Hello everyone! Thank you all so much for the response to the last chapter. I'm so happy some readers are still sticking with me after so long and also happy to see new names responding. You guys are the best. :)

Here we go, here's chapter 39. I have to say this is one of my favorite chapters, especially the last scenes.

Hope you enjoy it!


Chapter 39

Empress Vader contemplated the datapad in her hands quietly. The name was blinking in the Standard script.

Her upper lip curled in disdain.

Katokellian.

She had found nothing from her spies on the Representative from Corellia. No dirt, nothing.

She was clean.

The Empress struggled to contain her anger, hitting the cold desk with her palm. She had to be taken care of. The way she had approached the Emperor and her daughter was suspicious.

There was a secret agenda.

No one was just being nice in this world.

Katokellian wasn't the first woman trying to seduce her husband. Padmé wasn't blind or deaf. The rumors of affairs were endless whenever he was away – which was all the time.

The Emperor was good-looking after all.

And he had power, Padmé scoffed in the silence of her office.

She wouldn't let anyone take it away from her. That was why she still reached out to him some nights, so he would still feel her hold to him.

She would not be replaced as an Empress.

And the fact she was fuming with anger now had everything to do with the Empire, nothing to do with him.

Padmé let her gaze drift to the traffic. Whenever she heard he was back, she could always feel a mixture of conflicting emotions she couldn't understand and hated.

Most of all she hated his judgmental attitude when he came back home, the way the darkness seemed to be even more present inside her, as if acknowledging its creator...

-His way of making her feel after months of numbness-

The low forms of life leaving her side to get to his, as if she had no credibility as an Empress when he was there.

-The stupid pain she felt about the fact he never came to her but only their children-

Every time he came back home, the self-loathing would get even more intense. Because she had thought she had banished emotions a long time ago.

Hadn't she died when her father did?

There was nothing left of the old emotional and naïve Padmé.

She wouldn't be weak again. Anakin would never hurt her again. Not physically, nor emotionally. He would never ever have this hold on her again.

How deeply she hated him.

Yet sometimes...

Sometimes she would look at him in quiet moments. Like the night he came back, as he lay down beside her, his chest moving up and down with harsh breathing. Or before he woke up. It was easier to look at him in those moments, when his eyes were shut and he couldn't see her weakness.

And worse, sometimes... Anakin would look at her like... She didn't know. She suddenly recalled the way he had looked at her the night before in his office. This searing kiss he gave her.

She put a hand to her forehead, sighing deeply.

It was all a tactic from him. He was trying to take away her powers. He couldn't feel anything anymore, not after all these years.

She didn't want him to feel anything for her anymore.

All they had left was physical compatibility. Nothing more.

But she had to admit, there was something different, changed within him lately. Like the Darkness was suddenly at bay.

What had happened while he was away?

Her gaze darkened. Was someone else making him peaceful elsewhere? That Queen from Hapes?

Padmé hit her desk again. How she hated him when he came back, bringing these pitiful feelings inside her. Making her weak.

She took a deep breath, looked up and seized her datapad again.

The health bill was far more important.

The Senate had to vote it. She would make sure it would pass.


"Order, we shall have order!" The aide barked beside the Empress.

The discussion in the Senate was rough, grating on her nerves. The Trade Federation was growing stronger and still held a grudge against her.

She wished she could have destroyed them with the power of the Empire's Army but there had been too many insurrections and wars these past few years to afford to get into a conflict with the powerful Federation, even with Nute Gunray long dead. The Empire would have to put up with them and their allies.

But they were pushing it.

The Empress would have to pass the bill at all costs. Her whole credibility was at play. The Empire's.

As the Senator from Malastare unsurprisingly agreed with the Trade Federation, something caught her eye. Movement from the Corellia pod down.

Padmé recognized her daughter in horror. She was watching the whole proceedings with fascination, holding the Representative's hand.

"This session is adjourned," the Empress dryly stopped the discussion.


"You have asked for me, Your Highness?" The Senator from Corellia, a middle-aged good-looking man, asked as soon as he entered her office.

"Yes, Senator. I want your Representative to be dismissed."

She didn't waste time in preamble, went straight to the point, which wasn't usually her tactic. But she was reeling with anger at the woman.

The Senator stared at her, visibly at loss. "But Your Highness, may I ask why?"

"No, you may not," she spat. "Dismiss her or suffer the consequences."

The Senator bowed, not hiding his perplexity. "As you wish, Your Excellency."

