Chapter Seven: Return
By the time Vader was en route back to Coruscant, he was in a particular mood. When he'd first left the capital the Sith had immediately gone to his room to meditate. After several hours, he'd immerged feeling energized. His senses had been sharpened and he felt more powerful than he had in weeks. By the time they'd arrived at Bimmisaari, the Bimm rebellion hadn't stood a chance. It had been almost too easy to make them pay for their disobedience. Now they would never forget that the Empire was the rightful authority in the galaxy.
When the Star Destroyer docked at the port just over Coruscant, Vader was already in his shuttle flying towards the planet. The crew had been terrorized enough with his presence the last five days, he felt confident that they wouldn't fall back into their laziness from before he'd walked on board. He'd only had to kill one officer this trip. Truly the navy was starting to get the message about how he liked ships to be run. Not for the first time the young Sith wondered what some of the officers would think if they knew he was younger than all of them and had such power. Imagining their expressions was delightful.
But by the time he came into the atmosphere, he contemplated what he should do next. He was in a mood to get things done, and done quickly. He hadn't felt this motivated in a while and wanted to take full advantage. But he also knew that the Emperor would be expecting a report soon. Perhaps it would be prudent to go to his master directly before focusing on other business. Yes, that would be for the best. If he buried himself too deeply into anything, he could potentially forget about his master completely. That would not go over well.
So, with that in mind, he headed for the Royal Palace. It seemed he was expected when he landed. There were several Royal Guards waiting for him as he stepped out of the shuttle, and without a word, led him towards the throne room. Their pace, however, annoyed the Sith. They were too slow for his liking, but they would not let him pass. It was all about presentation here, and it was nothing but a waste of time. But a waste of time that had to be suffered due to his master's tastes.
When he entered, his master was sitting upon his throne, speaking with Grand Moff Turfon. The moment the Sith Master saw his apprentice, he held up a hand towards the Moff, silencing him. Vader bowed as he came to the foot of the throne. "Master," he greeted respectfully.
Sidious smiled in malicious pleasure. "Rise, my friend. Rise!" he greeted. "Leave us," he told the Moff, who looked put off by being so easily dismissed. But he said nothing, apparently not wanting to incur the wrath of either Sith Lord. When he was out of the room, the elder Sith turned back to his apprentice. "What news do you bring for me, Lord Vader?"
"The Bimm uprisings have been crushed, my Master," he replied. "I captured the leaders and publicly executed them myself."
Sidious laughed. "Good! Good. What of the people?"
"Troopers have been left to ensure that peace remains. There will be no chance of rebellion of this scale to occur again."
The Emperor was grinning. "Excellent, Lord Vader. I sense you have become strong."
"Yes, Master."
"Your hate is strong."
"Yes, Master."
Sidious leaned back on his throne. "Soon, my young friend, you will be strong enough to heal yourself, to be free of the suffering you have endured at the hands of the Jedi."
Vader sneered, but made sure his mental shields were up so that his master would not sense anything amiss. If only the old fool knew –It was good he didn't. "Yes, Master."
The Emperor sat for a moment, regarding him, before his smile turned absolutely wicked. "So tell me, Lord Vader. How is your guest?"
The younger man paused. "Guest, Master?"
Amusement fled the old man's features so quickly that Vader feared he would be punished. "Lord Vader," he said in an alarmingly calm voice. "You haven't let anything happen to Senator Amidala, have you?"
Senator Amidala! He'd forgotten all about her for the last several days.
"It would be unfortunate if she were dead," his master continued with a hard edge to his voice.
Feel much better about the situation, Vader nodded at his master. "She was alive when I left."
That was enough for his master, it seemed, as the older Sith relaxed ever so slightly. "Good. See to it that she stays that way."
After a pause, Vader couldn't contain his curiosity over the matter, and decided to risk speaking up. "As you wish, Master," he began respectfully. "But I am curious as to her importance. She is a traitor to the Empire. Why keep her alive?"
Apparently his master wasn't willing to let him in on the secret yet, as he asked instead, "Have you found any other traitors amongst the senate?"
"Suspects only," Vader replied crisply. "There is no hard evidence, but I am certain of several. Am I to detain them?"
