Chapter Seven

Darth Vader awoke before dawn, the inky blackness right before a sunrise had always his favorite time a day. The darkness still held the shadows at bay, but the day also spanned out from that time, a day with the promise of something to do, away from nightmares and regrets.

This was why the memories, the very painful memories that his son's appearance dredged up had come back. The early morning brought memories of the pre-dawn hours when he would steal away from the Temple to his wife when he couldn't spend the night at the apartment they shared in secrecy. They would spend the early morning hours before the sunrise in each other's arms, making each second count as though it was their last. Every day had brought a new peril in those times.

He had once been asked what he knew of regret. He could not remember if he had allowed someone that foolish to live or not. He could not remember many things, but he knew regret every day of his hellish existence. After the accident, when death had been snatched away from him, he had vowed that he would do his duty to the Empire to rid the galaxy of the sedition that had cost it so much. It would be a reason to live, or a chance to die. This made it easy, as either way; he would be away from the grief, duplicity and torment of his previous life.

The past few evenings he had dreamed things he could not really call nightmares and it scared him as much as anything could these days. He had dreamed of Padmé again last night, the same dream. The relief of a real dream, a real glimpse of her face, with no fire, or smoke, or death surrounding her image was too much to ask, so he didn't contemplate it for fear of it fading into his dreams. The dreams he had…of lava, betrayal, and hopelessness. A veritable hell.

These new dreams had been coming of late, though. He could not deny it. The only thing that stayed with him was Padmé waiting at a garden gate. That was it. He could not tell why she was waiting, but she wore the japor snippet in each instance and fingered it hopefully as she looked over the horizon, as if waiting for something or someone.

The dream shook him as much as the nightmares did, but for a different reason. It made him want leave this place and go to her. Leave the power, the glory of the Empire, everything he had worked so hard to build – just to go to her at that gate. He slammed his mind down on the thoughts and drew on the Force. He thought of the work yet to do on the battle station and the Emperor's face swam before his.

The familiar numbness spread through his body at the feelings these thoughts evoked. He turned away from the memories and the window of the study. He had left Myr instructions to have his things brought down last night, in preparation of an early departure. He left a few more minor instructions on care of the castle and financial orders to be taken care of on a data pad on the desk. He threw his cape around him and fastened it to the shoulder armor. He then gathered the small business case and hooking his lightsaber on his belt, he commed for Myr.

Myr made her way downstairs groggily. She had been up most of the night, unable to return to sleep after being awakened by nightmares worse than she had in a long time. She dreamed of exploding moons, lightning and destruction. She awoke with a headache.

The comm unit buzzing on the wall in the hall made Myr jump. She leaned into it to answer.

"Yes, my Lord?"

"I will be leaving now. Please have my shuttle prepared for my arrival."

"Yes, my Lord." She answered. A pang in her chest bloomed at the thought of Lord Vader leaving this morning. The sense of foreboding would not leave her. She hurried to attend to getting his things in order for a pre-dawn departure.

After communicating to the pilot Lord Vader's wishes, she went to the study. She found Vader standing at the window, his gloved hands clasped behind his back in the manner she had become so used to seeing him. She walked forward and waited.

He turned from the window, and Myr bowed. "Your shuttle has been prepared, my Lord."

"Good. Have the pilot come in at anytime for the items on the floor," he said with a nod.

"It is taken care of, my Lord. He is waiting in the foyer," she said.

"Good work. Remember my wishes on the…item I left in your care," he said as leaned forward and gathered some remaining flimsiplast items from the desk and handed to her.

"These are for you, also. Read them later, after I have gone. They are not of an immediate nature," he said as he moved from the window. He walked to the door and stopped. He turned and Myr thought for a moment he had forgotten something.

"Thank you for your…service. Your loyalty has been commendable," he said haltingly. He then inclined his head and palmed the entryway and left Myr, alone. She watched him go, overcome with a feeling of bereftness and the sad realization that they would never see each other again.

She wasn't sure what the future held, but the clarity of purpose she had always maintained, the optimism that her fortuitous nature would prevail, seemed light years away as she slowly put the items that Lord Vader had given her in the drawer of the desk. She left the study sadly and went upstairs to close Lord Vader's quarters down until they would be needed again. If they are needed again, she thought morosely.

When she reached his upstairs bedroom, she removed her earrings and placed them in the small tray by the entrance, then took off her silver-buckled shoes and placed them against the wall. She knew the pieces that made up Lord Vader's suit was created with an anti-combustible metal from the planet Kirfir, and she had been taught long ago that nothing metal could enter his personal chambers, where he lived without the suit. With a heavy heart, she palmed the entryway to her Lord's private chambers open. Everything looked the way she had prepared for him upon his arrival more than two weeks ago. Pristine and clinical.

Her eyes fell to the cylindrical black bed against the far wall. She saw the lights still blinking and walked over to the unit and knelt to complete the shutdown sequence. She entered in the appropriate pass codes and waited for the unit vaporizer to shut off. A light on the console blinked red, meaning the sequence had not been finished. She tried again, this time entering Vader's personal back-up code.

Suddenly, from the side of the bed, a holo unit slid out and initialized. It blinked three times and then the face of a young man in a pilot's uniform materialized. Myr watched in awe as the holo rotated slowly. There was something about the young man's eyes, she couldn't place it, but the holo left with an eerie feeling. She pressed another button and the name "Luke Skywalker" flashed at the bottom of the holo. Myr was entranced. Skywalker? The name reverberated in her mind.

She thought back to the couple mentioned in the holo-globe that Lord Vader had given her the day before. Why would Lord Vader keep a holo of the Jedi's son...? With a clarity that could only be attributed to the Force she realized: Darth Vader was Anakin Skywalker. He had been a Jedi, and married….to the woman named Padmé…

She looked to the face in the holo again. Luke Skywalker. This was Darth Vader's son. The rebel pilot who had destroyed the death star was Darth Vader's son. She sat down abruptly on the floor with the overwhelming feeling that she knew more than she could ever possibly comprehend.

To be continued...