Obi-Wan Kenobi and Mon Mothma hurried outside as soon as they caught sight of the rebels returning to the base. Obi-Wan noticed many of the pilots began sweating just from exiting their vehicles. Unlike himself, they had not spent significant amounts of time on desert planets and were still getting used to the arid temperatures here on Jakku.

As Mon redirected her attention to checking on those who were injured, Obi-Wan set out to discuss the results with the mission's leader.

"Hello, Commander," Obi-Wan greeted him. "I am glad to see that you have returned with minimal casualties."

"We were also able to acquire the memory-wiping device used on Senator Organa," the commander replied. "Perhaps you can take a look at it, Master Jedi, and see if there is any way to reverse the effects."

Obi-Wan thought back to the moment he had dropped Bail off on Alderaan and how devastated his wife had been when she realized he had no idea who she was.

"And Senator Amidala?" Obi-Wan asked.

"My men searched every cell on the prison level," the commander responded. "It appears she is no longer on board."

"Strange," Obi-Wan replied, now more worried than ever about his friend. "I am curious, how did you manage to acquire the device, which I'm assuming was well-protected, and open every cell to search for the Senator?"

"The clones were a little…flustered," the commander explained. "It seemed that Lord Vader was not on board to give them orders."

Strange indeed.

"Thank you for your help, Commander," Obi-Wan responded. "You may return to your men."

Obi-Wan was left alone to ponder the information he had just received. He was certain that Padmé was being held on the Executor, and it was very uncharacteristic of Vader to not take part in a battle. Certainly if he had left the ship for some sort of duty, he would have returned for something this important…

He decided to meditate on this later. The most important task now was to examine the memory wiper.


Firmus Piett stood as still as possible, wiping his palms against his jacket as the sight of the Emperor's cruiser drew closer to the Executor. When he had learned of the Emperor's impending arrival, he had ordered the clones to clean up the rebels' mess as quickly as possible. They were all quite disoriented without Lord Vader, Piett included, and he sensed that his life could be at an end when he informed the Emperor of Vader's disappearance.

The Emperor's cruiser landed swiftly in the hangar. The cloaked man himself soon appeared, followed by four guards with red capes. Piett gulped as he headed directly toward him.

"My Lord," Piett acknowledged him with a bow.

"Admiral," the Emperor began, "where is Darth Vader? It is an insult that he is not here to greet me personally, especially after such a devastating loss to the Rebel Alliance."

"Well, you see, Your Excellency," said Piett, "Lord Vader seems to have…disappeared. No one has seen him since right before the battle began and he has not attempted to make contact."

The Emperor, clearly enraged by this statement, shot a bolt of Sith lightning at an unsuspecting Stormtrooper before returning his attention to a fearful Piett.

"How could this happen?" the Emperor shouted. "His personal ships are all here."

"My men searched the ship," answered Piett, "and found that an escape pod has been ejected. We suspect that Lord Vader may have left the ship shortly before or during the battle for reasons unknown."

Piett closed his eyes, half expecting that it was his turn to be punished, but it appeared that the Emperor was not finished with their conversation.

"Are there any other missing passengers? Did any rebels in the cells manage to escape?"

Piett frowned, deliberating whether or not to tell the Emperor about the girl. But Piett's allegiances were first and foremost to Lord Vader over this old scumbag, and he had promised him that he would tell no one, especially the Emperor, about her.

"No, my Lord," Piett replied. "There were no rebels on board to escape."

He noticed the Emperor eyeing him closely. The old man's yellow eyes were far more intimidating than Vader's suit. Piett wondered if he could sense that he was hiding something.

"Very well, that will be all," the Emperor said at last. "I wish to be escorted to appropriate quarters. I will be staying for a short time to look into this unfortunate matter myself."

"Right away, Your Excellency," Piett replied, releasing the breath he had been holding. He snapped and two Stormtroopers hurried to the Emperor's side.

Piett never thought the day would come when he wished for Lord Vader to be around, but right now, that was all he wanted.


Vader felt a sharp stabbing pain coming from the right side of his body, but this was the last thing on his mind at the moment. He took in his surroundings, realizing where he was.

When did I take my mask off? Why am I on the floor?

