This is my first attempt at Star Wars fanfiction. This is a vignette, although to me it's more like poetry in a weird format. I was inspired by watching Episode III and contemplating why Vader stayed with Palpatine after he learned that Padmé was dead.

Disclaimer: Really, if I owned Star Wars, would I be working at fast food? I don't think so. Please don't sue me unless you really have your heart set on a bunch of used notebooks and a crappy car.


The Dark Poison

No.

That's impossible!. The words echoed through Vader's head. She can't be gone.

His master's words at first had slammed into him with a force stronger than any physical blow he'd ever received in battle. But now they were seeping deep into his core, washing over his heart and organs with a gruesome poison that was consuming his very life-force. The pain he felt made him long to dive into the rivers of lava on Mustafar, so as to feel a lesser pain.

He had killed her.

Padmé. The only person in the galaxy who meant anything to him. The angel he'd been living for ever since he got his first glimpse of her in that shop on Tatooine was no more.

And it was his fault.

His life, his soul was gone.

The hollow clang of his boots against the metal floor resounded in the hallway. His new mechanical limbs moved without feeling, pummeling him to his final destination. As he managed a glance at his new master walking beside him, he felt a surge of hatred for the dark side of the Force rush into him. He had sold out his ideals, murdered his companions, and betrayed his best friend, all as a sacrifice to the dark side in hopes of saving his wife from death. Only now at the end did he see how foolish he'd been. And the ones who paid the price for that foolishness was his wife and child.

His child.

The anger escalated its wave and threatened to break through the barriers of his self-control. Another precious life stolen from him. No--not stolen. The pain tightened its grip on his heart as his anger turned toward himself. Never would he see his baby smile, or see him laugh, or take his first steps. And it was because of him. He had killed his only child. He didn't deserve to know this child's love. I am a monster, he thought. I only cause those I love to suffer.

The dark side was a cruel master, promising him life but only giving him death. And yet, there was no escaping it. He'd broken free from his childhood slavery only to find himself voluntarily locking himself in the chains of another, much more insidious master. He'd offered up his soul and it had been devoured hungrily. There was no turning back now.

The pain, that poison in his being had now completed its task. His heart was eaten away, replaced by a potent numbness which was spreading throughout what was left of his body. The ice-like darkness dulled his pain as he felt it seeping into his veins. Vader's unfeeling fingers pushed open the door to the front of the ship, where he and Palpatine would meet Tarkin to begin plans for the construction of another mass-murdering machine.

I was right when I said I couldn't live without her. Now, for the rest of my life, I am dead along with her.