Vader's quarters
Imperial City
Imperial Center
Luke and Jade were still locking lips when Darth Vader lit his lightsaber.
It appeared his end had come. It had been decades since he had trained Tano, but he knew her posture, knew that her body was full of coiled power ready to unleash on her former master.
And Leia Organa, too, had every reason to destroy him, the man who had tortured her mercilessly, who had held her back as the Death Star destroyed her planet ...
Three lightsabers hissed to life in response; Tano's two, and a blue blade in Organa's hand.
Luke jerked away from his wife and turned an astonished look at his sister.
"What are you doing?"
Leia lifted her chin towards Vader, "He started it."
Tano held out one of her sabers towards Vader's son, "You'd better take this."
The boy, to his father's surprise, shook his head, "I don't want it, Ahsoka. Look, everyone, just ... let's just think about this, Ok?"
Luke took a step closer to Vader and lifted his gaze to meet the Dark Lord's eyes. (How did he do that? No one, even Palpatine, had been able to meet his eyes in the mask.)
"What are you doing, Father?"
His heart beat on mechanically, as it had for more than 20 years, but he felt a strange flutter in his chest now. Those blue eyes were so much like his own long ago.
"I have lived a warrior, and I will die a warrior," he intoned.
Luke actually rolled his eyes, "You really are so dramatic sometimes, you know?"
Ahsoka chimed in now, "You're going to take on your twin children, your daughter-in-law, and your ex-padawan? I know you are incredibly strong in the Force, but, not to brag, we are too. You don't have a chance against all of us."
"Then I will be destroyed," Vader said firmly. "And if so, my time has come. My children will strike me down and rule the galaxy as brother and sister."
Luke and Leia exchanged looks of disbelief, and then Ahsoka made a dramatic gagging sound.
"Please, Father ...," said Luke
"That is not going to happen," Leia chimed in. "We have no intention of ruling the galaxy. Unlike you, we aren't psychotic and insane and dictatorial and cruel."
Luke continued firmly, "Ok, let's do a thought experiment. Say we do have a fight, right here, right now. Do the four of us survive, do you think?"
"What?" Vader asked in bewilderment.
Incredibly, Luke took another step forward without so much as a glance at the red blade buzzing in his sire's hand, the blade which had taken his hand.
"You have a great deal of experience, Father. Do you think my twin, my wife, your ex-padawan, and I would all survive an attack on you? Again, just a thought experiment."
Vader frowned. Considered.
"Based on my admittedly limited knowledge of your abilities, one of you would die, two would be seriously injured, the last would sustain minor injuries and cut me down," he stated carefully.
Luke took yet another step closer, his gaze steady, "Is that what you want, Father? To kill your former padawan, or one of Padme's children, or ..."
The Sith flinched openly at the mention of his long dead wife's name.
"I see you don't, really, Father," his son continued softly. "So can't we work something out? There is no reason for us to fight, and every reason not to fight. I don't want to kill you, the father I've always longed to know. Ahsoka doesn't. You were once her master, and you saved her life many times. Leia and Mara both have their reasons to want to chop you into pieces but ..."
"But we won't, because it would upset Luke," Leia said seriously.
Vader stared incredulously, then shook his head, "The Sith and Jedi are at war, and always will be."
"So don't be a Sith anymore. None of us are traditional Jedi. Can't we come to some kind of compromise?"
Vader gazed at his son in disbelief, "I have lived with the power, and under the direction, of the Dark Side your entire lives, my children. It is too late for me."
Mara broke in now, "Too late for what, exactly? Are you a two meter walking disaster of a cyborg? Of course you are. Are you cruel and vicious? Yes, without a doubt. But it is obvious from the Luke Shrine that you care very much about your son. So there is obviously attachment there ..."
He stared at Jade (his daughter-in-law. His daughter-in-law!). He felt odd. It was odd being here with his children and his ex-padawan and his daughter-in-law. It was odd that Palpatine, the man who had sunken his claws into the soul of young Anakin Skywalker more than 30 years ago, was dead.
