Chapter Forty-Four: Sabé's Interlude

"Can I give you a piece of unsolicited advice, Lord Vader?" Sabé asked as she watched Darth Vader, sans suit, take an extra steroid shot in between his regularly scheduled shots. A necessity after an unexpected encounter with his co-conspirator on Geonosis.

"Not now, Sabé," Vader growled.

Sabé decided to give it to him anyway.

"You and Ahsoka need to figure out a way to communicate better with each other," she said.

"I'd say we communicate very efficiently," Vader replied evenly.

The fact that he even answered told Sabé he was more irritated than usual and looking for a fight. Sabé wasn't going to fall for the bait and give him one. She wasn't Ahsoka, who seemed to live for conflict with Vader as much as Vader seemed to live for it with Ahsoka.

"I'd say you don't. The fact that every time you all meet on opposite ends of the battlefield, you come back with a bad injury is enough evidence of that."

"It's not personal. What do you expect when officially, we're on opposite sides."

"But unofficially, you're working together. And you'd think knowing that, you would both be much more considerate of each other's wellbeing. You all are using your conspiracy as an excuse to take out your anger with each other for issues that are personal," Sabé said. "And every time you do, you come back with some injury courtesy of Ahsoka Tano."

"I thought you liked Ahsoka."

"I do. I just think you two are incredibly toxic for each other."

She'd given Padmé this same talking to some eight years ago. Back then, Vader was Anakin Skywalker, and he'd been a Jedi married to Padmé. For all that Sabé was sure the pair had loved each other, their relationship was a disaster. They were seldom home together, extremely reckless, protective of each other, and spent too much time not talking through their disagreements—of which there had been many. The one thing Sabé knew they did agree on was public service to the rest of the broader galaxy, though, they wildly different ideas on how to best implement that service. Padmé dismissed Sabé's concerns. The star crossed couple never got to see each other as it was. Why waste time on disagreements? But Sabé had also seen the petty and spiteful ways the two got back at each other. Using their duties to the Republic as an excuse rather than taking the time to sit an understand each other's points of view. Unfortunately, that was time they hadn't had. What little time they did spend together was more focused on physical passion because it was easy to release frustration with sex.

Sabé was watching the exact same situation play out now with Vader and Ahsoka. Even though she'd only seen the two together on two or three occasions, the two clearly cared about each other a lot more than they let on. But unlike Anakin and Padmé, Vader and Ahsoka were more prone to verbally fight out their disagreements. She knew it was the norm because she'd once walked right in on disagreement between the two with Luke and Leia sitting in the room next door playing a board game like they always listened to fights between their parents. Then the two would go their separate ways after not coming to an agreement and repeat until someone, usually Ahsoka, went halfway, and they grudgingly settled on a solution. In rare instances, disagreements ended in physical fights on opposite ends of the battlefield to take out their personal frustration. Then they'd have another verbal fighting match, and they'd either come to an understanding or a temporary truce.

Sabé wasn't sure which relationship was worse. At the very least, though, Ahsoka and Vader weren't afraid to verbally hash through their disagreements and could come to some sort of understanding in the end. Sabé couldn't say that for Anakin and Padmé. Typically, they had resorted to silence, which maybe was why their relationship had ended so explosively.

Saying that Vader, regardless of what name he went by, was the common denominator in both relationships would be a gross oversimplification. Women like Padmé and Ahsoka, brilliant as they were, lived for the kind of excitement and adventure that came with such tumultuous relationships. They sought out turbulent and ill-tempered men like Vader because anything else wasn't enough of a challenge. At the very least, Ahsoka could match Vader's power when things got explosive.

Vader, predictably, shrugged to her observation, "We're fine. She'll yell at me, I'll yell at her, she'll explain herself, I'll explain myself, and then we'll go back to being peaceful acquaintances again."

To think that Vader and Ahsoka could ever be peaceful acquaintances would be ludicrous if not for the fact that Sabé had actually witnessed it. Frequently enough, when the pair managed to be in the same place at the same time, she walked in or comm'd in on the two pleasantly going back and forth over battle strategies. Every now and then, Ahsoka would sit with Vader and watch replays of races he'd missed during his never-ending work in the Empire. And on even rarer occasions, Vader would sit with Ahsoka to watch her favorite anime, all the while complaining that the ones that revolved around war and fighting were unrealistic while they used the Force to throw snacks back and forth at each other.

"What's your plan for her when all this is over?"

"What do you mean?" Vader asked.

