Dagobah

In front of Yoda's hut

In a light mist

The next morning

Master Yoda sat on the ground gazing gravely at his two padawans, who were seated cross legged, side by side, less than a meter away. They were both dressed in simple brown shirts and pants and practical boots, and both gazed back at him with sincere eyes. The Master shook his head slightly, in amazement. Such incredible power, combined with a lack of knowledge about the Force which would have been a cause of embarrassment before the Dark Times.

He focused in on the twins, touching their Force presences. The boy Luke had at least a little training and familiarity with the Force whereas the girl, the young princess Leia, clearly could not touch it at will. But she was strong. As strong as her brother.

Beside them, 5 meters away, stood the hulking form of their father, Lord Darth Vader, arms folded, staring at the scene unfolding before him.

It was hardly the perfect setting to train these two young people, but Yoda would make do, as he had 'made do' since he had gone into exile on Dagobah 20 years earlier.

Luke gazed at the diminutive Jedi even as he fought to relax himself. He had been able to achieve Force assisted calm over the past few months on occasion, but Vader's Presence was a constant prickle in his mind now. Luke tried to block his father's emotions out, but it was difficult. The Dark Lord was definitely on edge today, which was far from ideal for the beginning of their training.

Master Yoda began speaking, "The power of the Jedi flows from the light side of the Force. Anger, fear, aggression – the Dark Side are they. A Jedi acts for all out of care and compassion …"

There was a sudden surge of wrath, felt even by Leia. Luke and Leia leaped to their feet even as the red lightsaber ignited and Vader stepped forward, rigid with rage.

"Oh yes, I know of your vaunted compassion and care, Master Jedi," he snarled, "You cared so much for the young Anakin Skywalker that you advised him to let his beloved wife die!"

Leia gasped, even as Luke stepped forward boldly, interposing his figure between the hulking Dark Lord and the diminutive Jedi Master.

"Father, regardless of what Master Yoda said or didn't say, you will not kill him now, not unless you are prepared to kill me first!"

Leia sidled close to her brother and peered at their enraged sire with wide eyes. On the Death Star, he had been brutal and ruthless but cold, cold as ice. Now, he was a cauldron of intense heat, of rage, of fire. How could this murderous behemoth have cared so much for their mother Padme …?

Vader froze abruptly, his sudden burst of murderous rage warring with his powerful desire to protect his children. Yes, he could push the twins aside with the Force, but when Master Yoda moved to defend and attack, the children could be, probably would be, injured.

He forced himself to turn away and stormed toward the shuttle, slashing at trees with his lightsaber. That was not enough to mitigate his wrath, so with one outstretched hand he pulled out a medium sized tree by the roots and hurled it in the air.

Away from his children.

Leia, Luke, and Yoda stared after Vader, Yoda muttering disconsolately.

Leia linked her arm into her brother's and leaned against him with a sigh, "I don't know what that tree ever did to him …"

Luke returned the sigh and leaned his head against her own.

For a long moment, they stood silent together, seeking calm.

Luke straightened again and said with determination, "I'm going to go talk to him."

"I believe that to be unwise, Luke," Obi-wan said, appearing suddenly next to a tangled mass of green and brown roots, "He is clearly out of control."

Luke looked stubborn, "Well, he went from semi-calm to ferocious in about 1 second flat. We can't train if we're constantly worrying he is going to lose his mind over some statement of Master Yoda's. So I'm going to talk to him. Leia, why don't you work with the Master while I do since you haven't even had the minimal amount of training that I have."

"Go with you, I will," Master Yoda said creakily, but firmly.

Luke looked uneasy, "Master Yoda …"

"Things to say to him, I must. Erred, I did, when speaking with him of his visions of your mother's death."

Luke and Leia exchanged startled glances, and Leia closed her eyes briefly. Had Yoda really told their father to let Padme die?

/-

"You need to calm down, Anakin," Jinn said, appearing suddenly next to the shuttle.

Vader slashed at the glowing form, then slashed again and again. If Jinn had been a corporeal, he would have been cut into at least 2 dozen pieces.

As it was, he disappeared briefly, until Vader had spent some of his anger, and then reappeared.

"Um, I'm a ghost, Anakin," Jinn said patiently, "You can't cut me in pieces."

"He told me to let Padme die, to rejoice in her death, to train myself not to miss her, to willingly give her up. I couldn't do that, Jinn. I shouldn't have been told to do that. He sentenced her to death with his words …"

"Knew, I did not, that your wife you spoke of, Vader," Yoda's throaty voice said suddenly.

Vader spun around, startled. He had been so focused on his rage and anguish that he had missed Yoda's approach. And why was Yoda's voice high up …?

The Dark Lord's damaged teeth clenched together. Master Yoda was riding on Luke's shoulder. There was no way he could kill the old troll right now.

"Father," Luke said gently, "Please listen."

Leia, who was following behind, stepped up next to her brother, lifting her chin with determination. But underneath, Vader sensed real fear.

