Act 1 Part 9

The Broken III

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."

Anton Chekhov

Jobal's instincts had really taken over, seeing Vader like that… almost as if a switch had been flipped in her head. She'd met him twice in her life but that seemingly didn't matter to her, he was her son-in-law and therefore family.

Vader had calmed down it seemed after that episode of grief, now he was just sitting in an armchair in the living room staring out the window. She'd taken him to their house in Theed where she and Ruwee had been staying ever since Padmé's funeral, before that they'd mostly spent their time at Varykino or in their home village some miles outside Theed. Ruwee had been very wary when she had come home with a giant clad in all black, a fair reaction in truth, she hadn't told him about her first encounter with their mysterious son-in-law.

After getting Vader into the armchair she explained everything to Ruwee, firstly how she'd met him the day of Padmé's funeral and secondly of the relation they had to him. Ruwee's reaction was one she'd expected, he was stunned, Jobal knew that Ruwee always had been especially proud of Padmé. To realize that she'd secretly been married for years without him knowing was a jaw-dropper for him. His reaction to her being pregnant had been similar although it had had an undertone of disappointment, not because of the fact that he was going to get another grandchild, but mostly due to his sense of tradition. Children born out of wedlock were not very traditional in his mind, Padmé had never explicitly told them that she was pregnant but it was beyond obvious after she'd been back on Naboo some months ago.

Jobal was a little lost on what to do now… Vader was just sitting in the living room staring out into the night not moving at all. The only thing that told her that he was even alive was the constant mechanical breaths coming from his respirator. Was he just going to sit there through the whole night? Was he going to eat? Was he going to do anything? She had essentially forced him to come with her but he hadn't resisted in any way.

Jobal wanted to be supportive and help him but how she would go about doing that was completely beyond her right now… maybe he's just in need of talking with someone, he was clearly lonely and his appearance did not help him in that regard. The way he'd broken down after their conversation was a clear indicator that even two months after the fact, he was still utterly shattered. Then she recalled, he'd broken down after she'd thanked him… for being with Padmé, he'd told her not to because he failed her. Jobal had brushed it off before as him just blaming anything he could for the death of Padmé but maybe… maybe he knows more about how she died. Like she'd done before she mustered up her courage and went to the living room, to once again get information out of her son-in-law.

"Vader?"

She got no response… just ask it Jobal, get it over with… for both you and his sake.

"Vader, how did my daughter die?"

This time he reacted, he turned his head to face her… then she heard an audible sigh before he gestured with his left hand towards the opposite armchair in front of him. She sat down in it without taking her gaze off of him.

"Do you want the whole story or just how it happened?" His tone was blank… lifeless…

"What do you mean "the whole story"?" Was there even more she was unaware of? How much does Vader know?

"I can tell you what I know of how she died, I don't know exactly how it happened but I have a good guess." He paused for a moment while his respirator took another breath. "I can however tell you everything that led up to it."

She waited a moment, gathering herself… she took a deep breath, "Tell me everything you know."

"When I've told you this, know one thing, you have every right to hate me… because I know I do." His tone held a deadly seriousness in it, whatever he knew, he thought she would come to hate him. What happened? Why does he blame himself for it? I need answers… She just gave him a simple nod.

"It began several months ago… the same day Padmé told me she was pregnant. That night I had a vision, one of how she would die…" He clenched his fist and slightly tilted his head down.

"In it she died in childbirth… clearly that wasn't true…"

"What does this have to do with how she died?"

"Like I said before I don't know exactly how she died, that vision eventually drove me over the edge, it came back constantly plaguing me every step." His fist clenched even harder now…

"But it was just a vision… why would you think it would come true? She would've had access to the galaxy's best medical facilities on Coruscant." Why would he go mad about some vision? He seems like a smart person, he must've known that visions don't always mean something.

