Vader's second chance

A Star wars story

Chapter 24

Disclaimer: Disney owns everything except my plot.

Hello there everyone and welcome to chapter 24. I apologize for the delay, but I had to take some time to decide the direction this story will be headed in. So, to give you guys the short version of the story, the next couple chapters are going to run through a very big chunk of the war (about a year and a half) and will have action packed adventures for you to enjoy. After these chapters we'll move to the third part of the story, which involves the final countdown to the battle with Palpatine and the end of this tale. Anyways, about today's chapter. Today we leave Aayla and Bly behind and refocus on our main characters while they return from their trip to the sandy dunes of Tatooine and deal with the complicated situation that is waiting for them on Coruscant. Anakin is trying to figure out who Vader is, Ahsoka is trying to prove herself to Anakin after their defeat on Tatooine, Obi Wan is doubting the Council and Luke is being forced to deal with events he thought to be long forgotten. So, without further ado, let's jump right into it!

Note: Because I haven't uploaded in two weeks you guys get an extra long chapter as compensation.

Hyperspace, one hour after chapter 20, Anakin's point of view:

After the debacle of a mission that was Tatooine I decided to get some rest and find a way to clear my head, but every time I tried to relax countless questions popped into my mind, and all of them were centered on one person. Darth Vader. The man clearly wasn't a Sith, even if he bore the title of "Darth" and is claiming to be on the same side as we are, yet he has gone out of his way to fight against the Republic and the Jedi, or…has he? Thinking back, I couldn't remember one incident in which he was deliberately trying to hurt us, but that didn't mean anything did it? No, Sith or not, Vader was still an enemy. He was opposing the Republic and the Jedi have been tasked with protecting said Republic. He is waging war on us, even if he claims to be powerless to stop it and has done nothing to actually help us eliminate or at least arrest Palpatine, who is supposed to be the reason he is fighting us in the first place. And worst of all, no one has any idea about who he is so I can't know what type of person he is…or used to be! Ugh, I was extremely frustrated with all of this! I knew that I'd get no rest without at least trying to answer some of these questions, so I went to the person that is most likely to have answers. Luke. After a little bit of searching I found him in the training room, sparring with Ahsoka. The fight had apparently been going on for a while judging by how tired they both seemed to be. Looking around, I saw that they even had a crowd of troopers watching them spar. Deciding to put my questions aside for the moment, I fell in line with the Clones and watched the match. Ahsoka seemed to be doing pretty well and I knew that Luke was more than capable of holding his own. Their green sabers twisted around the empty space between them and they both took a couple steps away from each other.

Luke-I have to say, you're good.

Ahsoka-Thank you Luke. Trust me, you'll see just how good I am when I win.

Luke-Your overconfidence is your weakness.

Ahsoka-Oh, come on! More platitudes?

Luke-Possibly.

