Chapter 36

"Did we surprise you?" Padmé asked as they walked back through the forest.

"Sort of," Leia said. "We didn't know you were here until your ship landed."

Vader and Padmé looked at one another. "See what I mean?" Padmé said to him with a smile.

Vader nodded. "Yes," he replied with a smile. "It's not easy to surprise these two, is it?"

"But that's okay," Leia said, squeezing her father's hand. "We were surprised when we saw you, Daddy. We didn't know that you were all better now."

"No?" Vader asked, looking down at his daughter. "So I did surprise you then," he asked with a smile.

"Uh huh," Leia replied, gazing up at him with undisguised adoration. "You're beautiful, Daddy."

Vader looked at Padmé and laughed. "That's the first time anyone has every called me that, Leia," he said. "Thank you."

Dormé was wiping down the table when she heard voices and figured that the twins had returned with the visitors. She looked up, and dropped the cloth in her hand when she saw Anakin Skywalker standing before her, a twin holding each of his hands.

"Look Dormé," Leia said excitedly. "Daddy is all better now!" she proclaimed. "Isn't he beautiful?"

Dormé didn't answer right away, but merely stared at Leia's father. "He looks very well," she commented, fighting to keep her feelings to herself. Beautiful is an understatement, she thought, looking admiringly at him. "Looks like the surgery was a success," she added. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Vader replied, seeing the rather obvious admiration in her eyes and in her thoughts.

Padmé came up to him and linked her arm through his. "Isn't it wonderful, Dormé?" she said with a smile, looking up at him. Vader looked at her and smiled, putting his hand over hers.

Dormé watched them, the love between them obvious, the physical attraction between them equally so. A pang of jealousy rippled through her as she watched them together; no doubt their physical relationship would soon resume, if it had not done so already. She remembered how Padmé used to confide in her how passionate a lover her husband was, and how envious she had always been of that relationship, knowing that the man she longed for was so unattainable. Or just plain obtuse, she reflected in frustration.

"Master Ani!! It's so good to see you fully functional again!" Threepio declared as he shuffled into the room. "And who is this?" he added, in a tone that hinted of indignation when he saw Two-Four-Bee enter the room.

Padmé turned to the medidroid, having momentarily forgotten its existence. "This is Two-Four-Bee," she said. "The medidroid that the facility sent to monitor Anakin's health for the next few weeks."

"I see," Threepio responded, shuffling over to the droid. "I am See Threepio," he told his rival. "Human cyborg relations," he added for good measure.

Two-Four-Bee simply nodded in response. "Understood," it replied as it shuffled away.

"Well, how rude!" Threepio exclaimed, watching the snooty droid leave the room.

"Threepio, I have a job for you," Vader said.

"Oh yes sir," Threepio replied at once. "What can I do for you?"
"Take apart that chamber upstairs," he replied. "I don't want to see a single piece of it left standing by nightfall."

"That is rather a large task, sir," Threepio replied. "But I shall endeavor to do my best," he added stoically.

"Good," Vader replied. "See to it at once."

Threepio left the room, confused by the strange inconsistencies in the man before him. While he looked like Master Ani, he certainly didn't act like him. Was he Master Ani? Or was he still Darth Vader? It did not compute, and Threepio was frustrated that his circuits couldn't resolve it.

"Your recovery is miraculous, Anakin," Neeja said as he, Vader and Padmé walked outside, the twins never far from their father.

"It is," Vader replied. "I didn't think it was possible, the emperor assured me that it wasn't; I should have realized that he had lied," he said as he watched his children go up to the edge of the lake behind the house.

Neeja nodded a frown on his face. "I hope now you see what an evil monster he is, Anakin."

Vader looked at his wife. "Yes," he replied. "I know all too well what he is, Neeja. And I plan to make him pay for all that he has done."

"Destroying the Sith is part of the prophecy," Neeja said, nodding his head. "So long as your reasons for destroying him are not rooted in Darkness."

"I have very good reasons for wanting to destroy him," Vader countered. "He lied to me, Neeja. He drove a wedge between my wife and I and then lied to me, telling me that I had killed her, when in fact she was very much alive."

Neeja nodded. "And what about his part in the destruction of your relationship with Obi-Wan?" he asked. "Surely you realize now that he was responsible for that too."