"From my point of view it wasn't just some vision or dream, it was the future… I had a similar vision once, about my mother… I wasn't fast enough and she died right in my arms… The visions I had of Pamdé dying were the same as the one I had of my mother dying…"

"I still don't understand." Jobal was very lost at this point. "Are you some kind of prophet or something?"

"No, although some think that I am… some think I am the "Chosen One"... the one who would bring balance to the force…"

The force? Is he force sensitive? This explanation is just giving me more questions she thought.

"I am force sensitive… in fact, I have the highest midichlorian count ever recorded… in other words, I am the most powerful force sensitive ever in recorded history." He said it so bluntly, no… there was a hint of resentment in how he said it. Even more questions…

"You've probably tried to figure out who I am… right now I go by Darth Vader, Darth is a title, not my first name. Padmé did not know me by that name, he did not exist two months ago…"

"Yes, I've tried to figure out who you are but I've found nothing. Are you saying that the reason for that is because you've taken a new name?" She knew he was mysterious before but now he is just throwing more mystery on top of everything, Darth is a title, Darth Vader did not exist two months ago? More and more questions and still no answer to the question that started this whole conversation.

"Not exactly, I was given my new name, but yes, you've found nothing about me because this version of myself is very new and not known… especially compared to my previous self…" Again a statement filled with emotions but no answer as to why they accompany it. If she didn't understand his pain about the subject she would surely be irritated by now.

"You have actually met the old version of myself some years ago in…" He stopped suddenly, that was probably not something he'd intended to say. But that little statement made it clear as day, they got married some years ago, it was a secret, he's force sensitive and according to himself was quite famous as his old self.

"Anakin Skywalker…" That was not supposed to have slipped out of her mind, just like his statement. His reaction was a visible one, his head looked straight down at his feet, his hands fell limp on the armrests like the rest of his body.

"That…" He stopped before saying the rest.

"The visions eventually led me to abandon everything in pursuit of a way to save Padmé… in that pursuit I went mad and did things… I hurt her… she'd tried to stop me from what I was doing. My old Jedi Master had snuck aboard her ship and in the state I was in all reason escaped my body, I somehow thought she betrayed me… delusional idiot as I was… the events that followed is the reason I have to be in this suit and live with a respirator…"

Jobal was at a loss of words… he'd hurt her? He'd gone mad? Nothing made sense…

"That is the short version of how it happened, my understanding is this… your daughter is dead because her Jedi husband went mad in an attempt to save her life…"

…

…

…

"Please… say something…"

"Tell me I am a monster…"

"Do anything… hit me… scream at me…"

"Please…" The pain and sorrow oozing out of him was unbearable, can't she just do something? Anything… please.

"Why would I?"

"WHY WOULD YOU NOT!?" His anger came out in full force, why would she not be angry with him? Why would she not hate him? Despise him? How could she not? He'd killed her daughter… it was his fault… he did it…

"You are not a monster…" Her quiet and compassionate tone felt like a burning brand on his heart. "You are one who sacrificed everything for the one you loved… you sacrificed yourself for my daughter. While I might be angry and brokenhearted by the death of my youngest daughter, I could never hate you… someone who gave up everything for the sake of another."

"I AM THE REASON SHE'S DEAD!"

"You hurt her… hurting someone is a whole lot different to killing them." She paused for a moment. "You have the force… I don't completely understand how it works but you can sense it if someone died, no?" He couldn't tell what she wanted with that question, his feelings were overwhelming him making all his senses go numb.

"Yes I can tell if someone dies… but what does that have to do with me killing Padmé." His tears were flowing freely at this point, why can't she just despise him for what he's done? Is this some elaborate way of torturing him, if it was then he deserved it, completely and utterly deserved it. That would also validate what he was thinking of himself after all he's done. But there was no malice in her voice, no hostility in her face… pity… compassion, that is what her voice and face conveyed.

