Part V: The Revolution of the Sith

Chancellor Palpatine looked down at the contract of peace laid out in front of him. A week ago Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi had returned from a last, seemingly desperate attempt to find a diplomatic solution with the CIS council. Palpatine had been sure, so sure, that they would fail.

First of all, it was a small miracle the Jedi Council had even agreed to send the two men after what Vader did to their temple. Everyone had been sure it would be a trap, especially now that Count Dooku was dead and Vader had full control over the Separatist fleet. Palpatine had thought that Vader might deem it time to finally force his son to join him, probably using Kenobi as a hostage to replace Dooku. The Sith Lord had wanted to wait until Anakin fell to the dark side, only to then waltz in and offer the boy a way out of his fathers influence, maybe pretend to save Kenobi but have him die somewhere along the line. Then he could use the despicable murder of the Jedi Master to end all diplomatic attempts, declare an emergency, and make use of his special wartime rights. He would probably have to kill Vader himself but after that was done it should be possible to defeat the leaderless CIS. Then, the way would be free for his Empire.

But Vader hadn't been after Anakin's allegiance or Kenobi's life. Palpatine had underestimated him.

Vader had struck right at the top.

The contract was fair. The CIS was demanding several laws to be changed in their favor, taxes for interplanetary trading to be lowered or completely removed in some parts of the galaxy and insisted on capitalism to remain on all planets in their confederacy. The fleet would remain intact and under Vader's control and be financed by taxes collected from CIS members. The fleet and droid army would replace the executive on all Separatist members but legislative and judiciary methods would still be joined with the Republic.

Really, considering that the CIS was controlling around ¾ of the galaxy already and half of what was left was bankrupt or in ruins, it was a phenomenal offer. There was just one problem.

Vader had made it a condition (non-negotiable) that the current Chancellor of the galactic senate, namely Palpatine himself, would resign not only from his position but from the senate entirely, immediately and without a chance to ever go back. (Apparently Vader had wanted to execute him but Kenobi had managed to bargain for his life.) That, of course, was completely unacceptable. Palpatine wouldn't have paid it any mind, he could just find some excuse to decline the contract if it weren't for the fact that somehow, the peace contract had been leaked to the public holonet and half the planet was celebrating the end of the war as of now. There was a senate meeting in an hour and everyone, even the senators who were bribed, intimidated or otherwise in his pocket, would demand he retire. Palpatine still had his special war rights, he didn't have to go along with them but if he didn't he'd be forced to pull through with the coup sooner rather then later. He could, maybe, use this contract to further defame the CIS, pretend it had been a trap and then declare himself Emperor, but he had to organize some large scale catastrophe first that he could blame on them. It would've been preferable if he could make Anakin take part in this but there was too much at risk now. Finding himself an apprentice had to be second priority. Now he had to save his own hide first.

XxX

"It's going to be over", Anakin declared, laid his hands on Padme's hips and twirled her around. "It's going to be over soon!"

Padme laughed at her husbands antics. She felt a bit dizzy being swung around like that and even more so when her Jedi leaned down to kiss her softly.

"What's going to be over?", she asked when he gave her a chance to breathe again.

Anakin's mood was really good today, he hadn't even bothered to close the door to her apartment before sweeping her off her feet. That was quite irresponsible of him as she did have neighbors but somehow she couldn't find it in herself to scold him for it. Still she went over to close it before meeting Anakin's happy blue eyes again.

"The war, Padme! The hiding – it's all going to end soon."

"Ani, what are you talking about?"

She hadn't seen him this happy in a long time. Normally he was quite capable pushing the stress of the war to the back of his mind when he was around her but the incident with his Padawan had hit him deeply.

"The mission I went to together with Obi-Wan – it was a success. We have finished the final draft for a peace treaty and Obi-Wan is confident that the senate will sign it. There will be no more fighting." He was at her side again, taking her hands in his. "And when the war is over... I have decided, Padme, when the war is over I want to leave the Jedi order and live with you."

Padme felt shocked for a moment. They had talked about this shortly after their marriage. Marrying as young as they had done, it would've ruined Padme's reputation and her carrier as a senator just as it would've gotten Anakin expelled and probably taint his honor forever. It was just not possible for them to be together and still remain the persons that they had fallen in love with. Keeping it a secret had been the only way.

