Padme found herself more than frustrated with her family, couldn't they just be grateful that I'm here and alive? Padme asked herself in frustration as she looked towards her Father, "Regardless of everything, I love him, and he didn't abuse me and the last two months weren't near as bad as you believe them to have been. Anakin is my husband, he loves me and he has changed and we will soon have a new life together."
"Padme, He has lived as a Sith for twenty two years, it's not like he's going to change overnight just because you're having his baby," Sola interjected.
"I never said that he changed overnight," Padme replied.
"Padme, how can you be willing to trust the monster and be with him after all that he deprived you of?" Jobal asked.
"Mom, I have told you that I love him, and everything wasn't entirely his fault, if you love me you can forgive him," Padme replied as she heard the front door of the house hiss open as Anakin stormed into the room with his hood lowered.
Before anyone could speak, Padme noticed his gloved hand reaching out for Luke's throat as he forced him to stand up, "It's about time that you and I had a talk."
"Vader this won't happen in my house!" Ruwee yelled as he stood up.
Anakin in response shoved Luke out of the living room as they moved towards the back porch overlooking the lake.
Padme frowned, "I-I haven't seen him this angry in over a month, what's this all about?"
"He's a Sith, that's what it's all about," Ruwee replied.
Padme ignored her Father as she stood up and moved towards the porch with her parents and Sister following her with Han and Leia in tow.
"I taught you better. You're a great disappointment to me. How could you sleep with a girl that you're not married to for two months and get her pregnant? What the hell is wrong with you? For the last seven years, I have considered you a better man than me, but using Mara as a tool makes you no better. Your Mother and I faced public disgrace, but we were married and we loved one another. Even if we had been discovered by the public or the fact that I was the Father of you and Leia, at least the fact that we were married would be brought to the light."
"I-I love Mara," Luke replied.
"If you truly loved her you would have made her your wife months ago before you carried her into your bedroom and ripped her virginity away from her!" Anakin yelled in anger.
"Father, please listen..."
"There is no please listen, Jedi Knight or not, Light Side or not, your behavior is unacceptable. No Son of mine is going to take an emotionally damaged girl and use her and exploit her if I have anything to say about it!" Anakin yelled.
Padme found herself smiling, Anakin certainly was good at putting their son in his place. At the same time, she looked away from the window and back at her Parents in shock, "Mara is pregnant?"
"Yes," Jobal replied.
"What do you think that Father is going to do about them?" Leia asked.
"If I know him, he will have them both married within the week even if he has to take them both to the Holy Man in binders," Padme replied with a smile.
"Well good for him, I'm starting to like him just by listening to him right now," Ruwee stated.
"But I have a place in the discussion as a Mother," Padme stated as she stormed onto the Patio.
"Father, I truly do love her."
"Luke, I'm tired of your excuses."
"I think that I have a place in this discussion," Padme stated as she came up alongside her husband.
Anakin looked at Padme and nodded, "Sorry Angel, I-I'm just used to doing this on my own after twenty two years," Anakin whispered.
"Luke, this is just wrong, Mara spent half of her life as a slave being beaten down and treaded on. Of course a girl like her would crave any type of love and affection and all that you did was take advantage of her vulnerability, you used her just as you did the other girls, what you did is just wrong," Padme stated
Luke's face reddened as he looked towards his Father, "Look, I'm not going to lie, I-It was all just sex on the first few nights, but it eventually changed," Luke stated in defense.
"But she thought that it was love from the beginning, you used her and you're still using her," Anakin yelled.
"No, I'm not," Luke replied.
"Don't even try to tell me that you aren't, I can see a few red marks on your neck that your tunic was unable to hide, I can see a few marks on your neck line, you're still using her and she is having your baby and all that she is to you is an object."
"No she's not!" Luke replied.
"Than treat her like the woman that you love instead of like common trash, because she deserves far better than you and a man like you is the last kind of man that any Father would choose for their daughter to Marry."
"Stop putting me down," Luke replied in agitation.
Anakin in response turned towards the doorway as he spoke, "Please come out here Mr Naberrie."
Within seconds, he saw Ruwee at the doorway as he spoke, "You have been listening, do you not agree with my last statement?"
Luke looked towards his Grandfather as he met the older man's eyes, "With every single word that you just said," Ruwee replied.
Luke hung his head in shame as Ruwee spoke, "Luke has always made me proud, but he's not without his own sins, and the way that I've watched him with Mara has more than disappointed me."
Luke looked towards his Father and Mother as he spoke, "L-Look, I can't say anything else, I-I was wrong, what can I do?"
