Prologue
Plot: An accident drops Vader into Obi-Wan's backyard on Tatooine. Literally. With Sidious dead, he can bring his family back together. Perhaps, he can even go to another timeline, to the past, to fix what he can't fix here. For her part, Ahsoka is... more than a little shocked when a Sith Lord and two children appear in front of her while she's on the run in the Underworld.
Author's Note: This is a gift request for LostAmericanSpy on ao3. :D
To LostAmericanSpy: I really hope that you enjoy this gift! The prologue is merely to explain how Vader ended up raising the twins. I hope you like the crazy shenanigans that led to it happening. ^-^
~ Amina Gila
There isn't a day Vader despises more than Empire Day. It's been a year since everything, but in a way it feels like so much longer – another lifetime. And all he knows is that the last thing he wants to do is be on Naboo for the celebration.
That's probably why Sidious demanded he accompany him in the first place. And the Sith Master is also less than impressed about his 'brooding that is unbefitting of a true Sith Lord'.
Vader holds the lightsaber in front of him, struggling to block the lightning assault from striking his armor. He tries to use the Force to block any stray sparks from coming too close, but Sidious isn't stopping.
If anything, the intensity of the lightning attack only increases. He tries to keep deflecting aside, the stray bolts of electricity striking the metal walls of the ship surrounding them.
The Force suddenly flares in warning, and somehow he knows what just happened. The lightning might have gone a little too out of control as to where it was going, traveling through the walls of the ships. Yes, maybe doing this on a shuttle in hyperspace was a terrible, terrible idea, because they are so screwed.
Sidious obviously realizes it too, because the lightning abruptly stops, but it's already too late.
And then the engine of the ship explodes.
The ball of fire tears through the floor in the room – memories promptly swim in front of his eyes even as he tries to force them away – and the entire ship starts to tear apart, engulfing Sidious in flames. They're starting to spiral out of hyperspace, and the next thing Vader knows, he's streaking through hyperspace in the remaining piece of ship – a very, very small piece of ship – even if they're starting to slow down as they go.
He has absolutely no way of stopping them, and even if he could, there would hardly be a point, because they'd still be stranded in space with no planet anywhere nearby. The stars continue to blur past him, and he knows the only reason he's still breathing or alive right now is thanks to his life support suit. Though it probably would be better if he had died in the explosion, because now he's going to be stranded in space indefinitely until his suit shuts down, and he can hardly think of a way out of this situation when he's going so fast that it's making him dizzy.
He has no idea how long he's been flying like this when the piece of ship suddenly starts to slow down, and he can see and feel it getting pulled into the gravitational field of some planet. Everything is happening way too quickly for him to keep track of, but he does have enough time to register that this is going to be bad, but at least he won't be stranded in the middle of space, and –
Vader desperately reaches out with the Force, struggling to slow his fall as they plummet to the ground at probably still close to lightspeed. He wraps the Force protectively around them as they go through the atmosphere, to keep the flames that start to lick the side of the piece of ship from touching him. The next thing he knows he's slamming into something, and –
When he opens his eyes again, it doesn't take him more than a moment to figure out where he is. He's lying on his back, pain pulsing through his entire body – not as if that's unusual, but he thinks it's a little more than the usual, though it's hard to tell.
Two suns are shining brightly in the sky overhead, and sand surrounds him on all sides. Tatooine.
... is he dead? Because if he is, he can totally imagine whatever comes after death for him looking just like Tatooine.
Vader tries to sit up, but his limbs won't cooperate. He turns his head, which is difficult when he can hardly move at all, but it's enough to see that all of his limbs are definitely broken, or at least badly damaged. He has no idea about the rest of his armor, but at least the respirator is still working. (If that's really an 'at least'.)
Now what? Sidious is dead, more than likely anyway, and he's stranded here in the middle of nowhere, assuming he's still alive. He can't move, and –
Someone's coming. He can feel it with the Force, and it feels like... A presence he hasn't felt since –
No, no. He can't be here. Why would he be here?!
Blinding panic claws at him as the much too familiar figure steps into his line of view, looking down at him. Far too fresh memories swim in front of his eyes, of everything he never wants to see again, even if it haunts him constantly anyway. And he thought being stuck in hyperspace without a ship was bad. He'd rather be back there stranded in space, because this is so much worse.
Vader tries to force himself upright, but his limbs won't cooperate – and isn't that a familiar situation – so they definitely won't be able to support the weight of his armor now.