"No," Sidious looked disinterested. "Let them be for now. When the time comes we will expose them and use them to serve as warning to any who dares defy us."
Within the helmet, Vader scowled. "Why not arrest them now, Master? Why risk the chance that they might cause chaos? I could kill them all."
"You could," the Emperor said coldly, "because you are too short sighted and dimwitted to see all the possibilities." Vader tensed at the insults. "I have foreseen their usefulness. That is all you need know," he snapped. "Now. Leave. See to Amidala."
A growl of frustration wormed its way up his throat, but Vader repressed it. Not back an hour and already he had to restrain himself. What he wouldn't give to be back out among the stars, flying, away from the capital and from his master. To be free…
But that was not his life. Bowing low, Vader rumbled a "Yes, Master," and dismissed himself.
It was a long, infuriated walk to the hanger bay, and the more he thought about his conversation with his master, the angrier he became. The flight back to the base took far too long for his liking, and yet it was far too short. It was strange, however, that he hadn't thought about Senator Amidala the entire time he'd been away, yet suddenly, now he couldn't help wonder how she'd be reacting to his piloting at this moment. No doubt she'd be curled up in her seat, squirming and gasping every time she thought he got too close to something. Which was ridiculous. He was in complete control at all times. She obviously had not heard that he was the best pilot in the galaxy. Perhaps he should inform her the next time she tried criticizing him.
When he returned to base, he stalked out of the shuttle, not bothering to wait around for the welcoming committee to realize he was here and make hurried speeches about how glad they were he was back. Lies, all of it. It was a waste of time and resources, but then, his master was all about the pomp. He might be the Heir to the Empire, but that didn't mean he liked living like the rest of the spoiled nobility he had seen in the past.
It was fortunate that everyone stayed out of his way for the most part. His P.A. approached with a pad in hand, which listed all the updates and reports that he might not have gotten while out on his mission. He took it from the lieutenant without a word and continued on to his chambers. Meditation was in order, but first, he had to make sure the Senator was indeed still alive. He mentally snorted when he recalled his master's accusation. What was he? The senator's keeper? In a way, he supposed he was, but the idea disturbed him. He didn't want to own anyone.
When he made it to his wing, he could sense that she was near. Her presence was a beacon. He'd forgotten how bright it was, how pure. He hated it. It was part of the reason why he hadn't been able to meditate properly before. If only he'd been able to execute her. Life would be going so much smoother.
Not bothering to sound the com, Vader opened the door. Immediately he wished he hadn't. His lack of patience would be the end of him, as he master always accused. Perhaps this was a reminder of why he should practice more patience.
The senator was sitting on the edge of her bed in nothing but a thin robe that covered her body completely…except for the long leg that slipped out between the opening, exposing her appendage nearly completely up to her hip. The moment she saw him she jumped, quickly covered herself as much as she could. It came as a relief, although Vader wasn't sure why.
"Lord Vader!" the woman gasped as she stood, looking flustered. "Wh-when did you get back? Why didn't you com?!" she was nearly in hysterics.
But the Sith wasn't sure what to say. He shouldn't have to explain himself to this woman. He shouldn't have to make up excuses. So, instead, he stared at her, making sure that she appeared well, before he turned and left. There was no point in talking to her. As he now recalled, before he'd left, she hadn't wanted to know anything about this mission, and it had ended up been too bloody and controversial anyway. She was well and healthy, and that was all he'd wanted to know. If he'd wanted to actually speak to her, he would stay. But he didn't want to talk. Especially at the moment.
He turned and left, glad to hear the sound of the doors hissing closed behind him. For whatever reason, he suddenly got the bad feeling that all of his hard work in immersing himself into the Dark Side of the Force had all been for not now that he was back on Coruscant. First, his master wished for him to limit himself, to repress his anger and powers, and now he was back to sharing a living space with a woman who exuded light and…well… other things.
When he entered his room, he marched straight over to his hyperbaric chamber and sat down. Carefully, he took off his helmet and mask, taking a deep breath to calm himself. Just returned from a mission and already he was yearning to be back out in space. If only his master would allow him to live on a ship. But that wouldn't look good for the Emperor's Heir. Vader had to be here on Coruscant, despite wanting to be anywhere else.
