Anakin's feet hit the deck the instant his engines shut off. Leaping out of his Aethersprite, he didn't even take a second to wait for Artoo before dashing across the hangar to where the three gunships were landing. Somewhere behind him there was an indignant whistle as the blue and white astromech whirred to catch up.
Obi-Wan knew. Obi-Wan knew that Luke was his apprentice. But… he said the boy hadn't fallen? And Vader claimed that he hadn't been able to turn him… Anakin reached out with the Force as he approached to confirm for himself… and nearly got blinded for his troubles. He'd never felt a Force signature that giddy. Luke was burning with light and joy and relief, even with the scraps of darkness that seemed to cling to him like a cloak.
. . .
Okay, maybe Obi-Wan was right. But then, where did the shadows come from? Luke's bond with his father? Who was his father, anyway? Some fallen Jedi… Anakin frowned as he tried to figure out who, whether it was someone he knew.
Obi-Wan was white and shaking as he emerged from the lead gunship. Anakin reached out with the Force to steady his former master; Obi-Wan shot him a grateful look. His presence, though, was full of tension and worry and barely suppressed horror—something had happened out there, something Obi-Wan was desperately holding back a breakdown over.
That realisation scared Anakin, although he tried not to let it show. He'd only seen Obi-Wan break down once before, in the very earliest days of his apprenticeship. It had been over Master Qui-Gon's death; for several weeks, Obi-Wan had barely spoken, barely managed to attend to his new duties as a knight and teacher. Anakin hadn't understood it at the time, young as he was and fresh out of his precarious life as a slave. Grief and fear hadn't been new to him, no, but the idea that someone could shut down over them had.
He understood now, though. He knew he'd be the same if something happened to Padme, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka… Even some of the clones, like Rex.
"Master, what's wrong?"
Obi-Wan sighed, exhausted. "You know you don't need to call me that anymore."
"I do." Obi-Wan still didn't understand, then. That's okay; someday Anakin would figure out how to explain. He knew he didn't have to call Obi-Wan his master anymore. Sometimes he just wanted to. A master he chose for himself, rather than one who was forced on him.
Time to see if he could distract Obi-Wan before his old master gave in to whatever had him so shaken up; if there was anything Anakin was good at, it was distracting Obi-Wan. "So… Your new padawan's not a bad pilot, eh? Kind of impressive what he managed to do with that gunship."
Obi-Wan looked ill. Oops. Distraction failed? Maybe… "Anakin, what exactly did you mean by flying in such a way as to make me seriously regret my life choices being a 'family tradition'?"
"Huh? That?" Why would that make Obi-Wan look sick? "Well, Luke's part of our lineage now, isn't he? And that's, like, the closest thing Jedi have to an actual family." Which had been a weird thing to adjust to. Anakin still wasn't sure it made sense. He loved Obi-Wan and Ahsoka like family, but most other lineages didn't let themselves act that way.
"Oh…" Obi-Wan deflated shakily. He ran a hand through his hair, radiating worry through the Force.
Thump-clank!
Luke leapt down to join them, lowering a silver and green astromech at his side. The little droid immediately took off towards R2-D2, whistling excitedly. Luke snickered.
"Those two are gonna have so much fun together."
A fresh surge of horror from Obi-Wan, although of a different flavour. "Luke, are you sure it's wise to let Ayfor run off with Artoo? She's… volatile enough already."
The boy responded with a sunny smile and a wave of reassurance so strong—and unshielded—that Anakin could feel it. "What are you talking about? Ayfor's a sweetheart."
"She threatened to burn my hair off!"
"Because she thought you were being mean to me."
Ooookay, maybe it wasn't a good idea to let Luke's droid spend time with Artoo. Anakin spun around to catch one or both of the astromechs, but they had already disappeared. Great, just great. Well, he'd just have to hope that they didn't end up setting anything on fire. Sighing, he turned back to Luke.
Anakin knew, in theory, that Obi-Wan's new padawan was older than him, but Luke didn't look it. Short and slender, his golden hair and round face made him appear young and innocent. The only hint that he was in his twenties rather than a teenager was the slightly haunted look behind his bright eyes and the knowing twist to his sunny smile, and even those could be chalked up to him being a Jedi fighting in a war.
Twenty-five years in the future… Were the Clone Wars still going on?