He wishes he was dead. It would be so much easier. Why can't this just end? Or maybe he already is dead. Although if he is, then there's really no way out of this.
"Is this hell?" Because really. If there's such a thing, it would definitely be Tatooine and with Obi-Wan for his only companion.
For several long moments, Obi-Wan just stares at him. "Where in the blazes did you come from?" he asks, finally. The sound of the voice sends another wave of fear clawing through him.
"... I crashed."
Obi-Wan looks strangely in shock, almost disbelieving as he moves a little closer, cautiously touching him with the Force – through their long closed-off bond.
"So I can see," Obi-Wan says, his voice strangely... Vader doesn't know. "You're – Anakin?"
He seems completely in shock, and it's a little confusing. What, did he think Vader was dead? He probably did, but – That's bad because now that he knows he isn't... Vader would rather be anywhere in the galaxy but here. He has no idea what Obi-Wan is going to do now, and there's nothing Vader can do to stop him. Lashing out with the Force when he's otherwise defenseless would be the stupidest thing he could ever do.
"You... survived," Obi-Wan says slowly, uncomprehendingly. There's a strange mix of horror, shock, and a jumble of other emotions there right now, but Vader can only guess where this is going to lead soon enough. "How..."
"Sidious found me," Vader snaps. It's not as if he owes him any answers. This conversation is pointless.
Something in Obi-Wan shifts at the name, his expression stealing a little. "You've been his apprentice all this time, then?" he states more than asks, but there's a distinct edge to his voice – as though he thinks Vader could do anything else after what he did to him.
"You left me," Vader snarls.
"What else could I have done, after what you did?" Obi-Wan asks. He still seems in shock, but he's somehow speaking past that, maybe the same way Vader himself is. Everything just changed so quickly that all he can do is keep moving with it, until he has the chance to sort it out. Not that he's going to get it.
"Finish it," he spits, past the fear clawing at him. It's inevitable, anyway, but it's not death that he fears – it's who will do it and the pain he'll put him through again first.
Obi-Wan is quiet, for an agonizing – literally – moment. "What are you doing here?" he demands finally.
He literally just answered that. Well... Obi-Wan is probably also wondering what he was doing falling from the sky on Tatooine in the first place, not as if Vader owes him any answers. "What are you doing here?" he retaliates.
"Fair point," his old master concedes.
There are a few long moments of awkward silence before Vader breaks it again. (Memories of his vision when he bled his kyber crystal burn in his mind, and he forces them away. They were childish. Unreasonable. Impossible. He knows Obi-Wan – his master isn't and never could be that kind, even if it's the one thing Vader longs for most.) "Sidious is dead," he says. "He was killed when our ship exploded."
Obi-Wan doesn't react, though Vader senses a surge of vicious satisfaction from him in the Force. "You're going to tell me your coming here was an accident?" he asks.
"I have no interest or desire in seeing you," Vader hisses.
"I assure you the feelings are mutual."
As if he couldn't have figured that out on his own. It shouldn't send a wave of fury and betrayal crashing through him like this, and Vader wants nothing more (well, there are some things he wants more) than to lash out and hurt him, but he restrains himself – out of some still existing strand of self-preservation.
An uncomfortable silence settles again, and Vader wonders what now. He has no idea what his old master will do now – is he going to kill him? Is he going to leave him for dead like before? He wants whatever it is to be over with, not as if he's going to mention it and invite the pain sure to follow even sooner.
"With Sidious dead, what happens to the Empire?"
What kind of question is that? Why is he even asking? It's not as if it matters, when he's certain he won't be leaving this conversation alive. "It will fall into chaos, unless there is someone to take control of it," he snaps. He can't imagine being the Emperor himself, but someone will have to do it. He hasn't really given much thought to it yet – at this point, he doubts it will ever matter.
"And what? You intend for that to be you?" he concludes, almost dubiously.
He doesn't know what those words are supposed to imply, or maybe he does. "Whatever you're planning to do," he hisses, "Just do it."
Obi-Wan is... oddly quiet for a long moment. "You know what I should do."
Another wave of fury and betrayal (and fear) rushes through him. "You had your chance before," he spits, "Why didn't you?" He wishes Obi-Wan had just finished it that day – only a year ago. It feels like so much longer.
"I thought you were dead," he replies, which answers everything and nothing.
Obi-Wan is here, right here, and he doesn't know what to do. Sidious isn't here to save him this time, and Vader very much doubts he would, anyway. He doesn't even know how he could have ended up here again.
