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Forget Me Not	By : Ladykohl Category: Star Wars (All) > General Views: 22071 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Star Wars movie series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Prologue
- 2-Part 1
- 3-Part 2
- 4-Part 3
- 5-Part 4
- 6-Part 5
- 7-Part 6
- 8-Part 7
- 1
- 2
- 3
PART 1

"Ambition is a gilded misery, a secret poison, a
hidden plague, the engineer of deceit, the mother of
hypocrisy, the parent of envy, the original of vices,
the moth of holiness, the blinder of hearts, turning
medicines into maladies, and remedies into diseases."

- Thomas Brooks

STAR DESTROYER, OUTER RIM

2 FR
I paced back and forth in my dark chamber, anger causing my blood to boil.
�I will not tolerate this!� I asserted as I pounded a black gloved fist against
the wall. The young girl in the corner, the very source of my burning outrage,
winced. I looked down at her and was unable to keep myself from listing the
similarities between her and my late wife. Brown eyes. Dark hair. Fair skin.
Beautiful heart shaped face. The two could have been sisters. Twins. I wondered
angrily what game the Emperor was trying to play with me now. The girl had been
presented to me by him as a �gift�. A gift! This was no gift. This was just a
new way to remind me of my past. The past I could not forget, regardless of my
efforts to try. I would be forever plagued by dreams of what I'd had and what I
had done, and haunted by thoughts of what could have been. The Emperor - my
master - was forever contriving new ways to make me harder...colder. There had
been a time when I trusted him above all others, but now I hated him more with
each passing day. It had become painfully apparent I had played directly in to
his plan for dominance over everyone and everything. Including me.
�Did he tell you how to act like her as well?� I roared as I picked the girl up
by the neck. She choked and writhed in my hand which only made me squeeze
harder. Terrified tears fell down her pretty cheeks - and I pressed on. Her face
began to turn a lovely shade of violet, and this satisfied something deep inside
of me. She did not look so much like Padme that way. My lips pulled back in a
smile as she clawed at me violently. Funny how she thought it would achieve
anything. �Then you can die like her too.� I added harshly.
Her eyes widened at these words, and she began to fight even harder against my
hold. I lifted her from the ground and her feet flailed helplessly in the air.
Her beautiful honey brown eyes began to roll back in her head and her struggles
slowly died away. I could feel her dying. No rational thought could have
penetrated the blinding anger coating my mind at that moment. I wanted her to
die for affecting me this way, and that was the end of it.
An irritating beeping noise sounded suddenly from the table in the middle of the
large room. The holocom. Sense of time and space flooded back in to my world in
a cold rush. Looking in the direction of the device which had interrupted me, I
growled and dropped the girl to the floor. I strode over to the holocom and
switched it on. The image of a tall, lean man appeared. It was the Imperial Lead
Inquisitor Malorum. It was not in me to take interruptions lightly and I was
already in quite a bad mood.
�What is it?� I snapped impatiently as the girl coughed and gasped for air on
the floor behind me. I gestured at her for silence without bothering to look in
her direction. I could hear her as she crawled backwards, trying to put as much
distance between us as she could.
�Lord Vader,� The man started nervously. �Boba Fett has returned.� I said
nothing at first, letting the information sink in instead. As my anger subsided
in the wake of the news I had been waiting for it became easier for me to think.
�Has he gathered the information I seek?�
�Milord.� Was his answer in the affirmative.
�Send him to my chamber. I wish to speak to him privately.� I said - wasting no
time. I did not wait for a response before I turned the device off. I looked
back over at the girl who was now rubbing neck and sobbing silently. I had
wanted to squeeze the life out of her before but now I was able to think
clearer, I knew it would not be a wise thing to do. She had, after all, been a
gift from my master.
I thought about this for a long moment before I finally walked over to her.
Standing above her, I remained silent, then abruptly I reached down and fisted
my hand through her hair and tilted her face up. There were differences, of
course. This girl was, perhaps, a half inch or so taller than Padm� had been.
She did not carry the same soft and knowing look in her eyes. She was not
as...perfect. Her hair, however, was the exact same color, texture and curls.
The Emperor had truly chosen well. I wondered how long he had been searching.
�We will do something about your hair later.� I said as I wrenched her up off
the ground once again. She screamed in pain. I pulled her head back and stared
in to her eyes. Her hair would be easy. But her eyes...What of those? While it
was true they did not look at me as Padm�s had - they were still too similar.
