Vader's Private Quarters
Executor
In hyperspace
En Route to Ryloth
"So killing Palpatine is going to be tough," Luke told his Alter Mother. "He is very strong..."
"Indeed, it is impossible to kill the Emperor without my children's assistance," Vader said grimly. "He is incredibly powerful in the Force."
Padme, who had been skimming top secret reports about Imperial operations, laid down her holopad and squinted irritably at her chest.
"Do you need more cabbage leaves?" Leia asked.
"No, I'm fine," Padme said with a groan. "I just hope my milk dries up soon, because this is annoying."
"I know," Leia said, wincing sympathetically.
"About Palpatine," Luke said patiently.
"I am not really worried about Palpatine," Padme said with a casual wave of her left hand. "We'll kill him when the time comes."
"Erm, I would say that Palpatine is the first issue to consider," Luke said. "He needs to die as soon as possible, and while Leia and I have wiped him out a few times in other timelines, it isn't easy."
"I don't expect it to be easy, exactly," Padme said, "but I am 100% confident that we can do it. Just look at our assets!"
Her husband and Alter twins turned bewildered stares on her. "What are our assets?" Leia asked in confusion.
"My brains, Anakin's strength, your lightsabers."
"We are pretty amazing with a blade," Luke agreed.
Then Leia added, "But it's not obvious how long we will be in this timeline, so I'm afraid you can't really count on us to help kill Palpatine."
"Which is sad, because I loooovvveeee killing Palpatine!" her brother said.
Padme casually waved her hand again, and said, "Then our own twins can help."
"Luke isn't trained much and Leia not at all," Leia said.
"So we wait," Padme said firmly. "It isn't like we only have half an hour to kill the weasel. Keep in mind that Sheev and I go a long way back. He obviously was and is a dirty rotten scoundrel, and a Sith Lord to boot, but back in my day, his greatest advantage was that no one knew what he was up to. Now, if I am understanding the situation correctly, his greatest advantage was Anakin. Now that Anakin has broken free, Palpatine's situation is considerably weaker as he is exposed as a Sith Lord, but doesn't have his right hand man."
Leia grimaced and said, "I don't think that is necessarily true, Padme. He is so powerful in the Dark Side of the Force."
"But Ani is stronger still, isn't he?" Padme inquired, casting a loving glance on her cyborg husband. Vader felt briefly lightheaded at that look; he had missed her so much, and now she was here, and she still loved him. Nonetheless, he needs to be truthful.
"I was, in my prime," he said, "but I was badly injured at Mustafar, Padme. My suit protects me, but it also weakens me. I fear that..."
He trailed off miserably and Padme stretched out her hand to clasp her husband's much larger mechanical hand in her own. "I know, darling. But given that Palpatine is a horrible man and probably doesn't want you entirely well, I have to think that your health could be improved somewhat by advanced medical tech and there is also Force healing, right?"
"I have never been able to heal myself with the Force," Vader admitted.
"We can work on it," Leia said firmly, "though of course we don't know how long we'll be here. But yeah, Luke and I are, together, pretty amazing at healing. I will say we can't regenerate Father's limbs but we can work on his organs."
"And his limbs could be better, no doubt about it," Luke said, and then turned to Vader and added, "you know I'm right. Your mechanical legs and arms are well made but they are insanely heavy. You'd find life way easier if they were lighter."
"And we can probably get your lungs healed a little, which would have a cascading effect on your body in general. It is hard to feel good when you are on life support."
"I am not certain it is possible," Vader said uncomfortably. He had been a dying man for 23 years, really; a few minutes with his helmet broken would more or less kill him. It sucked.
"It is possible," Luke said in an amused tone, then turned a puzzled look on his sister, who was sitting next to their Mother on a couch, and Leia's eyes were wide, and her Force sense was a mixture of embarrassment and incredulity as Padme whispered into her ear.