The Force hates him. Not as if that's a surprise.
"You could have ended it there," Vader asks. "Why didn't you?"
Obi-Wan glances at him again before turning away, like he can't look at him anymore – not as if Vader can blame him. He hasn't looked at himself – doesn't want to. He's never even seen his mask. "I came there to kill you. I should have carried through with it, but I couldn't be the one to end your life."
"Anakin Skywalker is gone," he snarls, repeating the one thing he's told himself and has been told by his master over and over. He knows it now – he can never be that person again, and neither does he want to. He hates how it feels like he's still trapped in the past though, still trapped in that moment on Mustafar, and the only thing he wants to do right now is cry... which he also can't do.
Obi-Wan glances at him again, and for the first time Vader swears he can hear the grief in the older man's voice. "Is he? Is that why you did all this?"
Does that really need an answer? Anakin was – good. Young and foolish and weak, but still he wasn't a monster the way Vader is, and he knows it.
Obi-Wan seems to realize that he's not getting an answer, and after another long moment he takes a few steps closer, his hand moving towards his lightsaber.
If Vader could stop breathing, he would have. Lashing out with nothing but his mind – it's all he has left now, even if that's not whole; his Force connection has been damaged and mind entirely shattered – he throws Obi-Wan back. He doesn't fear death anymore, but it would mean all he has done and lived through was for naught.
Maybe it wasn't the best reaction, but it's all he can do to defend himself now. He has no idea how he's going to survive out here on his own, because he has nothing with which to repair himself, or a transport to get off-world. With Sidious gone, Vader is, technically, the only one who could take control of the Empire if there is to be any order.
Not that he wants it, but that might be the one thing to keep him... alive now.
"If you kill me, the Empire will be thrown into chaos," he says. "Sidious is gone. If I do not take over, there will be a power vacuum."
"If you hadn't betrayed the Republic, you wouldn't be in this mess," Obi-Wan points out, picking himself up from... ten yards away.
"You are in no place to speak of betrayal," Vader growls.
"You know it was your own actions that brought that on yourself," he retorts.
"It was you who chose to do it."
"I told you not to do it –"
"You goaded me," he retorts, furiously. "I never thought so lowly of you. You knew that. You took advantage of it. You never wanted to kill me, did you? You only wanted me to hurt."
Obi-Wan steps back, something like shame flaring around him in the Force. "You destroyed the Order."
Vader doesn't remember his old master having been so vengeful, but maybe it's that he doesn't want to. He knows what he wants, but he dares not give thought to it – it's no more than a childish fantasy. He tries to move again anyway, but it's as futile as his last attempts. It might have been frustrating once, but he's become used to not functioning like a normal human, to being completely helpless at another's hands. He loathes it but fighting it will change nothing. "They betrayed the Republic," he retaliates.
Obi-Wan's expression hardens, as he walks a little closer, though this time keeps a much larger distance. "You know that's a lie," he snaps.
"You yourself asked me to commit treason," Vader snarls.
"He was a Sith, and he's the one who destroyed the Republic," he snaps.
This argument will get them no nowhere. Obi-Wan will never listen to reason, and Vader won't back down either. He also knows that if he continues aggravating his former master, things are probably going to go downhill even worse.
Obi-Wan moves a little closer, and Vader barely resists the urge to lash out with the Force again. "If you kill me, the Empire will collapse."
"That would be for the best."
"The galaxy would shatter," he retorts darkly, "It would only cause untold destruction."
Obi-Wan seems to surprisingly take a moment to consider that. "You are a Sith. You will only cause more death and destruction."
"I do what I must to bring peace," he defends. "There will be no peace as long as the Jedi live."
Obi-Wan's expression darkens again, anger flaring around him – sharp and cutting like ice. "The Jedi were the ones who always kept the peace."
Vader scoffs. Antagonizing him is not a good idea, but he's so tired of being scared and helpless, and his words are his only way to fight at this point. "Oh yes, the glorified peacekeepers fighting on the front lines of a galactic civil war instead of working to actually bring about peace. You and I both know that the Separatists were not purely evil or unable to be reasoned with."
"We had no choice. The Republic needed us."
"Does that excuse work for everyone? Perhaps I should allege that I also had no choice but to destroy the Order." It had to be done, and he did truly feel as if he had no choice at the time, but he knows that it was still his doing. (He knows it was wrong.)
Obi-Wan gives him an icy glare. "Joining the Sith is very different from leading an army into battle."