�Shall I cut these pretty dark orbs out of your head?� I asked. The girl
swallowed and a new rush of tears fell down her face.
�Please no...� She whimpered. I threw her up against the wall and she cried out
- turning her face away from me.
�Do not use that word �please� as though it will have some effect on me. The
only mercy you will get from me is the mercy I have already shown. I let you
keep your worthless life. My master wishes me to have you, and I will not
displease him. But don't be so foolish as to expect anything else from me.� The
words came from my mouth in a harsh torrent of newly risen anger. She closed her
eyes and nodded.
�Yes, milord.� She replied quietly. Suddenly the comlink on my suit buzzed. I
hit it. That was twice now this girl had been somewhat saved from my wrath by an
irritating iterruption.
�Speak.� I demanded.
�Lord Vader,� a guard�s voice sounded from the box. �The bounty hunter is here
to--�
�Send him in.� I hit the box again, and looked at the girl. �You stay here.� I
turned and strode out of my chamber and into the impersonal lounge I used for
such meetings, and for which otherwise I had no use for. The door slid open and
the bounty hunter known as Boba Fett walked entered flanked by two troopers. I
waved my hand at them.
�Leave us.� I commanded, and they obeyed in an instant. �What have you found?� I
asked impatiently, barely waiting for the door to finish closing. �Beware...you
have been gone for a long while, and it would displease me if you have come back
with incomplete information.�
�Milord...my pursuits have taken me to many places. I believe I have gathered
all the information you have asked for.� His armor and voice synthesizer may
have disguised the fact he was no more than sixteen, but his hesitation at
getting to the details showed he still had much to learn when it came to reading
his client's moods. This annoyed me greatly.
�Proceed.� I barked. He nodded briskly, not shaken in the least by my outburst
and for that I had to give him credit.
�At first I searched for your answers to no avail. But then I received a bit of
information when I was on Tatooine, information that the key to all I was
searching for lay on Polis Massa.� My eyes narrowed.
�Polis Massa? What possible significance could that mining field have?�
�It seemed...none.� My anger instantly began to rise, which Fett must have
sensed for he continued on very quickly. �However, while I was questioning some
medical droids there, I found a great many of them had had their memories of the
day Senator Amidala died wiped.� I tensed up as I became acutely aware of all my
senses.
�Wiped? Why?� I asked urgently.
�No one seemed to know why.� He fell quiet.
�Is that all?� I demanded.
�I found this very peculiar, of course. After much work, I managed to have the
memory of one of the droids in question restored.� He stated. �It seems Senator
Amidala had been on Polis Massa when she died...but before she died, she gave
birth to her children. The droid had--�
�Children?� I asked suddenly, my head beginning to swim with confusion and
another emotion I felt was better left unidentified. �There was more than one?�
Boba Fett nodded.
�Yes, milord. Twins.� My breathing became labored and I waved the door open with
a flick of my hand.
�You have done well, Fett. I will see to it you are compensated for all your
hard work.� He bowed, and left the room.
My mind spun from the information the boy had brought me. Twins. Not only had
Padm� given birth, but there had been two. My children. They were alive, and I
had not known it. How had I not known? How had I not felt them? All that time -
being haunted by grief of having extinguished the life of my own heir, and it
not even been true! Someone had to die for this. The fact my children were being
hidden from me, their father, was beyond infuriating. I could not see past the
red clouding my vision. I could not hear past the blood flowing so hurriedly
through my veins. All I could feel was hate and the over powering need for
revenge. I would find the persons responsible for such treachery and see to it
that they were punished in the most painful way possible. First, however, I
would need to find my children. That was most important. They would be great
assets to me - and they belonged with me. I had lost their mother, but they
were alive. Alive!
Then suddenly the most important implication of all this reared itself to the
front of my thoughts, pushing past the whirring noise and blinding heat of my
anger.
Padm� had died on Polis Massa. I had not killed her.
I roared in the sudden wave of fury crashing over me. Palpatine had lied to me!
He let me believe I had killed my wife. He let me torture myself with the
thought until it had hardened me to his liking. He had used me from the very
beginning. Nothing he'd ever told me was true. If I had never listened to him,
never believed his lies, then perhaps everything would have turned out
differently. If I had loathed him before Fett�s news, I hated him now. For above
all, he had been the one who had crushed my life with his withered hands.
Palpatine would pay.

