Part III

10 Years After the Battle of Yavin

Leia Organa-Solo walked alone through the garden, lost in thought. The night air was not cold, yet a shiver would shake her body from time to time.

High above, the stars shone gently, soothingly, but even their light could not bring her comfort. Nothing could.

To think she should have been relieved…The Emperor was finally dead. He would not try to harm her children anymore, she knew it – but fear still haunted her. It was almost a physical presence – always by her side, laughing madly, mocking her as it gripped her soul with its icy fingers.

Now he was one with the Force, who knew what he'd try from there. This time it had worked, but what about the next? And the one after that? He would never stop trying, would her family ever be safe from his shadow?

How could you kill somebody when he is already dead?

Another light – bright as a star, warm and comforting like a fire in winter – shone behind her.

The princess immediately spun around, ready to fight – only, she was confronted by the sight of a short, brown-haired woman sitting on a bench and humming as she knitted.

Leia blinked. She had seen that particular force-ghost before… "Mrs. Kenobi?" she stammered.

"Quite right, my dear." The woman smiled. "Why don't you sit down? I thought you could use a little woman-to-woman chat."

Feeling quite shocked, Leia complied. "It's just that…well…Darth Sidious did try to come back from the Force before. His cloning facility is destroyed, but…my children…"

"Oh, poor, poor dear.." Leena patted her hand – or at least tried to, as her hand passed right through the princess'. "At least he ain't got hooks on the real world now."

"I know." Leia sighed. "But I can't stop worrying. I'm so silly."

"Silly? Naah, you're just a mother." Mrs. Leena smiled kindly.

"It feels so frustrating…" she sighed.

"Don't worry, dear. We'll sort it out."

"We as in you and Ben?"

"Not exactly. I'll make sure you don't have to worry about that nasty piece of work again." Leena smiled.

Leia Organa had seen a lot of things, as politician, spy and rebel leader – but that small smile sent chills of fear down her back.

"After all, even Dark Lords have mothers."

Somewhere in the Dark Side of the Force

If somebody ever compiled a list of deceased people who were never dead enough, Emperor Palpatine a.k.a. Darth Sidious would certainly be in first place.

No sooner had the living defeated him that he was,again, plotting for a way to come back. Compared to him, Count Dracula was a mediocre amateur.

The Force around him trembled as water disturbed by a stone – as darkness pierced by a ray of light.

He stopped pacing, a cruel smile curved his lips. "So…You are foolish enough to face me in my own element."

Slowly, he turned around: three figures stood there, wrapped in brown cloaks from head to toe.

The shorter one reached out and pushed the hood back, revealing brown hair and blue eyes – and an unmistakably feminine face.

The Emperor blinked. "Ah! So you come to join me?"

"No. We're here to stop you permanently."

He blinked again, then laughed loudly. "Jedi! What a joke! Hiding behind their mother's skirt now, are they?"

Leena smiled. "Soon you won't find it so amusing."

"Soon they'll regret sending you for I'll have wiped your spirit out of every existential plane! And after I'm done, I'll go back to the Living Plane. The whole universe will be mine! No Jedi, alive or dead, can stop me!" He burst in another fit of mad laughter.

"That's enough, Merdyn!" a voice said.

Palpatine choked on his own laughter upon hearing his own birth-name, which hadn't been uttered in decades. "Who dares to address me so? I am Darth Sidious! WHO dares?"
His Highness' face turned a bright shade of purple, making him resemble a dry plum. No one could tell if it was the brief choking or the embarrassment at his own terrible name.

"I'll address you in whichever way I like!" The second figure dropped the cloak and stood proud and tall. "I'll give you Darth Sidious! Murderer!"

The Emperor gaped. "M-m-mother?"

"Yes, mother!" Lady Kavita Anora Kyrian shouted, furious. "How could you! My own son!" Palpatine stepped back in shock in front of that woman-sized volcanic eruption.

"How could you! You…you scoundrel! Disgrace! To think you looked so distraught, so worried for me for months afterwards! To think I even helped with your campaigns! And you were behind everything!"

His mother had always been a calm, fragile creature, with a Jedi-like serenity about her. The real, undisputed head of the House had been his grandmother Meera Idona – that is, until the terrible fire that had destroyed their country manor, where she perished alongside his foolish uncles and vapid cousins.

What a great start to both careers – Sith Lord and politician.

Come of think of it, Lady Anora certainly didn't lack good reasons to be angry.

Surely there would be some way to placate her – she couldn't stay angry long. Right?

Then, the Emperor glanced behind his mother's shoulders – and realized that there would be no way out, not this time.

His aforementioned grandmother was standing right there, carefully folding the brown cloak, and did not look happy at all.

Unlike her peaceful daughter, Lady Idona had always been renown for her passionate spirit - but in the eyes that looked at him now resided only contempt and fury so Hoth-like cold fury.

"I thank you for calling us, lady Leena." She said solemnly, handing her Master Jinn's cloak. "You can go back to your family. Kavita and I will take care of him."

"Thank you, my lady." The shorter woman bowed her head. "We couldn't have hoped for better guards."

Meera turned to face her grandson. "Why so surprised, Merdyn? Didn't you know that what goes around, comes around?"

Palpatine swallowed hard. Eternity suddenly didn't look so good. "Oh, mother…"

Kavita pinned him with look as sharp as a dagger. "Right – mother."

Mrs. Leena picked up Anakin's cloak, bowed her head her two colleagues and walked back toward the Light Side, humming and smiling to herself along the way.

On the living plane, all the Dark Side users suddenly had a very bad feeling.

Weeell...I hope you don't mind me bending the Rules of the LucasVerse a li-ok, a lot for this chapter. I had fun writing it and I hope you'll like it as much as the other two.

Pronunciation guide:

Leena: LYE-nah (though at the beginning I pronounced it LE-nah. The second way grew on me while I wrote)

Kavita: kah-VEE-tah (I don't think it's the right pronunciation, but my sources couldn't agree on one)

Meera: MEE-rah

As for the Emperor's real name - I couldn't find it anywhere and created a new one assuming "Palpatine" to be his name of office, like Amidala to Padmé.