then, remembering himself, he dropped to his knees and bowed his head, "My heartfelt apologies, your Highness, Prince Luke, I mean."
His head was bowed, so it was a surprise when Skywalker's face suddenly appeared in his vision. The young man had thrown himself on the floor, his arms splayed back, his expression comically tragic.
"Max, if you have any mercy in your heart, any gratitude at all toward me, get up! I am dying with all these people bowing and scraping and kowtowing to me. My sister and father are kind of used to it but arrgghhh, I wasn't meant for this! Please get up!"
Blinking in bewilderment, Max did get up. Skywalker, suddenly grinning, jumped to his feet as well.
"Uh ..." Max began hesitantly.
"You can call me Lars or Luke or Skywalker," his companion said firmly, reading his mind with unnerving ease. "Whatever seems comfortable. But not prince, not your Highness, please! We blew up a pirate base together. We were at least compatriots during a daring mission, right?"
"Right," Max agreed with a nervous smile, "Luke."
The broadening grin showed him that this had been the right move.
"So, your ... I mean Luke, what can I do for you?" Max asked, then continued as he focused in on the window. "Wait, how did you get up here? This is the third floor!"
"Climbed!" Luke responded cheerily. "And jumped. And hopped. I didn't want to come through the front door of this place because then everyone would have freaked and there would have been welcoming committees and people collapsing on the floor. It is very uncomfortable."
"I can imagine," Max responded weakly.
"So," Skywalker continued, "did you happen to hear that tomorrow Leia and I are going through some painful ceremony to become co-regents of the Empire?"
Max blinked, "Um, yes. Of course. I get the day off for the accompanying festivities."
"Great. Would you like to come to the actual ceremony? It'll be dull, but I hope quick. And then afterwards we really are having a fun party in my father's palace. I was hoping you and your mother and your sister – Raina, I think – can come as well."
The slightly younger man's eyes bugged out slightly, "You want me to come to, uh, the official ceremony. With all due respect, why?"
Luke Skywalker smiled a little as his eyes took on a faraway expression, "Max, you were a significant, if unaware, player in the circumstances that brought my father and me together. I'm grateful for that. He ... well, I'm sure you realize from my diatribe on that shuttle that he hurt me pretty badly the first time we met. I could tell on Camden that he was concerned about my well being, and his subsequent actions were very encouraging. I appreciate who you are and I appreciate what you did for our family. And my father is a big fan of your uncle as well, though he won't admit it."
There was only one thing to say.
"I would be honored, Luke."
"Ok, better show up at like, hmmm, 1030 hours? The ceremony is at 1112 hours. I'm serious. Some nutty security guy has it planned down to the minute. Crazy. Anyway, Vader's palace, front door, we'll have passes for you and your family. And your uncle Firmus Piett is coming as well, so you can come with him."
"Ok," Max said, his eyes widening. He knew this was a true honor, "Thanks ..."
His fumbling words were interrupted as his office door opened abruptly. The man walking in was the last person Max wanted to see. Pir Ramset was a gifted civil engineer but a jerk, unpleasant to those he deemed beneath him and a bootlicker to his superiors. Max was thankful every day that Ramset was not his immediate boss; Kirsella Kranst could and did dress him down when necessary, but she was efficient, firm, and fair.
"Piett," the man said gruffly, head down while he stared at his holopad. "Kranst sent me these estimates you generated on the explosives we'll need for the prison job. You've way underestim ..."
Ramset trailed off as he observed Luke standing calmly nearby.
"Who are you, and how did you get into a secure facility without a visitor badge?" he demanded in sanctimonious outrage.
"This is Prince Luke Skywalker," Max said quietly, almost feeling sorry for the man.
"Right," Ramset responded drily. "Right. I'm calling security. You know how important ..."
He trailed off as Luke floated over an Imperial ID which did, indeed, show his holo, the official Vader Imperial Crest, and (in sparkly, fancy letters) 'Prince Luke Skywalker'.
Ramset stared at the holo, which continued to hover in mid-air, then at Luke's face, then back at the holo.
His face went completely white and his body even wobbled slightly, "I am so very sorry, your Highness ..."
Skywalker lifted a hand, "It's not a problem. My father is magnificent, my sister a bright and beautiful star, and I tend to fade into the background. That's fine with me."
He turned back to Max now, "I'll let you get back to work, Max. I'll see you tomorrow, and I look forward to meeting your sister."
With one last wave, the youth casually wandered over to the open window, flipped outside, then dropped out of sight.
Max shook his head slightly. What an exit!
He turned to see Ramset staring at him with a mixture of horror and respect, "You ... you know Prince Skywalker?"
Inwardly, Maximus Piett groaned. He guessed he would be free from further bullying from this man, but being toadied wasn't much fun either.
