Vader stares into the bright red of his new lightsaber. He corrupted the crystal inside and now, its power seemed far greater than any other lightsaber he's ever held.
It was a long and painful journey and he'll be sure to keep this intact, just to avoid doing it again -and he thought retrieving a simple kyber every few years as a padawan was annoying.
But despite the proud achievement, Vader can't help but question his master. He can't very well ask whether Palpatine meant for those younglings to die as well, not without giving away that he let them live. But if that is true, then what else does his master expect of him? At the start of his fall to the dark side, Vader was determined to kill traitors to the Republic. He cut down the Jedi for turning their backs on the senate, then killed the two neimoidians responsible for all of this in the first place. He never signed up to kill innocents.
With a tap of his fingers, Vader accesses the datapad in his personal chamber. At first, he's not sure what he plans to do, but as he continues typing in the letters, information comes up. He works on autopilot, scanning through documents and laws. All of them are of no real interest to Vader, mostly bills and acts meant to bring change to the Republic, but a familiar pull has him looking further and further into the past. He's not bold enough to say it's the guidance of the force, but after scrolling down nearly four years, Vader finds a hidden list.
It's locked, but with Vader's new access and the use of some tips he got from Tech -whatever happened to the Bad Batch anyway?- the documents fill the screen.
Vader's eyes widen as he looks through them. Messages to Count Dooku and General Grievous. Orders to the Trade Federation's leaders with promises of protection and war. Plans to kill off certain senate members and rise Palpatine to higher office, then giving him more control. As Vader scrolls back, he finds plans set to turn master Dooku to the dark side. Then a report of Darth Maul's unfortunate death.
Slowly, Vader sits up in his chair, unable to connect the pieces he's looking at. He should've seen this before, it feels so obvious now but...he never thought...
Palpatine is not just any sith. He is the sith lord. He thought...well, Vader isn't sure what he thought. Maybe the council had been wrong about the rule of two? Maybe Palpatine had simply been a passive sith, someone who knew of the stories but never did anything with them. Someone too weak to defend himself against Mace Windu wouldn't possibly be Darth Sidious, the one behind the war.
But this proves otherwise. This proves that Palpatine had planned this out from the beginning. He knew how to take over Naboo -why would he betray his own planet?!- and suggested a vote for a new Supreme Chancellor, which he won. He kept Dooku and Grevious just out of the Republic's hands, just enough to make the war last without tipping it to either side. Then, when he refused to give up his power and the Jedi Council started questioning him, he make Anakin protect him.
Anakin killed Mace Windu for Darth Sidious.
He killed Jedi for Darth Sidious.
She died for Darth Sidious!
Another message, one shorter and in a language Vader hasn't seen for a very long time. From Palpatine to a Tusken leader, talking of sacrifices to their God and needing a tribute. A perfect target waiting on a moisture farm just outside of Mos Espa. An older woman, too weak to resist.
The final line reads, "I only ask you keep her barely alive until the day of your sacrifice. Beat and whip her all you want, but keep her living until then."
The room vibrates around Vader as he stares at the words in front of him, no longer reading them but knowing what they say. Several lights are going off on the suit's chest plate, but Vader isn't paying attention to that, or the way his lungs are forced into deeper breathes than he feels he can take.
Something snaps, hisses, then Vader stands from his seat. He crushes the datapad with a wave of his hand, then marches out of the room. His panic turns to anger as he marches down the halls, his mother's final words in his mind. The way she looked, barely able to see him through the cloud of pain. The way she went limp only a minute after he arrived.
It was all planned. Even his mother's death.
It's only once Vader is halfway to Palpatine's -no, Sidious- room, that he realizes what he's doing. He can't go in there. Vader may be strong in the force, but his body is too weak to withstand any kind of attack the sith may land on him. Too weak to live through a blast of force lightning.
So, what will he do? What can he do? He's just found out that his greatest friend and father figure is the reason behind so much pain. He's the reason Anakin couldn't be trained by Qui-Gon -a master that actually wanted him as a padawan. He's the reason the war started and now, it's killed so many valuable lives. So many people who never deserved to die.
And Vader now serves that sith.
A moment to think, and Vader has an idea. A plan of sorts. Anakin Skywalker was never one for plans or taking the slow routine, but Vader isn't that man. He will play his part as the obedient sith apprentice for a while longer, just to see where Darth Sidious takes this new empire. He'll wait and see what's to come of it. And if Vader is sent to do something he doesn't agree with, then he'll find a way to escape.
He'll hide where no one will find him until he can take revenge for those lives. For his mother, Padme, Qui-Gon, Fives-
All of them.
Anakin packs what he needs to head out for Bakura. It's not much, mostly because his essentials are already in his N-1, but he can't be too prepared. Besides, Beru's made him some fresh ration bars -he had no idea that's something she could cook- and he's stocked up enough for two months, just to be sure.
As Anakin rummages through his weapons, pulling out three different blasters and a taser, he pauses when he sees the two weapons at the very bottom of the chest. Two lightsabers, now covered in grime and sand from his blasters. He picks up the smaller of the two, running his thumb over it slowly.
He remembers finding this in the snow shortly before he found out about Luke. He had managed to track down where Ahsoka went, but when he arrived at the location, all he found was a crashed ship and empty helmets. That, and one of the lightsabers he gifted her.
