AN: I'm on cloud nine! I was shooting for three A's and two B's and ended up with four A's and a B. I practically screamed and gave my dad a heart attack. Lol. So now I can write and update fanfics in peace and my mother will leave me alone for a while as I pulled my GPA back up and saved myself after nearly bombing my mid-terms. Speaking of fanfics, I've got a new one, but I'll get to that at the of this chapter. So no further announcements accept people are really looking too deep into Talzin's motives and even if she has them, they don't come into play in this story. I wanted them to, but it would have gotten too long. But Shmi being there does play a part in this story.

Read, enjoy, and review!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter Twenty-six

Vijaya made a sharp intake of breath to which Vader noticed wasn't in the usual dread and fear such an intake meant when people became aware of his presence. It was one of disbelief and relief.

"So you are aware of who he is," Talzin stated more so than asked the girl who was suddenly shy and intimidated by Vader's presence.

"If you mean that as in do I know who Darth Vader is, yeah. Everyone knows. But is you meant if I know who he is, like really know, yeah to that too," she said slowly. "My mother never tried to hide it from me."

"What does your mother have to do with this child?" Vader asked.

"Why does everyone call me that?" she asked annoyed.

"Answer the question," Vader warned.

"Because you're her lover, at least that's what Leia says anyway…" the girl said.

Vader looked at her stunned for a moment. It was a rare occasion for Vader to be stunned, even before he became a Sith Lord. The two of the most recent times was because of the child in front of him. Finally he said, "Shmi?"

Shmi nodded her head and stared him in what must have been extreme curiosity. Vader felt the same way. This was the first time he had met her. It was no wonder she had been so familiar to him. Her playfulness, her dry wit, even the use of her montrals, it was all her mother. Then he noticed her orange tanned skin. It was subtle enough to be normal for a human but they would probably term her a more exotic human. It also seemed she had been the only one of his children so far to inherit his tall stature. Vader momentarily scowled. He would have a time keeping boys away from her, especially since she could have only gotten her sense of style from her mother judging by the red midriff baring short sleeve top and her mid-thigh shorts. She was going to be worse than Leia once she hit puberty…

Vader mentally berated himself. How could he not have known who she was? It was obvious in hindsight.

"Don't worry," she said innocently. "I didn't know who you were either. Do you know where mama is?"

Vader expected as much. He didn't blame her for asking. He and the child were practically strangers. He hadn't expected her to run up to him and hug him like Leia would have.

"I know where she is," Vader said simply. He didn't feel comfortable saying she was at home. The Executor wasn't really their home.

Shmi frowned. "She didn't want to come?"

Vader smiled slightly. "I don't think the entire fleet would have been able to stop her if she had known what was going on. Mother Talzin wasn't exactly being open."

Shmi looked at her and shrugged. "She's like that."

Then she stood up and made her way around to him and grabbed his real hand.

"Come on. You have to meet Kishan! And Threepio's going to freak," she said laughing.

Vader started to go but Mother Talzin raised her hand.

"Let me talk to your father for a moment Vijaya. Besides, I'm sure Ventress has something for you to practice," she said.

Shmi sighed. "Fine."

With that she sulked off to find Ventress and Vader turned back to Talzin, his rage flaring.

"She's been here all this time?" he demanded.

"I assure you Lord Vader, if I had known beforehand, I would have sought your presence sooner," Talzin replied standing up to walk.

Vader followed her. "For your own sake I would hope so."

"Apparently she wasn't supposed to mention it. She never mentioned that her father was the great Darth Vader, though Ventress had her suspicions that her parents were powerful force users. A child with your daughter's talent isn't just random. It's inherited," Talzin replied.

"If you had your suspicions, why not seek me out before now?" Vader asked.

"You know as well as I that the force works in mysterious ways Lord Vader. It was only recent that I had a vision of Vijaya's parentage," Mother Talzin said. "And perhaps it was for the best for Vijaya's sake."

Vader stopped walking. "What do you mean?"

"Your daughter has her issues…"

"What issues?"

"We have known her for a little over two years now. Captain Solo used to work for us by bringing supplies that we otherwise couldn't leave the planet for," Talzin began to explain.

"What happened?" Vader asked. "Where is he? Why did he leave her here?"