"Nice to meet you properly, uh, Anakin." Luke stuck out his right hand, the way a civilian might, rather than bowing like a Jedi. He was clad entirely in clone armour, explaining how Swoop had mistaken him for a Shiny pilot.
Unlike Anakin, who'd lived the last ten years among Jedi and politicians on the core worlds, Luke's Outer Rim accent was still fairly strong.
Anakin took Luke's hand hesitantly, careful not to crush the older boy's slender fingers in the grip of his metal hand. The prosthetic was still new; he didn't always judge things right. "I, uh, nice to meet you properly too, I guess? Welcome to the lineage."
Luke smirked. "Thanks. Although, from a certain point of view, I've been part of it for a few years already."
Ergh, Luke sounded like what Obi-Wan would have if Anakin's old master had lived 20 years on Tatooine. He rolled his eyes. "Please don't turn into a cryptic old man like Obi-Wan. At least not until you're an actual knight. Or better yet, a full master. Snips and I can't be the only members of the lineage who know how to have fun."
"I'll try not to," Luke promised. But even as he said it, his smile went grim.
"Oh no." Anakin pulled back. "I don't like that look."
"Fair. There's a lot more coming that you won't like, though. We need to talk to Father; it's time to make sure everyone's on the same page."
Anakin glanced at Obi-Wan; his old master nodded.
"It's past time, Anakin. I've… learned some things about Luke and his father during our flight. The future they come from… It's… It's the worst thing I can imagine, and I haven't even heard all of it yet." Obi-Wan's shields were high as he clenched his jaw; Anakin couldn't get a read on what had his old master so shaken. "But first, could you please return Luke's lightsabre? I think we can now be sure he really was the one to build it."
Anakin's fingers were numb as he unclasped the requested weapon from his belt—he'd been hanging on to both time travellers' sabres for safe keeping. He fumbled robotically, nearly dropping the weapon as he passed it back to his proper owner.
The worst thing Obi-Wan could imagine?
Obi-Wan glanced at Luke. "Who should be involved?"
The boy's response was instant. "You two, Anakin's padawan, and a few of the clones you're absolutely sure you can trust to keep things quiet. At least to start."
"Very well." Leaving them for a moment, Obi-Wan headed over to Cody, probably telling him to grab Rex and meet them in the med bay. Anakin spent that moment sizing up his fellow Obi-padawan. Despite the horror and dread rising around him from Obi-Wan's words and carefully shielded thoughts, Anakin couldn't help feeling a small pang of jealousy.
He shouldn't. He knew that. He shouldn't be jealous. Obi-Wan wasn't replacing him; if anything, it should be like gaining a brother. But the suddenness of it, that Obi-Wan hadn't even talked to him about it beforehand, that stung a bit.
Anakin squashed the feeling down as Obi-Wan rejoined them. Instead of dwelling on jealousy, he reached out for Ahsoka through the Force.
Hey Snips. You got a minute?
Sure, Skyguy. What's up?
Meet me and Obi-Wan at the med bay. Luke and his father are finally gonna tell us what's going on and they asked for you to be there for it.
Oh. Okay. I'm on my way.
Ahsoka's mental voice swirled with nervousness on the last few words. Anakin frowned as he fell in beside Obi-Wan, Luke following them through the halls of the Resolute. Had… Had Ahsoka already snuck in to talk to the time travellers, even though he told her not to? Or was she just nervous about Vader after being pulled into his mind that one time?
In almost no time, they'd arrived. The sterile scent of the med bay stung Anakin's nose as he sat down on one of the few chairs, spinning it around so he could lean his folded arms on the backrest; he was unable to conceal his twitch of disgust. He hated that smell so much.
Obi-Wan leaned against a wall, looking like he was about to fall over, then apparently decided he was better off not trying to support his own weight and sat cross-legged on the floor. Luke settled himself on one of the hospital beds and waved Kix over. The medic glowered.
"What the kriff did you think you were doing, leaving without permission?" Kix marched straight over and swatted Luke over the head with a rolled up piece of flimsi; from the size of the document, Anakin was willing to bet it was a printout of Vader's medical report. Luke flinched.
"I was hungry and Father said you might not be back for hours. I was just trying to find the mess hall!"
"And ended up in the middle of an active war zone when your injuries had just barely healed!" Kix swatted him again.
"Ow! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Luke ducked, holding up his arms to protect his head. "You're as bad as my sister!"
