Padmé sat inside the rebel base with the main door ajar, staring longingly out at the snow-covered landscape. She could tell a storm would be arriving soon.

Padmé couldn't help but blame herself. She had scared Vader off with her words and now he was wandering around who knows where, probably looking for some crashed ship to fix and fly off back to the Executor and abandon her.

Why did I have to tell him that I'm falling in love with him?

Just as the tears began to roll down her cheeks, she noticed a dark shape in the distance slowly growing closer.

It's him! He's coming back!

Padmé stood up and waited for him, her heart beating faster than a pod racer.

When Vader reached the base, he immediately slid the door shut behind him and sunk to the ground.

Padmé was curious about several things: the absence of most of his suit, his reason for leaving in the first place…but mostly what was inside the huge bag he had been dragging along with him.

"What's in the bag?" she asked.

"Padmé," he began, teeth chattering, "Cold."

She was angry at herself for not noticing how blue his skin was. "Right- let's get you to a room with heat."

When they arrived at a spot beside a heater, she proceeded to give him the last of the water from her pod canteen.

"About last night," said Padmé, "I'm so sorry if that's why you left. I didn't mean to…"

"Padmé," Vader interrupted, "I left to get us food."

He opened the bag to reveal about a hundred dead ice fish.

Padmé gasped. "How did you get all those?"

"With a lightsaber and my bare hands," Vader answered. "That's how I lost my gloves."

"And the rest of your suit?" Padmé prodded.

"I don't want that thing anymore," said Vader. "It was getting kind of old anyway."

Padmé wanted to say more because something about his story just wasn't fitting together in her mind. She just had a bit of trouble believing that Darth Vader went ice fishing and then abandoned his signature suit.

Where did Vader even learn to ice fish?

But Padmé didn't press the matter, just happy that he had returned to her in one piece and that they wouldn't have to worry about food for a while.

She didn't know how long they would be stuck on Hoth, but a part of her didn't care. She knew it was wrong and potentially dangerous, but all she wanted was to be alone with Vader. Being rescued could wait.


The Emperor found himself seated on his throne just like any other ordinary day, but his many dark thoughts were interrupted by the entrance of one of Vader's commanding officers. The one that had met him when he boarded the Executor.

"Your majesty," the shaking Admiral began with a bow. "I am deeply sorry to interrupt you, but I have grave news."

The Admiral unzipped a bag he was holding and presented to the Emperor…the charred remains of Darth Vader's suit.

The Emperor stood. "What is the meaning of this?!" he shouted.

The Admiral gulped. "We found the escape pod on the planet Hoth. It appeared to have crashed there several days ago and gone up in flames. This is all that was left of Lord Vader."

He can't be dead. I would have felt it.

"What of his lightsaber?" the Emperor sneered.

"The clones were unable to locate it," the Admiral responded. "Probably buried."

"Leave me," the Emperor commanded. The Admiral was more than happy to comply.

Something was wrong with this picture. The Emperor shared a bond with his apprentice through the Force. He would have felt a strong tremor if Vader was really dead, unless…

It was a possibility. One of his last conversations with Vader had been about his thoughts of Anakin Skywalker. Perhaps his apprentice had embraced the Light Side moments before his death. It would have severed their dark connection.

Sidious banged his fists against the armrests of his throne. Vader was a great loss to the Empire indeed.

And an embarrassment to the Sith if my theory is correct.

He would need to find a new apprentice quickly. It would be a difficult task, as Vader had eliminated most of the Force sensitive beings in the galaxy. But it was necessary. Though he was the Emperor, his apprentice had done all the dirty work of making sure people followed the rules. Sidious just took care of the politics.

And if the Emperor was unable to find someone to replace his lost apprentice, he knew his Empire would be at great risk.


"Vader is dead!"

Obi-Wan heard the shouts before he located the source. He immediately rushed outside to see one of the rebel spies hurrying toward the base. The spy approached Mon Mothma to explain the situation, but many others had gathered around to listen.

"Darth Vader is dead. They apparently found him in an escape pod that had been launched from the Executor during our mission to recover the memory device. It crashed on the planet Hoth and he didn't survive."

