This one-shot is a translation of my own fanfiction « Mon très cher apprenti », published on November 11 th, 2015. Huge thank to my beta-reader Azalea Scroggs, who helped me correct the mistakes I made on this translation :D
« Every scar will build my throne »
#1 – My dear apprentice
First publication: Jun 30, 2016
There's a fan theory that says that Padmé died because Sidious took her vital strength to give it to Vader, gravely wounded, to keep him alive... even after his medical suit was already sustaining his life. Today, we will explore that theory from Sidious' point of view.
When I first saw you, Lord Vader, dying of your injuries on the bank of this lava river, I must admit I was frightened. I was scared that all the plans I had put together for you, for all these years, were about to be abruptly ended by your mortal wounds – even if you already proved your utility during the attack of the Jedi Temple. But it wasn't enough for me. My visions showed you becoming great, powerful, terrifying – a right-hand man worthy to serve me.
When I assessed the damage that the lava did to your body, I was even more worried. I knew that, even if you were still alive, you were about to die soon, and that no machine could, at the same time, keep you alive and leave your power undamaged.
For this, I needed an old Sith ritual to transmit to you the vital force of someone still alive. And who would have been a better candidate than your dear wife, Padmé? She was the woman that you choked yourself with all the hatred and anger that you were capable of.
Making sure that she was dead was the best way to keep you at my service, and to protect you from the temptation of going back to the Light Side. To let you carry the guilt of her death, even though it was my idea, will cut you from any relationship with another being – and you will be entirely at my service. If the love of your life, along with the child she was bearing, had come to die, well, my dear apprentice, you would be brought down, so down that your life would be aimless – and the only thing left for me to do would be to take you in.
It is because of this that you are now linked to me, because I completed the ritual. If I die, you will die with me. It is the only way to prevent an assassination attempt from you. Because you'll know that if you kill me, then you'll kill yourself.
How ironic for a man to be alive because of his own wife's death. Even more ironic for him to have his own survival linked to the one of the man who killed her, don't you think, Lord Vader?
If you still find some mistakes, despite the beta-reading, we sincerely apologise x')