"What's your plan for her? When she's given you the Empire, and you're emperor, and you have no need for her rebellion, and you're the one making all the rules, what do you plan to do with her?" Sabé asked bluntly.

Truthfully, while this was the best way to keep the children Padmé left behind safe, Sabé wasn't all that much looking forward to a rule with Vader at the helm. He was a brilliant strategist when it came to physical battles, and he did seem to have the interest of peace, freedom, and justice at heart. Sabé would give him that. But the fact that he was responsible for the current, violent, military regime and had thought it was a good idea in the first place was only one piece of proof that he didn't have the competence to execute a plan to accomplish the goal of a peaceful galaxy. He had a bad temper, little patience, and cared more about revenge than real justice, which required one to look at a circumstance in totality and not the tunnel-vision she knew Vader was prone to. Not because he didn't have the capability to. His strategic battle genius was proof that he was very capable. He just didn't have the patience nor the desire to deal with the nuance and complexities that came with people and social interactions, something necessary to run a government, no matter what form. Otherwise, it would always devolve into tyranny.

That wasn't to say that people like Vader weren't needed. There would always be dirty work to do in the galaxy, and there had to be people willing to do it. But those kinds of people didn't make great the kind of ruler that the galaxy would need after Palpatine's demise. There was a reason Sabé had been Padmé's handmaiden and never been interested in a political career of her own.

As farseeing as Sabé knew Ahsoka to be when it came to Vader, she was sure the togruta woman had the same concerns and was working on a plan. Sabé hadn't discussed it with her, but the best scenario was probably to groom one of the twins to take over the bulk of governing. She wasn't sure which one. Luke, more than likely. While Leia was the one more likely to be an orator of the twins, she had too much of her father's fiery temper and "any means necessary" personality. Vader would certainly be amiable to either child taking over for him, though.

Until the children were old enough, though, someone needed to hold Vader's proverbial leash. Something Sabé doubted a Senate would be able to do even if they were given the power to in the constitution. Vader had brought to power a regime that illegally manipulated a constitution to consolidate power, and now he was seeking to take that stolen power back himself. He didn't care about constitutions and legalities. The only one Sabé knew living that could control him and that Vader might even willingly hand the leash over to was Ahsoka. That meant Sabé had to make sure he intended to keep her close. Not just as whatever the two of them were going to be personally but also politically and in the power structure of whatever government replaced Palpatine's Empire. That meant getting Vader to think about those things now.

"So?" Sabé asked when Vader didn't answer.

"I've got at least five years to figure it out," Vader decided. "I'll worry about what her role will be in the Empire when the time comes."

Sabé wasn't even sure Vader knew what his role was going to be in the Empire. But Sabé let the topic go and began briefing him on the latest information she and the rest of the maidens (as Ahsoka dubbed them) managed to gather about the Moffs Vader wanted her to watch. The goal was to determine which Moffs harbored dissent for Palpatine's rule and would side with Vader in a coup. Sabe wasn't overly impressed with most of them, but that too was an issue to deal with after they deposed Sidious.

Sabé knew the exact moment Ahsoka, Luke, and Leia dropped out of hyperspace because Vader promptly dismissed her halfway through the report and told her they'd resume discussion in the morning. As promised, he called her back to his office in the morning. But not to continue her briefing.

"Empress," he said simply once she'd sat across from him.

Yet another reason Vader would be ill-suited to rule the galaxy one day. Always straight to the meat of the matter, and he expected everyone to already be on the same page.

"Pardon?" Sabé asked.

"You asked me what Ahsoka's role would be at the end of all this. I'm going to make her an empress. The Empress."

Sabé didn't know why Padmé had to die for her to begin to comprehend what it was about Vader that had attracted her former mistress to him. All she knew was in this exact moment, this was the kind of idea Padmé would have suddenly dropped on her. Like she'd dropped on Sabé that they were returning to Naboo to fight the Trade Federation themselves and that she would enlist the help of the gungans to do it. Or how she'd dropped on her that she'd married a Jedi. Or how the woman dropped on her that she was leaving Coruscant at the end of the Clone Wars to find her errant husband and that she probably would be going into hiding.

Padmé and Anakin had been a match made in heaven. Or hell. Depended on how one looked at it.

"So… you're going to marry her?" Sabé asked. She doubted it, but best to get that out the way.

"No," Vader dismissed as he began to pace the room. "I'm just going to make her an empress. She and her rebellion will help me defeat Palpatine and make me the emperor, and then I'll abdicate the throne and give it to her."

