I finish picking up the mess on the floor. I wash my hands, looking up at myself in the mirror. Idiot… I admonish myself angrily. Why did you have to try that? Why did you have to be such an ass? I shake my head at my reflection, wondering if the sun damaged my brain as well as giving my skin a healthy red glow. I note that half of my torso has cream on it, making me look more ridiculous than before. If this situation wasn't so tragic this might be funny… I reflect as I proceed to spread the cream over the rest of my burn, trying to even it out.

Leaving the 'fresher, I look around in Padmé's bedroom to see that she is not there. Not surprising considering what you just did…I reproach myself. I look around the room, finding it just as elegant as the room we shared in our home on Coruscant all those years ago. I can feel her presence everywhere in the room; feel the sadness and loneliness she has endured all these years. How many nights did she cry herself to sleep in that bed? I wonder with an aching heart…. What I'm not sure I can forgive is what you did to Luke and Leia… You robbed them of a life together, of a life with their parents. You stole those precious years from all of us…her words still echo in my mind. She is right; I realize with anguish. What can I possibly do to make amends for that? I can't turn back the clock 22 years…if only it were possible I would do so in a heartbeat and undo all that has been done. But I can't; and so perhaps my punishment will be to never have her forgiveness. It seems a fitting punishment that I spend the rest of my life without her, after I had robbed her of a life time without her children, and them of their formative years without her.

I leave my wife's bedroom, perhaps for the last time, I reflect bitterly, and make my way back to the room I share with our son. Part of me wishes I had left as I had intended to; but yet, I cannot avoid this forever. In the euphoria of discovering that my beloved Padmé was alive, the reality of our situation seemed to have gone ignored by me. What else could I expect of her? How else would she react given all that has transpired in the ensuing years?

I stop outside the room as I hear the sound of crying coming from within one of the rooms down the hall. I hear my daughter's voice, and realize that she is comforting her mother. I sigh, feeling frustrated and defeated, as I enter the room. Luke is seated at the small table examining a datapad, and looks up expectantly.

"Don't ask," I tell him, walking into the room to fetch a clean shirt.

"Okay," he replies, watching me. "Though I have a feeling I know how things went."

"You do, do you?" I ask not looking at him.

"Yeah," he says, standing up and moving over to stand beside me. "I heard her run down the hall. Leia's in there with Mother right now."

I nod. "Yes, I know," I tell him quietly.

My son is silent for a moment or two, and I sense that he has something to say, but wants to be sure that he words it just right.

"Give her time, Father," he says at last, laying a hand tentatively on one of my shoulders. "I sense that she still loves you deeply, as I'm sure you have too."

I cannot deny that; but even the deepest, most ardent love has its limits.

"I know," I admit quietly as I button up the shirt.

"She has a lot of anger, a lot of hurt, Father. I don't need to tell you that," he says. "I guess you're just going to have to be patient with her. Don't push her, don't pressure her. That's my advice."

Don't push her…don't pressure her…words of wisdom, and I know it. So why did I try to kiss her when she was feeling so confused and vulnerable?

"Sound advice," I tell him, turning around to face him. "I guess I'm just not a terrible patient man, Luke. I've spent half of my life believing her dead, and now that I found her, I just want to recapture what we once had. I know that's not realistic of me, given the history between us; I suppose that's always been my problem. I've always wanted what I can't have. It's the story of my life."

Luke smiles. "I know exactly what you mean," he tells me. "I guess that's another way I'm like you. I've always had trouble being patient too."

I smile. "I see a lot of myself in both of you," I tell him. "But you seem to favor your mother, Luke. You have her wisdom, her gentleness, her quiet strength. Leia is more like me, a firecracker." I stop with a laugh. "I hope Han Solo knows what he's getting into."

Luke laughs. "Oh, I think he does," he tells me. "The two of them have been sparring since the moment they met. It's a perfect match."