Eyeing his dark room, Vader was suddenly seized by the sudden sensation of being trapped. It wasn't the first time he'd felt this way, but it was the first time he'd felt it so strong since he was first incased in this suit over three years ago. He didn't understand it, this feeling. Not really. Sure, he was limited by his work and master to go wherever he wanted, and he couldn't be without his suit for a little while longer yet, but there was something different about now as opposed to when he had felt like this in the past. Now there was an added element, and he couldn't figure out what it was.
Glancing back over at the blank screen, it was obvious that he wasn't going to get much done. Not now. He'd been so ready before his meeting with the Emperor, but now all Vader wanted to do was find something to do that he didn't have to think too extensively about. There was only one option.
Shoving his helmet back on, the Sith stormed out of his chambers and made his way to the hanger bay. No one stopped him, no one offered a 'welcome back' since last time he'd strangled a man for saying it. He hated insincerity from his personnel. He knew very well they liked it better when he was gone. The thought, strangely, didn't please him at the moment. It only seemed to exacerbate the feelings of imprisonment.
An hour later found him working on one of the prototype shuttles that engineering had sent his way. These shuttles were hopefully to be equipped on all Star Destroyer models, for transferring goods or troopers. It was a fairly solid design, with only a few bugs that still needed to be worked out. He would have to test fly it after he was finished working at some point. The more he thought about it, the more he wondered if he should see if he couldn't modify the wings so that they were more fuel efficient.
As he worked on the undercarriage, still pondering over design modifications, he found himself groping for the hydrospanner. He reached out, searching, when it was suddenly placed in his hand. Startled, he pulled himself out from underneath, and stared at the blue dome of an astromech.
The two gazed at one another, the droid appearing as nervous as a droid could, before it asked if that was the tool he was looking for. Vader ignored the question. "How did you get out of my wing?" he growled.
The droid answered with evasive explanations and excuses that didn't quite make any sense. He had never encountered a droid that spoke around the answer to a direct question. Droids were made to obey and work, it was rare to find one with so much…personality. 'Eccentric,' as the senator had called it, didn't quite do this little one justice, Vader could already tell.
After another pause, the Sith shook his head. "I doubt Threepio told you to find me," he answered at last.
If a droid were capable of it, he knew that this little one would have been shuffling his feet. But eventually, it responded with something equivalent of, 'Yeah, well, you know…'
Eccentric indeed.
Giving the droid a final once over, Vader turned back to his work now that he had the hydrospanner. The droid stayed as well, oddly enough. And after working in silence, it surprised the Sith by apologizing for the other day. Unable to work when having such a bizarre conversation, Vader sat up again.
"Did the senator put you up to this?" he frowned.
The droid shook and spun his dome in the negative, quickly explaining that it had felt badly for being so rude to him the other day. It was strange to hear a droid sincerely apologize for its behavior. Stranger still that Vader could hear the sincerity. Droids weren't supposed to have real emotions.
A part of Vader couldn't help but reach out to the droid. He'd always liked droids, especially ones with character. Droids were better than people as far as he was concerned, and they were more easily fixed. He could fix droids. He couldn't fix people.
So after making the little machine wait apprehensively, the Sith turned back to his work. "What is your designation number?"
More beeps. "Artoo-Detoo," he nodded to himself. "Very well. You may stay. But be warned, if you are in my way, or I find you plugged into anything you should not be, I will not hesitate to destroy you. Do we have an understanding?"
R2 made a shocked, but hurried reply, and it caused the Sith's lip to twitch in amusement. "Good. Now, if you're going to be a bother, at least be useful about it. You may hand me what I require."
Several hours passed in surprisingly companionable occupation. The R2 unit was actually quite capable of handling the tasks Vader assigned to it, and was actually very astute. A few times it had even stopped the Dark Lord from making minor mistakes. They were nothing he wouldn't have seen after a moment or so, but it did save some of his precious time. The droid also didn't badger him with questions or chatter like 3PO had a tendency to do. Instead, there were moments when the droid would make snarky comments about a technician at the other end of the hanger that he'd been watching, giving Vader an excuse to terrify people, which was always enjoyable. Over all, it was a rather relaxing—dare he say it— fun time. Not once in all that time did he have to think about big brown eyes or long legs.
