POV: Anakin Skywalker

He pulled me up and held both of my arms as I stood before him. He was in just as much shock as I was. He looked at me as though he didn't believe I was real. Hell, I was probably giving him the same look. "Your mother… She told me she had conceived a child. I didn't believe her… I didn't think she'd been honest about having a child, let alone mine. Now that I look at you, I know…"

So my mother had told him about me. I growled at him. "Why weren't you there for me?" I yelled. "You left me! You left mom!"

"Anakin, I haven't heard from her in –" He paused, looking me over. "Twenty-eight years. I'm sorry I didn't believe her. I'm sorry I missed out on everything. I know I have no right to ask you this, but how is Shmi?"

My heart tightened and it pained me beyond words. "She's been dead for eight years. If you'd stuck around, she wouldn't have died! We wouldn't have become slaves! We wouldn't have –"

"You were slaves?" I held my breath and glared at him. "Anakin, I am so sorry. If I had known that life would have gotten worse for your mother… for you, I would have come for you. She never reached out to me after she told me she was pregnant."

"Because you're a damned fool," I whispered.

He gave me a look of disbelief before lashing out and hitting me, knocking me to the floor. The right side of my face stung, but I forced myself to stand back up. I wanted to defy him. "You will not speak to your father –"

"You are no father of mine!"

A few of my father's henchmen, I assume, came back and watched the whole ordeal. They had no idea he'd had a son either. I could tell I'd ruffled his feathers a bit by the way he looked at me. It was a look of pure disgust. "Take him to the room." The men he was speaking to snickered and nodded. They took too much pleasure in taking me wherever I was heading.

One of the bigger men kneed me in the stomach, knocking all the breath out of me. I gasped, my knees crashing to the floor. My palms held me up, but my arms shook and I knew they would give out sooner or later. My father stood beside me and I bowed my head, closing my eyes. He kicked my ribs. I cried out and fell onto the opposite side, agonizing over the pain. He pressed his hard boot on my chest, suffocating me. "S-Stop, p-please," I whispered, losing the ability to speak.

He lifted his boot and smirked. "That's my boy."

My eyes widened at the fact that he had just put me down completely in front of his lackeys. They picked me up and dragged me down several hallways until we reached a door labeled with 'torture.' I could faintly hear echoes of people who had been tortured here before. They had obviously died here as well.

The door slid open and I saw a durasteel platform with chains as well as Force binders. They threw me onto my back above it and shackled me in. I would've put up a fight if I had regained my breath in time as I was trying so hard to do. Minutes after they left and locked me in, I'd regained most of my motor skills. I was straining myself to pull the chains.

My ability to call on the Force was restricted, which meant I couldn't even get a hold of Ahsoka through our bond. I was thankful that she'd stayed on Tatooine with Sheila, but I wished she was here with me at the same time. I missed her. I missed Kylar.

As I pulled on the chains, my arms began to throb, but the pain was a reminder of the fact that I had failed. Taking aggressive actions against my own father had gotten me in here. Force knows how long I'll actually be in this room before they kill me.

I laid there for hours, staring at the bright light above me. It bothered me, but it was the only interesting thing in the room aside from my own blood after pulling on the chains one too many times. My skin was raw and my mechanical hand felt as though it had a small indent in it now. The door creaked open and I closed my eyes, waiting for death. "Anakin," he whispered. "I'm sorry for what I'm going to do to you, but it occurred to me that you may be a Republic spy sent to investigate our supplies and transactions. You may be my only son, but I have to treat you as a prisoner."

I clenched my teeth, nodding. "Get on with it," I said through my teeth.

The platform lifted up from the ground and I was now held in an upright position. The shackles tightened on me. My palms faced him and I tried with every last ounce of strength to use the Force against him. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Electricity flowed through me and I screamed. I tried to hold it in, but I hadn't expected this. I hadn't expected this amount of voltage to shoot through me. It was no wonder the previous prisoners had died in here. I writhed around, my back lifted slightly away from the platform. "Stop!" I screamed.

"Who sent you here to find me?"

"I-I came on my own choice!"

The voltage increased and my screams prior to this moment seemed pathetic in comparison. I couldn't even call them screams. The way I screamed now was a result of severe agony. "Why did you come here?

"S-Stop a-and I'll… I'll tell you everything you want to know!" I screamed above the volts of electricity running through me. The voltage was very audible. He turned it off and I hung limply from the platform. Granted, I didn't sink low enough in it to escape. My arms and legs throbbed. My chest felt as though my heart had been removed.

