City of Xifos

Siskeen

Far Outer Rim Territories

Year 19 of the Empire

The Imperial agent was tall, thin, and remarkably well dressed in a gray synthsilk tunic and trousers.

He was probably taking credits on the side somehow.

"She's in suite 43B, my Lord," the man said respectfully.

Vader was aware of a dull throb of surprise, "She?"

A nod.

"Yes, my lord. The individual in question is a female, age approximately 45 standard years."

A holopad was extended, and Vader took it apathetically. A quick glance showed numerous files on the mysterious Dalam Enterprises, but he quickly found, and opened, the file on the building under at his feet. He had landed his shuttle on the roof of this completely unassuming building a few minutes ago, met the agent, and was now prepared to fulfill his mission. There were two exits from suite 43B but Vader anticipated no problems from a middle aged female and any miscellaneous non-combatant minions.

With a silent nod to the agent, Vader stalked toward the nearby stairs, disdaining the elevator.

It was hard to believe that his Master had sent him on such a pointless mission, so far from the Core Worlds. He hated it, loathed it, felt ashamed by it.

Which was, of course, why he was here, ordered to collect a high ranking member of the mysterious company which had succeeded in either controlling or strongly influencing a surprising number of supply companies in the Far Outer Rim. The leader of Dalam Enterprises, as yet unidentified, had garnered sufficient influence that Palpatine had decreed the entire enterprise must be brought under Imperial control, and had sent Vader to close the deal, which was a ridiculous use of his talents, but ...

He had failed his Master, again. And after the usual round of Force Lightning, had been sent to fulfill a minor task which was entirely beneath him. Palpatine had grown increasingly creative in his punishments of late.

But no matter. He would march in, collect the woman and the necessary files, march out, and blow up the building for good measure. In and out. Quick and slick. Back to his ship the Devastator in orbit, and on to more palatable tasks, like hunting down vagrant Jedi. The woman would presumably provide the necessary information about the true head of Dalam Enterprises with sufficient pressure. Vader hardly cared; he had minions who could deal with that aspect of the operation.

He stepped gloomily into the corridor and glanced up and down it. Suite 43B was ... this way.

He stalked toward the door, opened it with an impatient push with the Force, and marched through irritably.

The room was like thousands of other rooms – medium sized, stocked with cheap furniture, with four holoterminals.

It had but one occupant, a woman, dark haired piled elaborately high, who was facing an outer window, talking with animation into a headset.

"No, that is not acceptable. You'll need to ..."

The woman turned at the sound of the Dark Lord's breathing.

Vader's hand suddenly opened, the holopad falling to hit the ground.

His remaining blood froze.

The woman was ... the woman was ...

"Padme?"

Padme's eyes widened, "Anakin?!"

Then ...

"No, not you," clearly to the individual at the other end of the holocall, "I need to go now. Deal with the Hutt and we'll proceed from there ..."

"I'm sorry," she mouthed toward Vader, who was too stunned to move so much as a millimeter.

"No," Padme said irritably, her eyes still fixed on the Dark Lord, "I have to go right now. My ex-husband just walked through the door. Yes. Long story. Look, Grento, I'm not always going to be able to hold your lekku during situations like this. You just need to Twi'lek up and deal with him. Be firm. Don't stare him directly in the eyes but keep your posture confident. You'll be fine!"

The former queen of Naboo cast her com aside and took a step forward, her mouth widening into its glorious smile.

"Anakin! This is a surprise! How long has it been? Well, I do know. 19 years!"

"Padme?" Vader croaked again.

"Yes, Anakin, it is indeed me. How you've ah ... grown, I guess. You were tall at 23 and now you are taller! That's impressive, though I have to admit that I am not fond of the unremitting black armor. It seems like just a bit much ..."

But here the woman tilted her head to one side and chuckled in a self deprecating manner, "Not that I'm one to talk, right? I look back to those outfits and make-up I wore as Queen of Naboo and I cringe. Wow, talk about a fashion disaster! Oh well, that was long ago, when we were both young."

"Padme?" Vader asked for the third time.

Padme frowned now and took a step forward to lay a delicate hand on Vader's prosthetic hand, "Ani, are you all right? You keep saying 'Padme?' like you don't recognize me. You do, right? Your former wife? We were married a long time ago. Remember? Why don't you sit down and rest a bit."

The hulking Sith found himself being drawn over to the largest chair in the room by his wife (former wife?), where he sat down carefully.

The chair groaned but held.

"Well, at least it didn't break, Ani," Padme said cheerfully, sitting down next to him, "You really are huge! Not fat, of course, just big. So how are you?"

"You're dead, Padme," Vader intoned solemnly.

