DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything.
Anakin's lifted and snapped around to find the owner of the voice. His eyes filled with tears as he saw his little Leia for the first time in over seven months. She had her left thumb in her mouth while her right hand held onto the doorjamb. Her eyes were wide as she stared at Anakin, almost like she was scared of him.
"Why did you push Mummy?" Leia asked.
Anakin swallowed nervously, his hands balling at his side. His eyes flickered to Palpatine behind him like he was asking permission to reply before he lowered his head in shame. Padme was already moving towards her daughter, tears streaming down her face.
"Leia, sweetie, he didn't mean to. It was just an accident," Padme said as she crouched to the little girl's level. Leia looked up at Padme, brown eyes meeting brown before Padme could hold back no longer. She threw her arms around Leia and held her tight. Padme felt Leia's arms wrap around her neck as she returned the embrace. She found herself sobbing again, overwhelmed by the entire day. Her emotions, amplified by the hormones racing through her body, were running amok and she didn't have the energy to hold back. Her little princess was safe and her husband, while not free yet, he was at least with her again. She wouldn't hold Anakin's unexpected behaviour against him because she knew it was the Emperor's fault.
She turned to Ferus, who was watching the reunion between mother and daughter with a rueful expression. He didn't meet her eyes as she addressed him.
"Where's Luke? Is he here too?"
Ferus stood slowly, shaking his head. His eyes were filled with compassion and guilt.
"I'm so sorry Padme but I couldn't rescue them both. We tried but they were kept separate and by the time we reached Leia, the alarm had already sounded. If we'd tried to get Luke as well none of us would have gotten out. I'm so, so sorry."
Padme held Leia closer as she listened, her eyes turning instinctively to Anakin. His fingers were digging into his pants but he wouldn't face her. She knew he would be beating himself up about everything but she didn't know how to comfort him. He had been through so much over their months apart and Padme didn't know how to breach the void that was between them.
She felt Leia pull away from her and watched as she walked over to Anakin like nothing was wrong. She stopped right in front of his kneeling form and her tiny hands slipped around Anakin's neck, connecting at the back and holding on tight. She pulled herself onto Anakin's lap and nuzzled herself into his shoulder. Another sob escaped Padme at the sight and she furiously wiped away her tears.
Anakin froze as he felt Leia's soft, tiny arms reach for him. He was so terrified it was another one of the Emperor's tricks that he didn't know whether to move or not. It wasn't until Leia was sitting on his legs with her arms holding him that he moved. Hesitantly, terrified he was about to be subjected to some new form of torture, Anakin wound his arms around his daughter's tiny body. When no pain came, when Palpatine didn't even move, Anakin tightened his hold, daring himself to believe it was real. His wife and friends had come for him. They had saved one of his twins and were in the process of trying to free him from Palpatine's hold.
None of it seemed real. After months of despair, an end finally seemed like it was in sight.
"Leia, Princess, I'm so sorry," he whispered. His voice cracked and next thing he knew he was clutching Leia to his chest like she was the last escape pod on a crashing transporter. His hands were trying to remember how delicate she was and that he needed to be gentle but his heart was so full that it couldn't release everything at once. "I'm sorry Princess, so sorry."
When he noticed his shirt was damp and that Leia was crying, he kissed the top of her head and murmured comforting words to her. It hit him that he'd missed out on her birthday and suddenly that was the most important thing to him.
He gently held her away from him for a moment and wiped her tears with his thumb.
"I'm sorry we missed your birthday Princess," he whispered. She hiccupped, nodding shyly. Her eyes drifted to his neck as he kept whispering. He didn't want to raise his voice, didn't want Palpatine to take this moment from him and didn't trust his unused voice either. "When we get your brother, we're going to have a make-up birthday. We'll go to that little diner you like and you can try to eat more blue cream cake than your brother. And you'll have a pile of presents taller than you..."
He trailed off as he felt Leia finger the collar around his neck. She was sucking her thumb again, her eyes focused on the metal ring.
"What's this?" she asked.
Anakin swallowed, his eyes shifting briefly to Padme. Their eyes met and held. She had been silently watching the exchange, her hands once again on her belly while tears stained her cheeks. The shame and humiliation gripped him with such force that he had to look away.
Padme must think him so weak, unable to save himself or resist the Emperor's conditioning. He must look so pathetic at Palpatine's feet, kneeling with his head bowed like some well-trained pet. No wonder Palpatine favoured that nickname. How would she ever look at him the same, knowing what he'd done? How could she forgive him for attacking her? He knew he'd never forgive himself.
"That's just a training device," Palpatine finally spoke.
He too had been watching Leia's arrival and the reunions with her parents. Inside he'd been seething. Those fools had let her escape! Not only that but they didn't alert him either. As soon as he got the chance, he was taking his pet and he was going to teach those Neimoidian's a lesson they won't soon forget. For now though, he had to be patient.
Leia looked up at him and her eyes narrowed. "I don't like you."
Palpatine smiled at her. "That's too bad. Your father and I are close."
The little Skywalker looked to her Dad as he gently ran a finger down the side of her face.
"Go to your mum Princess," Anakin murmured before helping her to her feet.
Leia stuck her thumb in her mouth as she gave Palpatine one quick mean look before hurrying over to Padme. Leia grabbed onto Padme's leg, still sucking her thumb. Padme placed her hand comfortingly on her daughter's back.
