CHAPTER 37

Anakin awoke with a start, surprised that he had even been asleep. The last thing he remembered was his wife's hands working the tension knots out of his shoulders, and his children…

He looked around the room and saw that only Leia was still there, studying intently the content on the view screen before her. He stood up and stretched.

"What's that you're reading?" he asked.

Leia started, not expecting to hear her father's voice. She turned around to see him walking towards her.

"Uh, just looking up some data on …" she replied, not sure she wanted him to see what she was looking at.

"On me," Anakin, said, peering at the screen. "Look at all that hair," he mused, running his hand over his still stubbly scalp.

Leia couldn't help but crack a small smile. "It will come back," she said. "It already is."

"Yeah, I know," he replied, sitting down next to her. "Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked, watching his daughter closely for her reaction.

"I'm not sure," she replied, looking back at the screen where her father's youthful image looked back at her. "You're so young…how old are you here?"

Anakin leaned forward for a closer look. "Twenty-one," he replied. "Remind you of anyone?"

Leia nodded. "Yes, Luke looks quite a bit like you," she remarked. "Not as big as you though; and not as intense."

Anakin sighed as he nodded thoughtfully. "No, he's more like his mother in many respects," he replied.

Leia looked at him. "What about me?" she asked. "Who am I like?"

Anakin regarded his daughter for a moment before responding; knowing that the last thing she wanted to hear was probably the most accurate. "Well, you look like your mother," he replied at last. "But I'm afraid you are more like me in personality. You probably don't want to hear that, but you did ask," he concluded with a wry smile.

"I did," she conceded. "And I have to admit that I do see myself in you. At least, the you that is sitting here before me. Not the man you were 6 months ago."

Anakin frowned. "No, that was no man, Leia," he replied solemnly. "That was a monster." He rubbed his eyes tiredly as he fought to push away the images of his daughter in agony from his mind. So many senseless acts of cruelty…so much blood...

"He was," Leia agreed. "But he's gone now, right?"

Anakin looked at his daughter. "You have your doubts?" he asked.

Leia shrugged. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "Part of me does, part of me is still afraid that Darth Vader is still lurking somewhere inside of you. I'm sorry, but that's the truth."

Anakin nodded. "Yes," he replied. "I did. And I can understand your doubts, Leia. You have a long history with Vader. I am doing my best to destroy the traces of him, but it isn't easy."

"No, obviously not," Leia agreed. "Would you...if you could go back and change things, would you? I mean, what would you have done differently?"

Anakin considered his daughter's question for a moment before answering. "That's a difficult question," he replied at last. "I'm not sure I could narrow down one decision that I made that determined the course of my life; it was more a matter of a series of events that lead me to the Dark Side."

"But where did it all begin?" Leia persisted. "Surely there was a point where you had a difficult decision to make, and you chose the one that lead you to the Dark Side."

Yes …there was a decision…a dreadful, terribly wrong decision…

Anakin frowned as he remembered that day in Palpatine's office so long ago. Master Windu had the Dark Lord at his mercy, and would have killed him if Anakin hadn't interfered. But he had…he had struck down the Jedi Master, allowing the monstrous Palpatine to live...and that was the beginning of his apprenticeship, the beginning of the end..

"There was one moment," Anakin said at last, standing up and walking away from his daughter. "One terrible, monstrously wrong decision," he said.

"What happened?" Leia asked.

Anakin hesitated before answering her. "I…defended a man, a man whom I'd known for many years, a man I trusted, and in doing so, I struck down a fellow Jedi. I knew that the man I was defending was a Sith…I knew that but I didn't care, all I cared about was the power that he promised, the power to…"

"So it was about power," Leia interjected, her eyes hardening once again. "You threw away your life with mother for power, is that what you're telling me?"

"It wasn't that simple," Anakin replied. "If you'll only let me explain…"

"What is there to explain?" Leia cut in again. "I was a fool to think that there was more to your fall to the Dark Side," she added, shaking her head ruefully. "It seems that Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker are not so different after all."

Anakin was stung by her words, not even knowing how to respond. Her mind is closed to me…she will never accept me, never give me the chance to explain what happened…

The door opened at that moment, and both father and daughter turned to see Luke and Padmé enter the room. Leia stood up at once and walked away from him.

"Did you have a bit of sleep?" Padmé asked, setting down a tray of breakfast on the table.

"A bit, yes," Anakin replied, trying to hide the despair he felt. "Is that for me?" he asked hopefully.

Padmé smiled. "Yes, it's for you," she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Luke has brought some for you too, Leia."

"Thanks," she replied.

Luke looked at his sister and sensed her conflicted emotions. He hoped that she had begun to soften towards their father; yet there were still many scars that he knew would take a long time to heal. Perhaps they never would.

"We saw Admiral Piett in the mess, Father," Luke said. "He asked if he could speak with us. I told him to meet us here. I hope that's okay."

Anakin nodded as he dug into his breakfast. "I know exactly what he's going to say," he said between bites.

"Oh?" Padmé asked. "Jedi intuition?"

"No," Anakin replied. "I just know him like the back of my hand," he replied.

Padmé laughed along with Luke. "Well, we'll see soon enough."

Anakin nodded as he looked over at his daughter who had barely touched her food. She looked up and met his eyes. He could see in their dark depths the pain and disappointment that he himself felt. Won't you even let me in, Leia? He thought. If you never let me close, you will never know the truth.

