Chapter 21: The Father
Padmé paced the sitting area. She had awoken after a few hours of sleep. She had yet to be woken up due to one of Leia's nightmares. Had the girl simply not had one? Perhaps she would manage to get through a night without one. Padmé went to check on the twins, but found both of their beds empty.
There was no message like when Vader had taken Luke to go see the fighter ships. Surely Vader would have left another message if he was taking the children. She looked through all the rooms, including her closet, and there was no sign of the children. She was starting to worry. She had no way of contacting Vader. So she ended up pacing in the sitting area.
She wasn't sure how long she had been at it, when the door by the kitchen slid open. Darth Vader marched into the room with a child under each arm. Both children were held by the waist. Luke's eyes were wide. He was tense and unmoving. Leia was quite different. She squirmed and wiggled. She kicked and punched. She screamed.
Vader was dressed as the Emperor with cloak and lightsaber. A cold chill ran down Padmé's spine as she saw his yellow eyes briefly meet her's. She swore she could feel a wave of angry heat run through her. He didn't say a word as he marched to the twins' room. Padmé followed right behind him.
Vader first walked over to Leia's bed where he dropped her. At once Leia scrambled up. Vader had moved on to drop Luke on his bed. Leia had started to charge off her bed, but Vader brought a hand and the girl was pushed over as if by an invisible hand. Leia let out a frustrated scream. Then she was right back at it, moving to get off the bed. Again Vader used the Force to push her back onto the bed.
"You will stay on your bed," Vader growled pointing a finger a Leia.
"No!" Leia shouted. "I want my papa and mama! I want to be with them! Take me back!"
Vader just stood there for a moment, but then he turned sharply and headed for the door. Padmé was going to wait for him to leave to comfort the children, yet Vader grabbed her tightly by the arm and dragged her out of the room. He pressed some buttons on the door panel. The door slid shut, and she could hear the soft click of the door locking.
Then Vader stalked off down the hall. Padmé followed after him. He went past his office until he reached the door at the end of the hallway. It slid open for him. It was another sitting room with a small kitchen. It appeared to be a mirror layout of her sitting room. Except this one had more character. Comfortable black leather couches and chairs filled the sitting area. There were was abstract art on the wall. There was some decorative glass art on a table next to the sofas.
Padmé realized this must be his rooms. Vader's personal rooms. Her eyes went to the door across the room opposite of the hallway door. She assumed that his bedroom. Her attention snapped from the door as she saw the decorative glass sculpture thrown from the table into the wall by the Force. Then the table itself was thrown into the air and smashed into the wall.
Vader sat down on the edge of one of the sofas. He braced his elbows on his knees and brought his head into his hands. He hunched over. Padmé couldn't stop the small pang that formed in her heart at seeing such sight. She slowly walked over to him then stopped. He didn't move. Didn't say a word. She slowly brought her hands up to his head. She laced her fingers into his hair and then started to gently stroke his head.
"What happened?" she asked in a whisper.
Vader was quite for a while, but eventually he spoke up. "They . . . the children . . . left," Vader said softly. His head was still in his hands. Padmé knew from the way Vader said left, what he meant to say was escaped. "They went to the detention block to find the Organas and Lars."
Now it was her turn to be quiet. A million questions ran through her head. "What? How?" was the only two words she managed to get out.
"They are truly my children, Padmé," he said. "Both already strong in the Force."
"They used the Force to get to the detention block? How? I didn't know . . . they were trained to use it."
"They are not trained. They merely did what felt natural. The Force heard and answered their call," Vader explained.
She still didn't understand. How had they even gotten out of these rooms? How had no one spotted two children on a star destroyer? How did they know the Organas and Lars were kept on board? Padmé was having a hard time just chucking everything up to the Force.
"Padmé," he said softly. "I just . . ." He looked up at her. His eyes were a mix of blue and gold. "I just want us to be a family," he said softly and painfully. "And I just . . . I just can't make it right!" His eyes flashed gold.
She didn't step away. She continued stroking his hair. He leaned his head against her stomach. His arms wrapped around her legs. They stayed like that for a few minutes before he pulled his head away and looked up at her. His eyes were still a mix of blue and gold.
"Will you stay with me tonight?" he asked. His eyes were pleading her.
"Yes," she said softly without much hesitation.
