The hours pass slowly, spent in isolation for the most part. My son comes each day as we prepare for my trial. I know that Luke is doing his best to ensure that there is at least a chance of me being acquitted. I, however, I don't hold out much hope. When I reflect on the two decades I spent as Darth Vader, I am filled with guilt and remorse. I cannot even begin to reckon the number of deaths I am responsible for, including that of my beloved wife. Am I truly worthy of forgiveness? Am I truly changed? The anger still comes so quickly sometimes, that I cannot help but wonder if the shadow of Darth Vader will still be with me for the rest of my life.

The sound of the blast doors opening are heard outside my cell, and I turn to see the guard I know now is the brother of Lorth Needa enter.

"You have a visitor," he says gruffly. "Stand up."

I comply, and hold out my hands for the binders that they feel are necessary. I look at him, trying to remember what his brother looked like. I only met him once, and he lived for a mere moments in my presence. He was certainly at the wrong place at the wrong time; my frustration level by that point had sky rocketed out of control, and the news that he brought was simply the last straw. But did that justify killing him?

"I know now why it is you hate me so much," I tell Needa as he binds my wrists. He looks up at me sharply, and I see in him a hint of surprise.

"Is that so?" he asks sarcastically. "And why is that?"

"I killed your brother," I reply calmly.

He narrows his eyes, the hatred filling him. He does not speak, but gives me a shove towards the door. "Move," he says gruffly.

He and another guard who is waiting outside the door direct me to a small room outside of the detention area.

"Sit there," I am told. I do so, and a force field is immediately activated to cage me in. The room is empty, but it isn't long before a woman is shown in. She sits down on the opposite side of the table from me, and looks at me for a moment. She looks familiar to me, but I cannot place her. Finally she speaks.

"I wasn't sure whether to believe Len, but it's you, it really is you," she says.

I frown, looking at her closely, and then I remember who she is.

"Sola?" I ask.

She nods. "Yes," she replies. "It's been a long time, Anakin. I didn't think you were still alive. I remember that awful day so long ago when the Jedi were killed; I just assumed that you were killed too."

"No, I managed to survive," I tell her. "Though I sustained horrific injuries that nearly killed me."

She nods, though I sense that she does not truly understand what I am saying. Does she know that I have spent half my life as Darth Vader?

"I suppose you know about Padmé," she says quietly, her eyes cast down.

"Of course!" I reply, surprised that she would even ask me. And then I realize that she doesn't know that Padmé and I were married. No one did…

"Sola, there's something you need to know," I tell her. She looks up at me. "Padmé and I were married," I tell her. "She was my wife."

Her eyes widen in shock. "What?" she exclaims. "I…what...how is that possible? When? Why didn't she tell any of us?"

"I was not allowed to marry, being a Jedi it was not permitted," I explain. "So we had to marry in secret. No one knew, Sola. We couldn't take that chance."

She says nothing, and I sense her mind her struggle to understand and digest this shocking revelation.

"No wonder she didn't come home as often as she used to," she says, half to herself. She looks up at me. "So was she happy? Were you happy together?"

I smile wistfully at her. "We knew much happiness in the short time we had together, Sola," I tell her. "I loved your sister deeply, and when she died, a part of me died with her. I…I lost my soul when I lost her."

Sola's eyes fill with tears. "I'm sure," she says softly. "I'm glad to know that she was happy, Anakin, that you made her life a happy one."

I look down at my manacled wrists, unable to maintain eye contact with her. Did I? She died of a broken heart, according to Kenobi…would her life have been a happier one if she'd never met me?

"I…I like to think I did," I say at last, not raising my eyes. "She sacrificed much to be with me," I tell her.

Sola watches me closely, somehow knowing that there is more to the story than she knows.

"Where were you when she died, Anakin?" she asks me. "How is it that she was killed by the Jedi when her husband was a Jedi Knight?"

I look up at her quickly, disturbed by her question. "Killed by the Jedi?" I echo. "What makes you think she was killed by the Jedi?"

"That's what we were told," Sola tells me, her brow furrowed. "A group of renegade Jedi stormed the Senate building and killed many senators before they were quelled by Imperial troops. Padmé was among those killed. That is what happened isn't it?"

