I think this is the chapter that regular readers of this fic have been waiting for, in a sense – LOL! Anyway, there is some dialogue lifted directly from the original movie trilogy and I'm acknowledging that here. I've tried to avoid taking too much from the original trilogy in the chapters to come so unless you know the storyline, there will be many gaps in the action. I've assumed anyone who is enough of a fan to read fan fiction is familiar enough with the movies to follow along regardless.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

"Is there somewhere, I could separate this feeling from memory
disconnect myself from me
desire inside to mistreat you, it pushes words out of my mouth
this cyclical pattern I feed you, the back and forth and up and down
but still here you are
relinquishing hope for the future, I try not to hate it so
but you are a bridge to those memories, I try to forget if you only knew
is there somewhere to occupy emotion, a room to keep my rage away from you
just tell me when these hopeless days are over
I'll open my eyes and see my new sun rise"

- Sixpence None the Richer, Disconnected

Padme heard a polite knocking on her locked suite door. "Milady, I just wanted to let you know that your husband Lord Vader has been seriously injured in battle," the thin voice of the medical droid said using the voice transmitter into her rooms.

Padme dropped the library reader she was holding and got up from her couch immediately. She unlocked the door and ran through to the medical niche near Anakin's bedroom, following the hovering droid.

Sure enough, Anakin was lying unconscious on the medical bed. His head had a nasty gash across the forehead, his nose was broken and swollen and if one of his arms had not been mechanical, it would have been broken. As it was, some minor repairs and stitches in the skin layer was all that was required.

"What happened?" Padme asked anxiously.

"He had a direct hit to his ship when trying to subdue a rebel attack. He nearly spun off into deep space but he had enough sense to steer towards the Command Ship and get himself caught in the gravitational pull from the hanger," the little droid explained.

"Thank goodness," Padme breathed, not taking her eyes off his face.

"His mask and helmet detatched during the spinning but fortunately, all of those ships are pressurized," the droid continued.

"I guess that's why his head took such a battering," Padme said softly.

"Oh, he looked much worse when he came in but I wanted to clean him up before you saw him. He was all covered in blood just now," the droid said cheerfully.

Padme stayed by Anakin as the droid carefully stitched the gash across Anakin's forehead. He reset his nose with a crunch that made Padme feel sick and then went on to do some delicate work on Anakin's arm. Padme didn't feel too happy when she saw the arsenal of metal tools the droid brought out to use on the mechanical arm, particularly with all the blood around the wound but finally, the droid stitched up the skin. The surgery had taken hours.

Padme felt exhausted. She was glad she was not a doctor. This sort of thing really was best left to droids.

It was a full day before Anakin came round. By then, he had two magnificent black eyes and with his swollen nose, he barely looked recognizable.

"Padme," he said weakly when he opened his bloodshot eyes.

"I'm here," she said, stroking his arm. "You're very good at injuring yourself," she commented teasingly.

He tried to smile but his face was too sore. "I felt another Jedi, Padme. There is another one. I thought only Yoda was left but there is another one..." he couldn't say any more.

"Don't worry about that now," Padme said. "It will be awhile before you're fit to fight Jedi again."

- - -

Anakin was back on his feet within a few days. He was grateful for his mask. He didn't want his generals staring at his badly damaged face. He knew it would heal fine and even the gash on his face would only leave a hair-line scar eventually but he did not think an injured Dark Lord would impress anybody.

The first thing he did when he returned to his work was send out spies to find out who the young Jedi pilot had been that had destroyed his Death Star. Anakin looked at the lifeless Death Star hanging in space, accusing him of failure. Nearly half of it had been blown away by an absurdly simple attack that Anakin had never thought anyone would be courageous enough to try. Then again, he hadn't planned on there being any new, powerful Jedis in this generation; particularly not trained ones.

He had to find out who his new Jedi was and hunt him down. He needed to kill him now before he got too powerful. He would be vulnerable without other Jedi to work with and while still in the early stages of his training.

He put his best spies into operation and his answer came back to him within days.

"I have the name of the young Rebel Leader, my Lord," one of his spies reported.

"Yes," Vader said impatiently.

"His name is Luke Skywalker."

Vader leaned heavily on the control panel before him, suddenly feeling weak.

"Are you sure?" he said, breathing heavily.

"Yes, my Lord," the spy said.

"Is that all you know?" Vader asked.