****************

I could sense his anger from across the galaxy. The thing I had most feared
since the day two years ago when Senator Amidala, when Padme had given birth to
his children...
He knew.
The Skywalker children were no longer safe, and I knew it was my obligation to
see they would be again. I would not see two innocents fall into the hands of
the twisted monster my apprentice had become.
My apprentice...my old friend. My Force bound brother.
Why did it have to come to this?
****

TATOOINE

Lars' Homestead

I walked slowly toward the Lars� homestead - my hood up, and my hands drowning
in my robes. The afternoon suns beat down without mercy and the harsh winds spat
sand at me as I made my way to the home of Owen and Beru. I thought back to that
day, all those years ago, when my master and I had landed on this dry little
planet for the first time. The day we would meet the boy who was supposed to
bring balance back to the Force. How were we to know what he would become? That
little boy...
How were we to know?
I furrowed my forehead as I realized Owen stood outside the portal of the
homestead with his arms folded across his chest as though he had known I was
coming. Perhaps he had. I approached him calmly.
�What are you doing here?� he asked coldly, his anger toward me thinly veiled. I
know he felt I somehow had something to do with the transformation of his step
brother from war hero to Sith. He believed I should have seen the signs. That I
somehow could have stopped it from happening. I ignored all this, and pressed on
with my reason for being there.
�Where is Luke?� His hard eyes never left mine.
�Beru is tending to him. He woke up from his nap, crying from a
nightmare.� He paused. �He has them frequently.� He stared at me accusingly, as
though I was the source of the child�s subconscious fears. I sighed.
�Listen to me, Owen. Luke is in terrible danger.� His eyes changed from cold
and hard to worried in an instant. I was glad to see this. I had made the right
choice in bringing Luke here. I knew he was loved from the moment I handed him
to the young couple. Here he had a family and he was free to live without the
knowledge of what had torn his true family apart. At the same time, however, I
wished he had never had to come here. How could I take Luke away from two people
who cared for him as much as Owen and Beru so obviously did?
�What do you mean? What kind of danger?� He asked quickly - urgently. I glanced
around, then back at him.
�His father knows of his existence.� I answered simply. Owen took a deep breath.
�You're sure?� He asked, his voice shaking. I nodded.
�I sensed it through the Force. His anger is strong. Ana--� I paused, looking
down for a beat and then met Owen�s eyes once more. �Vader knows the children
are alive. This puts the twins and anyone harboring them at great risk.� Owen�s
forehead creased in sudden comprehension and he stepped to the side so he was
standing between me and the doorway.
�You�re not taking Luke, if that�s what you came here to do.� He was trying to
sound threatening, though it was something he couldn�t quite carry off. I was
silent for a moment as I considered what to say.
�We are talking about a man who slaughtered every youngling at the Jedi temple.�
I noted the way Owen�s jaw tensed. �He will kill you and your wife. You cannot
protect the child.�
�You knew he would find out one day, didn�t you?� He demaned angrily.
�I had little doubt that he would discover the truth. I had, however, hoped that
we would have more time to--�
�To what?� He interrupted. �To plan? To make arrangements? If you knew this was
going to happen eventually, you shouldn't have left him with us in the first
place! And now you expect me to let you take him from us? We have taken him in,
cared for him as our own...�
�Believe me, I understand your reluctance, but it is in the best interest of all
involved--� Owen stepped forward and shoved me with as much force as he could
muster. It was an unexpected move for him but I barely moved. His eyes burned
hatred and I knew with a weary sigh he would not let me take Luke without some
kind of Force manipulation. Using my powers was something I had tried very hard not to do for
the past two years out of fear either the Emperor or Vader would sense the
disturbance and find me. I took a deep breath, and waved my hand in front of the
younger man. �You will step aside and allow me to take the child.� Owen only
stared at me. It hadn�t worked.
�I guess your heart�s just not in it anymore.� He said through clenched teeth,
beyond furious I would try such a thing against him. He whirled around, but
before he stepped through the doorway, he stopped and looked back over his
shoulder. �You can stay but only to protect Luke. He's ours now and he remains
with us. No one is taking him anywhere, you or Vader." He disappeared inside and
the door engaged behind him with a hiss.
I stood where I was for a long moment. There was no need in traveling to
Alderaan. I had a feeling a meeting with Bail Organa would have the same
results. I would stay on Tatooine then, and wait for Vader to find and kill us
all.
****************

"He who does not punish evil, comands it to be done."

