How to Take an Empire

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Sharing

He sensed Luke and Leia trying to sneak up on him in his room, long before they both tried to pounce on him. Therefore, when they did pounce, he used the Force to throw pillows in their way, causing the two to squeal and fall back in surprise. They threw the pillows to the side and crawled on the bed, laying on their stomachs with their heads propped up in their hands by their elbows.

"Do you ever sleep?" Leia asked with a sigh.

"With two little monsters like you running around, never," Vader replied blandly but knowing the twins sensed he was playing with them.

He always had to be careful when around the twins. Ahsoka had been right in her observation that he held back from them. It was tempting to just bask in the warm light of his children's presence, but a luxury he couldn't afford if he wanted to keep them safe. If he told them about Padmé, if he opened up such a wide door to his former self, he might tread paths not as dark in the Force as the one that Sidious expected him to walk. Just opening himself to a path that wasn't as dark might gain his master's notice and expose the twins long before Ahsoka had built up her rebellion to a strong enough point, and he'd gained enough of the fleet's loyalty to challenge Palpatine and win. It was a risk he couldn't allow himself to take, even if that meant more distance from his children than he already had. Even if it meant the furthest he could go in showing them affections was a nudge in the Force here and there. Or not sending them away when they sought him out, even if he was trying to work on his never-ending Imperial duties.

The looming threat of Palpatine was why he never asked Ahsoka where they settled and where she kept them when she was running missions, though Vader had his guess. In addition to talking about "Aunt Diya" (Vader loathed to think how much the girl was corrupting Luke and Leia), they also frequently mentioned Uncle Bail and Aunt Breha. But suspecting was one thing. Knowing was quite another.

"We can never sneak up on Mama either," Luke said with a rueful sigh. Then he frowned and asked, "Are you feeling better this morning, Daddy?"

"Better?" Vader asked.

"You were upset last night."

"Who told you that?"

"No one." Luke then shrugged. "I could just tell."

"I could just tell. I told you," Leia corrected, reminding both Vader and her brother that she was the empath of the two, though that didn't translate to being sympathetic. Luke was the sympathetic one.

"Right," Luke acknowledged with a roll of his eyes, even at this age, learning that sometimes it was better to just not argue with his sister.

"I'm fine," Vader replied.

"So... can you answer my question now?" Leia asked slowly, as though she didn't believe him for a second when he told her he was fine.

"What question?" he asked, deciding to play dumb with her for now.

Leia narrowed her eyes at him and turned her lips into an annoyed scowl. "Was our first mother your heart?"

Leia wasn't going to let it go. Neither of his children were going to let it go. They were too much like him in that respect. They would grow up sticking their nose in places they shouldn't, trying to find out what they sought. If there were any evidence to be found of his and Padmé's relationship, Luke and Leia would eventually go poking around to find it, despite his and Ahsoka's discouragement. That could endanger them more Vader's proximity to Palpatine could because there was no telling what people and protocols the Emperor had in place for the express purpose of catching those who went snooping.