"They have a mission for us," said Leia.

"Us?" Vader asked.

"Well, me." Leia smiled. "And ostensibly you. Someone in my position is allowed to bring others along."

"Finally!" Luke jumped up like an excitable Loth-cat. "I think I'm getting cabin fever like this."

Vader considered this. It would be good to leave, of course, escape the soon-to-be-watchful eyes of the Rebel Alliance for a little longer. But he still ran the risk of recognition, even outside the Yavin 4 base.

"There's a small, partially uninhabited planet here in the Outer Rim. The Alliance thinks there's an abandoned Imperial base there, where we might gather useful information." She frowned slightly, perhaps in shame. "And equipment, which we sorely need."

"You're underequipped?" Vader asked, concerned. The Rebels were struggling, he knew. How could they not, against Imperial forces? But he hadn't thought them desperate enough to scavenge like starving Nexus. This was news. Perhaps he could "borrow" a little something from the Star Destroyer Fleet.

"Not very," Leia said cautiously. "But enough, yes. Enough to make this trip, at least."

"Alright," he said. "Are you sure the base is abandoned? The last thing we need right now is to get ambushed."

"We haven't exactly gotten up close and personal." Leia gave him an amused look. "But all signs point to it being so."

"So, what's the plan?"

"We'll meet up with the other Alliance fighter assigned to this mission once we arrive, and make our way around. There are only non-sentient lifeforms to worry about, thank goodness. A few predators here and there, but nothing to worry about." She paused a moment. "Unless I'm speaking too soon. We won't know until we get there."

"Understood." Vader smiled. "So we're going in completely blind. I've done worse, I guess."

Leia rolled her eyes. "We have maps of the planet, a few scans of its lifeforms, and half-finished blueprints of the base. Admittedly not much, but neither is it nothing."

"Like I said, I have done worse." Vader shrugged. "And I've worked with less."

"Well, this certainly looks promising," Obi-Wan said dryly.

"Hopefully, it will be," Leia said. "With any luck."

"If it gets bad, we can make our own," Luke offered. "Contingency plans, right? And if the base isn't so abandoned after all, Father can go in alone, or with us as his 'prisoners'." He grinned. "Worked last time!"

"Kid, you're learning," said Solo.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan warned.

Vader tapped the ship's controls lightly. "I know where I'm going, Master." He smiled sweetly. "No need to worry."

"When our resident smuggler wakes up and finds you piloting his ship, he will not be happy," Obi-Wan continued.

"He gave me permission."

That got his master's rant to unravel. "He what?"

"Uh, he did," Luke said. "He said he didn't want to be in Father's debt after the repairs. He, well, um, he also threatened Father with 'evisceration' if he crashed the ship. I wouldn't fly that thing in a million years, but I guess some recklessness has no limits. At all." Luke gave him an unhappy look.

"I won't crash it," Vader said cheerily. "I would never. Wouldn't even dream of it."

"Yes, you needn't go on," Obi-Wan interrupted, and then sighed, exhausted. "Just get us to our thrice-damned destination without any evisceration, please."

"Of course, Master. Anything you say, Master."

"Believe it or not," his master told his son, "this is one of his good moods."

"Wow," Luke said, understanding dawning on his face, so like Vader's own, and yet so unlike it. Untouched by years of pain and fighting and regret. "Huh."

"Ship's still not gonna crash." Vader hummed.

"Do you remember anything of what I said about restraining your ego? Not getting cocky? Anything at all?"

"Every word." His sugar-sweet smile got sweeter. "As if I could ever forget anything you say, Master. I hang on to every word, truly."

"One of these days, Anakin, you're going to be the death of me." Obi-Wan sighed. "My complete undoing."

"Don't sell yourself short," Vader said, a little more seriously. "You've managed thus far, right?"

"A feat to be commended," Obi-Wan replied shortly.

The ship flew on. And didn't crash. Not that it ever would have, of course.

When Vader stepped out of the ship, he realised the planet was beautiful. Too beautiful for the Empire to ever have deserved to touch.

Luke rushed outside to the fresh air like the Mon Calamari to water. Artoo and Threepio rushed after him, others joining until only Vader stood on the Falcon's boarding ramp, looking out over the tropical treetops and to the horizon beyond.

