Aphra gasped and grabbed his hand. She was lifted with the same ease Vader lifted her up from a similar situation all those years ago and he held her in his arms to steady her and allow her to recover from her ordeal. She was now staring into his extraordinary blue eyes.
"Boss?", were the only words she could utter.
"Anakin.", he whispered and crushed his lips on hers, pulling her closer to him. Just like a month and a half ago, he left her breathless. The kiss lasted much longer than before. 'because he can breathe on his own, I suppose'. Anakin finally came up for air and smiled down at Aphra.
'Thank you, Aphra. But why? I don't deserve any of this! A new body, a new ship, a new life! Why go through all this trouble for me? After everything, I put you through. I Force choked you, I threw you out of an airlock, I placed a bounty on you. I chased you down those dangerous ruins and just recently, I raped you. Force, Doctor, I'm so sorry for everything that I've done to you!
"Woah, Woah, there, Anakin. You didn't rape me. I wanted to jump your bones ever since you saved me from that sticky situation, all those years ago. And I was your biggest fangirl since I was ten and sported a huge crush ever since. A crush that turned into love after I met you in person, irrational as it may be. What happened aboard the Executor recently, was completely consensual. You didn't force me to do anything I didn't want to do, and you definitely didn't rape me. It was role-playing, and a successful one, I might add, and I enjoyed every single minute of it. You were magnificent, you brought me so much pleasure, you didn't hurt me, and you didn't cause me any discomfort. It was by far the best sex I've ever had. So please, don't be sorry about that, there is absolutely no reason. I do however accept your apology for the rest of the stuff, except for the chase, which was extremely thrilling, and I did get a chance to tinker with your armor. Anakin, Darth Vader was the best thing that ever happened to me for all the thrills you gave me, and I wouldn't trade the time we spent together for the galaxy. But now I am ecstatic that I'll get to know Anakin Skywalker in person.", she cupped his face.
Anakin couldn't help but kiss her again, deeply, longingly, possessively. Aphra kissed back with even greater fervor, she was thrilled that her gambit worked, she got back a better version of Vader, unmaimed, unscarred, untainted, and ready to unleash his full potential to the galaxy. For good this time. With her by his side if he wished it. What more could a girl hope for? When they came back for air Anakin placed his temple on hers.
"I didn't remember what happened aboard the Executor at first. Death has a funny way to make some things crystal clear for you while hiding others. Or it could have been the cloning process. I don't know. I was shocked when I saw you on that message and recalled everything about you and our times together except that night.
I remembered what happened while I slept on the way here, in a dream. I saw you pinned face down on my bed, my hand holding you by the back of your neck while I moved inside you. I awoke fearing the worse. The memories flooded in, I recalled everything, but I wasn't certain whether you really wanted that to happen, or just played along out of fear that I would kill you if you refused. I'm very relieved that you really wanted that to happen, that come's without saying.
And I must confess you were in no real danger from me at any moment after I threw out of that airlock. That was an act that I regretted instantly, but I thought that it was too late. You had grown on me, Aphra. The times I spent with you was the only joy I felt in years, you were my balm. I wanted to patch things up with you while you served aboard the Executor, but I didn't know how. That's why I came to you those nights at your Science station, I wanted to say more, do more, but my pride never allowed it. You brought Anakin out of me almost as much as my son did.
And I have another confession, that I had a crush on you for years. It started as desire, I wanted you from the first moment I laid eyes on you in person when you stole Triple Zaro's Matrix, but after we had sex I realized my feelings for you were much deeper. I discovered that I was in love with you. But it was too late, you were gone, I had mind tricked you to forget and I was on my way to supervise the completion of the second Death Star. How did you remember what happened? I know that I haven't mind tricked anyone since I was a Jedi twenty-three years ago, but still, you shouldn't be able to remember what happened, unless I used the Force to make you remember."
"Well, you told me to go to the furthest system away from the Executor. I did exactly that and ended up on Mandalore. As I was wondering what the krif I was doing there, I walked into a bar and sat next to a Togruta. Turns out that she was a Force wielder and a former Jedi Padawan, who informed me that I was mind tricked. And she lifted it off me instantly.", Aphra explained.
