Chapter 37

"Mommy, where have you been?" Leia demanded indignantly when Padmé appeared finally.

"I needed to shower and get dressed, "Padmé replied, sitting down. "Miss Nosy," she added with a smile.

"Where is Daddy?" Luke asked.

"Well, you two wore him out so much that he's fast asleep," Padmé replied, helping herself to the meal in front of her. "He still needs lots of rest, so I didn't wake him."

Luke and Leia were disappointed, but accepted their mother's explanation. Dormé, however, was not so easily fooled. She recognized the glow in Padmé's cheeks; she had seen it many times when Padmé would return home to her apartment after a tryst with her Jedi lover. Dormé found herself envious again, as she had so many times before. Padmé had with Anakin what she so desperately wanted with Obi-Wan Kenobi; his utter devotion, his burning desire, his undying love.

"Dormé? Did you hear me?"

Dormé shook herself from her daydream to look at Padmé. "Sorry, what did you say?" she asked.

Padmé watched Dormé, wondering if Dormé had realized what had really gone on upstairs. "I said that this is delicious," Padmé said. "Thank you."

"Oh, you're welcome," Dormé said, standing up and starting to clear the dishes. She felt uneasy in Padmé's presence all of a sudden, and wanted to leave the room.

Padmé watched her leave, more puzzled than ever by her odd behavior.

"Looks like Daddy isn't the only one who's tired," Padmé commented as Luke yawned for the second time.

"I'm not tired," Luke protested automatically.

"Yes you are," Padmé replied, finishing her meal quickly. "Come on you two," you need a bath after playing in the beach all day."

"Can we have bubbles?" Leia asked excitedly, grabbing her mother's hand as she stood up.

Padmé nodded. "Yes, of course," she replied with a smile. "What's a bath without bubbles?"

Luke and Leia followed their mother upstairs and into the fresher, where she started the bath running. "Now please try to keep the water in the tub this time," she chided them gently.

"Luke makes me splash," Leia protested as Padmé pulled her tee-shirt over her head.

"I do not!" protested Luke as he struggled out of his own shirt. "That game was your idea!"

"Okay, I don't need to know whose idea it was," Padmé said at last. "Just keep the water in the tub, okay?"

"Okay," Luke and Leia replied in unison. They scrambled into the sudsy water, their small bodies almost entirely submerged in the sea of bubbles.

Padmé knelt down at the side of the tub and proceeded to wash the twins' hair, using the clear running water to rinse it out.

"So did you have fun today?" she asked, resting her chin on her hands on the side of the tub.

"Yes, lots and lots of fun," Leia replied, picking up handfuls of bubbles and blowing them at her brother.

"Daddy looks so different," Luke said thoughtfully. "Is that how he looked before the fire?"

Padmé nodded. "Yes," she told him. "Only he had much more hair than he does right now."

"Is my hair the same color as his?" Luke asked hopefully.

Padmé smiled. "Yes Luke, you look very much like he did when he was a boy. You know he and I met when we were both just children."

"Did you get married when you were children?" Luke asked.

"Of course not!" Leia declared. "Children can't get married!"

"No, they can't," Padmé agreed. "But we knew that we would get married some day," she added. "In fact, your daddy made this for me when he was just a boy," she told them, pulling the japor snippet from under her blouse. "I've worn it every day since then."

"Daddy made that?" Leia asked, looking at the pendant as though for the first time.

"Yes he did," Padmé replied with a smile. "He was a very clever child," she told them. "Just like you," she added, taking their chins in her hands. The twins smiled, pleased at their mother's praise.

Padmé turned and looked back around the room, realizing she'd forgotten something. "I'll be right back," she said standing up. "I forgot the towels."

She left the twins, leaving the door open so she could hear any signs of tomfoolery. The linen closet was at the other end of the corridor. When she got there, she saw that the only bath towels left were up on the top shelf. Reaching up on her tip toes, she pulled them down, bringing down a box of winter clothing with it, spilling its contents on the floor.

"Great," she muttered, getting down on her knees to pick up the clothing.

A short time later, having replaced the box on the shelf, Padmé returned to the fresher. Before she even reached the room, she heard the distinctive sound of splashing. She walked into the room, about to admonish the twins when the sight before her caused her to stop in her tracks.

"Anakin!"

Vader was in the room, wearing only his sleeping pants, engaged in an all out splashing war with his children. Water was everywhere: the walls, the floor, he was drenched with it. The twins were enjoying themselves immensely, and, judging by the enormous grin on his face, so was their father.