She frowned, "Uh, no. No, not dead at all. Why would you think I was dead?"

"Because ... because I, because I ..."

The slightly wrinkled brow smoothed.

(She was still gorgeous and glorious and amazing, even 20 years older than when he last saw her.)

"Oh, because you choked me?"

She reached out now and patted his arm reassuringly, her eyes solemn, "You didn't do any permanent damage, Anakin. I admit ... I admit it took years of counseling to work through it but I've forgiven you. It is a tragedy that our marriage failed so dramatically but at this point I have come to terms with it. You always were a shooting star, Anakin. I was foolish to imagine that you could ever be tied down with a wife and family."

The great helmet shook his head, wanting to argue the underlying assumptions of this speech, but he was too discombobulated to mutter more than, "Palpatine told me ... he told me ... that I killed you!"

The fine eyes sparked now, "Really? So what you are saying, Ani, is that Sheev Palpatine lied to you? What a shock! He was the consummate conniving politician and he managed to deceive the very best of the Jedi council, not to mention me, countless times. No surprise that he deceived you too. Maybe it was for the best. You chose to move on and having to think about an ex-wife was probably not what you wanted to cope with after your injuries, which I gather were substantial."

"Ex-wife?" he repeated numbly. "You divorced me?"

Padme looked startled, "No, of course not, Anakin. I just assumed you had divorced me since, you know, you are second in command of the galaxy. But I guess if you thought I was dead you wouldn't have bothered. Well, it won't take much time for you to get the divorce finalized, I'm sure, so don't worry about it. The judges are under Imperial control and I won't protest, of course. I realized a long time ago you refused to be restricted by me in any way."

He opened his mouth to protest, but at that moment the com signaled.

Padme turned with a frown and glanced at the incoming message, then her eyes widened slightly.

"I need to take this!" she exclaimed with a smile, even as she reassumed the ear piece.

"Luke, darling, where are you?" she said with a joyful smile.

A pause.

"That's wonderful, my dear. I'm happy it worked out, not that I understand all this mechanical jargon. Can you get here right away? I have a huge surprise for you ... Ok ... Ok ... Great. I'll see you in five minutes. I love you."

She took the ear piece off and smiled at her estranged husband, "Sorry, Ani, but I want you to meet Luke as soon as possible."

He thought now that had never felt such a combination of jealousy, rage, and grief in his entire life, not even when he had risen from his bed of shame and agony enclosed in black armor.

"So you've found someone else," he said, his voice trembling through the vocoder in spite of himself.

Her eyebrows raised, "Someone else? What do you mean, Anakin?"

He rose to his feet, "This Luke individual. A ... a husband? A boyfriend?"

A look of indignation stormed across her face, "Don't be disgusting, Anakin. Luke is our son!"

The hidden mouth opened, closed, opened, closed, then opened again.

"Our ... our son?" he finally croaked incredulously.

Padme looked very concerned, "Anakin, is your, ah, memory quite intact? You do remember I was pregnant right before you left me, don't you?"

He gazed at her for a long moment before gasping, "The child lived?"

Comprehension, and compassion, filled that gorgeous countenance.

"Oh, I see, I suppose since you thought you killed me you thought ... Oh, Anakin. I'm sorry. If I had thought you were carrying that burden I would have sent you a quick holomessage long ago. I just assumed you knew ... yes, Luke is healthy."

The door slid open now, and Vader turned in disbelief as a young man stormed in, a youth with dark blond hair and blazing blue eyes.

Without so much as a glance at Vader, the boy swept forward, picked up Padme, and swung her around.

"Mother, you wouldn't believe how fast she went. We were skimming the canyon, and nearly dipped into the river! We were so low that my R2 unit was wet when we stopped. You should have heard him fussing! It was fabulous. The wind shears were amazing ..."

Padme was laughing now, her face alight with amusement, "I'm glad it went well, darling, but I have someone very important for you to meet now."

She grabbed her son's arm and turned him toward Vader, who stood in awed disbelief.

"Luke, this is Lord Darth Vader, formerly Anakin Skywalker. Your father."

The expressive eyes grew wide with amazement, followed by a tremulous smile, "Really?"

"Yes, my dear, really. Ani, your son."

Vader, as if in a trance, held out a hand in a long discarded gesture of greeting, and Luke reached out with both hands to clasp the prosthetic fingers.

"It's an honor to meet you, sir," Luke said in a respectful tone, "This is truly a ... a surprise."

The com beeped again. Padme glanced at it irritably, then her eyes widened.

"Stars, him again! This day is non-stop!"

She glanced at her son, "Luke, I need to take this. Can you please chat with your father for a few minutes while I get this straightened out? Oh, and holoterminal 3 is acting up, so can you fix it when you get a chance?"