She watched him leave coldly then turned to one of the clonetroopers who guarded the entrance, silent as ever.

"Bring my daughter to me."


Leia's eyes were flashing when she entered the office, crossing her arms and shooting a dark glare to the guard. The girl had put on a dress for once and braided her hair into two buns on each side of her head.

"What do you think you're doing here?" The Empress hissed from behind her desk.

"Mina invited me to come and see the Senate, I had never seen it!"

Padmé struggled to calm her anger.

Mina.

To no avail.

"You are to stay inside the Palace, you know that!"

"Father agreed to let me go to the Senate!" Leia snapped.

Padmé's lips tightened. "Your father is a fool," she replied, deceivingly quiet. "And obviously doesn't remember you were once attacked outside the Palace."

"I thought you were the one attacked, Mother," Leia replied, her eyes full with malice.

The Empress looked at her daughter silently for some time. She knew Leia had Force abilities and sometimes she wondered if her daughter couldn't see all she felt guilty for then used it against her.

Like father, like daughter, she reflected darkly.

"This discussion is over, go back to the Palace."

Leia's eyes filled with angry tears. "No."

Padmé looked up slowly, her gaze fasted on her daughter. "What did you just say?" she asked quietly.

Leia's hands were trembling as they tugged on her dress. "Mother, please, I want to stay-"

"I said, go back to the Palace. Now. Don't make me repeat it."

Leia took a step back, glaring at her. "You have it," she said. "It's all over you, I can see it now."

Padmé frowned, forgetting her anger momentarily. "What are you talking about?"

"The dark side," Leia whispered in fright as if it was a living thing.

The young Empress could only stare at her daughter, speechless. What in the blazes did Anakin tell their children? Was he teaching them to become Sith? Was it why he was so... peaceful lately?

"You don't know what you're talking about," Padmé snapped. "Now find a guard and go back home, I don't want to see you here anymore."

With a punch of her fist, the button was pushed and the door open.

Leia didn't say another word as she left her suddenly dark office.


"What do you mean, she's no longer with the Representative?" Anakin barked from his office.

"The Representative was dismissed, Your Highness. Your daughter is in the Empress' office as we speak."

Anakin sighed in annoyance. "I see. That will be all."

The transmission with one of his guards was cut off abruptly as he released the button with his gloved hand.

The Emperor stood up and paced his office quietly.

Padmé had shown one of her usual flare of tempers. He was too jaded to believe this was about jealousy. It was about control and possession. Nothing more, nothing less.

He fought to calm his anger as he tightened his clasped hands behind his back.

There was a soft timid knock on the door to his office. Waving his hand, he opened it without moving from his position. His son's small head peeked through.

"I'm done with my lesson, can we go to the training room now?"

Anakin sighed, about to tell Luke he had work to do, before reconsidering.

Why not? He needed meditation himself.


The small boy's laughing echoed in the corridor as his father carried him on his back at Force speed.

"Stop it, Papa!" Luke said, his giggling belying the statement.

They reached the boy's room, both breathless and laughing. Anakin put Luke back on his bed who bounced on it.

"Again!" The boy asked excitedly then stopped all of a sudden.

Anakin startled. He had felt it too.

Intense fear.

Leia.


"Where is she?" Anakin's voice rumbled as he strode inside his wife's quarters.

Padmé sighed, detaching her hair in front of the mirror, her gown half opened.

"What are you talking about?"

"Leia," he said between clenched teeth. "Where is she?"

Padmé frowned, slowly standing up. "Isn't she here?"

Anakin's fists tightened as he struggled to contain his fury. "No, of course not! She was supposed to be with you in the Senate!"

She turned around, still frowning. "I told her to go back to the Palace with one of the guards."

Anakin gaped at his wife. "You told her to go back to the Palace? On her own?! For Force's sake Padmé, she's seven years old!"

His wife scoffed. "At her age, I was-"

"You weren't the heiress to the Empire!" he yelled. "You didn't even check she was back home safely? You-"

Anakin stopped. The dark side was back, he could feel it, the power crawling inside his veins, feeding on the hatred.

He wanted to shake his wife until her teeth rattled.

Leia... think of Leia.

He turned away abruptly. He was wasting time here, he had to find his daughter.

But Padmé took his arm, stopping him. "Are you sure she's not hiding in the Palace somewhere? She always does that. Check the-"

Padmé couldn't end her sentence, her features paralyzed in pain as his mechanical hand tightened painfully around hers.