"You deserve it!"
Obi-Wan interrupted with a sigh. "Kix, could you please-"
"He can stay."
Anakin and Obi-Wan both stared at Luke, still cowering away from Kix and his medical printout. "Luke…"
"Some of what we'll be talking about will have to do with Father's… everything. As the medic primarily overseeing his care, Kix has the right to know."
Dread. Resignation.
The Force pulsed, drawing everyone's attention to Vader. The crippled Sith levitated himself into a sitting position, sighing. "Luke… Does it have to be-?"
"Yes, now." Luke smiled apologetically at his father. "I'm sorry; we should've talked about how to do this, but Obi-Wan figured it out and I told him a little bit already…"
"I see…" Vader closed his eyes. "Kix and Padawan Tano have been piecing things together as well. It… is going to be painful."
"I know. I'm sorry."
There was a moment of near-silence, broken only by Vader's perpetually laboured breathing. Then… "Who exactly are we telling at this time?"
"Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka, Kix, Rex, and Cody."
Vadre nodded thoughtfully. "That is probably the best group to start with, yes."
Obi-Wan and Ahsoka already figured it out? Obi-Wan and Ahsoka already knew? Anakin pointed at his former master accusingly as Ahsoka, Cody, and Rex arrived. "You figured out who they are?"
"Yes." The Force roiled sickeningly. "While flying with Luke. As I said, their future… Is the worst thing I could imagine."
"And you?" Anakin couldn't help the hurt that creeped into his voice when he looked at Ahsoka. She bit her lip sheepishly as she grabbed her own chair and sat down beside him.
"I… figured it out while you were crashing the Redeemer into the blockade, after overhearing Vader and Kix arguing." Something in her voice quavered on Vader's name.
Rex and Cody elected to share a hospital bed, sitting down shoulder to shoulder. Kix looked almost like he was going to stand for the whole thing—and maybe swat Luke with the medical printout a few more times—but after a moment of consideration, collapsed into his office chair instead.
Anakin's mind was racing. How-? How could he be the last one to figure out who Luke and Vader were? He was the one who'd spent the most time with them, even if most of it had been just sitting in awkward silence. He ran through all the information he had as fast as he could.
Fallen Jedi. Posh, formal core-world accent. Fought in the Battle of Ryloth. A little bit insane—although that might not mean anything if the Dark Side had done something to his mind. Blue eyes and pale skin between his extensive scarring, which ruled out Mace Windu. Someone who, even as a Sith, would care for Obi-Wan's apprentice, even when the boy refused to fall. And that vision… That vision of his lightsabre crossed with Vader's, blue over red, duelling in a room full of wires and steam.
No. No. That wouldn't, couldn't, happen! Anakin's blood ran cold; his heart stuttered. It was a good thing he was already sitting down, because he was pretty sure his knees had just turned into Life Day jelly. He stared numbly at his old master for a long moment, then at Vader. Horror surged into anger, hot and bubbling in his chest.
"Who did this to you, Master?" Who hurt Obi-Wan so badly? Who forced his old master to fall? They would pay!
Time itself seemed to freeze. Everyone was staring at him. Even reaching out with the Force yielded nothing but static, as if even that which bount the universe together was dumbfounded.
It was Vader who broke the silence, face twisting into a terrifying mask of confusion. "You… think I'm Kenobi?"
"Well, yeah, it's obvious." Anakin gripped the back of his chair, the durasteel fingers of his right hand warping the softer metal. "You talk like him, you're calling his padawan your son, and I… I had a vision of us duelling. Not that I'd want to duel you, Master, not for real, but if you fell, I'd go after you and try to beat some sense into you."
"You… had a vision… that you were fighting… me?" The static cleared from the Force, replaced entirely by Vader's confusion. Anakin nodded.
"In some sort of factory room. There were wires and steam everywhere, and metal catwalks. Your lightsabre and mine." Anakin unclipped the weapons from his belt and held them out side by side, as if doing so would make everything obvious.
Luke glanced at Vader, his confusion joining his father's in the Force. "Did he see… Bespin?"
"I can't think where else. Although not all of it, clearly."
Anakin frowned at the pair. "Master, what are you talking about? What happened at Bespin?" Wasn't that a backwater gas giant, good for only tibanna mining and gambling?
