Before you stone me, there is a reason for portraying Vader as a half decent guy. 1st reason, he's amused by Aithne. He wants to beat her in an honest battle, not just by straight out killing her. 2nd reason, no matter how hard you try, there's only so much of a Universe you can control before it all goes nuts. 3rd reason, she hasn't been actively bothering him and by training an order of Jedi knights in a part of the Universe he has never heard of, she's probably doing him a favour. I mean, who wants untrained, uncontrollable nuisances appearing everywhere. And she does have a point. He can't kill all of the Jedi because he can't find them. So he has to be decent for this FanFiction. Okay?
Again, this is a part of the series. It will all make sense in the end. And just like any series, it's better to read it all so that you can learn all of the facts.
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Darth Vader looked over at the woman in front of a shop selling food. An old man had fallen over and she was helping him up, but there was something familiar about her, something he just couldn't put his finger on… Then it struck him, like a blow to the chest. He moved closer to her to be sure of it. She had brown hair tied up close to her head yet still loose and free against the slight breeze blowing. She had silver eyes which looked like they could either warm your very soul or freeze it. She glanced about, features well remembered to him gazing just to the left of his direction. He remembered confronting her in a hallway in the old Jedi Temple and her patient waiting for her padawan, the fire in her voice as she placed him back in what she believed to be his place. He took a step towards her and watched her see him, realize who he was. He brought his lightsaber to hand, holding the grip with mechanical strength. People around them fled as clone troops seamed to appear from no where and clear the road with a few well placed warning shots. She rose her chin up in challenge and he had to wonder where her padawan was, and just where she had been hiding all these years. She pulled out her lightsaber, its handle exactly like he remembered it, silver with small gold symbols etched inside it. His blade shot out, blood red, while hers was gold like the day.
He smiled under his mask and he let her feel his joy that today he would kill Aithne. She smiled back.
"You have no idea what I'm capable of Darth Vader."
Vader breathed noisily. "You're just another Jedi Aithne. Just another kill for the Empire."
Her smile nearly poisoned even him. Her face was cold.
"Another dead Jedi. You do know that for the entire order to die you have to kill yourself as well. And Kenobi, and Dante, and Keitha, and her child. My my, you have been slack. Just how many Jedi have you killed? Because we certainly aren't bordering on extinction like you would lead the Emperor to believe."
"You always did like to talk."
Their blades clashed in a flash of light. Vader was surprised to see every blow matched, his ferocity matched perfectly by hers. He swung his blade at her arm only to find her blade. Another swipe at her head was met by air and he had to quickly rush to block her blade from puncturing his chest plate. He shifted his feet to step into her only to have her meet his feet perfectly. She was the perfect sparing partner, both talented and unafraid. As much as Vader wanted to keep fighting her all day he had to end this, now. He reached out into the Force to push her away. She blocked him with her Force and they moved back 3 valuable metres. He reached to the Force again, this time to break her mind upon his. He reached her shields and began to break them. Aithne smiled once again.
"You, my Lord, have no idea what you are facing."
Her mind filled with a power beyond reckoning. Light seemed to shine through her body, her spirit glowed. She rose up off of the ground and into her hand formed a beautiful whip of golden light, a handle appearing made of silver and gold. It was at that moment Darth Vader realized for the first time that even though the handle was the same, Aithne's blade had never been gold. The whip hit his knees and he fell to the dirt. The whip disappeared along with its handle.
"I have not held my lightsaber in over a year, not since my training taught me to use the Force as my blade. I have lived in places you do not dare to dream of Vader."
She kneeled beside him. "Deep down you are still a frightened little boy, Anakin. May you never forget that."
She patted his helmet and stood. She turned and disappeared into floating sands.
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Darth Vader continued through the town, looking for Aithne. He had his clones look through houses and shops, trying to get just a glimpse of the Jedi woman. A child ran past the Dark Lord throwing a dust into the air behind her. Some escaped his filter and came into his burned lungs. He watched as the dust took effect, turning the street before him into a world he had never seen. Children ran in the street before him, smiling and laughing as they played. One girl came up to him and her voice was exotic honey.
"My Lord, I have been told you are the Devil."
"I am not the Devil, child." She laughed.
"Feel no anger. It means only the greatest of things. In my culture, being the Devil means you will fulfill a great prophesy. It means that you will bring us back the Lady. And the Lady will save us all."
"Explain." She giggled again.
"Aithne. You brought back Aithne. Now we can all live in safety. Bad dark Jedi kill us when they are not trained. She will leave the rest of the Universe alone, content to her home. And we will be safe again." The girl ran off down the road and a woman appeared. She looked just like Padme. She walked closer and it became apparent that the woman was not Padme. Her face looked different and her eyes, if it was possible were warmer, softer.
"You, my Lord, bring happiness to us by your absence." She swayed slightly. "Spare my Lady, our Aithne. She is our orphan, our mother, our saviour. She will bring us our greatest. She will train him who will train our Queen. She will guard our future. Let her live." The vision ended and he saw a ship fly into the sky. It was Aithne, he knew this instinctively. A clone stood beside him.
"My Lord. She has escaped."
"Like an angel to the heavens… Let her go. I will not fight her again. Let her have her galaxy. If she ever comes back again we will crush her." The little girl who had thrown dust before came back. Vader stopped her. "Who are you?"
"Sharni, my Lord."
"Sharni, where are you from?" She giggled.
"My mummy won't say my Lord. She died. And my daddy went away before I was born."
"So you are an orphan?"
"Yes my Lord." Darth Vader looked towards his troops and placed a hand on her head.
"Find her a home. A good one. As far from any conflict as you can get her." And he left.
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Woah. I just finished editing this and gosh it's hard to read. I'm sorry!