Author's Beginning Notes: O.K., this is my first Star Wars fanfiction, and it is a one-shot focused on my #1 SW character, Darth Vader, and in his second person perspective. (In other words, he's talking to himself.) It's set somewhere during the OT. I hope you enjoy the story, and please leave a review; feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. Obviously.
Quality of Rest
You meditate. It's the only substitution you have for sleep now at this point. There are many differences between this new method of rest and your old one, the measure of sound certainly not being the least; it's never silent when you meditate, as it should be. Your respirator echoes on and on, never once missing a beat, and sometimes in your most irrational moments you swear you can hear the underlying sounds of choked-off sobs and shrilling screams intermingling with your breaths; you'd like to say those moments are few and far in between, but lying can only go so far.
You are always alone when you meditate, always left feeling half-dead; there is no other half to complete you, none of her soft breaths which are sometimes accompanied by sweet mumbled nonsense, no chocolate curls to hide in from clawing nightmares. Being irrational again, you wonder if your other half feels half-dead like you, but that is not at all the right way to phrase your thoughts; this is better: Does Padme feel unwhole? And if she does, whose fault is that?
Ah, a rarity: you bow your armored head and cover your false face as if in guilt, or maybe in another desperate search for tears; normally it is death to move during meditation. Oh, so you're done with meditation? Then your standards are upheld, eh? You always rather enjoyed loopholes.
Standing now, your cloak wraps its tendrils comfortably around you, desperately trying to imitate Padme's embrace, but always failing. Although people looking at you from the outside would see no difference, you tear out of your meditation chamber, running away as usual. Oh, but where can you possibly run to, where he will not find you?
Fin
Author's Ending Notes: I have to be honest, after much frustration, I finally decided I'd leap into SW fanfiction with a quick one-shot developed within the span of a single day...and this is the result. Again, thank you so much for reading, and please leave a review; feedback is highly appreciated. Also...the identity of "he" will for the moment remain a mystery, completely up to interpretation.
