Kylo walks in the bedroom and catches Rey looking at her profile in the bathroom mirror as slowly she smooths her nightgown over her belly. She has a small quiet smile on her face and it takes his breath away. For there is something ethereal about that smile. That is the look of love, he decides. And it's beautiful. The ancient trope of Madonna and child no longer seems cliché to him now that Kylo has seen it in real life. Here is the family she has always wanted and he didn't know he needed. And it's so improbable that it must be destiny.

Rey purses her lips a moment and then looks up. "Do I look bigger to you?"

Now, how does he answer that question? Is that a 'do I look fat' question or an 'I am proud to be pregnant' question? Kylo settles for kissing her instead. "You look perfect."

"You're back late," she turns to smile at him. Rey reaches up to unbutton his surcoat and ease it off his tired shoulders. He loves it when she undresses him at the end of the day. It's part wife, part mother, part lover. And it's pure comfort.

He sits down heavily on the bed and starts kicking off his boots. "We dropped Nestor off at Coruscant on the way back. It cost us an extra hour. Did you eat dinner?"

"Yes. Did you?"

"I ate on the shuttle."

Now she's standing in front of Kylo as she unbuttons his tunic at the shoulder. He can't help it. His hands automatically find her waist and reach around to caress the child she carries. His son. Kylo leans in impulsively to kiss her belly and to savor the feel of his child in the Force.

"How's he doing?" he asks. They still don't have a name picked out.

"Kicking, I think. I just started feeling big kicks this week." Rey peels his tunic off his shoulders and crosses the room to lay it and the surcoat over a chair. "I think I saw him today in a vision. Or maybe it was a dream. I'm not sure. I took a nap before class today and that's when it happened." Rey is grinning as she turns back to him. "Our son looks just like you." She leans back against the chair, watching him finish undressing. "He was practicing with my lightsaber."

"Just like me?" That piques his interest. Kylo has imagined many things about his son's future, but he hasn't concerned himself with what the boy will look like.

"Yes. It was just like seeing you, only as a child. At first, I wondered if I were seeing your past and not our son's future. But then I saw the saber hilt and recognized that it was the one Snoke gave me."

"Tell me more."

"No," Rey beckons him over with a smile. "Come. Get in my head and I'll show you more."

This, he cannot resist. Kylo crosses to stand before her and places his hands on her face. Rey blinks once and he is in. Their mental connection has become effortless from frequent use, and her mind is a familiar place for him. He sees her vision now as clearly as she had—a boy with dark eyes and shaggy dark hair. Lanky, like himself, with an angular face. The boy is alone practicing with Rey's lightsaber and a remote.

"He does look like me." Kylo is pleased at this. "A lot like me."

"Watch him. It's not so much how he looks, but how he moves that reminds me so strongly of you. He has your grace."

"Who's training this kid? He has lousy footwork."

Rey laughs. "He gets that from me. And he's ten? Maybe eleven? There's plenty of time for you to teach him his skills."

"And look at that swing—it's from the elbow and not from the shoulder. There's no power behind it at all," Kylo complains. "But you're right-he does look like me," Kylo repeats softly as he concentrates to study the boy closer. The boy's hair keeps falling in his eyes as he moves. He is dressed simply in a worn and faded tunic and pants and boots that have seen better days. That is odd. Their son doesn't look like the heir to the First Order. He looks very ordinary. Shabby, even. Suddenly, the boy shuts off the sword and calls the remote to his hand with the Force and stuffs it furtively in his tunic. The boy looks around warily. Like he is afraid to be caught doing what he's doing. "Is there more?"

"No, that's it. But isn't he wonderful?"

Kylo breaks their connection and slants Rey a glance. "He needs a name. Have you thought more about a name?" Choosing a name for their son is no small task, since one day the boy will rule. Rey is little help in the matter. She likes most every name, while he prefers to be more discerning.

"You name him," Rey yawns as she pulls back the covers and crawls into bed. "Anything you wish. But no Sith names. You are not naming our boy Darth Vader Jr."

"It's a family name," Kylo protests with a mischievous smile as he slides into bed beside her. "But you are right," he reflects in all seriousness. "It would be too much pressure for the boy. There can only be one Darth Vader."

"You know that's not what I meant," Rey pokes at him playfully with her elbow.

"But it's true. And besides, our kid will need to earn his Sith title just like I will. How about calling him Kylo?"

"If you end up ruling the galaxy, you're already going to cast a long shadow over our boy," she reasons slowly. "But if that's what you want, it's fine by me."

"Yeah," he muses. "I suppose it's like Darth Vader. There can only be one Kylo Ren." She chuckles at this and he pulls her close. This time, he has been a week away to war. It might have been longer but Hux's new strategy had evolved into wholesale slaughter, and Kylo had grown bored. Massacre does not require his talents. That is a job for stormtroopers. "I wonder what it will be like for a boy to grow up on a star destroyer."