When there was nothing else to be done, the time was nearing three in the morning. He escorted R2 back to his personal wing in silence. When they made it to the hall, he paused near the balcony and turned to the droid. It turned its sensory 'eye' up at him. "If I find you wandering around again, I will be forced to wipe your memory. If you continue to do it, I will deactivate you until you are needed. Am I understood?"
R2 whistled an acceptance before beeping out a question. It made Vader pause, weighing his options. On the one hand, it would be a great help, but then again, he hadn't been at the top of his game since the senator had come to stay with him. Having her here brought out a side of him that he wanted to keep long buried, and this droid wasn't making that any better. But still…
"If I require your assistance, I will come gather you, and you may help me," he agreed. Only a small part of him was overjoyed with the idea, the large half was angry, screaming at him that this was a very bad idea.
But he'd already said he'd do it. Vader wasn't known to back out of his promises. At least very often. So he walked the droid to the senator's room and opened the door. As R2 rolled in, Vader paused and stared into the dark room. His visor within the helmet easily adjusted to the darkness, and he could make out the sleeping woman in bed. Her Force presence blinded him, yet he found himself staring all the same. What was it about her? Why did she stir so many unwanted emotions within him?
The Force swirled around as he thought of her. It was whispering something to him, something that should have been obvious, but he couldn't hear. She was important, he understood that. Maybe the Emperor was right in keeping her alive. Maybe she really did have some sort of part to play that would see to righting the galaxy and making it the way it should be.
He just hoped he wouldn't regret letting her live.
oOoOoOo
Vader's mission to Bimmisaari had been all over the news several days later after he returned. Padmé watched reports in her office, scowling. Of course the news stations bespoke of the glorious victory of the Empire, of how it saved the planet from traitorous, dangerous rebels that would have surely destroyed it, before the brave Lord Vader came rushing to the rescue at the order of the wise Emperor Palpatine. It was all disgustingly cliché and wrong, and she could barely stomach to watch it. But she had to. She wanted to see if she could piece together the truth.
Of course there was always the option of just asking Vader for his take on events. No doubt he would tell her exactly what happened, but a part of her didn't want to hear the absolute truth. The gruesome details were not something she liked to dwell on. But then, she doubted the Sith would tell her anyway. He had become very withdrawn again, hardly speaking to her. It didn't seem as though he were avoiding her exactly, but there was something going on with him.
Padmé hit her head on her desk, groaning. There she went, trying to come up with emotional motivations for Vader. Why was she doing this to herself? He was no better than a machine. Cold, lifeless, and dangerous. If she shot him, would he even bleed?
But she couldn't help it. For the first few days since his return, being around the Sith had been suffocating. It was like the evil cloud that had always surrounded him had doubled. But now it seemed to be fading back to 'normal' levels. She refused to believe that she could just be getting used to being around him. She didn't like to think that she was being desensitized to evil. But she could tell that he was calming down.
And she still couldn't believe that he'd walked into her room without signaling! True, she hadn't been indecent or anything, just her leg peeking out from the robe a bit, but nothing risqué. She'd been so embarrassed at the time, one would have thought he'd seen her naked! But after a while, as she thought about it, his reaction to the event was definitely puzzling. He'd just stood there, not saying a word. He'd stared for one, two, three minutes before he finally shut the door. What had he been looking for? Had he been somehow scanning her room? Maybe he'd been looking at all of the added shelves she'd gotten? Or maybe…Had he been staring at her?
That was crazy. Vader didn't look at women unless he was going to slice them in half. Not once in the three years that the Sith had made his public debut had he gone anywhere near women. He didn't subscribe to the typical rich and powerful male. People in general were targets for contempt, and it didn't matter if they were male or female. Vader just hated people too much to get close to anyone. And Padmé had a feeling that relationships of any kind just weren't his thing. Relationships required a give and take, and an opening oneself up to show weaknesses to any other. That definitely did not sound like anything Vader would be into.