Upon hearing his name, Vader turned to see his wife standing there, a look of utter surprise on her face. He looked back at the children, a sheepish expression on his face. "Uh oh," he said.

"Busted!" Leia declared gleefully, pointing a chubby finger at him. This caused Luke to burst out laughing, ending in a serious case of the hiccups. Vader walked through the puddles to where his wife stood taking in the entire scene with wide eyes.

"Hi," he said with a smile. "Guess we got a little carried away," he remarked sheepishly.

"Just a little," Padmé agreed, looking around at the mess. "You're as bad as they are," she added with a smile.

Vader nodded his head. "Yes, I'm afraid so," he said, looking over his shoulder and winking at the twins.

"Come on, let's get them dried off," Padmé said, stepping carefully around the puddles on the floor. "Although it looks like you're just as wet as they are."

"Well I have an idea about that," Vader said, grabbing her and hugging her close despite her squeals of protest. The twins giggled madly, making Luke's hiccups even worse.

"You are going to pay for this, Anakin Skywalker," she laughed as she finally stopped struggling.

Vader merely laughed, enjoying himself too much to care about the possible consequences of his actions.

Finally Padmé and Vader managed to get the twins dried off and into their pajamas.

"I'm glad you're home, Daddy," Luke told his father as Vader tucked him in. "I missed you so much."

Vader smiled, and sat on the edge of his son's bed. "I missed you too, Luke," he replied, running his fingers through Luke's baby soft hair. "Very much."

Luke smiled, trying to hold back a yawn as he did so. But his father noticed nonetheless. "Time for sleeping," he said, pulling the covers up over him. He leaned down to the boy and kissed him tenderly on the brow. "Good night son," he said. "Sweet dreams."

Vader stood up and watched as Luke drifted off, Spotty safely tucked in the crook of one arm. Love filled him as he watched his small boy succumb to sleep, love unlike any he'd ever known. The connection he felt with his children was so powerful it almost frightened him with its intensity. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would lay down his life for either of them without a moment's hesitation.

It wasn't long before Luke was sound asleep, and Vader turned to Leia who was getting her hair braided by her mother. "Goodnight to you too, milady," he said, bending down to kiss her goodnight. "Sweet dreams."

"Are you hungry?" Padmé asked. "There's dinner downstairs if you are."

"I am actually," Vader replied. "I worked up quite an appetite today," he added with a smile.

Padmé smiled too, keeping her eyes on the braid she was making from Leia's long dark hair. "I'll be down in a few minutes," she told him.

"Okay," he said. "Goodnight Leia."

"Goodnight Daddy," she said, holding her arms out to hug him.

Vader bent down again and embraced her, kissing her once again. "Goodnight little one," he said. "Sleep well."

Vader headed downstairs to the kitchen to find some dinner, and found Neeja making a cup of tea.

"Good evening, Anakin," the Jedi Master greeted him. "I thought you'd retired for the night."

"No, just crashed for a little while," Vader replied, opening the refrigerator. "I think I can expect to do that for a while," he added.

Neeja nodded. "Bail Organa has arranged for me to go to Dagobah," he said as Vader sat down at the table.

"Oh?" Vader asked, looking up at him. "What takes you there?"

"Master Yoda is there," Neeja replied, taking a sip of his tea. "I am going to see him."

"I didn't realize that," Vader replied. "What are your plans once you find him?"

Neeja studied the young man before him before he replied. "Well, I suppose that depends on you, Anakin."

"On me?"

Neeja nodded. "On whether you truly are Anakin Skywalker now, or still Darth Vader. Do you even know? I certainly don't."

Vader shook his head. "No, neither do I," he admitted. "More and more I feel like I can relate to Anakin Skywalker, to what being him was like; but when I think of Sidious, of Obi-Wan," he said, his hands clenching into fists, "I'm not so sure who I am."

Neeja frowned, disturbed by Vader's admission. "There is still much darkness in you," he said. "But you have already taken huge steps back towards the light, Anakin. Sparing me, for instance. If there wasn't a part of you that was still Anakin Skywalker, you'd not have done that."

"No, I suppose not," Vader replied. "All I know is that I have a debt that must be paid," he declared. "One that will be paid in blood by Darth Sidious."

Neeja understood Vader's need for retribution; yet he worried that exacting it would cost the young man what was left of his soul. "Don't let your hatred for Sidious destroy you, Anakin," he cautioned. "Revenge isn't worth the price of your soul."

With that Neeja left him alone to ponder where his destiny would take him.