"He is nineteen years old and has spent most of his life on Tatooine. His parents are Beru and Owen Lars but he was adopted and his real name is Skywalker," the spy said.

"You may go," Vader said with a wave of his gloved hand.

Anakin's head reeled as he realized the truth. Luke had not died! His son was still alive and he was nearly a man. His heart pounded. It was almost too much to take in. He felt dizzy and he sat down abruptly. For so long, he had thought his son was dead and with Padme unable to have more children, he had accepted that he would never be a father.

Worst of all, Padme had been lying to him all this time. No wonder her mind shields has always been so impervious. He got up abruptly and stalked to their suite.

He stood in the doorway in his mask, looking at her. He was a terrifying sight but his wife had her back to him, reading a report from a war zone in distant system.

He went quickly through to his room and took off his mask. It was unusual for Anakin to come back to their suite and not talk to her immediately, so Padme watched his actions with surprise.

Anakin was back within seconds and Padme saw an expression on his face that she hadn't seen since Mustafar. A feeling of dread filled her. She did not want to know this side of Anakin. She had very bad memories of the last time he had looked like this.

"Why did you lie to me?" he asked through clenched teeth, as she stood up to talk to him. "Why did you tell me Luke was dead?"

Padme's eyes narrowed slightly. How the hell had he found out? "What makes you think he is still alive?" she asked, her expression carefully blank.

"There is a Luke Skywalker in the Rebel Alliance. It turns out that he is from Tatooine. Do you think that is a coincidence? Or do you think that I am stupid?" he said, his voice shaking with anger.

"How did you find out about this Luke Skywalker?" Padme asked quietly, looking away from him.

"I have my spies, Padme. The Galaxy is thick with them. Do you think I wouldn't find out?" he asked furiously.

Padme was silent, eyeing him cautiously. She was afraid this day would come but she had never quite figured out how to handle it if it did.

"Why did you lie to me?" he demanded again.

Padme looked at him with a mixture of resignation and disbelief. "What did you expect me to do?" she asked calmly.

Red washed over Anakin's vision. All this time, he had not been able to trust her at all. If she was capable of hiding this from him, what else was she hiding? Without even consciously realizing he was doing it, he raised his hand to choke her but before he could lift it more than half way, Padme had stepped closer to him and back-handed him right across his partially healed face.

He was not expecting her attack and it sent him off-balance. In his heavy armour, he fell against the hologram messaging table behind him and then slid to the floor.

"Enough is enough, Anakin!" Padme said standing over him with clenched fists, her usually mild brown eyes blazing with fury. "If there is any more violence in this marriage, it's going to be from me!" Padme could feel something in her had snapped. It had broken her wide open.

"I've been your prisoner for fifteen years! I forgave you the violence you did to me on Mustafar. I've loved you through every hideous, sick, deranged act you've performed as a Sith during that time. But I will NOT see my son turn into you! There is a chance, a hope for him without you in his life. Do you really want him to be like you? Is that what you want? Do you want him to be a murderer, a power-hungry monster like you? Do you want him to have the kind of marriage where his wife is a prisoner too? Do you want to give Sidious the opportunity recruit Luke? He could finally kill you then! Is that what you want?"

She drew a shaking breath. Padme was like any mother. When her child was threatened, she turned into a lioness. She didn't give a damn what Anakin did to her anymore. It was too late for her life to be returned to her but she would not just lie down and let Anakin ruin her son's life.

"Do you want your son to be a slave like you? Do you think that is something to aspire to - to be a slave to the Dark Side of the Force? Don't you DARE threaten me for protecting my son from you! I did the right thing to keep him from you. Your mind has been so twisted by the Dark Side that you don't even know the difference between right and wrong anymore. Do you think I want that legacy passed on to my son?"

She paused long enough to notice that Anakin's injured face was pale and shocked behind the fading bruising. He looked badly shaken. Padme felt glad. Perhaps if she had been harder on Anakin from earlier on rather than sympathetic and understanding all the time, she could have done more good in his life than she had.

"You can do whatever the hell you want. It's not like you always haven't anyway. But don't you dare accuse me of being wrong or cruel in protecting Luke from you. You know damn well that Darth Vader is no fit man to be a good father," she said and turned on her heel and left for her suite. For the second time in that year, she locked the door between their suites.