"Make things right with her, I expect you to make her your wife and step up and take responsibility for the child that you have fathered. Accept reality, your days as a boy are over, your days of freedom are over Son. You're now a Father. Weather you like it or not, there are chains on your hands that aren't going away, the enslaving chains of parenthood, that is if you want to be a real Parent instead of one of those scumbags that let their kids raise themselves."
Luke sighed as he processed the words, Anakin at the same time turned away from his Son as he stormed towards the doorway. He walked past Ruwee as Padme followed him, "Ani, be easy on Mara."
"I'm planning to,," Anakin replied.
Mara watched as her Master entered the dining room.
Anakin looked down at Mara with a frown, "What did I tell you about men?"
Mara looked Anakin in the eye as she spoke, "You said that if a man loved me, that he would wait until marriage," Mara replied.
"What else did I tell you?" Anakin asked.
Mara breathed in deeply as she spoke,"You told me never to bend my standards or give myself to any man unless I was married. You told me that there were very few good men in the Galaxy and that I deserved one of those few good men for myself," Mara replied.
Anakin nodded, "And I meant it."
"But Luke loves me," Mara replied.
"If he truly did love you, he would have waited," Anakin replied in frustration.
Anakin sighed as he continued, "Even if he does love you, he needs to treat you like the woman he loves instead of treating you like common trash."
"H-He's changed in the last couple of months," Mara replied.
"The way that he's treated you is still unacceptable Mara, it doesn't matter how much money he spends on you, or how much time he spends with you or how he makes you feel. What matters is what's in his heart and how he sees you each time that he looks at you and what you see when you look at him. If you feel that he isn't treating you right, than by Force, you just leave him. He doesn't matter, you matter. He's just a boy. Do you understand me?"
"Y-Yes," Mara replied.
Leia who was listening to the discussion from the outside of the living room looked at her Mother as she whispered, "He almost sounds like Bail back when he used to give me talks like this."
"Luke is in for a rude awakening if he doesn't treat her properly," Padme replied.
Anakin turned and left the living room in anger as he looked towards Padme, "I'm going to get our bags out of the speeder, before I tear something apart."
Padme at the same time noticed her Sister walking up to her as she spoke, "Forget about what I said earlier, after hearing him scold Luke like he did, I'm willing to give him a chance."
"Thank you," Padme replied.
Later that night, Anakin found himself sitting down at the large family dining table as he noticed Luke sitting down along with the rest of the family as Dinner was served.
At the same time, he noticed a dark skinned man who he realized was Lando Calrissian from Bespin entering the room along with a blonde haired man who he knew from somewhere who immediately took a seat next to Padme's niece Ryoo.
Lando nervously looked Anakin in the eyes as he spoke, "Mr Calrissian, when we last parted you were piloting the ship that was carrying my Son and Daughter away from Bespin and my Tractor Beam."
"I saw right through you and I still am watching you after Bespin."
"I don't blame you," Anakin replied.
Once dinner was served Anakin spoke, "So we need a decent plan for Plagueis."
"And do you think that you can win this time?" Jobal interjected.
"My Master has told me that I can," Anakin replied.
"You've been in contact with Obi-Wan?" Luke asked in disbelief.
"Of course," Anakin replied.
"So what are we going to do? Are we going to bombard that fortress?" Han asked.
"Scanners show that the shields are strong enough to deflect any bombardment of any kind."
"So what do we do?" Leia asked from her seat next to Han.
"It's simple, I'm putting together a strike team, I need you and your boyfriend and his Wookiee, I need Luke and I need General Veers."
Leia looked at her Father in disgust, "Do we really have to fight alongside that trigger happy psychotic Imperial Extremist?" Leia asked in anger.
Anakin sighed, "General Veers has been fighting battles since way before you were born, he's hardened and he's experienced, Luke and I will go to confront Plagueis and he will lead the team into the control room on that fort where he will deactivate the shield Generator and shut down the droids."
"Droids?" Han asked.
Anakin looked towards Han as he spoke, "Super Battle Droids and Hellfire droids from the Clone Wars. They are all in mint condition, my guess is that he found a ship and simply found a way to reactivate them. In order to land our Walkers on the planet to subdue the fort with minimum casualties they have to be shut down."
"Minimum Casualties?" Jobal asked from her seat.
"I value the lives of my men, which is why I tried to use the Element of surprise on Hoth, I prefer to loose as few as possible because my Soldiers are men and I see them as men unlike Palpatine."
"I see," Jobal replied.
"Just make sure that you don't get to scratched up, you're our worst patient," Jan stated from his seat.
Anakin looked Jan over a second time as he spoke, "That's why I recognized you Doctor, you've patched me up plenty of times as I recall."
"And I always cringe when you walk into the Med Bay and the same is for every doctor, you're just nothing but impossible."
Anakin found himself smiling in response.