I shake my head slowly. "No, there was no raid on the Senate," I tell her. "Whoever told you that was lying." I know who it was who told her, who else could it have been but Sidious? Lying came as easily to him as breathing in air…

"There was no raid on the Senate by Jedi, Sola. It's true that the Jedi were killed, but it wasn't because of anything that they had done. It was because the late emperor Palpatine was a monstrous beast, a Sith Lord who hated and feared the Jedi, and had them all murdered as part of his plan to take control of the galaxy."

Sola's confusion is evident on her face. "How do you know so much about this, Anakin?" she asks, though I sense her hesitation to do so. Perhaps she is afraid to know the truth.

I lower my eyes once again, my reply too terrible to say. "Because I helped him, Sola," I tell her quietly. "I have spent the past 22 years of my life as Darth Vader, the right hand of Palpatine."

Sola is silent, and I sense her fear, her revulsion and shock.

"But…how is that possible?" she cries. "How can you be Darth Vader? You were my sister's husband! Darth Vader was an inhuman monster! I don't believe you, Anakin…it can't be…"

I look up at her. "I wish it weren't the truth, Sola; with all that I am, I wish it! But it's true. It was me who helped Palpatine destroy the Jedi, his first command to me after I had become his apprentice."

"But why?" she cried, her eyes full of tears. "Why, Anakin? You had such a good life, didn't you? You were a Jedi! A hero! And you were married to the woman you loved! Why did you throw it all away?"

I lower my eyes, no longer able to face her. "I did it to save her, Sola, to save Padmé."

"That doesn't make any sense," she retorts coldly, brushing the tears away impatiently.

"No, to you I'm sure it doesn't," I concede. "But I swear it's what happened. You see, the night Padmé told me she was pregnant…"

"She was pregnant?" she exclaims. "What happened to the child?"

"Let me finish," I reply, trying to remain patient. "The night she told me she was pregnant I began having nightmares about her dying in childbirth. As a Jedi, I'd had prophetic dreams in the past, and so this terrified me. I was desperate to save her, to prevent the horrible visions of my dream from becoming reality. I was told by someone close to me, someone I trusted, that knowledge of the Dark Side of the Force would give me the power to save her life. I grasped onto that possibility like a drowning man, ignoring my vows to the Jedi Order, not stopping for a moment to think of the consequences of such a decision. All I could think about was saving Padmé, for I knew that I could not live without her."

Sola's eyes have softened as she listens to my tragic tale. "But you couldn't save her, could you?" she asks.

I shake my head, my eyes welling up at the memory of that moment when I realized she was gone. "No," I reply softly. "She died, and I nearly died in the fires of Mustafar. I lost my limbs, my lungs were utterly ruined; that is the reason I spent half my life in that terrible mask, kept alive by artificial means."

"But not any more," she points out. "What happened? How is that possible?"

I smile. "My son, Luke," I tell her. "He is what happened." I proceed to relate to her the story of my redemption, and Luke's part in all of it, how his love for me finally pulled me from the Darkness that had consumed me for so long.

Sola wipes the tears as they roll down her face, too overwhelmed by my story to speak.

"Did Padmé know what had happened to you?" she asks at last. "Did she know of your…transformation to Darth Vader?"

"She knew that I had turned to the Dark Side," I tell her. "I…I don't know if she knew about my injuries before she died. I like to think that she was at least spared that."

Sola nods. "Yes, I hope so too," she says quietly. We are both silent for a moment, neither of us quite knowing what to say at this point. I feel relieved somehow to have told her the truth, as though somehow through her I am able to have a small portion of absolution.

"Time's up, Skywalker," announces the guard as he enters the small room.

I stand up, Sola does as well.

"Thank you for visiting me," I tell her, meaning it genuinely. "It was good to see you after all this time. I just wish it had been under better circumstances."

She nods. "How is this going to turn out, Anakin?"

"I don't know," I tell her. "I know my son will do his best to have me exonerated, but I have to admit that I don't have much hope. Darth Vader's reign of terror was a long and violent one. There is much blood on my hands because of him."

Sola frowns, disturbed by my words. "I hope they can see that you are the same person as him, Anakin," she tells me. "I hope that that makes a difference in their eyes."

I smile at her as the guard pulls me away towards the door. "I hope so too. Goodbye, Sola."

"Goodbye Anakin," she calls after me as I am escorted out the door.