"Ashoka!", Anakin smiled.
"Exactly. Nice gal, polite, witty, and immensely helpful. She loves you; you know. As a brother. The stories she told me about you, your adventures, your sorrows, your griefs, your joys. The sorrow she feels for losing you to the Dark Side and her inability to bring you back is heartbreaking. Don't look sad, Anakin. She will be overjoyed to see you redeemed and restored. We will meet her in five months on Mandalore. She promised to show me Holocrons of you teaching combat techniques. You can reunite with her and her husband there.
"Husband?", Anakin was surprised.
"A former Clone trooper named Rex."
"Ashoka married Rex? That's wonderful, but how? By all accounts all the Clone troopers hunted down and killed their Jedi Commanding officers when Sidious ordered them to execute "Order 66", and as far as I know, Rex never had the inhibitor chip removed. How did he resist it?
"Oh, Anakin. I'm afraid that I can't tell you what happened. Ashoka became very emotional when she attempted to tell me that story, so I changed the subject. She'll probably tell you in person when we see her.
"You're right, that can wait. We have more pressing matters now. Like me making up to you for everything I did. And making amends with my children.", Anakin sighed, knowing that it will not be an easy task. At least where Leia was concerned.
"Children? I thought that only Luke was your kid. When did the second one pop up? Looks like you've been a busy little Jedi, General Skywalker.", Anakin chuckled at that.
"Turns out that Luke has a twin sister. Leia! Yes, that Leia. Padme, my wife was expecting twins, though she never told me for some reason. Perhaps she was saving it as a surprise."
"You were married to Senator Amidala? Ashoka was convinced that you were in a clandestine relationship with her but never suspected that it was that serious."
"Oh, it was serious alright. We were married for three years and met up in secret whenever we could. We knew our closest friends suspected us, but they never confronted us. Rex knew, he used to keep watch whenever I spoke with her when we were on a mission and kept Obi-Wan away. Actually, he usually failed to keep Obi-Wan away and my old Master would always tell me that next time I spoke to Padme, I should tell her that he said hi.", they both laughed.
"Ashoka did tell me that you both did extremely dangerous things behind Obi-Wan's back, while Rex covered for you.", Anakin laughed.
"Oh, the things we did, Aphra. The risks we took to complete our missions. Do you think the Empire was bad? The separatists were just as bad. The atrocities they committed, the innocents they slaughtered! And they didn't have a Death Star or Grand Moff Tarkin, Admiral Thrawn, and I to enforce the Emperor's will. Their leaders, all of them and their subjects were corrupted and evil to the bone. They didn't just want to rule the entire galaxy; they wanted to subjugate it, enslave everyone, and annihilate all who opposed them. Well, Tarkin was like that, I always thought that he belonged more with them than the Empire, but Thrawn wasn't. Even I opposed the construction of the Death Star and protested that its use would cause more problems and outrage, than good. I insisted that it was an abomination and both Thrawn and I petitioned that we should use all those resources and manpower to create more fleets. Star Destroyers that can be deployed on many locations around the galaxy and not at just one place at a time. But Sidious didn't listen to us. And millions of people were lost, both on Alderaan and the Death Star when my son destroyed it. Both Death Stars. But I digress. I was going to say that the only thing I don't regret doing when I turned to the dark side was taking out all the separatist leaders on Mustafar."
"Looks like you have tons of stories to tell me, Anakin. And I'm very eager to hear them all. So, how about we get off this kriffing planet and you tell me all about it on our way to wherever your children are.", Aphra kissed Anakin who smiled and nodded.
"You're right. I found you, I saved you, there's no reason to stay on this kriffing planet any longer. I hate this place with a passion. But I have other things in store for us. The stories can wait. I want to explore every inch of your gorgeous body and do things with you that my armor wouldn't let me.", he kissed her again and led her to a speeder.
