Palpatine had at last returned to his Naboo apartment and closed the door. The trip to leave the captive criminals with Plagueis had gone without incident. Which was to say, none of the criminals had escaped, Palpatine had successfully transferred ten additional flasks from the Font of Love to Plagueis, and most importantly, Talzin had at no point been detected.

Now Talzin was familiarizing herself with the layout of Theed from her perspective of invisibility. He supposed she might instead still be in his apartment, hovering undetected, but she didn't seem to want to miss any opportunity to steal Maul's attention from him, so he rather doubted it.

Which meant he was alone with Maul now. Turning to face the living room, he decided it was time to start addressing the threads of his nascent plans, which would now require a new deception.

Eventually, he would have to address Talzin's role in this as well, but he thought it best to give that aspect some thought. He would need to talk with her about the matter anyway, obtain her agreement, tiresome as that sounded to him. He was not accustomed to detailing his plans or requiring their approval from anyone besides Plagueis, and even then, he had always kept many things from the Master who he had planned in time to replace.

But it seemed that his new reality would require considerably more cooperation, cumbersome though that might be to him. He felt comfortable taking a few months to work that particular issue out, however. For now, Maul's mother could be an invisible friend that others could not detect.

He sighed and turned around, scooping Maul off his perch on his shoulder and setting him in the middle of the living room floor. He also brought out the gift he had purchased in a nearby shop in Theed, a soft mottled brown stuffed shaak, and set it down in front of Maul, who picked the item up and examined it with great interest.

Palpatine smiled down at Maul as they sat on the plush red carpet together. The tiny red zabrak was now holding the stuffed shaak toy to his body and staring up at the Sith Lord, his expression thoughtful.

"Today, we're going to learn some new words," Palpatine said, his tone cheerful even as he felt a certain sadness at this. Until Maul was old enough to understand deception, he would have to believe that their facade was their true identity.

Palpatine chafed at this, because he wanted Maul to understand his own significance. His own importance. But that would have to wait. Palpatine would force himself to be patient, as he had been in so many other matters.

Still, he could not help the feeling of regret that welled up in him.

There was another reason, too, why this made him sad. But that reason also made him feel--it wasn't exactly happiness. He wasn't sure how to describe it, really. A connection, something that could survive even death. A memory.

It was time to begin. He pointed at Maul. "Maurice," he said. "Can you say--Maurice?"

Maul smiled at him. "Maul."

Palpatine smiled back, feeling a burst of pride and a tiny stab of pain on hearing him say his true name. At having to correct him. "Yes, you remembered that. But from now on, you'll be Maurice. Maurice."

Maul held out the stuffed shaak.

Palpatine laughed. "No, that's yours." He said, pushing the toy back towards Maul. He leaned forward, bringing his face closer to Maul's. "Maurice."

Maul smiled. "Maurice."

Palpatine gave him a bright smile, filled with approval. "Very good!"

And now, for the other piece of this deception. Obviously, Maul could not call him Master, but just as obviously, he would have to call him something. He paused, readying himself to project the calm he did not feel.

He had given this quite a lot of thought. And he had decided that under no circumstances did he want Maul to call him father, or anything related to that word. He didn't think he could be a father--he had never planned to be one. He had planned to one day stand alone, to be the Sith'ari, to dispense with the the Rule of Two and to become the sole embodiment of the Sith, destroyer of Jedi, conqueror of death, Emperor of the entire galaxy, and even beyond that, for his ambitions knew no bounds. None of that had involved any notion of an heir, even an Apprentice that might take him down. His Apprentice had been intended to serve him, not supplant him.

Now? He was unsure what his ultimate plans should be. He would have to restructure them from the ground up, decide what he truly wanted to accomplish.

But he did know one thing.

Palpatine wanted Maul to excel. He wanted Maul to share in his victories, as well as enjoy his own. To eventually exceed and surpass him.

But he had never planned to be a father, and his own father had certainly not given him any example worth passing on. And Plagueis? He would have to be disposed of, regardless of these new and inconvenient feelings for his Master. He hoped Maul would never wish to dispose of him in such a way.

He would not have Maul call him father.

He gave Maul a radiant smile and pointed to himself. "Pal."