"Care to join us?" Obi-Wan asked, standing at the base of the ramp.

Vader looked down at him. "I haven't breathed such unfiltered air in years."

Obi-Wan's eyes went sad, but not pitying. They would never, not for him, and Vader didn't need his pity regardless. "Come, take in the sights with us, then. Young Luke seems to be enjoying himself."

Vader turned his attention to his son, who was staring in fascination at a large, fruit-baring tree. "Do you think these are edible?" he asked. Leia and Solo winced. "Not that I was going to try! Honestly, I do have some sense."

"Oh, I'm sure," Leia teased, and plucked a fruit gently down from the tree. "Worth investigating. There are enough of these to feed the whole Alliance."

"And then some," Solo added. He handed one to the Wookie, who sniffed it curiously, and then nodded. "Chewie thinks they're good. Wanna try?"

"Am I the only one with any caution here?" Leia laughed. "Give it to me, I'll take a sample back to the base. Please, nobody eat it. I don't want to bring bodies back, as well."

"Alright, Princess." Solo handed her the fruit, which she slipped into the large bag she'd slung over her shoulders.

"Okay." She eyed the bag, and Vader watched with surprise as she readjusted it to a more comfortable position with the Force. "Let's get going. My contact won't get impatient, I hope, but I do want to get there by sundown, at least."

Vader descended the ramp and came to stand next to his daughter. "Sounds like we have a long way to go. Any reason we're not flying there?"

Leia smiled and gave a frustrated shake of her head. "There's nowhere else to land. According to my informants, the Empire only settled here for a few months before realising it was, well, very inhospitable, and neither worth their time nor their effort. The canopy here is so thick, this is the only available 'parking space' in kilometres. It's the closest we've found. Any others are practically on the other side of the planet."

Vader wrinkled his nose. "It doesn't sound like it's worth our time or effort, either."

"My contact says there's some very valuable equipment lying around. Apparently, in their hurry to leave, the Imperial forces entirely gave up on packing." Leia shrugged. "All the more for us."

"Who is this mysterious contact?" Obi-Wan questioned. His face was smeered with dirt and dripped with sweat. There was a small cut on the bridge of his nose, where a particularly sharp plant had slashed him. Still, he looked better than Vader, who had leaves in his hair, could taste mud in his mouth, and felt positively eaten alive by insects. He was wearing the suit, but had taken the helmet off to breathe air that tasted like moisture and not empty filtration. Perhaps he should've kept it on. "I'd love to meet them and," Obi-Wan coughed, "compliment them on their resilience."

Leia blinked. "Perhaps someone you would know," she said. "They say she was once a Jedi. I haven't met her personally, but she's somewhat of a legend here in the Alliance. Goes by the codename Fulcrum."

That sounded awfully familiar. Vader said as much.

"Perhaps you do know her, then." Leia's hair was beginning to fall into her eyes, and she used the Force to retie her buns. Vader raised an eyebrow. "I know," she said, laughing. "Don't use the Force irresponsibly. This is survival, you know."

"It's completely responsible," Luke cut in.

"I'm not saying anything," Vader said. "It's Obi-Wan who gets mad about this."

"I'm not mad," Obi-Wan said fervently. "Not in conditions like these. Force, I do believe this heat is lethal."

"You lived on Tatooine for twenty years, and you're not used to a little heat?" Vader teased. "Master, have you lost your touch?"

"Quiet, you." His master chuckled. "It wasn't as humid on Tatooine. Plus, I did have a house, with a 'fresher."

"What luxury," said Vader.

"See?" Leia said to Solo, waving her hands as much as she could without getting them tangled in vines. Luke perked up at this, grinning slyly. "Like a married couple," they chorused.

Solo nodded. "Yeah, I get what you mean."

"I heard that," Vader grumbled.

They walked on, until Vader's boots were soaked in mud and detritus, and until they had to carry Threepio, who complained so loudly, Vader briefly wondered what his childhood mind had been thinking in building him. And restoring his memories.

"Goodness," he said, and if he'd had the nose to do it, he'd have sniffed haughtily. "I cannot believe I'm being subjected to this. You should have left me in the ship. Let Artoo go along! He has jets. His joints won't get locked up by dirt!"

