Author's Note: Sorry this is so late: parasites on my computer made it unstable and it kept crashing. It's fixed now and I'll get more chapters up soon. Also, I spelled Shmi's name wrong at the end of the last chapter; sorry for any confusion it caused.

Shmi

Darth Vader stirred where he lay on the floor in Sickbay, slowly rising to consciousness. He blinked his eyes under the mask, remembering the odd vision he had seen standing in the doorway. He had thought he had seen his mother. But he couldn't have seen her. Shmi Skywalker had died all those years ago, brutally murdered by the Tuskan Raiders. She had died in his arms. He remembered it all too well; especially what he had done after she had passed onto the next world. But the vision had looked so real…

A face poked itself into his line of sight as a pair of hands gripped his upper arms. It was the new doctor.

"Come on, on your feet now. You're all right." McCoy said as he helped Vader to his feet. He stared at the pink coating of medicine on Vader's armor and was about to remark on it, when he wisely kept his mouth shut. There was still an elderly man passed out on the floor and he needed to attend him. When he was sure Vader wasn't going to fall over again, he knelt down by Palpatine.

Vader glanced at the doorway. His mother and the other dead Jedi were still there. And was that Padme? The Sith Lord closed his eyes for a moment, swaying slightly on his feet. This was Solo's fault! The smuggler had placed him under too much stress and now he was seeing dead people! And unlike Kenobi's ghost, these dead people appeared solid and real. He remembered his unsightly appearance and his utter shame at Palpatine catching him in pink. He would enjoy strangling Solo with his bare hands! Yes, that's what he would do; strangle Solo until his eyes bulged out of their sockets and his face turned purple with a drooping tongue! It would be satisfying and feed the Dark Side. Carefully he opened his eyes.

The dead people were still there and a few of them seemed to be having minor arguments now. The one that looked just like Master Yoda stepped forward.

"Bad Padawan, you have been!" Yoda slammed his glimmer stick against Vader's legs. "Gone to Dark Side, you have! Fix this, we will!"

"You are not real." Vader told the Jedi Master. "You are nothing more than a figment of my imagination."

"Real, I am. Alive, I am again." Yoda informed the Sith Lord as he struck Vader's leg a second time. "Feel that, you do?"

"No, I feel nothing except the desire to kill Solo slowly for what he has done."

Yoda gripped his glimmer stick harder and swung it at Vader's nearest leg. It hit with a satisfying thwack and the tiny Jedi Master looked up expectantly. "Feel that, you did?"

"No, nothing."

Yoda's eyes narrowed. He was determined to prove to Vader that he was alive. Perhaps he should have feared the Sith Lord and banging on his leg like this, the Force knows anyone else would never dare such an act, but the tiny Jedi Master was fearless. He tightened his fingers around the glimmer stick and began to hop all around Vader's body rapidly, the glimmer stick striking out to hit the human's legs. The only reaction from Vader was his pink cape stirring slightly in the breeze of Yoda's activity. Soon Yoda was out of breath from all the unaccustomed activity and the Jedi Master panted heavily. "You feel that, yes?"

"No, nothing."

"Feel that, why do you not?" Yoda panted as he rested on the floor.

"My legs are covered in armor, something you failed to notice." Vader pointed out, a part of his mind wondering why was he bothering to talk to a vision. "And people, even Jedi Masters, don't return from the dead."

"Yet return from the dead, we have. Brought your mother, we did." Yoda motioned with a green hand for Shmi to come forward. "Determined to fix this, we are. Wrong were we, the Jedi Council was. Mistakes, we made. Make up for it now, we will."

"Your words do not impress me." Vader crossed his pink arms over his pink chest, determined not to allow Yoda's words to affect him. But it was getting harder to ignore his mother standing there. She just looked so real! If only she actually could be…

"Ani?" Shmi nervously stepped closer to the tall masked man. Even in pink, he emitted an aurora of danger and fear. Surely this masked demon in armor couldn't be her little Ani, could he? She had thought his future secure, if a bit dangerous, when he had gone off with Qui-Gon to be a Jedi. But never had she imagined anything like this could befall him. "Ani, is that you?"

"Mother?" Once again Vader felt the tug on his heart. He wanted her to be real, but how could she be? And she looked exactly like how she did in his memory, alive, healthy and as happy as a slave could be expected to be. "Are you real?"

"Yes, Ani. I don't understand it but I'm here, wherever here is." Shmi glanced around Sickbay, feeling out of place. It was strange not to be in Watto's shop or her own little hut or on the moisture farm. There were strange sounds and an odd thrumming seemed to come from the floor. Master Qui-Gon had explained that they were on a giant spaceship and she had never been on a ship in her life, nether less in outer space! She wondered briefly if the stars would look different from space than on a planet's surface. Almost every night, weather permitting, she had stood outside the farmhouse she had shared with Cliegg and had stared up at the distant stars, thinking of Ani. She had tried to imagine where he was and what he was doing, but most of all she had wished he was happy. Mostly she just had some vague idea that he was off doing heroic stuff and saving the galaxy, for she was a simple woman and had no clear idea of what Jedi really did. But now through some great miracle her son had been returned to her at last. "Oh, Ani! I'm so happy to see you! Not a single day passed without me thinking of you!"

