Lineage

Prologue

Author's Note: This is a gift request for LostAmericanSpy on ao3. :D

To LostAmericanSpy: I really hope that you enjoy this gift! The prologue is merely to explain how Vader ended up raising the twins. I hope you like the crazy shenanigans that led to it happening. ^-^

~ Amina Gila 

There isn't a day Vader despises more than Empire Day. It's been a year since everything, but in a way it feels like so much longer – another lifetime. And all he knows is that the last thing he wants to do is be on Naboo for the celebration.

That's probably why Sidious demanded he accompany him in the first place. And the Sith Master is also less than impressed about his 'brooding that is unbefitting of a true Sith Lord'.

Vader holds the lightsaber in front of him, struggling to block the lightning assault from striking his armor. He tries to use the Force to block any stray sparks from coming too close, but Sidious isn't stopping.

If anything, the intensity of the lightning attack only increases. He tries to keep deflecting aside, the stray bolts of electricity striking the metal walls of the ship surrounding them.

The Force suddenly flares in warning, and somehow he knows what just happened. The lightning might have gone a little too out of control as to where it was going, traveling through the walls of the ships. Yes, maybe doing this on a shuttle in hyperspace was a terrible, terrible idea, because they are so screwed.

Sidious obviously realizes it too, because the lightning abruptly stops, but it's already too late.

And then the engine of the ship explodes.

The ball of fire tears through the floor in the room – memories promptly swim in front of his eyes even as he tries to force them away – and the entire ship starts to tear apart, engulfing Sidious in flames. They're starting to spiral out of hyperspace, and the next thing Vader knows, he's streaking through hyperspace in the remaining piece of ship – a very, very small piece of ship – even if they're starting to slow down as they go.

He has absolutely no way of stopping them, and even if he could, there would hardly be a point, because they'd still be stranded in space with no planet anywhere nearby. The stars continue to blur past him, and he knows the only reason he's still breathing or alive right now is thanks to his life support suit. Though it probably would be better if he had died in the explosion, because now he's going to be stranded in space indefinitely until his suit shuts down, and he can hardly think of a way out of this situation when he's going so fast that it's making him dizzy.

He has no idea how long he's been flying like this when the piece of ship suddenly starts to slow down, and he can see and feel it getting pulled into the gravitational field of some planet. Everything is happening way too quickly for him to keep track of, but he does have enough time to register that this is going to be bad, but at least he won't be stranded in the middle of space, and –

Vader desperately reaches out with the Force, struggling to slow his fall as they plummet to the ground at probably still close to lightspeed. He wraps the Force protectively around them as they go through the atmosphere, to keep the flames that start to lick the side of the piece of ship from touching him. The next thing he knows he's slamming into something, and –

When he opens his eyes again, it doesn't take him more than a moment to figure out where he is. He's lying on his back, pain pulsing through his entire body – not as if that's unusual, but he thinks it's a little more than the usual, though it's hard to tell.

Two suns are shining brightly in the sky overhead, and sand surrounds him on all sides. Tatooine.

... is he dead? Because if he is, he can totally imagine whatever comes after death for him looking just like Tatooine.