Ambria:
Darth Plagueis walked onto the landing strip as he headed towards the stolen Imperial Shuttle.
"Was it damaged in the process?" Plagueis asked as he walked towards the ship.
"No," replied a strong looking Rodian thug.
"Good, I want you to load up the twelve droids that I requested, and get a team of men together to dress in the armor. We have a mission," Plagueis replied.
"As you wish Boss."
"Soon Anakin Skywalker, you and your Son will be no more," Plagueis stated.
"What will my task be Master?" A feminine voice asked.
"You will be in charge while I'm gone, if I can I will bring him to you alive so that you can destroy him yourself," Plagueis coldly replied.
"Thank you Master."
Naboo:
Anakin awoke spooned up with Padme.
He looked down at his Angel with a smile as he thought of the day before and the drama that they had dealt with prior to their night together.
Anakin sighed, he in truth wished that he could remain in bed with her and forget about the day ahead of him, but that wasn't possible.
He wordlessly moved away from her as he reached for his clothing.
He then looked back at Padme deciding that he would simply let her sleep.
Ruwee Naberrie found himself surprised to see Vader awake and entering his dining room with a cup of caf.
As Anakin sat down, Ruwee spoke, "Is Padme still asleep?"
"Yes," Anakin calmly replied.
"I can sense that Luke is still asleep," Anakin added.
"He probably wants to stay asleep after yesterday," Ruwee replied."
"He better learn how to treat her after yesterday," Anakin stated.
"Their relationship certainly hasn't been what I would call healthy," Ruwee commented as Anakin took a sip of his caf.
"While you're in the middle of scolding your kids, I think that you should give Leia a good talking to," a feminine voice stated.
Anakin turned to see Sola standing a few feet to his right, "I-I didn't notice you in here."
"I came in a few moments ago," Sola replied.
"A good talking to?" Anakin asked.
"She had horrible suggestions for Mara after we found out that she was your spy. I lost it with her and I ended up slapping her I was so angry."
"What did she say?" Anakin asked.
"She actually suggested allowing Mara to have the baby and then rip the baby from her arms and toss her into a dark prison cell."
"What?" Anakin asked in disbelief.
"You do not do that to a woman," Sola stated.
"I would think that she would understand that since that's basically what happened to Padme, although Obi-Wan did what he had to do to keep her alive."
"And she never even thought of that, it just disgusts me," Sola replied in anger.
Anakin shook his head, "I will have a word with her."
"Sola she already admitted that she was wrong after you and your Mom jumped on her, I think that we should let it go," Ruwee stated.
"I think that the fact that she was thinking that way is more than disturbing," Anakin stated before Sola could answer her Father.
At the same time, Anakin noticed Jobal entering the room along with Han, Chewie and Darred as she spoke, "You're still associated with scum like Veers and you go and judge your daughter instead of him?"
Anakin sighed as Jobal spoke, "He tortured that one man that tried to sue you, Jan heard the rumors and told Ryoo. And he killed that Man's wife, and you never stopped him, and after that, you expect me to think that you've truly changed?"
Anakin sighed as he spoke, "I was wrong to allow him to do what he did to the Ardan's but at the time, I felt that it was his right."
"His right?" Jobal asked in disgust.
"When Veers was just a boy, Mr Ardan came to his planet and he took a fancy to his seventeen year old sister. He ended up raping her. Then, a few months later, Veers walked into her bedroom at the age of nine as she was overdosing on drugs. He watched her commit suicide after hearing her cry in her sleep for months as she relived what that Animal did to her," Anakin replied.
Jobal gasped in shock and horror as she moved towards a chair.
"And that is why when he asked me if he could kill Mr Ardan, I said it's a right that I couldn't deny him. Looking back on it, I know that I did the wrong thing."
"I don't think so," Han stated.
Anakin looked towards Han as he spoke, "There is nothing wrong with letting him do what he did, I mean I never had any real family, but if someone did something like that to any of my family, I would have probably shot them more than once," Han stated.
"No wonder he's so cruel and violent, he spent the last thirty years taking his anger out on the Galaxy by destroying innocent lives," Ruwee stated.
Anakin shook his head, "He enjoys battle, it's all a game to him."
"Just like you," Han stated.
Anakin looked towards the younger man in disbelief as he spoke, "Sorry, but I've seen Luke fight and I've seen you fight and I know the look that I see in his eyes just as well as the one that's in mine and in yours."
"I can't lie, It was always something that I enjoyed."
"I remember the nine year old that fought in the battle above us, I remember hearing the other pilots talk about you and your flying at the bars," Darred added.
"What did they say?" Anakin asked.
"That you were born to fly," Darred replied.
"Flying is something that I will always enjoy. It all started with the Podracers."
"I can only imagine how horrified your Mother was when you raced," Sola commented.
"She was certainly that," Anakin replied as he saw Padme enter the room in a simple summer dress.