In a moment, the memories of the Death Star flooded his mind. He had harmed Leia, tortured her, terrorized her. What was he doing, giving way to his rage like this?

He forced himself to lower his sword hand, to turn off the saber, to hang it at his waist.

He lifted his head and stared at Yoda.

"Very well," he grated out, "I am listening."

Yoda's ears lowered even as his voice grew sorrowful, "Thought, I did, that of another Jedi you spoke of. A war we fought, a war with loss, with destruction, with death. Many lives were lost for, we believed, good cause. If known I had that you spoke of the Senator, your wife, different advice I would have given."

"And what," the Sith growled in return, "Would you have done if I had told you that it was my wife whose death I dreamed of, that I was married? Attachment was forbidden to the Jedi, marriage even more so. What would you have done, Mighty Master Yoda?"

The elf kept his eyes fixed on Vader's eye plates even as his face drooped, "Expelled you from the Order, we would. Yes. Your attachment a weakness it was. Known, I would have, that attached you were and unable to release her you would be."

Vader's fists tightened as he took a menacing step forward, "I was never weak, Yoda. Never. Your vaunted Jedi Order fell through my power, and the power of my Sith Master, and yet you call me weak …"

"Lord Vader," Leia interposed suddenly, stepping forward.

Once again, he reined in his anger, with even more difficulty this time, and looked at his daughter.

Her eyes narrowed and she tilted her head slightly toward Yoda, "Master Yoda and I touched on the attachment issue in our conversation last night. I believe the code's refusal to allow personal attachment was wrong, and foolish, and misguided. Perhaps a relic of an earlier age which needed to be updated, or cast aside. Nevertheless, it was the rule. Your marriage was forbidden. Both you and our mother must have known that your decision could have consequences. I do not understand what would have happened if you had left the Jedi Order, and the ramifications politically and socially. I understand they could have been difficult. Nevertheless, you must have realized you might need to face those consequences when you chose to marry. Did you really imagine that it could be kept secret forever, especially when our mother bore your children?"

Kenobi's voice suddenly spoke, "The situation was even more complex than that, Princess. To be blunt, we needed your father."

Luke, Leia, and Vader turned toward Kenobi, who was now a glowing form next to Jinn.

"Needed him?" Luke asked.

Kenobi stepped forward and fixed his grave eyes on the tall Sith Lord, "Indeed. We had lost many Jedi during the Clone Wars. Your father was one of the most powerful Jedi of his day, a brave warrior, a loyal leader and friend to the Clone armies he led. Anakin was pulled intolerably between his love for your mother and his loyalty to the Order and the clones. When the crisis came, he chose the Dark Side in an attempt to save Padme."

"Where were you during this time, Ben?" Luke asked softly.

The specter shook his head slowly, "I had been sent away to fight General Grievous, the leader of the Separatists. In retrospect, I believe Palpatine planned this carefully, ensuring that I would be far away when Anakin's struggles reached their full intensity."

"And what did our mother think of the burgeoning crisis?" Leia demanded.

"That too, was a factor," Kenobi said gravely, "She was not an especially high ranking senator but …"

"But she had more political acumen in her little finger than most of those senators had in their entire bodies," Vader interrupted, his voice passionate even through the vocoder, "She was a force in the Senate and even Palpatine respected her. It was devastating to her that her political career would be ruined over the Order's strident and foolish rules against attachment …"

"A force in the Senate?" Leia interrupted, her voice raised, "She was a force for democracy, Lord Vader, for democracy! For representation for all, human and alien alike! And what have you done, Lord Darth Vader, but to systematically dismantle every pretense of democracy across the galaxy, to support through your great power a most vicious, arrogant, and cruel despot! You are the epitome of everything that Padme Amidala abhorred …"

"Stop it, both of you," Luke said suddenly.

He had sensed a sudden reeling in the Force even as the old Jedi on his shoulder suddenly slumped against him.

Quickly, he lifted Yoda off his shoulder and dropped to the ground, placing a supporting arm around the old Jedi.

"Master Yoda, what's wrong?" he demanded worriedly.

The Jedi's green skin seemed slightly pale, and he was breathing more heavily than usual.

"Shield … I cannot … when such anger your sister has along with your father. Sidious … Sidious will sense you all."

Leia suddenly felt like she had been dipped in an icy pond. Her anger vanished immediately, to be replaced with contrition. To antagonize Vader was to invite destruction, if not immediately, almost certainly long term. She was better than this.

She turned quickly to the Jedi Master and bowed her head, "Forgive me, Master Yoda."

Vader too, was taken aback, even felt a twinge of shame. He had brought the children to Dagobah to keep them safe against Sidious. He must not lose his temper so quickly and easily with the old troll.

There was a moment of silence, and then Vader turned on his heel and marched into the shuttle. He needed time to contemplate.

To his surprise and concern, Luke followed him up the ramp.

In the main chamber of the shuttle, Vader turned and looked hesitantly at his son. Luke looked back at him, not, to his surprise, with anger or disappointment, but with compassion.

The silence threatened to lengthen too long when Luke turned away and paced over to one of the windows which looked outside.