Of course Padme had on more then one occasion wished things were different – especially with Anakin having to fight in the war. But she also knew how much he loved his order and she couldn't bring herself to ask him for such a huge sacrifice. Not even now.

"A-Anakin you want to... to leave the order?", she repeated incredulously. Her expression must've given him the wrong signals, as his face fell a bit.

"Well... I just thought it might be better... you know, for us. I don't want to hide my love for you anymore. I want to be able to tell everyone what a wonderful wife I have. We could take some time off – maybe not immediately after, there will be much to do at the senate, but maybe later. I can be a pilot or a mechanic or open up a droid shop. We could move together and... and maybe even start a family. Of course, only if you want to." He went a bit red in the end but Padme felt a something big and heavy in her throat and something wet in her eyes and she would not cry!

"I... I would like that very much", she managed to get out eventually.

"R-Really?", he asked, looking at her with those bright loyal eyes. Padme was suddenly reminded of a furry blond dog and let out a short, happy laugh.

"Yes, really!", she insisted and threw herself at her husband, kissing his cheeks and his forehead and his mouth.

"I love you, Anakin", she all but cried, "I love you so much!"

"Then why are you crying?"

Padme laughed again and just hold onto him tightly. "I'm just so happy, is all." She wiped away some of the tears and looked up to him with a soft smile. "Anakin, I... I didn't know how to tell you this before but... I... I'm sort of... pregnant."

Anakin blinked and for a few seconds just stared at her. "What do you mean, sort of... like you're not sure?"

"Oh no, I mean, I am sure."

"But that's... that's wonderful!" He promptly grabbed his wife and swirled her around again, making her laugh. "What do you mean you didn't know how to tell me?"

"Well, uhm, it could've been... complicated?" That was the understatement of the year. If people found out about Padmes pregnancy but not about her being married, she would've never been able to show her face in Corruscants high society again. If their love would've been revealed in this way, without knowing how long they had been together already, the Jedi would've forced Anakin to chose between her and the order and if Padme was perfectly honest with herself, she had never been 100% sure how he would decide.

"Padme", Anakin said, suddenly serious and palmed her face with both hands, making it impossible for her to look away. "For this baby, I would've left the order anytime, whenever there was war or not. The galaxy doesn't need me as much as my family does."

She smiled and snuggled into his warm embrace.

"So... how long until you'll show, hm?"

"Uhm... a month, maybe two?"

Anakin smiled mischievously. "Then we should make good use of that time, don't you think?"

Padme slapped his arm playfully but allowed her husband to pull her in the direction of the bedroom. She felt like falling in love for the second time, just looking at the dazed smile he wore.

XxX

The image was blurry at first. There was a lot of white and within it, a pale figure with black hair. It was Padme. She was sweating profusely, her face scrunched up in pain.

He tried to reach for her but his body wouldn't move. His angel let out a scream that made the blood freeze in his veins. She was hurting - she was suffering! He had to get to her!

Crude metal arms moved around her, trying to still the flow of blood that left her weakened body. She was screaming again, then sobbing, then just lying there, exhausted.

He wanted to scream at her, wanted to tell her that she mustn't give up. He would be with her in just a second, she must not leave him, he would save her. But Padme just stared ahead, straight through him as if unable to see him at all. Her eyes were empty and sad and she looked so tired.

As the last spark of life left her and her eyes grew dull, he let out a scream himself, an anguished scream full of denial and suffering. But even as he did so, there was another scream mixing with his. This one though was high pitched and pure. It was the scream of a new life taking its first breath.

Vader shot up in his bed, sweat covering his body as he stared at the gray wall of his chamber. Slowly he raised his hands, just to check if he still had them just to check if they were still organic. They were.

It had been an awful long time since he'd last had that nightmare. In fact, he hadn't had such a dream ever since he had found out that his son was alive after all. That it was coming back could only mean one thing. It was not a dream. It was a force vision. It was the vision he had waited for for the last ten years. He had planned for this, prepared for this. Everything was ready. This time around he would save his family.