Vader threw his arms around his mother and hugged her tightly, emotions he thought long forgotten swelling up inside him. "I thought I had lost you forever, Mother."

From his hospital bed, Luke watched. "I have a grandmother?"

Of course, no one paid the slightest attention to Luke.

"Ani, why are you dressed like that?" Shmi asked as she pulled slightly out of his hug. "I can't see you under all that armor. And why are you pink?"

"That would be General Solo's fault." Vader explained. He eyed the others in the doorway and was sure he saw several of the Jedi laughing at his pinkness. Mace had a definite smile on his face and Qui-Gon was snickering with a hand plastered over his mouth. No matter, he would deal with them later. "He was up to no good, as usual. He is a crooked rogue whom you should not trust, Mother. This … this PINKNESS is a result of his wild and out of control behavior. As for the armor, I need it to breath."

"Hey!" Luke shouted, gaining everyone's attention. "Han is my best friend!"

"Quite, Son." Vader pointed a finger at Luke, willing him to shut up.

"Son? You have a son?" Shmi asked, surprised.

"Yes, Mother. Luke is my son. I also have a daughter named Leia. They are twins."

"Oh Ani, that's wonderful!" Shmi hugged Vader again, unfazed by his armor. "But do you really need to wear this metal to live? Can't you breath without it?"

"No, Mother. I can not." Vader explained. "I have suffered too many injuries."

"Oh, Ani, you really need to go see a doctor! I'm sure there must be something they could do! Maybe this nice doctor right here…"

"No, Mother. There is nothing to be done for me." Vader remembered McCoy's offer, but decided it was best not to say anything until he was positive. Now that his mother was alive again, he didn't want to raise her hopes and then dash them. That would be too cruel. There was also the little matter of how his mother and the others became alive again. He would need to speak to the doctor later.

"Grandmother!" Luke called from his hospital bed, wanting to get in on the conversation. He waved a hand in the air and smiled when Shmi came over by him. "It's nice to meet you, Grandmother. I'm Luke, your grandson."

"I'm very happy to meet you, Luke." Shmi told him, smiling.

"Do you think I'm old enough to date a girl, Grandmother?" Luke asked as he gazed up at her.

"I don't see why not." Shmi answered, a bit surprised by the question. "You seem to be full grown."

"Luke!" Vader warned, sensing that his naïve son was trying to go over his head on the Mara issue. It was bad enough he had dragged the Emperor into the matter! Luke meeting Palpatine had definitely been bad for the boy!

In the doorway, the grin disappeared off Mace's face. "Not THAT again!"

"It's just that I meet this pretty girl the other day and Father won't let me see her again!" Luke complained to his grandmother, who was sitting on the edge of his hospital bed. "It was OK when he dated but it's not OK for me. Does that seem fair to you, Grandmother?"

"Well…" Shmi realized she had walked into the middle of an argument between her son and her grandson. "Maybe Ani has a reason why he doesn't want you seeing her?"

"Father says she's an assassin…" Luke admitted sheepishly.

"An assassin!" Shmi leaped off the bed, shocked. "My grandson is in love with an ASSASSIN?! Ani, how could you let that happen?"

"I…" Vader stuttered, his mother's shocked gaze on his mask. "It was an accident, Mother. Luke accidentally ate this poison cake…"

"A POISON CAKE?!" Shmi yelled at her son. "Is that what you feed my grandson, poisoned cakes? Is that why he's lying in this hospital bed? Ani, that isn't how I raised you! You know better than that!"

"General Solo made the cake!" Vader yelled back, loosing his temper once again. "I'm going to KILL that Solo when I see him next!"

"Ani!" Shmi's mouth feel open, horrified at her son's words. "It's not nice to kill anyone! I don't want to hear you saying things like that!"

"So can I date her?" Luke asked hopefully.

"No!" Shmi replied gently as she sat down on Luke's bed again and brushed his cheek with a hand. "I want you to find a nice girl."

"But I'm sure Mara IS a nice girl!" Luke protested loudly, his eyes going wide at the thought of not seeing her again. "She has amazing red hair and these incredible green eyes. Besides, I'm sure it's all a misunderstanding! She can't really be an assassin!"

"Now look here, Son." Mace stepped forward boldly. It was best to cut this in the bud before things got too complicated. "You're studying to be a Jedi. Jedi don't have girlfriends. They don't get married. The Code forbids it."

Luke blinked his eyes at the black man with the baldhead. "Who are you?"

"I'm Master Mace Windu, one of the members of the Jedi Council. We went through this whole foolishness with your father and we're not going through it again! And no Jedi is going out with an assassin! And that's finale!" Mace stood in front of Luke's bed, unconsciously copying Vader's pose with arms crossed over his chest.

