"I just need a moment," Leia said, once they arrived at her quarters, before heading to the lavatory. Vader made no comment, sitting down on the edge of her sleeping berth. It didn't take a mere moment, however, and the outpouring of anguish in the Force made it clear that she wasn't using the lavatory for its intended purpose.
Padme had never let Anakin see her break down. Not until the very end, on Mustafar, when she'd been so desperate that she could no longer help herself. Yet he'd known when she did it, every single time, because it had felt like this.
It hadn't been a common occurrence. He could recall only a handful of times before the pregnancy. After Onaconda Farr had betrayed her, then again after he'd been murdered. After Mina Bonteri had been murdered. After Obi-Wan had faked his death. After Satine had been murdered. And finally, after she'd witnessed Anakin nearly beat Rush Clovis to death in front of her.
During the pregnancy, though, it had happened more times than during the entire rest of the war combined. Anakin had sensed it when he'd been away in the Outer Rim Sieges, not realizing that she was pregnant. But all she'd let him see when he'd returned were beatific smiles and wistful talk of unattainable fantasies.
She'd done practically nothing but lie to him during those last few months, while expecting him to be completely open with her.
Vader let out a shaky sigh and ran a hand through his hair. He didn't want to think about this. About her. Not now. How he'd failed to save her, then failed to bring her back, and then failed to recognize their child for who she truly was until the man who'd stolen and brainwashed her saw fit to reveal it.
Vader had the sudden impulse to reach out with the Force and open the door to the lavatory. To make it so that Leia couldn't hide from him the way that her mother had. But he didn't give in to it, recognizing it for the weakness it was.
Her eyes were red and puffy when she finally emerged a few minutes later.
"Is it really such a tragedy to find out that you have a twin brother?" Vader asked her, unable to keep the bitterness from coloring his tone.
She looked affronted, as if she'd expected him to completely ignore the fact that she'd just had a minor nervous breakdown. "Not all of us can take life-altering revelations in stride by chalking them up to 'the will of the Force'."
He wasn't going to correct her. She didn't know about his embarrassing little episode in the dorm, and she didn't need to. An omission wasn't a lie.
She sat down at the small table in the center of the room. "Senator Mothma and the Generals have agreed to let you stay, on the condition that you operate under a pseudonym, and that you only act as a consultant."
Right to business, then. "That's a complete waste of my talents," Vader said, scoffing.
"It's not your competence that's in question, but your ethics."
It was probably for the best, all things considered. He didn't know if he could resist the temptation to actively sabotage any mission he was assigned to that didn't involve the Death Star or the Emperor directly. Giving the Rebels information and advice was one thing; actively helping them follow through on their subterfuge in a manner that fell outside of his own interests was quite another.
Leia was far too observant not to notice such efforts.
There was one matter he would not compromise on, however. "I will not hide the truth from Luke. He will receive the same courtesy that I show you."
She looked as though she wanted to object, but thought better of it. "You're right," she said softly. "He deserves to know the truth. We'll meet with him together and explain the situation, as well as the need to keep your true identity a secret."
Vader had to fight the urge to insist they do so immediately. It was clear that the boy was in no fit state to have such a conversation, and he wanted to do things right with Luke.
"So," Leia continued, "in light of all these long-lost family members appearing out of nowhere, I feel the need to ask: do you have any other family? Parents? Siblings?"
"Just my mother," he said tightly. "And she passed away many years ago."
Leia frowned. "No father?"
"None that I know of."
Leia looked as though she was deciding whether or not to follow that line of questioning further. He could sense her curiosity, but also her trepidation. And something else. Something bordering on belligerence.
"You haven't really been trying very hard to convince me to rule the Empire with you," she noted.
Vader felt his brows creasing into a slight frown. "I did not think the time was right."
"Well, color me curious." She clasped her hands together in her lap. "Let's do a thought experiment. You've successfully overthrown the Emperor and taken his place. What do you do with your new-found power?"
"I never said that I wanted to take the throne for myself, Leia."
She had no doubt picked up on the implications of those words, yet she seemed entirely unsurprised. Perhaps Rex had been discussing the matter with her, after all. "But let's say you did. If you had absolute power over the Galaxy, how would you rule it?"
It felt like a test, though he couldn't say for certain what precisely she was testing. "To start with, I would crush the Rebellion."
She huffed out a sound of disdain. "And then what?"
"I would set about destroying all the criminal elements that my former Master either tolerates or actively cooperates with: the Hutts, the Black Sun, the Droid Gotra - among others."
"And then?"
At this point, with absolutely anyone else, Vader would have lost his patience. But he found himself wanting to indulge his daughter. He was curious to see where she was going with all of this. "I would reform the Imperial military so that the only means of admission and advancement was actual merit. I would give Stormtroopers decent equipment, and invest in expanding the navy."