She immediately moved for his seat and sat down on his lap regardless of what her parents thought of it.
Anakin did his best not to laugh when he noticed Ruwee and Jobal exchanging glances.
"How old were you when you won that race?" Han asked.
"Nine," Anakin replied.
Jobal at that moment looked at Padme as she spoke, "W-What will you do today Padme?"
"I would like to go for a swim in the lake like I used to," Padme replied.
"It's been awhile since you've done that," Ruwee commented.
"Twenty three years but to me it's only been about a year since I was here last."
"And you haven't changed a bit since we parted," Sola added.
"Everyone else has," Padme stated with a smile.
Sola shook her head, "And you said that I was your sister not your Mother, I'm old enough to be your Mother now, so you should think twice on that statement."
"Oh, and our girls are older than you now," Darred added with a smile.
"That makes you the youngest in the family apart from your twins and Ryoo and Jan's little one," Ruwee stated.
"I was the one who was Queen and then Senator, accomplishments that made everyone so proud of me and then I end up losing twenty years and waking up at the age of twenty seven while everyone's aged and no one will let me live it down. Not even Ani who was supposed to be five years younger than me when we married," Padme stated.
"Now I'm an old man, I'm surprised that you would still love me at my age," Anakin stated.
"I just love the body that you still have in your old age, but I don't like any other part of you,," Padme whispered with smile.
"I heard that!" Sola yelled.
Padme glared at her Sister as she spoke, "You still can't let me live anything down can you Sola?"
Sola shook her head in response.
Padme at the same time, failed to notice how red her mother's face was, Jobal shook her head, even in her old age, Jobal could hear fairly well, and she certainly was less than pleased by the perverse statement that her daughter had made.
"Sola knew everything, we had no idea that the two of you were married but Sola always insisted that there was something between the two of you," Ruwee commented.
"I was the family idiot until the day that Luke showed up in your tomb," Sola stated.
"Showed up in her tomb?" Anakin asked with a frown.
"He lived with us up until the point that he murdered Panaka," Ruwee stated.
"So he was here on Naboo for that entire year?"
"Living with us," Ruwee replied with a smile.
Anakin shook his head, "I would have never known. I just assumed that he traveled around until he found Obi-Wan."
"Did you realize that he killed Panaka?" Sola asked with a frown.
"I knew the moment that I walked into his mansion. There was no fooling me," Anakin replied.
"We all tried to stop him, I hated the thought of murdering that man like he did," Jobal stated.
"As much as I hate to say it, his actions that night probably did more good than bad.
"You can't be serious," Jobal replied.
"Panaka was planning to do things to the people of this planet that would horrify you, you don't even want to know just how evil he was," Anakin replied.
Anakin then looked at Padme as he spoke, "We have to have a talk with Leia today."
"What did she do?" Padme asked with a frown.
"After Mara told Luke who she really was, she had this grand idea on how we were going to lock Mara up and then take the baby from her once the baby was born and lock her up."
"What?" Padme yelled out in anger.
"I was so angry Padme that I slapped her," Sola stated.
"I would have done the same thing, that's what happened to me, I saw them, I touched their foreheads. I-I went out, they were taken from me along with twenty two years. I was frozen and I never got to know them. No Mother deserves such a thing, I-I never even got to hold them and I lost all of that time. How could my Daughter suggest doing such an evil thing to Mara?" Padme asked.
At the same time, Padme felt tears, "Twenty two years, I never saw their first steps, never heard their first words or anything, and she wants to deprive Mara of all of that?" Padme asked in tears.
Anakin immediately hugged Padme tightly as Jobal spoke, "She finally did admit that she was wrong, after a little argument."
"Regardless of that, I think that we should still have a word with her."
No one noticed R2 who was in the far corner of the room watching the scene.
R2 immediately moved up towards Anakin and Padme as he whistled a few beeps, "BEEPBEEPVEEPBEEP."
"What is it R2?"
R2 whistled several more beeps as Anakin spoke, "Organa left a special message with you for Padme?"
R2 beeped an affirmative beep as Anakin ran his hand across Padme's face and wiped her tears away.
She then spoke, "Let's hear it."
R2 pointed his projector towards a spot that was a few feet away from Padme and within moments, an image of Bail appeared before her.
She looked at her longtime friend and mentor in shock, he looked so old, he looked so aged. How old was he when he made this recording? She asked herself.
"Hello Padme, if R2 is showing you this right now, it means that Luke finally freed you from the Carbonite and you were successfully reunited with your Son and Daughter."
Bail gave Padme a sad smile as he spoke, "It also means that I'm dead, I probably died for the cause, I probably said a few defiant words to the Empire as my life was ended. Perhaps I even died protecting the identity of Leia, Vader has had Luke for nearly sixteen years. Fortunately, Luke had all of your good parts according to Master Kenobi, perhaps by now his Jedi training is complete."
