Padmé paced the confines of her husband's chamber. She wanted to be with him, asking for news of their son. Instead, she remained in this room, a prisoner in fact if not in name. With every fiber of her being she trusted the love in Ani's heart, the love that somehow had helped to bring them together again. And yet…
He was so different. He had led during the war. Gained the loyalty of the clone troops for his bravery and ability to pull some sort of success from almost certain defeat. Now, hidden behind that awful suit, he dominated through fear. What he had done to that Admiral Ozzel…
She had forgiven Mustafar but she could not forget. While she had never heard the force, her years as the friends of and as the wife of a Jedi taught her to listen to her instincts. Those instincts told her that Anakin needed her there with him.
He worried because in this new state, she seemed incredibly fragile. She slept more than she ever had. Days would pass and she would wake to Anakin sitting by her side, scrolling through data cards. He had always been hypocritical when it came to the danger they faced. He had always been willing to recklessly endanger himself as long as his loved ones remained protected. He hadn't said anything to her, but she could tell, he feared they were running out of time.
She couldn't sit here and let him fight alone. As a queen, she had fought for her country. As a senator, she had fought. She still needed to fight. As a wife, as a mother, Padmé knew she needed to be on Bespin helping her family. It was time to plan an escape.
…
He watched the man face what might very well be his death. Watched the girl strain towards them. Saw a kiss that might be their last. He couldn't help but be reminded of Geonosis. Even the gold droid in the background, so like the one he had built as a child, reminded him of the day Padmé finally admitted she loved him. He felt confused. Spies claimed his son was close to the Princess. He had gotten used to thinking of Luke and the girl as history repeating itself, the slave and the queen now retold as the farmboy and the princess. But now it was clear that while imminent death might spur lovers to one heightened moment of sharing each other's souls, his son remained a friend. The malice that usually accompanied Vader's thoughts returned, renewing his satisfaction at torturing the smuggler who presumed to usurp his son's place in the princess' heart.
He wished he could feel satisfaction at giving Han Solo to Boba Fett. His history with Fett was complicated. Jango's death years before after his ruthless attacks on Padmé cemented the antagonism Vader felt for anyone carrying the Fett name. It was a mark of Vader's desperation to find his son that he had even hired Fett, forming resentment among his crew. Vader knew that Solo would be sent to Jabba. That vexed the Sith Lord as well. All these years and Jabba still ruled his fiefdom of gangsters and scum. Dealing with Jabba, even indirectly, provided a painful reminder of the death of his idealism. Of course that idealism had first been cracked by his old Jedi masters who didn't lift a finger to stop the slavery on Tatooine and who had decades earlier ordered him to find and return Jabba's brat. He had dreamed of freeing the slaves and now…now he had more in common with Jabba as a ruthless father determined to be reunited with his offspring. At least he knew Luke was alive.
…
"Admiral Piett, a TIE fighter has left unauthorized."
"Who's piloting?"
"That's just it sir. There doesn't seem to be anyone aboard. Should I inform Lord Vader?"
Admiral Piett swallowed. In spite of Vader's unusual mercy towards Captain Needa, no one wished to test the Sith's patience. "Perhaps I should inform him myself."
…
"She's here."
"Padmé! What are you doing here?"
"I came to be with you. And I saw her. Well her file actually. But she's here."
"What?" Anakin looked in astonishment at his wife who was glowing with an inner happiness.
"I saw her Ani. She's alive. Our Leia is alive."
"Leia?"
"Yes."
Anakin sank down heavily in a chair. " The princess?" He knew the answer already. He would have tortured her that day. He had tortured the man she loved. Reflexively, he lashed out "You couldn't have discovered this earlier? She was in the room on the day you came back to me! Why didn't you tell me?" He should have known the princess looked so much like Padmé and was an even greater pain.
"She was there? Forgive me for being brought back from the dead and only able to concentrate on one person at a time."
"You're right. This is not your fault."
"Ani, what have you done now?" How many times would she have to listen to the unforgivable? How many times would she try to forgive anyway? Loving him was the only way she knew how to live. And it wasn't even about her forgiveness anymore. What had he done to their daughter?
"Han Solo is encased in carbonite on Boba Fett's ship."
Padmé was puzzled.
"Apparently, our daughter and this imperial reject… Padmé how was I to know?"
He had rarely heard Padmé curse. Amusement briefly eased the battle between joy and anguish – after twenty years of daily hatred and agony he did not know how to control his long-repressed emotions. Obi-Wan might say he never did.
….
Obi-Wan was currently trying to maintain his fabled Jedi calm in the swamps of Dagobah. "What do you mean he left?"
"In trouble his companions were. Ignore my advice he did. Rash and impatient like his father."
Obi-Wan stiffened at the comparison. "Luke has inherited Anakin's skill, yes. But he is not his father."
"Know that I do. Know what he will do when he meets Vader I do not."
Obi-Wan sighed. The Dark Side clouded everything. Still, these past months, since the escape from the Death Star, he had felt renewed hope. Instead of sacrificing himself in one last battle, he had reentered the world, joined the alliance, and become a dynamic force for good again. For twenty years he had been afraid to hope too much and now Anakin's children, the very beings who symbolized how little his former padawan cared for Jedi tenets… "I told him his father was dead. I told him Vader killed Anakin."
