Admiral Piett stood near the door of Darth Vader's private medbay and tried to control the nervous tic in his left eye. Darth Vader was seated in a large chair, built to support his considerable weight, while a droid worked on his damaged arm. The two prisoners (from the future?) were sitting on a simple bench a meter away from the Sith, with Skywalker closer to the cyborg. Leia Organa was leaning slightly against her brother, her face pale. Maybe she felt the weight of what was happening? Skywalker certainly didn't seem too perturbed.
"Your prosthetic looks like Clone Wars vintage," Luke Skywalker commented, staring intensely at the mechanical hand currently floating a few centimeters from the Sith's right arm. "Isn't it heavy?"
Firmus Piett bit the inside of his lip to keep from snapping at the young man. How dare he seem so calm in the presence of Darth Vader? How dare he make rude comments about his superior's prosthetics?
Why was Piett here in Lord Vader's private medical bay anyway? It somehow didn't seem likely that he and the four troopers standing guard could do anything particularly helpful to control the pair of Force users from the future, who had rudely shown up in time to help the Millennium Falcon, carrying the injured Luke Skywalker, escape into hyperspace.
"You are here, Admiral, because I require your assistance with our guests," Darth Vader intoned, and Piett barely suppressed a shiver. He usually did a good job of hiding his emotions and thoughts, but apparently today he was doing a lousy job. As if he wasn't already going to die already.
"You will not die," Vader continued unnervingly. "As to your question, youngish Skywalker, yes, my prosthetics are heavy, but they are also tough and well built."
The Rebel from the future looked disapproving. "I know they don't feel good. You ought to get some more modern prosthetics that are lighter and fit better. You'd probably not strangle your officers so often if you weren't in continual pain."
"Luke!" Leia Organa suddenly said, and Piett and four blasters turned in the woman's direction.
Luke Skywalker looked around frantically and a moment later, Darth Vader's cloak, which he had removed and hung on a handy hook, flew through the air and into the princess's bound hands. A moment after that, the woman leaned forward and vomited copiously onto the black material.
The blasters wobbled in shock at this incredible blasphemy, and Skywalker was abruptly on his feet and blocking any direct shots at his sister. "Sorry about that, everyone. Leia's pregnant and prone to throwing up at inconvenient times, and there weren't any convenient towels. You Ok, twin?"
Organa made a disgusted face and winced as her binders clattered casually onto the floor. "I need some water..."
Piett was too flummoxed by this to know quite what to say or do. His troopers raised their blasters further, whereupon all four weapons crumpled loudly into smoking balls.
"Piett, stay. Troopers, leave," Vader boomed.
The troopers who had been staring down in bewilderment at their now useless weapons, clattered out of the room as fast as they could without losing their dignity. Actually, they looked thoroughly undignified, but Piett couldn't blame them.
"Piett, order some water for the princess," Vader directed.
"Moof juice would be better, or blue milk," Luke Skywalker suggested helpfully as he divested himself of his own binders with freaky Force magic. "Both are easier on the stomach."
Piett silently, wearily, gloomily marched over to the food and drink dispenser and ordered both blue milk and moof juice for his female captive. Nominal captive. Sixty seconds later, both cups had arrived. Naturally the kitchens were programmed to attend to Lord Vader first, even if the man couldn't actually eat anything.
Piett handed over the drinks to the woman, who nodded gratefully, and then rooted around in a cupboard for a towel, which he solemnly proffered.
"Thank you, Admiral," Leia Organa replied, taking the towel. The now very disgusting cloak wrapped itself into a tidy ball and floated gracefully into a convenient corner. "Sorry about the cloak, Lord Vader. I hope you have more."
"I'm sure he does," Skywalker said impatiently. "Are you Ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Organa responded with a grimace. "I probably shouldn't have done that double flip in the hanger."
"Show off."
"Hey, can I help it that I'm way more flexible than you are?"
"That's no great surprise. I may be short, but you are tiny."