"That...I do not know," she said aloud after Padme had finished muttering. Leia stared doubtfully at Vader and continued, "I am afraid that the lava...I mean, you know..."
"Look, I am thrilled that my kids survived but I missed out on their babyhood. I want more kids. Is that too much to ask?" Padme demanded.
Darth Vader stared at his wife in shock, which morphed into agonizing embarrassment. If his face was capable of turning red, it would.
"I fear that I am, erm, uh..." he stuttered.
"We'll work on it," Leia said, mercifully cutting him off. "Luke, let's get cracking on healing up Father!"
/
Dagobah
A few days later
"I thought Hoth was bad," Han Solo muttered, peering out of the cockpit.
Luke turned indignant eyes on his friend and said, "Hoth was bad! Hoth is bad! How can you even compare Dagobah to Hoth? Look at all that liquid water out there! And the temperatures are reasonable instead of a few degrees above absolute zero."
"Tell you what, Kid – you land a ship on this bog successfully and then you can insist this place is awesome. I can't believe the Falcon didn't sink right into the swamp. I must have hit the only solid patch of land within 10,000 square kilometers!"
There was the sound of a Wookiee howl from the main cabin of the Falcon, and the three humans spun around, three right hands going for their blasters.
"Someone's inside the ship!" Han exclaimed, and charged out of the cockpit and into the main area with the twins at his heels.
All stopped abruptly, astonished at the sight of Chewbacca, the giant Wookiee, standing across from a tiny, wizened, green gnome with pointy ears, who had climbed on top of the dejarik board.
"Quite agree, I do, Chewbacca," the green elf said mournfully. "Good it is to see you again."
The tiny creature turned toward the three humans and looked first from Luke and then Leia, and said, "Bigger you are than when I last saw you. Small and helpless you were. So many years!"
"Yoda?" Leia sputtered out.
"Yoda I am! Now go we must. Captain, lift off you must before ship sinks into the swamp! Big it is, very big. Lift it easily I could not."
Luke stared at him in bewilderment and asked, "You want us to leave Dagobah already?"
"Yes, yes, leave we must!" Yoda cried out, waving his tridactyl hands dramatically. "Great shift in the Force there is. Know what is happening I do not!"
"Why does he talk like that?" Luke murmured into his twin's ear.
"I have no idea," Leia replied just as quietly.
A moment later, the twins heard the engine noise increasing and realized that Han and Chewbacca had disappeared, presumably preparing to lift off again.
Yoda nodded with approval, jumped down onto the floor, walked steadily toward the galley, leaped up onto a handy counter using the Force, and gestured toward the cupboard doors, which started opening and closing.
The twins wandered over to stare at their visitor in amazement as various foodstuffs floated off the shelves and onto a plate hanging sedately in mid air.
"What are you doing?" Luke asked in bewilderment.
"Eating I am," Yoda returned with a roll of his green eyes. "For more than twenty years root stew I have eaten. Better food I want!"
/
Vader's Private Quarters
Executor
In orbit around Ryloth
"Looks like we are leaving!" Luke said, staring down at his tingling toes.
"I love you, Padme! I tolerate you, Vader!" Leia added.
A moment later, the time traveling twins vanished, leaving cyborg and wife behind.
"Oh Ani," Padme said, leaning close to her husband. "Aren't they wonderful?"
"Yes, they are," Vader answered, his head swimming at the loving look in his wife's eyes.
Or maybe that was too much oxygen. As promised, the time traveling Jedi had worked diligently on his various damaged organs and had made miraculous strides. In addition, his sort of son had spent quite a bit of time with him designing new cyborg limbs which, while they had not yet been transformed from schematic to reality, would doubtless be far more comfortable than his current limbs.
"It will be wonderful when we meet our own twins," Padme continued, "but that will have to wait a bit. Now Ani, back into the bacta tank with you, and I am going to have a little talk with Piett about our next steps."
"As you wish," Vader replied.
