When Vader returned inside, Padmé was tinkering with something on one of the walls.

"You should get back to the closet," Vader insisted. "It's getting dark and you'll freeze if you stay in this room."

"No I won't," Padmé answered as a small crackling noise commenced. She turned to face him. "Electricity controls the heat. I turned the heat on."

Vader was secretly impressed. "Still, I don't know if a heater is going to overpower the winds that are going to be coming through these holes pretty soon."

When she didn't move, he decided not to push the matter further. He opened a packet of dried food and devoured it.

"How did you get the scars?" Padmé asked.

Vader could not understand why she was so intrigued by him. Most women would be terrified of his face, but she found it attractive and mysterious.

"Give me another clue about the base and I'll tell you about the scars," Vader suggested.

"Are you seriously still on about the base?" Padmé replied in a frustrated tone.

"Yes, because sooner or later we're getting off this planet and I will resume my duties," Vader answered.

"Don't you find it strange that no one has come looking for you yet?" Padmé pointed out. "You would think that they noticed the missing pod by now and would have searched nearby planets. But no one's come so far. They don't care about you."

"And you do?" Vader snapped. She was really getting on his last nerve and it was taking all his energy to not Force choke her.

"I'm still here, aren't I?" Padmé replied.

"That's not an answer," Vader pointed out.

Padmé switched back to the original topic, clearly uncomfortable with where the conversation was headed. "The base is on a desert planet."

Desert planet in the Western Reaches. Clever. Definitely not somewhere I would have thought to look.

"Your turn," she said.

Vader pulled an overturned chair upright and sat down several feet away from her. For some reason, he felt comfortable telling Padmé the story, even if it meant having to kill her later.

"Before I was around," Vader began, "the Emperor had an apprentice named Count Dooku. A Jedi knight turned Sith."

"Count Dooku?!" Padmé exclaimed. "That old man who worked with the Trade Federation?"

"Yes," Vader responded. "One day a few years ago, Dooku, also known as Darth Tyranus, found out that the Emperor, also known as Darth Sidious, was planning on killing him so I could take his place as his new apprentice. I was only about fifteen at the time- not fully immersed in the Dark Side yet." Vader paused here, reliving the memories. "Dooku came while I was sleeping. I tried to fight him off, but he managed to grab my lightsaber since I wasn't expecting it. He brought me to Geonosis where he had set up an elaborate torture chamber for any who dared offend him. He liked to watch his prisoners die slowly, but I suspect it was because he was too afraid to kill them himself."

Vader looked at Padmé, waiting for a reaction, but she maintained her senatorial face, so he continued.

"Dooku strapped me into a metal machine- sort of like a stretcher except face down over a fire pit. I struggled to break free of the restraints as he began to lower me in, but I only managed to get them off one side of my body in time. The other half reached the fire and began to burn. The pain and anger I felt in that moment allowed me to fully embrace the Dark Side. I was powerful enough to free myself. Dooku wasn't expecting it when I pulled my lightsaber from him and challenged him to combat, half of my body still aflame. I killed the weak fool in less than a minute. I tried to put out the fire by rolling on the floor and succeeded, but most of my right arm and leg and much of my skin had already burned off. It was agony. The Viceroy of the Trade Federation found me shortly afterward when he came looking for Dooku and alerted Palpatine. He personally came to pick me up and brought me to a medical center, which is where I got my mechanical limbs. He proceeded to knight me Darth Vader and I have been his loyal apprentice since that day."

The memories were painful for Vader. That was the day Anakin truly died. Up until then, he had consistently defied Sidious. But the Dark Side had saved him from Tyranus, and Sidious had saved his life.

Vader was too lost in his thoughts to notice Padmé approaching. He stiffened when she wrapped her arms around him.

Is Padmé hugging me? Why is she hugging me? I don't think anyone's ever hugged me…

Vader kept his arms at his sides, feeling a bit too awkward to hug back.

"I'm sorry that happened to you," she whispered.

Padmé started to pull back when suddenly Vader said, "Don't."

Vader was confused. He wasn't sure what had possessed him to stop her from ending the hug. But he was feeling the flurry of strange emotions again- the ones he had felt when she fell asleep in his arms. He had meditated on it for half the night, but was still unable to explain it. All he knew was that he needed her.

Padmé cautiously sat down on his lap and wrapped her arms around him again, pressing her head into his chest. He slowly placed his hands on her back.

"Why aren't you afraid of me?" Vader asked.

"What is there to fear?" Padmé responded quietly. "Even if you don't realize it, you're just a lonely man who's lived a terrible life beyond your control. And you deserve a friend."

"I thought you said we could never be friends, Senator," Vader replied.

"I changed my mind," she answered, "and please call me Padmé."

Vader didn't know how to respond, but he didn't have to because Padmé began to drift into sleep. He didn't want to let go of her, but there was something he had to take care of.

He carried her to a room with several bunkbeds and a working heater with less holes in the wall and covered her with his cloak.

"Sweet dreams, Angel," Vader whispered.


Vader grabbed his communicator from outside. The ten seconds it took to retrieve it froze his whole face.

He proceeded to a room as far away from Padmé as possible in case she woke up. He put his mask and helmet back on and punched in Piett's code. The Admiral's hologram soon appeared.

"Lord Vader!" Piett exclaimed. "Where are you? You need to come back immediately- the Emperor is on board."

"Keep your voice down, Piett," Vader ordered. "It's a long story, but I need your help and the Emperor cannot know about this."

"Of course, anything, my Lord," Piett answered. "Is the girl with you? The Emperor asked if any rebels had escaped and I told him no."

"Good," said Vader. "Yes, she's here. She was the one who ejected the pod. I jumped on to bring her back, but I couldn't override the system. We landed on Hoth."

"Hoth?!" Piett exclaimed. "Well, I'll send some clones to pick you up immediately."

"No!" Vader commanded. "As soon as the Emperor leaves, I want you to come personally and tell no one. I will give you the coordinates." Vader typed in the coordinates for where the pod had landed and confirmed that Piett had received them.

"Is there anything else you require, my Lord?" Piett asked.

"Yes," Vader answered. "Bring a bag filled with food that looks like it could have been hunted on an ice planet. I don't care if it tastes good. Some ice fish or something."

Piett was smart enough to put two and two together. "You're not planning on staying on Hoth, are you?"

"I am," Vader answered, "and no more questions."

"Understood," Piett answered. "I will contact you as soon as the Emperor departs."

"Excellent," Vader replied. "Vader out."

He ended the communication, silently wondering if he was crazy. But Vader had a plan- a plan where, if successful, he would never have to return to Sidious again.

And if Padmé will have me, we can run away together…


This was one of my favorite chapters to write so far! I'm so excited to hear what you all think about Vader's backstory and his growing relationship with Padmé, as well as your theories regarding how Vader will evade Sidious! Coming up next: Padmé gets a little curious about Vader's fever comment about Obi-Wan…