Author's Notes: Things are moving along and everyone's feedback has been a tremendous help. You may not know it, but your contribution has helped shaped these past few chapters, so thank you.

Chapter 8: Forgotten

Vader didn't know what compelled him to follow the middle aged woman, but he did anyway, leaving a very confused yet curious Padme behind in his wake. Against her own better judgment, she followed him. She knew that as long as she was stuck on this planet, there was no way out. She had no friends here, no allies. And her face was well known to the galaxy, so she justifiably feared that she will get caught.

So she followed him.

There was a change in him, and she realized that there has always been a change in him. From the moment they took their vows, no matter how hollow they were, there was always something different about Vader that she couldn't quite point out.

Perhaps now was the chance to finally find out what that is.

But by the time she made it to his side, it surprised her to find him not paying attention to her at all.

"I know her," he said, his feet walking faster.

Padme rushes to keep up with him.

"You do?"

He nodded slightly before picking up his pace even more; she was outmatched by his long strides.

"Wait!" she placed her hand on his arm, a move that got a very obvious reaction from him. She quickly retrieves her limb. "Who is she?" she asked wearily.

How could some random woman from a outer rim desert planet affect him so much?

His red eyes bore into her brown. As menacing as it once had been, there was something awfully tragic about it now.

When he answered, it made sense to her why.

"She's my mother."

"I remember now," he said, his thoughts clearer now than it had ever been for so long.

He stopped to watch his mother interact with the people around her; her movements were slow yet graceful. Her voice remained just as he remembered it. He had thought he had lost that sound forever.

Padme stood besides him, waiting. Her thoughts running along a mile a minute. She was just beginning to get used to Vader having a face, and now a mother? That was something she herself never even questioned. It seemed unbelievable to think Darth Vader, Sith Lord, would even have a mother.

"We were on a ship," he began, his voice low. "And there was trouble. I didn't know what it was; I just knew that I had to hold onto her. But then..." his breathing began to go erratic, making Padme worry. Instinctively, she placed her hand softly against his shoulder. "I thought... I thought she was dead."

"How old were you?" she asked, sharing sympathy with him openly for the first time.

"I don't know," he said with a defeated voice. "Five... I think."

If Padme could prevent her eyes from going wide, she would have, but five? His devotion to Palpatine and this Empire made a lot more sense to her now. Any purity that this man could've had was taken from him long before he could truly grasp and take a hold of it.

"How do you know it's her?" She didn't want to get his hopes up, the last thing she needed was a very angry Vader in her company.

A weak smile graced his lips, and that's when it happened again. His eyes turned blue leaving Padme mesmerized by the sight. But as fast as it had come, it quickly disappeared. All these years, the dark side held onto him so strongly, it wasn't about to let him go without a fight.

"I can't explain it, but I know it's her."

"I don't presume to understand how the force works," she admits, putting aside her pride. "Maybe we should say hello."

"No," he said hastily.

Padme frowned. "Why not?"

"I..." he was at a loss for words.

Padme reached and held his hands, even now, under the hot Tatooine suns, his flesh felt cold.

"They don't have to know who you are," she assured. "We'll just let them know that we're off-worlder's who need some direction. It'll be all right, I promise."

Her voice sounded so sincere and her eyes never once betrayed a lie. Vader relaxed and let himself be led towards the woman who's given him life. A woman he hasn't seen in nearly twenty years.

How is it possible?

"Excuse me." Padme's voice took him out of his thoughts as she approached his presumably dead mother.

The woman turned, and for a moment, it left Padme surprised. This woman was unlike what she ever imagined Darth Vader's mother to be. Her features, although worn out from hard labor, looked so welcoming.

"Can I help you?" replied the older woman in a kind voice.

Vader remained speechless, and it made Padme forget who this man really is and smiled because of it.

"I hope so," Padme replied. "My name is Padme Naberrie," she said, using her maiden name at birth. "This is..." she gestured to the man next to her, and she felt his hand hold tighter to her own. She took a deep breath and said, "My husband."

"Hello," she greeted the tall handsome young man. Padme noted the flash of recognition on the lady's face before it vanished.

"We're lost," Padme started to explain.

"Oh dear," the older woman responded, noting the way they were dressed. She turned her head and saw the sky darkening. "You're off worlder's?"

Padme nodded while Vader remained frozen still.

"You shouldn't be out during a sandstorm," she said in a very motherly fashion. "Come, stay with us for the night, and we'll help you however way we can in the meantime." She turned nextto a man who looked around the age of 20 to 25. "This is my son, Owen," she introduced.

Vader slammed the jealousy that brew beneath his façade down at the revelation that this person, was in fact, another son. He didn't want to lash out at her for moving on, even though it tore his mind to do so.

"Pardon my manners, my name is Shmi," she added with a warm smile.

"Thank you for being so kind," Padme said gratefully. This was the first time she has had the opportunity to converse with people other than Vader, so she appreciated the company more.

"Not at all," she replied in kind. "It's not often we get visitors off-world. Where are you from?"

"Naboo," Padme answered a little too excitedly.

Vader held a smile. To him, it wasn't often, or at all, that he can see her smile, so when an opportunity presents itself, he can't help but be happy for her even when the reaction itself left him uncomfortable when he thought about it.

Shmi glanced peculiarly at the two. There was something familiar about the young man, but she couldn't quite figure out what it was that made it so.

"How about you... I'm sorry; I didn't get your name earlier," Shmi said.

"My name?" Vader said. He hasn't used or heard his name in so many years, he wondered if he even knew it himself.

Shmi nodded while Padme feared for the worst.