"A lot nicer than growing up in a downed AT-AT on Jakku," Rey points out. "And your son will be treated like a prince here."

"He will be a prince," Kylo corrects her. "Still, this is not an ideal place for a baby," he observes. "We are at war."

"That's nothing new." Rey yawns again. The baby makes her perpetually tired. He wishes she would cut back to only a few days a week in the hangar bay. Rey could use more rest. She gives a little shrug and reminds him that "The galaxy has been at war on and off since the Old Republic."

He considers this, then sits up and stretches out his hand. "That reminds me. I have something to show you." A small electronic gadget flies across the room from his surcoat pocket and into his open palm. "Here," he hands it to Rey. "I watched it again today and she reminded me of you."

"What is it?" Rey turns it over in her palm. Her fingers trace over ornate scrollwork. "It's pretty. And it's old." Rey depresses a button and the gadget produces a moment of static. Then a hologram message appears.

It is a beautiful young woman dressed in pale blue satin. The woman's shoulders are bare but dripping with ornate beading, and her hair is a mass of intricate brown ringlets. It looks like she is standing in a bedroom or someplace private. Her smile beams out at the viewer.

Ani, I have news. The Queen knows and she has agreed that I can continue to serve in the Senate. I did not reveal who you are. I only told her that I am married to the father of my child, and that there is no cause for embarrassment to the Royal House from my pregnancy. I didn't tell her it was twins. The Queen was very gracious. She said that in light of my service to Naboo she would respect my privacy and not ask any further questions and that in her mind the matter is closed.

Isn't that wonderful? I'm so relieved, Ani. So relieved.

Chancellor Palpatine intervened for us, I'm sure. He very much wants me to remain in the Senate as his supporter. Ani, we will find a way. I know we will. We will find a way to raise our family together. This will work out in the end somehow. We just need to be patient.

The woman stops speaking and half-turns to look over her shoulder, as if fearing she will be overheard. When her body turns, it is clear that she is heavily pregnant.

I have to go now, Ani. I love you. I will be waiting for you. Oh, and think about Luke for the boy's name. I like Luke. But I can't decide between Bail or Luke.

Then the image freezes and the recording ends.

"Luke." Rey says the name aloud. She is silent for a long moment. Then she asks, "Who is she? She's beautiful."

"Padme Amidala Naberrie Skywalker."

"Skywalker?" Rey echoes, raising her eyebrows and turning to look at him.

"She is Lady Vader. My grandmother. She was a Senator of the Old Republic and the one-time Queen of Naboo. And for years, she was the secret wife of Anakin Skywalker."

"So Darth Vader was Ani to his wife." Rey sits up and turns the holo-projector over in her palm. She looks over at Kylo. "But I thought Emperor Palpatine was the Senator from Naboo."

Kylo nods, sitting up beside her. "Palpatine was the senior Senator and my grandmother was the junior Senator. They worked together. My grandmother led the movement to oust Chancellor Valorum and to elect Palpatine as Supreme Chancellor. Later, she was part of the Loyalist Committee of the Senate to support Palpatine. As the Clone Wars ripped apart the Republic, my grandparents built the foundations of the Empire together with Palpatine. Only my grandmother did not live to see it."

"Do you know what happened to her?" Rey wants to know. She's heard the Skywalker family history from Master Luke, but he had been vague on this point.

"She died shortly after my mother and uncle were born. It's not clear how she died. Even Vader never knew. I found files showing that he spent over a year investigating her death." It frustrates Kylo that this part of the Skywalker family history is lost to time. Kenobi must have known, but he had not shared all of his secrets with his uncle. And, as far as Kylo is concerned, that just suggests the logical conclusion: that Ben Kenobi had played a part in his grandmother's death. Since the wily old Jedi had lied about Darth Vader, why wouldn't he also lie about Lady Vader?

"All Vader learned was that a lone Jedi dumped her body at a mortuary on Naboo and informed her family of her death. Naboo gave her a state funeral, but none of the media reports explained her cause of death. There were published rumors that she had been a suicide, but my grandfather clearly didn't believe that."

Kylo glances over to Rey. "I think you know the rest. Vader was led to believe that the children had died with my grandmother. But in reality, the Jedi stole the children away for revenge. Kenobi took my uncle to the Outer Rim to obscurity to be trained as a Jedi so he could one day kill his father. The Alderaan royal family adopted my mother and the Organas filled her head with Rebellion propaganda. My mother was raised to hate the Empire and to hate her real father."

Rey depresses a button and the recording plays again. Kylo watches her watching the recording. Her interest pleases him. Together they sit in silence, watching it play through to the end.

