Chapter Text
Leia and Luke were keeping themselves busy in the playroom. Luke was playing with building blocks while Leia was playing with the newest droid Father had made for her. It was a ladybug-like model who could fly around and or could use feet.
They were both already bathed and in their pajamas.
All was seemingly normal until the sound of boots were heard coming from the hallway. Both teens look up when they hear the sound of bottles being shaken. It’s the signal that it is almost time for bed.
Vader smiles down at them as he enters. Suitless and maskless as usual, although it is not rare for him to be wearing a smaller mask over his face as support.
He’s holding a bottle in each hand, Luke’s has a green cap while Leia’s is pink.
“Time for bed, little ones.” He calls gently as he takes his seat on the plush armchair in the corner of the room, waiting for them to come to him to be fed for the night.
“Already? It’s only 8:30.” Leia mutters under her breath.
“Don’t say anything or he’ll make it 8 tomorrow.” Luke hushes his sister as Vader observes them and sends them both some love through their force bond. Sadly for him it is not reciprocated but he doesn’t mind. He gets to hold them and care for them and that’s enough for now.
The Father is patient as he waits for them to finally come and drink their bottle.
Luke sighs quietly but sets his blocks down to grab the bottle out of his father’s hand and plops into his mouth. Vader smiles at him and runs a gentle hand in the boy’s long blonde hair while holding him close with his arm wrapped around his waist.
The sith looks down lovingly at his child. “There you are, Lukey.”
While Leia hasn’t acknowledged his presence yet and continues working on her droid.
But her turn will come soon enough, just like it always does.
Vader is not one to be denied.
“Leia’ren, it’s your turn, little one.”
Leia doesn’t move from her spot. “I’m almost done.”
Vader holds Luke on his lap rocking him gently as the formula settles into his stomach but his eyes don’t leave his daughter.
“Leia’ren, the droid will be here tomorrow. Now is time to go to bed.” He warns a bit more firmly.
She huffs but does as she’s told knowing what will happen if she pushes him around too much.
She sets the droid down on the floor and turns it off before she goes to grab her own bottle and stands next to him, her back is not facing him this time. She drinks in silence like her brother. Sometimes she does wonder if he puts things in there though.
He does, he puts different flavoring in there.
The Sith lord smiles around his respirator mask when he feels a tiny flicker in the force.
He holds Leia’ren tighter against his left side while he’s supporting Luke’s back with his remaining flesh arm.
That’s his favorite part of the day, when he gets to hold them and cuddle them before bed.
….
Leia and Luke had been put to bed a few hours ago and normally sleep came fast, but not tonight. gave up and sat upright in her canopy bed rubbing her stomach, hoping it would soothe it and make it better.
It didn’t work and as soon as the first wave of hard nausea hit her she was up and walking to the door. She needed to get to a refresher fast instead of having to explain to Vader what had happened and why she didn’t call for him.
She could already feel the sting of his hand onto her backside as she opens her door quietly and leans down into the dark hallways to make sure there is nobody there.
The fortress is quiet at such an hour, but she can hear the soft boots stomping onto the ground in the room farthest down. Father’s room. She is of course allowed to go there whenever she needs, just like Luke, but she’ll rather handle this on her own.
She did learn early on that Vader works a lot, and at night he doesn't seem to be getting any sleep. Sometimes she wonders how it affects his health and if the reason why he stays up all night is really for working and not for making sure neither of them tries to escape.
I might make it on time, she thinks as she musters the courage to finally step out the bedroom door and look for a bathroom.
She makes a few steps into the hallway watching as she passes the same looking door. Her brows scrunch in confusion as she doesn’t recognize any door leading to the refresher.
“Where was it again? On the left?” she asks herself looking around.
She’s been here dozens of times before, she should know where the bathroom was located. But at the same time it seems like she can barely make her way by herself.
Had the bathroom always been this far down before?
She opens the door quietly and steps inside, closing it as quietly as she opened it.
She barely makes it to the toilet before her body does what it needs and relief comes after a few tries. Once that is done, she sits back down, holding her belly with one arm while the other remains onto the toilet seat. She flushes hoping it would not be too loud to be heard, and then goes to the faucet and she starts brushing her teeth to hide any remaining evidence of her sickness.
Then she drank a small cup of water and splashed her face to hide the remaining tears.
Just get back to your room. He doesn’t have to know. You’ll be fine.
The walk back was faster but just as quiet, she was almost to her door when the air became colder and she felt force tendrils wrapping around her.
“Leia’ren.” She closes her eyes, her hand almost onto the doorknob. She didn’t have to turn around to know he was pissed, she felt it in the force. The girl turns and she is met with the yellow blue eyes of her father.
He towers over her, wearing his smaller mask, tightly wrapped around his head. His arms are crossed on his chest
“I-I” She rubs her hand on her neck, while the other is still reaching to the doorknob. “I needed to go to the refresher.”
He raises an eyebrow. “You have a refresher in your room.”
“Oh.” She bites her lip. “I forgot.”
To her surprise Vader is gentle as he crouches in front of her with concerned eyes. “Why didn’t you call for me?” He asks.
“I’m not a baby, I can deal with things myself.” She mumbles under her breath, her eyes fixed on the floor to avoid looking at him. “It’s nothing, I can handle…it.”
Vader sighs, despite months of trying to reach his child, she still resists him. She still needs to learn she can come to him, that he would not harm her.
“Do not test my patience, child.” he says, his tone firm but not unkind.
Leia feels force tendrils wrapping around her as she is pulled closer to him, they settle her between his legs. The girl is limp in his gentle hold, she doesn’t try to flee or kick his prosthetics like she used to.
He smiles beneath his mask. She’s finally stopped resisting him.