He focused on the Dark. It responded sluggishly, far more sluggishly, then usual, and was interspersed with a strange constellation of Light ...
"Father," Luke said again, "another thought experiment now. The Emperor is dead. What do you want?"
"What do I want?" he repeated numbly.
"Yes. Aside from the fact that you have four semi-hostile Force users in your private suite, the galaxy is yours. Ignore us for a moment. What do you want for the rest of your life?"
Vader stared at his son blankly. What did he want? He had longed for this for so many years, hadn't he? To be free of his master, to create the galaxy in the image of ... of ... of what Padme would have wanted. In the image of what his image of Padme would have wanted ...
She had rejected him in those last moments, rejected his desire to be together, to rule together.
"I wish to rule the galaxy with my children at my side," he said finally.
Luke nodded gravely, "Ok, Father. You can't have both. Leia and I will not rule at your side. So what is more important, that you rule the galaxy, or that you have your family at your side?"
Another long pause and Vader sighed loudly enough that the vocoder picked it up.
"I took your hand, my son. I tortured your sister, and your sister's love and encased him in carbonite. I nearly killed Tano. I propped up the Emperor who enslaved your wife. Without the seduction and power of the Dark Side holding us together, there can be no unity."
Luke's mouth gaped open, but it was Leia who spoke, "Seriously? Listen to yourself! You think that hatred and blind ambition will bring us together, and repentance and forgiveness and love will drive us apart? You really make no sense sometimes!"
He turned now to the woman who wore Padme's beauty. (How had he been so blind?)
"I sent your love to his doom, did I not, Princess Leia? How can there be any kind of reconciliation?"
"We did rescue him, you know," the woman returned irascibly. "And I had the pleasure of strangling Jabba to death in the process. Look, don't get me wrong. I do hate your guts. I still wake up at night with nightmares of the horrors you inflicted on me, even as Luke has Bespin nightmares ..."
The Dark Lord took an involuntarily step back.
"But," she continued firmly, "I am a politician as my mother was before me. I will set aside my own personal feelings for the good of the galaxy. This Empire that you helped build must fall and democracy must rise."
"Democracy will fail," Vader said coldly and bitterly. "The Republic ruled for generations and yet slavery flourished in the Outer Rim. The Republic ruled for generations, and the Jedi became the harsh arm of their failed attempts at peace. The Republic ruled for generations, and yet the politicians of the Senate argued for hours and returned to their plush homes while the poor and disenfranchised suffered and died. The Republic ruled for generations, then turned to the clones to save it against the Separatists; clones who were slaves themselves thanks to the chips implanted in their heads."
Vader stopped now, surprised at the passion which was bleeding through the vocoder. He focused on his daughter (his daughter!) and waited for her arguments to begin.
To his astonishment, she nodded slowly, deliberately turned off her lightsaber, and hung it at her waist.
She looked up again, her head tilted to meet his mask, and her eyes narrowed intently, "Now we're getting somewhere, Lord Vader. Yes, the Old Republic was corrupt. I would argue that the Empire you helped create was far worse, but the Old Republic grew stagnant, as did the Jedi. Kenobi naturally speaks through his own filter, but even he admits the Order fell partially due to its own blindness and rigidity."
"Kenobi!" Vader snarled in anger.
Then.
"Kenobi? I was not aware you ever met him, Princess Leia. I understood he lived for 19 years on Tatooine, looking after Luke from afar."
Organa lifted a cultured eyebrow, "I didn't know him when he was alive, of course. But he pops in occasionally as a ghost and we interrogate him. He's rather a coward about it at times; we'll get to a really juicy part of some story and he'll mutter that he's needed elsewhere and vanish."
Darth Vader stared at her blankly. Given the situation, given that this was Leia Organa of Alderaan, who loathed and despised him, she couldn't be teasing him.