"Sorry, Threepio," Luke offered. "But we really need you. You're an important part of this mission, you know. You and Artoo can interface with the tech in ways we can't."

"Oh," said Threepio, quieting. "Well, then."

Vader made a point of broadcasting his pride and appreciation through the Force. Luke winked at him mischievously.

"We're almost there," Leia assured. "We're reaching landmarks my contact's told me about. See those marks?" She pointed to a large arrow burnt into a tree by what looked like a lightsaber. So the rumours were true. This Fulcrum had been a Jedi. "Means we're about half a kilometre away."

"Thank the Maker!" Threepio announced. "I've half the mind to celebrate."

Vader and Leia rolled their eyes in unison. He wondered if she'd noticed it.

As they approached the meeting point, Vader put on the helmet and stuck to the shadows. If Leia's contact truly was a Jedi, then she would recognise him on sight. At least as Vader he could explain away his presence at an Imperial site. He tried to reign in the distinct aura he knew disturbed most Force-sensitives, and hoped Leia's contact wouldn't notice him snooping like the Imperial spy Palpatine thought he was.

Leia tapped her communicator. "Come in, come in, Fulcrum. We're at the rendezvous."

"I can definitely see that," came a wry voice, as his former padawan stepped out from the brush. Vader's eyes widened, but he tried desperately to clamp down on any other reaction. If Ahsoka knew he was here, things would... not be pretty.

"As you can also see, I brought some friends." Leia turned to introduce Luke, Solo, the droids, and the older Jedi, but found only the former and not the latter. From behind him, Vader felt Obi-Wan creep up.

"She lives," Obi-Wan whispered.

"She does," Vader confirmed, hiding the guilt in his tone with likely little success.

"And you didn't tell me."

"I didn't tell you, no," said Vader. "Before the Incident, I never would have. Afterwards, I assumed you knew anyway."

"You're telling the truth." Obi-Wan gave him an incredulous look. "How would I have known?"

"Old friends tend to reconnect."

"I have not seen Ahsoka in over twenty years." Obi-Wan sighed. "She's grown."

"Very much so," said Vader. "She is a fine fighter, and a talented Rebel. You wouldn't believe how many plans she's sabotaged."

"Oh, I would." Obi-Wan looked to her fondly. "We can't reveal ourselves, can we?"

"Certainly, you could." Vader sighed. "But not I."

"She will ask questions," Obi-Wan said, regret lacing his tone and his presence in the Force. "Too many questions."

"Then perhaps we should answer them," Vader suggested. He had a sudden need to talk to her, Snips, his padawan, his friend. Not that he'd been so kind to her in recent years.

"Should we?" Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "I don't mean to be brash, but if she sees you here, she will..." Obi-Wan's mouth twitched a little. "Ani, my friend, in no uncertain terms, she'll kick your arse."

"Oh, I know," he agreed. "I should let her."

Obi-Wan gripped his shoulder tightly, and Vader stayed his hand. "Please, let us at least watch how things unfold. I'm not sure she'll be particularly receptive."

"Very well," said Vader, and waited.

Leia had adapted fast and made no sign of being surprised by her diminished party. "Yes, I have a brother," she was saying. "It's a long story."

"Seems like it," said Ahsoka. "Well, any friend of the Alliance is a friend of mine. Welcome to the mission, Luke, Han." She laughed a little and gestured to the broken down Imperial base entrance before them. "Let's do this thing, huh?"

"Artoo, want to get it open?" Leia asked.

Artoo beeped happily and swiveled forward. A claw brushed away the grime from the access port, and the small droid went to work.

Vader breathed a sigh of relief. They didn't need someone with great training in the Force to open the door, after all.

Ahsoka went rigid. "Did you hear that?" she asked. The mask, Vader had forgotten the mask. Blast it all, he was growing careless, acclimatising too fast, finding himself so easily addicted to his newfound youth.

Solo shrugged. "Hear what?"

Leia turned to her. No lies showed in her eyes - she had caught on - but her smile was slightly strained. "Could it be one of the lifeforms inhabiting this planet? They won't have taken well to our intrusion, will they?"