"He didn't. They had been gone for some time when their ship crash landed on our planet. We found the girl and two of her companions inside. She was not very forthcoming on information on what happened to Captain Solo and their wookiee friend, so we adopted her into our tribe. She has lived and trained as a Nightsister for a year now," Talzin continued. "As you can see, despite her disadvantage over the girls who have been here since birth and have had far more training, she has adapted and easily climbed to the top of her classes. She certainly lives up to the name we gave her."

Vader couldn't help the swell of pride in his chest at that point, but he didn't let it get to his head. Talzin had him concerned now.

"What's the problem then?"

"She was traumatized when she got here and for a while we thought it would not affect her. But she has episodes, bouts of intense violence towards some of her other peers."

"Violence? Why?"

"The older girls as well as a few of her peers tend to single her out for not being raised amongst them sometimes, though she does have her share of close friends. She ignores it for the most part as she is a very agreeable child most of the time. It's when she acknowledges the issue that there is a problem," Mother Talzin explained. "It's the fact that she doesn't see the situation in perspective that worries us."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Perhaps you would understand better is you watched Vijaya for a while," Talzin suggested.

Vader knew that Ahsoka would want to know as soon as possible that he had Shmi now (even though he wasn't sure how she was going to react about the Nightsister thing), but this was certainly more pressing. It sounded like a good idea.

"Tell me something mother," Vader said to her. "Why is it that it concerns you so?"

Talzin laughed slightly. "I meant it when I said your daughter is a Nightsister. She is as much my child as any other sister here. Naturally, I am concerned for her well being."

Vader sensed no deceit from her. In fact, there was a kind of sincerity to her tone, as sincere as a Nightsister could be anyway.

"Then perhaps I will take you up on your offer," Vader said starting to go look for Shmi.

"You'll probably find her somewhere with Ventress. Vijaya seems to have taken a liking to her," Talzin said.

Vader huffed. Who in their right mind would like Ventress? He followed the lingering presence he had locked onto and found Shmi in a room with Ventress practicing combat. Shmi looked bored.

"Your raw strength and talent will only get you so far child. Focus," she said to her.

"I am focusing," Shmi said holding her spear. "It's just like a lightsaber."

"A lightsaber has more flexibility that a spear," Ventress replied.

"But it's harder to control. A spear doesn't vibrate in my hands. A lightsaber does," Shmi said.

"She's right about that," Vader said making his presence known.

There was a low growl from the corner of the room and Shmi turned her head in the direction saying, "Relax Kishan. He's alright. Come out here and meet him."

Out walked the nearly full grown tusk cat and Shmi abandoned her spear to go over to him and run her hands over his head.

"This is Kishan," Shmi said to Vader who raised an eyebrow.

"How did you get that?"

"I used to wonder the same thing," Ventress said. "Apparently that pirate she calls an uncle let her have it."

Kishan growled at Vader, and Vader simply glared at the cat.

Shmi rolled her eyes. "Daddy," she whined. "Glaring at him isn't going to make him stop. If anything you're making him not like you."

Vader glanced at her surprise at how she called him 'daddy' as though she had been saying it all her life. Perhaps she was more comfortable with him than he originally thought.

"I think it's the hood," Shmi said to him.

Vader hadn't even realized he still had it on and so removed it, ignoring the sharp intake of breath from Ventress. Kishan on the other hand visibly relaxed and Shmi reached out to grab Vader's hand and put it on Kishan's head.

"See? Harmless."

Vader looked at her sternly. "As harmless as an adult tusk cat gets."

"Actually, he's still a teenager," Shmi pointed out.

"Why don't you go get Threepio?" Ventress said. "I'd like to have a word with your father."

Shmi ran off to find the droid leaving Ventress with Vader.

"Well, well, well," she said. "It's been a long time."

"A lifetime," Vader said as he started to follow Shmi to wherever she went.

"What would the galaxy think if they knew their hero, the great Anakin Skywalker, became Darth Vader?" she taunted.

"That name has no meaning to me anymore," Vader said simply.

"I think it does," Ventress deadpanned as she saw Shmi making her way around the corner to her room. "The girl's mother… It's that torgruta that was your student."

"I don't think it's any of your concern."

Ventress shrugged her shoulders. "Probably not, but she told me she's part torgruta though no one else can tell. Not like she's trying to hide it though. She puts her hair in that style for a reason."

"Tell me," Vader said abruptly changing subject. "What does Mother Talzin mean when she talks about Shmi's behavioral problems?"

"Watch her long enough and you'll figure it out," Ventress replied and stalked off. Vader was glad. He didn't know how much more of the woman's presence he could take.

