I came upon a ramshackle old shack made crudely of some kind of sticks which were held together by mud and an unidentifyable substance. Their were two small windows cut out on one side of the structure, and in the window sills were pots filled with green herbs growing in them. In between the pots there were small jars filled with strange looking mixtures. Some had things floating in them, although I did not stop to find out exactly what these objects were. The hut was a very quaintly built structure with foliage growing wildly around it, climbing the walls and making it almost look alive. As though built from plant life instead of sticks and mud. It reminded me of something that, as a child I would have been in great awe of and perhaps curious to see how it were built.
But that was a lifetime ago, now all that was on my mind was on was getting this wretched task overwith.It was not one I looked forward to, as I knew that if I discover the whereabouts of Master Yoda, I would then be dispatched to kill him. No Jedi must be left alive, he said.
I walked stealthily up to the door, giving it a sharp rap and barked out "Hello! I am here sent by His Highness the Emporer. I have a matter of great importance to discuss."
No answer. Not a voice, nor did the door move even slightly to open. Silence. I waited several moments, thinking if this woman was as frail as the Ambassador had said, she may take some time to walk to the door. But after several standard minutes had passed, my patiance wore thin, then evaporated. I gave the door a push, and it opened with a loud crash, the force almost draging me to the floor of the small living quarters.
The inside of the cottage was even more cluttered with debris than the outside had been. The walls were a deep ruddy brown, from the mixture of mud and other fixiations it had been constructed with. The floor, I saw was made of the ground itself, with small patches of strange looking plant-life growing up here and there. Their were crates of every size, from large to very small cluttering everything. And there was a large stone oven in the middle of the room. Insects crawled along the floor in hurried fashion, as if trying to escape from the stench of the room, which permeated the room heavily. It was a mixture of what I took to be herbs, and...body odors.
The smell of unwashed human flesh was sickening and I quickly covered my nose and mouth, and went in search of the woman. I looked throughout the hovel, searching every crevice, thinking perhaps she had gone hiding when she heard my calling. These marsh people were never known for taking kindly to visitors they didn't know. Suddenly I heard a voice singing faintly, as though from a distance away. I realised it was coming from outside. The old one was returning. She must have been out the entire time, probably gathering herbs for one of her infernal potions. But how would she react to coming home to find a Dark Lord of the Sith...standing in her living room? I didn't need any help from the Force to foresee that scene. I thought for a moment, then decided to go outside, wait for her to return, and then knock on the door.
But I took just a little too long in my pondering. For when I turned toward the door, there was a figure, clothed in a brown sack cloth robe in the doorway. The eyes that peered out at me were round, and the color of blood, crimson, with silver lining, kind yet full of worry . Since joining with the Dark Side I had not been as nervous in anyones presence other than my Master. But soon I realised it was not only the womans screaming that had me shaking slightly. It was the atmosphere that had somehow wandered into the room along with her. The feeling of warmth, of welcome, of feeling I belonged here. It was a feeling I hadn't had since...
"You miss her don't you?" The question came like a bolt of Force lightning, piercing my very core. This woman couldn't possibly know about Padme. Was she reffering to my mother? Word travelled among the gallexy at a fast pace when it revolved around the Empire. Perhaps she had somehow heard the rumours being spread about the mother of Lord Vader. I stumbled around the answer as I fought to maintain control of my nerves, to do what I had been sent here to do. After a few moments I regained my composure and asked, as gruffly as I could, "Do you know the where abouts of Jedi Master Yoda?"
She turned around, presenting her back to me. My first thought was that this peasent woman was being obstinant, and disrespectful, but then...she turned back around. And what she held out in her hand sent a shiver up my spine. That small trinket that had meant the world to my wife, just because I had made it with my own hands. I held out one hand to the woman, and she gently placed the japor snippet into it. I felt no shame to cry in front of this woman as I sank to my knees and let out the pains kept inside for over 15 years from my mothers death, and the more recent torment of my wifes demise. The fact that she hadn't worn the trinket in over a year did not suprise me, she had detested what I had become and had tried to convince me that the Emporer would come between us. That he was jealous of my devotion to her. But I had not listened. And now, because of my loyalty to him...my angel was gone. "You do not wish to find Yoda." She said simply. "If you find him, you will be forced to kill him. I can see your heart, it still lives. You do not wish to do this task. But you feel you owe someone. You feel bound to them. Feel that he is all you have left, and yet you hate him, would kill him if you could, for what he did to her. And to your mother."
In the years since she had been murdered, I had buried my mind in the fact that my mother had been murdered by the Tuskin raiders senselessly. Trying not to consider the possibility that their was any meaning to it. Was she now telling me their was some significant thing that connected her death to that of Padme? My mind reeled at the possibility. If it were possible that they were connected...did that mean ihe/i was to blame for Mothers death as well? Was I to trust this woman who may only be saying these things to sway my attention from the subject? "Why should I trust you?" I asked.
She smiled. "Don't trust me...trust your heart, Anakin. You know it to be true. He murdered your wife because she was a hinderance to your service to him. You would have eventually seen the wisdom of her words, and he couldn't have that. He planted the first taste of bitterness, hate, and vengeance into you with the only thing that could fill you with that much anger at that point. The murder of your mother. The one thing that had the power to bring you closer to the Darkness...closer to him."
I swallowed hard at the lump in my throat, and searched frantically for a place to sit. She raised her hands, and a wicker chair seemed to glide toward me and position itself behind me. Without thinking I sat down. I barely noticed her use of the Force, which told me she had had some form of training. From whom, I did not ask, for I didn't have to. I knew it to be Master Yoda.
If this were proven to be true may Force have mercy on him...for I would not.