There was an immediate look of relief on his face with her answer. He needed this she thought. He needed her and her acceptance right now. She knew the one who had asked her had been Anakin. Vader didn't ask. He demanded. Threatened. Vader got off the couch and led her into the bedroom. A similar bedroom like hers. At the foot of the bed he wrapped her in a warm embrace and kissed her. Then for the first time in five years, Padmé made love to her husband Anakin Skywalker.
When Padmé awoke, he was gone. The sheets were cooling, which said he had left some time ago. She sighed before she rolled out of the bed. She got dressed and made her way back to the hallway. She found the twins' door unlocked and entered. Both twins were curled up on Leia's bed. Luke was under the covers, while Leia was sprawled out on top. Her cheeks were red and puffy from crying.
Not wanting to leave the children, she crawled into Luke's small empty bed. She would just wait until they woke up, but quickly fell asleep herself. She woke up with both twins curled up beside her. The bed was too small to hold all three, but Luke had somehow fallen asleep on top of his mother. There was a warm love growing inside Padmé at the thought of her little children sleeping with their mother. They still wanted to be with her after the two had tried to escape.
She understood her husband's frustrations. Deep down she desperately wanted them to be a family too. Her image of family probably didn't match Vader's, but after being reunited with her children she realized she wanted them. She wanted them more than anything, because she loved them more anything. She had been a fool to give them up.
Yet as lovely as this moment was, she was uncomfortable. Her side hurt and her arm was cramping. The moment she started to shift her weight, both twins started to stir. They both looked at her with their big round eyes. Leia's eyes were bloodshot. Luke cuddle against his mother. She let them be for a small moment before she got them all out of bed and ushered them into the kitchen. The kitchen on her side. The twins were silent as they ate breakfast. Luke kept shooting his sister worried glances.
"I was told what happened last night," Padmé said breaking the silence. "You went to the Organas and the Lars."
Luke flinched and looked guilty. He glanced down at his plate. Leia however had a fire in her eyes. She slammed her little fist against the table. "Take me back!" she demanded. "I know my mama and papa are in this ship! They were in that hallway! Take me back, please!"
There was a flash of pain in Padmé's heart at hearing her daughter's pleas. She hoped it didn't show on her face. "I can't," Padmé said softly.
"Yes you can!" Leia shouted. "You just don't want to! You want to be my new mother! But you're not! You're not my mama! I want my real mama! Let me go back to her!"
The pain only got worse in Padmé's heart. "Leia," Padmé said evenly. "I can't leave these rooms. I . . . I am a prisoner here. Just like you are." Both children just stared wide eyed at their mother. "Those doors," Padmé gestured towards the one kitchen, "are locked even to me. Only your father can go in and out of them. How you two did it last night, I do not know. I myself have tried several times."
"We snuck on the cart with the cleaning droids," Luke said in a small voice. Padmé couldn't help but smile at the cleverness of her children. They were indeed Skywalker children.
"What do you mean you're a prisoner here?" Leia asked.
"Don't you want to be here?" Luke asked. "With Father? Aren't you two married? Don't you love each other?"
"I think it's time you both heard the story about me and your father," Padmé said as she stood from the table. The twins followed her to the sitting room. They all settled on the couch. A twin sat on each side of her. "When I was young, I became the queen of a planet called Naboo," Padmé started out.
She told her children the story of how she met Anakin Skywalker, who became a Jedi knight. She of course kept the story simple and left out a lot of details. But she covered the basics. She told them how their parents fell in love and married in secret. She told them briefly about the Clone Wars, which kept the parents apart.
Then she told them how Anakin joined Palpatine, who became Emperor. How she hid from Anakin who had become Vader with her two little babies. She explained that she wanted to make the galaxy a better place for her children, so she gave her children to the Organas and the Lars so they could be safe. She tried to make the galaxy better, but in the end she was captured by Vader and locked away in these rooms.
Though the two children had asked a hundred questions during the story, once it was done they all fell silent. Each one lost in their own thoughts.
"Do you still love Father?" Luke asked.
"I love Anakin," Padmé answered truthfully. "That is the man I married. Not Vader."
"So there are two people inside Father?" Luke asked.
Padmé didn't even know what to say. She felt it was a much more complicated answer than that, but didn't she herself classify Anakin and Vader as two different individuals? She didn't get a chance to respond as the door by the kitchen opened and Darth Vader walked in. He was again dressed as the emperor. He wore his cloak and lightsaber, and his eyes were yellow. It was something that did not go unnoticed by the twins as they both scooted closer to their mother.