"And I need to return this to its owner. I jumped on it and sped here the moment I sensed that you were in mortal danger.". He climbed aboard the speeder and settled Aphra in front of him, kissing the nape of her neck.
"Aphra, you managed to find a ship similar to the original Arc Angel. How did you do that? I never got to ask you, when you served aboard the Executor.", Anakin inquired as he sat at the co-pilot's seat after he docked his own to the Arc Angel.
"I won it at a Sabbacc game, just like your ship. I'm rather good at that game. It's a much newer and less battered version of the old one, so it made up for the sentimental value my first ship held for me. So where to, Anakin? Where are your children? Can you sense them?", Aphra asked as the ship left the planet.
"They're still on Endor for some reason. I wonder why they haven't gone to Coruscant yet. There's a vacuum of power at the moment and the surviving Moffs are probably fighting each other over the Crown. I'll warn my daughter when I see her, Mon Mothma needs to be on Coruscant yesterday.", Anakin rubbed his chin, with a concerned look on his face.
"Endor it is then.", Aphra punched the coordinates and got up from her seat. "So where were we? We're off the planet, we entered hyperspace and the droids are enjoying their oil bath. I don't know about you, but I could sure enjoy a bath too, care to join me?", she winked at Anakin as she offered her hand. He grinned and took it, pulling her closer for a searing kiss.
"Always.", He threw his cloak away and began stripping from his clothes, catching at the same time Aphra's clothes with the Force as she threw them at him on their way to the fresher. He caught her as she turned on the faucet and pulled her closer for another kiss, lifting her off the ground and pinning her on the wall of the shower. He wrapped her legs around his waist and traced his hands over her curves as they traveled up her body.
"Now that's something I could never do with that cursed armor!", Anakin chuckled.
Aphra could not take her eyes off him, he was gorgeous, his body was perfect, toned muscle and smooth skin everywhere she looked. Her small hands traced his rippling muscles while his lips traveled down to her nipples. 'oh Force, here we go again, his mouth can perform miracles.', she moaned as she lathered them both up. 'Well, we are taking a shower, aren't we?'
"And what a shower it is!", Anakin looked up and winked at her. 'Of course, he can read my mind!', Aphra's chuckle turned into a moan as soon as he entered her.
"Oh Force, Boss! You're gonna be the end of me", she moaned as he increased his pace.
"Likewise, Doctor", Anakin captured her mouth and continued kissing her until they both collapsed on the floor, completely spent.
"Wow, I love Force wielders, they last much longer than regular guys!". Aphra grinned as she kissed Anakin's neck.
"That, we do, sweetheart. Get ready for hours upon hours of X-rated fun. A pity we can't have a round two right now, we should be arriving at Endor any moment. It would be wise if we were fully clothed when they hail us.", Anakin kissed her and helped her off his lap. By the time they came out of hyperspace, they were the epitome of propriety.
An X-Wing approached them and hailed them.
"Unidentified vessel, you have entered a restricted area. Please identify yourself.", Luke Skywalker's voice filled the cockpit. Anakin's breath hitched; he wasn't sure how his son will deal with his resurrection. 'That's Luke', he mouthed at Aphra who nodded.
"This is Dr. Aphra, captain of the Arc Angel requesting permission to enter the system and speak with Commander Skywalker.", she spoke in her most official voice.
"Dr. Aphra, this is Luke Skywalker. Why do you want to speak with me?", Luke sounded very suspicious.
"Please come aboard, and I'll tell you. You're a Jedi, kid. You know if I'm hiding something.", Anakin hoped that his son wouldn't need any more convincing. Luckily, he didn't, and soon his X-Wing was attached to Anakin's ship.
"Kriff, I need to open the hatch for him. He'll be shocked when he sees me.", Anakin facepalmed.
"Don't worry, babe. I'll get him.", Aphra got up and run to his ship. 'Babe? I like that.', Anakin grinned and stood up waiting for his son's arrival.
"You have to understand, kid. This was all my idea; I saw the opportunity and I took it. I just had to do it, give him a second chance and all.", Anakin heard Aphra saying to Luke.