"True this is."
"From a certain point of view."
…
"How could you even consider lowering our son into a pit of carbonite?"
"Medically, Solo is fine. I would not have harmed our son."
"Then what would you have done? Wrapped a ribbon round him and given him to the emperor?"
"No. Padmé, I just need time to talk with him. To explain."
"It's certainly the convoluted, ridiculous type of plan only you would come up with. Give me an explanation of why you tortured your son's friend and sent him off to Jabba."
"It was necessary to bring him here."
"You know that's not true. It was convenient for you, but not necessary."
"I…"
"Anakin, I love you but that doesn't mean I will sit idly by while you make even greater mistakes."
"I was doing what had to be done."
"When? Are you referring to slaughtering the Jedi, believing me guilty of betraying you, choking me, terrorizing the galaxy for twenty years, terrorizing our children, torturing the man our daughter loves, and plotting against our son? Or is there some other despicable action you are trying to rationalize?"
He could have hated her in that moment. "What would you have me do? The Emperor knows I resent him and want to supplant him. He believes me too weak to do more than grumble and for the most part he is right. I am too weak to battle him alone. I tried before and was spared – though at the time I considered that even more of a punishment. I need our son's help. Together, we can overthrow Palpatine and…"
"Rule the galaxy. Are you still that power hungry?"
"I just want order. I just want to be able to find peace with my family. But that will never happen unless we take control."
Padmé sighed, "You're right."
He turned toward her in shock. "You didn't think so on Mustafar."
"On Mustafar you didn't sound…" She broke off. "I was horrified. I was desperate. I didn't want to believe and I didn't want to change. I didn't fear for myself so I didn't understand why…"
Vader thought back to the massacre at the Jedi temple. "I needed to believe in something, in somebody. The force… Everything was changing. The jedi had already changed and yet they demanded the same sacrifices, the same adherJnce to an outdated code. I thought, I truly thought…And Palpatine told me that with the power of the Dark Side..."
"We can't reason with Palpatine. But you can reason with our children. This subterfuge will only make it harder for them to trust you. Your children are not your enemy."
….
"Admiral Piett, a change in plans. Contact Fett and offer him double his fee to return Solo to us."
Piett saluted and left.
Vader continued to move down the hall. The force was calling to him, begging me to listen, telling him his son was near, and also something about his daughter. He ignored the call of the force, unsure if using it would harm Padmé. His wife had reluctantly agreed to let him talk to his children first.
"I'll escort the princess myself," he announced. He was sure that Padmé would want me to release the cuffs from her wrists but he had a healthy respect for Princess Leia's resourcefulness and while that respect was now tinged with pride, Vader did not wish to be vulnerable to her plans.
As he walked down the corridor, trying to figure out what to say, wondering if I should just wait for Padmé, Vader felt the strong presence of his son. Leia immediately called out "It's a trap."
Vader turned and faced his boy. "Yes, it was a trap. But if we are to confront one another I prefer to do it with words."
Clearly that was not what Luke expected. "I am not afraid of you."
"Do not underestimate the power of the dark side," Vader growled automatically. "But, I do not want your fear," he added. Vader should have been afraid and perhaps he still was but mostly Anakin felt exhilaration. His plan was working. Padmé would see that he could be reasonable.
"What do you want?" Luke queried. "To kill me as you killed my father?"
Anger burned again. "Who told you that?"
"It's true isn't it? You killed my father as you killed the other Jedi."
"I killed many Jedi, but I didn't kill your father. Luke, I am your father."
The princess gasped.
The princess, Vader still could not quite fathom that the haughty rebel leader was his missing child, and Luke stared at him in disbelief.
"Don't listen to him, Luke. This is still part of the trap."
Vader snorted. "You are so stubborn, princess. Reach out to the force and you may sense the truth."
"I am not a Jedi."
"But you have the choice to use your powers. The force runs strong in our family."
Both Luke and Leia started at this unexpected revelation.
"I don't believe you."
"How can you deny the truth?"
Luke was backing away from Vader. "You're a Sith."
"Is that all you care about? We are a family."
Luke had been relatively calm up until now. Suddenly however, he too gave reign to the Skywalker temper. "Why do you care? Where were you all these years? Why didn't you acknowledge us? Why didn't you…Leia and I kissed."
Leia turned bright red at this.
"You what?" Darth Vader bellowed. "This is all Obi-Wan's fault."
"How is it Obi-Wan's fault that you abandoned us?"
"I didn't know you were alive!" Darth Vader boomed. "I thought I had killed you on Mustafar along with your mother."
Both Luke and Leia stiffened. Darth Vader cursed at the stupidity he had uttered.
"I had a father," Leia bit out. "Bail Organa. He was not a murderer." She raised her hands, the binders obvious. "May we leave now?" she asked knowing he would not let them go.
Why was Padmé always right? Before he stalked off, he raised a comlink. "Piett, arrange an escort for our two guests. There is someone I want them to meet."
…
"Do you think he means to take us to the Emperor?"
"Who else?"
"And the other stuff he said?"
"You can't believe him. It's all part of some twisted evil plot."
A.N. Thanks so much for reviewing. Your reviews make my day. Vader will get out of the suit…eventually. I like happy endings too much. But in the meantime….