He walked to the otherside of the low table that sat in front of the couch. His yellow eyes examined each member of the family on the sofa. A cruel smile crawled across his lips. A shiver ran down Padmé's spine. She didn't like this. This reminded her too much of how Vader was like before the children arrived. What had happened to the man she saw last night? The man struggling and fighting for his family?
"Hello, my family," Vader said. "I have something to show you."
Padmé's first thought was to please let it not be a body part. To her relief Vader pulled out a small holoprojector. He placed it on the table. Still she didn't like where this was going. His eyes were still gold.
"You don't have to do this," Padmé said softly pleading to Vader to stop whatever he was about to do.
Vader's gold eyes bore into her. "I believe I do," Vader responded harshly. "I've been a fool and honestly far too patient." He gently waved his hand the holoprojector came on. The first holo that came up was of a row of bodies, laying still on the ground. Each with a blaster shot to the head.
"This children," Vader said darkly, "is what happens when you leave these roms without me. These are the men I had killed. The men who were working in the detention block. The men who were answered their call. I simply could not allow them to live after knowing about you."
Padmé could feel the twins' fear. They both wrapped their arms around their mother's waist. Padmé wrapped her arms around their shoulders.
"Please," Padmé said softly. "Please stop."
"No, I will not," Vader barked. "They need to know what happens when they disobey me. If they step outside of these rooms again, then they will do it knowing full well I will personally kill anyone who sees them."
"Stop this," Padmé said. "You're scaring them!"
"Good," Vader growled. He waved his hand and the scene changed.
"Papa!" Leia cried seeing the image of Bail Organa. He sat in a chair. His hands obviously bound behind his back. He looked worse for wear. His beard was scruffy and hair was messy. Large bags were under his eyes. His face looked a bit shallow.
"State your name," a voice said off camera.
"Bail Organa," Bail replied weakly.
Padmé looked pass the projection to Vader. She opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly found she couldn't speak. She tried again, but still she could not speak. Vader's sulfuric yellow eyes were on her. She realized he was somehow using the Force to prevent her from talking.
She decided that was fine with her. She would just get up and turn the projector off. Throw it across the room if she had to. But yet she also found she couldn't move. A cold fear washed over her. She glared at him. Don't do this, she shouted at him. Please don't do this. Yet it didn't stop.
"You are the senator of Alderaan?" the interrogator asked. Bail said yes. "You are married to Queen Breha Organa of Alderaan?" Again Bail said yes. "What is the name of your daughter?"
Bail flinched and grit his teeth. It looked like he wouldn't answer, but then a very slight spasm ran through him. He was being tortured. Discreetly and where the camera couldn't see. "My daughter is named Leia Organa."
"Is she your biological daughter?"
"No-no."
"You adopted her?"
"Yes."
"How did you go about adopting her?"
"It doesn't matter," Bail said angrily. "Leia is my daughter. I love her-" His words were cut short by another stronger spasm hitting him.
"Papa . . ." Leia cried. Padmé couldn't even turn her head to look at the girl, but she could feel the vibrations in the small child. Leia was crying.
"How did you go about adopting her?" the interrogator asked again.
"We went to the Alderaan courts-" Bail started but was stopped by another spasm.
"Don't lie," the interrogator said in a smooth voice.
"I'm not," Bail spat. "We went to the courts. We went through official means."
"Official? Perhaps in the actual adoption, but how had you actually come to have the child?" Bail was quiet. The interrogator continued. "Did you contact an orphanage? A foster service?" Again Bail was silent. "You did none of these things correct?"
"Cor-correct," Bail said.
"So let me ask again, how did you come to have the child?"
"She was given to me," Bail said.
"Elaborate please."
"Her mother could no longer care for her."
A coldness washed through Padmé. That . . . that wasn't true. She cared for her children! She always had! During that first year she had given up everything to take care of the twins. She did nothing else!
"Are you saying the birth mother was not fit to be a mother?" the interrogator pushed. Padmé's breath caught in her throat as she waited to hear Bail's reply.
"She . . . she . . ." Bail looked down. A silence stretched before another spasm shook Bail. "She knew her life was too dangerous for children. She did the honorable thing and gave the child up. She asked me to care for it, and I gladly did so."
"Why was the mother's life too dangerous?" the interrogator continued.
"She decided to join the rebellion," Bail said. Padmé noticed he was more calm now. No longer fighting the questions. "To fight against the Empire. It would be too dangerous to bring children into that."
