AN: I wrote this after watching the final episode of the Clone Wars Don't read further if you haven't seen it yet.
It was really emotional for me, even without a single word said. This is my headcanon for what was running through Vader's mind during the final moments of the finale of the Clone Wars series. My belief is that this scene took place within a few years of his re-birth as Vader (which is why the troopers there are wearing Stormtrooper/Snowtrooper armor and why Imperial Probe Droids are there), so the memories of everything are still fresh in his mind.
He had barely believed it when he'd read the report. It was impossible, or so he'd first thought. Regardless, something pushed him to investigate personally, to see if it was true. That was how he'd ended up in the middle of nowhere; following after a vaguely worded report about a crashed Venator class Star Destroyer from the Clone Wars; a Venator with a very familiar name.
He walked down the ramp of the Lambda shuttle and took in everything. It was a desolate, snowy wasteland. He ignored the two snowtroopers who were waiting for him, marching past with his feet crunching in the snow. He had to know, and no trooper was going to stop him.
His feet brought him to the shattered bow of the aging vessel. The sound of his mechanical breathing filled the still air, being the only sound in the area. He looked at the wreckage of a Republic gunship, and a torrent of memories flooded through him. His first deployment with her, the next, the Second Battle of Geonosis, Umbara… Dozens of battles flooded his mind, the sounds of screams and clanking and blaster fire and lightsaber clashes filled his mind, roaring at him with such intensity that he snapped his eyes shut. The memories slowly faded away, and he re-opened his eyes.
He glanced down into the snow, something catching his eye. He knelt in the snow, brushing it aside to get a better look at the object, and stilled. He picked it up, and even more memories flooded his mind. Memories of happier times. Memories of training with her, teaching her, helping her, fighting with her, saving each other, and saving planets. Her trial… The way she left… All of it. Were he able, he'd have taken a long and shaky breath to re-center himself. As it was, his breath continued at the same methodical and constant pace as it always did now; as it always would now.
He brushed off a bit more of the ice and snow, and pressed the activation button. A brilliant blue blade sprung free, tinted red by the lenses of his helmet.
"I took care of them for you. They're good as new." The words echoed in his mind. "Maybe a little better."
"Anakin… Good luck." His eyes burned. It was the closest he could get to tears, now. He shut his eyes for a moment to relieve the irritation.
'I was meant to be stronger than anyone who ever lived to save the people I love…' He thought. 'Instead… I have no one… No one but him.' After all, he could hardly be called someone he loved.
Movement in the sky caught his eye. It was a Convor; nothing worthy of concern, though he knew that he would have been more curious about what one was doing all the way out here if he were still Anakin Skywalker.
He glanced down and away from the bird, and saw the cracked and scarred helmet, almost mockingly wearing her visage. He remembered showing her the 332nd Company, and the work they'd done to show their respect for her… He imagined those same clones hunting her through corridors and shooting her even as they wore helmets showing their reverence for her, forced to do so despite whatever they might have truly wanted. He felt a pang in his chest, where his heart was.
He shut his eyes for a moment. When they opened again, they were yellow, with the last vestiges of sky blue burning away.
Darth Vader turned away from, deactivating the lightsaber of Anakin Skywalker's fallen apprentice as he stalked off, snow crunching beneath his boots.
He was powerful. He was a Dark Lord of the Sith. And he had nobody.
AN: Hey all. Sorry for the short length. I didn't have that long a scene, and I wrote this in the space of an hour. I may have misrepresented Vader a bit (ie. making him seem OOC), but I still feel like this is what could have been running through his mind, especially while Anakin Skywalker was still somewhat alive in the Dark Lord at this incredibly early stage of Vader's new life. In my opinion, this might've been the last nail in the coffin for Anakin Skywalker, hence the title of this one-shot, leaving only Darth Vader (at least until Luke came along). His wife was dead due to his own failure, the Jedi (the only family he's really known as an adult) had been killed by his own hand, and his father-figure (Obi-Wan) had just tried to kill him and had crippled him. Before he found her lightsaber, I think that he (Anakin, not Vader) had been hoping against all odds that Ahsoka had survived the Purge... And then he found it: laying in the ice as it had been for years. It was proof that his failure to keep anyone he cared for alive. His apprentice, the one he'd worked with and trained and loved like family, was dead because of his selfish actions in the hopes of getting more power. Everyone he'd ever cared for was dead, leaving him alone in the galaxy with only a now-cold and ruthless Sith Lord who had once acted warm and compassionate towards him as company.