- Leonardo da Vinci

I walked angrily back in to my bed chamber - but stopped abruptly, mid stride,
as I saw the Padm� impostor scramble up from the ground and bow. I had forgotten
about her and now that I was looking at her again - my anger shot upwards. She,
along with everything else, was part of the Emperor�s plan to turn me into
nothing but a shell. She kept her eyes lowered and I knew immediately she had
been a slave before. She was used to being mistreated - though, presumably, not
within an inch of her life - she knew to keep her mouth shut and her head down.
I lifted her chin through the Force. She still would not
meet my eyes and she began to shake. I could feel her fear and it satisfied me.
�What is your name?� I asked. She hesitated, confused by the question. Probably
because she couldn't understand why I would care enough to ask. I did not care,
of course, but I felt it would be convenient to know what to call her.
�I have no name, milord.� She spoke in unaccented Basic. I walked toward her
slowly.
�No name? What foolishness is this?� I asked - raising my voice. She started,
and then trembled more visibly. �What do they call you where you are from?�
�I-I am from Danumar...they call me nothing.�
Danumar. A small planet in the outer rim - not far from Tatooine. It was at once
clear why she had no name. A name on her planet meant freedom and she had
obviously never been free. Danumar was a harsh
planet where slaves were bred and treated like animals. A small class of
aristocrats owned everything. I had been there with Obi-Wan on a mission during
the Clone Wars...
My eyes narrowed at the thought of Obi-Wan. If he was still alive he must know
about my children. He must know how Padm� really died.
�I see.� Was all I said in response, my thoughts having been led in a different
direction.
�The Emperor told me that I would receive a name from my new master.� She looked
into my masked eyes for the briefest of moments. �From you, milord.�
�Did he?� I asked in suspicious rhetoric yet she nodded anyway. I thought for a
few moments. �I will not waste time in such a useless task as naming a slave
girl.� I walked toward the refresher, waving
my hand at her impassively. �You shall name yourself.�
�The Emperor told me that if you allowed me that privilege, the name Padm�
should please--� Her words were cut short as I whirled around the moment Padm�s
name escaped her lips. Her eyes widened in shock as the Force grip tightened
around her throat. Slowly, I walked up to her until my mask was only inches from
her face.
�Say that name again,� I said menacingly, �and I will finish what I started
earlier. I promise you.� She nodded in understanding as best she could, and I
lowered my hand, releasing her throat. She took air into her lungs in gulps as
she backed up against the wall. Force, she looked so much like...her. I had the
sudden urge to crush her skull in my hands. She was doing her job well. I would
never get a moments peace with her watching me from behind eyes which could
have belonged to the woman I had loved. Suddenly, I reached out and grabbed a
fist full of her hair - ripping it from her head without hesitation. She let out
a high pitched scream and dropped to her knees in pained tears. I threw the hair
down at her.
�Cut the rest of it off before I see you again or I will be obliged to remove it
all for you in the same fashion.� She doubled over as her hands found the raw
spot on her head. In another life time, I would have felt remorse for treating a
young girl in such a manner. Her resemblance to Padm� alone would have
pre-disposed me to be kind to her...but I was now incapable of remorse and felt
nothing but hatred for this girl with no name.
�Yes, milord.� She managed to sob out before I left the room - leaving her alone
with the problem of how she was going to cut her hair before I returned.