Could she?
But obviously what she said was ridiculous.
He pulled his gaze from her and let it travel around the room. Tano, Luke, and Jade were all watching him intently. None of them looked startled or amused. It was if what she said made some kind of sense.
"Ghost?" he asked.
"Or specter," Luke interpolated, "he actually prefers that. But ghost, specter, whatever – he's a dead blue glowing person who chats with us when he feels like it. And Leia's right, he can be annoying. But we have learned a lot from him."
"It is impossible for the dead to return from the nether world of the Force," Vader stated coldly.
This provoked a near flood of surprise through the Force from his son, with ripples of surprise emanating from the other Force sensitives in the room.
"You don't know about the whole Force ghost thing?" Luke demanded in bewilderment. "How else do you think we know about Padme, and what happened between you and Mother on Mustafar?"
Vader winced at this. If it was true (could it be true? The Force said it was!) than the children could know far more than he wished ...
"Never mind that for now," Organa said, mercifully interrupting these horrified thoughts. "I want to talk politics with you. I don't trust you at all and doubt you have any good in you, but Luke does and thinks you do. Even our mother did, apparently, as she lay on her death bed ..."
Stars and galaxies!
"But if you are at all willing to work with us, perhaps we can come to a compromise of sorts, one which will shift the galaxy towards peace and justice without provoking the bloodbath of a long and ugly war."
There was a pause, a very long pause, while Vader thought.
"Very well," he finally said, "I am willing to at least discuss the possibilities."
"Good," Organa responded with a nod of her head.
"But not now."
"Why not?" Mara asked suspiciously.
"Because I'm tired," the Dark Lord returned irritably, "and my head is still throbbing from Luke's telepathic cacophony of sound."
"I wasn't that loud," Luke commented indignantly.
There were amused chuckles from the females in residence, and Mara said, "Darling husband of mine, you were that loud."
"No, I wasn't ..."
"There are non sentient mosses hidden in underground passages 100 levels below the surface of Imperial Center who are still quivering from the volume of noise you were generating psychically," Tano stated firmly.
Leia laughed aloud, her face suddenly alight with the first smile he'd ever seen on her.
And his chest physically hurt at the memories that surged into his mind, of another face, with cascading dark curls and brown eyes, a face which held terror the last time she looked upon him in Mustafar's fiery glow.
"Ok," Luke said. "How about a 3 hour break while you all get over your headaches? But Father, no treachery please. I won't kill you, but if necessary I will fight you and chop off all your cyborg limbs to limit your homicidal urges. I mean, if I can. But Ahsoka's right. We're a tough bunch."
Vader pulled his gaze away from his daughter.
"No treachery, agreed," he said solemnly, than added in a warning tone, "on either side."
/-
Admiral Piett's quarters
The Executor
In Orbit around Imperial Center
The door slid open and Max dropped his holopad and leaped to his feet.
"Mom! Raina!"
A slight, dark blond, curly headed girl ran through the door and wrapped her arms around Max's waist.
She gazed up at his face, her brown eyes shining with excitement, "Max! We got to go in a spaceship, did you know that? And on board we got to drink Buzzlesap! Mom let me have one every day at lunch and dinner! And I talked to a droid who had blue plating. He's a protocol droid named P2NP. He told me about how dinners are prepared on Imperial Center, the fancy ones! I had to leave our protocol droid behind. We got a new one, did you know? She has silver plating. She promised to look after my ferbil and my pet fish. But I was able to bring my rancor plush. I bought you ..."
Max felt a slight headache gather in his right frontal lobe as his sister chattered on and on. He shot a look at his mother Denorah, who smiled and put a gentle arm around Max's sister.
"Darling, you'll have time to tell Max more later, but I need to talk to him now. I understand you have a surprise from your brother in the next room. Why don't you go look at it and then sit and read your holobooks for a few minutes. Your Uncle Firmus says we'll have dinner in about 20 minutes. Ok?"
