A/N: I know that I haven't updated this story for a while, but I was at a loss for how to word this chapter, until now. I hope that you enjoy this short chapter. Coming up next is the epilogue.

Padme stood at the edge of the veranda in her old apartment and stared at the jedi temple. Inside the apartment, her parents and sister were gathered. Jobal and Sola Naberrie were both busy preparing supper while Ruwee scanned the holonet. At least that was what they were doing when she had left them. Dusk was slowly approaching over Coruscant. So much had changed since the death of the emperor. So much had happened.

Padme startled when a hand placed itself on her shoulder gently. She looked up to see her father standing beside her. "Why don't you just go to him if you're this miserable without him?" Ruwee asked his daughter.

Padme turned her gaze back to the jedi temple. "I can't," she told him. She tore her gaze away from the temple to sit down on one of the benches.

Ruwee sat down next to her. "Why must you be so stubborn?" he asked.

Padme turned to him again. "I'm not the one being stubborn," she told him.

"Does he love you just as you love him?" Ruwee asked.

"I have no question about that," Padme answered vehemently.

"I don't understand it then. What is it that is tearing you two apart then?" Ruwee asked.

Padme looked away. "I can't tell you," she said sadly.

Ruwee took one of her hands in his. Padme had said very little about her husband in the past seventeen years. All the Naberrie family knew was that Padme had secretly married Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker shortly after the clone wars began. And judging from her longing expression each time that she gazed out at the jedi temple, Ruwee knew that his daughter was deeply in love with Skywalker. What Ruwee didn't understand then was why his youngest daughter would keep her marriage to Skywalker such a secret or why they were separated in the first place if they truly did love each other. "You know that you can tell me anything, Padme," he assured her.

"Not this," Padme told him. "Anything but this. Please don't ask me about it," She asked.

Ruwee didn't know what to say to that. He wondered what was so painful to his daughter and how her husband was connected to it. But he knew not to press the issue. He would just have to find a different way to figure things out. Namely his grandchildren. Surely Luke and Leia knew more than they let on, Ruwee had seen the conspiratorial look that they gave each other whenever their father was mentioned. They knew something, of that Ruwee was sure of, they knew about their parent's past.

Ruwee gave his daughters hand a tight squeeze. "If he truly loves you then I'm sure that everything will turn out fine," he told her assuringly.

"Thank you, Daddy," Padme said hugging her father.

"Anything for you my precious one," Ruwee told her.

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Anakin shivered but not from the cold. He was struggling to come to terms with what he had learned about himself. Out of morbid curiosity, he had looked up all the information he could about Darth Vader. What he found gave him the chills. The thought of what he was capable of doing. Of the evils he had committed. Turning on the jedi and slaughtering them, even the younglings. Anakin read about everything he had done yet while they were acts of evil, the empire regarded them as heroics. What was so heroic about genocide? But if he had turned to the dark side then how did he come back from it? According to all of his teachings, turning back from the dark side was impossible. Once you followed the path of darkness it would forever control you. Anakin's head was swimming with confusing thoughts as he made his way through the ruined temple.He had done this. He should not be here. He didn't deserve to be here. He froze when he heard voices and turned to look below him from his spot on the upper landing of the great hall. There below him was Leia along with a man and they were laughing before he grabbed her and kissed her deeply. Anakin frowned at this without even realizing it. He resisted the urge to tear his limbs off before pausing. What the hell was that? It was the first time since he had woken up from the coma that he felt anything for either of the twins that everyone was saying were his children. It was paternal instinct.

Leia pulled away and grabbed a bottle of brown liquid before taking a swig. "Where did you find this stuff?" she asked.

"The undercity," the man answered. "You'll find that the undercity of Coruscant holds manyattractions. When you can tear yourself away I'll show you," the man answered.

"I think, I'd like that," Leia stated huskily. "How about tonight? My mom is at her old apartment entertaining our family and working tirelessly on her political work while the galaxy makes it's way away from sith tyranny and into a new republic," she told him.

"And your dad? I doubt he'd take too kindly to our sneaking around," the man asked.

Leia averted her gaze. "My father doesn't care," she stated bitterly. "Not now, not ever," she spat.

"That's not true," the man dismissed taking a swig of the brown liquid. "He nearly died saving you and Luke from the emperor. Why would he do that if he didn't care?" he pointed out.

"He did it out of obligation," Leia told him.

"You don't believe that," the man told her.

"Han..."

"Look, I'm the last person who would defend him. After everything that he's done, he has done nothing to earn my trust, but he does love you, I saw how distraught he was when the emperor had you held captive. He could have stayed on Tatooine but he didn't. He risked his life to save you," the man- Han said.