****

"Oh, Gods, Padm�... what am I going to do?"
I came up suddenly from a half waking, half dreaming state, my breathing ragged.
I had imagined I was speaking with Padm�. She stared down at me from her throne
in Theed as I kneeled in front of her. She was queen once again. The silver
dress she wore looked like a stream of liquid light. She could have been a goddess. The make-up she
wore was blue and purple on white, not red as was the tradional markings for
perpetual mourning. Just outside the great windows that were the backdrop to
Padm�s throne - a horrible battle raged. I could hear the fighting, the
screams, the crying, but could see nothing but a deep blue sky.
�You have betrayed all the goodness inside you, young Jedi, and have spun the
galaxy into madness and chaos.� She had said to me in her queenly Naboo accent.
She was judging me, condemning me, blaming me for the war tearing apart her
world even as the beautiful blue sky - as yet unmarred by smoke or blood -
mocked us. I shook my head violently. I could not have her think so ill of me. I
could bear anything from her except her hatred. I needed her to understand I had
done it for her. Why couldn�t she understand?
�No!� I exclaimed and my own voice dripped with the pain that burned deep inside
my heart. �I am still a good man! Help me... please...� I buried my face in my
hands. �Oh, gods, Padm�... what am I going to do?�
The words echoed in my head as though someone had yelled them into a canyon and
they were reverberating off the steep walls. It was the first dream of it�s kind
I had ever had.
I sat up and got out of bed. As I paced I wondered what the dream meant. Why
would I dream of loving Padm� when I had learned to hate her? Why would I care
what she thought of me? Why would I claim to still be a good man, when I had no
interest in being either? Good...or man. I thought of myself more as machine.
Indestructible.
Immortal.
�Rrrrrraaaaaaaaaggggggh!� I yelled as I pounded my fist into the wall beside me.
Bits and pieces of hard material crumbled around my wrist. I pulled my hand out
out of the wall - leaving in its place a gaping hole. �Slave!� I called out into
the darkness. At first I heard nothing, but then the sound of quick feet
shuffling to my bed chamber door came to my ears. She said nothing, and I could
not see her, but I sensed her presence.
�I seem to have made a mess here, and it's very displeasing.� I did not need her
to clean it up. There were countless people or droids who I could have called on
to do it, but I had quickly realized this girl�s fear of me had a very
calming...almost soothing effect. Again, I heard nothing - she remained still,
not moving from where she stood.
�Your voice, milord.� She began meekly, hesitantly. I creased
my forehead in puzzlement, but knew in a moment what she meant. The mask. My
voice was much different when I was not wearing the mask. In my anger, I had
forgotten I was not wearing it when I called for her. I hesitated for a moment
and then waved my hand so the lights fluttered on. The girl took one look at me,
and stepped back in surprise, lowering her head. The man standing in front of
her - wavy, sandy blonde hair down to his shoulders, dark blue eyes, lean of
frame - was very different from the masked and cloaked figure she had come to
expect. Very different from what everyone thought me to be.
�You have, of course, heard rumors that the mask and suit sustain my life.� She
nodded - looking both confused and uncomfortable. This was most certainly due to
the fact that, not only was I without my suit, but I was also not wearing
anything else. I looked at my flesh and blood hand, then to my mechanical one -
clenching and unclenching them - then back at her. In my mind, a war of thoughts
raged. Memories of the battle between Obi-Wan and I fought with memories of the
day Count Dooku had taken my hand. I pushed them away as best I could, and took
a deep breath - trying to refocus on the girl at my door. �You and the rest of
the galaxy are ridiculously mistaken to think a man as powerful as I would
tolerate a life dependent on some exterior contrivance.� I finally said. She
still would not look at me. My eyes raked over her form and rested on her badly
chopped and uneven hair. It was no longer beautiful. I smiled. I had not seen
her when I had returned, she had been gone, apparently searching for something
to remove her hair with.
�Used a knife, I see.�
�A cream knife.� She responded quietly - her voice choking up. My smile widened
cruelly as I imagined her cutting off those exquisite locks with such a dull
utensil, tears brimming her eyes and making her face shine.
�Terrible.� I mocked. Her eyes fluttered around searching for something to focus
on. �Look at me.� I demanded roughly. She hesitated, but obeyed and looked me in
my true eyes for the first time. Fear and hatred rolled off of her in waves. It
didn't escape my notice she would look no lower than my face. �Don't tell me you
have never seen a naked man before? Being a slave girl from Danumar, I imagine
you must have been had by a number of men.� She said nothing, but kept her sad
eyes on mine. I stared back into hers, probing her mind for just such an
instance. An image of the girl before me, eyes closed to pain, face red as she
sobbed violently in a corner was all that came to me. She was blocking other,
more painful memories. Not from me, however, but from herself.
I pulled out of her mind, feeling a brief stab of sympathy for her. But it was
almost immediately extinguished by my hatred of her. Her hands went to her
temple and she looked dazed. I smiled at her once again.
�Very tragic.� I said, and after a moment gestured toward the mess on the floor.
�I will need this cleaned up of course. After that you are free to wallow in
your despair.� I turned from her, ready to return to my bed.
�Milord, if I may...� She said suddenly. I could sense her regret as I turned
back to her impatiently. She swallowed. �If you do not need the suit...why wear
it?� I laughed shortly.
�Respect.� I answered simply. �You know to fear me because you have already seen
my power. If a person met me as I appear to you now - a young man - they may
underestimate me. It would get tiring having to kill every man, woman, and child
that proved disrespectful.� The girl all but recoiled.
�Children?� She asked, her question tinged with horror and shock. I raised an
eyebrow.
�Does that surprise you?� I asked incredulously. I would think nothing would
seem beyond me. She looked so stricken...which amused me.
�But...children. They-they are innocent. Helpless.� Her disbelief made her
momentarily bolder. I stared at her without expression.
�What difference does that make?� I asked after a few moments� silence. The girl
shuddered and looked away from me. The word �monster� drifted from her thoughts.
My lips twisted in a crooked smile. �Monster?� I questioned. She looked up at me
swiftly. I shook my head slowly. �I am sure you will find I am something far
worse than that, my pretty young slave.�
�You can hear my--� I raised my hand to silence her.
�I have answered enough of your questions. Now do as I have ordered or I will
find more interesting things you can do with your cream knife.� She winced,
obviously recalling the remark I had made about cutting out her eyes.
�Yes, milord.� She whispered, and then set about cleaning the destroyed pieces
of wall. I watched her try to supress her tears and
smiled grimly to myself.
How I hoped Padm� could not see me.
****
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