She snatched the com again and forced the ear piece in, "You'd better be submitting that payment, Lutz, like right now! You are two days late and I don't permit late payments, as you well know. So unless you want to find yourself without that energy contract, I suggest ..."

She was walking away during this diatribe and now disappeared behind a door into an adjacent room, leaving Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, with his son.

He stared at the boy, who gazed back apologetically, "I'm sorry, sir. Today has been super busy and Mom's been having a problem with a Togruta supplier of shielding components; she doesn't allow late payments."

"That is wise," was the first thing that came out of Vader's mouth.

The youth nodded even as he walked over to one of the holoterminals, "Yeah, I guess. She's tough on people – tougher than a Tatooian sand burger – but she has lots of experience at this game. Grandfather says she's a brilliant negotiator and diplomat, and I know she is. I'd be easier on them but I don't pretend to be brilliant."

He pushed a button on his comlink and then began disassembling the holoterminal.

Vader just watched for a long minute, then sat down.

"So, ah, how long have you known that I am your father?" he asked carefully.

The blue eyes lifted briefly, then dropped as he removed a tool from a toolkit near the floor, "Mom told me when I was 10. So 9 years now."

The scarred throat swallowed convulsively several times before Vader said softly, "And you never reached out to me?"

The face turned toward him now, the eyes full of surprise, "Of course not. Mom said I shouldn't because, you know, you're really high up in the Empire now. It wouldn't be right to burden you with us, and you have more important things to do than deal with a wayward ex-wife and son."

The youthful visage grew sorrowful, "It's been hard growing up without a father but Grandpa Naberrie stands in as much as he can, not that he is a lot like you are or were, but he does his best. Mom makes sure we get to Naboo at least once a year, though we keep a low profile. She didn't want to make things awkward for you."

The boy ran his left hand through his rather long hair as he stared down in perplexity at the terminal. Then he nodded and began tearing apart one of the components.

"Marriages fail, unfortunately," Luke said with a weary resignation beyond his years, "and Mom says she should have known you'd never be satisfied with a quiet life with her and me. I'm sorry it turned out that way, but she's mostly doing well these days so yeah, I guess it's Ok. I mean, not really Ok, but it is what it is."

"I thought you were dead," Vader said softly.

This provoked a response, "What?"

"That rancor Palpatine lied to your father, Luke," Padme said briskly, marching into the room. "He told your father that he killed us."

"That who killed us?"

"That your father killed us," Padme clarified.

"Wow. What a jerk." Luke said, looking indignant.

"Yes, a thoroughly unpleasant individual," Padme agreed, flopping down on a chair with a sigh of exhaustion. "That Lutz isn't so much unpleasant as insulting. I'm not an idiot. I know perfectly well that his so called cash flow problems are caused by his decision to poke his pointy nose into tydirium mining. Which is his right, but I'm not giving him any slack on paying up. That sob story, really, what does he think I am? A pushover?"

"He knows now that you are not," her son responded with a smile, even as the door to the suite suddenly opened. A small R2 unit trundled through, beeping indignantly.

"Stop whining, R2M3," Luke said, "You were just a little wet and I'm sure now that you've been blow dried, there isn't a hint of moisture that dares waft within a meter of you."

More irritable beeps, and then the single eye turned to stare at Darth Vader.

"This is my father, R2M3," Luke said with clear excitement in his eyes. He gestured toward the holoterminal, "Something is wrong with the secondary power coupling. Can you take a look at it?"

The small droid rolled forward and began poking around in the terminal's innards, and Luke turned and smiled at his mother.

"Would you like a foot massage?" he asked.

She sighed with pleasure and kicked off her shoes. To the Sith Lord's astonishment, Luke began massaging his wife's feet, even as he himself had massaged Padme's feet long years ago after she had been on the Senate floor for hours, arguing (she had called it debating) with her fellow senators about the myriad issues on her senatorial plate.

His eyes itched, though he could not cry. So many years, so many regrets.

"Ah, thank you, Luke. I spent too much time pacing around today and that's hard on my feet."

"You should wear more comfortable shoes, Mom."

"I may not be a queen anymore, but I insist on having fashionable footwear ..."

"If fashionable means uncomfortable, count me out."

Padme laughed again, then turned to Vader, "So, Ani, in the surprise of seeing you I forgot to ask you why you looked us up after so long. Why are you here?"

Author Note: I started out thinking this would be a crack fic but I'm a few chapters in and it is more angsty then expected. But I hope there will be enough humor to make it fun. As usual, kudos and thanks to my wonderful husband who edits for me when he isn't traveling to truly exotic places, like Illinois.