Bail paused as he breathed in deeply, "I can imagine how horrible you feel, you wanted those babies, you wanted to raise them and here you are alive after twenty two years with two fully grown children in their place. Obi-Wan and I couldn't let you die. I always saw you as the daughter that I never had and the same was for Breha. Obi-Wan also saw you as a Sister, as you were dying, Yoda suggested letting the Force take you. Obi-Wan and I however refused to give up. Perhaps we were just selfish, maybe we did the wrong thing and maybe we did the right thing, but we thought that you deserved a chance at life even if it meant twenty years of regeneration."
Padme at that moment, noticed Bail wiping a tear out of his own eye as he spoke, "We cared so much that we had to save you, we insisted on saving you and then we separated the twins in order to prevent them from being tainted by the darkness that took Anakin from you. By now you will know that our plan only half worked since Luke still carries the burden of what he did in his time as a Sith."
"I can only hope that you will be able to live a long and happy life with Luke and Leia, I'm so sorry that you lost so much. Inside of R2 is a file that contains thousands of Holoimages and videos that I made with the help of Breha before she died. They are images of the times that you missed so that you can at least have a few pieces of Leia as a child, and know her first words and see her first steps. You didn't deserve to lose the twenty two years that you lost, and I can only hope that you will be able to do what you did best. Tell Leia that I love her, by now she knows who you are, I kept her ignorant of her heritage for her own protection, but I hope that Luke has told her by now if Obi-Wan shared the knowledge with him. This message Padme is my final farewell to you, may the Force be with you my dear friend."
Bail then vanished as Padme looked towards the image in tears, "That was so kind of him to save Leia's childhood for me."
"It was the least that he could do, he was a good man, I didn't wish for his death," Anakin sadly stated.
Padme sobbed for a few minutes before speaking, "R2 let's go into the living room so that I can see some of those images."
"Veepbeep."
"You come too Ani," Padme stated.
As Padme stood up, Anakin wordlessly followed her out of the dining room.
At the same time, Anakin noticed Luke and Mara entering the room, he wordlessly walked past them as he looked at Padme and spoke, "If he doesn't marry her after all that he has done to her I might just kill him."
"He may love her but he's still using her, he's just in denial," Padme replied
Anakin nodded in agreement.
Luke walked into the dining room as he sat down with Mara at his side, he then noticed the half empty cup of caf in front of him. He reached forward and took a sip with a smile, "Some things never change."
"Like the fact that you and your Father drink your Caf plain and bitter?" Mara asked with a smile.
"Just take a sip," Luke replied as he offered the cup to his Girlfriend, "No thank you," Mara replied.
"I guess that I better go and get breakfast ready," Jobal stated as she stood up.
As Jobal walked into the kitchen, she noticed Leia entering, "Want some help Grandma?"
"Of course," Jobal replied as she noticed Sola and Pooja also walking into the room.
"Where's my Mother?" Leia asked.
"She's with Vader," Jobal stated.
"Mom I don't think that Vader is the appropriate name for him," Sola stated.
"It is the appropriate name for that monster, he's evil, he endorses evil and he has no good left. I can assure you that Padme is also nothing more than an object to him and a possession," Jobal stated.
"As I recall, it was Padme that was saying that she liked his body, I didn't hear him say anything like that," Sola replied in frustration.
"And General Veers, he immediately tells us why he's a good man, he still is a cold hearted killer," Jobal stated with a sigh.
"I hate that my Father is putting him in charge of us," Leia stated.
"It sounds like he's had a sad life," Sola stated.
"What do you mean?" Leia asked.
"The Ardan family," Sola replied.
"He murdered them, my Father put him up to it after Captain Ardan's Father tried to sue him, he killed Mr and Mrs Ardan," Leia stated in disgust.
"According to Anakin, General Veers was nine years old when Ardan came to his planet and raped his seventeen year old sister. For many months Veers heard her screaming in her sleep at night as she relived it all in nightmares before he finally saw her die just after overdosing at age nine," Sola replied.
Leia gasped in shock, "All of that happened to him as a child?"
"Similar to what Anakin endured," Sola commented.
"So he killed Ardan for revenge?" Leia asked.
Sola nodded in response.
"There's nothing wrong with that," Leia firmly stated. Jobal frowned as she heard her granddaughter's statement, revenge is never acceptable, she thought with a sad frown.
"Revenge is never right," Jobal replied as she noticed Leia reaching for a cooking pan.
"I disagree, I think that Veers has the right, I know that Revenge isn't the Jedi way but if someone did something like that to someone that I loved, I would do the same thing," Leia coldly stated.
Jobal buried her face in her hands in response.
Alright that's it for now, MERRY CHRISTMAS! or HAPPY HANUKKAH! or whatever you call it. Anyway, Consider this Chapter a Christmas Present, to you, thank you for reading and reviewing, I hope that you have a wonderful Holiday.
-Fallen Jedi 79
