Vader was in a fix and he did not like it one bit. There were too many thoughts floating in his head and he felt as if everyone needed him simultaneously. He needed to retrieve Ahsoka, he needed to defeat this Maul character, and he needed to think about that apple he will steal from Idun of the Aesir.

While Ahsoka was making her way to the Wookie settlement, he was torturing a traitor captured on his flag ship, Executor. The man was useless but with his last breath, he gurgled out one of Vader's greatest fears.

"You.." cough. "Will never keep her." The man wheezed. Vader struck him across the face with the back of his gloved hand. Giving his hand a scornful shake to rid it of blood and sputum, he raised it again. "I don't know who you are talking about," Vader's hand cracked across the man's face, whipping it to the side. The man slumped and stayed down. Briefly, Vader thought the man died but weakly, he lifted his head and spat at Vader's boots.

"She won't last, Earthlings have such short lives," he gave a choking cackle. "Why should I believe you?" Vader gave him a withering look behind his mask, hiding the sinking feeling that the man was speaking about his Solaria. "You do or you don't but don't be surprised that one day you wake up and she will be old. Or dead. Ha. Ha. Haha," the man's laughter trailed off weakly. "Or she might leave you, unable to face the fact that you will be young and strong far longer than she." Leave him? Solaria might go? Vader snapped his neck out of sheer aggravation.

Vader looked at the slain man. Was it true? Did the people from Earth live such drastically short lives? Slowly the realization sunk in and dread bubbled in his stomach. One day Solaria was going to age. She wasn't going the be the jewel of the Empire, the most beautiful woman in existence. She would fade, withering away like a flower. Gorgeous and ephemeral but ultimately mortal. He would lose her to time itself. He couldn't take that chance.

Vader dove in the dead man's mind searching for anything that might convey immortality or something close to it. He must have known something if he brought it up just to needle Vader at the brink of death. From experience, Vader knew that people only taunted if they held information they thought he did not have. Modern medicine would extend her life, yes but would anything preserve her youth? He knew his Master was looking for something similar. For years, he was sent on lengthy missions trying to track down rumours that ultimately lead to nothing. Looking faster, he felt the man's memories fade. There. He found a faint flicker of memory. Something about a legendary golden apple that belongs to Idun of the Aesir. Satisfied, Vader withdrew. Stupid man, believing that the Aesir were only myths. Vader knew that they were real. He had encountered them on his travels a long time ago. This was the first tangible lead he had ever gotten, it warranted further investigation.

But first, Ahsoka. Returning to the present he focused on Maul. After the man's quip about Solaria, blind fury surpassed him and his only thought was to beat the man into submission. If he dared to touch Solaria, Vader would rip his heart out.

The crackling of his com snapped him violently back to the present. Ahsoka's distant voice returned his attention to his actual mission. "Master!" Vader frowned, he could finish this…thing off or retrieve his distressed apprentice. "Master, I'm surrounded, where are you?" Ahsoka shouted. He shook himself mentally, Ahsoka's life was more important than the death of this Zabrak. Turning, he ran towards the waiting transport, leaving the defeated Zabrak on the ground.

Panting Ahsoka bounded up the ramp the enormous Wookie draped over her lanky form. The doors closed in the nick of time. Small explosions rocked the craft as the Wookies desperately tried to save their prince. "Put that Wookie in cryo. We have to make a stop before Coruscant," Vader commanded. "Where?" Ahsoka asked, shoving the Wookie in a rectangular storage unit. It took a couple tries but bracing the door with her back, she was able to shut it.

"Asgard."

With only Ahsoka, he took a small stealth ship and punched in the coordinates to the planet. He quickly explained what he had obtained from the man. "Is it true? Do the Terrans live shorter lives?" he asked. Ahsoka shrugged apologetically. "Sorry Master, I don't know. But seeing as we are here, let's try and see if we can find this garden."

Slipping into incognito mode, their small sleek ship slipped into the atmosphere, the shielding of the ship preventing the Aesir from scanning for their signature and the camouflaging plates shifted so that they blended into the sky. "Hey, look!" Ahsoka pointed to a large field full of trees and shrubbery and whatnot fenced off. Vader nodded, this was most likely the garden. They got lucky.

"Find a caretaker," he instructed. They touched down smoothly and split up. Vader took the northern half while Ahsoka went south. There did not seem to be any sentient life around. He walked carefully, not hiding himself like a fugitive but not advertising his position. The garden was a paradise with flower bushes and fruit trees of every species imaginable. Solaria would have loved it.

An alert. Ahsoka commed him, sending him coordinates of her location. Vader sprinted towards her. The man was unconscious already, making his job easier. Ahsoka shifted guiltily. "I didn't expect to literally run into him and then I, uh knocked him out." She blinked innocently. "Never mind that," Vader put a hand on the man's head and forced his way into the man's memories. Identifying the correct tree, Vader let him go.

"Let's go," he instructed. With his description and Ahsoka's help, they wondered around until they found a stately tree covered with golden apples.

"Oh wow! They look like real gold!" Ahsoka exclaimed.

A sleeping dragon was curled protectively around the broad mahogany trunk. "Keep it asleep," Vader whispered. Ahsoka nodded and sat down, screwing her eyes up with concentration. They had practiced mind invasion and forcing sleep on others on Mustafar. Hopefully she could perform as she did during training. The stakes were much higher than just extra pushups. Vader carefully went up the small incline and climbed over the thick brown and green mottled coils of the great serpentine dragon. The coils were as thick as his torso and eyeing the heads attentively, he plucked 2 pieces of fruit from the tree. It always behooved him to have backups. He retreated a bit quickly and let out a breath. The dragon did not stir the entire time. Ahsoka stood shakily and swiped beads of concentration out of her eyes.

Leading Ahsoka back to the ship, he glanced at the innocuous piece of fruit. Something the Emperor had sought for so long and hard. If Master ever found out, he would take the apples himself. But he wasn't going to let Solaria go. Not yet, not ever. He couldn't. Who was he going to spend his time with? He needed her like oxygen. She was someone reliable, someone who understood him and Vader would be damned before he let her die. He wiped the dew coating the delicate metallic skin on the fruit away. A tiny spark of rebellion ignited. The Emperor didn't have to know about this.