His mind tried to search through his memories. His master had given him his name; but he had always kept his own name deep inside whatever part of himself he had left. With that memory rising beneath the dark depths of his soul, it was finally there for him to take on again, and he brought if forth.

"Anakin."

Shmi's face drained of all color when she heard that name spoken while Padme was left floored and could only think of one thing…

Darth Vader had a name?

"Shmi, are you all right?" Padme asked, concerned when the women suddenly went still. She sent her 'husband' a deathly glare with the thoughts, 'Couldn't you make up a different name?' speaking loudly in her mind.

Vader winced at her thoughts, hearing it as clear as he would if she had spoken it to him. He never knew their connection through the force was that potent.

"Shmi," she said again.

"I'm sorry, Padme," Shmi answered apologetically. "His name... it reminded me of someone I lost a long time ago."

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely.

Shmi rubbed her hands against the young woman's shoulders.

"It's okay, but thank you."

"What happened?" Vader asked, hoping it didn't hurt her any further to talk about, but he had to know.

Shmi hesitated before answering. There was something about this man that made her want to talk.

"You don't have to..." Padme chimed in.

"No, it's okay," Shmi stopped her. "I think it'll do me some good to talk about it." She paused, taking her time. "I had a son, his name was Anakin too. He died when he was five when our ship crashed on our way here."

"Died?" Vader repeated, surprised.

"It all happened so fast. The ship was out of control, I tried to hold onto him as hard as I can, but I lost him anyway," she recounted, a tear falling from one eye. She made no move to wipe it away. "You remind me of him," she added, reaching up at the man's tall form and laying her hand softly against one cheek. "Except your eyes," she observed. "His were blue."

Padme felt Vader's… or was it Anakin's hand intertwine with her own, and she was taken by it.

From the day she's first heard of the vile Darth Vader, she couldn't care less, but now, she actually felt pity for him.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Vader said in the most sincere voice Padme has ever heard.

Shmi nodded, appreciative of the stranger's kind sympathy. Never once did she display an inkling of fear against him. She treated him the way she would treat anyone else.

With kindness.

"Thank you."

The remainder of their walk to Shmi's homestead was quiet. When they got there, Shmi introduced them to Beru,who was in the kitchen helping to set up dinner with Shmi's husband and Owen's father, Cliegg Lars.

Padme welcomed the reprieve, enjoying a lively dinner while Vader looked on, content with what was happening around him.

It wasn't until it hit dark when the sandstorm ended that Vader felt the growing need to speak with her. While Padme chatted with Beru, Vader caught Shmi leave from the back. With his emotions tugging at him to follow, he quickly made himself scarce to find her.

It wasn't difficult; the connection they shared now had only grown. Even though her mind believed her son is dead, Vader knew her heart felt otherwise.

"May I interrupt?" Vader requests politely, the kind propriety that he displayed felt alien to him but he made an effort anyway.

"Not at all," she replied before looking out into the starry sky. "It's beautiful, isn't it? The stars."

Vader took a moment to glance up before setting his gaze back down to her. He's never taken the time too look at the stars the way she does so. To him, they meant nothing.

"How did you survive?" he asked abruptly, cursing himself afterwards for his tactless question.

Shmi showed a low chuckle as she watched the young man silently reprimand himself.

"I don't remember much." She looked away from him, but there was something in her expression and in her voice that suggested to Vader that she remembered more than she was willing to say. It was then that his own memory returned, like a painful flash of light between his eyes: holding his mother's hand one last time. "I was unconscious for a long time; almost dead. And when I came to, I was being cared for by a kind moisture farmer."

Vader breathed in. "Cliegg Lars," he guessed.

She nodded. "I went back to the wreckage, hoping I would get some sign that my son was alive somewhere, but the Tuskan's raided the place already, and I found nothing." She held the sob that threatened to escape her. It always happened when she talked aboutAnakin."I couldn't even give him a proper funeral."

Vader's emotions swirled in all directions inside of him. For years, he believed that his mother was dead. He took his master's word and accepted her fate blindly.

Vader couldn't meditate, or concentrate, or do much of anything except replay the past days events. So many memories forgotten. So many memories that could've been there. All of it was far away from his grasp, and instead of feeling angry about, he felt an overwhelming sense of loss.

Regret.

His past, along with his name, was but a distant memory, yet a single voice returned them all. Only one man can give him the answers that he seeks, and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that danger surrounded that very idea. Now, anger threatened to boil itself over inside him as he tried to steady it.

After many years in his servitude, his Master will not like the change in him, and he will be punished, andperhaps killed for it.

This, he knew, would most likely be true. The Emperor has little tolerance for insubordination.

He remained in contemplation for many hours before making up his mind. Rushing inside the guest quarters, he tapped his sleeping wife awake. "We're leaving," he announced, startling her.

Padme sat up, her eyes barely awake.

"What? Now?"

"The longer we stay, the greater danger these people are in," he whispered.

Her eyes widen at the implication. "Are you actually thinking of someone other than yourself?"

Vader sent her a hard glare. "Believe me, Senator, the only person I'm serving is myself. Now let's go before they wake."

If Padme didn't know better, she would think that he was being sarcastic as she watched him put together the little belongings that they had.

"Won't you say goodbye?" she asked, amazed that now that he found someone he had lost, he was willing to leave it all behind so easily. Has he really fallen so far down the dark side that redemption wasn't possible?

"No more goodbyes."

His answer gave her the chills.

"Why the hurry?"

Vader sighed. "Because Senator." He stopped to look at her dead in the eyes. "I'm taking you home."

To be Continued…