"Ok," Raina said, her eyes alight with excitement. She gave Max a harder squeeze around the middle and ran off toward the bedroom, making happy squeaking noises.
"Wow, Mother, she's really wound up!" Max said with a sigh of relief.
Denorah Piett didn't respond with words; she stepped forward and threw her arms around her son, hugging him so tightly that it hurt.
"Oh Max," she murmured softly.
Max hugged her back, "I'm fine, Mom. Really. I'm totally fine."
She looked up, tears tracking down her face, then turned to Admiral Piett.
"Firmus, I can't thank you enough for all you did to rescue Max."
The Admiral looked uncomfortable but he spoke sincerely, "You know I care deeply about you and your children, Denorah."
She nodded and smiled, "We are truly blessed."
/
The Luke Shrine
Vader's Palace
Imperial Center
2 hours later
Darth Vader spoke, "I find your hovering annoying, Ahsoka Tano."
The Togruta stepped carefully into the room and halted near the door. Her Force sense was, if not hostile, at least both cautious and ready for anything he cared to throw her way.
"You are on duty now, making sure I don't do anything nefarious?" he inquired sarcastically.
"Indeed," she returned with equal sarcasm, "Luke and Mara are off, Leia and I are on."
"And the princess is ...?"
"In the main room, working on remaking the galactic government into a healthier entity. On the one hand, it wouldn't be hard to make some improvements. On the other hand, she's politically brilliant so it will be more than just a bit better. It will be a lot better. If you cooperate, of course."
He turned to stare at his former padawan.
"She is so much like her mother."
Tano took one step closer and tilted her head thoughtfully, "In looks and political acumen, yes. Personality wise, she's more like Anakin Skywalker. Luke has Padme's optimism and heart. They are both amazing people."
Vader's heart thumped four, five, six times.
"Yes, they are."
There was a long pause as the two gazed at one another.
"Why are you here, Ahsoka?"
One eyebrow lifted as Tano responded, "I came here to help take down Palpatine, of course. And as an added bonus, I'm enjoying the opportunity to give you a piece of my mind. You were impetuous and reckless, but you were a good man and a good master, not a butcherer of children and an enslaver. What happened to you, Anakin Skywalker?"
The prosthetic hands clenched in anger, "That name no longer has any meaning for me. That man died long ago."
"And yet," Tano responded drily, "you claim his children."
A pause.
"They are my flesh and blood, and the future of the galaxy," he responded carefully, "It is my duty to ..."
Here he floundered. What was his duty? He'd hacked off his son's hand and tortured his daughter. What was left but to try to make things, if not right, at least better?
He started over, "It is my duty to teach them the Dark ways. The Light Side is weak."
"I assure you," Tano replied firmly, "there is nothing weak about either of your children."
Vader considered this at some length. That was certainly true. Both his children had been pushed by him to limits that would have destroyed most sentients, and had stood firm against him – Leia in the Death Star's dark bowels, Luke on Bespin's gantry.
"They would be stronger still if they embraced the power of the Dark Side," he said, though admittedly without much passion. Did the Dark Side really matter as much as he had long believed?
"What happened to you, Master?" Ahsoka asked, her eyes softer.
He hesitated, looked down, "I ... I wished to save Padme from death in childbirth. I believed that through the power of the Dark Side, I could save her."
"Which it did not."
"No. Indeed, my actions ...," he trailed away. He knew, deep inside, that his decisions during those horrible days had been at least partially responsible for his beloved wife's death.
Ahsoka Tano sighed deeply, "There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death."
The Dark Lord turned to her in surprise.
"It's a proverb," she said gently, then continued rather unsteadily, "I've missed you, you know."
Four more breaths, then he said with some surprise, "I ... have missed you too, Snips."
Author Note: Ahsoka's 'proverb' is Proverbs 14:12.