It felt as if all the life had been sucked out of his chest when he heard her voice only a few feet away.

"I can't believe it!" Padmé shouted. "I did it! We have…"

Vader's eyes met hers and he could sense her fear. He tossed a damp piece of fabric off his forehead and forced himself to stand up. "Why is my mask off?" he asked slowly, gaining his balance and placing extra emphasis on each word.

"You had a fever," Padmé replied, stuttering on her words. "Your cut got infected. I tried to patch it up to stop the bleeding…"

"So you took my suit off too?!" Vader shouted, starting toward her.

Padmé backed up until she hit a wall and could go no further. He stopped only a couple feet away from her, staring down at her pleading face.

She is scared. Terrified. Good. She should be.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now," Vader stated, getting his hand into position to begin a Force choke.

"Because I saved your life!" Padmé exclaimed before he could begin. "I saved your life and now you're going to repay that by killing me?"

Vader slowly lowered his hand and took another step toward her, hoping to intimidate her as much as possible. He couldn't kill someone who saved his life, especially not her.

But why did she do it?

"Don't touch my mask again," he said simply, vaguely noting the closeness of their bodies. The thought disturbed him and he turned away to retrieve his mask and helmet.

"Wait!" said Padmé as he picked it up. Vader turned to face her, curious as to what she could possibly say at this point that would not anger him further.

"Don't put it back on," she finished.

"What?" Vader asked, caught off-guard.

"I said, don't put the mask back on," Padmé repeated, bravely walking toward him.

"And why not, Senator?" Vader retorted.

"Well…I've already seen you without it," she answered.

"And now you see why I wear it," he responded, preparing to place it back on his face when suddenly Padmé did something he wasn't expecting. She placed her hand on his cheek- the one with the scars. He didn't move, trying to process the action and too stunned to do anything. Her hand was so soft, maybe even softer than the night before when he'd held onto it…

Vader wanted to grab her wrist tightly and push her away from him, but something was holding him back. "What are you doing?" he whispered.

Padmé traced her fingers across the scars on his face. It felt so good. It was the first time he had been touched in years in a manner that didn't inflict pain. It was so…so…humiliating.

Vader finally pushed her arm away from him and tried to read her expression to no avail. "What are you thinking?" he asked. "That I really am a monster? Were any of those ridiculous theories in your book right about me?"

"I was thinking…" she began before hesitating. "I was thinking that you're very handsome, and you didn't deserve whatever happened to give you those scars."

Her words shocked him. Did Padmé just say I was handsome?

She was biting her lip and Vader could tell she was waiting for a response. He dropped the mask and replied, "Good job with the electricity. I'll deal with the wampa carcass and get back to working on the communicator."

Vader could tell Padmé was annoyed that he had changed the subject, but right now all he wanted to do was remove the ghastly smell of dead wampa. He dragged the wretched thing to the facility's nearby back entrance, trying not to place too much pressure on his injury.

When he finally got it outside, he sank to the snow to catch his breath. It was beginning to get dark again, and he was famished. How long was I out?

Vader jumped when he heard a strange beeping coming from his left pocket. He reached inside, pulling out his communicator.

How could I have kriffing forgot about this? Am I that stupid?

He was about to answer the call and ask for help, but sensed that it was the Emperor and he was in no position to have a conversation with him at the moment. He waited until the beeping stopped.

I have to call Piett.

But as soon as Vader began punching in the Admiral's code, he halted.

"You're very handsome…"

Padmé's words haunted him. How could someone so beautiful say something about such a monstrous creature as himself?

And so Vader made a risky decision. She'll never know I had it in the first place.

Vader placed the communicator on top of the wampa, went inside, and shut the door.


Thanks so much for your continued incredible feedback! I wanted to respond here to a couple anonymous readers whose reviews really warmed my heart:

To "Star Lord", that last comment of yours was hysterical. I actually laughed out loud and that is something I might consider!

To "Anon", I'm so glad that you loved the story enough to read it all on your phone! That's a whole new level of dedication (and eye strain…), so thanks so much for that.

Please keep following and reviewing, and I hope you all liked Jakku as the location of the base! I thought it might be cool to include something from TFA.