Chapter 17
It was late when Anakin arrived back at the Lake Cottage; the house was dark, the curtains were shut, blocking out the impending morning sunrise. There were only two lights on, and they were coming from around the fountain in the garden, where Anakin and Padmé had spent so many nights, just talking…
Leia was curled up in a ball in the next seat over from Anakin's, and her legs were pressed to her chest. He watched her while she slept, looking so peaceful. Leia was stubborn, there was no doubt about it—but seeing her asleep, in this form, she was an angel to him.
An Angel.
He blinked past another memory, giving a sleeping Leia a tiny shove on the arm. She mumbled something, obviously not wanting to be disturbed during her deep sleep; she pushed away from him, turning so her back was facing him.
Anakin seriously considered taking her and carrying her inside the house, placing her into her bed next to Luke, but then decided against it. She'd awake, not knowing where she was—that would not be pretty.
He frowned, deciding to give her another push on the arm. She finally awoke, stretching her arms up, letting her curled up body come out, releasing her tensed muscles. For a moment she hadn't remembered where she was, who she was with—"Wh—?" Then she looked around, seeing his face. "Oh."
He smirked. Holding out his hand to her, silently pleading with her to follow him, he got up from his seat.
She reluctantly took his hand, throwing him a fussy look, making a sighing sound with her mouth—she had no other choice, she decided. Stifling a yawn, she asked, "Where do I sleep?"
He led her out of the cockpit, lowering the bridge, "In the bed next to Luke."
She frowned. Awkward, much? Groaning, she followed outside, soaking in the hot, moist, summer air of the planet Naboo. Leia couldn't help but feel happy at this place—it was one of those planets that you were happy to be on, comfortable to walk around on. She had only been there once before, and the entire time she spent in her father's quarters. Her father had ordered her to stay there, and not to be seen.
She then noticed they had landed on a lake, a particularly large lake, and there was a large house situated right on it. There was a distinctly beautiful balcony with many gardens lining it, that at even in this light, through her sleepiness, she could still sense its radiance.
Darth Vader stands beside her, almost ironically in this beautiful place. She snorted, as he heard, and she smiled. She was proud of the fact that she was annoying him to his last strand.
He led her inside, the French doors opening with a creak, but slowly, for Anakin was careful not to wake anyone. Leia trudged in, dragging her suitcase on the tile floor, the wheels making loud noises as they grazed over the indents on the tiles. She let out a chuckle, impressed by her creativity to make such a stink in front of Vader.
Following Anakin down the tapestry lines corridors, Leia peaked into every room, disappointed by the fact that the doors were shut.
He abruptly stopped on the door that led to the last bedroom. He opened the door slowly at first, peaking in to check that Luke was sound asleep already—he was, he could feel it in the force—and then proceeded to open the door wider, letting Leia go in and put her stuff down. The light from the hallway flooded the room, making the two appear as giant shadows.
"Be quiet," he warned, silently motioning to a sleeping Luke.
She made an obnoxious noise with her mouth and put her suitcases down. She walked over to her twin bed on the other side of Luke's, pulling down the carefully made comforter. She slipped in, muttering something Anakin couldn't hear.
"Good-night," Anakin said. It was almost a question, and he couldn't fathom the idea of his own daughter not saying anything to him beside sleep.
Silence.
He closed the door behind him, the light disappearing from the room.
He yawned, stretching out. Last night had been good, he decided—Pooja had shown him the places around the retreat, and he was pleased upon seeing them. The gardens were just beautiful; he couldn't wait to see them in the daytime. He fixed his eyes on the sights of never ending green outside of his window, and he smiled.
Pushing back the covers, his gaze drifted over to the twin bed next to him.
And he let out a small scream.
She awoke by the sound of a boy's scream, and at first she was confused. When the sleepiness finally broke away from her, when she gained all consciousness, she was reminded where she was.
And she groaned.
Turning to meet the boy's eyes, to watch him squirm away from the strange girl in the other bed, she smiled. Letting out a small chuckle, she said, "Relax. It's just me."
Luke sprang to his feet anyway, but then stopped upon hearing Leia's voice. "Leia?"
She nodded. "Yeah," she said, "I got here last night."
He was confused for a moment. He didn't know what to say—actually, everything seemed to be confusing all at once. Why was she here? His eyes widened as he tried to comprehend this information. Had his father captured Leia?
"What?"
It was barely a whisper, but the simple word summed up the entire situation.
She pushed back the pillow, getting out of her bed, "I said," she started, sighing, "I got here last night. 'Darth Vader' brought me here."
"—Anakin," he corrected.
"Whatever."
"Why—why did he bring you here?"
She made her way over to the door, "I'm your sister, you nerfherder—didn't he tell you where he was going?" She turned the doorknob, letting the cool air from the hallway evade the small room.