"Why?"
"To keep order from the inside, and prepare against threats from the outside."
That certainly caught Leia's attention. "What threats from the outside?"
"There are rapacious powers in the Unknown Regions that will inevitably turn their gaze towards the rest of the Galaxy." Vader preempted what he knew would be her next question by saying, "I saw the results of their efforts for myself not too long ago."
Leia lapsed into momentary silence, processing this new information. It had likely never occurred to her that there could be genuine threats to peace and security besides the Empire she so despised. Organa had certainly neglected her education in such matters, presenting the history of the Clone War in a deceptively 'balanced' manner.
Her line of questioning took yet another swerve. "How many times have you deliberately targeted civilians in order to achieve some strategic aim?" Her tone was neutral despite the way her emotions roiled in the Force.
"I do not keep count of such things," Vader said. "But the self-indulgent compassion of certain Rebel elements has often made it a useful tactic to draw them out of hiding."
Her disgust swelled. "And how many times have you doled out collective punishment in order to set an example?"
"Often enough," Vader said.
She let out a harsh breath, crossing her arms over her chest in what she probably didn't realize was a defensive gesture. "You understand that destroying a planet will only drive people to the Rebellion, but think that this kind of behavior is somehow different?"
"It is different."
"How?"
"You really wish to know?" Vader prompted, because he knew that she wouldn't like the answer.
"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't."
Vader took a few moments to formulate his response. These were things he understood on an intuitive level from years of experience, but understanding wouldn't come naturally to one such as Leia. She had been indoctrinated too thoroughly by her kidnappers. Moreover, he'd never actually articulated them to anyone before. He hadn't needed to, when his orders were usually followed without question.
Finally, he said, "In any given population, the number of law-abiding citizens usually surpasses the number of traitors. And the law-abiding citizens are usually quite happy to cooperate with weeding out the traitors - provided that they think it's actually within their power to do so, and understand the consequences for failing to do so. This is why demonstrations on a local level are effective. A small community can police itself reasonably well, and demonstrating a willingness to exact collective punishment on such a scale encourages this self-correction.
"On a planetary scale, however, the logistics are completely different. What power does a farmer in a rural community have to stop traitors in the cities? Or on other continents? The connection between cause and effect is entirely lost, making the punishment appear to be an act of random, sadistic cruelty. The belief spreads that cooperation with the Empire is meaningless, since there is no reasonable or attainable way of avoiding retribution, leaving rebellion as the only logical choice."
Leia looked, briefly, as though she wanted to vomit, but mastered herself. "And I suppose you rationalize all this as being sacrifices for the greater good."
"It's not a rationalization if it's true," Vader noted dryly.
"Let's run another thought experiment," Leia said, tone clipped with barely-restrained fury. "You live in a mining settlement on a planet that was integrated into the Empire a few years ago. At first, things seemed to be improving. Your family was freed from slavery. The Empire built infrastructure and provided a real administration to replace the primitive tyranny of a local warlord. But then, over time, things get even worse than they did before. Food prices are so high that the wages you earn are meaningless, but you'll be executed if you stop working. The infrastructure that seemed like such a miracle is falling into disrepair. And the administration? Well, you have Stormtroopers coming by to use your young men and women as...entertainment. You have nobody to complain to, and - even if you did - such complaints would result in reprisals.
"So now you're faced with three choices: you can enlist in the Imperial Navy, leaving your family behind to fend for themselves; you can stay and cooperate, watching as your community, and all those you cherish, slowly die out from malnourishment and disease with the slim hope that things might one day improve; or you can fight - which may result in death, but which could also actually improve things in the immediate future." She looked him straight in the eye, challenging. "Which path would you choose, Lord Vader?"
She framed it as a thought experiment, but Vader knew that it wasn't a hypothetical scenario. Leia was probably recounting the circumstances that drove one or more of the Rebels on this very base to join the Alliance. "Since my hypothetical self would lack information about the broader state of the Galaxy, I would choose to fight," Vader admitted. It wasn't as though he didn't understand the impulse. On the contrary: understanding the Rebels was the key to combating them efficiently. "But, as I said in the meeting, this is all part of the Emperor's design. If I had full discretion, the incompetence and corruption that leads to such a predictable outcome would be punished far more harshly than even the Rebels." He narrowed his eyes. "However, it's disingenuous to act as though the people of worlds like Alderaan or Chandrila face similar hardships. For them, rebellion is a matter of pride, stubbornness, or idealism - not desperation."
"The Core systems prosper at the expense of the Outer Rim," Leia said heatedly. "Those who benefit from the system have even more of a responsibility to oppose it."