"Did you feel her die when you hurt her?" It was clearly hard for her to say that but it was like she'd just lit a match in an utterly dark room… he'd not felt her die after he'd choked her… he'd felt her very much alive… it wasn't until he was done with the surgery that he felt her absence in the force… she died after Mustafar…

Force choking could cause permanent damage to people but still leave them alive… he hadn't choked her for long enough that there would be any actual damage. She'd fainted of course, but loss of oxygen does that… She died after Mustafar…

"Anakin… they never recovered Padmé's actual body…"

What? Her actual body? The body he saw during the procession wasn't his Angel… but she was there… that was her…

"They used Padmé's double for the funeral, most former and current royals have a fake body that can be used during state funerals. Many royals have in the past used their fake body for a state funeral while their actual body would be buried somewhere else."

Vader was frozen in place just staring at Jobal…

"Don't give me hope… please… it will just turn to ash…"

"I am not trying to give you hope that she's alive, there is an official report stating that she's dead." He felt the pain emanate from Jobal when she said that she did not want to believe it but that she knew it was true. "That report said she died from " the loss of the will to live" which I don't believe for a kriffing second. We don't know why she died."

No… "The loss of the will to live" No… not for a damn second would Padmé lose the will to live, not with their child so close. She would be devastated by what he'd done to her and the galaxy but she wouldn't die from that. Jobal was right, that is a kriffing stupid cause of death.

"You said that in your vision you saw her die in childbirth… maybe she did give birth… I barely dare to hope… my grandchild… your child could be out there alive…"

His child could be alive? His vision about his mother had been correct, if his visions about Padmé's death were the same then… then his child would've been born… Like the shattering of a glass window his world view shattered… his visions hadn't been wrong before, why would they be now? There was a warm feeling coursing through his body…

Hope, he was feeling true hope coursing through his veins. The cold husk that had been recovered from Mustafar had just been invigorated, the only thing that had kept him going these months had been the oath he swore… But now… now he had more than just an oath to live for.

"I have to find them." He'd not meant for it to escape through his mouth but it felt good to say it aloud, and not just confining it to his mind.

"I thought you would say that, there are others searching for Padmé's body and by extension your child… Padmé's handmaidens, I contacted them after the funeral to see if they knew anything… which they didn't. All they'd known was that she'd left in her ship to an undisclosed location… I can contact them and see if they have found anything else."

Vader couldn't express himself right now, it was like he'd gone through a catharsis. He felt like a man made anew. He didn't doubt the skill and expertise of Padmé's handmaidens but they would've most likely found nothing… a plan was beginning to take form in his mind…

The Sister's Husband

"You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them."

Desmond Tutu

Theed Avenue

"Mom?" The question came from her youngest child Pooja, she was looking up at her mother with a quizzical look on her face.

"Yes sweetheart?" She responded calmly looking down at her youngest.

"What did grandma want to tell you on the holocall?" She sighed internally… how was she going to explain this to her? She barely understood it herself, yesterday it was just dinner with her parents, Pooja's grandparents… but now…

"Well, you see sweetheart, she just wanted to say that your uncle is going to be joining us today as well." She did her best to hide her own worry from her little daughter but she knew that she also needed to prepare for the follow up questions that were undoubtedly going to come now.

"Uncle!? We have a uncle! Ryoo, did you know we have a uncle?" She knew that look all too well, especially when it was plastered on Pooja's small face. She was already cooking up some mischievous plan in her mind.

"No, why have you never told us we have a uncle before Mom?" As always Ryoo the elder of the two had a more temperate approach to things, she and Pooja were almost completely different but somehow they made for unusually good siblings… too good at times, the pair of them, 12 and 7 respectively could cook up some intricate schemes at times.

"I did not know either honey. Your grandma was very cryptic about it on the holocall." Jobal hadn't been very forthcoming about this new revelation… and new addition to the family. Why had she not known about him before? Why hadn't Padmé told her about him?

"What does cryptic mean Mom?" Her thoughts were interrupted by Pooja's question, a fair one considering she was still trying to get her head around grammar.

