Vader was kneeling on the carpeted floor, playing with 5-year old Luke and Leia when Leia paused, becoming thoughtful.
"Daddy?"
"Yes?"
"What do you do for work? Mommy and Obi-Wan never really answer us."
Obi-Wan looked over from the table he was sitting at, and wondered what lie he was going to tell his children. After all, you don't tell a child:
I'm an evil Sith Lord bent on galaxy-wide conquest and control. That means I ruthlessly kill anyone who stands against me or my Master, who is the Emperor. So you could say that my job is to kill people to make sure that others don't mind being oppressed if it means not dying.
"I'm an assistant to the Emperor."
True.
"I help him run the government."
True.
"He sometimes sends me on important missions, which is why you stay with Obi-Wan alone."
The missions are important to them, so I suppose it's the truth.
"Are the mi-mi-mi...are the thingies fun?"
"Yes."
Obi-Wan shivered. There were little things like that that reminded him that the man behind the mask was no longer the Anakin Skywalker he once knew, but now Darth Vader. He felt Vader smirk and glared at him as Vader turned his attention back to playing with Luke and Leia as they accepted his explanation.
One day they will ask more, though. They will not always be so innocent and trusting. What will you do then, Vader?
Tell them the truth, of course. As I always have.
So you will come right out and tell them that you kill people?
When do you think they will ask again? Sure, they will wonder, but by the time they ask the question again, they will have began their Padawan years with you and I, so they will be ready for the blatant truth.
I don't know if a child is ever ready to hear that their father is a murderer.
Aren't you as well, Obi-Wan? You have killed living things before. Your hands are as bloody as mine.
Vader heard Obi-Wan's mental sputtering and amended his comment, Alright. Not as bloody as mine, but you are not an innocent who has not killed and one day you will have to teach one of my children how to kill. Don't play high and mighty morality with me.
Obi-Wan sighed heavily as Vader turned his attention back to his children, and even through the concern over Luke and Leia's futures Obi-Wan had, he still managed to find the sight of the large, imposing man-machine Darth Vader sitting on the carpeted floor of a small cottage in the middle of a grassy plain playing with his small innocent children, mildly amusing.