Oh well. It would be worth it. Mom and Raina deserved a fun day out.
/-
The Padme Shrine
Sub-basement #4
Vader's Palace
Imperial City
Imperial Center
Early (really early) the next morning
Mara Jade Skywalker stepped out of the elevator and into the medium sized room which celebrated the (all too short) life of Padme Amidala Naberrie Skywalker.
The titian haired woman stood quietly in the soft light for a moment, then waddled forward confidently to where her husband sat quietly on the floor, cross legged, staring at a holo.
A holo of his mother and father.
Vader had found it in a carefully shielded memory cube in the depths of R2D2's electronic brain. It was of Anakin and Padme Skywalker on their wedding day. He was handsome, she was beautiful, and the lake sparkled behind them. It had, Mara knew, been taken at Varykino, the family's lake retreat on Naboo.
Luke reached his left hand up to clasp her right hand, drawing her to the floor even as a random pillow zoomed across the floor to land right under her.
She chuckled aloud, "I don't need coddling, Farmboy."
"Humor me," her husband said with a grin, even as his arm curled around her back to touch her (rapidly expanding) waist.
"It's good to be fat," Luke said gravely, but with a twinkle in his eye.
"It is good," she said agreeably. "I mean, it shows the baby is growing well."
She leaned against him with a sigh, closing her eyes.
"You're tired," he stated. "You should be in bed."
"I slept for three hours," she responded. "And then someone decided to start kicking my bladder so I had to get up, and I realized you were down here. I can't sleep right now anyway, so here I am."
"I'm glad."
There was a quiet pause, and then Luke began speaking.
"I know we've talked and talked about this. I see why it's a good idea, but then at night, in the middle of the night, I wonder – how does democracy fit in with Leia and me becoming the co-regents of a corrupt and ugly Empire? So then I come down at look at Mother's face. She was a Queen, though a democratically elected one. But still, she was royalty, at least for a season. So for a season, I am royalty, I guess. And then I hope we can transition away from an Empire entirely. Or you and I can open parks while Leia does the hard work of rebuilding the Republic from the ground."
"Or a kinder, gentler Empire," Mara said softly, then added with amusement, "though I'm not opening any parks, my dear. You're the regent. I'm just the good looking wife on your arm when I feel like it, and I will not feel like it about a park."
"Works for me. I love parks so long as they don't have any sand," he responded, dropping a kiss on her head, then straightening to stare at his parents again.
"It's so sad," Mara murmured softly.
Luke nodded, "It's an epic tragedy. It's so awful it's almost ridiculous. So much youth and courage and passion and love, in both of them, and he Fell and she died. She should have lived, Father should have lived to love her and raise us both, and instead ..."
"I know," she responded, pressing closer to him. "I know."
They were silent for a couple more minutes, and then Luke levered himself to his feet, "We should get back to bed."
She grabbed his hand and pulled herself up with some difficulty, and they walked toward the elevator.
"Oh, I have a new possibility for his name," Mara said with a twinkle in her eye.
"Yeah?"
"I like 'Jar Jar.'"
Her husband shot her a horrified look, "No, just no!"
/-
Darth Vader's office
Darth Vader's palace
Imperial City
Imperial Center
"To the Skywalker dynasty," Commander Rex intoned, lifting a glass of Corellian ale.
"To the dynasty!" Ahsoka Tano responded with a grin at her former master, even as she downed her own drink of Shili beer.
Darth Vader grimaced openly, which was now possible since medical improvements allowed him to function without his heavy mask when he wasn't striding around vigorously or fighting.
The oxygen tube clipped on his nose was nothing compared to that stupid mask.
"If you so much as breathe that phrase in front of my children ..." he began.
"You'll kill us?" Tano asked mischievously.
"No, but Leia might," Vader responded, even as he smiled slightly.
Tano smiled back, "Lucky for us, she's tucked away in bed sleeping like a sensible woman."
"Luke's still awake, though," Vader said softly.
Tano nodded, looking grave, "He's a little stressed about the regency. But really, that's a good thing. He's taking it seriously, as is Leia. You've got a couple of great kids, Skyguy."
"I know."
Vader's eyes watered slightly, also a possibility now since his tear ducts had been partially repaired. He lifted his hand and the bottle of Corellian ale nestled in the crook of Rex's arm suddenly lifted and floated toward him.
Then stopped.
"What are you doing, Snips?" Vader demanded in a dangerous tone.
"I'm taking away that ale," she responded firmly, "maudlin Sith Lords should not drink ale in the middle of the night. It just leads to Bad Things."
"I'm not maudlin."
"You are completely maudlin, sir," Rex said, standing up and retrieving the ale from the air where it was suspended between the two Force users. Vader, rather sullenly, allowed him to take it. "I don't blame you. There's a lot going on, a lot of changes. Mostly for the good. But we all have our sorrows from the past, our own losses. The Clone Wars took their toll on all of us, and the last 25 years haven't been easy either."
