Chapter 160

The room was darker than usual. Though 15 Rebels were pointing their blasters at him, Darth Vader only kept his eyes closed as he 'rested'. By the amount of time that had passed, he knew that it had been around a day and a half.

He had allowed himself to be the prisoner of the filthy Rebel scums! Oh, his Master, Darth Sidious, would definitely kill him. But he honestly couldn't care less. If he really wanted to, he could kill his Master easily, and take his place. And he wanted to do that ... But he also wanted Laetitia by his side.

He blinked in confusion and surprise when he saw someone jump into the room.

Whoever they were, they were covering their face completely and wearing black outfit, from head to toe. And they were powerful enough to knock out the 15 armed Rebels in less than 2 second.

Vader stood still as that intruder walked closer to him. Who was he? What the hell was he doing there? Did the Emperor sent him? Or was this a ruse from the Rebellion to lure him into telling them the secrets of the Empire?

"Who are you?" He growled quietly though the breather.

That person didn't move an inch. He said no word or had any reactions. He didn't look like they were afraid of him. So He was either bravely foolish or foolishly brave. Vader couldn't tell the difference. That person was completely unrecognizable.

All he did was bring out a syringe and shoot the Sith Lord with it. Vader tried to fight it, but he was powerless against it. He couldn't do anything.

That was the last thing he knew before everything went black.


Darth Vader slowly opened his eyes.

Everything was buzzing and the light was too much, even though it was in the middle of the night. The scary part was that he couldn't feel the Force with him. It was gone ... completely!

That was the most terrifying thing he had ever felt.

"I wouldn't try that. You were injected with Ysalamir blood, so it's impossible for you to use the Force at the moment." A male voice said.

Vader snapped back into reality. He instinctually rose his hand to choke that person, but it was no use. The Force was gone! How could he Force-choke someone now? What the hell could he do?

"I put you back in the suit. Couldn't exactly move you without it."

Vader frowned as he took a look at his body. He didn't even think about his suit. No wonder he was able to move around with no breather. His suit was on him.

But who the hell was he? Why was he helping him? Was he Empire or Rebellion? Whose side was he on? Did he kill the Rebels on that Base?

"Who are you?" He repeated himself.

That person exhaled heavily. He forgot who he was dealing with. Darth Vader wouldn't 'no' for an answer. He moved his hands as he took off the mask. Vader had expected to see literally anyone but the person standing in front of him.

Thexan!

What the hell was he doing? Why had he set him free? What if Laetitia found out? How would she react? Again, why would he do that?

"You're surprised. I know ... Trust me, I am, too." Thexan broke the awkward silence.

"Why?" Vader finally asked.

"It's nothing personal. I'm just following orders."

"Orders? Whose orders?"

Was Thexan being a double spy for the Empire? Was he working with the Rebels to get intel and then kill them? Vader could only hope. His apprentice would be back to his side, then. They would be powerful together ... again.

"Yeah, orders ... I gotta say, father and daughter are sure alike. She demands a lot of things." Thexan replied slowly.

In the years that he had become Darth Vader, he could swear that he had never been more shocked to hear something like that. He didn't even need to think who 'she' was. Actually, he did. Because it was impossible to think of the 'she' he was talking about.

His daughter wanted him free? She was saving him?

"Why?" He demanded.

"She wouldn't say, and I didn't want to force her to tell me ... But if you ask me, she didn't want to be the one who killed you ... again." Thexan quietly answered.

When he heard Leah's favor, he was feeling mixed emotions. Happy, sad, angry, guilty ... but most of all, tortured. The pain in her eyes, the tortured look on her face ... It was enough to break anyone. He couldn't say 'no' to that.

Vader didn't know what to say. Laetitia hated him. Despised him. Loathed him! Why would she not want him gone? Why would she save him? This was the perfect opportunity to kill him. Now, she risked everything, including everything and everyone she had on the Rebellion, to save him. She betrayed everyone to save him.

Why?

"Where are we?"

"After I knocked you out, I brought you to the Capital. We're in the lower levels of Coruscant, away from all those nosy Imperial officers. There are no records of your capture by the Rebellion, so you'll be good with my father." Thexan explained.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"You may only care about one innocent, but I care about every innocent. If I just told you my plan, you would have learned the location of the Base and killed everyone on your way. We thought it was best that ... you didn't see anything." He bluntly said.

Vader couldn't deny that he was right. Yes, he would have gladly killed everyone on his way until he got to Laetitia. But he had no idea what to do after he saw her. He just knew that he needed to see her.

She was dead. Gone! He wanted to see his daughter. He ... missed her.

"'We'?" Vader pointed out.

Thexan gulped. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. He could swear that beneath that scary mask, there wan even a scarier sight ... A Skywalker's death glare ... with fiery yellow eyes. Ooh, that was bad!

And what was he supposed to say?

'I'm in love with your daughter'. No!

'I'm dating her'. Was he crazy?

'We're friends with benefits'. Did he have a death wish?!

"Yes. 'We'." Was all Thexan managed to say.

The simplest, the best!

Vader growled visibly under his mask in rage!

He dared to actually say that?! What did he have or see that he was sure that Vader wouldn't kill him right here and now? He may not have his lightsaber or the Force, but he didn't need them. He would kill the man who defiled his daughter with bare hands!