"Well it means, mysterious, something like that. She also said that he's a bit different and that we need to take extra care around him." Jobal had told her very little about him, apparently she didn't want to talk about it over holo. At this point she was just retelling what she herself had been told.

"What do you mean? Why do we have to be careful?" Pooja's expression had turned from the hidden smile of mischief into one of curiosity.

"According to your grandma he's a bit… fragile… he's not your uncle by blood, he was married to your aunt Padmé. I think you can understand why he's not feeling the best right now." That was the best explanation she could give her daughter, it still felt like a spike going through her soul when she thought of Padmé… maybe she could get some answers from her husband?

"Ohhh… I never knew auntie Mé was married… that is so sad…" Pooja looked down towards the ground in a dejected gesture.

Sola took hold of both Pooja and Ryoo by their shoulders and turned them towards her while she crouched to be at the same height as her kids.

"Yes it is, so I want both of you on your best behavior when we meet your uncle. Grandma said she was going to speak to us all before we meet him as well." She wanted to impress on them that it was important that they listened to both her and their grandmother. She then gave them both a look that conveyed that she wanted an acknowledgement from them both that they understood.

"Yes, mom." Ryoo was first to say while Pooja was a bit hesitant. Sola turned her face towards her youngest.

"That goes for you as well Pooja. I can already see those gears turning in your head, I also know when you're excited but this time I need you to really be on your best." To Sola's fortune she saw how Pooja surrendered.

"Okay, mom… I'll behave…" Sola relaxed, sufficiently placated by Pooja's words. Hopefully she would keep to her words, but something made Sola doubt that.

Well she would be lying if she wasn't on some level a bit excited herself, who had her sister married in secret and hid from everyone? She hadn't taken her sister for someone to be in a hidden romance, she'd gotten suspicious when she and her mother figured out that Padmé was pregnant but it had just been that… suspicions… who is this man? Who did Padmé marry in secret?

Theed, the Naberrie's house

She knocked on the door while trying to keep an overly excited Pooja under control. Her mother opened the door and stepped out immediately, closing the door behind her.

"Well look what we have here, my favorite grandchildren!" Jobal exclaimed with a grand smile on her face.

"We're your only grandkids grandma." Pooja answered before jumping to hug her grandma.

"Well that just leaves less competition for you now does it?" Jobal was as always overjoyed whenever they came over to visit.

"You said over the holocall that you wanted to say some things before we went in mom."

Jobal's face turned a bit grim when she said that, that was a clear sign that it was important.

"Yes Sola, I do, listen carefully now, especially you kids. Your uncle is going through a very hard time in his life right now…" Jobal paused, Sola saw how she hadn't had much time to think over what she was going to say, usually her mother was very clear and confident.

"He looks very… scary, but don't judge him for that. He's a normal person no matter how he looks so don't be afraid of him. I understand that it might be difficult but for his sake I really need you to try your best to be welcoming and friendly towards him." A smile grew on Jobal's face. "Who knows, if you behave well, he might even tell you some exciting stories about him and your aunt Padmé."

Sola saw how Pooja was nearly shaking in her small boots out of excitement; she'd always loved hearing about Padmé. Sola had even found her once in the middle of the night watching a speech she was giving to the senate. Ryoo was usually a bit more reserved but Sola could tell that she too was very excited to meet this mysterious uncle.

"Well what do you say we go inside the food is almost done, I bet you're starving." Jobal stated, her smile was cautiously growing seeing both of her grandkids were so excited.

Pooja was the first to take off her boots and quickly marched towards the dining room, Sola became a bit worried when she saw Pooja stop and her jaw essentially fall to the floor when she looked into the dining room. Quickly making her way over to her youngest daughter Sola too was stopped in her tracks when she looked into the dining room.