The rebels began to cheer, but fell silent when Mon raised her hand.

"We will, of course, celebrate later," she announced, "but this is also our time to strike. Without Vader, the Empire is weak. Commanding officers, follow me. We must start thinking of attack plans."

Something wasn't right. It was true that Obi-Wan had felt a strange shift in the Force. It was as if the Light Side was growing brighter after having been crushed by the Darkness for so long. But the Darkness was still there.

He returned to his quarters and contacted Master Yoda to consult him on this matter. After a few moments, his hologram appeared.

"Obi-Wan!" Yoda exclaimed. "Good to hear from you, it is."

"I have news," said Obi-Wan. "It seems that Darth Vader is dead."

"Strange, this news is," Yoda responded. "Felt it, I have not."

"Have you felt any shift at all though, Master?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Yes, yes," Yoda answered. "Stronger, the Light Side seems. A child, perhaps. Strong with the Force, he is. Found and trained as a Jedi, he must be."

"I agree, Master," Obi-Wan responded, "but we must still deal with the situation of Vader. I do not believe he is dead."

"See for yourself, you must then," said Yoda. "Go to the site of his death, you will. Confirmation, you shall or shall not receive. Report to me your findings, you will."

"Yes, Master," Obi-Wan responded. "May the Force be with you."

Yoda nodded before ending the connection. Obi-Wan headed to find Mon Mothma to inform her of his mission. Whether or not she approved, this was a crucial mission for the Jedi.


Padmé felt refreshed for the first time in what had to be at least two weeks. Vader had spent the night with her again, mostly so she could warm him up this time. It was an unspoken action and neither made any comment about Padmé's confession the night before. Now, it was late morning and she was putting her wrinkled gown back on after washing herself with a bucket of ice water that had been melted and heated by Vader.

As she was wringing her hair out, he knocked on the door of the room she was in and she gave him permission to enter.

He was doing the staring thing again. The thing he always used to do with his mask on that made her uncomfortable. But without the mask, Padmé found she actually liked it. Perhaps a bit too much.

"Feeling better?" Vader asked.

"Much," she replied. "Are you going to wash too?"

"Well, if you insist," Vader replied with a smirk.

He suddenly pulled his black shirt off, revealing the taut muscles Padmé had tried to avoid looking at when she bandaged his wound. She gaped at him, thinking about how a few days ago he didn't want her to see him and now he was purposely flaunting himself.

"Help me wash this?" Vader asked, starting to remove the bacta patches.

The sound of his voice brought Padmé back to her senses and she nodded.

Trying not to touch the cut, she carefully examined it. "It's healing," she noted, "but you definitely should have washed it earlier."

"There's a lot of things I should do that I don't do," said Vader.

"I've noticed," Padmé answered with a smile. "Hold still."

She observed as she was dabbing water on parts of the cut that were still quite deep, he didn't even flinch. Vader had a remarkable pain tolerance. She supposed after all that he'd been through, washing out a wampa gash must be equivalent to getting a papercut for him.

"There," Padmé said as she reapplied the bandages. "All better."

She sat back on her heels, only then noticing how close they were to each other. He was kneeling too, only mere inches away from her. Part of her wanted to move back, but Padmé found herself frozen in place as he reached out with his flesh hand and grabbed hold of hers.

Vader was smiling as their eyes interlocked…and then he was leaning toward her.

Vader's going to kiss me. What do I do?!

Fate decided this for Padmé as a faint beeping sound interrupted their moment. She pulled back a bit and tried to find the source. "What is that?" she said.

"Nothing," Vader answered, clearly nervous about something.

Padmé listened more closely, realizing that the sound was coming from Vader's pants pocket.

"Vader…what's in your pocket?" Padmé whispered.

"It's nothing, Padmé…"

"Well if it's nothing, then let me see it!" she shouted.

Before he even had time to think, Padmé had reached her hand in Vader's pocket and snatched out a communicator.


Sorry about the horrible cliffhanger! But don't worry, you won't have to wait too long to find out what happens next because I'm already halfway through the next chapter and I'm going to post it as soon as it's done (perhaps even in the next couple hours). I originally had it as one chapter but it was getting way too long, so I had to split it up.