Sabé couldn't say she was particularly for or opposed to Vader's idea. She'd hoped Vader would realize that the only way to be the best ruler he possibly could was by keeping Ahsoka in close proximity to his rule. But this was more than keeping Ahsoka in close proximity, and she wondered what he meant to accomplish by giving Ahsoka that kind of power.

"What made you decide that?"

"Last night, she asked me about my intentions for the Empire when the emperor is defeated. The things I plan to change to create a government that actually ensures the peace, security, and freedom of the galaxy. Like you, she's concerned I don't have the competence in rulership and diplomacy to do that without inadvertently stifling the freedom of the people and destroying them in my zeal to do what I think is right."

Sabé kept her lips firmly pressed together, but she was sure Vader sensed her surprise given his powers. She was proven right when he paused his pacing and turned his pointed expression to her.

"What? You thought I didn't know that you and Ahsoka have your reservations about a government under my rule?" He didn't allow her to reply. "Ahsoka wouldn't outright say it last night, but it's clear to me that she's so angry about me hiding the existence of the Death Star from her because she thinks I have plans to use it. That it's some indication that she might be helping bring down one tyrant to replace with another."

Vader was an intelligent and thoughtful man. Much more than people gave him credit for. Much more than Sabé gave him credit for now and certainly much more than she'd given him credit for as a younger man. She knew there was a certain amount of performance he was required to display to fool the emperor, but she wondered how much he also unconsciously performed to fool his allies. A performance so convincing that it had Ahsoka, the person who knew him most, questioning him. Now, Sabé wondered how much he'd really understood or thought he'd understood about what he was getting himself into when he'd committed himself to Palpatine. Was it really agreement with the man's actions and methods or a willingness to act the part to get what he wanted, and then things went wrong? Neither Ahsoka nor Vader ever gave her details on exactly why or how Vader came to serve Palpatine. Sabé didn't care enough yet to find smart ways to trick it out of one of them.

"Can you blame her?" Sabé finally asked. "Why did you hide it from her anyway?"

"Because I knew she wasn't going to agree with how I was dealing with the problem or trust me not to minimize the magnitude of the problem and go looking into the project anyway. Then she would have tried to destroy it herself and only garnered Palpatine's attention, something she and her rebellion aren't quite ready to deal with yet."

Sabé sighed. "This is what I mean when I say you and Ahsoka need to communicate with each other. You could have just explained that to her. Ahsoka's not beyond being reasoned with."

Vader scoffed. "You didn't train her. Twice."

Sabé didn't know whether to be amused or baffled. That statement could indicate a startling lack of self-awareness or a startling large amount of self-awareness.

Vader waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "We're past it now, though."

Sabé mentally rolled her eyes, too professional to do so physically. She also held enough value for her life and sanity not to do anything that might incite Vader's rage right now. She wasn't afraid to ask him the difficult, probing questions or speak her honest opinions when called for. But she knew there was a line she couldn't toe, let alone cross.

"Regardless, I am not so incompetent to believe that a planet-killing monstrosity is an effective way to rule. Not only would I like a galaxy to rule, but it is also the quickest way to start a war to overthrow me that I won't have any control over. That said, I do understand both your concerns. And if I'm honest, the daily tasks of rulership hold little interest to me," Vader admitted with a shrug. "But Ahsoka? She's perfect. She's already begun to think through what a future Empire under a more just rule would look like, about how to appeal to the Republic loyalists. And she's already running the rebellion."

Sabé was going to need alcohol after this.

"That may be true, but running an organization during wartime is very different than running a government during peacetime. More importantly, guiding the government out of wartime and into peacetime ruling."

"Ahsoka's more than capable of it."

Though Sabé wasn't sure Vader had thought through the implications of making Ahsoka an Empress, she couldn't say it was a bad idea. Ahsoka's kindness and willingness to see beyond what people had done to her to the root of their hurt for the sake of others would appeal to Republic loyalists and their desire for peace. On the other hand, her willingness to dirty her hands and physically fight those who were unwilling to see reason would appeal to Imperials and their desire for law and order. Sabé also couldn't say she was opposed to the idea of Ahsoka as an Empress. Padmé always thought the girl would be a great politician and leader if she could get her away from the Jedi. Now the young woman was away from the Jedi and had proven her dead mistress right in that regard. And while Ahsoka was very young, she had been groomed for forms of leadership and diplomacy since she was a child in the old Jedi Temple.

"You're right. She is," Sabé decided to agree. "Have you told her of your intention?"

"So she can outmaneuver me and foil my plan? Of course not."

"My Lord," Sabé said exasperated.

