Chapter VI: The rule of two
Luke and Leia had now reached the age of thirteen.
They had grown up with every possible comfort and luxury a person could ask, while across the galaxy, millions of people were starving, crying, dying, and cursing the very name of Skywalker.
It was a rough time for everyone, well—almost everyone.
The members of the Empire lived full and easy lives. Their sons and the sons of theirs, would never know that there was such a thing as not getting whatever it is that you might wish.
Great tall castles were built in Coruscant, Naboo, and Alderaan for the Skywalker family.
There was not a planet in which they could land and not find a great, tall building, where they could spend as much time as they would like, with a hundred servants who bended their backs as they passed by; Leia could get as many clothes as any girl could dream, yet she disliked the attires Naboo placed on her.
Their custom of using decoys for their rulers wasn't lost with time, yet both Luke and Leia refused to use those ridiculous, expensive clothes Padmé still wore.
They always had a dozen stormtroopers (Clones had stopped being used by that time) following them and guarding them.
And of course, they had been trained by Darth Vader. From the time they could walk, they were taught the ways of the Force. Vader thought both of them would make powerful Sith.
Though Padmé's heart almost stopped when Anakin told her of his plans for their children, she soon lost the fear, for there really didn't seem to be much of a danger surrounding the children.
Luke and Leia went through pretty much the same training Anakin had with Obi-Wan. Of course the big difference appeared when it was time to control their emotions.
The Sith didn't have to control them nor repress them.
Their wildest emotions were unleashed, making them more powerful at that tender young age than Anakin could even imagine when he was that old. He remembered with anger how his old master managed to hold him back, because he was jealous, because they all feared him and his power. Well, Luke and Leia would never be controlled like that!
They would be more powerful than even Anakin was, and he was damn powerful those days. One time, as he was lying next to Padmé, he let go of any kind of regret for killing the Jedi, for betraying that old fashioned order that always made his life so miserable. Because of the Jedi order, he lost his mother; and had he not destroyed them, he would've lost Padmé and his children.
Though Anakin always trained his kids to be Sith, they were closer to a grey Jedi.
Darth Vader was ruthless; he was still spending a great part of his life in hunting the remaining Jedi, and he didn't even care for politics, so, even though in name the galaxy belonged to him, it was really in the hands of Queen Amidala. Unfortunately, only Naboo was so lucky in the long run.
And she kept her politics, though they were hardly ever followed. The imperial officers made it seem like everything was as well as during the Old Republic times, though they were growing worse and worse by every day; times appearing darker and more uncertain for the common people, especially alien species.
And since Padmé hardly ever left Naboo, there was no way she could know how badly things were, and had she known, the queen most certainly would've done everything in her power to fix it; she would had given every breath in her body to help the Galaxy—if only she knew!
The people of Naboo were so well, they could hardly imagine such a cruel reality outside their planet.
Luke and Leia also lived in the Skywalker castle on Naboo, though they did travel a lot, mostly to Coruscant with their father, and they would've noticed the actual state of the Galaxy immediately, if it wasn't for the fact that they never explored or went anywhere alone. Stormtroopers and imperial officers being most of their company, as well as rich families who couldn't care less about anyone who wasn't them.
And Anakin had certainly broken the promise he made to Padmé the day he found her on that poor hospital bed in the capital city, for he definitely left her to sleep alone, afraid, though safe, many, really too many nights. At first, he had tried, really hard, to be there with her every night, but he just found it impossible after a while; there was a rebellion who had deigned into destroying his empire, and he'd never allow it, though it was very unlikely to think a group of small rebels could make any difference to the Skywalker family—to the dark lord Vader, and the two future Sith, who were so young and destined to be stronger. Really, though, he couldn't take any chances, so the empire was set to destroy the rebellion, which took Anakin more and more from Naboo.
Yet, when Anakin was home, he never failed to make his queen happy. Padmé had lost her fear to the Sith, because she almost never got to see him; with her, Anakin was all love and affection, and though he seemed a bit too disciplinary with the twins, he did love them as much as Padmé.
On one occasion in which Vader had spent several hours training the twins, Padmé broke into the bedroom, interrupting, which upset all three Force users.
"Mother, now is not the time!" princess Leia said.
"Don't talk to your mother like that, young lady," the emperor immediately reprimanded her.
"Well, don't you always say that nothing should come in the way of our training!" she cried, indignantly.
"I am sorry, darling, I didn't mean to interrupt, but I need to talk to your father."
"Well, we can postpone this, I guess." Anakin said and left the room to go with his wife.
"I gotta tell you," Luke said to Leia when they were alone, "I am a little relieved. This day seemed to go on forever."
"Come on, Luke! Don't you want to be a Sith?"
"To tell you the truth, I don't really care."
"You're hopeless! And you're gonna come to regret this when I beat you!"
"You? Beat me?" he laughed.
"Why, yes! Why do you smile so much? Don't you know that only one of us can be a Sith?"
"What?"
"Yes, there can only be two Sith, and there is father and then there's going to be one of us. I think it's going to be me. If you don't step up, and really focus on your training. I am going to be a Sith lady."
"When has father ever said that there can only be two?"
"Never. But I know it."
"How?"
"I read it in a book about the dark side. I stole it from his castle in Mustafar."