"Why is everyone against me going on a date?" Luke whined loudly. "It's not fair!"

"Jedi don't date, Son." Mace repeated. "Best you learn that now."

"Why?" Luke asked.

"Because it's against the Code." Mace explained, his voice serious.

"Why is it against the Code?" Luke asked. "What Code? I don't know anything about a Code."

Mace sighed. "The Jedi Code! And it's forbidden because attachment is forbidden. We'll assign you a Master so he can teach you the Code."

"Huh?" Luke blinked at Mace. "What attachment?"

"Getting attached to people or things or anything!" Mace was beginning to loose his cool.

"Why?" Luke asked, gazing at Mace with a confused look on his face.

"Because the Code says so, that's why!" Mace shouted as he flung up his arms in the air. This boy was driving him nuts! Releasing his frustration into the Force, Mace spoke more calmly to Luke. "Look, I didn't mean to yell at you, I guess I'm not used to being alive again, OK? But just follow the rules and you'll do fine."

"But Palpatine said I could go out with her!" Luke protested as he jumped up in bed to a sitting position.

Mace's face darkened and he wiggled a finger at Luke. "You stay away from Palpatine! He's a Sith Master and not to be trusted!"

"I already know that!" Luke rolled his eyes.

"Good! Now forget about this foolishness of dating a girl." Mace turned and started to walk away.

"But…" Luke slumped back in bed and pouted, arms over his chest. He eyed Mace for a moment, his brain clicking. Then he bolted upright in bed again. "You can't give me orders!"

"What?" Mace stopped walking and turned back to look at Luke. "Why not?"

"Because I don't know you!" Luke pointed out. "How do I know you are who you say you are? You could be a spy!"

"A SPY?!" Mace muttered. "Of all the stupid things! I'm a Jedi Master!"

"You're trying to get Rebel Alliance secrets, I bet!"

Mace moaned and hung onto his baldhead, burying his face in his hands. "This is worst than I feared…"

"I AM trying to straighten him out…" Vader informed Mace. "The boy is innocent and apparently prone to wild imaginings as well."

"I can see that." Mace turned to Vader. "Is his sister as bad as he is?"

"Leia has my temper and stubbornness, I'm afraid." Vader admitted. "And she's very aggressive."

"Great, just great!" Mace muttered to himself. Noticing Luke had finally gotten quite, the Jedi Master turned to see what he was doing. The young Jedi was resting in bed with his arms behind his head and a goofy grin plastered across his face. It was very unJedi-like. Marching up to the bed, Mace stopped next to the young man. "What are you doing now?"

"Thinking about Mara…" Luke admitted.

"AAAUUGHHH!" Mace shrieked loudly. His speech had zoomed at hyper drive speed right through Luke's head!

Vader strode right up to his former master and gripped Obi-Wan by the front of his light-colored tunic, lifting him with one hand right off the floor. "This is your fault, Obi-Wan! You will now pay the price for your many mistakes!"

"Whaaaa…" Obi-Wan's blue eyes widened in fright. The knowledge that his former apprentice had killed him once was fresh in his mind and now that he was alive again, he didn't want to die again. "Anakin, please! This isn't my fault! I barely spent any time with Luke, really! I lived all those years out in a little hut way out in the desert!"

"Spare me your excuses, Obi-Wan. You are not getting off the hook this time!" Vader shook his former master to make his point. "From now on you will take full responsibility in this madness as well!"

"Full responsibility?" Obi-Wan asked, hoping that meant he got to live.

"Yes." Vader set him on the ground and shoved him in Luke's direction. "You will help me straighten him out and for some misguided notion he seems to like you. But I will be watching BOTH of you and you don't want to suffer my wrath again. Besides, you were the closest thing I had to a father. You might as well be Luke's grandfather. That way you can share in the blame."

"Grandfather?! But I … I mean…" Obi-Wan stuttered, shocked.

"Obi-Wan! Are you letting that Padawan boss you AGAIN?" Mace demanded as he homed in on Master Kenobi. "I thought we went over that while we were one with the Force…"

Master Qui-Gon took that as a hint it was time for him to sneak out of Sickbay before he ended up being Luke's great-grandfather! He wouldn't put it past his former Padawan to pull him into the tangled mess! He had just token one step out into the hall when his boot slipped on a wide patch of engine grease that someone had painstakingly smeared right outside Sickbay. The Jedi waved his arms around frantically but it was no use. He lost his balance and fell to the grease-covered floor with a loud thud. Before he could move, a large net was tossed over his prone body.

"I GOT HIM! I GOT THE EMPEROR!" A man in a black vest and white shirt shouted excitedly as he raced at him. He skidded to a halt before Qui-Gon and glared down at him angrily. "Who the heck are you? You're not the Emperor! You ruined a perfectly good booby-trap!"

To be continued…