Obi Wan, Ferus and Ahsoka, who had all been silent during Leia's appearance, finally felt it was time to get back to business. Ferus walked over to Padme and Leia, ushering them both out of the hold and towards the cockpit. This part was going to be hard on Anakin and he didn't want to scar Leia any more than she already was. He told Padme this as she started to refuse and silently she nodded. She took Leia's hand and the three of them made their way into the cockpit.
Obi Wan and Ahsoka stayed with Anakin and Palpatine, unsure of what to do or even what Palpatine had done to their friend. Neither of them had seen what Ferus had back on the platform but they guessed correctly that it was another one of the Emperor's tricks.
Ahsoka stepped threateningly towards the pair, her hand on her lightsaber. Instantly Anakin was on his feet, his muscles coiled and reaching for the Force. Ahsoka stopped. She glanced briefly at Anakin before returning her gaze to the Emperor.
"You need to reverse whatever it is you've done to him," she demanded.
Palpatine laughed. "That's not going to be possible. He is my insurance policy as I already told your friend."
"What do you mean?" Ahsoka said.
Obi Wan placed a calming hand on her shoulder. "He means that while we're ignorant, he is safe. He could have done something that would injure or kill Anakin should something happen to him."
Ahsoka's hand tightened around her lightsaber. Her anger and frustration were ruling her head at the moment and while she knew she had to reign it in, Palpatine's self-assurance was grating on her nerves. It wasn't until she saw Anakin spread his weight in preparation to attack that she forced her emotions out into the Force. She'd gotten the upper hand on her older Master once today but she knew he'd be ready for her this time. Anakin learnt from his mistakes very quickly, which was one of the reasons he was so good at what he did.
"We will not harm the Emperor," Obi Wan said, his eyes on Anakin.
When he still didn't relax, Obi Wan motioned for Ahsoka to take a step back. She did, releasing a soft sigh as she moved her hand from her lightsaber as well. A few seconds passed before Anakin convinced himself that the Emperor was safe and he dropped back to his knees. Palpatine walked over to a crate that was pushed up against the wall and sat down. Anakin followed quickly before returning to his kneeling position.
Ahsoka watched the Emperor settle himself. His cockiness was irritating her but she knew that he would get his comeuppance soon. She forced herself to relax and ignore Palpatine's goading.
"You know it's only a matter of time now before Anakin is free, then you're really going to regret everything you've done," Ahsoka said.
Palpatine ignored her, his eyes studying and assessing her.
"There's something different about you," he finally said.
Ahsoka folded her arms over her chest and smiled knowingly. She felt Ferus returning but didn't look around as he joined the conversation.
"You're right," she said stepping forward.
Anakin tensed but Ahsoka held up her hands non-threateningly. Sensing what Ahsoka was about to do, Obi Wan and Ferus both stepped towards the Emperor. Anakin shot to his feet, his eyes dancing between the advancing trios.
"Relax Anakin, we're trying to help you," Obi Wan said softly.
As much as he wanted to, Anakin couldn't make his muscles relax. He was tense, months of conditioning training his muscles to react to actions not words. Whether they intended it to be threatening or not, Anakin's body was taking the advancing formation as a danger to the Emperor and it wouldn't rest until he was safe.
Caught between the three, Anakin didn't know who to go for first. Ahsoka had dropped back a little so the two men were in front. Focusing his attention on Obi Wan and Ferus, but not forgetting Ahsoka, Anakin only had a moments warning before Ferus lunged at him. He quickly sidestepped, confused why none of them had drawn their weapons. As he sidestepped, his attention diverted by Ferus, Ahsoka and Obi Wan moved together. They each grabbed an arm and pulled him away from the Emperor. Ferus finally ignited his lightsaber as Palpatine started to stand. The Emperor looked angry as he was held back but Anakin had sensed the more immediate threat and was now fighting furiously against his old mentor and pupil.
Obi Wan and Ahsoka were struggling to restrain Anakin. All Ahsoka needed was just a few seconds to remove the collar but Anakin suddenly seemed to have boundless energy.
"Hurry up Ahsoka," Obi Wan panted.
Ahsoka ducked as Anakin managed to pull his arm free from her grasp and made a swing at her. Without thinking she found herself spinning into a roundhouse kick, which punched the air from Anakin's lungs and slowed him down. Ignoring the guilt at the low blow, Ahsoka used her small advantage. Her fingers managed to wrap around the collar and she reached out for the Dark side.
Palpatine watched in fascination as the Togrutan female closed her eyes. He felt her reaching for the Dark side and watching as the collar unlocked under her fingers. Pure fury ignited inside of him. How was this possible? The Togrutan was not a Sith and yet she could access the Dark side as easily as she could the Light. She would ruin everything! Only now did the doubts about his plans start to set in.
Ferus' lightsaber brightened slightly as Palpatine made to step forward. He had momentarily forgotten about the ex-Jedi but clearly he hadn't forgotten him. Fighting to keep his ire from showing, Palpatine clenched his fists at his side and forced himself to wait. He still had seven months of intense conditioning and instilled fear working for him. This was only a minor setback. That was what he kept telling himself even as Ahsoka pulled the heavy collar from Anakin's neck and drop it on the ground. Even as Anakin suddenly stilled and stared at the offending piece of metal, which had helped ruin his life.