Padmé smiled at the Governor’s wife, “Just two.”

“She greatly resembles you.”

“Yes.” Padmé was about to add ‘not like her Father at all’ when she remembered that these people were under the impression that Bail, her husband of almost two years, was Leia’s Father. Bail’s wife had died of illness shortly before the Clone Wars and, after that time, Padmé and he become closer, due to the fact they were both on Coruscant more often and were united in their distrust of the then Supreme Chancellor. She had not thought about him romantically until during the time he greatly supported her after her husband’s fall to the Dark Side. She had never thought she could be in love again, but she was; deeply so. She would never forget the young Jedi who stole her heart, but the pain was getting more distant every day…

It appeared that Vader wasn’t too interested in her-‘Not yet’ a pessimistic part of her supplied- as it was well-known that she had married Bail, who, even if he was no longer a Senator, was still Alderaanian royalty and an advisor and close friend of the Empire-appointed Governor and Vader had not attempted to even contact her in any form. She was still suspicious; surely Vader must have realised that, given the timing of things, Leia was his. Perhaps he wasn’t interested in a child. Or perhaps Leia wasn’t powerful enough for him to be concerned with. Whatever the case; she kept her guard up.

She and the Governor’s wife watched as Bail chased Leia across the lawn, scooping her up and lifting her upside down. The little girl- dressed in a lilac dress, with lilac flowers wound into her chocolate-brown hair- squealed in delight.

Bail set her upon his shoulders and came over to Padmé, grinning, “I appeared to have picked up a passenger. Do you happen to recognise her?”

Affecting a thoughtful look, Padmé replied, “No…I can’t say I do.”

“Mommy!” Leia gasped.

“’Mommy’?” Bail put on an exaggerated frown, “That name seems familiar…”

“Don’t be silly!” Leia said, tapping the top of his head sharply, “That’s Mommy!”

She pointed to Padmé, who put a hand to her chest in mock-surprise, “Goodness! Is that my little Leia? I thought it was a Princess!”

“I am a Princess!” Leia said, lifting her chin up in an attempt to look dignified.

“Well, then-“ Bail pulled Leia off his shoulders suddenly, dipping her towards a nearby pond, “-I suppose I’ll get into trouble for putting you in here!”

“Daddy! No!” Leia laughed. Surrounding guests chuckled as Leia proceeded to thoroughly scold Bail.

Padmé smiled, taking a sip from her glass of Nectarwine. As she watched the by-play, she found herself pondering her other child; her little Luke. A holopic from an ‘anonymous source’ had been sent to her personal mailbox on the twins’ second birthday, depicting Luke- who the caption accompanying the image said ’looks more like his Father every day’- standing on top of a rock in what appeared to be the middle of the desert, smiling, his blonde hair windswept.

‘One day, son.’ She thought, taking another sip of wine, ‘One day we shall meet.’

“I want a Holovid!” Luke complained, pouting.

Obi-Wan handled the transaction for the fruit and vegetables he had purchased, shouldered his pack and picked Luke up, perching him on his hip, “You got twenty Holovids for your birthday, Luke.” He paused and rolled his eyes, “At least.”

“I like Space Pirates!” Luke protested, scowling fiercely.

“You have volumes one to eleven. That’s almost the entire series, my young friend.”

“I want them all!”

Obi-Wan pulled up his hood as he stepped out of the marketplace; it looked like a sandstorm was brewing.

He pulled up Luke’s hood, tapping him on the nose, “’I want’ never gets.”

“Not fair.”

‘Oh no.’ Obi-Wan thought, staring at the expression on Luke’s face, ‘Anything but the patented ‘Skywalker sad face.’’

He rarely denied Anakin anything when he used that face. With Luke, it was ten times worse, given the fact that he was an extremely cute toddler with Padmé’s stubborn streak.

After a minute of Luke sniffling pathetically; he gave in, “Look; if you’re a good boy and complete all of your lessons, I’ll get you Volume 13 next week. Alright?”

