Chapter 14
She was born Leia Skywalker, but had her named changed to Leia Organa. No doubt, he thought, the princess I had grudgingly met over ten years ago, when she was a baby. He cringed on that thought—how could he not feel his own child through the force?
It was such a long time ago he hardly remembered his last trip to the snowy mountain planet.
But now, he was there. He shivered in his cloak and tugged it around him as the chilly atmosphere finally hit him. The ship was docked in a deserted cave not far from the Aldera Palace, hidden behind a tumbled pile of rocks.
Finding himself in what seemed like a garden, the snow beneath his boots crunched as he trudged forth, knowing that this garden during the summer would be bursting with beautiful shrubbery and floral decoration instead of the white that blanketed the hedges.
"Winter, hey! Wait up, you freak!"
Anakin's head whirled around, wishing he could see the source of the voice. He knew, though, that this voice was Leia's, his child—he felt it through the force. Hearing her footsteps crunch within meters away, he ducked down, hoping not to be seen.
The bushes separated the two for the time being, until Anakin got up enough courage to go say—well, he didn't know what would come out of his mouth but it would be something.
"Okay, I give up! You can come out now!"
His daughter.
When Padmé had told him of her pregnancy, Anakin had generally thought of the baby to be a girl. All the time, over the course of the few weeks that she was alive before… that, they rarely spoke about the baby's gender. When they did, once, Padmé spoke about their baby being a boy. Motherly intuition, she said. He laughed.
Leia's hair was covered up with a pink hat, her straggly curls covered just below the shoulders. Her brown eyes didn't seem to notice him, instead peer over him. He made himself visible, coming out from the crouching position he was stationed in.
The feeling the icy blasts beneath him, he ran away, hoping Leia wouldn't hear him or note his presence. Sitting himself on a bench by a doorway, he heard the distant giggles of two girls, knowing that one who made that sound was his. That the voice that was calling out to another girl was coming from his and Padmé's child, Luke's sister….
What would Luke say of all this? How would be react? He didn't even say goodbye—he regretted that. He frowned, thinking about how he basically left Luke with people he hardly knew…
"Do you have a registered badge, sir?"
Anakin was suddenly aware of the fact that there was a strange, strong looking man standing in front of him.
"You're on Royal Alderaanian grounds—you need identification," the man said again, as if Anakin didn't understand.
He grinned. Reaching inside his pocket, he drew out Darth Vader's badge from Curoscant. "Lord Vader," he said, making his voice deep and menacing, "I'm here to meet with Bail Organa…?" Was it a question?
The man stepped back, suddenly seeing how the man resembled, and was, Darth Vader—he was suddenly frightened. He didn't need to look at the badge. He turned, leading Anakin down a path that obviously led to a door to the castle. "Come this way, milord," he said, stuttering, not knowing how to react.
"I'd be very grateful if you took me directly to Organa," he said convincingly.
"Y—yes, milord."
The man led Anakin through a series of blast doors, obviously for security reasons. Last he was here, he was led from a hangar bay, privately guarded by man officers. Dashing up many flights of stairs, he observed the many portraits on the wall, wondering which one was his daughter.
Something caught his eye finally—a golden droid, wobbling through a hallway. He was following a certain astromech droid by the name of Artoo-Detoo, if he could remember correctly. He smiled at his sarcasm—how could he forget those two? Threepio was muttering something to Artoo, making the small droid throw an electronic raspberry at Threepio.
Some things never change, he thought.
Not taking his eyes off the droids, who didn't seem to notice them, he found himself at an office door, clearly leading into a magnificent library lined with oak wood. Seated at his large corner desk was Bail Organa. He was going through many documents, it seemed, and getting aggravated to the least.
"Master Organa?" The man got Bail's attention, making him lift his head. Bail didn't see Anakin, who was lingering behind quite a bit. "You have a visitor…" The man motioned for Anakin to enter in, who did.
He made himself clear, watching the puzzled and frightened expression creep onto Bail's face. He stuffed whatever he was working on into a nearby drawer carelessly, getting up from his chair. "Lord Vader," he greeted monotonous, knowing that Sith don't show emotion. "What bring you to Alderaan?"
Anakin cleared his throat, hoping that this didn't sound to cruel, "My daughter."
Bail froze in his steps. He seemed surprised, but not entirely. "I received word that they boy has gone missing," he said, looking down at his feet, "I suspect he's with you?" He met Anakin's eyes again."
"He's with his father."
"You?" Bail motioned to Anakin.
He nodded slowly. "I want my daughter," he said sternly, not meeting Bail's eyes, looking behind him at the clutters of books. "She's my flesh and blood, you know, Organa—you cannot deny me of my own child."