Ahsoka had her master's relentless curiosity. "Let me check," she said, and Vader felt the powerful rush of her Force presence, the tendrils working to piece him together from the shadows.

"Was I right?" Leia's hand went to her blaster.

"Cold," said Ahsoka. "So cold. And beside it... the smell of cinnamon? I know this."

"Now would be the time, I think," said Obi-Wan. "If we are in fact to answer her questions."

Vader grimaced. "Yes, now would be the time."

The two took steps out into the small clearing, Obi-Wan wearing a nervous smile that was rendered useless by the hood hiding his face, and Vader wishing somehow he could make the mask look less unfeeling.

"You," Ahsoka said, broken and angry. "Have you come back to protect your base? Well, news for you, Sith Lord, there's nothing here to protect! Or can't you stand the Alliance getting their hands on your toys? You can't, can you?" She growled. "It's not like you and your giant fleet of Star Destroyers can't take the loss."

Vader blinked.

"I'm completely wasting my time," Ahsoka told herself furiously. "Nothing gets through to you, does it?" Her hands gripped her lightsabers like a lifeline. "Not anymore."

It would be hard to diffuse this. He knew what he'd done. But if he could shock her into calm again... "Hey, Snips, maybe put down the lightsabers?" he asked. "I'm not sure about Obi-Wan, but I definitely want to keep my head." He nudged Obi-Wan. "You up for keeping your head, Master?"

"Well, it'd be a shame to lose it," he replied, flipping up the hood. "I put a lot of effort into maintaining this beard, you know."

Ahsoka stopped dead. The resulting silence was so sharp it could cut. Eventually, she sheathed the 'sabers, and held her hands tightly at her sides. Her stance was still deadly, her eyes still suspicious. "Okay, what's going on here?" She turned to Leia. "I know you know about this, Princess. I can sense it."

"The Force works in mysterious ways," said Vader, joking his way through life-or-death situations like Anakin would. His past wasn't just returning full force, it was strangling him with all its might.

"Master?" Ahsoka's face filled with hope. "Master, is that you?"

Vader took off the mask. "Master, it is you!"

"Not quite," he said, choked.

"A lot has happened these past weeks," Obi-Wan said. "We've found ourselves de-aged, so to speak, thanks to the Force. And the Prophecy."

The hope died. "So it isn't you." Ahsoka clenched her fists. "Darth Vader, you are one good actor."

"It's not all an act." He was mirroring Obi-Wan's words, even if he didn't quite believe them, because he had to. It was a hope he could offer. Not as great as the one he'd seen on Snips' face moments ago, but better than the dim, quiet disappointment he saw now. "I'm no longer with the Empire." He smiled slightly. "Me and Obi-Wan were assigned to this mission, same as you."

"Pfft." Ahsoka snorted. "I'm not a giant kriffing idiot. You've taken all these innocent people hostage, haven't you? Forced them to play along?"

"Well, that's definitely what I'd've done if I was still on the Emperor's side, I'll give you that." He grinned, pained. "Snips, you know me too well, huh?"

"Stop doing that," she cried. "You sound just like him!"

"I am him," Vader said. That was, not to Snips' knowledge, the first time he'd admitted that in so many countless years. He was Anakin Skywalker. Kriffing hell, he was Anakin Skywalker. The Hero with No Fear turned traitor and murderer. Not that many knew. Most thought he was just dead. Anakin Skywalker, abhorrent killer, hiding behind his mask because it was easier than explaining to the ghosts of everyone he'd killed. Despair filled him. What had he done?

"Ani's dead," Ahsoka snapped. "You killed him, and just because you're wearing his face, it doesn't mean he's back."

"I'm trying," he said, his voice cracking. It was still so light. He'd grown into the suit's voice modulator over the years. Even in the Meditation Chambers, when he could speak without its help, the voice Palpatine had made him use would not leave him, even half-broken and whispered. Because it was his, it had been all along. Only artificially lowered, until it no longer needed to be.

"Why?" she asked. "After all this time, why?"

"I've been given a second chance," he said. "By the Force. Not that I know why."

"You don't deserve it," she said, anguished. He could sense she was lying. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, guide her like he used to. He couldn't.