It is my turn to laugh. How does he do it? I wonder with amazement. How does my son have such an innate ability to know how to put me at ease? Another gift from his mother, I realize, for Padmé was always able to soothe me when the storms would beset me; she always knew just what to say, how to calm me, how to make me feel like the only man in the galaxy. I miss her…!

"So what news from the capital?" I ask my son. "Is that what you were looking at when I came in?"

Luke nods, looking back at the data pad on the table. "Yeah, not good news, I'm afraid; a report of Imperial forces planning an attack on Coruscant; a serious one this time, not just a renegade band of troopers." He stops with a sigh. "I wonder how long it will be before we have peace, or if it's even possible."

I consider this information for a moment. "I wonder…" I think aloud.

Luke looks up at me. "What, Father?" he asks.

"I wonder if there's something I can do…I mean, I commanded the Imperial fleet for more than 20 years. General Riekan seems to think the information I have could help them."

Luke nods. "I think he's right," he tells me. "Did he make any suggestions as to how you could do that?"

"No," I tell him. "Remember, we left immediately after my pardon," I remind him. "There was no chance to even begin to talk strategy with the leaders of the Alliance."

"True," concurs Luke. "But it looks like they could use your help, Father."

"I know," feeling torn. "My family needs me too; shouldn't they take precedence?"

Luke sighs. "It's a difficult situation, no doubt. I can't advise you, Father. You have to do what you think is right."

"Yeah, I just wish I knew what that was," I mutter.

"Let's see what Leia thinks," Luke tells me.

"What I think about what?"

We turn to see Leia in the doorway.

"How is your mother?" I ask her.

Leia walks into the room and sits on the edge of one of the beds. She looks up at me, her dark eyes troubled.

"She's a lot calmer than she was," Leia tells us. "But she's still very upset, Father, very confused. This has been a difficult day for her, I'm afraid. She insisted that Luke and I tell her everything that…well, that Vader did. She said she needed to know."

I nod, sitting down beside her. "Yes, I'm sure she feels that way," I tell her. "Your mother has always been very strong, and has never been afraid to face the truth no matter how painful."

"Yes, I sensed that about her as well," Luke says. "I didn't want to tell her everything right away, neither of us did. I thought it would be better to tell her a little at a time, to give her time to accept what she needed to hear; but she wouldn't hear of it. I'm afraid she knows everything, Father; everything about our history with Vader."

I sigh. "Yes, I know," I tell my children. "I have to admit that I overheard much of your conversation with her. I think you both handled it very well."

"So did she, Father," Leia tells us. "She's angry, and feels a lot of resentment, no doubt of it."

"She has every right to be angry," I declare, standing up again. I pace up and down the room. "I have no right to expect anything else. I'm grateful that she's allowed me to stay here under her roof, for she could have easily refused to even see me again."

"She loves you, Father," Leia says, looking up at me. "There's no doubt of that. Whether that love will be enough to allow her to forgive you, I don't know."

I sigh, rubbing my eyes tiredly. "I don't know either, Leia," I tell her. "But I'm not going to give up. I'll do whatever it takes to win her trust back. I want more than anything for us all to be a family."

"She wants that too," comments Luke. "We all do."

I smile at my son. "I know that, Luke. The two of you deserve that much, at least. And if I can make it happen, perhaps it will, in a small way, make up for my past treatment of you."

Leia stands up and walks over to me. "You have already done that, Father," she says softly, looking up at me with a smile. "You don't need to prove yourself to us."

I take my daughter's face in my hands as I look into her eyes, Padmé's eyes.

"Thank you, Leia," I tell her softly. "I really needed to hear that right now." I pull her into my arms and hold her close, feeling her arms wrap around my waist. I close my eyes as I kiss the top of my daughter's head, eternally grateful for the Grace that has brought the three of us to this point.

"We will get through this, Father," Luke says. "I'm sure of it."

"Have you foreseen it?" I tease him with a smile.

Luke grins. "You bet I have."