Ahsoka didn't respond and took a step forwards instead. Luke raised his saber and tried to strike at her from above, only for Snips to dodge to the side and counter the move with both sabers. Luke was having a hard time keeping multiple lightsabers away, but he didn't give up. Instead of dodging backwards like someone would expect, Luke lunged forwards, his emerald saber raised at the height of his belt. Ahsoka was surprised by the unorthodox move, but managed to dodge the attack with relative ease. She then ran forwards, trying to attack Luke and he did the same. Instead of meeting her blade however, Luke slid under the saber and proceeded to move his blade with him in a motion that would have cut poor Snips in half had he not shut the saber off in time. Ahsoka noticed this and backed off, silently admitting her defeat. The crowd of Clones started cheering and yelling, congratulating him for his victory. At that moment I stepped forward and the crowd went silent as soon as I did. Luke looked at me curiously and I continued walking towards him, igniting my lightsaber at the same time. Luke got the message and re-ignited his own blade, which lit the room with a green color. Ahsoka, understanding that Luke and I were about to spar, backed away until she had reached the front of the crowd. As soon as I stopped moving I sensed that everyone in the room was exited, eagerly waiting for one of us to make the first move. Luke nodded his head slightly, letting me know that I would be going first. I ran towards him and when he tried to pull the same trick as before I Force-Pushed him away from me and into a nearby wall. Using what I had learned during my duels with Vader I started launching small crates at him, while making sure he had enough time to recover from each hit. Luke was caught off guard and I managed to get a good hit on his saber, forcing his hand upwards before I moved my blade below it and back up again, in a move that could have taken his arm had this been a real duel. Luke momentarily flinched when I did that, but the crowd started cheering before I could ask if something was wrong. After the Clones went silent, Luke, Ahsoka and I retreated to our respective rooms, but I couldn't get Luke's reaction out of my head. The way he flinched seemed similar to the way I used to flinch when people mentioned Dooku the first couple days after I lost my hand to him and appeared to indicate that what I did reminded him of something painful that he had most likely tried to forget, which was something I wanted to learn more about. I was his father, even if he wasn't supposed to be alive in this time and I was going to do everything in my power to help him deal with whatever was bothering him, no matter the cost! Determined to find out what had upset Luke I ran to his quarters and knocked on the door. He answered and I saw that Snips was with him. I didn't say anything to them for a moment and Luke spoke after he sensed my confusion.

Luke-Hello there Anakin.

Anakin-Hi.

Luke-You're probably wondering what Ahsoka is doing here.

Anakin-Yes, I am.

Ahsoka-Master, Luke was just showing me how to improve my blocking techniques. I hope you don't mind.

Anakin-Snips, of course I don't.

Luke-So, why are you here anyways?

Anakin-I wanted to talk to you for a moment.

Luke-Okay, what's going on?

Anakin-I would like to talk somewhere more private.

Ahsoka-I get the message. Consider me gone.

Ahsoka smiled at us both and left the room, understanding that I didn't want her to hear the topic of the conversation. Luke led me to a chair and told me to take a seat. I sat and he asked what I wanted to talk about.

Anakin-I saw you flinch after I beat you in the sparring match.

Luke-So?

Anakin-It looked like you were trying to hide your reaction.

Luke-I don't really care about the loss. I'll beat you some other time.

Anakin-Luke, when I made the move you looked like I did after I lost my hand to Dooku. It was there for a split second, but I saw it. The move reminded you of something didn't it?

Luke-It's nothing. I've seen it used before and I just remembered that. I'm fine.

Anakin-No, you aren't. Something bad happened to you and it has to do with that move. I know it. I reacted the same way when Dooku was mentioned after he took my arm. The move is reminding you of something painful.

Luke-I don't want to talk about it.

Anakin-You should. It'll be good for you.

Luke-You're not my dad!

Anakin-Actually I am. And I want to know what's going on Luke. I want to help.

Luke-I already told you, it's nothing.

Anakin-It didn't seem like nothing.

Luke-It's just…

Anakin-What is it?

Luke-That's how Vader took my arm! Okay? That's how I lost a kriffing arm!

Anakin-Vader…took your arm?

Luke-My right one. It's a prosthetic, but it has synthetic skin on it.

Anakin-Luke I…I'm so sorry.

Luke-No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that.

Anakin-Don't worry; I'll make him pay for what he did. I promise you.

Luke-It was an accident. We were fighting and I made him lose control of his anger.

Anakin-Luke, this isn't your fault.

Luke-I never said it was. It's not mine, but he's not responsible either. It was an accident.

Anakin-*sigh* You really don't want to talk about this.

Luke-No, I don't.

Anakin-Okay. I'll drop the subject.

Luke-Thanks.

Anakin-Um, I actually wanted to ask you some questions about him. Before we sparred.

Luke-Go ahead.

Anakin-You sure?

Luke-Hey, if I can tolerate the Council's questions yours are going to be a piece of cake.

Anakin-If you're sure…

Luke-I am.

Anakin-Okay. Do you know who he is?

Luke-I do, but I can't tell you.