"Alternatively, they can use the official channels within the system to alleviate the suffering that they so abhor." Pointedly, he added, "Instead of abusing them to steal equipment from the Empire." Oh, he knew all about Leia's little adventures with perfidy. It had been one of the main reasons why her capture had been so satisfying, before he knew her true identity. Nothing was quite so obnoxious as pampered royalty flaunting their privileges, then whining self-righteously in the Senate when it resulted in fewer humanitarian permits being issued. "How many thousands of sentients do you suppose suffered needlessly as a result of your collusion with the Rebels?"
There was outrage, of course, but guilt as well. He had clearly struck a very raw nerve. "We both know you don't give a damn about their suffering, so spare me the faux sanctimony."
"I have come to accept that some degree of suffering is inevitable, and that allowing oneself to dwell upon it only results in paralysis. That doesn't mean it's an outcome I desire."
Leia's face twisted into a snarl. "If not for the Empire, they wouldn't be suffering in the first place!"
Vader couldn't help it. He laughed. "The only reason Palpatine managed to become Chancellor is because the Senate under his predecessor refused to prevent an illegal occupation of one of their own member worlds by a corporation. That's setting aside the state of worlds that weren't members the Republic. Mandalore and Carnelion IV, reduced to ash by the own internal feuding. The countless worlds choked by the criminal tyranny of the Hutts. Trillions of sentients living in deprivation, slavery, and oppression, without an Empire in sight."
"But the Empire made it worse," Leia insisted. "Not even you can deny that. You admit yourself that the Emperor did it on purpose."
"The Emperor is not a god, Leia. He can't force people to play along with his schemes. He didn't force the Separatists to secede; he didn't make the Hutts into criminals or the Zygerrians into slavers. I reject your assertion that the negligence he allowed to flourish has made the Galaxy worse. At most, it's allowed for a return to the sorry state it was in before the Empire brought order." He snorted. "And the Rebels have done nothing but play into his hands. As a prominent member of one of the oldest and most respected royal houses in the Galaxy, you could've leveraged your privilege to improve the lives of countless people. But I suppose that was too mundane for your tastes. Not nearly enough glory or excitement."
She stood up sharply, glaring down at him with utmost venom. "No amount of humanitarian aid is going to free species like the Wookiees from slavery! Or stop the Empire from ravaging worlds like they did with Lothal!"
"Those species are indentured servants as a temporary punishment. They'll become free citizens of the Empire once they've made up for the damage that they helped to cause."
"The whole point is that they shouldn't be enslaved at all!"
She was visibly shaking, now, and Vader once more sensed that thread of belligerence in the Force. It was only then that he realized what should have been all too obvious from the start.
She had been looking for an argument.
But it wouldn't accomplish what she wanted. Leia was very much his daughter, after all, and the catharsis she sought would not be found in petty words.
"Is there some kind of gymnasium on this base?"
"Why would you ask about that now?" she demanded.
"Because you can yell and curse at me until you lose your voice, and it won't make you feel any better." He quirked his brows at her. "But sparring with me will, and you need to calm yourself before we speak with your brother."
"That's absurd," Leia said, even as he sensed her curiosity spike.
"Why?" Vader asked.
"Because you're Darth Vader, and I don't even weigh 60 kilograms!"
"Not Darth," Vader said, automatically. "Just Vader." At her look of angry bafflement, he explained, "Darth is the title used by Sith Lords, and I no longer count myself among them."
"Whatever," Leia said. "My point is that you're a very large man with cybernetic enhancements and decades of fighting experience. Sparring with you would be pointless." She huffed. "Besides, we don't have a gymnasium."
Vader stood up himself. "Then we shall have to go outside. What's your preferred weapon?"
"Have you not been listening to a word I've said?" Leia asked incredulously.
"Your words say one thing," Vader said. "But your feelings say another." He cocked his head to the side. "If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that you received at least some training in hand-to-hand combat. Not even Organa would leave the heir to the throne completely helpless. But you enjoyed that training just a little too much for his tastes, didn't you?"
Her stricken expression told him that he was entirely correct.
Vader pressed on. "Organa could see just as plainly as I do that you are a warrior. But that is not the way of Alderaan, and he made you hide from who you truly are. Made you ashamed."
"He showed me a different way," Leia said, all but confirming Vader's words. "But he never once made me feel ashamed of who I am."
"Then spar with me and prove it," Vader said.
Leia glowered at him, and he could sense just how badly she wanted to give in. His triumph was short-lived, however. She took in a deep breath, let it out, then said, "I have nothing to prove to you, Lord Vader. And the only thing I need before I speak to Luke Skywalker is rest."
Skywalker. His son's name was Luke Skywalker.
"Your quarters are the same as they were before," Leia said. "I trust you remember how to reach them."