The Sith, who had been staring at the two prisoners with unnerving fascination, now demanded, "Why don't you hate me, Princess?"
The woman pursed her lips thoughtfully and tilted her head. "To be honest, I do loathe the current manifestation of you, but I've met other versions of you and rather liked some of them, and had sympathy with others. I mean, if nothing else, you have a very edgy back story."
"Edgy?" Skywalker demanded, one eyebrow flying up.
"Yes, edgy," the woman responded, wiping her mouth again with the towel. "I mean, he spent formative years on Tatooine. That's enough to make anyone's backstory a little edgy."
"That is so true," Skywalker agreed, rolling his eyes dramatically.
"Tatooine?" Piett blurted out, and then clenched his teeth. Why was he speaking up?
"Do not even get my brother started on Tatooine, Admiral," Leia Organa suggested brightly. "He can ramble on for literally hours about how Tatooine is boring, and hot, and parched, and sandy..."
"I don't like sand! It's coarse and rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere!" Skywalker proclaimed dramatically.
Vader, whose prosthetic had just been reattached, jolted at this remark, causing Piett to retreat a centimeter.
"Luke, behave yourself," Organa ordered, and then turned to the Sith with a look of determination on her beautiful face. "So, Vader, now is the time to start making good decisions. It is obvious that neither Luke nor I turned to the Dark Side. I assure you it isn't happening in this timeline either. So are you going to kill your own children, or are you..."
"Leia," Skywalker interrupted with a warning glance at Piett.
Piett found himself the focused attention of all three Force users, and lifted a defiant chin. "I assure you, Commander Skywalker, that I gathered the nature of your relationship with Lord Vader some minutes ago."
"He is smart," Organa stated, bestowing an approving smile on the Admiral. "Back to you, Alter Father. You aren't really all that ambitious, you know. Palpatine turned to the Dark Side because he wanted to rule the galaxy, which more or less happened. You turned to the Dark Side to save Padme, and failed miserably. Now you are just sticking with Palpatine because..."
"You know nothing about me!" Vader thundered, rising to his full height as everything in the room rattled. "Nothing!"
The twins rose as well and to Piett's incredulity, both took a step closer to the enraged Sith. He was so much taller than his captives that they had to crane to look into his face, but their postures spoke of a total lack of intimidation.
"I would say we know you better than you know yourself, Father," Luke Skywalker said, his tone sympathetic. "We have met 9 year old Anakin, and 19 year old Anakin, and 22 year old Anakin, and 22 year old Vader. We know that Palpatine manipulated you from a young age to trust him. We know that you loved our mother to the ends of the galaxy and back, and that you would have gladly given your life to save hers."
"We also know that Palpatine killed Padme," Leia Organa said flatly.
The medbay shook again, this time so furiously that a few instruments fell to the floor.
"No! No, that is not true! I ... I..."
"You didn't kill Padme, Father," Leia Organa said, and reached forward her tiny hands to grasp the large cybernetic fingers. "We know that. We've been to Polis Massa, where we were born, twice, and saved her both times. You were dying from the lava of Mustafar, and Palpatine tapped into the Force bond between you and Mother and drained her life Force to sustain yours. He killed her, not you."
The cyborg shifted back a step, his great body swaying. "Impossible. I am the one who ... who..."
"Attacked her, yes," Skywalker said, "and let me tell you that if we ever get thrown back to Mustafar, I'll throat punch you if you do that to our mother. But you didn't kill her. You didn't even do any real damage. That was all Palpatine. Now I know that enrages you, which is reasonable, but don't break anything here. Think! He destroyed Mother and effectively destroyed our family. What are you gonna do? Keep working for the viper, or find a way to kill him off?"
Piett waited until black dots started swimming in his vision, whereupon he realized that he had been holding his breath. Very very very quietly, he began breathing again. He needed oxygen, after all.
"What is your plan?" Vader finally demanded.
