Chapter 31: The Training

Darth Vader, Emperor of the Galaxy, was happy. It was an odd feeling. As long as he had been Darth Vader, happiness appeared to be more of a fleeting desire than a reality. Yet here he was with a genuine smile on his face as he walked through the halls of his palace home on Imperial Center. He had come home early after finishing up his business back at the Imperial Palace, which was previously the Jedi Temple. He had no issues using the the temple as his seat of power, but he didn't want to live there. In another life, that of a man long destroyed, he had been bound to that place. Chained to it. Vader wanted a place to call his, truly his, where his family could be kept safe.

Since he was home early, the children were still busy with their daily lessons. His presence often derailed their lessons and distracted the twins, so for now he made his way deeper into his home. Two red Royal Guards stood at the entrance of the hall leading to the bedrooms. However they didn't wear the normal bright red uniform with cape and helmet. There wore a dark red military uniform with plastoid armor on their shoulders. Their faces were left uncovered, but they still carried Force pikes. The children were scared of the red guards, so Vader had opted for something a bit more subdued.

He passed the guards and made his way down the hallway. The door to his bedroom was to the right, but he instead went into the door directly across from it. It was the nursery for the new baby that Padmé had been working on preparing. He was glad he had given her this project. It had kept her busy, and he wasn't surprised to find her in there now. However, she wasn't alone. She never was. Not any more. Vader was not taking any chances of his happiness being ruined.

Inside the nursery standing by the door was another red guard. It was one of the few women red guards, and she was Padmé's personal guard. Along with the guard was a handmaiden. Upon seeing the Emperor enter, the two silently bowed, and left the room. Padmé sat in a rocking chair. Her head was slumped over resting on her shoulder, and she dozed peacefully. Her hands were folded on top of her round swollen stomach.

She was now seven months pregnant. Vader reached out into the Force and felt the strong life of the baby inside. The doctors insisted Padmé take it easy as they still feared for any adverse effects after the stabbing. While Vader was sure the baby was fine, there was still a part of him that worried. He made sure her handmaids kept her from over exerting herself.

He had yet to go public about his family. He was hoping Padmé would come to be more amenable to being his empress. So far she was not. Vader sighed as he looked at his sleeping wife. He had always imagined her ruling by his side as the two finally brought peace to the galaxy. But he would be fine if that wasn't what she wanted. She could stay here at home with the children. As long as she was with him, he would be happy. In fact part of him liked the fact of not having to share her at all just as it was now. She and the children were simply his.

He brought up his left hand, his flesh hand, and gently pushed a long curly strand of hair out of her face. The touch caused her to stir and slowly she awoke.

"Hmmm?" she moaned as she woke up. Vader smiled at her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. He leaned over so he could place his flesh hand against her round belly.

"I'm fine," she said as pushed herself up out of the rocking chair. "Just a bit sore and swollen." Vader took her arm and helped her stand up. She checked the time on a chrono on the wall. "You're home early," she noted.

"I was able to wrap a few things up faster than expected," he said. The two walked side by side out of the nursery and into their bedroom across the hall. Padmé excused herself to the bathroom as he changed out of his formal clothes into his soft leathers he used for training. When Padmé returned he took her hand and they walked through the palace.

"Have you given any more thought to a name?" Padmé asked.

Vader glanced briefly down at her round stomach. "No," he answered truthfully. Honestly, he would much rather have Padmé think of a name. She had insisted that he be the one to name their new little girl, since he had no input in naming Luke and Leia. He told her that those names were perfect names. Clearly Padmé was great at picking out names.

"What about naming her after your mother? Shmi?" She caught his foul expression. "What's wrong with that?"

"That is a slave name," he half mumbled under his breath.

"And now it could be the name of a princess," she said.

Vader didn't reply as they walked down the hall. Shmi was the mother of Anakin. Of that Jedi. Not him. He had been born out of power.

The two made it to the twin's lesson room. Two desks sat in the center in front a large viewscreen and a holotable. Their lessons had just finished. As soon as they saw their parents, both their faces lit up with smiles.

"Mother!"

"Father!"