Vader sighed so deeply that Kix straightened in alarm. "I suppose I don't know what I was expecting," he muttered, "After what happened when I first regained consciousness. Luke, just… introduce yourself properly. It's the only way he'll understand."
"But-"
"I have no right to that name anymore. It has to be you. Do it the way you did when you met your sister. It's the only way he'll understand."
"Oh… If… If you're sure. Okay…" Luke glanced shyly at Anakin through his bangs, fixing him with a sad smile.
"I'm Luke Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you."
I'm Luke Skywalker.
Luke Skywalker.
Skywalker…
"Keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…" Anakin couldn't do words. His brain just froze. He felt sick. His eyes flicked back and forth between Luke and Vader, shivering. He'd thought he felt cold when he thought Vader was Obi-Wan, but now… Now…
His master's voice from earlier echoed in his mind. It's… It's the worst thing I can imagine… The worst thing Obi-Wan could imagine wasn't Obi-Wan himself falling…
It was Anakin falling.
Anakin.
"No." It was the only word his mouth could form. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no!"
He wouldn't fall. Wouldn't. That would… No. He'd tried so hard to be better, to be a good Jedi… The Council… The Council was right about him? Even when he'd fought so hard to prove them wrong? Was… Was it because he'd broken the Code about attachments? But… How could his marriage spiral into something like that?
His eyes stung; his vision went blurry. Something started ringing in his ears, like someone had fired a blaster right by his head. A shadow fell across him, strong hands planting firmly on his shoulders.
"Slow down, Anakin." Obi-Wan's voice was soothing, even when his Force presence roiled with horror. "Breathe. You're hyperventilating."
Anakin recoiled from his master's gentle touch. "No! I can't-! How could-?!"
"Settle down, Skywalker." That was Vader's voice. Something cold and dark seized Anakin around the chest, forcing his breathing into a slow rhythm even as he struggled against it. "Injuring yourself will help no one."
"Father, you're just scaring him more. Let me."
Father. Father meant Vader. Meant Anakin. Luke… Obi-Wan's padawan, the closest to a younger brother he could have within the Jedi Order… was his son. His son who was older than him because kriffing time travel.
A weighted blanket of light and warmth fell heavy in the Force as Vader's cold grip pulled away. Understanding. Love. Concern. Apology. It nearly knocked Anakin out of his seat with the strength of it. And he wasn't the only one; Obi-Wan fell to his knees on the floor in front of him.
"Perhaps we should wait on the rest of it," Anakin heard Vader suggest through his ringing ears. "They may need time to adjust."
"Like the time you gave me between cutting off my hand and telling me who you were? No, it's better to finish ripping off the bacta patch now. Then they can get all their mental breakdowns done at once."
"You are… more ruthless than I would have thought."
Anakin glanced up, vision still watery, in time to see Luke shrug. "I didn't think it was ruthless. I just think they won't suffer as long as we give them everything at once."
"As one who lived through it all, that may not work out the way you expect." Vader sighed. "But very well."
Anakin agreed with Vader—he didn't think he wanted to hear any more at the moment. Didn't think learning more about a future where he fell to the Dark Side and apparently cut off his own son's hand would shorten any suffering. But he'd once again lost the ability to form words, and he doubted he was getting a say in this even if he could manage to scrape together a few syllables of protest.
Kriff, if that was how bad his relationship with his son was, what had happened to Padme?
There was a pause. Then… "How do you want to do this?"
"It… may be better to show them. And perhaps it would keep anyone from doing anything foolish before the story is told." Vader eyed Anakin as he spoke.
Luke nodded thoughtfully. Then… "The clones? They're not Force-sensitive."
"It will be discomforting for them, but I believe we will manage."
Rex frowned at the… Anakin lying on the bed. "I… Sir… What are you talking about?"
Vader sighed. "Just a moment, Captain. Luke, I'll need your assistance with this."
"Of course."
Anakin's vision spun. He felt like he was going to throw up, except… His mind no longer seemed to be connected to his body. Something was pulling him inwards, almost as if he was being forced to meditate, except… there was no peace. No calm. No control over the thoughts and images around him.
When the world settled, he was lying on his face in deep, sharply crystalline snow. Groans around him indicated that he wasn't alone; Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Cody, Rex, Kix… They were all with him.
Kuuuh-Krrrh.
Something harsh and mechanical cut through the whistling of the wind. Anakin raised his head, looking for the source of the noise. At first, all he saw was craggy shapes sticking up through the snow, grey and forbidding. They looked like jagged mountain peaks, sharp as glass… But no. No, they were made of metal.