Vader took a deep breath. He needed a couple of minutes to calm his racing heart and enter the meditative state. He felt the force flow around him angrily, the turmoil mirroring his emotions. However he forced the darkness away as it would only block his path today. The one he wanted to reach was still residing in the light.

It was hard, harder then he would've imagined. I had been such a long time since Vader had last connected to the light side of the force. The dark was not as deeply anchored in his soul as it used to be, it no longer chained him to it with the echo of his emotion but that didn't mean it had no hold over him. Vader was unwilling to free himself from that hold completely as it would take many days and a couple of dozen chokings to get back in tune with his power. He didn't need the light to fill him, he merely strove to form a connection.

Finally, he could feel the force latching onto him with soft tendrils. The Sith was still enveloped in a warm, dark cocoon but his eyes were now opened for a multitude of white ribbons all around him, connecting him with countless of other centers in the force. Some of them were Jedi, some were bright locations or even entire civilizations. Only one of them stood out. One ribbon was not entirely white but rather a deep blue. Vader had marked that particular connection years ago. He had used it before to save Padme's life and now he would do it again. It had taken him three years to strengthen this natural connection and another ten of maintenance. Now it would lead him directly into the mind of his younger self. Normally he would only use it when in close proximity to his adoptive son (which meant on the same planet at the very least) and when one of them was in grave danger but he was confident that it was strong enough by now that he could use it for his purposes.

On the other side of the galaxy, Anakin Skywalker leaned over the sink, his hair dripping from the water he had splashed into his face. His breath was ragged and his eyes stung.

It was just a dream, he tried to tell himself, just a nightmare. The war had made him jumpy and slightly paranoid, it was only natural that he worried about Padme. That didn't mean that something would happen to her. It was just a dream. There was no reason why she should...

Anakin shuddered. He couldn't even think about it. It would not happen!

But what if it was a warning? What if Padme got hurt because he failed to watch out for whatever danger the force tried to show him?

That couldn't be. It had taken him a few moments to get over the shock of seeing his love in such a state, but he had eventually recognized the cause for her pain. She had been in childbirth. Even with such a warning, there was nothing Anakin could do to save her except hiring the best medical staff available. But Padme had been in a hospital in the dream, she had been surrounded by medical droids. If they could not save her...

Anakin felt like throwing up. He could not lose her. He could absolutely not lose her!

Suddenly the Jedi felt a light nudge at the edge of his mind. He instinctively shook it off. It had been years since his Master and he had communicated via the force. Anakin wasn't aware that Obi-Wan was around, he was supposed to be at the temple but whatever he wanted, it had to wait. He really wasn't in the mood right now.

The nudge got a little more insistent. There was a second in which he felt as if whatever tried to get through to him had found something to hold onto and then suddenly his mind was forcefully invaded.

Anakin gasped and fell to his knees, clutching his head. The sensation wasn't exactly painful. It should have been, if this was an enemy, ramming against the door to his mind. Instead, it was as if whoever this was - and it sure as hell wasn't Obi-Wan! - already possessed a key to his mind and was slamming it carelessly into the keyhole.

"Anakin? We need to talk."

Anakin gasped in shock as he heard his father's voice, as clear as if he was standing in front of him.

"Get out of my head!", he shouted angrily and with just a hint of panic.

"Shut up, you're waking up your pregnant wife, stupid."

Anakin stared unseeing at the mirror, still on the ground, one hand clutching the sink for support.

"How... How do you know?", he whispered, now truly horrified.

"I assume you had the same vision as me. Now listen to me because this is important. I know you haven't had any major visions like that before. I did. I have watched people die before and was unable to do something about it when it came true. I was not able to save my mother because I waited too long and didn't take the threat seriously. You must not do make the same mistake."

Anakin felt stunned. His father was in his lecture mode again, one he hadn't heard since he'd been a child. There was no hint of his usual teasing or evil mockery, he was completely serious. It was also the first time in his life that his father had come to him and told him something from his past, his life before he came to live with Anakin and his mother.

The shock was enough to drive away the panic that threatened to overcome him at the idea that Padme would actually...

"What do I have to do?", he asked hoarsely.

"It is time for you to choose your path. I am the only one who can help you to save Padme. You have already agreed to leave your order. Now it is time to come back to me so that we can be what we were always supposed to be - a family."

