Sparks flew and starfighters screamed past the windows. The destroyer shook with the force of the explosions but Vader did not notice, all he could do was focus on that familiar Force signature. He strode down the dark corridors past groups of running stormtroopers. Their eagerness for the battle was something he did not share. He had been preoccupied with securing the younglings in a new cell before the airstrikes began, and now that they had boarded his star destroyer his mind was distracted from the task at hand. Instead of aiding his troopers in taking down the rebel fighters, he was fixated instead on that presence somewhere on his ship. He could feel him here. A presence he'd not felt since…
Another explosion rocked the ship, almost throwing him off balance. The rebels did not usually use this much firepower and men on a single attack. It was not strategic. He had no resources for them to steal and he was unbeatable if they wanted to kill him. They were here for the Skywalker children, and he would not let them take Luke and Leia. The thought made him angry, and he could not fail his master with bringing them before him. Again, that presence appeared, nearer now. Following it, he ignited his lightsaber ready for battle.
Entering into a large storage room, he scanned the perimeter and looked slowly amongst the crates. The ceiling was high, crisscrossed with beams and hanging lights.
A figure jumped down from the shadows of the ceiling, landing softly on his feet. A man stepped into the light and suddenly there he was. That familiar face. Those familiar eyes that had watched him grow from boy to man. His former master looked older, his temples were greying and his hair had faded sightly in its colour. Dressed in lowly worker's clothes like some sort of Tatooine farmer, he looked like he'd seen better days.
Oh how the mighty had fallen, he thought smugly. How long had be waited for this moment? Dreamed of finally ending the man who had cost him everything?
"I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last."
"Anakin."
The Jedi nodded in acknowledgement, using that condescending tone he always used on Anakin, as if nothing he ever did was good enough. His clipped Coruscanti accent instantly grated on his ears.
"That name no longer has any meaning for me," he corrected him, pointing a finger in warning. That name had not been spoken in nine years.
"It's who you are. The name your mother gave you."
"Don't you dare speak of her," he said incredulously, though his modulator muffled all emotion to outside ears.
"Relinquish the children. They deserve a better life than that of a slave to a Sith master."
"And instead they should be slaves to the Jedi religion?"
"They need to be loved. Could you or the Emperor ever give them that?"
Vader gritted his teeth and anger rolled off him in cold waves. How dare he speak of his mother and children so flippantly. "They are mine."
"They are Anakin Skywalker's children, not Darth Vader's. When you renounced that name you renounced all ties to them."
He could feel himself getting more and more angry with each second that this man before him lived. Kenobi hadn't even drawn his weapon, he was just standing there, acting superior as always. Clearly he knew the children well to risk his life to save them. Vader straightened up and moved closer.
"So, you are the one they see as their father. The one who has been raising them in secret. Where is Padmé?"
"A long way from here."
"So, you did hide her from me! All these years!" he exploded, though his modulator flattened his tone. The events on Mustafar echoed in his head… you will not take her from me! His memories and his weaknesses mocked him, so much time had passed and still this man was alive and ruining his existence.
The Jedi gave nothing away in his expression, but then blew him away with his calm words. "You Force choked your pregnant wife. You betrayed and broke her body, her mind, her soul, everything she ever stood for. Do you honestly believe she'd come running back to you after what you did to her?"
Vader was shocked into silence for a moment. But that was the final straw and he launched himself at Obi-Wan before he could think, swinging blow after blow at the Jedi. His words were venom and he hated himself even more than he hated his old master. They parried, quickly moving back into the corridor and down the hall as they fought. The ship rocked and several times they almost lost their balance. The old man was agile for his age, but clearly out of practice. The dark side of the Force aided his aggression, delivering powerful blows that would've destroyed any lesser opponent. They duelled until they entered one of the hangar bays. It was chaos inside with troopers and rebels firing at each other and sirens wailing. Detonations left the floor littered with wreckage and the air was heavy with smoke.
After one particularly hard blow he used a Force push and his master stumbled, barely righting himself in time before his blade flew sideways. He had escaped a decapitation by milliseconds. Vader swung his blade back around and knocked Obi-Wan clean off his feet. His old master fell to the floor, wincing as the breath was knocked from his lungs and his lightsaber fell from his hand with a clatter. Rolling over quickly, he avoided another decapitation attempt. Mere moments of his old master's life remained; he could feel it. He pinned his chest to the floor with his heavy boot and was about to bring his saber down to his neck when a woman cried out. The room was filled with cries and shouting, but there was something about that cry. His head spun in the direction of the sound and Obi-Wan used the opportunity to snatch his lightsaber back and jump to his feet. They took a step back from each other and regained their breath as he dared to look over his master's shoulder to where the voice had come from.
As if in slow motion, he saw through his mask a woman emerge from behind a crate that he'd thought dead for nine long years. Resurrected from her funeral at Theed, she stood and stared wide-eyed at him, her expression conveying her mutual disbelief. Did she know who he was? Her eyes conveyed an emotion more complex than fear, and he knew the answer to be true.
Time seemed to slow as he met her gaze and his heart thudded painfully against his fragile ribs. His beloved angel…surely it was not her. His senses had tricked him before. He took a shaky step towards her. Was she really here? He had not killed her after all? Padmé's skin was no longer grey but flushed with life, her eyes were no longer closed but open, warm and beautiful in their intensity, just like how he remembered. Her belly was no longer… pregnant…
Darth Vader stood, his saber swaying slightly in his hand. It took his mind a few seconds to catch up with what he saw before him. His wife, his Padmé, was heavily pregnant. Surely this wasn't possible? Not his Padmé…surely now he must be hallucinating? But no, she had aged too. There were some slight lines by her eyes, and on the sides of her mouth where she would laugh. The truth washed over him and he was lost for words. Obi-Wan…his wife… pregnant…it hit him. Obi-Wan had done this to his wife. She was with him.