Luke shook his head. "You can't be my—my… sister," he couldn't fathom the idea. His first real crush—on his sister—gross! She was probably just joking. He didn't have a sister. He was Anakin and Padmé Skywalker's only child. Their only child—right?
She stifled a stuttered laugh, "But I am," she spat, "I will not accept it, though, that I'm the child of—of—Vader. I won't. I certainly will not accept that interesting tid bit of information!"
Luke didn't bother to correct her this time; he knew that she would have to accept Anakin as someone other than Vader herself, like he did. "Information?" He asked, "What information?"
"I don't know," she slurred her words, throwing her hands up in the air. Luke found himself trailing behind her, not even noticing that they were practically shouting in this early hour, "Birth records, school stuff—something about that."
For a peaking politician, Luke noted that Leia certainly had an interesting temper.
"Birth records?"
And then it hit him.
Twins.
He and Leia were twins—they had the same life days, they had the same parents. Padmé Amidala had two babies instead of one, so Luke was right upon saying that there was only one pregnancy. Which there was—but there were two babies.
Split apart at birth.
Leia whirled around to meet Luke's eyes, as if their connection together was thickening.
They both mouthed, 'twins' to each other.
Brother and Sister took their seats at the wooden kitchen table, not noticing that there was no one around to dote upon them, not caring. Just at that moment, Anakin entered, a surprised look on his face, seeing his two children sitting together in utter peace and quiet.
He hadn't expecting this.
Quiet? Hell, I'd think they'd be yelling at each other. Or worse, yelling at me… "Good morning," he said, not as bright and cheery as he expected. "I see you've met each other again." There was a certain tone in his voice that implied something, but he couldn't put his finger on it—
"At what point were you going to tell me that I had a twin sister?" Luke snapped, his voice rising high.
Anakin froze. "Today, actually," he replied slyly, after thinking about what he was going to say. He pulled the seat out from under the table and sat down across from Luke and Leia. "I would have thought you would be happy."
The boy gulped. "I guess I am—I don't know what to think, father."
Leia said nothing. She didn't engage in the conversation at all. Actually, she was looking up at the ceiling, not caring if Anakin had anything to say.
She hated this man. Darth Vader—the infamous Sith Lord who ruled by the emperor's side for eleven years. He was the man who had hurt a perfectly good Republic, a perfectly good democracy. He was the man who killed many innocent (from her point of view) Jedi Masters, Padawans, and even younglings. He was the one who laid off many Senators that once stood for peace. He was the one who sent Master Kenobi into hiding.
Ah, Master Kenobi. She hadn't thought of him in a while, but he was out there. Kenobi had occasionally visited the palace when she was a little girl below the standard age of ten. He said he was there to 'check up on things', but all he would do was stay in his room, and sometimes show up for the royal dinner.
He didn't stay long. He said that he had other things to attend to, other people to check up on. He always said it with his teddy bear smile, too, which gave Leia a sense of familiarity with his man. He would always say to Bail, 'She looks just like her mother.' Leia assumed it was a compliment, for her mother was very pretty, all thought Breha died when Leia was very young, but Bail never seemed to smile. It was almost as if he was remembering someone other than Breha.
Leia knew now that Bail was remembering her birth mother. The wife of Vader—the mother of Luke Skywalker—her mother.
Padmé.
From the hologram.
"I didn't know you were out there," Anakin was saying to her. She had missed the other parts of the conversation, too busy musing on Master Kenobi, a man long forgotten.
"Didn't you feel me in—in the…" She tried to recall the name that Kenobi had used, "force?"
He smirked, but not evilly. It was if she reminding him of someone, as if he was remembering someone long gone, like Bail had. "I don't know why I didn't."
"You blocked everything out," Luke interjected. "The dark side, I mean. Before."
Anakin stared at him like he had no idea what he was saying.
Luke sighed. "You blocked the memories of my mother—thus losing the bond with her," he said. It was all making sense, "with us."
The other Jedi nodded. "I believe you're right, young one," he said with a smile. He reached out to ruffle Luke's hair, but then decided against it, thinking how he hated when people did that when he was young, "Waking up to seeing Leia must have been quite a surprise, huh?"
Luke chuckled on the near memory. "Yeah," he said, "It was."
"Not to me," Leia said, rather immaturely. Was she trying to gain Anakin's attention? "You dumped me in that room in the dead of the night. I kind of saw him there." She crossed her arms over her chest.
Anakin sighed. He knew Leia wouldn't think of Anakin as her father for a while, but he didn't think it would be this hard—"Breakfast, anyone?"
A/N: Haha! Oh my gosh, muchos gracias on the feedback. The next chapter will be something a little less lighthearted, I guess. School has become hectic for me, but I'll try to find time to write. Thanks again!