"I can't ignore the fact that he wasn't around, that he chose the emperor rather than staying with us anymore. For a moment I believed that he did care but now, I'm not so sure," Leia told him.

"He lost his memory, but once it returns, you'll see that he cares," Han assured her.

"I don't see how you can be so optimistic. You don't exactly have a better family," Leia said.

"True, but I'm learning that there is something better out there," Han agreed. He leaned in closer pulling her body firmly against his. "But if you would like to forget for tonight, then I wont deny you of such pleasure," he told her.

"You're such a scoundrel," Leia told him.

"You like me because I'm a scoundrel," Han told her huskily.

"I don't like you," Leia told him kissing him. "I love you," she told him pulling away.

Anakin watched as they walked away, leaving the jedi temple. He wanted to follow them but the presence of another stopped him. Turning, he saw Master Yoda silently regarding him.

"Troubled you are," Master Yoda said tilting his head to the side.

"Why aren't you keeping me locked up?" Anakin asked.

"Remember not you still do. Told me Master Kenobi has that you found the holo recordings," Master Yoda stated.

"You didn't answer my question," Anakin told him irritated.

"Redeemed you have been. Destroyed the sith, you have. A jedi you are once again," Master Yoda answered.

"I'm no jedi, not after what I have done. I don't deserve to be one," Anakin told him.

Master Yoda's ears dropped. "Your fall, tragic it was. Partially to blame, the council is," he said.

"Why? What happened?" Anakin asked.

"Remember you will," Master Yoda told him walking away.

Anakin cursed the ancient jedi and his mysterious ways and riddles. He turned around and started heading down the stairs following his instinct to follow Leia when Luke walked into the temple with Artoo and Threepio, each carrying mechanical parts. Artoo dragged a large box filled to the brim with parts.

Luke looked at him curiously before sensing where his father was going. Wanting Leia to have her time alone with Han he pushed his negative feelings for his father at the moment aside and smiled. "What to give me a hand?" he asked.

"No," Anakin told him moving towards the door but Luke stepped in his path. "Get out of my way," he ordered.

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Giving orders now? This is new," he stated. He grew serious. "Leave Leia alone. She needs a break," he told him seriously.

"Do you know where she's heading?" Anakin demanded.

"You actually care?" Luke asked surprised.

Anakin clenched his jaw. Did he care? Of course he cared or else he would be acting like this.

Luke took his silence as a go ahead to go on. "Leia can take care of herself. She can get quite creative when it comes to taking out scum. Nothing is going to happen to her, besides, Han is with her and he would never let any harm come to her, he loves her," he told him.

Anakin looked at him and sensed the disappointment in this boy aimed at him. "You hate me," he stated.

Luke frowned. "No, I don't. It's not in my nature to hate anybody, well except for Palpatine," he told him.

"Because he was a sith," Anakin stated.

"Because of what he had done. Of what he had turned you into, how he tore this family apart," Luke told him.

"Why do you have all these parts?" Anakin asked.

"Because I'm going to build new archives droids," Luke told him. "The ones found in the archives are out dated, I've already recovered their memory chips and I'll be implanting them in the new droids. Hopefully the memory chips will have the information that we're missing," Luke told him.

Anakin realized that Luke was not going to let him follow Leia and was trying to engage him in something that the boy somehow knew would intrigue him. What Luke didn't realize was that Anakin could and would find Leia and Han, even if he had to dupe the boy into letting him out of his sight. "Do you even know how to build an archive droid?" he asked.

Luke frowned. "I've built several droids many times before, what difference could there be to building an archive droid?" he replied tartly.

Anakin smiled. "Archive droids are tricky, they're not like other droids," he told him.

Luke smiled knowing that he had diverted his father's attention from Leia. "Then you are just going to have to show me," he said.

Inside his head, Anakin formulated a plan to ditch the boy without suspicion. "Then lets get started," he said.

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"You're missing something," Anakin stated after sorting through the box of droid parts.

Luke look up at him, "What?" he asked.

"You're missing the input/output arm," Anakin told him.

Luke frowned. "I didn't think that an archives droid had one of those," he said.

Anakin looked at him. "You plan on upgrading them, right?" he asked.

"Well...yeah," Luke replied.

Anakin smiled. His plan was coming to function. "Then you should add an input/output arm. It will enable the droid to hook up to any system and gain information from it," he stated.

"But I don't..."