"The only reason I'm not crushing you right now is because I have to go find her. She's in pain and afraid, not in the Palace," he looked at her coldly. Padmé hissed in pain, falling to her knees.

"If anything happens to her, anything, I swear to you, Padmé..." he didn't let himself finish that sentence, unsure of how it would end so great was his rage.

Then he released her abruptly, watching her coldly as she rubbed her hand. He was trembling with the strength of his fury and fear.

He didn't look back as he left her quarters, summoning the Force immediately.

He had to find Leia.


The dark side came willingly, immediately, strengthening his senses.

The Force guided him into the lower levels of Coruscant. Thunder had started, artificial rain pouring above his head.

Vader barely noticed. He only breathed in and out, searching for his daughter's signature.

Leia, he called through the Force.

Nothing.

He tried again.

Then suddenly, a yell.

"Father!"

He ran at lightspeed, pushing away the lower life forms around him.

He found his daughter next to dumpsters in front of a nightclub. Her dress was drenched in the rain and a huge Besalisk was holding her up in the air with one arm, the other arm holding a blaster.

"Oh you're calling your father now. What are you doing here, rich girl? Has nobody told you it's dangerous out here?"

"We could try to get a ransom-" started the Twi'Lek female beside him, then stopping as he came into view.

Even with the dark hood on, the yellow eyes could be seen by the two criminals. The Twi'lek couldn't repress a shudder and took a step back.

Clever girl, Vader thought.

"Let her go. Now," he rasped, gloved hand already on his lightsaber.

"Father!" Leia cried out, reaching out a hand towards him.

The Besalisk put the girl behind him, sneering.

"Not until we get paid a lot of money!"

Vader took one step forward in obvious threat. He was hanging by a very tiny thread.

The Besalisk looked at him in disgust, finally noticing the lightsaber in his hand. "Are you a Jedi?"

Vader fought against the urge to laugh at the insult.

"No... I'm not a Jedi," he said with a deceivingly quiet voice. "Let her go," he repeated. He wanted very much to do horrible things to this criminal and only the concern for his daughter was holding him back.

"Whoever you are, I can tell she's of some value, money first!" One hand pointed a blaster to him, another hand a blaster to his daughter while the other was holding her in the air. Leia was sobbing by now and shaking, soaked by the rain.

"You asked for it," the Emperor sneered.

Before the Twi'lek could get her own blaster out, he had cut off her head with one twirl of his lightsaber. The Besalisk gaped at him then fired his blaster at him. Vader deflected the blaster shots with his lightsaber easily, advancing towards his daughter as his fist tightened. The Besalisk let the girl go, clutching at his own throat, his breaths escaping him in painful gasps.

Leia fell to the ground, crawling towards the wall as she coughed violently.

Some people exited the nightclub to watch the commotion.

But Vader wasn't finished.

He stepped even further, his real gloved fingers reaching the Besalisk's throat now, squeezing as he put him up in the air with the Force. Then with disgust, he threw him onto the ground.

The Emperor couldn't fight a groan of satisfaction as he pierced the criminal's heart with his lightsaber. The Besalisk made a last convulsive move then died quickly.

The lightsaber was back on his belt in a second, unconsciously.

There were some murmurs around them. Some people were looking at the scene, eyes wide with terror, others were watching with obvious fascination.

"Imperial business, go away," he spat, his face still obscured by his hood.

People scattered away quickly.

He took a minute to savor the exhilarating power.

He was reeling with it.

Then he remembered why he was here, turning around to look for Leia. She was sitting up against the wall of the nightclub, holding her knees, her wide eyes on the two dead criminals.

"It's over, you're safe now, my child," he heard himself say, one gloved hand reaching out to help her up.

But Leia didn't react like he would have thought. She looked up at him and moaned in fright, pushing herself even closer to the wall.

It took him seconds to understand.

She was terrified.

Of him.

"Leia," he whispered, crouching down before her.

The girl only coughed, unable to breathe, hiding her face behind her small hands.

"Your eyes..." she cried, gasping for breath.

Vader's lips tightened. He took her firmly into his arms. Leia couldn't protest much.

She was feverish.


The medical wing was already prepared when he came back to the Palace, still holding his daughter tightly.

He could feel the remnants of his fear encasing him in cold glass. As he looked into the window of the medical room, he could only see yellow eyes staring back at him.

He didn't care.