Anakin licked his lips that were suddenly very dry. This was insane. When he had made the deal with his father, he had sworn himself that he would never join Vader even if he couldn't fight him anymore. Really, his offer sounded like something a stupid children's villain would say. It practically screamed 'trap'. But still...

"How?", Anakin whispered. "How will you save her?"

"The reason for the complications are that Padme will give birth to two very powerful force-sensitives. They will be even more powerful than you but it is putting too much strain on her body. The force presence of the twins must be temporally suppressed. I am the only one who can do that because several weeks ago I stole a holocron from the Jedi temple that contains the necessary knowledge."

Anakin felt faint, torn between anger and incredulity. Then there was this small, completely unrelated spark of bliss - they were going to have twins! "You have planned this? All of this!? How long - how long have you known about it!?"

"Long enough. It was only a matter of time until you would get her pregnant, seeing how smitten you are with her. I was only sure after the vision though."

Anakin felt a familiar rage and indignation rise within him. "Then all this time - you always planned on using this. You planned on using my family to make me join you! You don't care at all what this would do to me if only you get what you want."

"You misunderstand me", Vader returned calmly. "Take a moment to think about what would happen if I hadn't interfered. If you had left the order, you wouldn't have access to their archives anymore. But even if you had stayed, the Jedi wouldn't have given you the knowledge, not without you explaining what you needed and for what reason as you are no Master. If you explained it to them, your chances would dwindle even further as you would be admitting to a severe breach of their code." Vader paused to let his words sink in before he continued: "Of course you could've broken into the archive by force. Then everyone would think you a traitor, just like your Padawan. They'd not only expel you but you'd be a wanted man with nowhere to go and probably be too late to save your wife anyway. With ancient Jedi knowledge being unavailable to you... eventually you would've searched in ancient Sith knowledge."

"I would never-"

"Not even for Padme?"

That shut him up.

Vader's voice whispered in his ear knowingly: "You know that there's a Sith in the senate. Maybe you even have a suspect already? What would you do if this Sith suddenly revealed himself to you, offering you a way out? Promising you to save your wife if only you betrayed everyone you loved, murdered all the Jedi and helped in establishing a dictatorship with a Sith Lord as the Emperor?"

"I would never do that", Anakin repeated with a shudder.

"I know you don't want to do it but I also know you would. It's the Skywalker in you, if we love, we love with passion. Though passion we gain strength, through strength we gain power, through power we gain victory... I'm sure you know how this goes on. The reason I'm contacting you is to warn you - you must not go down that dark path."

Anakin raised his head abruptly, only meeting his own confused eyes in the mirror. "What?"

"It is a path full of pain and suffering. You cannot trust the Sith Lord - Darth Sidious. He would only make matters worse."

Anakin laighed hollowly. "How could it possibly become worse then Padme dying?!"

"He could make it so that not only would you be unable to prevent Padme's death, you would become responsible for it. He would use your pain and your guilt to lock you in the dark side and use it to shape you into his puppet."

"And you - don't you want to do the same with me?", Anakin asked once again angry.

"No, my son. I do not care whether you are light or dark. I won't follow any stereotype and say I'll always love you either way but I truly do not have a preference. For my plans it is completely irrelevant. I need you to leave the order so you won't get in the crossfire for when I take down Sidious. I need you to stand with your family so the Skywalker line will continue. I would like for you to join me in good will. It is not necessary for you to turn dark for this, as you are plenty powerful on your own already and worthy to fight at my side. If you refuse though..."

Anakin felt his heart plummet. "What then?"

"Then I'll be forced to find another way to get Padme to stay with me long enough to give birth. A way that she might not like. I am very much interested in the survival of the three and I will save them with or without your help."

"Why?", he demanded suspiciously. "Why would you be so interested in my family? What is it that you want?"

"I thought that was obvious. I want your children, Anakin."

For a moment the Jedi was sure his heart would stop beating. "No."

"Anakin-"

"No way in hell are you ever touching my children!"

"That came out wrong", Vader admitted. "I don't have any malicious intentions. I simply want to be a part of their lives. I want you and Padme to remain their parents and take care of them as you're supposed to but I want to be there, you know, as a grandfather. That means no Jedi training. They could choose for themselves if they wanted to learn from you or from me but I won't have Kenobi or force forbid, Yoda meddle with their heads. I allowed that once and look what has become of you."