- - -

Anakin could taste blood in his mouth. He couldn't believe how powerful Padme's backhand had been. She was only a small woman but she would certainly hit hard. He never would have thought Padme had it in her to strike him. He was deeply stunned and dazed.

The pain in his face was overshadowed by the words she had spoken. Had his gentle Padme really said those things? He knew she was tough and smart. He knew she had courage and a strong will but she had really never shown that face to him.

And had he really been going to choke her again? He was deeply humiliated. He had thought he could never do that to her again but his temper had overwhelmed him. It had been such a body blow, finding out about his son. The lie she had told had seemed so unbearably cruel. He had blamed himself all this time. He had thought it was just punishment that they could have no more children. Now he realized she had been protecting Luke from him all along.

Anakin's lips twisted and he winced from the pain of his split lip. He himself had understood for most of the fifteen years that Padme had been with him that he was a slave to his Sith Lord. He had felt ambiguous about it all that time. He knew his desire for power came from his own insecure beginnings in life. Padme was right when she had said that if Sidious had found out about Luke, it was likely that he would have tried to recruit the boy.

Anakin's face tightened. Padme should have trusted that Anakin would protect Luke from Sidious. Then again, if he had found out about the boy's existence before he was five, he would not have hesitated to begin Luke's training in the Dark Side of the Force. He had still believed Sidious was a good man before then and that his aims for the Empire were benevolent.

Anakin sighed and slowly got up. He didn't know what to believe anymore. Was Padme right to be angry or was he? All he knew was that he had missed out on his son's life by believing his wife's lie. He would never regain that time and he was angry about that loss. He had lost so many things in his life and now, he had lost the first nineteen years of his son's life. He knew Padme would say he had no-one to blame but himself. Perhaps she was right.

One thing was for sure, he wanted his son.

- - -

It took Vader a considerable length of time but he finally found out where the Rebels were hiding. They had made their base on a frozen planet called Hoth.

Anakin was not happy these days. Padme had not spoken to him for a long time after their argument over Luke. Even now, she was still frosty and never spoke to him unless she had to. He was not used to being shut out by Padme regardless of their arguments over the years (and there had been many). He missed their relationship and wanted it back desperately but he didn't know how to go about it. He had been badly shocked by her anger and it had made him hesitant to approach her.

He had begun this entire saga with the Dark Side of the Force to save her and the baby. Now it was what was separating them as a family. He didn't know how to change it.

It was, in a sense, fortunate that he was distracted by his invasion of the Rebel Base.

- - -

Vader could not believe that his son had escaped from Hoth. What were the chances of him slipping through all the might of the Empire? It reminded him…

It reminded him of himself as a young man, he thought. It was exactly the sort of exploit that Obi Wan and he would get up to all those years ago. Behind his mask, Anakin almost smiled.

He frowned again when Admiral Piett told him that the Emperor wanted to speak to him.

"What is thy bidding, my master?" he asked, in the formal language he had been taught to use as a Sith apprentice.

"There is a great disturbance in the Force," Sidious said.

"I have felt it," Vader replied. He knew it was pointless to lie.

"We have a new enemy - Luke Skywalker," Sidious said, emphasizing the surname.

"Yes, my master," Vader replied. He had known it would come to this.

"He could destroy us," Sidious continued. Vader was surprised. Did Sidious really believe his son was that powerful?

"He's just a boy. Obi-Wan can no longer help him," Vader countered. He did not want Sidious to believe his son was truly a threat. He knew what the result would be.

"The Force is strong with him. The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi," Sidious replied, his displeasure evident in his voice. Vader realized that Sidious had known at least as long as he himself had that his son was still alive. Such was the awful bond between them.

"If he could be turned, he would become a powerful ally," Vader said persuasively.

"Yes, yes. He would be a great asset. Can it be done?" Sidious asked.

"He will join us or die, my master," Vader said and wondered if that were true. If Luke didn't join them, could he bring himself to kill his own son? One thing he was sure of, Padme would never have anything to do with him again. Their relationship would be over the minute life left Luke's body. Desperately he clamped the thought and the emotion down. He did not want Sidious to sense it.

- - -

It was not long after this that Vader found himself with Princess Leia once more on his hands. This time, she was with a disreputable looking pirate called Han Solo. He didn't have a problem inflicting torture on Han Solo and handing him over to Jabba the Hutt but Leia, as always, was another story. He still had that strange reluctance to hurt her even though she was one of the Empire's biggest threats.

