The blinding darkness spiraled around him infinitely, enveloping him. His senses stood on edge as the Force pulsated with unimaginable power. His mind was freed of all physical restraint, and he forgot any and all that he had once known - the only thing that existed now was this vision, this darkness.
But suddenly something appeared in the blackness, its pale color standing out starkly against the backdrop. At first all he saw was a peachy white blotch, which slowly began to take shape, gaining a mouth, a nose, blond hair and two blue eyes, which came together to make a unique face, one that belonged to Anakin Skywalker.
Skywalker smiled, revealing pearly white teeth, but his friendly expression soon grew sinister, and the pale blue pigment drained from his eyes, only to be replaced by a sickly yellow.
Skywalker's smile, now sadistic, didn't fade as his mirror reflection appeared in front of him. The reflection's face was cold and expressionless, seemingly more mechanical than human. Slowly, black leached over it, centimeter by centimeter, forming a grotesque, skull-like breath mask.
Anakin stared into the mask's hollow, black sockets, still smiling. On the other side of the mirror, the masked man raised a gloved hand and struck out with it. Anakin shattered into fragments and was gone.
"You shall be known as Darth . . . Vader . . ."
The familiar voice echoed through the darkness, a memory of something yet to be, something that had already happened, of something that may never come to pass.
And then he was falling, wildly spiraling downwards, or forwards, or both. He barely noticed when his free fall had stopped, but his attention was drawn to the shadowy figures in front of him.
Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor.
The words pounded harshly in his mind, not having been spoken yet somehow known to him.
Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor.
Sidious flailed in Vader's outstretched hands, Force Lightening sparking from his fingertips. His apprentice had betrayed him. Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker, had betrayed him. Why?
My son. My son. My son. My son. My son!
The vision of Darth Sidious demise at Vader's hand dissolved before his eyes, and was replaced Padme Amidala, in labor.
"Luke - Luke—"
The boy, the male twin. As he watched, Luke Skywalker grew up before his very eyes. Destiny surrounded him like a cloak. He was great, truly great.
But he had a weakness.
Red hair, green eyes—
Jade. Jade. Jade. Jade.
As he watched, the pale blue pigment of Luke Skywalker's eyes drained away, only to be replaced by a sickly yellow, unique to the Sith.
"You shall be known as Darth—"
Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's eyes snapped open, and his breathing slowed. He was still for a moment, absorbing what his vision had revealed to him. It was truly incredible.
Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker, so close to the Dark Side, so easily manipulated, controlled, would betray him.
Betray him for . . . Luke Skywalker, his son.
But the boy . . . Anakin's unborn child, so powerful with the Force, could be turned. Would be turned.
Palpatine was silent for a moment. Anakin, back on Coruscant after valiantly 'rescuing' him, would already know of Amidala's pregnancy. And he had already had the first dream, just as he had foreseen. Everything was going exactly to plan. All he needed to do was wait, at this point, until Anakin became desperate, and then tell him a little story about Plagueis, his own former master.
Killed in his sleep by his apprentice. Killed . . . in his sleep. Betrayed. Killed. Murdered.
Almost like being thrown down an elevator shaft.
Palpatine closed his eyes, reaching out with his feelings. Was the vision true?
Yes, yes,the Force replied, thrumming with honesty. Sidious shall be betrayed. Betrayed! The Empire shall fall!
Should he wait, wait for Luke Skywalker?
Yes, yes, wait! Wait for the boy!
Palpatine slowly opened his eyes. He was silent for a moment, contemplating his options. This was an unexpected obstacle. Very unexpected. Not in all his years would he have thought that Anakin, once a Sith, would actually kill him. Oh yes, he would think about it. He would plot, and scheme, but he was sure the boy would never be able to actually do it.
But he would. And he, Darth Sidious, would die.
He couldn't even be prepared, as he didn't know when. Six years? Ten years? Fifteen? Eighteen? Twenty?
Palpatine drummed his fingers on his desk in a steady rhythm, concentrating on all the things that had been implied through the vision, not told directly.
Obviously, Anakin would be turned to the Dark Side.
Obviously, the Republic would fall, and his Sith Empire would take control, with him as the Emperor.
Padme Amidala would have twins, and at least one of them, the boy, Luke Skywalker, would survive.
And because of him, Anakin would betray and murder his master.
That wouldn't do.
He, the greatest Sith in the history of the Order, would not be killed by a wayward apprentice.
It just wouldn't do.
Author's Note: This idea came to me in the bath tub, of all places. I'd never really considered Palpatine not turning Anakin and instead waiting and turning Luke to the Dark Side, so I decided to give it a shot.
-snarryvader81 (aka Anna)