"No, I don't," he agreed. "But I can't just throw it away, Snips."

"Why would you do it?" He knew she wasn't talking about his changed face anymore. "Master, after everything, how could you?"

He'd hated everyone and everything, himself included. He'd thought himself betrayed. The Jedi had left him, not that they'd ever been there for him in the first place. His master had never loved him, his wife was scared of him. He'd killed her without meaning to. His children were dead. Everyone he loved was dead, or hated him. Palpatine wanted to mould him into a perfect weapon, and there was nothing good left in his life or in himself to stop him. Why not be the Empire's servant, her attack dog? Who was left to care? What choice did he have? He'd wanted more power, hadn't he? He'd already made all the sacrifices for it, so why not reap the benefits?

There were no benefits. But he'd not realised that at the time.

"I was blind," he said, after a while. "I was a foolish child, and I was blind, and Palpatine had me as his puppet, and there was nothing left in me that could muster enough energy to cut the strings."

Everyone was silent.

"I was in over my head," he continued. "So I let myself drown. That's why, Snips." Obi-Wan laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

This seemed to hurt Ahsoka even more.

"A few weeks of contrition is not enough," Leia reminded him. "Especially if it's all been for nothing."

It had, hadn't it? That was the worst part. He'd ruined the Republic and the Jedi not because they needed ruining, but because Sheev Palpatine had wanted him to. And that was why he was here. To rebuild what he'd torn down.

"Then I'll do more than that," he said. "Whatever it takes."

Ahsoka stared at him. Vader - or, rather, Anakin - stared back.

Finally, she offered a small, sad shrug. "Then, let's get on with this mission, okay? I guess everyone's gotta start somewhere, right?"

"Right," Anakin said. "Lead on, Snips."

Author's Note: INB4 DAVE FILONI JOSSES ME. STAR WARS: REBELS SEASON TWO ISN'T OUT YET. *PLUGS FINGERS IN EARS* YOU CAN'T CORRECT ME ON ANYTHING, LA LA LA.

Spoiler alert for the actual chapter above, and for SW: Rebels. Like, a lot of it. And super long A/N coming. TL;DR: there's nO CANON BACKSTORY I HAD TO MAKE IT UP.

I'm assuming in the season to come, Vader's gonna do some Bad Shit, and Ahsoka's not exactly going to be having much fun (someone in the Youtube Comments Section - which gets capitals all on its own - said Vader would, and I quote, "core her like an apple". So, damn, there's that). Basically, I'm piling on more angst than is probably going to happen in S2. Uh, or maybe not? The shows have been freaking brutal so far, honestly. Like, wow, damn, you guys, I thought this was for kids, jeeeze.

ANYWAY. Ahsoka's had years of Anakin's betrayal to sink in by now, so she's furiously angry and hurt when confronted with him. Also, Vader's been a huge dick to everyone and treated everyone like shit for decades now, especially Snips, so yeah. She's p mad, dude. I'm explaining this because Disney said, "FUCK THE EU! lol" and backstory and ...fowardstory all rely on the current established canon. AND SW: REBELS IS ONGOING AHHHHh *tears hair out*. So I'm making it up. Essentially. Yep.

And so arrives the moment Vader realises he's actually kind of Anakin tho. WE'VE ONLY BEEN WAITING FOREVER.

SO, HOLY FUCK, THE PLOT MAKES AN APPEARANCE AGAIN, KIND OF. I KNOW, I'M SHOCKED, TOO.

Extra Note: LISTEN WHAT THE FUCK EVEN WITH VADER'S VOICE? There is so much fuckery with it, and I researched and researched, but in the end I used my own headcanon like a dumbass. I know, I'm sorry. I've run with the idea that Vader's modulator voice is just his real voice lowered (because synthetic voicebox sorcery)... until he grows up enough that it's actually his real voice? Listen, it's better than the actual, "Palpatine made up a voice for me lmao", right? Cooler or something? Oh jfc what am I even... Just, it's not like there wasn't a lot of fuckery going on outside of canon. Like, ten different people helped play Vader in the Original Trilogy. Prowse, Jones, Shaw, I could totally go on. Help. Why is Ani so fucking complicated?!