While she almost immediately understood what was causing it she could understand why Pooja was in awe, the force was a magnificent thing to behold. Cutlery and plates were being floated onto the table neatly organized, Sola had seen the force being used before on the holonet but it was a completely different thing to see it with her own eyes. Unlike Pooja however who was completely enraptured in the magical display in front of her Sola had come to focus on the only other person in the dining room.

So this is the mysterious brother-in-law…

Standing beside the table was a tall man covered completely in a black cloak that only left his head visible. His head was covered completely by a mask… or was it a helmet? It was made out of black polished chromium, the way that it reflected the sunlight was remarkable… well, that's what she thought anyway. In near unison every plate, glass and piece of cutlery were set down on the table gently… she only had one word to describe it with… amazing…

"Wow, that was so cool!" Pooja exclaimed after witnessing the magical display of the force. After saying that she promptly trotted her way up to her mysterious uncle. "How did you do that? That's the coolest thing ever!" Either she was just not afraid of the giant in front of her or she was simply too excited to care which brought a worried smile to Sola's face… Pooja would at least be more inclined to listen to what her grandmother had told her about being welcoming.

"Pooja, what did I say on the way over here?" She gave her a stern look.

"But mom, didn't you see that! That was incredible!" Sola exhaled quietly, although she was quite used to the routine with her children by now it was no less taxing, it'd probably never be something she truly got used to.

"Manners Pooja, introduce yourself first. Then you can ask questions, not the other way around." Pooja seemingly realized from the tone that her mother had adopted that struggling was not a good idea.

"Hello, My name is Pooja, it's nice to meet you." The little girl made her best to contain her excitement in her effort to appease her mother.

Vader was very much out of his depth with the situation unfolding before him. Out of everyone he thought that children would be the last to want to come close to him, even less so want to talk to him. Luckily for him and everyone else Jobal entered the room.

"Wow, how did you manage to set the table so fast? You don't strike me as the quick type." Her surprise was showing clearly on her face, it was in reality a fair assumption to make about Vader as during the majority of the time they'd interacted he could easily be likened to a black monolith. Once again Vader was unable to get his own words out before the conversation was hijacked.

"He used magic! It was so cool! Everything was floating in the air and then it all floated down on the table perfectly, it was amazing!" Once again unable to contain her excitement Pooja was singing the praises of her uncle's fantastic magic of floating things. Vader was growing amused at this point at the energetic display from his young niece… it felt strange… for the past two months he could positively say that he had never felt… warm…

Vader, being off in his own mind, missed the concerned look on Jobal's face when Pooja was clearly describing the force and how Vader had used it. Turning her attention away from her grandchild and to her son-in-law trying to formulate a sentence.

"Should you really be showing… using that? Is it not dangerous for you?" The genuine concern made Vader a bit confused… ohh, yes… she still thought he was a Jedi. That's where the confusion lay.

"No…" Now it was Sola's turn to be concerned, before she had just felt unsettled by his looks but now it was his voice as well. It was clearly a voice modulator, the robotic voice sent a shiver down her spine. Looking over to her mother it was clear that she was not convinced by his short answer, short answers had never worked on Jobal.

"Really? I'm quite sure that it is cause for a great deal of fuss nowadays." Ryoo who had now joined the rest of her family in the dining room was as lost as Pooja, having not seen what the conversation was born out of. There came an audible sigh from Vader.

"For others? Most likely… for me? No."

"Why would it not be for you as well?" Sola jumped in the conversation, she knew very well why her mother was asking. Sola was very curious about this brother-in-law who seemingly felt completely safe utilizing the force in a manner only possible by those thoroughly trained in it. Or in more simple terms, only possible for Jedi.

"Does this have to do with your "old" and "new" version of yourself that you were talking about yesterday." Her mother had jumped in before he'd answered Sola's question.

"Yes, it does… I don't particularly want to talk about that."

Sola felt very confused at this point, almost on par with her children who were woefully lost trying to understand what the adults were talking about. This would certainly not be an uneventful family gathering.