"I know. Ahsoka's not beyond reason, and I need to communicate with her." So he did listen to was she had to say. "But not about this. Not yet. When I tell her, I need her to be able to see it. I need everything to point to her as Empress being the only solution toward a peaceful galaxy. An Empire that will actually last a thousand years and actually bring into fruition the promises Palpatine failed to deliver on."

One look into his yellow eyes, searching for something in a place that transcended the realm of the physical, told Sabé that arguing with him would be futile. She could tell Ahsoka herself, but she knew Vader wasn't above lying and saying that Sabé had misunderstood his words. For all that Ahsoka had no illusions about who and what Vader was, he was also her biggest weakness.

"Vader."

Sabé mentally rolled her eyes again. Speak of the devil…

Vader's attention immediately went to Ahsoka, the yellow in his eyes receding, but Ahsoka's attention turned to Sabé.

"Morning Sabé. Am I interrupting something important?"

Sabé smiled and stood to her feet. "No. We were just finishing up."

Ahsoka nodded and then made her way to Vader's side of the desk. She leaned against it with her arms crossed and shot Vader a grin. "Luke and Leia don't believe that you and I know anything about fighting video games. They're swearing up and down they could take us both on and win. You up to it?"

Vader frowned in disapproval though Sabé was sure it was feigned. "I don't know why you indulge them in their childish pursuits and follies."

"Childish pursuits and follies are important to the mental and emotional development of children. Besides, video games help with hand-eye coordination and reflexes," Ahsoka argued.

"You're going to regret giving them that argument one day."

"Just like you did with me?"

Vader's mouth twitched like he wanted to smile. Then he stood, and Ahsoka straightened as they both started toward the door, shoulder to shoulder.

Goodness, Sabe thought to herself as she looked at the two. Ahsoka was so young. They both were. But at least Vader's perpetual scowl and glares aged him some, and his suit hid his appearance in public. But even with the stress of running a rebellion, the worst thing Ahsoka suffered were chronic headaches that Diya was always fussing at the woman for not taking medication for. Even in five years, when they went through with their coup, she wasn't going to age much. If at all. There were going to be a lot of old, influential blood pissed off about having to take orders from someone they considered a little girl. Sabé was going to have to coordinate with Rex to start building an airtight security and intel network to ward off assassination attempts. Because no doubt there were going to be some people stupid enough to try even though they would only incite Vader's vengeful fury.

"You're dismissed until your next reporting date," said Vader without looking back at Sabé. He said to Ahsoka as they continued leaving, "Don't think I've forgotten about the fact that you didn't tell me you're on speaking terms with Obi-wan Kenobi and knew where to find him."

"We agreed I can protect the Jedi."

Even without being able to see her, Sabé could hear the smile in the younger woman's voice.

"For now. We're still going to discuss this in great detail."

"And we're not done talking about the Death Star. I was just too exhausted to finish talking about it last night."

Their voices faded the further they got down the hall until Sabé couldn't hear them.

"You have to get to know him, Sabé. I know he seems very… abrasive. But there's more to him beyond your surface assessment. You just have to get to know him," Padmé said tenderly after Sabé had expressed objective disapproval of her mistress' marriage to Anakin Skywalker.

Perhaps Vader would make a decent emperor yet.

AN: 1) An interlude in the middle of the part. But as always, I don't really follow a pattern. Also, the original place when Vader had this revelatory conversation with Ahsoka was in his point of view, and you can read it in chapter 18 of "Force Distortion." In "Force Distortion," it was a necessary transition in a series of flashback chapters about their relationship. But rehashing that chapter here in his point of view literally offered nothing to this story that we didn't already know except that he comes up with the idea to make Ahsoka empress. Everything else revealed about their relationship in that chapter we already know from the rest of this story. So I went with an interlude from Sabé.

2) Also, I want to note that even though I see the issues with Anakin's and Padmé's relationship, I don't hate them as a couple or think they were incompatible. I think they were compatible, but the lack of communication and the fact that they never really had a chance to get to know each other ultimately made it toxic when they were together. I really think they could have fixed their relationship after the war. I think if they could have dated longer and didn't have to rush into marriage their relationship would have been more stable. And though I will ship Anisoka until I die, I don't think Anakin and Ahsoka would be more suited to each other romantically than Anakin and Padmé were. I just think the former just had a healthier relationship (as friends) because they could actually spend time together and get to truly know each other in a way Anakin didn't get a chance to with Padmé.

Okay. Enough rambling. I hoped you enjoyed. Review please!