Luke immediately brightened, giving Obi-Wan a wet kiss on the cheek, “Love you, Obi.”

“Hmmm, you say that now.” He raised an eyebrow, “And remember, you have to complete your lessons first before I get you anything.”

Luke raised an eyebrow, mimicking Obi-Wan’s expression perfectly, “Force’s easy.”

Obi-Wan chuckled; eliciting strange looks from a group of women stood gossiping on a street corner. He was known as a ‘crazy hermit’ in the towns, so people rarely talked to him. He couldn’t say he was fussed; it was less likely someone would recognise him if he talked to nobody.

“Easy…I don’t know; if I’d had said that to Master Yoda he’d have bashed my shins in!”

“Were you bad?” Luke asked.

“Bad? No. A little angry for a Jedi, maybe.”

“Really?” Luke looked astonished.

“Really.”

Luke looked at him critically for a moment before flinging his arms around his neck, “I think you’re the bestest Jedi ever.”

“And how many Jedi have you met?”

“You and…” Luke frowned, “I’ve seen pictures of more Jedi. You look like the best.”

“Oh well, if I look the best…” They reached their speeder- one of two Obi-Wan owned; this one being the older and therefore less likely to get stolen on trips to Mos Espa- and Obi-Wan dropped Luke into the passenger seat.

He went around to the driver’s side, “Belt up, scamp; we don’t want you to go flying out if I have to stop suddenly.”

“Like a podrace!” Luke exclaimed.

“A lot safer.” Obi-Wan murmured, starting the engine.

“Can I enter a podrace?” Luke asked, looking hopeful.

There was no hesitation in Obi-Wan’s reply, “No. You’re two-and-a-half years old.”

“When I’m big?”

“No.”

“But-“

“No. Do you want that Holovid?” Not waiting for a reply- he knew what the answer would be- he continued, “Because you’re certainly not behaving like you do.”

Luke stuck out his tongue.

Obi-Wan mirrored the gesture- earning him an indignant look from his young charge- and swerved out into the street.

‘Oh, fuck off. I have a headache the size of Coruscant’s pleasure district and I haven’t slept in days.’ If he had said that- as he very much wanted to-, the Captain would’ve probably reported to the Emperor that he was mentally unstable.

He embraced his annoyance, smirking beneath his mask when dark power made his fingertips tingle. Maybe he could find someone to choke later. No, he had better not; his Master would probably rant at him if he randomly killed someone without a reason. A nice bit of Force-lightning couldn’t hurt, though, could it?

“Yes, Captain?” He turned to face the Captain, who visibly flinched at his tone, which promised death- if not to him, but some unfortunate ensign- in the near future.

“The Governor of Naboo’s ship has just docked.”

“Very well. Take me to him.”

The Captain gave a small bow and led him out of the bridge and along the corridor of the Executor. As they walked, thoughts of Naboo soon brought him on to thoughts of Skywalker’s ex-wife. He knew she’d married that idiot Bail Organa and had a child. He couldn’t say he was all that bothered (and why should he bothered; she was only the wife of his pitiful former self?). Intimate relationships were not productive to the Empire and unnecessary for a Sith. The doubts about the choices he had made, which had hindered him in the first few months of the Empire’s formation, no longer existed; he was fully loyal to the Empire, even if, sometimes he disagreed with the Emperor.

The Captain came to stop in front of a door that Vader knew led to a comfortable lounge that served a waiting room for the ship’s guests. The doors opened with a hiss and Vader followed the Captain into the room. He had sensed a slight nervousness from the people inside the room before he had entered, but when they saw him the nervousness grew into deliciously powerful fear.

‘My reputation precedes me.’ He thought, darkly amused.

“Governor Meyers, this Lord Vader.” Vader didn’t see the point in introductions- it was pretty obvious who he was- but it was considered ‘polite’ so he went along with it.

The Governor stood, extending a shaking hand.

As a well-trained politician- the Emperor would not have instated him if he was any less than that- he did not let his fear show in his voice, “Pleased to meet you, Lord Vader.”