He took a seat and I opened my eyes just enough to look at him. A vast darkness shrouded around him as a result of my sight being clouded. "Anakin, why did you come here?"

"I… wanted… I wanted to find you… I wanted to find my father."

I saw pain in his eyes and I knew he immediately regretted the few things he'd done to me in such a small amount of time. He got up and came closer to me. I lifted my head tiredly, staring at him. I gave him a weak look and I knew it was weak. I felt weak right now. He stroked the side of my face before combing his fingers through my hair. "My little Anakin," he whispered.

I breathed heavily. "Let me go… Please. My wife –"

"You married?" he interjected. I could hear the anger in his voice and I wished I hadn't said anything about Ahsoka to him. "I missed your wedding day," he whispered, his anger simmering down slightly. He looked away briefly before meeting my eyes once again. "Tell me about your wife."

I tried to see through him, to see what his intention was. I could find nothing that would lead him to Ahsoka and I couldn't see him harming her. "She's… she's beautiful… She's a Togruta. She… she loves… she loves me with all of her heart. Her heart is beautiful…"

He smiled. I honestly would have thought he'd resent me for marrying a Togruta, but he didn't. He… seemed genuinely happy for me. "My boy, she sounds like the perfect woman if she's given all of her love to you." He paused, his smile faltering. "How long have you been married?"

"A little over three years…" I whispered, trailing off at the hurt look he held once again. "We…" I stopped myself, not sure if I should mention my son to him. I was giving him no names, nothing he could trace back to me. There were many Togruti women who married human males. "I have a son," I whispered.

His face lit up, but then darkened in regret. "I've missed out on my own son's life. At least you're a better father than I. How old is he?"

"Almost four months old."

He smiled. "Does he look like you?"

"A little. He has my wife's features, too. She passed her beauty down to him. He has… the most beautiful face I've ever seen that could even come close to his mother's beautiful face."

"If I release you, will you let me meet my grandson and my daughter-in-law?"

I didn't trust him just yet. It made me feel good to have him asking about the family I'd created for myself, but I didn't want to put my family in harm's way. I loved them too much to see something happen to them. My Soka and my Kylar were my everything. If I lost them, I was nothing. "I…"

He must've known I didn't want him anywhere near them. He'd abandoned me nearly twenty-nine years ago. I knew nothing of this man and, because of that fact, I couldn't jeopardize the safety of my wife, my son, or anyone I'd been close to with either of them. "In due time," he whispered. "I admire your protectiveness, Anakin."

I closed my eyes, bowing my head. A few years slid down my face. The pain in my body hadn't even come close to fading away. The pain in my body didn't compare to the pain I felt in my heart. For a fleeting moment, I felt as though I'd abandoned my son. I promised I'd be back by morning and I'd broken that promise.

The door flew open and one of his lackeys entered, thrilled as he spoke. "General Skywalker, we've located the family on Tatooine. Shall I send a team down to escort them in?" I cried out upon hearing the mention of Tatooine. My Soka was here. My Soka was in danger.

"Yes," he whispered. I writhed around, trying to break free despite the fact that there was no way I could possibly escape right now. There was no way I could warn Ahsoka of the danger I'd gotten her into. My father knew about her before I even spoke about her.

"Leave her out of this!" I screamed at him. "She's done nothing wrong! She is an innocent! Please, I'm begging you!" I sobbed as I pleaded for him to leave Ahsoka and Kylar alone. I couldn't bear the thought of them being aboard this ship. I couldn't bear the thought of them being malnourished. Kylar wouldn't survive here. "Please!"

"Once your family is aboard, you'll all be in a cell together."

"She's an innocent! Please, let her go! Let her take my son far from here! He's an infant! Please, they've done nothing!" He frowned before turning away from me, beginning to leave. "You Force damned bastard!" I screamed at him. My face was full of tears. I was blinded by their wetness and my heart was pounding in my chest.

He paused briefly before continuing onward. I tried to scream for Ahsoka and Kylar. I tried to plead with anyone who could hear me. I wanted them to be safe. I needed them to be safe. I loved them both too much to let them wind up in a place like this. My father had abandoned me many years ago and now he had stabbed me in the back. He was using my family against me and I didn't even understand why. He didn't know about my existence until I'd come aboard his ship. I had done nothing to him nor had Ahsoka and Kylar. I could see no reason as to why he would want to use us.

And then it dawned on me.