Anakin-Why? Knowing who he is might help us.

Luke-Trust me. If I tell you I'm going to make things a hundred times worse than they already are.

Anakin-Huh. Guess that's what Vader meant when he told me that the answers we want can cause more trouble than the ones we receive.

Luke-Probably. When I was with the Rebellion and wanted to know something about him he never answered me directly.

Anakin-I guess I'll have to figure it out by myself then.

Luke-It's for the best.

Anakin-If you say so.

Luke-Anything else?

Anakin-Yeah. Did you see Vader's apprentice when you were captured?

Luke-No, I didn't. There was sign of her.

Anakin-Okay, final question. What's Vader like?

Luke-What do you mean?

Anakin-I mean, how would you describe him?

Luke-I don't know. I've had very few meaningful conversations with him so I can't really tell you.

Anakin-You didn't know him so well?

Luke-Better than the others, but even I knew almost nothing.

Anakin-"Knew"? As in, past tense?

Luke-Have I ever talked with him after I travelled through time?

Anakin-No, you haven't.

Luke-There's your answer.

Anakin-That's all I wanted to know. Thanks for the help.

Luke-No problem. Oh, and if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm right here.

Anakin-I appreciate that. The only other person I can talk freely with is Padme.

Luke-Ben didn't make the cut?

Anakin-I guess Obi Wan counts, but he can be a bit distant at times.

Luke-I wouldn't know.

Anakin-No. No you wouldn't.

Luke-Anyways, I was going to take a nap after I finished with Ahsoka so…

Anakin-I'll leave you to it. Just don't be too late if we need you.

Luke yawned and I got up from the chair I was sitting on. I turned around and started walking to the door. While exiting the room I could swear I heard him mumbling about me always being late, but I didn't really care much about that. I decided to go find Obi Wan, thinking that maybe he can help me clear some of my thoughts up. After a couple minutes of walking around the ship I reached his quarters and knocked on his door. When I received no answer I tried to enter and to my surprise, discovered that the door was unlocked. I took a few steps forward before I saw Obi Wan, silently meditating on the couch. I walked up to him and tapped his shoulder, knowing that it would wake him up. Obi Wan's eyes opened and he gave me an annoyed look.

Obi Wan-Anakin, I'm trying to clear my head.

Anakin-I can see that.

Obi Wan-What do you want?

Anakin-I want to hear your opinion on something.

Obi Wan-On what?

Anakin-On Vader. I want to know what you think of him.

Obi Wan-Anakin, I already discussed this with the Council. I don't want to hear anymore about Vader.

Anakin-Did they piss you off?

Obi Wan-They somehow managed to bypass my vast amounts of patience.

Anakin-Okay, now they've taken things a step too far!

Obi Wan laughed at my joke and I joined him moments later. After a little while our laughter died out and he switched back to his "perfect Jedi" mode, like he always does. I didn't say anything and waited for him to speak.

Obi Wan-Anakin, why are you so interested in Vader all of a sudden?

Anakin-I feel like there's more to this guy. Things that we don't know.

Obi Wan-And why do you want my opinion on him?

Anakin-Because I don't know what to think of him. He claims to be a Sith, but then he does things a Sith would never do like helping people, actually giving a crap about others and saving a kriffing Jedi's life. Sith don't do those things Master.

Obi Wan-You are correct. Sith do not do these things, at least not without a good reason.

Anakin-Do you have any ideas about what that reason might be?

Obi Wan-A few.

Anakin-Care to tell me about them?

Obi Wan-Well, for starters, he may not be a Sith at all.

Anakin-I find that pretty unlikely. I mean, don't get me wrong. I respect the guy, but when someone has the title of "Darth" it probably means that said person is a Sith.

Obi Wan-Anakin, remember that talk we had back the Jedi Temple? Around the time when Luke showed up?

Anakin-Yeah, what about it?

Obi Wan-Well, we keep on arguing about the same points. Don't you think it's time we stop talking about what we know and start trying to figure out the things we don't know?