"I assume you know, Father," Luke began, then swallowed hard before continuing, "That the day after we purchased the droids with the Death Star plans, I came home to find the only home I had ever known burned to the ground. In front of our main dwelling were … were the smoking skeletons of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru."

He turned now, turned and looked directly into his sire's eyes (even Yoda couldn't do that!).

"So I think perhaps I do understand, a little, how you felt about our mother's death. I was heartbroken when I lost my aunt and uncle, but I was also angry. If I could have been there, if I had been powerful enough, I would have butchered the squad of Stormtroopers who murdered my relatives. If I had had visions of their deaths, I would have tried to save them, though I hope I would not have committed atrocities to do so, nor turned my back on all the beliefs I hold dear."

Vader forced himself to overlook the obvious criticism, stepped forward, and placed a gentle hand on his son's shoulder, "I regret the deaths of your aunt and uncle, Luke."

"Thank you," Luke said, lifting a quick hand to dash away a tear, "They were good people."

It occurred to Vader, for the first time, that both his children had lost their adoptive parental figures within days of one another; Luke, to marauding stormtroopers in search of the Death Star plans, Leia to the destruction of Alderaan by the Death Star.

Again, a pause, before Luke spoke again, "Obviously you are angry at Yoda, and Leia is angry at you, and we're likely going to experience some catastrophe if the situation doesn't calm down. I don't understand the 'shielding' that Master Yoda spoke of. Can you explain it to me?"

Vader sighed and walked over to his own personal (large) chair in the main cabin area, sinking into it with surprising grace for a 2 meter tall cyborg.

After a moment, he spoke, "A strong, trained Force sensitive, like Sidious, like me, like Master Yoda, can sense other individuals through the Force. In some cases, the bond between individuals will allow a trained Jedi or Sith to track down, to locate, someone far away, even in another quadrant of the galaxy. Palpatine, also known as Darth Sidious, is extremely powerful. Furthermore, I am his servant, pledged to obey him, and thus we are bonded together through the Force. Master Yoda is currently shielding me from Sidious, and you and your sister as well. You are not bonded to Palpatine in any way, but your great power in the Force makes you more noticeable than a Force blind individual."

He hesitated and reached out. He had noted before, but observed now with a mixture of fascination and incredulity that the bond between himself and Sidious was indeed 'frozen' at the moment. It was there, but inactive.

Master Yoda, even in his old age, still had a few tricks up his ragged sleeves.

"So as long as Master Yoda can shield us, the Emperor won't be able to find us?"

"That is correct, my son," Vader said heavily, "Though I fear that the old gnome will have trouble maintaining the effort of providing cover. I confess that my anger against him is great, and as you said, your sister has great hatred of me, for every legitimate reason. And the bond, as I said, is strong because Sidious is my master, which means it will be easier for him to follow the strands through the shifting streams of the Force to find me."

Luke quirked a curious eyebrow, "So this bond, does it last forever?"

Vader shook his head, "No, it does not. Generally it ends when one of the sentients in the bond dies, though Kenobi managed to bypass that general rule when he succeeded in incorporating from Beyond. Our bond is certainly weaker, far weaker, than when he was my master and I, his padawan. When I pledged myself to Sidious, my bond with Kenobi greatly diminished."

Luke nodded and took a step closer to his seated father. It was, Vader thought to himself, pleasant to see his boy at eye level.

"So can you break the bond with Sidious to make it easier for Master Yoda to shield us?" Luke asked innocently.

Vader blinked his eyes. And blinked again.

Break the bond.

With Sidious.

Just like that?

"No, my son," he said with rare patience, "It would not be an easy matter, perhaps even an impossible achievement. Furthermore, I do not know … what it would do to me. I have lived in Darkness for more than 20 years, and I have been tethered to Sidious for your entire lifetime, my son."

Luke actually rolled his eyes before reaching out a hand and touching his father's armored right arm, "I didn't ask if it would be easy, Father. I asked if it was possible. Bluntly, nothing with you seems to be easy. If you could break the bond … well, I would be happier and more hopeful about this whole training thing if I was more confident Master Yoda could keep Palpatine and his fleet from suddenly descending on Dagobah and blowing us up. And you being spiritually and emotionally and weirdly bonded to an even more vicious and sneaky Sith Lord does not inspire much confidence."

Vader stared at his son incredulously. Rolling eyes? Sarcasm? When was the last time he had put up with something like this?

The hand tightened just a little, and Vader felt a surge of warmth that was emotional, not physical, surge through his body. His son was so close physically, far closer than most men ever dared to approach him. So optimistic. So brave to speak what he believed to be true. So obviously caring of his dark father.

Break the bond with Sidious? What would it do to him physically and emotionally?

He did not know, but Luke obviously wanted him to try.

"I will consider the possibility, Luke. Now go, continue your training with Master Yoda while I meditate."

Author Note: I want to thank my wonderful husband again for faithfully editing this fanfic. And thanks again to all of you who are reading, following, and reviewing.