The broken remnants of a crashed Venator.
Kuuuh-Krrrh.
Ahsoka sat up beside him, shivering. Her eyes were wide with fear. Anakin tried to reach out through their bond to comfort his padawan, even though he was on the edge of breakdown himself, but… he couldn't feel her. He couldn't feel anyone. It was like they were inside another Force presence, a presence that interfered and blocked everything with wind and cold.
Kuuuh-Krrrh.
Taking his cloak off, Anakin draped it around Ahsoka's shoulders, holding her close to try and keep her warm. Obi-Wan came up from the other side, offering his own heat, and soon the clones joined them as well. Rex was the first to speak, scanning the area with concern.
"General, where-?"
"Vader's mind," Ahsoka whispered, pressing deeper into the flds of Anakin's cloak. "I've… I've been here before. This is Vader's mind…"
Kuuuh-Krrrh.
The wind died down, leaving the heavy, mechanical breathing as the only background noise. As it did, two figures appeared from the swirling snow. One was Luke, dressed in an obnoxiously bright orange pilot's jumpsuit instead of the clone armour he was wearing in the med bay.
The other, Anakin could only assume, was Vader. Was him.
Black armour. Black mask. Black cape. Vader was like a piece of the night sky come down, a piece without stars or moon to brighten it or give direction. He seemed impossibly huge, even though Anakin knew logically that the cyborg couldn't be much taller than himself. And… It was very clearly his presence that surrounded them. His aura of cold and darkness, guilt and regret, so crushing that Anakin could barely breathe.
Then Luke kicked Vader in the shin and the overwhelming presence faltered. The towering cyborg looked down at his son, and though his face was invisible behind the mask, his voice could only be described as puzzled.
"What?"
"Really, Father? We're in your mind; you can look like anything you want and you choose that? We're trying to warn them about the future, not terrify them!"
"Sufficient fear provides a great motivation to avoid mistakes."
"And increases the likelihood of making others."
This… This is me, Anakin found himself thinking, frozen as much from terrified awe as from the cold. This is what I become… What everyone was so afraid of…
He couldn't blame them. He didn't want to think about it, didn't want to consider the remotest possibility that Vader was him. He'd rather die than go over to the Dark; he'd tried so hard to be good, even when he didn't agree, even when the Council pushed him aside. He'd tried to make Obi-Wan proud, even though sometimes it felt impossible. All he'd wanted was to be a Jedi, to protect the people he cared about, to someday go back to Tatooine and free the slaves…
How had he become… that?
"I don't see that it matters what I look like, Luke." Vader's voice wasn't Anakin's voice. It was a harsh, mechanical thing, too deep to be human, that left bones vibrating and muscles weak.
Except Luke's, apparently. Anakin's son stuck his chin out stubbornly, frowning up at his father's imposing mask, wordlessly tapping his foot in the snow. Vader growled.
"How would you have me appear to them, Luke? Like this?"
The world spun. Instead of cold, the air was suddenly thick with oppressive heat; snow became sand under the golden glow of a twin sunset. The wreckage of the star destroyer crumpled and softened, becoming ragged tents and charred corpses.
Instead of the mechanical terror standing beside Luke, Anakin found himself looking into a mirror of a few months before, when his hair was still cropped short but for the padawan braid dangling behind his ear. There were tears in Vader's eyes.
"Should I start with the Tuskens?" the broken Sith demanded in Anakin's voice. "Start by admitting to Obi-Wan how I ignored his advice and came to Tatooine, dragging Padme along, to try and save my mother, only to have her die in my arms? That I was so enraged with vengeance in my grief that I slaughtered the entire village, even the children who had nothing to do with her death?"
Oh no…
Again, the world changed. Now instead of sand, there was black rock, even hotter to the touch, and glowing orange rivers of magma that flowed in the distance. The sky was black with ash; even though this was only a Force vision, Anakin found himself choking.
This version of himself was slightly older, but not much; probably no more than his son's age. Wild, unkempt hair framed eyes that glowed a sulphurous shade of yellow.
"Or shall I show them how I injured my wife, forcing her into early labour and likely causing her death in childbirth, before making my first attempt at killing the man who was once the closest thing I had to a father?"