She feels his hands tilt her face towards the dim light as he examines her with attention. Her delicate face is far too pale and he tsked under his breath as he touched both of her cheeks to feel for any sign of fever. She doesn’t seem to have any, her skin is cool to the touch.
And then he hears it. The grumbling sounds of her stomach.
The formula.
Realization hits him like a physical blow. Vader remembers the first time he went to give her the bottle, Leia kept trashing, kicking, and kept pushing him away. He had thought it was on par with her defiance, a reminder of her constant hatred of him.
He never thought it was because she had been in pain. Because of him.
He smiles at her tenderly, his tendrils holding her closer as if he was hugging her himself.
“I’m so sorry little one, I should have known, you were hurting, but I didn’t see it.” He admitted.
Leia frowns but doesn’t say anything as she feels him sending love through her end of the bond.
She lets out a small sound as he lifts her up in his arms and settles her on his hip like one does with a young child.
Leia instinctively wraps her arms around his neck as Vader starts walking towards his personal quarters. “I can walk.” She protests quietly but not actively trying to be put down.
“I know you can little one, but you are sick.You’ll stay in my room for the remaining time.”
…
He sets her onto his large bed and wraps a velvet blanket around her.
Vader removes the straps from around his head, releasing his face from the smaller mask he wears regularly. It was a lot lighter and more comfortable than the big one he wore for almost two decades.
Despite his lungs having healed thanks to all the bacta tank baths he took, he still felt the need to wear some kind of respirator. He also made sure his fortress had a good air filtration system in place so he could breathe without assistance.
The dark side of the force was finally starting to heal him slowly, but in ways that Palpatine’s droids never bothered to.
He remembers the days when he’d spent time in meditation trying to keep his anger focused enough for him to breathe. Anger comes easily to him still, but less often ever since he got his children back.He has never smiled as much as he does now, despite his attempts at keeping his anger and hatred intact.
He doesn’t mind his children seeing his scarred face. Luke is used to it already. He grew up seeing him in such a state. Vader still had multiple scars on his face and chest especially, although they had become white in color by now. He knew his skin would never be what it used to, but he made his peace with it.
The most surprising benefit of the healing process had been his hair. It had grown back significantly and was back to its dark blonde color.
Leia’ren does watch him unfastening the mask and putting it away in his nightstand.
before going to his own adjacent refresher to grab the medication. He kept it locked since he didn’t want the children to possibly harm themselves.
They were still too young to care for themselves after all.
Vader comes back to her holding a glass of water and a sachet. Leia’ren makes a face when she recognizes the medication in his hand. It tastes horrible, she remembers from past experiences.
“Please, can’t I have the tabs instead?”
“I’m sorry child, but I do not have tabs. They’re not as effective anyways.”
“You wouldn’t know.” She mutters and he raises an eyebrow saying he is not above disciplining her if she disrespects him.
“Leia’ren, you are unwell, you need to take your medication.”
“Father, no.” She whines, crossing her arms over her chest and turning her head away from him. Vader can’t help but smile despite his patience running thin, she called him Father for the first time.
“Alright.” He sighs in mock exasperation. “You leave me no choice.”
Leia doesn't have much time to register what is happening as her eyes follow the cup Vader holds and pretends to put down onto the nightstand.
“What-” She begins but before she finishes her sentence, she feels his prosthetic arm scooping her up by the waist and she is settled on his lap, the cup is settled close to her lip.
“Drink Leia’ren.” He says as he holds the cup. His voice is soft and his hold gentle around her waist. Leia is not amused though.
But she knows better than to push him. Luke had warned her when she first arrived that Father always gets what he wants, no matter what. So she complies and drinks the medication not without making a face.
Once it’s done Vader finally releases his tendrils off her, but his arm stays around her. She can hear him smile behind her as she feels warm lips press against her temple.
Her cheeks turn a deep red color. But she stays still, she feels warmth spreading into their shared bond, she… feels loved by him. And she doesn’t know how to react to it. A part of her wants to push him away as far as possible, and the other part, more quiet and shy does want to respond.
“It wasn’t so bad was it?” He teases as he takes the opportunity to cuddle her close. The same way he has done with Luke for hundreds of times by now, but something she never allowed him to do before.
“It was horrible.”
Vader chuckles behind her. His laughter is deep but soft at the same and it’s the first time she’s ever heard it. She didn’t know he could even produce such a sound.
“You’ll make it through the night, little one.” He smiles once more as he soothes her using the force until his daughter finally falls asleep.
He moves carefully to tuck her inside the bed pushing her dark hair away from her forehead. It seems like everything worked, she’s finally allowing him to care for her the way he should have done months ago.
He keeps the force bond active as she sleeps peacefully, sending careful and peaceful feelings to her. Love, protection. He wants her mind to associate him with these and not fear.
It broke his heart when she flinched away from his touch the first time. The way she’d try to flee as if he was going to harm her, her screams, the insults, the broken toys.
Like any parent, he had to stay firm and consistent,in hopes of removing the lies and hatred the Rebellion and her kidnappers had put into her innocent mind. He was simply undoing the damage, bringing his little girl back to the way she was supposed to be before she got taken away from him.
They had made his daughter into a soldier, they ripped her childhood away from her way too soon.
She was learning the truth. He wasn’t some sort of monster everyone made him out to be.
The process had been long though, he hated having to take her over his lap over and over again. But it needed to be done. He isn’t going away nor is she.
Father would keep her safe from the terrorists who used her as propaganda against the Empire.
Against him.
And in time, she’d reign alongside her brother and lead the Galaxy.
He settles next to her, watching the rise and fall of her chest. Through the force he feels Luke sleeping peacefully in his own bed and Vader smiles.
He closes his eyes as he, for the first time in many years falls into a peaceful slumber, with his two little ones at his side.