Vader stared at the proffered hand as if it was contaminated. Realising the Sith wasn’t going to touch him, the Governor quickly withdrew his hand.

“I’m sure.” Vader replied coolly, “You are here to discuss the possibility of building an Imperial Academy?”

“Yes.” Vader followed the Governor back to the couches. Meyers’ assistants fell over themselves trying to get out ofhis way.

“I admit that an Academy on Naboo would be profitable; there isn’t one in nearby systems. The Emperor would surely agree, as it is his own planet.” Vader tapped his chin thoughtfully, “If I remember correctly, you suggested the Academy be in Theed?”

The Governor nodded, eyeing Vader carefully, as if expecting him to pounce.

“Might I suggest you locate it in the lake district of the planet? That way, the Academy students would not be affected by the distractionsTheedoffers. A larger Academy could be built away from the city. Not to mention that the mountains would provide ample protection from the ridiculous Rebellion that has recentlyformed.”

The Governor nodded, mulling over the words, “That is a good suggestion, Lord Vader. I…not that it would be anything but good.” Vader rolled his eyes as the Governor’s cheeks turned an interesting shade of magenta, standing out against his pale face.

“You seem to know Naboo, well, my Lord.” One of the assistants remarked. The Governor went very pale, staring at the assistant in horror.

Vader would’ve usually have choked the bastard, but his headache had just increased to a throbbing migraine and he wanted to get this thing over with.

He pierced the assistant with an icy stare, “I spent time on the planet in my youth.”

The assistant gulped, “Oh…er, my Lord.”

The Governor looked surprised that Vader ever had a ‘youth’. Like most Imperials he was around, he seemed to believe that Vader just popped out of the ground.

If only they knew. Vader snorted to himself as he left one of his assistants to provide the Governor with the contact details of people he would need to speak to now Vader had given his permission.

‘I’m younger than most of the officers that serve under me.’ Vader realised, mildly irritated the thought had not occurred to him before. He walked to his quarters, his cape billowing out behind him. Once he was alone, he pressed his fingers to his forehead, sighing when the healing Force-energy dispersed his headache. He could have done it hours ago, but he didn’t want to do it in front of his men. They needed to respect him and to respect him, he could not show weakness. A snide little part of his brain- that sounded too much like his ten-year-old self for his liking- pointed out that ‘feared’ was a better word than ‘respected’ to describe how his men felt about him.

It was probably that blasted bond with that bastard Kenobi affecting his brain. Tentatively, he reached out to brush the surface of the bond with his mind. He felt Kenobi’s jolt of shock and promptly met a set of reinforced mental shields.

Over two years and Kenobi and that stupid green troll still eluded him! Damn it; he wanted Kenobi in his grasp! He wanted to have the fucker helpless; screaming for mercy, begging at his feet…He needed him.

‘I most certainly do not need him! Nor do I want him for anything other than to slaughter him.’

Kenobi in front of him on his knees…

‘Oh Force.’ He willed himself to think about anything but that image, which had implanted itself firmly in the forefront of his mind.

He fumbled for his comlink, hurriedly typing in the code for his personal assistant.

“Yes, Lord Vader?”

“I need a….the next planet we pass get me a pleasure worker! No, wait; get two. One male and one female.”

“Certainly, my Lord.” His assistant was used to his spontaneous requests for company. He made these requests whenever he had these ridiculous urges to find Kenobi and kiss him to within an inch of his life.

“Any particular looks?”

Nothing like Kenobi.

“Any colour hair except copper or blonde. No green or blue eyes. Make sure they’re tall.”

“Right aw-“ He threw the comlink across the room before his assistant could finish.

Later, he would take out his sexual frustration on some attractive young prostitutes, but until they arrived- he walked across the room to the ‘fresher- a cold shower would have to do.

“There is a dark time ahead for the Republic and the Jedi Order, Ani. Darker than any of us ever imagined.”

“One day, Obi-Wan; Anakin Skywalker will live again...I promise you.”

THE END