Bail opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a child's voice behind both of them, standing in the doorway, "Hi, Dad," she said, coming up to Bail, engulfing him in a big hug, completely oblivious of Anakin standing right there. He held on to her for a little too long, like he knew that this might be the last hug—
Serge of jealous rang throughout his body. Who was this man—for eleven years—to raise his child, and show signs of affection right in front of his own eyes?
Leia turned to face Anakin. "I'm sorry to be a bother—I—I'll go now," came the angelic voice…
"Wait, Leia," Bail said, catching her before she backed away, and disappeared, "Tell Threepio to some of your stuff together."
Leia glanced at Anakin, suddenly recognizing who this man once was, "Lord Vader?"
He paused, wondering what to say. She blinked, hoping that he'd say something—"No," he shook his head. "No."
Bail was suddenly speechless. Of course this was Vader! He looked exactly like him, except a little less menacing. He had disappeared from the empire a few months back—had he been redeemed, like Padmé had always believed? "What?" He sputtered, "Darth Vader is who you are—"
"I said no, Organa," he said, "Are you going to deny me of my true name, as well?" He glanced at Leia, seeing the child's scared expression dawning over her face. She was confused, Anakin could feel—she quivered, and suddenly wanted to escape from her father's grasp.
"Leia, go pack your things," Bail said sternly to Leia, letting her go. She gladly went.
"But father—"
"Go."
She nodded, obeying his words. Anakin watched her leave, knowing that she could feel his eyes on her. As soon as she was gone from the picture, and Anakin couldn't feel her in the force anymore, he turned towards Organa again, "You're letting me take her?"
"She's your child, Vader."
"I told you that isn't my name," he said, looking down at the plush carpeting.
"You expect me to call you 'Anakin Skywalker' after what you have done? After you killed your wife, leaving us the only choice to split up your children to hide them from you?" He spat, rising from his seat. He grasped the edged of his desk in anger, "You do not deserve the name of Anakin Skywalker—he was a hero, a child's hero, none the less. Not a murderer."
'Murderer'—the words echoed in his head ever so many times. He couldn't get around the fact that he killed children—innocent children—many years before. He couldn't accept that he had killed a member of Padmé's family just because she wanted information about her mysterious death. He couldn't get around the fact that he knew his daughter wouldn't accept him. He knew that Princess Leia Organa had been raised as an Organa, not a Skywalker—she wouldn't openly take Anakin as her father.
And that scared him.
He stood there, speechless, staring down at his feet.
At some time later, Bail spoke up, finally—"Her room is down the hall, to the left."
Anakin's eyes brightened at the thought that Bail had finally accepted him. Bail thought he saw a trace of a faint smile, but he was gone too quickly for it to sink in.
He knocked twice on the door, hoping that Leia would be there. He heard faint footsteps and the door slowly slid open. She caught sight of his face, and he stood there for a moment until she spoke, "Lord Vader," she greeted properly.
"I said no before," he said with a smile.
"But you are—I swear—I've seen you ever so many times in the Senate halls when I was younger, and I—" she stopped speaking, realizing that the man in front of her was wearing a smile. "What's so funny?"
"You talk quite a lot," he said, his smile stiffening. "You're like your mother, in that way."
She stared at him for a moment, wondering how in the galaxy he knew her mother—"You knew my mother?"
"Not Breha, no," he said, and suddenly his smile was gone. "You're—birth mother," he couldn't bring himself to say those words, for some reason. Having Luke and Leia together, and Padmé too, would be his dream. It would've been Padmé's dream, as well, but…
"How do you…"
"My name is Anakin," he said, cutting her off. "How long have you lived on Alderaan?"
"For almost ever. I wasn't born here, though," she explained, "My mother died shortly after I was born, and I was brought here, where I was adopted." She didn't bother to give away her name; she didn't feel comfortable around this stranger. But, nonetheless—she felt something very familiar about him.
"So you're not of royal blood?" Playing cool, he thought.
She shook her head slowly. "No," it was obviously a grim subject, an arguable subject, for she dismissed it easily. She had another thought, for she stopped dead in her tracks, "Your last name would happen to be… Skywalker… would it?"
He met her eyes and smiled.
She gasped. "I have—I found—I… a hologram…" she said, "Of you and… Padmé, I believe was what you were calling her."
He tilted his head, "Where'd you get this… hologram?"
"I—um—found it," she said. She was dire suddenly. She didn't want to reveal to this strange man that she had stolen it from Darth Vader.
He cleared his throat, "Um, Leia—what do you know about your birth mother?"
She had a revelation and suddenly couldn't believe she was spilling her secrets to a man by the name of Anakin Skywalker. A man that seemingly disappeared many years ago. A man that had a son; she had met him. A man that had pretty much invited himself into her own bedroom—did he…? "Why are you here, Anakin Skywalker?"