Anakin Skywalker stood staring defiantly at Darth Vader in the Force vision in the Bespin carbon-freezing chamber. There was a righteous fire burning in Skywalker's blue eyes. He stood straight and tall, though the Jedi still fell short of the Sith. He was so full of faith and determination that he could save Padmé. That he would do it where Vader had failed.

Vader wanted to punch the young idiot.

How dare that fool. He knew none of the lengths Vader had gone through to save her. What he had damned himself to. Vader could recall himself kneeling in Palpatine's office as he first swore himself to the Sith as long as Sidious could save Padmé. How he had spared no one in the Jedi Temple. None of them mattered. The masters, the knights, the padawans . . . not even the younglings. They were all better off dead, especially if it meant Padmé lived. As long as she was still there when the galaxy burned and was left to ashes, it was all ok.

Yet it had all been for nothing. Nothing. She had died. He had failed. She was gone. Even then he had tried to bring her back from the dead. He would save her . . .

"Padmé. I'm here. Take my hand," he said to her. His hand held out to her. "Come with me. I can save you. I can save both of us."

He could still see her beautiful apparition standing there. The white flowers in her hair. The wind blowing her curls.

"Please," he had begged. "We have to go."

"Why? I don't know you. Anakin Skywalker is dead."

He had failed to bring her back. He had learned an important lesson. A hard truth. There was no saving her. No matter what he did, Padmé would die. The Republic would fall. The Empire would rise. Darth Vader would be born when Anakin Skywalker died.

Vader's yellow eyes landed back on Skywalker. There was a tenseness to him as if he was daring Vader to say something. Vader scowled and sharply turned away from the Jedi. There was a smug wave of victory in the Force, as if Anakin thought he had won some silent battle of wills between the two. Vader sharply turned back to the fool and-

Suddenly the chamber filled with white bliding steam. It whited out everything around him except for Skywalker, who stood unblocked by the clouds.

"What are you doing?" Vader growled.

"What am I doing? What are you doing?" Skywalker snapped back.

"This is not my vision, it is yours."

"I'm not doing anything."

The white steam started to ebb away. Vader could just make out the blurry silhouettes of skyscrapers and the streaking lines of speeder traffic. It appeared as if they were on a rooftop on Coruscant.

"I do not accept failure."

Vader spun at once. He knew that voice. That raspy voice. The voice of Darth Sidious. There was a blurry figure standing a bit away from Vader. The figure was tall and humanoid. They were clearly looking down at a comlink on their wrist. The blue glow of a holograph could be seen, but it was too blurry to make out who it was. Vader heard Skywalker walk up next to him.

"There won't be any," a female voice said. Vader heard a soft click and the glow of the holograph disappeared. The woman bent down and picked up a long rifle. Then she disappeared into the blurry steam of the vision.

"Friend of yours?" Skywalker asked.

"No," Vader said.

A small silence fell over them. Out of the corner of his eye, Vader saw Skywalker cross his arms across his chest. "An enemy then," Skywalker mused. Vader didn't answer, yet that silence spoke for itself. "Who have you already managed to piss off to the point they're hiring bounty hunters?" Vader turned his head and glowered down at Skywalker, who only smiled back up.

Vader started walking and as he did so he pushed with the Force. This time the Force started to let go of him. He was leaving the vision. Behind him he heard Skywalker shouting.

"Hey! We weren't done talking! You never told me how she dies!"

But Vader didn't turn back, and Skywalker's voice slowly faded away as did the vision. It wasn't long before Vader was back in his real body standing in his apartment. He stood staring out a window. Night was falling. The sky was turning purple. The glow of the city planet lit up the skyline.

So Sidious was stooping to hiring bounty hunters. Really? Bounty hunters? Against a Sith Lord? He was desperate. But then again considering the history of the Separatists who used bounty hunters quite a bit in their schemes, it wasn't that surprising. It was no matter to Vader. He could bare whatever Sidious had to throw at him, especially in this time.

Vader's gaze focused on the Jedi Temple in the distance.

That boy, he said to himself. That foolish boy. He is trying to change the past.

Vader needed to get his son away from the Jedi and soon. Either he needed the Jedi to freely hand over the boy or for Luke to leave on his own . . . or both . . . Vader started to walk through his apartment. He felt restless. Though it wasn't long before he found himself standing at a window again, but this time he wasn't looking at the Jedi Temple. This view was of a different skyline of Coruscant. His eyes easily fell on a certain high rise. He looked at the top where the penthouse apartment would be.

He found himself standing here as much as he did at the other window. Perhaps a bit more if he was honest at himself. Looking towards . . . Looking towards her. She was there. Not just an apparition. Not a figment. But truly there.

If he reached out into the Force he swore he could feel her. She wasn't Force sensitive. She didn't glow brightly in the Force like Jedi did. She blended in with the millions of other life forms of the planet. But perhaps it was the tiny Force-strong baby growing inside her, but there was a soft light that stood out amongst all the others. Just a tiny bit.

She wasn't dead. Yet. He hadn't failed. Yet. Destiny hadn't claimed her fate.

He took a step closer to the window. He recalled Skywalker's determination. His blind and arrogant faith in himself that he was strong enough to save her. If only he knew how. And he would give everything, everything, to find the way.

But there was no way to save her. Sidious had lied.

Again he stepped closer to the window. He stood right in front of it. He placed a gloved hand against the transparisteel. She was at home. So close . . .

I don't know you. Anakin Skywalker is dead.

His hand snapped away from the glass.

"I don't know you anymore. Anakin, you're breaking my heart."

Yes, she wouldn't know him . . . He was . . .

Anakin Skywalker is dead.

He was Darth Vader. Dark Lord of the Sith. The Supreme Commander of the Imperial Forces. Second in Command of the Galactic Empire.

An Empire that didn't even exist here . . .

"I will save her. And I will not fall." Skywalker's words rang in his ears. What did that Jedi know?

He would fall. He would! There was no other way for Anakin Skywalker to save Padmé.

"Why else would you be here? At this time in your past? If there is one thing for you to change, it must be this! She must live!"

For you to change . . . Not Anakin but Vader.

Anakin Skywalker would fail, but what of Darth Vader?

Vader looked out across the lights and buildings to that certain apartment building. He caught his hand going back up to the window and he snatched it down. He balled his hands into fists. His thoughts were wandering! He should be focused on Luke and returning back to their own time. He should be looking into the Sith artifacts . . .

Ones he had no idea what they held. Knowledge Sidious had withheld from Vader. What if there was an answer on how to save her there? If the Force could bring Vader and Luke back in time, surely it could save her.

He scowled and tightened his fists. His leather gloves creaked. This is why he needed to get his son and leave this planet. From this place. From this time. From her. From the pain she brought his heart.

He turned sharply and marched back towards the other end of the apartment. He came back to the window that overlooked the Jedi Temple. Yes, he should focus on Luke. His son . . . Her son . . .

"Is my mother . . . Is she still alive? Is she here? Somewhere?" Luke had asked with a hopeful look.

Luke. Padmé. Skywalker.

"Hmmm," Vader hummed to himself as a plan formed in his mind.

It would be best for Luke to be with him willingly to make sure he didn't run back to the Jedi. And perhaps Vader had been thinking too grandly. He had been thinking of dealing with the whole Jedi Order. He didn't need to deal with them all. All he needed was for one Jedi to hand over Luke. Luckily Vader had just thought of the perfect thing to use as a bargaining chip against a foolish Jedi and wishful child.

And it finally gave him an excuse to see her.