"Yet it wasn't for you?"
"What . . . I . . ."
"Were you not also part of the rebellion, Organa? Did you not also give them money, supplies and information? How is it that your involvement in the rebellion was any different from the mother's?"
"Because I could provide a safe and secure home. I was still a Senator. I may have been a part of the Rebellion, but I was not on the frontlines nor was I being actively hunted."
A sharp pain stabbed Padmé's heart. Bail wasn't wrong. She knew it. How many times had she herself stood awake over two sleeping babies fearing that stormtroopers would burst in at a moment's notice? Had many times had she jumped at any hissing sound thinking it was a lightsaber? But . . . but that was what drove her to do what she had done. She had wanted a safe home for her children. She had to stop the Empire. But . . .
Her eyes moved pass the hologram and found Vader was staring at her directly. He was clearly watching her reaction to all of this. She gritted her teeth and steeled herself. She turned her attention back to the interrogation.
"Only half of your story matches up with the mother's," the interrogator continued. "She did give you Leia to keep her safe while she joined the rebellion. However that was it. She was not handing over her daughter for you to adopt and claim as your own. You were aware of this?"
Bail looked at the ground. He looked guilty. Leia murmured a soft papa.
"You were aware of this, Organa? You adopted Leia as your daughter knowing full well that was not the mother's wish. You took someone else's child for your own selfish means because you and your wife could not have children."
Bail's head snapped up. "No!" he shouted. He quickly spasmed.
"Do not lie," the interrogator growled.
"I'm not," Bail said between clenched teeth. "I did what was best for . . . Leia. We kept her safe as I promised her mother. But after . . ."
"After . . . ?"
Another spasm. "After Palpatine died and Vader took the throne . . . Vader was just as bad as his predecessor, if not worse. I knew I had to keep Leia safe. Having her under the Organa name would bring her security."
"So you adopted the girl?" the interrogator asked.
"Yes," Bail said.
"For in doing so kept her safe? Being safe meant she wasn't with her birth parents?"
"Correct."
"What was going to happen if the birth mother asked for her child back? She hadn't legally given up her rights to the child. You had essentially kidnapped the girl."
"I did no such thing!" Bail barked.
"I suppose it is a matter of perception. But back to the question: what was going to happen if the birth mother asked for her child back?"
"I had hoped it would never come to that."
An ice cold tendril rose from Padmé's gut. It sliced through her and wrapped itself around her heart and started to squeeze.
"Why is that?"
"I . . . I . . ." Bail looked down as guilt crossed his fact. It was the first time he actually looked guilty. A spasm shook Bail again. Padmé wondered if he was being hit by electricity. Yet Bail kept silent. Another spasm shook him. It appeared stronger than the previous one. He clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Why is that, Organa?" the interrogator pressed.
"I . . . I made sure Padmé was kept busy. She easily accepted any missions that I threw at her. She was desperate to try and make the galaxy better."
The coldness spread to the rest of her body completely over taking her. Her heart felt empty as it dropped into her stomach.
"He was purposely keeping you away from your daughter," Vader said lowly and darkly. Padmé was startled by the fact his voice was now behind her. He had moved unnoticed to stand behind the couch. He had leaned over so his mouth was close to her ear. "Just so he could have her."
Tears started to slide down her face. The tears felt hot against Padmé's cold insides. This . . . this wasn't how this was suppose to go. Bail was her friend. She had trusted him. She had trusted him . . .
"Yes but what would going to happen if the birth mother asked for her child back? Surely you had thought about it. Possibly made a plan."
"I didn't . . ." Bail started. He looked down at the ground. "I wasn't . . . I couldn't give Leia up. I loved her too much."
"And if the mother fought you?"
Bail was silent. His dirty deeds possibly weighing too much on him. Hot tears dripped into Padmé's lap. The two children were still tucked into her side. She wondered how much they comprehended the conversation. Neither one had spoken. Neither one had moved. Another sharp spasm ran through Bail, yet he only grimaced. Another stretch of silence and another spasm hit Bail. He like out a strangled noise through his clenched teeth.
"And if the mother fought for her daughter?"
"I . . . would . . . I had considered . . ." Another sharp spasm. "I had considered giving Padmé to the Empire."
"I'm sure you wondered," Vader said in a dark but soft voice into her ear, "how I finally captured you. How I not only got you, but also your entire little Rebel crew." She felt Vader's gloved hand slide down her neck and rest on her shoulder. "I guess now you know."