It was an awkward trek, to say the least. When Vader had last visited this place, he had been young, naïve, whole… and to be honest, it had much more appeal before he had decided to become a "family man." Now the herd animals seemed to mock him with their lazy rolling in the grass. He was certain that some of them were mating out in the distance, just to mock his current state and the fact that this outing involved in-laws. There was no better birth-control mechanism, just as there was no better conversation killer.

The children had behaved well, almost eerily, after he had reprimanded them in their room, and that was one small consolation to Vader's day. For immediately after, his wife's fool kin had also approached him in the hallway with a barrage of invasive questions about his suit. He had responded in kind.

"Don't make me kill you." They left in a matter of minutes, forgetting about that whole swimming idea.

To top off the irritation, his nieces were bickering again like nexus with a single piece of prey.

"If you continue to yammer on at this pace, I fear I will be forced to call on the 501st. The Emperor cannot blame me for my actions."

"Anakin," Padme said under her breath, elbowing him.

"Oh yeah, I'd like to see that!"

"Don't make me kill you," Vader said. He whipped around and pointed a very angry finger into his niece's face, causing her to levitate above the ground by a few feet.

"MOM!" she screamed.

"Padmé, kindly restrain your husband."

"Mom!"

"No, angel. I have had enough. I—WHERE ARE THE TWINS?"

Vader dropped his concentration, causing Pooja to fall unceremoniously to the ground on her backside. As luck (or the Force) would have it, the area was soft with Nubian flora. Still, no one was paying much attention to where the teenager landed as the levels of crazy multiplied in the search for the two young twins.

Vader cursed something that only his wife heard; Padmé cleared her throat loudly and nudged her husband again. Ignoring the jab, he explained: "I cannot sense them nearby at all. Together, they are too powerful and mischievous. If only it could be used for the Dark Side—"

"Anakin!"

"I know, I—" Vader suddenly fell two feet into the ground, having walked directly into a synthetic patch of wetland.

"TWINS, DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE MY POWER," he roared, hoping that the two rascals could hear him. They were becoming increasingly talented at eluding his searches for them through the force.

"Never, honey, never," said Padmé, gripping her husband's underarms and helping to lift him out of the pit. He was sinking into it almost inextricably. His other niece, Ryoo, was giggling behind her sleeve.

"Don't make me—" he stopped short as one of his feet sank into the green sludge. "—KILL YOU!" Vader's lightsaber made short work of the surrounding area, not to mention plugging it with various items that had been littered close by. Atop the pile was a small model Jedi starfighter. Vader paused as he took note of the red paint, and promptly deactivated the lightsaber. Throwing out his other hand, he soon had both of the twins by the ears.

"You are beaten," he said with steely satisfaction.

Luke made a raspberry as his sister screamed in protest. Having given up all efforts to soothe relations between her natal family and her own, Padmé witnessed the scene before her and facepalmed.