"So we will be in the strike team and you will be killing this crazy Sith Lord? What about taking out their ground defenses? Obviously this Plagueis guy has some good defenses," Han stated
"He does, what I need is a qualified Pilot to lead an airstrike, the first wave would consist of Fighters that would lighten up the ground defenses and the second wave would consist of Bombers."
"I will lead the attack," Lando boldly stated from his seat.
Anakin looked towards Lando as he spoke, "You will lead the attack Mr Calrissian?"
"Yes," Lando replied.
Anakin nodded in response, "Very well, when we board the Executor, we will make sure that you have a good ship and that you're ready for the fight."
"Thank you," Lando replied.
"What are your plans after you have Plagueis killed?" Ruwee asked.
"Simple, I will start peace talks with the Alliance."
"You're making it that easy?" Sola asked with a frown from her seat.
"All I want is to have my own life, I've spent the last twenty two years with the center of my life being war and destruction and I want a break," Anakin replied.
"A break?" Jobal asked.
"Of course, look at me, I'm forty five years old, my home is a Super Star Destroyer, I have a twenty two year old Son and Daughter that I've been estranged from for far to long, I have a wife and a baby on the way, wouldn't you want to have a life if you were in my position?"
Jobal frowned, he really wants a normal life? T-That seems fairly odd for a Sith based on everything that Ruwee has told me, Jobal thought in silence.
Anakin looked towards Luke as he spoke, "Have you talked to Master Yoda lately?"
Luke shook his head, "No, I have no idea where he is, but Ben did say that he's off of Dagobah."
"I think that he joined up with Starkiller."
"Starkiller could be a great asset in the next battle."
"Have you seen him fight?" Anakin asked.
"No, I've never actually met him," Luke replied.
"I watched him when I was making the run for that shuttle on Ambria, even Plagueis was struggling to hold off against him."
"Based on what I've heard about him, I could see why," Luke replied as he took a bite of his dinner.
Several hours later, Anakin and Padme found themselves inside of their bedroom together as Anakin climbed into bed.
At the same time, he noticed Padme entering the room dressed in a light blue nightgown, as she climbed into bed.
Anakin smiled, "It's so long ago, the day that we were married."
"It was the best day of my life," Padme replied as she snuggled up fairly close to her husband.
Anakin in response wrapped his arms around his wife as he spoke, "I dreamed of the days and nights that we spent together so often over the last twenty two years. Then, I would awake and realize that it was all a wonderful dream and that you were still gone. It hurt me more than anything. There wasn't even something as simple as a kiss," Anakin stated as he moved forward and captured Padme's lips.
As they broke apart Anakin spoke, "It was pure hell."
"Raising Luke alone wasn't easy was it?"
"And look at how he turned out, I didn't do such a good job. This next one is all yours," Anakin replied with a smile.
Padme found herself laughing as her husband tightly embraced her.
Luke climbed into his bed as he noticed Mara nervously watching him, "I-I'm so sorry that I lied to you for so long Luke."
Luke looked at Mara as he spoke, "I-I was very angry this morning and I honestly was angry for most of the day, how could you have taken part in such a scheme?" Luke asked.
"I-I didn't want to fail your Father."
"I know that feeling, It was that way between the two of us for years before I finally saw right and wrong."
"H-He never made me do anything wrong," Mara replied.
"Assassinations are wrong, and that Journalist that was murdered on Coruscant was my work, you copied me didn't you?"
Mara hung her head in shame, "Y-Yes, I-I did."
Luke shook his head, why am I judging her like this? Am I any better? I have more blood on my hands than she does, Luke realized.
"Forget it," Luke replied as he wrapped his arms around Mara.
"We're going to have to marry after this mission," Luke stated.
"Have to?" Mara asked.
"My Father will force us to marry," Luke replied.
"He certainly was angry today wasn't he?"
"I never was more ashamed of myself than I was today. I'm sorry Mara."
"Sorry?" Mara asked.
"The reality is that I've used you. I should have treated you like I loved you instead of treating you like an object, and that's what you were to me on our first night together and a good number of the nights that followed, I'm sorry," Luke stated in shame.
Luke breathed in deeply as he spoke, "I-I love you and I love the child that we have created, but at the same time, I admit that I don't deserve you."
Mara was shocked by Luke's confession, moments like this broke her inside and out as she moved forward and met his lips.
As they broke away, Luke used the Force to turn off the lights as he pulled her against his chest. Mara smiled as she felt his hands running through her hair, "I wonder what our baby will look like," Mara whispered.
"I have wondered the same thing, I wonder what we're having," Luke commented.
"What do you want to have?" Mara asked.
"It honestly doesn't matter," Luke replied as he gave Mara an affectionate kiss.
Alright, that's it for now, thank you for reading and reviewing.
-Fallen Jedi 79