"I know where the spare arms are kept," Anakin interrupted him. "I used to steal parts here and there to build things. The order always kept things in neat and tidy order," he explained.

Luke frowned. "And if the temple has been ransacked?" he questioned.

"Trust me, the parts are here," Anakin told him. He stood up, "It wont take long to retrieve some new parts," he said.

Luke stood up getting suspicious. "Where are they kept?" he asked.

Anakin smirked. "In the store room, it's on the third level," he told him honestly.

Luke could sense no deception coming from his father. Anakin seemed generally interested in this project. "Show me. I'd like to know for future reference," he said.

Anakin nodded. Luke was following along nicely. "I'll show you," he agreed.

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Luke eyed the door that they stood in front of. It was locked. He turned to his father who looked thoughtful. "There's no lock, yet we can't open it," he stated frowning.

"That's because it is locked with the force," Anakin told him. "The council eventually caught onto me and changed the locking mechanism, this was before I fully grasped the force. They didn't like my pilfering habit," he explained. He then hovered his hand over the door and manipulated the force to unlock it. With a creak the door opened and Anakin turned the light on.

Luke stood in awe of all the different parts that were stacked and organized in the room. He walked in checking everything out and grinned. "There's so much in here, maybe we could add more to the droids," he said.

"You can build all kinds of droids with the parts in here," Anakin told him from his spot in the doorway. "I'll just let you get acquainted with everything," he said.

Luke turned to him sharply. "What?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, Luke, but I have to do this," Anakin told him. "Don't worry, Obi-Wan will be by any moment, he's taken a habit to prowling this corridor at this time. He's hoping that he'll find me in here," he assured him just before closing the door, keeping Luke inside the store room.

"You are not leaving me in here!" Luke called from inside the room as Anakin locked him in. "Father!"

Anakin ignored his son's yelling, feeling guilty for doing what he had done, but he moved on to the hanger nonetheless. He was going to find his daughter and drag her back here kicking and screaming. The undercity of Coruscant was unfit for a seventeen year old girl.

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Luke pounded on the door and cursed himself for not paying closer attention to how to unlock the door. He had no desire to destroy any part of the temple that they would have to fix. I'm sorry, Leia, I couldn't stop him. He called out to his twin through their bond but Leia wasn't answering. Luke punched the door but soon regretted it as pain ripped through his hand. He then tried a different tactic. Ben, help!

A few minutes later he heard Obi-Wan reply. What happened?

My father locked me in a store room! He answered back sullenly.

He heard Obi-Wan groan. I'll be right there.

Moments later he heard the mechanical lock within the door unlocking and Obi-Wan greeted him with a frown on his face. "He went after Leia!" Luke hastily explained. "I tried to distract him figuring that Leia needed to have a little fun, you know how upset she'd been lately," he hurried to explain.

Obi-Wan crossed his arms. "Where did Leia go?" he asked.

"The undercity," Luke told him. "Han's with her!" he quickly added in defense.

"Lets go find them before your father starts tearing limbs off, hopefully we can manage some damage control," Obi-Wan told him sensing Anakin's annoyance and aggressiveness through the force.

"I thought only wookiees tore limbs off," Luke stated raising an eyebrow.

"Well in your father's case that would be chopping limbs off," Obi-Wan amended.

"Was he always such a hot head?" Luke asked as they made their way through the temple.

"He's always had a temper, yes. But he normally controlled it, up until the end of the clone wars," Obi-Wan answered.

"And you think he can't control it anymore?" Luke asked as they entered the hanger. Luke hoped into the pilots side of a speeder briefly familiarizing himself with the controls as Obi-Wan took the passenger side.

"I'm honestly not sure anymore," Obi-Wan answered "Now easy with the controls, I'm too old for crazy stunts," he commanded.

Luke looked at him. "Don't worry, Ben, I know what I'm doing," he assured him.

"Your father used to say the same thing and he enjoyed putting me through hell," Obi-Wan replied.

Luke grinned. "I'll go as easy as I can," he assured him feeling bad for Obi-Wan.

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Anakin stalked the streets of Coruscant, making sure to keep the cowl of his cloak over his head, hiding his face. He could feel Leia's force presence close by before he spotted her. She was in the crowd ahead of him. Anakin frowned at the tight and skimpy black leather outfit that she chose to wear. He didn't know where these feelings were coming from but his best guess was that he must be remembering. It was something that he both anticipated and dreaded at the same time. He felt guilty for locking Luke in the storeroom but the boy was aiding and abating his sister's juvenal delinquent behavior. No seventeen year old girl should be dressing like that or acting the way she was acting. He saw Leia and Han enter a club that looked vaguely familiar to him and he followed. By the time he reached inside he didn't see Leia anywhere.