"What did you do now, Doctor?", Luke exhaled.
"Well, this.", Aphra pointed at Anakin. Luke's eyes widened and took a step back.
"What is this? Father is that you?", he whispered.
"Yes, son", it's me. Aphra discovered an ancient Jedi facility on Dantoine, that clones and transfers the life essence, consciousness, and soul of a Jedi upon death. I had absolutely no idea about this. She surprised me very pleasantly yesterday when I woke up in a tank alive and well.", he smiled and hugged his son, who hugged him back sobbing.
"Father, I can't believe that you're alive and I will actually be able to spend time with you. You are truly saved, and we can finally be a family. I wish Leia were here too!", Luke managed to collect himself and smiled up to his father who smiled back as he wiped his own tears of joy.
"I don't think your sister will accept me that easily, Luke. Remember, I used a mind probe on her and tried to invade her mind. I stood back and did nothing while Tarkin ordered the destruction of her home planet. I tortured her boyfriend. I cut your arm off. She will not forgive me so easily. To her, I will always be the monster who brought only suffering to her and her loved ones.
"I'll talk to her, Father. I will make her see that Anakin Skywalker is a completely different person than Darth Vader. Yes, you did all that, but things changed after we met at Bespin. Anakin resurfaced."
"Actually, he did the moment he discovered your existence, kid.", Aphra piped in.
"To be more precise, it began the moment I saved your life when we first met, sweetheart. Both of you, my son, and my love pulled me back from the Dark Side. And discovering that Leia is also my child sealed the deal.", Anakin pulled Aphra in his arms too. "My greatest wish is for the four of us to become a family, but I do realize that we have a difficult road ahead of us.
"We'll be there all the way, aren't we kid?", Aphra asked Luke.
"Of course, we are. However, we need to keep the Darth Vader identity secret. As soon as they discover that you were him, they will arrest you and you will be executed. Nobody knows yet, except for us and Leia. We agreed to tell Han and Chewie when we got to Coruscant.", Luke said.
"Then we need to talk to Leia as soon as possible. And find a way to explain my disappearance for the past twenty-three years. This will prove difficult, the propaganda mill had Anakin Skywalker dying at the Jedi temple, defending it. The Clone troopers could not kill him, he was decimating them, until Darth Vader arrived and finished him off after he was shot several times by the remaining clones.", Anakin sighed.
"He was left for dead, until another Jedi, Jocasta Nu, the Librarian, who was hiding deep within the Temple found him and discovered a weak pulse. She dragged him to the medical bay and placed him in a stasis pod. She then took him to an undisclosed planet with most of her archives and programmed the pod to heal him. She had no Med-Droid at her disposal, she had to rely on the pod to slowly heal Skywalker's extensive injuries. She returned to the Temple to retrieve the Holocron that contained the list of all the Force-sensitive children in the galaxy. She was planning to start a new Jedi academy. However, when she returned to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, Vader discovered her and killed her, leaving Skywalker trapped in that pod, sleeping, unaware of what was happening in the galaxy.
An Earthquake caused a collapse at your shelter and crushed the pod, thus waking you up. You were all healed up, well-rested, and very much surprised that you were asleep for two decades, missing the birth of your children, the death of your wife, and the purging of the Jedi. You read Jocasta's logs and discovered the state of the galaxy. You used parts from different discarded ships from an abandoned junkyard nearby to build a ship and got out of there. The sensors were crap, so you could not identify the planet or the system you were in, you just punched in the coordinates to Coruscant and took an educated guess, hoping for the best. The hyperdrive malfunctioned halfway to your destination and I answered your distress signal.", Aphra offered a very valid explanation.
"That's all brilliant, my love. But how do you know so many details about Jocasta Nu? You described what happened to her to the letter.", Anakin raised an eyebrow.
"I spent three months as an Intelligence officer aboard your ship. You know that I had a huge crush on you since I was ten, and thus I was very curious about you and your past. So, I hacked the Imperial database and every encrypted and restricted file and read everything about you and your missions.", Aphra smiled at Anakin.