Vader frowned, the thought of Obi-Wan sent a wave of anger through him. "Obi-Wan tried to turn my wife against me," he said. "He used her to get to me, to kill me, and then left me to die because he didn't have the guts to kill me outright. He had as much a part in the destruction of that relationship as Sidious did."

Padmé hated to hear the anger in his voice, see it in his eyes. Heaven help us all if Obi-Wan ever finds us here…the results will be as catastrophic as they were five years ago.

"Daddy, can you go swimming with us?" Leia called back to him. "The water is nice and warm."

Vader looked over at his children, all trace of anger evaporating immediately. "That sounds like fun," he called back to his daughter. "But you two aren't dressed for swimming," he added. "Why don't we go back to the house and get into some swim suits? Assuming I have such a thing," he added, looking at Padmé.

She smiled. "I'm sure we can come up with something," she replied. "Neeja? Are you a swimmer?"

"Only when I have to be," he replied with a smile. "Besides, I think this family needs some time alone. I will gladly remain in the house. I need to contact the viceroy about arranging my transport."

"Where are you going?" Vader asked him.

"I want to visit Master Yoda," he replied. "Let him know what has been happening. I'm sure he will be pleased to learn of your transformation, Anakin."

Vader nodded. "Come along then," he said as the twins took his hands. "Let's go swimming."

The warm weather was perfect for a day spent out doors, and the twins made sure that their parents spent every moment of it with them, including eating a picnic lunch on the beach beside the lake.

For Padmé, it was like a dream come true. How many times she had longed for the familial bliss that she was realizing now that Luke and Leia's father had been made whole again. At the back of her mind, she knew that things were not perfect, that Anakin still harbored much Darth Vader in him. She had no delusions that things were idyllic; yet at this moment, right now, they were.

Padmé watched from the beach as Luke and Leia played with their father in the water, the joy that emanated from them all as brilliant as the sunshine above them. They are your strength, Anakin, she thought. It is their love that will bring you from the darkness. Let it guide you.

"Well I think it's time we all went back inside," Padmé said as the three of them finally emerged from the water. "You've worn out your father," she added, smiling at Vader.

"I'm fine," he replied, picking up the twins. "Never better."

"Yes, well it's getting late, and I'm sure Dormé has dinner waiting for us by now," Padmé said as she wrapped a large towel around Vader's shoulders and the twins. "And I'm sure after all that swimming you must be very hungry."

"I am!" Luke replied at once.

"Me too!" added Leia. "Are you going to have dinner with us too, Daddy?" she asked hopefully.

Vader smiled at her. "Yes my lady, I am indeed," he said, kissing her wet face.

"And I'm hungry too, so let's be off."

Dormé did indeed have dinner prepared and was just setting the table when they arrived back at the house. Padmé and Vader took the twins upstairs and got them dried off and changed for dinner. Luke and Leia raced downstairs as soon as they were dressed, leaving Padmé and Vader alone.

"Guess we ought to get changed," Padmé said as they stood in the corridor outside the twins' room.

"Yes, good idea," Vader replied.

"Come on," she said, taking his hand. With heart pounding, Padmé lead her husband down the hallway into their room. Most of the hyperbaric chamber had been dismantled by now, and Threepio was still working away at it when they entered the room.

"Threepio, leave the room," Vader told the droid. "We need some privacy."

Padmé felt her face grow warm, her heart racing with anticipation of what she expected would happen as soon as the droid left the room. For days now he had made it quite clear that he was just waiting for an opportunity to be alone with her, and now here it was. She watched him as he used the Force to close and lock the door behind Threepio, almost hitting the droid on the golden behind on his way out. And then he turned to her.

The moment their eyes met, she felt her knees grow weak. In an instant she was in his arms, neither of them caring about dinner, or the fact that there were people downstairs waiting for them. All that mattered was their need for the other, and the undeniable longing that filled them both at that moment.

"Where are Mommy and Daddy?" Leia asked as she poked at her supper.

Dormé exchanged a glance with Neeja, whose face bore the same impassive expression as ever. Dormé felt she knew exactly why they had been delayed. They've been apart for five years…what did you expect? She told herself.

"They'll be along," Dormé said simply. "Now go ahead and eat before it gets cold."

Leia sighed, and commenced eating; hoping her parents would join them soon.