Chapter 1

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Pain and Suffering'

'The Discovery'

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CORUSCANT-IMPERIAL REHABILITATION CENTER-DAY

It has been two months since the events on Mustafar. Palpatine finally had Anakin's soul. Anakin followed willingly. He felt he had nothing to live for. His wife and children were gone. The Emperor seemed to take some sort of twisted glee in telling him the horrendous news about his wife and children. What had he done? For whom did he really leave the Jedi order for? A life career, once so promising, had abruptly ended.

Anakin lay depressed in his bed at the rehabilitation center. The gash on his head was still being drained to prevent fluid build-up around his brain. It was the first full week that he had been awake. He had drifted in and out of consciousness. There was a profound numbness on his right cheek. The sutures ran from the front of his cheek to just under his temple. The medical droids tried to keep him sedated to prevent him from moving his jaw. He had over 180 stitches. He couldn't feel the hair on his head. It was gone. It would take months to grow back to the length and beauty that it once was.

Every day the Emperor would visit asking him when he would be ready to return to work by his side. It was painful for him to speak. Anakin was gradually losing his identity. He found himself responding to his new name, the one he was baptized with upon becoming a Sith. It was just as well. It hurt too much to think of himself as Anakin. It didn't matter anymore. He was alone and he was ugly. He felt it. He didn't require a mirror to know this for sure. He truly believed this.

The medication he was given to regenerate his skin cells was working well…too well. With the treatment came excruciating pain. The medical staff wanted to limit any pain medication to his head injuries. Everyplace else on his body was filled with horrific pain. How could Obi-Wan leave him there on the edge of the lava pit?

When Obi-Wan left his former Padawan, fellow Jedi knight, Anakin hand gotten up and was determined to pursue Obi-Wan to settle the score. Obi-Wan had already turned to walk away. As he tried to pull at Obi-Wan, he tripped on a lava rock and rolled down the embankment dropping his lightsaber in the process. Obi-Wan watched in horror as Anakin's clothes began to ignite. By this time the Emperor's ship was in sight and landing. Obi-Wan knew he would have to leave this place. He picks up Anakin's light saber and begins to walk away. There was no time to do anything. He thought Anakin was dying. He had to make a choice. It tore at his heart to see Anakin this way. He had to return to the skiff to tend to Padmé. At least there was a chance to save her and the baby. He would soon find out that he would lose one more person he cared about but save a second. Even if he tried to save Anakin, the young knight, was too full of anger and hate to be reasoned with now. He would surely kill Obi-Wan were the fight to continue. It was not to be. It pained Obi-Wan to turn away from the person he once called a brother and a friend. He would go to sleep each night believing he had failed the young Jedi.

Obi-Wan escaped in time. The Imperial Shuttle had just landed and the hatch opened. A group of Clone troopers and the emperor hurried to where Anakin lay. It was just in time because the scalding hot sand on the bank was searing Anakin's clothes. His leather tunic shielded parts of his body from the burns but not by much. He was hurried into a medical capsule and loaded onto the shuttle.

Once at the rehab facility, the Emperor got into an argument with the medical team. He wanted Anakin up and about in 24 hours. The medical droids informed the Emperor that any hasty medical treatment could kill him or leave him irreparably damaged... They insisted the Emperor allow them to treat this patient with the necessary care to ensure a swift and effective recovery.

The Emperor backed off. He would have to wait. He was not pleased at all.

Anakin was treated with topical antibiotics three times a day over those first two months. Microscopic droids were injected into his body to 'excavate' and clear out any and all damaged lung and other damaged tissue housed in his vital organs. The cloned skin was grafted over his wounds. The healing process was proceeding rapidly. Anakin was able to feel again. His body hair started to regenerate. The scalp and facial hair would have to wait awhile.

During this time lying in bed he had time to dream. In a way it was a relief to sleep. It took his mind off the pain and the treatments. He had never felt so helpless in his life. But sometimes the dreams disturbed him he would bolt upright in the bed where he was quickly sedated by one of the round-the-clock attendants. The dreams were different. They were not about Padmé this time but the sounds of a baby's cry. The cries echoed but it wasn't the same sound. It was as if two babies were crying in his dreams.

Sometimes he would awaken in the middle of the night. The cries; they were becoming stronger. He decided for now he would keep this to himself. There was no one he could trust anymore. The Emperor had his own plans for him. All his friends were dead or had escaped the Jedi slaughter that was the Emperor's directive to execute Order Sixty-Six. He was sorry for all the wrong he had done. There was nothing Anakin could do about that now.

His release from the rehabilitation center was a great relief but it was also was a curse. He was beginning to get used to the place. He felt a sense of calm. He was left to his thoughts. It was now over. The Emperor needed him. He was well enough to be weaned off the medication but still required daily inhalation therapy. This is where the helmet and infamous black suit came into the picture. The Emperor, anxious to put Anakin/Darth Vader into action had a suit created for him. It was something that would sustain him but also instill fear into the crew and minions who dared cross the Empire. He didn't want his crew or enemies to see a pathetic, sickly Sith Lord. He didn't want another coughing, hacking General Grievous.

