I wake up to the sight of my children who seem to be engaged in a serious discussion. Luke turns to me, sensing that I am awake.
"How are you feeling?" he asks as he and Leia approach the bed.
"Okay," I tell them, feeling stiff from being in the same position for so long. I try to sit up, but the movement required to do so sends a fresh wave of pain through my back.
"Careful now," Leia cautions, helping me. "Don't over do it, Dad. You reopened that wound earlier, remember?"
"How could I forget?" I ask as I lean back against the pillow that my daughter has tucked behind me. "Where is your mother?"
"She and Firmus are compiling the transcripts from the listening device in Kastellan's room," Luke tells me. "She ought to be finished soon."
I nod. "And what were the two of you discussing when I woke up? Seemed rather intense."
Luke and Leia exchange a look and then look back at me.
"Well," Luke begins. "We were just trying to decide how to tell you," he says.
"Tell me what?" I ask.
"What we did," Leia puts in.
Uh oh... I frown. "What did you do?" I ask looking from Leia to her brother.
"Well?" I ask when neither of them responds.
"We…we went to the admirals," Leia tells me at last. "We wanted to talk to them, to try to convince them to join the Alliance."
"We thought that if we extended an olive branch to them, as leaders of the Alliance, that it might show them that peace is possible," Luke adds.
"And what was their reaction?" I ask.
"They listened," Leia replies, looking at her twin. "I think they were quite surprised by the gesture, actually. I got the impression that these men are so accustomed to having very little say in anything, that they don't quite know how to handle a decision of this magnitude."
"Yeah, I think so too," Luke adds. "They're not used to being asked for their opinion. This decision is huge, and they know it. I think maybe they're a little intimidated by the whole thing, and afraid of making the wrong choice."
I lean my head back against the pillow and sigh. "They must find the courage to decide," I tell them. "They must join the Alliance willingly, or the union will be nothing more than another empire, another collection of planets thrust together against their will."
"You could take the decision out of their hands, Dad," Leia says at this point. "You are, after all, technically the emperor. You could make the decision to unite the two factions."
"Yes, I could," I agree. "But I don't want to, Leia. I don't want to be a dictator. I want the union to be based on peace, on mutual cooperation and trust. Is that so much to ask?"
Luke smiles. "Perhaps it is," he replies. "These men have spent a life time serving a dictatorship, Dad. They don't know anything else. Also, it may very well be that some of them find the idea of being allies with their sworn enemies repugnant. If that is the case, it will be hard to get around, I'm afraid."
"I need to talk to them," I say at last. "All of them. They have to see that joining with the Alliance is the only way. I just hope that Kastellan didn't have any more allies among the remaining admirals."
"Well if there are, let's hope we can weed them out before they have a chance to act," Leia replies. "The information Mother is collecting should shed some light on that."
I nod. "Let us hope so," I tell them. "I for one am tired of this game. I just want to go off somewhere quiet, someplace like Naboo, and live a normal, peaceful life."
My children smile. "You'd be bored within a week," Luke tells me.
I laugh. "A week? Is that all you'd give me?"
"I'd give him 5 days, tops."
We turn to see Padmé and Piett entering the room.
"A normal life, Ani?" she says, kissing me. "Since when has anything about your life been normal?"
"Never," I admit. "That's why I'm anxious to try it."
Padmé laughs. "Somehow I doubt you'd enjoy it," she tells me. "Normalcy is highly overrated."
"And you would know this how, exactly?" I tease her.
She laughs in response.
"Did you find out anything interesting?" Luke asks his mother and Piett.
Padmé turns to him. "Indeed we did, Luke," she replies. "It seems that Joneth Kastellan was a native of my home planet, Naboo," she begins. "And that he was tipped off by relatives who are still there of your father's presence there." She turns to me. "I suppose the sight of a Jedi Knight in Theed isn't quite as common place as it once was."
"No, I don't suppose so," I reply. "And I should have realized that too. So he was getting information from relatives on Naboo?"
"So it seems," she replies. "The conversations are rather sketchy, as you can imagine them to be. The person he was in contact with, a sister I believe, simply mentions seeing you, expressing surprise at doing so. She wasn't even certain who you were, from what I can gather. I suppose Kastellan simply put the facts together and arrived at what he thought was a logical, and as it turns out, accurate conclusion."
I nod. "Yes, he was intelligent, I'll give him that much. And once he had this notion in his head, he contacted you," I say, turning to Piett.
"Yes," he replies. "He had heard that I was something of a renegade, and figured that perhaps I was the one who could help him out. He knew that you were coming to his ship, so he couldn't investigate this himself, so he asked me to. Personally I doubted the whole thing, believing that you had perished when the Death Star blew. That's why I refused your orders, for I thought you were truly an imposter, Anakin. It wasn't until we met that I realized you were for real."
"But what did Kastellan hope to gain by all this?" Leia asks. "When it was proven that you were in fact Darth Vader, or at least the same man, why didn't his vendetta end?"
"He wanted to take over control of the Empire," Padmé replies. "He was all set to take control when your father reappeared, spoiling his plans."
"It was bound to happen eventually, the empire has been without leadership since the destruction of the Death Star," Piett adds. "Kastellan was just one of those power hungry men who saw an opportunity and decided to take advantage of it."
"Only he didn't count on the return of Anakin Skywalker," Luke puts in. "You ruined his plan, Dad."
"Yeah, and I feel really badly about it too," I reply with a smile.
"He might have succeeded had you not shown up when you did," Padmé tells me. "And with him in control, the chances of peace would have been destroyed completely."
"But Kastellan is dead now," Leia reminds us all. "And there is still a chance for peace. But it all rest now on if these admirals accept you, Dad."
"Yes, you're right, Leia," I tell her. "It's time I spoke with them myself."
"You're in no condition to do that, Ani," Padmé chides me, a frown on her face.
"Padmé, I don't have the luxury of time," I tell her. "These men have already been waiting here 3 days. The longer they wait, the less likely it is that they will listen to anything I have to say."
"I'm afraid your father is right," Piett concurs. "They are already quite frustrated with this situation, and have been asking a lot of questions. They need answers, Anakin, and it's you who must provide them."
I nod. "Yes, I know," I tell him. "I have to speak with them before all hope is lost." I start to sit up, assisted by my son. "Where are my clothes, Padmé?"
"Which ones?" she asks.
"My real clothes," I tell her. "I will not put the breath suit on again," I tell her. "Time for Darth Vader to be banished once and for all."
She smiles. "I'll get them for you."
I sit back against the pillow, gathering my strength. I will need all of it now if I am to succeed.