They both ran at their parents, arms wide. Luke's small arms wrapped around Vader's waist. The father could only smile warmly at his son. He placed his flesh hand on top of Luke's head. He ruffled the soft blonde hair. The boy stepped away looking annoyed. Luke was now six. He had grown a bit over the past few months. He was a bit taller. Leaner. But still Vader's cute little one.

"Father?" Leia asked. "Are we going to train today?"

"Yes," Vader replied. A large smile grew across her lips. It had been months of work, but finally Leia had warmed up to him. No longer did she cling on to those imposters. She had accepted her new family. "But first you two must change."

The twins didn't wait for another word. They rushed out of the room. Their small footsteps were heard echoing down the hall as they hurried back to their rooms to change. Padmé let out an annoyed breath. She didn't like that he was already training the children to use the Force. She thought they were too young. Yet what she didn't really like the idea of them becoming Sith.

"I'll see you at dinner," she said in a clipped tone. She turned and left him. He made his way to the training hall. The children bounced into the training hall wearing their gray tunics. They both enjoyed learning about the Force and honing their natural talent. As Vader lead them through exercises, he marveled at their natural strength in the Force. These two would be powerful Force users one day.

He found it interesting how the two differed in their strengths. Luke was much stronger when it came to external uses of the Force. He learned and progressed at these skills much faster than his sister. He could levitate things better. He also was better connected to the Force to receive warnings and used it to hone his own reaction speeds. Leia was much stronger in using the Force internally. She was better at meditating and constructing shields around her mind. She was also better at using the Force to assist her physically such as jumping.

Vader always watched his children's duels with practice sabers very closely. For one, he was always ready to intervene should one of them slip and accidentally hurt the other. There had already been one close call to an eye once. Padmé hadn't let the children train for a while after that. But Vader was also memorized by how the two complimented each other. Leia had better strength, but Luke had better reaction times.

However, lately Leia had been beating her brother more and more. His girl was tapping into her emotions to power her. It was giving her an edge over her brother. Vader didn't find it that surprising. She had anger and fear inside of her, most of which was directed at Bail Organa. It was pushing Leia towards the Dark Side. Luke didn't have those strong emotions yet. The boy was much more rooted in the light. Vader would eventually need to think of a way to push his son towards the Dark Side.

Golden sunlight shone through the windows. Even after being on Imperial Center for a few months, Padmé still marveled at the normalcy of daylight. She had spent the past four years almost exclusively in space. The year before that in hiding. She had forgotten how nice, how natural, it was to have the natural cycle of day and night.

Vader had been right. Everything at his palace was better. It was clear Vader clearly had it built to his specifications. Large parts of the interior were reminiscent of Nubian architecture. She didn't know if it was because Vader actually like these design features or if he did for her. And if Vader did it for himself, then why? Vader had no connection to Naboo. It was all Anakin who loved Naboo. Anakin who had fallen in love with Padmé on Naboo. Got married there. Why would Vader care about it?

Most of the palace, at least the parts Padmé had access to, were crafted with a sense of obvious love and care. The twins both had their own rooms that were wonderfully done. They weren't too gaudy, large, or lavish. They were reasonable sized rooms for a child. The children not only adored their new rooms, but the palace as well. They were able to run and play. There was a large private garden for them to be outside. Luke was absolutely amazed by all the plants.

Indeed Vader have lived up to his promise. Everything at his palace was nice and everything was better, yet Padmé hated it. She was never left alone. There was always someone or something watching her. The Emperor was sending a very clear message: he no longer trusted her. Granted, he had all right not to. It had been all her fault. She had caused the Rebels to come. For her children to be taken. For her to be attacked. For her unborn child to be in danger.

At nights she often had nightmares about the event. Rion chasing her down endless white corridors. His knife dripping with her blood. Her arms wrapped tightly across her stomach, protecting the child within. She often woke up crying or screaming. If Vader was in bed, he would comfort her. He would hold her, rock her, gently stroke her hair or rub her back while he promised nothing would harm her or the baby. They were both safe. Though he wasn't always there. Those nights were the worst when she woke up to a cold empty bed.

Sometimes the children would come to her. It was usually Luke. He would crawl into bed and curl up next to his mother. His little arms would wrap around her. He said nothing. His presence alone was enough to chase the demons away. A few times Leia came in. Sometimes with Luke, once or twice by herself. Like her brother, Padmé found hugging her daughter was enough to calm her down.