Of course, with Princess Leia and Han Solo in his power all he had to do was sit back and wait for Luke to walk right into his hands.

It didn't take long.

Anakin felt his heart pounding as Luke rose into the carbon freezing chamber via the platform. Finally, after all these years he would see his son face-to-face.

- - -

A few hours later, Anakin walked very slowly back to his suite of rooms. He didn't know what to tell Padme, if anything at all. All he knew was that he had failed.

He had failed to either recruit Luke to the Dark Side or kill him – either of which would have pleased his master and either of which would have destroyed his marriage.

He would never forget his first real glimpse of his son. Luke looked so much like himself at the same age that it had made him ache. Even the way he talked reminded Anakin of himself. "You'll find I'm full of surprises," Luke had said. It could have been a nineteen-year-old Anakin speaking.

His potential had been astounding even though the sheer rawness of it had given Vader the obvious upper-hand. Anakin could feel that Luke could easily be the most powerful Jedi he had ever known except perhaps, for himself.

He would never forget the look on Luke's face when he told him that he was his father. His horror and pain had been a mirror held up to Vader's face. He could see the monster he had become reflected clearly in it. Not even his son wanted to acknowledge him – his own flesh and blood. Even when he had put away his light sabre and held out his hand to him, Luke had preferred to jump into empty space than put his hand in his. Like his mother, Luke would prefer a life of hiding and exile than to rule the Galaxy by Vader's side. Luke might look just like his father but his mother shone clear through the boy's soul.

He decided not to tell Padme about his encounter. How the hell would he tell her about cutting off his own son's hand in a duel? Padme would never understand that he had never intended to maim his own son. It was the boy's own inexperience and overconfidence in engaging him in the first place that had led to the injury. Luke still had much to learn of Jedi arts. There was so much that his own father could teach him. But Luke would not put out his hand to his father and so, it was cut off instead. Anakin could feel the pain of this like a wound straight through his chest.

- - -

Padme watched him closely over dinner that rest period. It made him uncomfortable. It was like she knew. After they had finished eating, she leaned forward and looked him in the eye.

"Spit it out," she said bluntly. "What's troubling you? It's obviously something big."

"What makes you think something's worrying me?" he asked cagily. He really didn't want to tell her, particularly as she had only begun speaking to him again in the past few days.

"Anakin, I've lived in close proximity to you for over fifteen years. You've been almost the only person I've spoken to in that time apart from occasional contact with diplomatic visitors or your staff via hologram. I know your moods better than I know my own. I understand your facial expressions better than I understand my own feelings half the time. Why don't you just tell me what happened today?" she said frankly.

Anakin's sky blue eye's examined her face sadly. He decided not to tell her the whole truth. He couldn't bear it if she refused to speak to him again for weeks the way she had after he had found out Luke was still alive.

"I saw Luke today," he said quietly.

He heard her draw in her breath and when he glanced at her face, he saw her eyes were filled with tears. He looked down again and noticed that her hands were shaking.

"Tell me," she said unevenly.

"He looks just like me - like I did at nineteen. Perhaps his hair is a shade lighter from all that sunlight on Tatooine but other than that, he could have been me at the same age," Anakin said, his gaze turned inward.

Padme smiled. She remembered thinking that Luke would turn out exactly like his father and she had been right.

"He's like you, though," Anakin continued introspectively. "He would rather throw himself down a ventilation shaft into space than rule the Galaxy by my side." When he glanced up and saw Padme's white face, he hastily added, "his friends rescued him – he's fine."

Padme started crying with relief. "Thank God," she said, covering her face with her shaking hands. "Thank God he wouldn't turn! There is some hope…"

Anakin watched her with mixed emotions. If there was one thing he couldn't stand above all others, it was seeing Padme cry. "Padme! It's a problem that he is like you. Sidious will kill all of us if he doesn't join the Dark Side," he said fervently.

"So be it! I'd rather all of us dead than see my son live the life you've led Anakin. It hasn't made you happy, after all. Why would you wish it on him?" she replied fiercely, clenching her fists.

Anakin looked at her unhappily. "I just want all of us to be together," he said quietly.

Padme shook her head slowly at Anakin. "We would be very unhappy Anakin. The Dark Side is not the way." She got up and went to sit next to him. He put one arm around her and held her close, his lips resting on her hair.