Late Evening

Sola and her children had arrived a bit after midday and even from the start it had been an interesting time. Ryoo and Pooja had gone to bed now and it was just Sola, her parents and her brother-in-law who she'd now come to know as Vader were in the living room trying to relax now that the kids were asleep. Pooja had seemingly found an endless wellspring of energy along the way to her parents house the way she had been inseparable from Vader asking him every question under the sun. Sola had been worried initially but was positively surprised by how Vader handled Pooja's interrogation.

He hadn't joined them in eating saying that he was unable to because of an accident in the past, she was pretty sure that he regretted saying that after having suffered through the unending barrage of questions that had followed from Pooja. In truth, Sola had been quite embarrassed by how Pooja was acting, the only other one that had seemingly been able to get in a word between Pooja's endless questions had been Ryoo. The day had essentially been Pooja drilling Vader for any information possible and quite frankly she felt completely spent… but with all the adults in one room, it was now her turn to ask the questions.

"Now that the kids are asleep… I'd like the full story, who are you?." There was definitely something that neither Vader nor her parents had been comfortable talking about with Ryoo and Pooja around. Sola had hoped that they would've started the conversation but they had seemingly been reluctant to do so.

"Do you really?" Vader was staring out of the window not moving. "It's not a very happy story." His voice was singular and monotone, nothing to give any hint whatsoever of what he was thinking or feeling.

"Yes, I would very much like to hear about the brother-in-law who I've never met nor heard of until today. I don't really care if it is a happy story, I've already lost my baby sister so there are exceedingly few things left that can make me feel sad." She'd grown frustrated. It'd been gnawing at her heels during the entire day. "Who are you? You've got Jedi powers but seem to be the antithesis of what they were, you're the person my baby sister decided to marry and start a family with. I would very much like to know who you are."

Vader rotated slightly to look at her after she'd somewhat vented her frustrations that'd been piling up. Sola's parents were simply looking between the two.

"You've met me once before… three years ago…"

"What? Where've we met before, I feel confident that my memory is still working quite well. I would've definitely remembered you, you're not exactly unforgettable." Sola was utterly confused, she would've never forgotten someone like Vader if she'd ever seen them and especially not if they'd met.

"I was assigned to your sister as her bodyguard… it was in this very house that we met."

"Wait… you're that boy who came with her right before the start of the war." She was staring dumbfounded at him, Vader and that boy were two completely different people in her mind. One was a teenager and the other was an ominous giant. "Yeah I don't believe that for one second."

"She was wearing a light blue dress that exposed her stomach and back, she had a headband in matching colour which held back her curly hair." That was an eerily accurate description of what she'd been wearing that day… is this really the same boy she'd brought home that day? Vader felt… older, he really exuded the air of an older experienced man, but maybe it was just the height?

"If you need more convincing I also remember you teasing Padmé… "Did you know Anakin, you're the first boyfriend my sister's ever brought home." I think those were your exact words in fact."

Ok, they're definitely the same. But how?

"Two months ago I was… in an accident… This suit is sadly not only for the look, without it I wouldn't be able to survive for very long." Finally there was a hint of emotion in his synthetic voice… sadness… Sola sighed deeply, this was going to be a long night.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to need the long story to get my head around this."

Author's Note:

Hello, the chapter took a bit longer to make than usual. I wanted to put a lot of things in this chapter but then it would've probably ended up being insanely long, the second part is 2820 words long making it the longest chapter part I've written so far. Decided that it would be better to leave it a bit more open with unanswered questions like the exact reason why Vader was there. If you're disappointed about there being no real interaction between Vader and his nieces then don't worry, that's on its way. And no Vader is not going to be whacking more kids with his lightsaber.

Hopefully I created a plausible scenario for Padmé's funeral with the whole fake body and as I said in the previous author's note it was pretty convenient that I forgot to fix that plot hole.

As always thanks for reading my story and I do hope that you are enjoying it as much as I enjoy writing it :)