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Oh, nothing. I know it couldn't be helped. I just don't want them to start talking backwards. Now, do we have a deal?"

Anakin fought with himself for another moment. He was sure Vader still had some hidden motive, The question was if he could afford to decline his offer. It did sound like he had prepared it for quite some time. If he was really able to save Padme, maybe he should go along with it. They could still make a run for it after the children were born.

"You promised to end the war", Anakin said at last. "Yet now you want me to fight at your side. How does that make sense when there are no enemies around?"

"There is always a war somewhere in the galaxy and the contract does state I'll remain head of the Executor, if you remember. There will be enough to do. See, you won't even betray your precious Republic with this."

"You've been very thorough", Anakin admitted.

"Well yes, I did have two decades to plan it."

"I... will have to think about my answer."

"Of course. Regardless how your decision will be, I do expect your resignation as a Jedi by the end of the week though." By that time the Republic would await an official statement of the Chancellor.

"Why is it so important that I leave the order?", Anakin challenged. "Is it because of the clones?"

There was silence for a moment. "You know about the clones?"

"I know they have this chip implanted. What do you know about it?"

"There's a plan, a plan to get rid of the Jedi... Darth Sidious programmed the clones with a code. Once the words are spoken, 'Execute Order 66', the clones will attack the Jedi."

Anakin closed his eyes in pain, he had suspected something like this. "They have to know about it."

"I'm actually surprised you haven't warned them sooner. Not that it would've mattered. They won't believe you. They don't trust you."

"You don't know that", Anakin protested. "You don't know me half as well as you think you do."

"We'll see about that, my son..."

Anakin felt the invading presence leave his head and he sighed. He'd forgotten to ask how Vader had managed to get in there in the first place.

"Ani? Are you alright?", a soft voice asked from behind him and Anakin turned to find Padme looking at him worried. "Who were you talking to? Is everything alright?"

"It's okay", he muttered and stood up, absentmindedly kissing her temple. "Everything is..." He stopped again as he met her bright eyes. Somehow, he just couldn't bring himself to lie to her face, even if the truth would only hurt her. The Jedi sighed again and pulled her into a hug. "No, nothing is okay", he muttered. "But let's talk about it in the morning. I'm too tired right now."

"Ani, you're worrying me..."

He gave her another soft kiss. "It's not okay", he admitted, "But I'll make it okay. I promise you that."

Anakin lead his wife back into the bedroom. Tomorrow he would have to start reading through all the official paper work and find out how to resign the Jedi order without painting a target on his back. Oh, and he would have to tell Obi-Wan. Yeah, that would be a blast. Damn Vader.

XxX

AN:

I thought about ending this chapter on a happy note but then I thought... nah. Can't do that on the beginning of a new part.

I also thought about rejecting the name Bellatrix for the connection to Lestrange but then I thought... nah. She is a bit crazy and a bit sadistical and she follows an even crazier Dark Lord... fits perfectly!

I thought for a very long time if I might just not include any romance at all but then I thought... nah. I want to spice things up and things are just so fluffy and boring between Padme and Anakin. For those of you who like it: It's the only pairing I have right now aside from the canon one and as such it's a source of drama and chaos that I enjoy to exploit. For those of you who hate it: I won't describe AhsokaxMaul any more detailed then AnakinxPadme and that is IF the pairing survives Vader finding out about it, which I'm not sure about yet. They're not the main focus in this fanfic.

Just so that we're on the same page: Ahsoka likes him because he' the only guy she can trust right now aside form her Master and she's curious what she missed out as a Jedi. If there ever was someone interested in her she didn't have the chance to enjoy it and now she does. So what if he's older then her, honestly, who can say looking at a Zabrak how old he is? In her mind, having any sort of relationship is forbidden anyway so it doesn't really make a difference. Maul is kinda longing for a female friend. Vader's constant talking about family probably has to do with it but he thinks it below him to just court any average girl. Ahsoka is intelligent, she's beautiful and (!) she's a trained force user, so she's worthy of his attention. Being a Sith, he cares sh** about age differences.