Red filled his vision and he shook and shook until he felt the pipes on the surrounding walls buckle and burst, filling the air with white steam. Like a white hot spark igniting in his stomach, boiling hatred flared within him and flowed through his clenched veins. This time, there was no talking after finding out their betrayal.
He lunged at Obi-Wan, the full force of his weight against the older man pushing him back down the hangar bay. He slashed his saber with a vicious grief he had not felt since he had massacred the animals who had tortured and killed his mother. Fury and heartbreak burned him from the inside out, fuelling each swirling strike of the blade. Slashing and slashing and pushing and pushing he forced his old master further back. Obi-Wan blocked each blow with a clash of his own blue lightsaber but the sheer power of his attack was enough for the man to show openings and weaknesses that the old Obi-Wan would never have allowed.
"Your powers have become weak old man!" he roared, slicing his blade in an opening.
Obi-Wan Force jumped away a split second before the blade would have pierced his intestines. Vader's quick reflexes sensed a blaster bolt heading his way and he spun to block it, only to realise it had come from Padmé. So this is what it had come to? He Force pulled the weapon from her hands in an instant and was back again to parry with the Jedi traitor, his aggression only growing with each swinging collision of their blades. In the background troopers and rebels fought on, but even with the noise of their battle the air in the hangar clashed with fizzing echoes of red against blue. Sparks flew into the air with each impact as the two enemies fought to the death. Their blades met, screeching as they pressed against each other in a battle of brute strength. He was so close he could see the sweat trickling down his old master's forehead and the blue light reflected in his eyes as the fight continued with increasing intensity.
Vader pushed Kenobi back with yet another aggressive blow, aiming for his torso. Their blades met again and again, he on the offence and Obi-Wan on the defence. Undoubtably out of practise compared to him, Kenobi was tiring. There, an opening!
The red blade sliced through his bicep, ripping the muscle in two. Screaming in pain, Obi-Wan's grip on the Force lessened enough for Vader to use a Force push against him until he stumbled. Clenching his fist and throwing his arm, Vader used the Force to throw his old master hard against one of the ships in the bay. He heard a sickening crack as his ribs broke and he fell heavily to the floor.
Stalking closer to his unconscious crumpled body with his red blade shimmering, he was consumed with hatred. He would enjoy the final push of his saber through his weak body. The traitor deserved no less. Obi-Wan had ruined his life and cost him all he held dear.
"Stop!"
He ignored her, stepping closer to the body.
"Please, Anakin, don't!" Padmé appeared before him, acting as a barrier between him and his defeated enemy.
"So, you wish to die with Obi-Wan," he said. He could not believe he was talking to her.
"Are you really going to kill me? Can you? Could you do that Ani?" she cried, almost hysterical.
He was silent, unable to think straight when she called him by that name. Through the lens of his mask his eyes landed on her belly and he hardened his heart.
"I will do what must be done. Obi-Wan is a traitor and he must die."
"Please, please don't kill me twice Ani. I can't bear it again."
Again he was silent, not wanting to listen but finding it impossible to ignore her pleas. How the universe must hate him, that it brought his angel back to him, only to have her joined with his greatest enemy.
"He is your husband now?" he asked slowly.
She nodded, unable to speak, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"You LIAR!" he roared, throwing his lightsaber to the floor and turning away. It was unbearable; it could not be true. He wanted to hit something, throw something. When would the pain in his life end? When would it be over? His wounds never healed, the scars were always torn open again and again. It was agony.
"It's not a lie. He kept us safe. Me and Luke and Leia," she whispered, visibly shaken up by his outburst. "He looked after us."
"You would have been protected here, with me!"
"You know I couldn't do that," she said, shaking her head slowly. "We weren't safe with you anymore. You went down a path I couldn't follow," her voice broke and she put her hand over her mouth to stifle the sobs at the memory of their last conversation.
"I will not harm my own flesh and blood," he replied solemnly, his anger fading as quickly as it had flared to life.
"For the sake of me and the children, please, let him live," she pleaded, exhausted from the weight of her burdens.
He sighed. "How pathetic Obi-Wan has become that his life hangs upon his wife's pleads for mercy," he turned away again, suddenly disgusted by it all.
"If you let him go, I will call off the attack and I will stay here with you, Luke and Leia. Things can be how you want them to be, just please, don't kill him," Padmé pleaded with him, looking up at his mask with teary eyes.
Even now, despite all that had occurred, he found it hard to deny her anything. He knew she was lying, how could things ever be how he wanted them to be? One look at her stomach was enough to know that that could never be. But her eyes were sincere and she was still his Padmé. Though she had hid and lied and betrayed him with another man…could he blame her?
The unsettling presence of his master, which he could feel at all times, was growing closer and closer. He knew that his ship would soon drop in from hyperspace. He had to get the situation sorted, now.
"Very well. The Emperor will soon arrive, so call off the attack and get these blasted rebels off my ship," he muttered, turning on his heel and pulling his lightsaber back into his hand. As he walked away he heard her speak over her comm, her voice heavy with the tears she was holding back.
"Come in captain. This is Amidala, calling for an immediate retreat. The Emperor is on his way and we cannot win this fight. Obi-Wan needs immediate medical assistance."
Vader stopped in his tracks and turned back to look at her, afraid suddenly that if he left the hangar, she would disappear and he would have dreamt the whole encounter, as he had done many a time. Padmé met his gaze as behind her rebels scrambled to retreat and retrieve the fallen.
"I'm staying. Yes, you heard me correctly Captain," her eyes never left his as she spoke into the device. "The twins and I will be kept alive I know. Just please, get Obi-Wan and yourselves out of here. May the Force be with you."