Obi-Wan let out a pained gasp at those words. Anakin held his master and padawan more tightly, unable to move—to even think—to do anything else.
Luke held his ground and said nothing, meeting his father's terrible eyes with a steady gaze.
The burning rivers and black stone became a crumbling temple, the air thick with dust. The walls and floors were covered with unreadable glyphs; strange devices suffused the place with a dim red and violet glow.
Kuuuh-Krrrh.
Vader's black armour was back, although one half of the helmet had been shattered, revealing a yellow eye that leaked a waterfall of tears.
"How about when I collapsed a building on my padawan because I thought she'd abandoned me, even though she was offering to stay and try to help me back to the light?"
Ahsoka was crying. Ahsoka was crying and Anakin still couldn't do anything, didn't know what to do.
The broken temple became a hangar on a space station, and for the first time, the vision contained other people. Dozens of figures in white armour, a princess in a white shift, a Wookie, a ragged smuggler, an elderly man in a cloak, a younger Luke… All racing between ships Anakin had never seen before to reach a battered-looking YT-1300 freighter.
Kuuuh-Krrrh.
The shattered helmet of Vader's armour was whole again as the Sith lit a red lightsabre.
"Or maybe you would prefer that I show them the time that I tortured your sister, destroyed Alderaan, and killed your master in front of you, cutting down my oldest friend in cold blood?"
Make it stop, Anakin pleaded, although he couldn't make himself speak the words aloud. Please, make it stop! I don't want this!
Another sickening swirl. The space station became a precarious mass of dimly lit wires at catwalks that Anakin recognised as the industrial heart of a tibanna mining facility. While he and the others knelt on the relative safety of the indoor catwalks, Vader and Luke stood on a precarious foothold extending out over open space.
No… No… Please, not again. I've seen enough!
Kuuuh-Krrrh.
"Oh, I know—We could start with the time I cut off your hand and you jumped almost to your doom trying to escape!"
Vader was panting, shaking with rage, guilt, grief, regret… And still Luke said nothing.
Anakin's pleas for the visions to stop went unanswered as the scenery changed again. The mining facility became a dimly lit throne room, sparsely furnished and terrible, a shadowy, faceless figure overlooking everything within.
Kuuuh-Krrrh.
This time, even with his face still concealed by his helmet, Vader's tears were obvious in his broken voice. "Or we can show everyone how your own father handed you over to the Sith emperor to be tortured or turned…"
"Alright, that's enough."
Luke stepped in before Vader could change the scene again, for which Anakin was infinitely grateful. The boy reached up and removed his father's helmet, revealing eyes that were blue once more—pale and icy cold, but blue instead of Sith yellow.
"You're not that person anymore. You came back to me. You saved me. And now it's time to save them."
Luke gestured towards Anakin, still kneeling on the ground, holding Obi-Wan and Ahsoka as close as possible and unsure if he would ever be physically able to let go. To Rex, Cody, and Kix, sitting stunned behind their Jedi, near-identical faces masks of fear despite their training and experience as soldiers.
Vader fell to his knees, hands covering his face. The cyborg trembled so hard he almost looked ready to fall apart. "No," he gasped quietly, "No, Luke, it was you who saved me."
"We saved each other," was Luke's wry compromise. Anakin caught a glimpse of Padme in the twist of his son's mouth. Then…
"This isn't what I thought you meant when you said you wanted to show them, but I'm glad you got that out of your system."
"It… was not exactly what I had in mind, either. But perhaps this is what was needed."
Luke smiled. "If that is the will of the Force."
The throne room dissolved and suddenly they were in the med bay again. Anakin gasped and fell off his chair, pulling Obi-Wan and Ahsoka to the ground with him; the clones grabbed hazardous material disposal buckets and promptly vomited. Rex was the first to speak, staring wide-eyed at Vader as he wiped his mouth with the back of a shaking hand.
"Sir… Never, ever do that again. That was… That was…"
"My apologies, Captain." Vader winced. "If it's any consolation, that wasn't exactly pleasant for me, either. Either of me."
Anakin whimpered at Vader's words. The lights were flickering; when did the med bay get so dark?
"Master?" Ahsoka tilted her head up to look at him. Her tears had left a dark stain on the shoulder of his robes; her voice sounded strangely distant. "Master, are you-?"
Everything went black. The last thing Anakin remembered was a burst of pain as he fell back, his head hitting the wall.