/
Mon Mothma's Private Ship
In orbit around Hoth
Two days later
The door to the meeting room and Han Solo, Leia Organa, and Luke Skywalker entered, followed by the giant Wookiee Chewbacca, who was carrying, on his massive hairy shoulder, a tiny green elf.
Mon Mothma, who had been gearing herself up for a very unpleasant discussion, found herself lurching forward with a beaming smile. "Master Yoda!" she exclaimed. "General Rieekan said there was some indication you were still alive, but I confess I was not ready to truly hope you had survived the purges. Welcome!"
The twins exchanged startled glances and Leia demanded, "You know Yoda?"
"Of course I do," Mon replied, gazing raptly at the gnome. "Master Yoda was grandmaster of the Jedi Order in the waning days of the Old Republic. It is very good to see you, Yoda."
"To see you again good it is," Yoda agreed.
Leia took a few steps toward her mentor and friend, braced herself, and said, "If you have spoken to General Rieekan you know about me and Luke, then."
"Yes, you are twins, and Darth Vader is your father," Mon said. "I am sorry. It must be terribly difficult for you both."
"Twins of Anakin Skywalker, they are," Yoda declared firmly. "Older Skywalker dead, replaced by Darth Vader, Sith Lord. Not the same person they are any more."
"That is not what Padme said," Mon said drily.
"Padme?" Leia repeated in bewilderment.
"Yes, your mother apparently was transported 23 years into the future and is now on Executor with Vader. Let me show you."
She turned away from the other humans, all of whom had gaping mouths, and quickly pulled up a recording of her conversation with Padme, the time traveling twins, and Vader.
Luke was struck most of all by Vader's gentleness and protective posture toward his mother.
Leia was struck how much she looked like her mother.
Han was thinking about how he was going to restock the galley in the Falcon. For such a tiny sentient, Yoda was able to pack away a lot of food.
Chewbacca was remembering, wistfully, when he had last seen Yoda. It was encouraging to think that maybe, maybe, Kashyyyk would be freed in his lifetime.
"So what do you think, Mon," Leia asked when the recording had ended. "Do you really think that person is our biological mother, Padme Amidala, transported through time 23 years?"
"I do," Mon replied promptly. "Of course, that seems nonsensical, but you all observed the alternate timeline form of Leia who told you of your relationship and your relationship to Vader. I think that yes, Padme is back, and that is a very good thing for us all."
"Why?" Luke asked bluntly. "I mean, I know what I just saw, but given how … how fierce Vader is, and frankly, how cruel, it just seems like…well, it seems like Vader really does care about our mother, but does it seem likely that she will actually have influence on him like she thinks she does?"
To the surprise of the younger humans, this provoked Mon Mothma to give way to hysterical laughter, and even Yoda cackled at some length.
"What is so funny?" Luke demanded defensively.
"I do apologize, Commander," Mon said, wiping her eyes with a tissue that Yoda had helpfully floated over to her. "You just don't know Padme. Leia, I have to say, that now that I know the truth, I realize I was blind. I mean, you are so much like your mother both in looks and character, though I am guessing you get your temper from…"
She trailed off as Leia gave her a death glare and then said brightly, "I did not know of Padme's marriage to Anakin Skywalker, but she was five years older and had a will of iron. I have no doubt that she was an equal partner in that marriage, and that Anakin venerated her. Don't worry. I have no doubt that Vader is now firmly on Padme's side."
"But is that our side, exactly?" Leia demanded.
Mon scrunched up her nose and said, "Ye…e…e…s. I mean, she may well tackle the issues in a different way, but trust me, she is an absolute devotee of democracy."
"Really?" the twins demanded in unison.
"Really," Mon declared.
Luke and Leia exchanged glances, but it was Han who asked the obvious thing.
"What happened to that dude to make him a psycho, evil Sith Lord?"
"I have no idea," Mon replied.
Yoda kept quiet. He had ideas, but had to cogitate about the current situation. One thing was for certain, though.
"Train you both I must," he said firmly.