"Not so fast Miss Vijaya. I can't keep up with you when you go so fast," came Threepio's voice.

"Stop whining," Shmi said coming back around the corner with the droid.

Threepio jumped when he saw Vader.

"Who's this?"

"You don't remember him either?" Shmi asked and sighed. "It's dad."

"Your father?" Threepio asked and looked at Vader again. "The maker!"

Shmi nodded.

"Oh it's such an honor to meet you sir. I can't begin to express how grateful I am," he said.

Vader looked to Shmi who shrugged. "He got damaged in our ship crash I think… I repaired him the best I could, but I might have accidently knocked out his memory when I was fixing him."

"Shouldn't be too hard to fix," Vader said to her. "I'll help you."

Shmi frowned. "You can just do it. I hate mechanics and fixing stuff…"

Vader was surprised to say the least. A child of his that didn't take to mechanics…

"That's why the Falcon's not fixed yet. Doesn't matter though. I can't fly it." Shmi scowled at that point. "I don't even like flying, not like Luke and Leia do anyway."

"You don't know how to fly?" Vader asked.

"Should I?"

She shouldn't really. But Vader knew for a fact that Leia had been zipping around on swoops, speeder bikes, and speeders since she was five and from what Ahsoka told him, Luke had been about the same once he learned the controls from watching others fly. A child of his that didn't take to it naturally… He could have blamed it on Ahsoka, but not even she didn't like flying, just his and Leia's obsession with suicide flying as she put it. Strange child…

"Maybe I should go look at it," Vader suggested.

"Later maybe," Shmi said. "I'm starving. Let's go find something to eat."

Vader watched her walked away. He wasn't quite sure what to make of Shmi. She was certainly different that Leia was at that age and he briefly wondered if this was how Ahsoka had been like when she was eight.

They were more similar than he thought however, and he found that out when they were sitting outside, Shmi watching with little interest as some of the other girls talked and played together.

"You don't have to stay here. I don't mind if you go with them," he said.

"I don't want to go with them. My friends are still in class," she said to him leaning into Kishan.

"What name do you prefer?"

"Doesn't matter," Shmi said with a shrug. "The Nightsisters call me Vijaya. Han used to call me Mimi, so did Leia. Mom and everyone else called me Shmi."

"You don't have a preference?"

"You can call me Shmi," she said as she caught one of the girl's eyes.

Vader felt something spike in Shmi and then to his surprise, she bottled down all her emotions, any reaction she could possibly have had and proceeded to ignore her approach.

"Miss high and mighty Vijaya not going to greet her fellow sister?" she said to her.

"Good-bye Madira," Shmi relented passively. "There. I greeted you."

Vader tried not to crack a smile as Shmi turned back to him.

"We should go see the Falcon now," she said and looked at Kishan who got up from where he was resting to follow her.

Vader noted a subtle change in Shmi's demeanor as she heard the girl, but at the same time didn't seem to hear her.

"How about I go ahead and see it?" he asked. "You catch up with when you're done talking to your friend."

Vader went off, but he didn't go far. As soon as he was a good distance away, he watched as the situation escalated and other than one of two words, Shmi ignored the girl opting to tend to Kishan instead. But somehow, Vader had the feeling she was very aware of what the girl was saying.

"Let's go Kishan. Daddy's waiting," Shmi said finally with a sigh, looking like the typical child trying to act like they weren't bothered by the things their peers said.

"That was your dad?" Madira asked as she started to walk away. "Go on and run to him then. Some Nightsister. Weakling. Show him how scared you really are."

The change was so swift, it might have taken Vader by surprise if he hadn't felt the force warning him to pay attention ahead of time. Madira turned her back on Shmi, but Shmi had abruptly turned around. Vader managed to catch one of Shmi's wayward thoughts and it surprised him.

Show me your pain. Show us your fear.

No fear, no weakness.

She grabbed the girl so fast, Vader wasn't sure if she had used the force to drag her back, or crossed the distance to get her. The next thing he knew, Shmi had taken the girl's spear and with inhuman strength (or torgruta strength for that matter), she forced the girl on her back, practically slamming her down by using her tall height to full advantage, and then put the spear to her neck and the heel of her boot in her chest.

"Are you scared?" she asked with an animalistic look in her eyes, relishing in the obvious fear in the girl's face for a moment before rolling her eyes in disgust and throwing the spear aside as she moved her foot and started to walk away, Kishan next to her.