Really, this argument is going to get them nowhere. "Ironic that both involve forsaking ideals," he retorts, "... But this is pointless. I need to return to Coruscant before the word gets out. It will not be good for anyone if Tarkin seizes the Throne, not when he will have the Death Star under his command."
Well, that actually gets his attention. "... what? What is a Death Star?"
"A planet destroyer. When complete, it will be capable of annihilating an entire planet in one shot."
"That's impossible," Obi-Wan argues, though he sounds a little wary now.
"If only. That is what Sidious wanted the kyber crystals for. Unless you desire for your actions to lead to that, you will help me return to Coruscant," Vader declares with as much firmness as he can, given the situation. He loathes having to ask his former master for help, but it's not like he has a choice.
Obi-Wan is silent for several long moments, obviously considering the situation. "Why should I believe an Empire under you would be any different than Tarkin?"
"I have no interest in a Death Star," Vader snaps.
"If I return to Coruscant with you, I will be killed for treason immediately," Obi-Wan points out. Is he arguing just for the sake of arguing, or is he trying to come up with excuses for why he can't go through with this?
"Has this time made you so weak that you would be unable to escape before I am... repaired?" Vader retaliates.
"I will find a transport we can use," Obi-Wan decides finally, and Vader can't deny the flare of relief he feels. He was almost expecting another argument, or maybe even a refusal, despite the risks. But that doesn't mean his former master won't change his mind at a moment's notice, if the look he's giving him right now is anything to go by. "If I could defeat you before, I am sure I could do the same now, so do not try anything."
"I hear you," he snaps, none too appreciative of how his master is lecturing him the same way he used to. He has no desire or patience to hear that now.
"Good," Obi-Wan replies, moving closer again. His fear skyrockets instantly, but there's little he can do to stop whatever's about to happen. "I'll have to take you inside. Unless you'd prefer staying out here."
Vader doesn't bother gracing that with a reply, and he can feel Obi-Wan reaching out with the Force – with a strange amount of difficulty – lifting him a little off the sand and carrying him into a nearby cave.
The life support system on his suit was already flashing dangerously from the heart of the sun, as it struggled to keep the internal environment normal despite its already damaged state. At least now it's not working so hard and using up the little power it has left.
"This is where you live?" Vader can't help but ask, turning his helmet about as much as he can to look around. There's a few possessions far in the back, but otherwise nothing.
"Did you expect something else after you slaughtered everyone in our last home?" Obi-Wan asks acidly.
He doesn't know why the words sting as much as they do. It's not like it isn't true, but it's – Being right next to his former master is far from easy. Perhaps staying quiet to avoid antagonizing him will be best – talking hurts anyway; everything hurts.
There's another long pause of silence and Obi-Wan moves closer, suddenly kneeling next to him. Their sudden close proximity would have made him stop breathing again, if that were possible. "I'll see if there's anything I can do," he says, reaching for his left arm first, looking it over.
Vader tries very hard not to remember what it felt like when he lost it. It's hard not to think about, when he can still feel so much constant pain from that and his legs. It's hard to think of anything other than that when Obi-Wan is hovering so close, and he's almost completely defenseless.
Something in him twists, though, remembering all the times they were in places like this – taking care of each other's injuries throughout the war. (He wants to make Obi-Wan hurt for all of this, but just as much he wants him back.)
Maybe... it's not too late for all of that.
Now that he knows Obi-Wan is alive, he can't let him keep hiding out here on Tatooine. He could too easily be a threat to the Empire anyway. Once Vader is actually repaired, maybe he can find a desirable way of... dealing with his former master. He doesn't quite know what that would be right now.
"I can't fix them," Obi-Wan decides finally, "They'll have to be replaced." He stands, moving away to somewhere out of Vader's line of sight. He hates how limited his field of vision is now. "I'll see what I can find for transportation. You should be fine here... unless the Jawas spot you."
Yes. The Jawas, because he's little more than a droid they can take apart now. (All because of Obi-Wan.)
Vader can defend himself just fine with the Force, but that does little to stop his anger. (And the shame and helplessness over what his body has become now.)
Vader can't let himself relax at all until he feels Obi-Wan leaving. It isn't until some time after that, that he senses another very bright presence in the Force. Something about the presence is familiar in a way, and as impossible as it seems, suddenly a million more questions sprout in his mind.
Someone else is here on Tatooine that he must find. Somehow, Obi-Wan hiding out here makes much more sense now. They are going to be having some words once Vader is... on even ground with him again.
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