"You do realize that if you were discovered you would have been tortured to death and I would have been forced to give the order? Kriff, I would have been expected to execute you myself, and I would have done so believing that you had betrayed me again. Aphra how could you be so careless?", Anakin shook his head.
"It felt like a good idea at the time. And hey, it was. Because now we have a valid excuse about your absence and youthful appearance.", Aphra cupped Anakin's face.
"Still, I would have rather remained dead if it meant that you were safe.", Anakin sighed and kissed her hand.
"Ok, so we have a valid explanation. Now can you satisfy my curiosity and tell me when your love story began? It can't have started yesterday.", Luke raised an eyebrow at them.
"You are correct, kid. For me, it started when I was ten and bandits invaded my home. My mother managed to contact the Imperial garrison before we fled the house, but they mortally wounded her before we entered the nearby forest. She died there and I had to fend for myself, crossing the forest and hiding from the bandits that were after me and the wild beasts that were trying to eat me. The Imperial troopers found me on the other side and Vader happened to be there. He completely annihilated the bandits in seconds. He was amazing. A god of war, I might say. He spoke to me, asked my name, patted my head, and said the Empire needed more brave souls like me to bring order to the galaxy, or something like that. Well, that was when I developed a huge crush on him.", she winked at Anakin who gave her a peck on the lips.
"In all fairness, it was during the early years of the Empire, I was in tremendous pain due to my injuries and I was pumping myself with powerful painkillers. I was high most of the time, so I remember nothing from that time period. I was told that I was inspecting different outposts and I sent a request to the Emperor to adopt that brave little girl who made it out of the woods alive since my wife and child were dead. I never gave him your name or the name planet I found you because I couldn't remember either. I was that high. Naturally, the Emperor realized that I was hooked on the painkillers and put a stop to that, saying that Sith Lords are not allowed to be nice and raise families, so I never saw you again. Until you told me about our first encounter, and I was shocked to realize that you were that little girl. What are the odds, ha?". Anakin kissed Aphra.
"Wow, that was so sweet, I knew that you were not that bad, even as a Sith Lord!", Aphra kissed him back.
"Indeed, Sidious often lamented about that.", Anakin shrugged.
"So anyway, I became a huge fangirl of your dad and created a fun club. You have no idea how much girls love you, Anakin. Something about tall, dark, and mysterious, gets us all wired up. I even joined the Imperial Academy in the hopes that one day I'd be assigned to the Devastator, but it only lasted a month before I quit. Too many rules, I only got my PhDs because they involved a lot of fieldwork, travel, adventure, and building stuff from scratch. Fast forward a few years and there I was minding my own business and stealing a droid personality matrix. I was caught by the guards and who turned up to make my day? None other than Darth Kriffing Vader who took out everyone and saved me from falling to my death, while trying to get the matrix. Oh, it was epic, I was hanging by one hand, while the other was holding the precious matrix, and lo and behold the Dark Lord of the Sith himself knelt, offered his hand, and said with that hot dark voice of his:
"Doctor Aphra, I have need of you".
"Well, that did it for me, my schoolgirl crush not only saved my life but actually came there for me, because he needed me, of all people. After that it was all adventure, flirting and blowing stuff up and I actually fell in love with him and ended up in his bed a month and a half ago.", Aphra grinned at Anakin who grinned back and winked.
"As I said before, I was impressed by that little girl's bravery, but could not remember her name or the planet we dropped her off. As the years went by, I came to believe that it was just a drug-induced hallucination. And then, I stumbled across a couple of reactivated droids. I was impressed, had there been more of those during the Clone Wars, we would have lost during the first year. So, I had to find the person who reactivated them, for a personal project that I have delayed for almost two decades. To overthrow Sidious and take his place just like every self-respected Sith aspires to do.