The med droids worked on monitoring the girl all night. When he was sure she was out of danger, Vader turned around with a swirl of his cloak.

To find himself face to face with his wife.

Padmé was trying to look past him to see their daughter. He was so far gone, he only seized her arm and led her away from the medical room, half-dragging her back to her quarters.

"Let me go!" Padmé cried out. "She's my daughter too! I want to see how she is!"

"You should have thought of that before leaving her alone," he snapped, pushing her back inside her bedroom. "I don't want you near her, not ever again!"

"Are you even listening to yourself?" Padmé stood, dressed in a simple nightgown. It was only then he noticed her eyes were bloodshot.

He couldn't care less.

"This is all your fault!" he yelled. "She could have died!"

"Where was she?" Padmé asked, looking away.

"In the lower levels of Coruscant!" he snapped. "I knew you were a bad mother but this goes beyond everything else!"

He couldn't get himself to calm down. The darkness seemed to erupt from him, a swirl of energy encompassing him, Padmé, the room.

"Let me go see her," Padmé whispered, trying to walk past him.

Oh Force, how much he wanted to hurt her right now.

All the resentment he had, the hatred for the woman wearing his wife's face, the self-loathing, everything erupted into a dark explosion.

He took her arm, whirling her around to face the mirror of her hairdresser.

"You did this," he sneered, putting his lips close to her ear. "You are the monster," he rasped.

Padmé's brown eyes locked with his yellow eyes in the mirror as she struggled in his cold shadow of an embrace.

"You are full of the dark side!" she snapped at him. "You're not coherent. Let me go."

He wanted to choke her now, felt his fingers tighten in preparation, heard Padmé's intake of breath as she fought against her panic.

Let her be afraid of me. Where's the Empress now?

Vader saw his face turn into a grimace of contempt in the distance.

"You are nothing," he said. "You only have power because I say so," he murmured as she struggled in disgust.

His flesh hand came to her chin, holding it tightly, stopping her struggling.

"I should kill you..." he whispered, nuzzling her hair. "I would do you a favor."

Padmé's breathing seemed to resonate in the dark room. Her brown eyes settled on him quietly. She didn't say a word.

"If anyone had realized who she was..." his gaze seemed to be even darker in the reflection.

"I know," Padmé whispered at last, her lower lip suddenly trembling.

"Is that remorse, my wife?" he sneered.

"Anakin, please..." she murmured, looking at him like she could look right through him, like she could take the remnants of his heart and squeeze them into her hand... like Padmé.

Vader found himself yelling in fury, the strength of his rage sending objects flying in all directions. Padmé stumbled to the floor.

"Anakin?" he rasped. "Anakin?! I thought he was useless to you, that you hated him?"

She was looking at him with wide brown eyes full with tears.

"You're just a shell of my wife. You are nothing to me!" he yelled furiously.

The objects swirled dangerously around them, moving. Then his eyes crossed small blue ones in the darkness.

He gasped, the objects falling down abruptly.

"Papa?" Luke asked in a small voice from his place in the door's entrance.

Anakin could hear the wires of Threepio clicking next to his son. "I'm sorry, Your Highness, but Master Luke wouldn't listen! He kept saying he felt Miss Leia!"

Then the droid looked around, his shining eyes falling on Padmé who sat on the floor, her eyes lost in the distance, on the lamps and datapads and hairdresser broken in a confused mess and fell uncharacteristically silent.

Anakin was petrified as well, still looking at his son. He was struggling to breathe, feeling the dark side claws deep inside of him, not letting go.

Then Luke took shy steps towards him.

"Release them into the Force," the boy whispered, lower lip trembling.

Anakin felt his features contract painfully, struggling against the tears.

"Take him to bed," he only murmured to – Padmé? Threepio? He didn't know.

He literally fled the room.


Small snippet from chapter 40

His harsh yell resonated in the training room. Droids were lifted in the air by an invisible force then smashed to the ground in a deluge of fury.

Anakin couldn't calm down.

He remembered the look on his children's faces when they saw him.

The fear.

He had tried his best to hide the hideous parts of him lurking around. That was the other reason why he stayed away. One he hadn't wanted to admit to himself.

Force, he had never wanted them to see him like this.

A monster.

He fell to his knees, holding his head into his hands as he screamed again in the silence of the training room.

They would never look at him the same way again. Never.

And someday they would look at him like Padmé did now. With contempt. Indifference. Or hatred.

Fear.