Why do I get the feeling you're going to be the death of me!

Don't say that Master... You're the closest thing I have to a father...

Then why don't you listen to me!

I am trying.

Can you see him?

I think he's a she... and I think she's a changeling.

In that case be extra careful... Go and find her.

Where are you going, Master?

For a drink.

Hewas starting to remember. He frowned when he could not place that conversation and moved into the club. Beings of all species stared at him with curiosity and distrust but he moved forward taking a seat at the bar. He quickly thought of a drink. "Drewback, straight," he ordered before remembering that the drink was very strong. So strong that it was only for hard drinkers. But why did it come to his mind automatically before anything else? He wasn't much of drinker, but then he really didn't know himself anymore.

Anakin kept his guard up and surveyed the club from his position. So far he hadn't spotted Leia. But what would he do once he did spot her? He couldn't just walk up to her and grab her and drag her out of the club. No that would be bad. People were already suspicious as it is.

It was as he was thinking about this that he spotted Leia lead that man, Han, on the dance floor and the two of them dancing a little too close for Anakin's comfort.

"Hey, you want to buy some death sticks?" an alien asked from beside him.

Anakin waved his hand, not taking his eyes off of Leia. "You don't want to sell me death sticks," he said using the force to manipulate the aliens mind.

"I don't want to sell you death sticks," the alien repeated.

"You want to give me the money that you earned selling death sticks," Anakin said.

"I want to give you the money I made off of the death sticks," The alien said handing over a large stack of credits to Anakin.

"You want to go home and rethink your life," Anakin said.

The Alien stood up. "I want to go home and rethink my life," he said leaving the bar.

Anakin patted the pile of credits as he continued to watch Leia, looking for an opportunity to drag her back to the temple.

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"Park over there," Obi-Wan instructed.

"Can you sense them?" Luke asked.

"I sense your father plotting something," Obi-Wan told him.

"I can't sense Leia, it's like she closed me off," Luke told him as they got out of the speeder and headed to the club that they both could sense Anakin in. They walked into the club and earned a few curious looks.

Obi-Wan surveyed the area but couldn't see Leia, but he did spot the dark hooded figure at the bar. "Find your sister," he instructed.

"No way, I do not want to know what she's doing, besides I want to confront my father," Luke replied following Obi-Wan to the bar where they sat down on either side of the dark hooded figure.

Anakin was counting the money he had acquired while keeping an eye on Leia.

Obi-Wan eyed the pile of credits. "Where did you get the money, Anakin?" he asked.

"A drug dealer just gave it to me," Anakin answered finishing his counting.

"How many times have I told you not to use to force to take people's money?" Obi-Wan asked exasperated.

"It's illegal profits, and I confiscated it. I'm figuring that the order could use it better than a drug dealer," Anakin told him.

"Iwill get you back for locking me in that storeroom," Luke told his father.

"I'd like to see you try," Anakin replied. "You're not supposed to be here anyways, you're underage," he told him.

"Why can't you leave Leia alone?" Luke asked. "She's stressed as it is, she deserves to have a little fun," he finished.

"This kind of fun is unfitting for a seventeen year old girl," Anakin told him tightly.

Luke shared a look with Obi-Wan telling him to help out. Obi-Wan turned to Anakin. "And what do you plan to do, grab her by the hair and yank her out of here?" he asked.

"Something like that," Anakin grunted.

Obi-Wan nodded to Luke and understood. Get Leia. But before Luke could stand up, Anakin stood having had enough of Han Solo touching his daughter.

Obi-Wan grabbed his arm. "If you are going to go over there, then give me your lightsaber," he ordered.

"Not a chance," Anakin told him defiantly.

"You don't have a choice in the matter," Obi-Wan told summoning Anakin's lightsaber and holding onto it. Anakin glared at him but moved on anyway.

Luke looked over at his sister. Leia run before Father catches you! He screamed at her through their bond.

To her credit Leia turned in time to see her father approaching her and Luke giving her an "I tried to warn you" look from the bar. Leia backed up some catching Han's attention who turned to see Anakin approaching them. "Run!" she urged but before they had a chance to get away Anakin grabbed her arm.

"Do you consider this to be appropriate behavior?" Anakin demanded dangerously.

Leia looked at him defiantly. "If you don't let go then I'll scream," she threatened.

"Go ahead, I can take everyone in this club," Anakin told her.