Anakin remembers building them. As soon as he heard she'd return, he spent long hours on the gift, while his men painted their helmets with her togurta markings. It felt so right, like she hadn't really left at all, just went on a longer mission.
But now she's gone, likely killed by the very men she and Anakin fought alongside for years. Who delt the final shot? Was it Rex or Jesse? Or did she die as the ship crashed into the ground, leaving a crater where it sat?
Anakin returns the lightsaber to its original spot, closing the chest and locking it five times over -just in case Luke gets curious. He stands, pushes his grief away until he's numb, then returns to his own things. He can't cry for her -another thing he can thank Kenobi for- and there's nothing he can do about it now, so he'll move on. Forget about those he lost and focus on what he can do for Luke.
Green paint.
"How was your trip?" Beru's soft voice sounds too loud against the silence and Anakin tries not to flinch. He looks up at her, then returns to what he's doing.
"It's classified." He snaps, but pauses when he thinks better of taking his anger out on her. "But I'm happy to be back." He adds on, looking up to her smile again. Really, he has no idea how Owen managed to find someone so unlike him. Where Owen is stubborn and grumbles about heatwaves and work, Beru is all kind smiles and gentle understanding. She's different than anyone Anakin has ever met, but it reminds him partially of his mother.
She doesn't walk into his room, either because the machinery unnerves her or out of respect for his personal space, Anakin's not sure. "Well, I made lunch. Would you like to eat with us?"
Anakin's about to refuse because he really has to get going now, but he gives in all the same. She guides him to the kitchen, where Luke is already pushing away his plate with disgust. Anakin sits across from Owen and lets Beru serve him a plate. Taking a deep breath, Anakin disconnects his vocoder and sets a timer for five minutes. As he takes it off, he can already feel the oxygen he's not quite getting, but he'll have enough time to eat. That, or he'll pass out and Owen will grumble about having to drag him back to his room.
"Luke, those are good for you. Eat them." He advises as Beru sits with them. Anakin's portion is smaller, but that's more out of necessity than Beru's will. He's still looking into fixing that issue, but he doesn't have much time to recover from a surgery.
"But it's gross!" Luke pouts. He's already drained his blue milk and the soup, but the dewpack eggs remain. "It came from a butthole." Luke deadpans and Anakin fights not to snort.
Owen frowns. "Luke, eat the food Beru made for you. Other people are starving, you know."
Anakin glares at him from across the table. "Which doesn't really matter, because he couldn't offer his eggs to them if he wanted." Owen looks up and glares back, but there's little heat to it. Anakin looks back at Luke. "But, you should eat them to get stronger. Dewback eggs make muscles grow, just like mine." He flexes and it earns him a laugh.
But Luke's face falls again. "But it's still gross!"
With a glance back to his timer -he's wasted a full minute just talking- Anakin scoops up a spoonful of eggs and eats them, as if by example. It takes a bit of effort to swallow them, but he does smile at the taste, if not a little exaggeratedly for his son's sake. "I can't taste any butthole at all! Maybe because they don't actually come from buttholes." Honestly, who gave Luke that information?
Luke still looks suspicious. "Then where do they come from?"
Well, he's certainly not going to answer with the truth. Not while they're all eating. "Um...you know what, it doesn't matter. If you really don't want to eat your eggs, then you can have the rest of my soup, okay?"
With a quick exchange, Anakin now has twice as many eggs as he can probably eat, but at least Luke won't be hungry. And although he knows he should fight to make Luke eat his eggs, he won't. He only has so much time with Luke a month and he wants to cherish these moments the way he did with her. He still hates the arrangement, but at least he doesn't need to hide his love from the Lars. He can care for Luke openly, with his whole heart.
Anakin finishes eating just as the five-minute mark comes up and his vision starts to go out. He breathes deeply into his vocoder until the spots go away, then he grabs his bags and says his goodbyes. "I'll be back with that paint, Luke. I promise you."
His son hugs him tightly and Anakin wishes he could feel more of it through his scars. "Bye, Daddy." Luke lets go with a sad frown.
"Take care of your aunt and uncle for me, okay? Be good."
"I will." Luke promises and Anakin slowly pulls away from the embrace, his heart aching with how far they are now. "Remember! Green paint, like C5's!"
Anakin smiles, running his metal fingers through the boy's hair. "I'll remember." As he steps away, his mind turns back to Kenobi and he searches the far rock cliffs with his electrobincolulars. He doesn't see anyone hiding there, so he decides Kenobi is likely at home, doing whatever the kriff he does all day. Probably meditate. Definitely meditate.
Owen and Beru don't wave him off anymore, not when he leaves so often. So, once Anakin is on his speeder, he rides straight to his starfighter. It's no different from when he landed it a few days ago, aside from a new layer of dust, but that'll go away through hyperspace. Anakin uses the force to lift C5 up the cliff, then climbs into the piloting seat without much thought, his backpack thrown into the co-pilot seat. C5 sets the coordinates to Bakura and with one last look to the Tatooine desert, Anakin lifts his starfighter off of the wasteland mountain and returns to being Actis, the bounty hunter.
I was going to add more to this chapter, just decided to leave that for the next one. Also, I don't think the theory where Shmi's death was planned by Darth Sidious is actually canon, but I liked it enough to add it in.