"Who's the weakling now?" she called back to Madira but didn't turn back to look at her.

And just as quick as it had come, whatever had come over her left and she was back to normal, and if anything a little disorientated. She put her hand on Kishan's head looking a little pale.

"It happened again didn't it?" she asked him and the feline responded by nuzzling her in the chest.

Shmi turned around and saw the still startled and terrified girl on the ground.

"Mother's going to kill me," she said having a feeling someone had already gone to tell on her.

Vader came back just as Ventress was making her way to deal with her charge.

"What happened?" she asked glancing at Shmi and then the stunned girl.

"I don't know," Shmi answered honestly.

But Vader knew exactly what this was. He had seen it before, in himself. It was what happened all those years ago when he killed the tusken raiders after they murdered his mother, what happened when he choked Padmé on Mustafar. He recalled almost doing the same thing to Ahsoka once, but thankfully Leia had intervened. He never told anyone about it. Sure it was the dark side, but it was the dark side in its most dangerous state, where it took control of all the senses and though it was the person doing it, they weren't control. At its best description, it was like an out of body experience, triggered by past trauma.

"I do," Vader said looking at Shmi. "Perhaps it might be best if I took her away from here. This can better be dealt with away from others…"

Ventress paused and then said, "This way."

She led them to where mother was and Talzin immediately let them into the room. Vader didn't beat around the bush.

"We'll be leaving soon," he said simply.

Talzin regarded him for a moment and then said, "With all due respect Lord Vader. Vijaya is one of us and I won't allow you to up and take her away without her consenting to the idea."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Vader dared.

"I'll go," Shmi said quietly to diffuse the argument that was sure to arise. "I want to see my mother."

Talzin seemed more open to the idea of Shmi leaving at that point, but Vader could tell that she didn't really want her to go. Shmi was for all practical purposes one of them.

"Then you will go with our blessings child," she said.

Shmi looked between her and Vader and then added, "But I want to come back and finish my training here. I want to become a Nightshister."

Talzin laughed and placed her hands on Shmi's shoulders by saying, "I assure you child, you already are and you are welcome to return providing you father doesn't object."

Vader wanted to object greatly. The Nightsisters weren't really any trouble but they were known to only have loyalty to themselves, and although he wasn't worried about Shmi per say, he was worried about what they were eventually hoping to get out of this. The second thing was that he had a feeling Ahsoka's dislike for Ventress ran deep, and he doubted she'd like Shmi being under the woman's influence so much, In fact, he had no doubt Ahsoka wasn't going to like this…

"We'll discuss it," Vader said and expected that to be the end of it.

Shmi turned and glared at him.

"I'm not leaving if you don't say yes," she declared.

"You don't have a say in this young one," Vader replied. "Besides, what happened to wanting to see your mother?"

Vader knew he had caught the girl at that point. She wasn't as shrewd as Leia who would have hotly retorted that he wouldn't hide this from Ahsoka. Ahsoka would try to kill him, and Vader was quite that cruel anymore. Shmi sighed.

"Fine," she muttered but in a tone that obviously showed she wasn't holding Vader in very much esteem at the moment and it showed because Kishan growled at him.

Vader simply glared at the cat.

"Let's go pack Kishan," she said and headed to her room.

Vader looked at Talzin. "You have my gratitude for keeping her here. If there was any trouble, I'll be willing to compensate you for it."

"It was our pleasure to have her amongst us Lord Vader," Talzin said. "But perhaps it would be better if you appeased to Vijaya to make her more… willing to leave."

"What more incentive does she need?" Vader asked.

"Perhaps you will let us bestow on her a parting gift…"

"What kind of gift?"

"With your permission I shall let the girl choose."

Vader had a feeling he wasn't going to like whatever it was Shmi chose, and Talzin knew it. But it was a harmless request on the surface. He had no reason to object it.

"As long as it's not another one of those things she calls a pet," he replied.

When Shmi came back, Vader was sitting at the table next to Ventress and Talzin gestured for Shmi to sit on the other side.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Ventress smirked. "You father has agreed to let you leave with one last parting gift. Mother Talzin has agreed to give you anything that's within her power to give you."

"Anything?" Shmi asked blinking.

"Within her power," Ventress replied again.

Shmi paused and looked at the table before glancing to a small table behind them where Mother Talzin's ball lay.

"Han," Shmi replied.

Vader raised an eyebrow at this. It was interesting request to say the least.