Vader felt his eyes welling up again at the old clone's words.
Padme ... he had furiously repressed thoughts of her for 25 years and now a hundred memories flooded his mind daily of her, when he looked into his daughter's face, when his son's expression mirrored hers.
Yes, he was definitely maudlin.
"Here, Master," Tano said gently, pressing a glass into his hand.
"Blue milk?" he demanded without much indignation.
"Soothing and non-alcoholic," Ahsoka said firmly.
He sipped it, then sipped more, finding it strangely comforting.
/-
Han and Leia Solo's apartment
Imperial Palace
Leia Organa Solo woke up briefly and placed a careful arm around her husband, who was sleeping soundly.
Why was she awake?
She sent out a tendril towards Luke. He was in bed but not yet asleep. She sent out a gentle thought and he reassured her, wordlessly, that all was well. She knew he was stressed about becoming a co-regent. She also knew he'd do a fabulous job. He was far calmer and more patient than she was, truth be told.
He disliked politics, but she would carry as much of the burden as possible of attending irritating meetings.
She stretched out to her father more carefully, shielding her presence. Tomorrow (today, really) was a huge step for him, to relinquish day to day control of the Imperial government to his twin children. He was sad, as he had been so often lately, but not angry.
Which was all to the good. He was trying so hard and had changed so much, but there was still darkness intermingled with light. She was no longer afraid of him, exactly, but she was definitely still cautious.
Last of all, she focused on the small presence inside of her, the beating heart of her child, of Han's child, only 8 weeks gestation. She smiled slightly. The little person made her tired and sick and crabby but she was worth it.
She was pretty sure it was a she.
Leia drifted back to sleep.
/-
Vader's Palace
Main floor
1300 hours
"I am so thankful that is over!" Luke commented.
"Stop whining," Leia responded.
"Your brother is not whining, he is merely expressing his horror at the boredom that is all political ceremonies," Vader chimed in.
"I'm with Luke and Vader on this one," Mara agreed. "Give me a knock down drag out fight in a slimy pudding bar over all that formality."
"I thought you used to attend ceremonies like that as undercover security for Old Wrinkles," Leia stated.
"I did. It was boring. I hated it."
"You're talking telepathically, aren't you?" Han asked aloud as he curled an arm around his wife.
"Yes, sorry," Leia said, smiling brightly and vaguely at the masses of excited citizens who were strolling around the main floor of Vader's palace.
"It's Ok."
In a large patio on one side of the palace, Luke and Mara watched with amusement as a variety of children, including Raina Piett, wandered about with wide eyes and excited chatter at the small temporary zoo in residence. Neither Skywalker knew much about small children, but several members of the Alliance with small children had told them that kids liked bugs, snakes, and small furry things.
So far, the piranha beetles were attracting the most fascinated horror, and the baby shaaks the most enthusiasm. The shaaks were also generating a fair amount of mess and smell, and C-3P0 was muttering away semi-hysterically, but it could be cleaned up later.
On a balcony above, Darth Vader, clad in armor and helmet, stood alone and forbidding as the masses of people invaded his palace. It was weird and not entirely wonderful for children and families to be present in this usually barren building, but he found himself surprisingly at peace.
Because of the children, and their spouses, and compatriots, and even hesitant frenemies.
In an alcove below and to his right, the former Baron Lando Calrissian of Cloud City was schmoozing with a couple of female members of the Trade Conglomerate.
To his left, General Maximilian Veers and his son Zevulon were sharing a cautious drink together, both with supporters at their sides. He recognized, vaguely, Wedge Antilles, a noted Rebel, who was standing at Zevulon Veers's side. General Veers had Admiral Piett standing nearby, providing a soothing presence.
Directly in front of him, Leia and her smuggler husband were holding gracious court with a series of politicians from both the Alliance and Rebellion. Leia said something to the crowd and all nodded, even as she raised her eyes to briefly meet his own.
She smiled, so much like her mother's smile, and his heart broke (again.)
He had violated the laws of man and alien and torn the galaxy apart. He deserved death, or at least imprisonment and dismemberment, and yet he was the official Emperor of the galaxy though he was laying down his right to govern in favor of his far more worthy children. It was hardly fair.
"I don't think life is fair, Father," Luke commented suddenly, making Vader aware that he wasn't shielding well.
"I should be in prison, my son."
"You know we've talked about this at length," the responding voice stated fondly. "Even Alliance High Command agrees that you are the necessary figurehead during this season while Empire and Alliance work together to form a new, healthier, kinder, better, government. And I love you, we love you. Just accept forgiveness and grace, please."
Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and sighed.
He would.
The End
(Unless I think of a good Epilogue.) That does sometimes happen ...