Leia could not dispute that. She was relieved when Luke and Obi-Wan came over. But that meant that her night of fun was over. Reluctantly she allowed them to take her back to the temple.

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Padme entered her apartment finding it empty and cold. Her family had left for Naboo earlier that day leaving Padme alone with her troubled thoughts. Luke and Leia were staying at the temple choosing to be there, claiming that it was where they belonged. Padme hadn't objected. But now she wished that they were here with her. She didn't want to be alone.

She removed her cloak and hung it over the back of a sofa and continued towards her bedroom, pulling pins out of her hair and letting her hair fall loose. As was expected, her bedroom was dark and the blinds had already been closed. She didn't think about the fact that no one was here to close them when she left them open. She set the pins down on the dresser and began unbuttoning the bodice of her gown.

"Do you know where your daughter was tonight?"

Padme froze and turned around in the direction of the voice to see Anakin sitting in a chair. She didn't ask how he gotten into the apartment. "Where?" she asked.

Anakin stood up. "She decided to go clubbing in Coruscant's undercity. Her behavior was inappropriate," he answered.

"Where is she now?" Padme asked.

"I've locked her in her room at the temple," Anakin told her.

"Why are you telling me this if you have already taken care of it?" she asked.

"Because I thought that you should know," he told her. "Perhaps you can explain to her what is and what isn't appropriate for a teenage girl," he suggested.

"Leia is seventeen, I cannot control her," Padme told her. She watched as he came closer to her.

"I wasn't suggesting that you control her," Anakin told her. He stopped once he was just a few inches before her.

Padme looked him in the eye. "Why are you really here, Anakin?" she asked.

"I think that I am starting to remember," he whispered.

"What do you remember?" Padme asked.

Anakin turned away from her and sat on the bed. "I don't know, that's the problem," he answered.

Padme walked over and took a seat beside him. She took his hand in hers before speaking. "What is troubling you?" she asked.

"I know what it is that everyone has been keeping from me," he told her.

Padme grew cold. "Do you remember it?" she asked.

"No. I don't want to remember it," he told her.

"I wish that I could forget it too," Padme told him. "I wish that I can wake up and everything would be just as it was, where we were happy and there there wasn't a sith lord out there tearing us apart," she confessed.

Anakin looked at her. "What happened to us then? How did I become such a monster?" he asked.

"You were afraid and desperate. Palpatine fed on your fears and made you believe that the dark side was the only way," she told him.

"What was I afraid of?" Anakin asked.

"Loosing me," Padme answered softly.

Anakin looked at her. "But I ended up loosing you anyway," he concluded.

Padme looked away. "You thought that you were going to loose me like you lost your mother," she told him.

"My mother?" he asked suddenly getting afraid.

Padme looked at him. You don't remember it, it happened just days before the war broke out," she told him. "It's probably best if you don't remember it."

I dreamed about her for a month, she was in pain, she needed my help," Anakin told her. "I failed to help her, didn't I?" he asked fearfully.

"You were too late," Padme confirmed. "You didn't think than anyone had heard you, but you swore on her grave that you wouldn't fail again and when you started to have more dreams, you became obsessed with a way to prevent them from coming true," she told him.

Anakin could feel her pain as she spoke and he knew that he was the cause of it. Gently he reached over and cupped her face in his hand, caressing her cheek softly. "I'm sorry. For whatever I did, I'm sorry," he whispered.

Padme blinked back her tears knowing that he meant it. "I know," she whispered. "I'm sorry too," she said.

"What do you have to be sorry for?" he asked. "I'm the one to blame, not you," he told her leaning in to kiss her. Jumbled memories surfaced through his head at this simple contact and when she didn't pull away he deepened the kiss knowing that this was where he belonged. With her.

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Anakin watched as the sun poured through the blinds. He hadn't slept. He was too busy trying to sort through the jumbled memories that popped up in his mind. A good deal of them centered around the woman who slept peacefully in his arms. But most of them were of war. He had seen the effects of war on the galaxy and although he knew that the sith were gone their impact remained. And he was a part of that order. Anakin didn't think that the guilt would ever leave him even if he never remembered. Just the thought of what he was capable of was enough to disturb him. He didn't understand how any of them could look at him with anything but disgust. He knew that he was disgusted with himself.

Anakin was brought out of his thoughts when Padme stirred in her sleep. He looked down to see her eyes open to look at him.

Padme frowned when she noticed that something wasn't right. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Anakin smiled, keeping his thoughts to himself. "Nothing," he told her bending to kiss her. "Everything is just perfect," he whispered. Somehow he would make it up to everyone. One way or another he would make things right.