As Padmé watched the sunlight filter through the window, she rubbed her swollen stomach. At seven months pregnant, her belly was nice and round. She filled her days with trying to focus on the baby. She spent a lot of time in the nursery. Yet all she was doing was trying to run away from her fear. The fear of what Vader was going to do to her children.

She wasn't surprised she had made her way to the training hall. Her personal guard shadowed her from a respectable distance. Padmé eased her way up to the door and peered in. The twins were dueling with the the small practice sabers. Their red beams clashed against each other. Padmé's hand clutched to her chest. She knew they were practice beams, but still seeing her children fight each other with such weapons brought a pain to her heart.

At first it appeared as if it was nothing but a harmless match. The two children clearly lacked any finesse and experience. But then Leia started to push Luke back more and more. She brought her training lightsaber down hard against his. She grunted. There was a fire in her eyes. A scowl on her small face. Luke was struggling. Then he tripped. Padmé let out a gasp and took a small step forward, but Leia just pointed her sword down at her brother. A smile spread across her lips that made Padmé's blood run cold. This not a smile a six year old should have. It was cold.

"I win!" Leia said. Luke huffed as he pushed himself up.

"Good," Vader said. "Again."

Luke looked down at the ground and frowned. He was clearly uncomfortable. Perhaps his confidence had lowered from the lost. Padmé watched as the two children brought up their sabers into an opening stance. A new duel started, and again Leia won. Padmé could watch no more. She turned and hurried down the hall.

That night she sat in bed. Vader had just finished showering. He wore sleep pants and nothing else. His golden skin glistened as he dried his hair off with a towel. His body was still in excellent shape. Her eyes lingered over the toned abs, but his laugh brought her eyes up to his sulfur ones. He had caught her staring, and of course he liked it. He threw the towel to the floor and crawled into bed.

"You don't just have to look," he said as came up beside her. His prosthetic arm wrapped around her shoulders. His flesh hand grabbed her hand. He placed her hand against his stomach. "You can touch all you want," he whispered softly into her hair. She slid her hand out of his and let it rest on her pregnant stomach.

"I'm not . . . I'm not in the mood for any of that," she said. He let out a long disappointed sigh. His hand came to rest on her stomach. He gently rubbed it back and forth. He squeezed her closer to him. Their bodies were flushed against each other. He gently kissed the top of her head.

"I did give some thought to a name," he said.

"Oh?"

"Butterfly."

". . . butterfly?"

"A name that means butterfly. Is there any in Nubian?"

"Why butterfly?" she asked.

"A butterfly is a symbol of renewal and rebirth. Of a transformation. The old being left behind, and the new being ushered in," he explained.

There was no doubt what Vader meant. His own transformation and rebirth into a Sith. Into Vader. Into the Emperor.

"I . . . I don't know of any off the top of my head," Padmé said. "I could look it up."

He kissed her gently a few times as a way of saying please and thank you. He seemed . . . happy. Content. She couldn't help but wonder, what had happened to Anakin. He had said to stop fighting Vader, and ever since she had come to this palace she had. Was Anakin doing his part? Was he fighting Vader?

Padmé thought back to her children dueling. She recalled Leia striking down her brother with such an intensity. It sent a shiver through Padmé. Vader paused in his cuddling and leaned away from her.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"I . . . I saw a bit of your training today with Luke and Leia. They were dueling with lightsabers . . ."

"Ah. They didn't get hurt," he said.

"It's not about that. I noticed that Leia . . . Leia was quite forceful."

"Hmmm. Yes she is," Vader said sounding pleased. "She's learning how to recognize and use her anger as a way to fuel her power."

Padmé snuggled in closer to her husband. She let Vader think it was her wanting to be close to him, but she was really chasing off the chill that was growing inside of her. Leia was learning how to become a Sith. Suddenly, Padmé remembered her old dream. The one with the shadowed children carrying small red lightsabers. They had slashed off her legs and claimed that now their mother could never leave them.

Is that what her children would become? They would lose their innocence to hurt and kill people like their father had? How much longer could Padmé hold on? Could she let this happen? Watch as her children fell to the Dark Side and were twisted into Sith.

She already knew the answer. No, she could not. But then she was faced with the impossible task of what to do about it.