So what was with him? What made the creature tick? He was so unlike anyone she'd ever met it was physically exhausting to try and untangle the mysteries surrounding him. If you expected a normal being to react one way, Vader was the complete opposite of the opposite you thought. Just when you thought you understood a small part of him, he was suddenly reacting in ways that could never have been predicted.
For instance, before he'd left for the whole Bimmisaari excursion, he had been seething about R2. He hated him so much that he'd literally been right about to tear the little droid apart. He'd even had his lightsaber out and ready! But right before he left, he'd helped her pick up R2, and then just yesterday, R2 sounded like he was whistling a greeting towards the Dark Lord. But what was more, Vader actually nodded back. When had they become friendly? It made no sense.
But then, Vader's reaction to droids was considerably different than with other sentient beings. He liked them. Or it seemed as though he did since he kept a protocol droid like 3PO around. How anyone with such a short, violent temper could stand 3PO's worrying and bumbling about was a whole mystery unto itself.
In short, there was no 'figuring out' Lord Vader. It was like asking a being to condense the universe to fit into a single can of fruit. It wasn't going to happen. It was impossible. There was no consistency with Vader. He did what he wanted, reacted how he wanted. Maybe that's one of the aspects about him that made him so terrifying. One didn't know what to expect from him, so everyone had to be on their toes at all times. Coupled with his inconsistent mood, his disregard for life, and his strange powers, it was clear now why everyone feared him so. There was no reasoning with him, no begging. If Vader wanted you dead, he would kill you.
But he hadn't killed her.
Padmé groaned at the thought. It was probably just because the Emperor wanted her alive. Everyone knew that when it came to subtly and diplomacy, Vader was about as useful as a charging Reek. His approach to politics was straight forward and completely brutal. Needless to say, the Emperor took care of a lot of the politics, so it was probably the Emperor who realized that killing her at the moment would only be counterproductive in securing his position and getting the Empire to fall into further submission. But even if it was ordered not to kill her, it didn't mean Vader wouldn't lose his temper and kill her in a fit of rage.
Yet he hadn't. There had been plenty of opportunity for him to snap, but he hadn't. She'd teased him, made him angry, begged, did many things that he was known to hate, and yet he had stayed his hand. Except for the first day when he'd choked her, he hadn't so much as touched her again. In fact, the few times she'd gotten carried away and reached out for him he'd shrank back so fast one would've thought she was poison. He didn't like touching unless he was the one to initiate it, it seemed. Yet another interesting little factoid about the Sith she'd picked up.
It was all too confusing. It was better not to think of Vader at all, yet that's all she found herself able to do. She was so isolated now, nothing took her mind off of him. She practically lived with him for Force sake! It's not like she could readily just forget he existed. He was always there, even when he wasn't. His presence was felt everywhere. That cold, dreadful feeling that shrouded him in darkness. It lingered in the air long after he'd gone, and now she was becoming used to it.
Indeed, the cold didn't bother her quite as much, and the darkness, although oppressive and suffocating, was beginning to lose its potency. Even more disturbingly, however, was the fact that she was becoming used to being alone. She talked about politics at work, worked with a few other senators about bills, and slowly, very slowly, that was becoming enough. Slowly she was becoming acclimated into Lord Vader's way of life. Work and then isolation. She even found herself wanting to cry less and less over her situation.
How could anyone live this way? Live this way but have the choice to improve it and not taking it? To say that Vader was antisocial would be the understatement of the century. It was like saying Coruscant was busy. For whatever reason – reasons that Padmé simply couldn't fathom – he liked being alone. She, too, on occasion liked to get away and have her personal time, but this? This was extreme. What had happened to Vader that made him this way? Had he had bad experiences with people when he was younger? Perhaps he'd been awkward as a child? Or maybe, more disturbingly, maybe he had suffered enough to make him hate humanity in general…
And there she went again! Vader doesn't have a past! And stop victimizing him! she scolded herself sternly. It was becoming harder and harder for her not to try to psychoanalyze him. It was not uncommon for her to chant in her head about how many beings he'd killed or tortured, and any other negative fact she could think of. But it was becoming hopeless. She was becoming obsessive and she couldn't stop. Vader wasn't like other beings. She wasn't even sure he even was some sort of creature at all. No, he was nothing. Nothing except pure evil, created by the Emperor.