The new Dark Lord of the Sith was now seated at the Emperors' side. The first Death Start was under construction. Vader was at the helm and Governor Tarkin was there to help keep order and to rein Vader in should he get out of control. Vader was still a young man and he was dangerous. The Emperor could feel the anger in the young Sith.

There is a change of events, however when Anakin continues to feel a strange presence in the Force. Palpatine continues to discount it because he wants the Dark Lord to remain faithful to his cause. Vader continues to have these dreams.

A few months have passed since the accident that imprisoned him in the black suit. All remaining Jedi have since scattered into hiding across the galaxy.

He sends a messenger on a secret mission. He is able to scramble any transmission of his thoughts, therefore keeping his investigation from the Emperor's detection. The report he gets back is disturbing. He also realizes that the Emperor has lied to him. He has lied to his new apprentice for a long time.

Darth Vader meets with his secret investigator. "I want you to scan every planet in the galaxy.

"Report back to me on any child born in the last three months. Look for the name of Skywalker."

"Yes, My Lord."

Further investigation reveals that he has not only a son being raised on Tatooine, his home planet, but also a twin daughter living on Alderaan as the child of Bail Organa and his wife Breha. He is furious. He confronts the Emperor.

The emperor's response is that he did not wish to distract Vader from his duties. Vader blackmails him by threatening to sabotage the entire Death Star project. The Emperor relents.

Vader first plans to send troops in to take the children but is advised not to. He needs the sympathy of the courts. Instead, with the help from the Emperor, Vader puts together high profile advisors and attorneys to plead his case. Anakin hated the idea of asking the Emperor to help him. This man was to blame for him losing his children in the first place. He did not trust him.

Palpatine had his own reasons for helping Anakin. He thought the children would come to be useful to him in the next ten to fifteen years. Palpatine was a patient man. He would instruct Anakin to turn the children over to him when the time is right.

The process takes years before a petition is put forth before the judge. Meanwhile, Vader only gets glimpses of the children from a distance. The children are brought together for the first time. They are about six months old. He does everything in his power to resist going up and grabbing them. While this is going on, The Naberrie family gets visitation rights. It is now they are introduced as brother and sister. They also file a petition for custody and file a restraining order against Vader who they fault with the death of their daughter Padmé.

Owen and Beru Lars also retain counsel; however, they are at the biggest disadvantage because Luke is not a blood relative. They are also at a disadvantage because they have limited financial resources.

The petitions are bounced back and forth across the galaxy for the next two years. Vader's legal team is ruthless. They find loopholes in the adoption and fight the Organa family and Lars.

Vader eventually wins an important battle. He is permitted to see Leia in the same room. She is only two years old and fearful of his ominous presence. His attorneys convince Vader to come to these sessions without the mask. He would have to reveal his scars and hair that has not come in fully. Bail's wife refuses to let Vader hold her daughter. Leia is crying hysterically clinging to her adoptive mother. Vader is devastated. He storms out of the meeting.

The judge postpones the meeting until Leia is older. The attorneys, however, protest this and demand Vader gets a private audience with his daughter. They believe any more delays will impede any relationship the biological parent will need to form with his child.

Meanwhile, the case involving the Lars becomes easier as the case falls part for Vader's stepbrother Owen. The court finds that since no legal documents were filed with the courts for the adoption, Vader must have a chance to have his petition heard pleading that he was not told his children survived their mother in delivery. Vader receives limited visitation with Luke until the case can be sorted out on Tatooine. Obi-Wan, is devastated and apologizes to Beru and Lars. Vader is furious at his former friend who helped take his children.

Luke and Leia are now three years old.

Vader is dealt an emotional blow when his visitation is put on hold. He is only permitted to view the children from a two-way mirror. The children sense his presence, Luke, more so. He climbs on a chair in the playroom and touches the glass. Vader places his hand against his side of the glass.

"Father." Luke presses his small face against the glass and strokes it.

Beru breaks down and cries in Owen's arms. Owen is furious but, Beru suddenly ceases to sob and smiles at the little boy she carried in her arms each morning as she hung the wash and watered the plants. She sang lullabies to him. But now, this little boy pined father he could not yet see. She was willing to give him up. Owen was less charitable. He becomes angry. For Vader/Anakin, this exchange with his son is a breakthrough. He presses his hand against the glass and feels the warmth of his son's presence. He speaks to his son by way of the Force. A tear rolls down his scarred cheek.

"Luke."

After a week a social worker brings Luke to see Vader. Luke cries at first. After several minutes he calms down and walks over to Vader. Vader takes him in his arms. The judge grants Vader limited supervised visits in the chambers once a week. Shades of Anakin begin to return.

To be continued… 'The Court Battle For Leia'

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Attention Readers: It might take 24 hours or more for the next chapter. In the meantime, I hope you're enjoying this heart wrenching story of rebirth and forgiveness.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------