But that man was Thexan. The boy he raised. The one he 'loved' as he would have loved his own son. Maybe that's how he knew, or hoped, his Master wouldn't kill him.

And if Laetitia was to be in relationship with someone, Vader would have only not killed the man if it was Thexan. He may be a Palpatine and scarred her when she was only 4 years old, but he was also the only one who knew how to handle her mess. Handle her.

Maybe the only one in the entire Galaxy that could actually understand her.

What Padme was to Anakin, Thexan was to Laetitia. Vader couldn't say that he wanted to deny his daughter of that feeling. To have someone who calmed them down in their angriest moment ... One who could make the entire Galaxy disappear with only a hug.

Thexan left the dark side for Leah ... While Anakin left Padme for the dark side. He would make a lot of excuses that he did everything he did for love, but ... that's what they were. Excuses.

If he loved his wife so much, he wouldn't have chosen power over her, killed her and abandoned her. He wouldn't betray her.

And when Vader felt the pure love his apprentice felt for his daughter, he decided that he would not be the one who killed Thexan. But that didn't mean that someone else wouldn't.

"You let your father hurt my daughter, I will make what I went through look like a kid's story!" Darth Vader, very seriously, threatened him.

Thexan chuckled softly. He didn't need a reminder. He wouldn't let that happen, anyway. He would die before he let his father, his brother, or her father hurt them. He would never let that happen.

"Does that mean I have your blessing?" He sarcastically said.

Before Vader could move to attack him, Thexan was already gone as he disappeared int nothingness.


The Rebel Base was in chaos.

Darth Vader was finally their prisoner but he has escaped! How?! They were sure that it was an assassin or a Bounty Hunter from the Empire. But it was neither ... and they could never know. Laetitia, their Leader, had basically betrayed the Rebellion.

If the Rebels managed to keep Darth Vader a prisoner, the war would have been so easier to fight. The Emperor would have no apprentice left aside from his son, Arcann. And they were not that hard to defeat. Ahsoka was more than capable to handle Arcann, and with the help of Luke, Thexan and Ahsoka, Laetitia would kill Sidious.

But the most confusing part about all this ... was that she had no idea why she did it. She hated him. It was as simple as that ... But it also wasn't.

Why would she want to protect him? Why did she protect him? He was not her father. That was something she believed or wanted to believe. She wanted to kill Vader ... but when the time came, she just couldn't.

Leah was walking weakly to the Command Center. She didn't know how to face the others she had betrayed. When she entered the room, everyone was so busy that they didn't notice her, but Ahsoka did. The look she gave her was enough evidence that she knew something.

She just walked to Leah and pushed her out of the Command Center as she dragged her to her room, where there was no surveillance and no one could hear them.

"What are you doing?" Leah asked in confusion, but she just didn't want to talk about it.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Ahsoka bluntly asked.

"What, you mean if I was the one who you dragged by the hair? Then yes. That's me."

"Don't play dumb with me! I know you broke Vader out." Ahsoka hissed quietly.

Leah just pressed her lips together and looked away. If the others found out what she did, she would be executed under war crimes. She had betrayed everyone. And everyone who knew would be killed along her.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She lied.

"Right. So that explains why Thexan's suddenly disappeared."

Now, Leah was alarmed. She didn't care about her. But Thexan ... He had worked so hard to be where he was, to be on the right side. She didn't want him to lose that ... Especially when she was the one who put him in that situation.

"Did anyone else ...?"

"No. Rex and I are the only ones who know about this." Ahsoka said, her face dying to know why she did it.

Leah only sighed. She didn't know what else to do. Why did she save her father and destroy everything she had? She hated him. She was supposed to hate him! He had taken everything and everyone away from her.

He was no father ... Not to her or anyone in the Galaxy.

"I don't know, either ... I just ... didn't want to feel like I owed him if he died for me. And now, we're finally even for what I did to him on Mustafar." Leah quietly said as she looked down in shame.

Ahsoka didn't say anything. She also had no idea how to feel about that, either. She loved her Master, but ... he had tried to kill her and did maim her Lekku. But deep down, she didn't want him dead, either. So she was ... happy that he was alive. Terrible, relieved, and terrible for feeling relieved.

"It's crazy, I know." Leah muttered.

"It's not crazy. In fact, this might be the first sane thing you've done ever since you watched Darth Vader be born in this world." Ahsoka honestly replied.

Leah swallowed hard to force herself to not cry. She was happy that Ahsoka wasn't holding that against her. It meant more than she knew. She couldn't do anything if she wasn't by her side. They had been friends since she was one years old.

They were interrupted when Thexan entered the room panting. He was completely calm in his black clothes. How the hell was he so calm? Did Vader kill him and replace him with a Clone or a droid or something?

"Well? What happened? Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Did he try to follow you?" Leah bombed him with questions.

"Leah, one question at a time." Ahsoka stopped her.

"Is it done?" She finally and vaguely asked.

"Yeah ... It's done." Thexan finally and simply replied.

Leah held in the tears and forced them to not leave her eyes. What had she done? Why had she done it? What was she supposed to do now? What were any of them supposed to do now? Should they tell everyone what they did and be punished? Or keep it down, not let anyone, including Han and Luke, know to save themselves?

"Now what do we do?" She quietly stated.

"Now ... we put this away and never think about it again. As far as the records and the people are concerned, this never happened."

Done :)