Anakin-Huh. I guess it is. Alright, where do you want to start?

Obi Wan-I was hoping the Force would give an answer.

Anakin-How about we look at this logically for a minute?

Obi Wan-What do you mean?

Anakin-I mean, we should base our assumptions on the things we know.

Obi Wan-Well, the problem with Vader is that we don't actually know anything.

Anakin-Don't get me wrong, but I disagree.

Obi Wan-Okay then. What do we actually know about him?

Anakin-Let's see…For starters, he used to be a Jedi.

Obi Wan-Correct.

Anakin-He is familiar with our combat styles, which supports Luke's claim of him knowing us well.

Obi Wan-True.

Anakin-He was a friend of Padme's and is, or at least used to be familiar with Dooku, which would make sense if he was a Jedi.

Obi Wan-Another thing is that he may still care for us.

Anakin-I guess you could be right. He saved my mom, got in a fight with Dooku when that piece of Bantha poodoo took my arm and he didn't even try to hurt any of us when he could have killed us with zero problems.

Obi Wan-He also cares about Padme.

Anakin-Where's that coming from?

Obi Wan-I didn't tell you did I?

Anakin-Tell me what?

Obi Wan-Oh, um...okay. Look, it happened right after I found Luke on Yavin 4. We were coming back to Coruscant I went to meditate in my room and had a pretty weird vision.

Anakin-Okay…what did you see?

Obi Wan-I saw him. When Sidious put him in the suit. In all honesty, it was the most barbaric thing I've ever witnessed. He was screaming in pain and…when the "surgery" was done he was told that he was the one that killed Padme. He started yelling and screaming in denial, brought the whole room down with him. The next thing I saw was Vader and Sidious standing in the latter's office, watching a holovid of some kind. When I leaned over to see what it was, I saw that it was Padme's funeral. In fact, I could hear Vader sobbing inside his mask when I got close to him. After that the scene changed and I saw Vader again. He acknowledged my presence and told me to "get out of his head".

Anakin-Wow. I guess he does care about her.

Obi Wan-He does indeed.

Anakin-Okay. We should have enough to at least try to find out who he is.

Obi Wan-Very well. We know that he is a human male from my vision and that he was a member of our social circle.

Anakin-We also know it's not you because Luke mentioned that Vader was the one to kill you.

Obi Wan-He is Force sensitive so that eliminates all of Padme's friends from the Senate and we know it's not you because Luke said you were fighting Vader and Palpatine with him on the second Death Star.

Anakin-Master, that leaves us with no one.

Obi Wan-My only thought is that perhaps we haven't met this person yet. Perhaps we have to wait until a candidate appears.

Anakin-Yeah…I guess so. Anyways, I…I'll go get some rest before we land.

Obi Wan-I'll see you later Anakin.

Anakin-Sure you will.

I left Obi Wan's quarters and returned to mine. After taking a hot shower to clear my head, and utterly failing to do so, I decided to actually try and sleep this time. I hung tossed my robe at the nearest chair and lied down on my bed, trying to stop thinking about the mysterious Sith Lord that had suddenly become a part of my life. I stayed like that for some time, with the occasional shift of my body to make myself more comfortable. I found myself unable to sleep and ended up realizing that I would end up lying there restless for a long, long time.

So…extra long chapter today. I hope you guys enjoyed it and didn't get too mad at Anakin for being completely clueless as to who Vader is. Anyways, the next chapter will cover the crew's return to Coruscant and the discovery of Rex's investigation, which will lead to even more confusion on Anakin's part. I'll try and fit a Padme segment in there too, where she and Anakin will try to get everything to make sense for once and probably end up getting completely "sidetracked" if you know what I mean. Before I forget, I want to mention that Fulcrum (Ahsoka from the future) won't be present during the upcoming chapters and that there is a good reason for that. Lastly, I'd really appreciate any feedback you guys have for me. Anyhow, I'll see you all next time, but until then, May the Force be with you!