Coruscant

9 BBY

"Anakin! You're breaking my heart!"

"No . . . no . . ."

Padme's scream echoed through the air and he was knocked backward. The scream modulated, running higher. "Daddy!" Leia's voice. "Come back! Let me help you!"

"No!"

"Give it back!" A new voice screamed. "You're not allowed to have it, it's not yours!"

"No, no!"

Vader jerked out of his dream, panting. Padme's screams haunted him nightly, though that was the first time he'd heard Leia's voice in his dreams. Her scream had been high-pitched and panicked, and Vader hoped it wasn't prophetic like some of his dreams had been. Though from the sound of things, she was the one in charge. She wanted to help someone else. And the third voice—childish, petulant, desperate, but not Leia's. What did it want?

Vader tried to push the dream from his mind as he shook his head. The inquisitors had found remnants of a Jedi safe house on Jabiim, and those taken alive were being questioned. It was about damn time—they'd been doing this hunt ever since he found Leia, almost a decade, and leads were few and far between. It was rare that any force-sensitives they captured these days had even heard of Kenobi.

"Daddy!" Leia's voice shrieked. He sighed. He was used to Leia screaming at him, but she still managed to surprise him.

"What is it, princess?"

Leia opened the door to his chamber. She'd seen him in the bacta tank many times, and the sight of his burned body no longer frightened her. "Daddy, can I train more today?"

"Not today." A droid lifted Vader out of the tank and began putting on the pieces of his suit. "I've gotten new leads in the Kenobi manhunt."

Leia sighed heavily. "I never get to do anything."

"Leia, you've been training all this week."

"I want to learn to force-choke someone!"

"Leia!" Vader couldn't quite bear to see her turn out as evil as him. "No. Force-choking is only for me. You're too young."

"I never get to do anything." She whined again.

"You just went on an Ewok safari last month."

"Oh yeah. I did."

Vader smiled. While Leia and her nanny droid had cavorted through a forest with ewoks, Vader had been scouting out the forest moon as a possible location to put up energy shields for imperial ships. "I've been busy, all right? We're just finally getting leads on Kenobi. And on top of all that the empire is taking its first galactic census this year. But Palpatine has left me in charge of the manhunt." Vader had managed to keep Leia a secret from Palpatine all these years by passing her off as an apprentice on the few occasions she attended imperial business. He had his own plans for her future that did not involve Palpatine.

Vader's comm-link buzzed. "Lord Vader!" It was Grand Inquisitor Reva. "We've secured new leads in the Kenobi manhunt."

"Very good. Where?"

"I found a transmission at the Jedi safe house on Jabiim. Someone telling Kenobi to stay put. On Tatooine."

"Tatooine." Vader shut off the transmission. What right had Kenobi to hide on Vader's home planet, under his very nose? It was too obvious. And yet, it was smart—Vader had to commend his old master for picking the place Vader himself least wanted to go to. He exhaled as his helmet snapped into place, an idea coming to him.

"Leia! How would you like to come with me to the outer rim? History is going to be made, and I would like you to witness it."

"But I don't want to go to the outer rim. It's boring."

"We won't be there long, ok? Just long enough to capture Kenobi and kill him. But I do want you there. I want Kenobi to see you. To see what he tried to take from me."

"Ok." Leia bounced away, already seeming to forget that they were going on this trip to kill a sworn enemy. "Should I bring my swimsuit?"

"Princess, it's a desert planet. There's no water."

"What about my stuffed wookie?"

"The stuffed wookie's fine."

"Ok. Hey, why do we wanna kill this guy so bad?"

Vader sighed. "It is time you learned. Long ago, I was part of something called the Jedi order—that much, you know. The Jedi claimed to be good, but they were not. They didn't let me see my mother when she was in danger. I couldn't get home in time to save her life. They wouldn't let us have attachments, either. Your mother and I had to keep our relationship a secret."

"What does Kenobi have to do with all of this?" Leia asked.

"I'm getting there, I'm getting there. Kenobi was the Jedi master who trained me, and I considered him a friend. When I began having dreams of your mother dying in childbirth, I couldn't ask the Jedi for help. But Palpatine showed me the power of the dark side, which I could use to save your mother. Kenobi interfered with my plans and turned your mother against me. She was convinced that I was evil and was going to hurt her. I got angry and tried to hurt her. Then Kenobi and I fought. He cut off my arms and legs and tried to burn me to death."

"Oh."

"That's why I have to wear this suit. But after all of that, he took you away and sent you to your fake parents. He would rather have you grow up not knowing your real identity than grow up with me, because he thought I would be a bad parent."

"Oh."

"That's why I want him to see you. I want him to know that even though he tried to keep us apart, he failed."

"I don't want to watch when you kill him." Leia said.

"Then you don't have to. It was merely a suggestion."