After a lot of searching, I discovered the name: Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra, Archaeologist, Ancient Relic Hunter, Droid, and weapons reactivator, Rogue, Thief, Scoundrel, but an avid supporter of the Empire. The perfect woman! So, I searched her out. And where do I find her? On a restricted planet stealing a droid personality matrix. Even I didn't have permission to be there, so I was attacked. Naturally, I quickly dispatched the attackers, only to watch Aphra plunge into the abyss after the matrix, headfirst. So, I rescued her.
I was already intrigued by her skills and brilliance, and I knew that she was incredibly beautiful from the holos I had collected during my search. But when I finally met her in person, I became captivated by all those things combined and enhanced by her personality. She instantly became my balm, and the smile on my face whenever I saw or thought about her. She was my comfort and the only person that made me feel human again.
It wasn't easy for me, I was a Sith Lord, passion was acceptable, but not love. Love leads to the Light Side of the Force. I tried to bury those feelings deep down after I failed to purge them when I threw her out of that airlock, but I failed again. I instantly regretted doing that and I mourned her "loss".
I was overjoyed and relieved when she resurfaced, and I did try to approach her again when she served aboard the Executor. But I fucked things up even worse. I alternated from being nice and civil to her when we were alone to downright hostile in front of others. I even tortured her father and hurt him very badly. I didn't blame her when she escaped by humiliating me and saving the Rebel Alliance by betraying the Empire. I absolutely deserved it. Even as Vader, I understood and accepted that.
For two and a half years she was gone. Even Boba Fett couldn't find her. I wanted her back, not to hurt her, but to keep her close to me at all times. To see her, hear her, and watch her being her usual cheeky self. I was going to reinstate her status as a Science and Intelligence officer and use her to capture you and your friends. I reckon that if she were there at Bespin, none of you would have escaped me.
I had given up hope that I would ever see her again, I believed that she not only fled Imperial space but also the outer rim worlds and was hiding somewhere in the Wild Space regions. But I didn't have the time to look for her, since I was busy fighting the Rebels, trying to capture you, and discovering what really happened during your birth. You see, Sidious told me that your mother died before she had you. For nineteen years I believed that you were both dead. But that's another story, and I prefer to tell it when your sister is here too.
So, a month and a half ago, I had just returned from Mustafar, after my weekly body maintenance. A painful process, medical droids remove my armor and prosthetics and scrub my body clean from all the dead skin and then I spend a day in the bantha tank to recuperated from said 'treatment". I landed on the Executor on your mother's yacht, and I ordered an inspection, just because I felt like it. I walked past a group of lined up officers, and whose all too familiar presence do I sense? Aphra's. I turn my head and there she was, dressed as an Imperial Ensign, smiling, saluting, and winking at me. The cheek! I swear to you, if I were alone I would have burst out laughing, it was the funniest thing I have ever seen. And the sexiest. She was gorgeous in that uniform. So much so, that I just had to remove it off her, for her own good, of course. I ordered her to follow me in my quarters and I can't tell you anything more, because you're my child and I don't want to scar you for life. Needless to say, I realized that my huge crush had developed into love, but it was too late because I had already mind tricked her and told her to forget about what happened and disappear, and never come near me and Imperial space again.", Anakin kissed Aphra after finishing her story.
"You should know that you were the only female that I ever wanted to kiss and taste after my accident. I never brought anyone into my hyperbaric chamber, only you.", he whispered in her ear.
"Wow, this is all incredible, father. Love did bring you back. Between Dr. Aphra, Leia, and I, you didn't stand a chance.", Luke grinned at both of them.
"No, son, I didn't. I have so many stories to tell you and your sister. You're probably dying to know who your mother was. Do you want me to tell you now, or do you want to wait until we see your sister? Though it may be a disaster.", Anakin sighed.
"We'll risk it. She would want to know too. And I'll be there when you reveal yourself and we will ride the storm together.", Luke smiled reassuringly to his father.
"So how are we going to meet her?", Aphra asked.
"I'll contact her and ask her to fly here in the Millennium Falcon with Han. It's too risky to meet on Endor.", Luke tapped the message on his wrist band.