"What! You can't steal from him! That's so wrong—"
"Oh, shut up Luke. He didn't even use it. But, now you know, so you have to try harder."
"I don't need to try harder, because there's not such a thing as a rule of two… besides, I'm already so much stronger than you."
"Is that so?" princess Leia smiled, and a red lightsaber was ignited.
Luke smiled, too, and their duel begun.
Luke had a better ability, though he was mostly too reckless, he had style as well, not very similar to his father, but just as strong and effective; yet Leia wasn't so easily beaten, she was far more emotional, she was like Anakin in that way, and she could easily get angry, using that emotion against her opponent, in this case, her unbelievably powerful brother.
Both red blades clashed, making noise, and calling to the attention of their parents, who soon enough were inside again, to stop the fight.
"Oh, what's the matter?" Padmé cried, preoccupied.
Vader took the lightsabers in his hands.
"Oh, it's nothing," Leia explained. "We were just practicing on our own."
"You shouldn't play with lightsabers without your father's supervision!" Padmé scolded, "You could really get hurt with those things!"
"Playing?" the twins seemed offended.
"We weren't playing. We were practicing mom," Luke said. "One does not play with a lightsaber. It's an art form, you know. A great weapon…"
"Exactly, Luke. A weapon. So you can't just use it any time you want. Anakin, tell them!" she waited for her husband to support her claims, but he seemed more impressed than annoyed at finding them fighting.
"Leia, if you hadn't jumped at that last minute, Luke would've cut your head off. You need to be more mindful. I always tell you. You're always ruled by your emotions, at some point you have to learn to control them."
"Not exactly what I had in mind!" Padmé cried, very bothered.
"What can I say, Padmé? That was an impressive fight, my apprentices delivered."
"They're not just your apprentices, Anakin. They're your kids!"
"Lord Vader, I was really good, wasn't I?" Luke said, happily.
Padmé opened her eyes very widely. "Did Luke just call you, 'Lord Vader?"
Anakin avoided her gaze.
"That's the name they call me, while we do the Sith training." Vader explained.
"Uh? And you're okay with that?"
"Well, Leia started calling me that as a joke a long time ago, and I thought it was actually fitting here…"
"Well, I don't like it."
"Why, mother? It's the most respected name across the galaxy. It's the name that constantly reminds people of who they have to thank for the fall of the Jedi order—"
"Stop!" Padmé shut her up. She just could never get used to the way people thought about the Jedi.
An awkward silence then followed.
Padmé tried to reconcile. "You know, your father was once a Jedi Knight."
"Yes, but he left them when he discovered how corrupt and evil they were. And he saved the Galaxy when they tried to take over… and we couldn't be living together as a family if he stayed a Jedi! How could you ever defend them?"
"The Jedi were keepers of the peace, Leia. They weren't all bad. Maybe they weren't perfect, but definitely…"
"Padmé!" Anakin cried.
"Right… all right. I will go. I'll let you get back to your 'Sith training', excuse me!"
And she left them, abruptly.
Luke looked pensive for a moment.
"Well…" Vader resumed. "Let's continue. I say we can go on with the lightsaber training. Come on… Luke, are you listening?"
He really wasn't.
"Luke!" Leia kicked him.
"Uh? What?"
"Could you get back to your training, young man?" Vader asked, sharply.
"Yeah… sure. But, father, could I ask you something first?"
"Go on."
"It's about the Sith code."
"Yes?"
Leia started shaking.
"What can you tell us about the rule of two?"
Leia wished she could force choke him, right there.
Vader considered it for a moment. "Where have you heard of it?"
Through the Force, Leia told her brother to shut his mouth.
They had a special connection that not even Vader could intercept.
"I just… heard it. Is it true that there can only be two?"
"Well, that is part of the Sith code."
"Oh!" Luke exclaimed.
"But don't worry, son. We will not follow that foolish rule. I am so sure that that was the rule that gave the Jedi their advantage over dark force users."
"But if we don't follow the rules, how could we become great Sith…"
"Listen to me, both of you. I am a Sith lord, that will never change. But I don't intend to follow any rules. Let's say I am not any more loyal to the Sith code than I was to the Jedi. I follow only the Force. And you must always do so, too. Forget about any rules, codes, or traditions. Forget about politics. All the power in the world comes from the Force. Trust in its power, you always must! Do you understand?"
They didn't, but they nodded along.
Anakin never cared for the Sith.
He never even respected them as he did the Jedi.
But since it was the ideology that gave him more freedom and sense of power—the one that didn't seem to have any limitations, he remained a Sith lord, and he intended for his kids to be as well.
But it was not so easy.
He spent years trying to get them to try the dark side, but it was impossible without risking their humanity, which Padmé wouldn't allow to be at risk.
The twins were far too happy, far too good.
Could they still be as powerful as Darth Vader?
He wasn't certain.
But he kept trying. Though he knew—
Luke and Leia couldn't be great dark force users because their lives had been too easy.
What did they know of pain?
How can they know pain? If he doesn't want them to feel it…
They would never understand what Anakin had gone through to become a Sith…
What pain and anger could he inflict on them?
Anakin had been practically forced to be the way he was, all he suffered:
Slavery.
Brutally losing his mother.
Murdering an entire village of people in revenge.
Committing genocide.
Could Luke and Leia really pledge themselves to the Sith?