/
Millennium Falcon
Temporary med bay
"Poor Luke," Leia sighed, pulling her newly discovered twin brother's blanket up to his chin. The battered young man had fainted when Mara had confirmed his paternity, and was back in bed with a bacta drip and pain killers in his arm. "He has always totally idolized his father, and to discover that Vader used to be Anakin Skywalker – it has to be totally devastating."
Mara shot a sidelong glance at her Alter sister-in-law. "You are taking the news surprisingly well. I don't think my Leia was quite so sanguine."
Leia shrugged. "I'm in denial. Not that I doubt your words; I just refuse to think about it now."
Mara nodded with understanding. "That makes sense. Realistically, your paternity matters because you are a Force sensitive like Vader who rivals his power, but I also know you were very close to the Organas. I think a big part of Luke's struggle is that while the Lars loved him, his uncle, in particular, didn't understand him and indeed was a little afraid of him, so he..."
"Wait a minute," Leia interrupted, her gaze fixed on her companion's face. "Did you say that I rival Vader's power?"
Mara blinked at her. "Yes. I mean, you are, biologically, his child..."
"I am not a Force sensitive!"
Mara rolled her eyes. "Of course you are. Indeed, that is how you heard Luke calling for you from that weather vane."
Now the princess of Alderaan was pale. "But even if ... I can imagine Luke being as powerful, but me? I mean, your Leia, is she...?
"She is a Jedi," Mara explained gently, "though not as advanced as Luke because she is more involved in politics, plus she is mother to three and pregnant..."
This caused Leia to shriek in astonishment before turning a guilty eye on her brother, who continued to slumber determinedly. "Three plus kids? Who is the father?"
"Solo, of course," Mara returned with a grin. "In our timeline, you and Luke and the gang had to retrieve Solo from Jabba the Hutt in about a year, but of course you got him back. My Leia actually killed Jabba – she is known as Hutt slayer."
"That. Is. Awesome!"
"Yeah, it is. You might want to make time to take down Jabba someday but like I said, we should be able to retrieve Solo on Eriadu."
"Good, but back to me. I still can't believe that I, well ... Vader has such power!"
"He does," agreed Mara, tapping her chin judiciously, "but you are his children and more than that, his twin children. The Luke of my timeline actually beat Vader in their final fight, though I suspect Vader was a bit distracted, but it isn't just that; you and Luke together are more than double your individual abilities. The twin connection means that when you work alongside one another, there is an extra factor. Frankly, you two could take over the galaxy if you felt like it."
Leia Organa felt herself pale, and she pulled her arms closer to herself. "That is horrible! Luke and I believe in democracy!"
"Yes, and while you can credit your respective parents and guardians in teaching you well, part of that is from Padme Amidala, I have no doubt. Your Force Sensitivity is from Anakin Skywalker, but your general enthusiasm for fairness and freedom is from her. Never forget that, Leia. You are far more than Vader's daughter – you are Padme's as well, and she was amazing."
Leia shivered. "My father said the same thing, but how did she get involved with ... him?"
"They were married, and it was complicated. We three time travelers have met Anakin Skywalker many times and he had a rough life, including being a slave during his formative years, and ..."
"A slave? Vader?"
"Yes, and his mother was murdered horribly by Tusken Raiders on Tatooine, and the Jedi were idiots in many ways, and Palpatine was manipulative. It's not an excuse, but I hope it is a comfort. You and Luke had far healthier childhoods plus in my timeline, you both sensibly got married to people who won't let you get away with a bunch of bantha poodoo."
Leia took a few deep breaths and nodded. "That makes sense. Where is the Mara of this timeline?"
Mara leaned back and closed her eyes, thinking hard, and then sat up. "She's currently assassinating an Imperial Governor on Corellia. I was snatched from my home as a very small child and raised to serve the Empire, so the Mara of this timeline is pretty much a mess at this point."
Leia's eyes filled and she patted her alter sister in law sympathetically. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah, it stunk, but I'm happy now. Tired, but happy. We have three kids and they keep us grounded too. There is nothing like being barfed on to make you realize that while you might be one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy, you still have to clean up after a vomiting toddler."