"I'm not hungry," Leia said suddenly, standing up. She did not like the way her father was getting into her head, and decided to put an end to it. "Thanks for the breakfast Luke."

Anakin watched her leave, and then proceeded to eat his own breakfast.

An hour later…

"Let me get this straight," Anakin said, folding his arms over his chest, looking at his family as Piett stood by watching with amusement.

"You think I should reveal that I was Darth Vader? After the lengths I've gone to in order to hide my identity?" he asked, frowning. "What sense does that make?"

"Listen to me, Anakin," Padmé replied patiently. "As Darth Vader you can assume control of the Empire, declare yourself emperor. As the emperor's right hand you would naturally be his successor."

"Your wife is right," Piett put in. "You know as well I do that were I to make a bid for the leadership, grand moffs would come out of the woodwork from all over the galaxy to challenge me. It would be chaos. You are the natural choice to succeed the emperor."

Anakin was not convinced. "You all seem to forget that I have renounced the Dark Side," he reminded them. "And you are asking me to become Darth Vader again??"

"Not become him," Luke said. "Just assume the name. No one needs to know that you are really Anakin Skywalker again; Vader is just a name, Father."

"Luke is right," Padmé said. "As emperor you could put an end to all the injustices in the galaxy that the Empire has created. Plus you could negotiate with the Alliance for a truce to end the war."

Anakin listened to his wife's words. Could it work? Could he really fix all the damage that he'd had a hand in? But the danger of that much power was daunting…how could he avoid the dark side with that much power in his grasp?

"I don't know," he said at last, shaking his head and walking across the room. "That much power…I'm not sure I am ready to do this."

"No one here doubts that you have renounced the Dark Side completely, Father," Luke said. "And that you can do this. I know it is a huge job, but you would have the support of all of us behind you. Mother is an experienced politician; her help would be invaluable. You're the only chance the galaxy has of knowing peace. Surely you know that."

Anakin looked at his son, surprised by his declaration. "Do you really believe that, Luke?" he asked.

Luke nodded. "Yes," he said. "I do. The Empire needs a leader; who better than you to be that leader? And because you have renounced the Dark Side, you are the best chance of resolving the conflict between the Empire and the Alliance."

"Think of it, Ani," Padmé said, growing excited as the ideas jumped into her mind. "You could create a New Republic, slowly change the office of emperor into that of a constitutional monarch, giving power back to the systems, removing the iron grip of the Empire and releasing worlds to govern themselves."

Anakin considered all this as he paced around the room. If what Padmé was saying was true, then didn't he owe it to the galaxy to try?

He turned and looked back at his family. "And what part do you play in this, Padmé?" he asked. "Will you work with me? I'm no politician, as you well know. If I'm going to do this I will need your help." He turned to his children. "Yours as well."

"Luke and I will need to return to the Alliance," Leia replied. "If it's made public knowledge that we are your children, your credibility as Darth Vader will be compromised. But Mother can be your Empress; that way she can help you without raising suspicions."

Anakin turned and looked at Padmé. "Empress Padmé," he mused. "Well you've been a queen, why not an empress too?"

Padmé smiled. "Yes, why not? Of course I couldn't use my real name. We can't take the chance that the Empire will connect me to Anakin Skywalker or else your reign will be a short one."

"Yes, very true," Piett put in. "You will have to assume the name of Vader, my lady."

"Of course," Padmé replied. She turned to her children. "I do not like the thought of being separated from you so soon, though," she said softly. "We just found one another and now it seems we have to be apart again."

"Yes, I thought of that too," Leia said, a frown on her face. "But it cannot be helped."

"I'm sure we can work out something," Luke said. "A meeting place, somewhere out of the way, secluded, where we can be together as a family."

Anakin and Padmé looked at one another, and at the same time, said, "The lake retreat."

"The what?" asked Leia, looking at her parents.

"A special place, very special," Padmé said, her eyes not leaving Anakin's. "Your father and I were married there, it belongs to my family."

"On Naboo?" Luke asked.

"Yes," Padmé replied. "My home."

Piett felt rather awkward at this point, feeling as though he was intruding upon a special family moment. However, there were important matters to attend to, and he knew that his presence was necessary.

"So the way I see it," he spoke up at last, bringing everyone's attention back to the matter at hand. "We need to have a press conference, and reveal the remade Lord Vader, at which time you will announce your ascendancy to the throne."

Anakin nodded. "Yes, I suppose time is of the essence. We don't want a civil war breaking out."

"Agreed," Piett said. "If you will allow me, I will see to that at once, sir. Or should I say, your majesty," he added, extending an exaggerated bow.

Anakin laughed as Piett left the room. He turned back to his family. "This is all happening so fast," he told them. "We've barely had time to get to know one another, and I feel like we're being torn apart all over again."

"But not forever," Luke reminded his father.

"No, not forever," Anakin said, smiling at his son. "I have no desire to spend the rest of my life as emperor; I'll do what I must, for as long as I must, but my primary focus is you, my family."

Padmé put her arm around Anakin's waist and looked up at him. "That is something we all share, Ani," she said. "We have spent so long apart; we need to spend time getting to know one another."

Anakin looked down at his wife with a smile. "Or getting to know one another all over again," he replied.

She nodded in agreement. "Sounds wonderful."

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