"She truly loved Vader. It wasn't just words. Look, you can see it in her eyes." Rey is staring at the final image, a frozen snapshot of his long dead grandmother. "Jedi aren't supposed to marry. Especially back then. How long did they hide this?"

"For years. Vader married her in secret at the start of the Clone Wars when he was still a Padawan. I found the records on Naboo. He would have been expelled from the Jedi Order if the marriage had been made public." Kylo frowns. "I'm not sure the Jedi ever knew that my grandparents were actually married. My uncle tells the story as if it were a sordid affair. As if it were one more transgression against the Jedi Code on the way to the Dark Side." Kylo shakes his head in disdain. "That's not true. And it's disrespectful to the memory of my grandparents. They lived a lie for years. They must have valued the commitment of marriage to take that risk. They both had a lot to lose."

Rey nods. "People sometimes take great risks for love," she says softly.

"I think Palpatine must have introduced my grandparents. He was a mentor to my grandfather from an early age after the Jedi bought him from slavery. Snoke had his Apprentice working in public life right in plain view of the Jedi Council. In those days, the Sith walked freely everywhere in disguise."

"Wait—Vader was a slave?" Rey wants to know.

"Yes." Ren smiles at her reaction. Vader's humble beginnings only serve to make his remarkable achievements that much more impressive. His grandfather had been an exceptional Sith. "When he was about age ten, Anakin Skywalker was sold to a Jedi who passed through Tatooine. That's how he ended up a Jedi."

Rey is still digesting what she had heard. "So Darth Vader rose from slavery to rule the Empire with Palpatine? Master Luke didn't tell me that."

"Yes. It was quite a life." Kylo puts an arm around his wife and pulls her closer. He plays the recording a third time. He has watched this recording many times, and every time he wonders at the secret, personal history it reveals. Three people had built the Empire, even if the history books only recognize two. His grandfather's vision had been a joint project with his wife. One day, he and Rey will do the same with the First Order. Their son will draw her in. His wife might not be willing to support the First Order now, but when the time is right she will be persuaded to build a future for their son. It will be easier to convince her once the war is over and the Resistance is no more.

"The Jedi took everything from Vader," he tells Rey ruefully. It was a terrible revenge that scars his family still today. "Kenobi was my grandfather's best friend. Supposedly, they were like brothers. But Kenobi ruined his body, probably murdered his wife, and stole his children to raise them to hate him. It wasn't supposed to be that way. The Skywalkers were united for a common future in the Empire. Vader wanted to rule with his family at his side, and years later he even offered that to my uncle. Snoke too approached my uncle on Vader's behalf. But instead, my uncle brought down the Empire and destroyed his father's life's work. Kenobi's revenge was complete, and it has plunged the galaxy into chaos for over thirty years."

"Master Luke didn't tell me all of this. His version is uh . . . different. And he never told me that Snoke knew Vader."

"Luke Skywalker refuses to admit to our family's connection to Snoke. And my uncle is an apologist for the Jedi, of course. My uncle and my mother don't see the irony of their commitment to rebuilding the Jedi Order. They should hate the Jedi for their actions. The Jedi tore my family apart." Kylo can't keep the disgust from his voice. "Instead, they named me in honor of Ben Kenobi." He flips off the recording and places the holo-projector on the bedside table. "There is a great deal more to Darth Vader than what is common knowledge."

"How do you know all of this?" Rey wants to know. "Did Snoke tell you?"

"Yes, some of it." Kylo lays back and pulls her down into his arms. "I already knew a lot about Anakin Skywalker from studying the Clone Wars for years. But when I was sixteen, my Master sent me on a quest to discover all I could about my grandfather. There are thousands of media reports in the Old Republic and Imperial archives. And Snoke himself kept files and even at times surveillance on Vader. But twenty years after Vader's death, few of his personal possessions remained. I dug up the mask on Endor. I found this holo-projector hidden in a Sith holocron I found in the castle on Mustafar. Only a Force-user could open the holocron, so no one knew that it was inside." He strokes Rey's hair absently, remembering well his amazement the first time he had viewed the recording. It had been an intimate peek into a life and a family history that had been kept from the teenaged Ben Solo his entire life. "It has an internal counter. When I first opened it, it showed that Vader had played it over seven thousand times in almost twenty years. That's almost once a day. Vader must have grieved my grandmother until he died."

"How sad for him to never know the truth of her death," Rey says softly. "Padme," she speaks the name aloud. "Padme Skywalker. That's such a beautiful name. Kylo, if our next child is a girl, let's name her Padme."

"I like that idea." He smiles at her impulsive gesture. Rey has no idea how much her words have pleased him. Kylo leans over to give her a long, lingering kiss. "But until then, Rey, you will be my Padme."