"Captain Solo?" Talzin asked.

"Before I got here," Shmi said and Vader noticed the reluctant tone with which she said it. Whatever it was that happened on Bespin, she didn't like to talk about it and it was very likely she hadn't mentioned it since the event happened.

"Before I came here," she continued, "A bounty hunter took Han. They froze him in something… carbonite I think. You can find people through your ball, can't you?"

"It is possible," Talzin replied.

Shmi nodded. "I want to know where Han is."

Vader had to stop himself from spewing curses. He changed his mind. He would have rather Shmi had asked for a pet Rancor than this. There was no way they were going after that scoundrel.

Talzin summoned her crystal ball and waved her hands over it before a picture of a Hutt Vader was all too familiar with came up.

"He is on Tatooine in the possession of Jabba the Hutt," she informed.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

AN: There. All done. Nothing much to say yet except I hope you liked the restrained curiosity Vader and Shmi have about each other, but still aren't quite sure how to act. Now that that's done and I really have nothing to say about this chapter, let's move on to my announcement.

This is really a story for all you Anakin/Padme fans and if you're not... well... It's not too romantic that you won't enjoy it too. It's a RotS AU, where Palpatine sees the benefits of having Padme on his side, especially as she's pregnant with two very force sensitive children. So it's going to be a dark Padme, inspired by my frustration that in all my years of reading fanfics (and I'm a veteran folks) I've only come across one good Dark Padme fic. So I decided to try my hand at one. It starts when Padme finds out she's pregnant to the end of RotS. Here's a preview:

Padmé started to stand in respect for the queen, but noticing her movement, the hybrid looking woman gestured for her to stay seated.

"Mother," Dalia began but she was cut off.

"I'd like to talk to Senator Amidala for a while Dalia. Could you go find something else to occupy your time with for a while?"

Dalia didn't argue and only nodded her head in a brief greeting to Padmé before swiftly leaving the room.

"Queen Tyisha," Padmé said nodding her head. "It's an honor."

"I wish I could say the same," Tyisha said bluntly, but there was no apparent disdain in her tone or demeanor.

Not quite sure what to make of her statement though, Padmé remained silent and waited for her to continue.

"I'm sure Dalia told you that I don't expect anything to come of this attempt to reach out to the senate. This isn't the first time we've asked for aid, although I must say, at least they sent someone to investigate our claim this time," she said cynically.

"I assure you Your Highness. The senate cannot ignore such obvious need even in the midst of a war. There are many humanitarian groups who-."

"We've tried that Senator," the queen said abruptly. "It doesn't work and at this point, I've lost faith in the democracy and senate you seem to have so much faith in."

"No ruling body is perfect," Padmé argued.

Tyisha shrugged in a very undignified manner saying, "I never said it was. But even you have admit it, senator. Your system doesn't work anymore. It's broken and I'm not the only one who sees it."

"True, but the moment we lose faith in something is the moment we've doomed it," Padmé said adamantly.

"I'd have faith in your senate and your democracy if that's what it was," Tyisha replied. "But it's not. You seem to have your people's best interest at heart, but do the other senators of your Republic? I don't think so. I think its run by self interest groups who rally and lobby for what they want, stir a little trouble and in effort to keep a seat, your senators give in."

"Not all of them."

"Many of them."

Padmé rose to follow the queen to the window that overlooked her planet.

"Surely you of all people can understand my plight? To know that your people are dying and doing everything possible to save them and then have the senate deny your claims," Tyisha said giving Padmé a sideways glance.

Padmé's thoughts went back thirteen years when she was the queen of Naboo and forced to run the Trade Federation off Naboo when the Senate for all practical purposes all but accused her of lying and decided to send someone to investigate when she knew her people needed salvation immediately. She could only imagine this was how the Tyisha felt, unwilling to bow down and sacrifice her people's dignity at the cost of their lives.

"That's why I became a senator. I wanted to be able to help fix the problem from the inside. It's what I'm trying to do now, to remind the senate of the original values that gave birth to the golden age of the Republic," Padmé said determined.

"That's a lot for one person to accomplish when she only counts for one vote," Queen Tyisha said with a sad smile.

This is just one of the important scenes in the story. It's already done, but I don't think I'll put it up until after Sanctioned by Destiny is fully uploaded. I haven't come with a title for it yet, but I'll have it soon.

Hope you enjoyed. Review Please and tell me what you think of this preview if you're interested. If not... well, still Review Please!