Standing up, Padmé walked out into the suite, unable to be alone in her office anymore. She was about to ask her assistant what else she had scheduled today, when Senator Cotrilla barged in. Wonderful, she thought. I have that to deal with.
Walking forward in greeting, Padmé put on a false smile. "Senator Cotrilla," she extended her hand, but the other woman refused to shake it. "How nice of you to join me."
The redhead gave her a superior look, before stalking into Padmé's office uninvited. It was infuriating, but the Naboo senator kept her poise, even when Jar Jar made a face which clearly expressed his option of the other human. When she was certain no one else was looking, Padmé winked at the Gungan with a small smile, before turning back to the business at hand.
When she entered her office, she found Ritia sitting down in one of her more comfortable chairs near the window, glaring at her, as though she'd done something wrong. Calmly, Padmé closed the door and went to sit across from the redhead. "So, Senator, tell me what brings you here today?"
"Cut the poodoo, Amidala," Cotrilla snapped. "I want to know what's going on between you and the Imperial Navy."
Padmé frowned, but was unable to keep her contempt of the other woman out of her expression. "What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb with me, Amidala, even if you're good at it. It's been weeks now, and we've seen more of Lord Vader here than we have since the creation of the Empire. Not to mention you don't go anywhere without a trooper. So what's going on?" she demanded.
While Padmé prided herself of being a tolerant person, she had to admit she had little patience with this woman. "Everyone was sent a report about the rebel attempt to get rid of me," she gave the other woman a cool expression. "It was all in the report."
"But that was weeks ago," Ritia pushed. "And since when did you ever gain the Emperor's favoritism?"
"I've always been his favorite," Padmé used the Emperor's own taunt to taunt the woman before her. It was somewhat ironic.
Cotrilla, however, didn't seem impressed. In fact, her face became a red as her hair. "That's a load of shit, and you know it! You've only ever spoke out against the Empire! Why on Coruscant would he suddenly want to protect you from rebels? Everyone agrees that we'd be able to get a lot more done if you just died," she spat. "What good are you?"
"She is of very great importance," a chillingly deep voice said from the doorway followed by the all too familiar ominous hissing of a respirator.
Both women jumped in surprised, turning to stare at the Dark Lord. How in the seven layers of Sith hell had he been able to sneak up on them? Vader was probably one of the loudest beings she'd ever encountered, yet he'd been able to open the door and listen to them without them even knowing. Was this some sort of Force power or had they really been arguing that heatedly?
"L-Lord Vader!" Cotrilla shot to her feet, nervously pushing her hair behind her ears.
Padmé stood much more gracefully. "Lord Vader," she greeted calmly. "Forgive me, but I'm in the middle of a meeting with Senator Cotrilla."
"Your meeting with this woman is finished," the Sith replied haughtily. "Come with me."
Although she didn't like being bossed around, Padmé had to admit she was relieved that the Sith had come. Strange, she would rather be with him than Ritia. Would wonders ever cease?
"Please excuse me, Senator," Padmé smiled with faux-regret. "But I must see to this. Perhaps we can discuss this at a later date?"
Cotrilla looked between her and Vader and then back again before she shook her head. "N-no. That won't be necessary. Good day. Good day, Lord Vader."
The Sith didn't even acknowledge her as he waited impatiently for Padmé. The brunette woman didn't bother to see the other out, and instead was forced to walk out with Vader. They had just gotten out into the hallway, when Padmé turned to look up at the creature in black. "Where are we going?"
"To the cafeteria."
She frowned. "It's not noon. And you hate the cafeteria."
"Would you rather have continued sitting there talking to that woman?"
Was that a threat? Padmé looked away, not entirely successful at keeping her lips from upturning slightly. "An early lunch it is."
Would wonders ever cease?
Author's Note: Hope you're all liking it so far, but I have to tell you that the M rating will soon be coming into effect. So be prepared.
R2 would really like to hear from everyone, by the way. Drop him a comment! Thanks!