Chapter 42: Darkness in the Light

When the Everstorm disappeared from the sky, and the midnight sun shinned upon the South Pole for the first time in millennia, Sokka felt his stomach drop.

He had just gotten Katara past the third grove of trees, now charred instead of frozen, when the sky completely changed. "I know that looks good, but I'm pretty sure it's bad."

Then there was the unmistakable flash of lightning, immediately followed by thunder, and Katara turned toward it. "Luke…"

By now she had mostly recovered from the battle, though she had a limp from a leg still half-numb. She ran back to the center of the burned forest, with Sokka right behind her, approaching the pillar of blue light. It took half a minute for them to get there, and Katara gasped when she saw Luke face down in the dirt. Her eyes were fixed on the deep burn in Luke's back, still steaming from the heat of lightning searing through flesh. The only movement was from the wind blowing through Luke's hair, everything else was deathly still.

Immediately Katara got on her knees and coated her hands in water, glowing bright blue with the healing power of waterbending. She pressed her glowing hands to the burn on Luke's back, expecting a yelp of pain from him but hearing none, not even a whimper. The blue glow spread from her hands to the burn, pulsing with the rhythm of her heartbeat, the water flowing in a spiral around seared flesh. She put all of her focus and will into the healing, determined to restore Luke even from the brink of death.

Sokka couldn't bear to watch, fearing the worst for Luke's sake. He looked at the pillar of light instead, stomach sinking when he realized his suspicions were correct, sorely wishing that he had been wrong. He found his space sword lying on the ground, the blade sticking into the light, half of it appearing to fade away into nothing. Sokka grabbed the sword and pulled it out of the pillar, the faded portions returning to reality, and the sword seemed to be no worse for wear. He put the sword away, and then reluctantly turned back toward Katara.

"Is he…"

A sudden gasp for air interrupted him.

"Never mind," Sokka muttered.

Katara let out a sigh of relief, grateful that Luke wasn't dead. But the sudden gasp was followed by very weak breaths, so quiet that Katara barely heard them. She continued with the healing, but knew it was going to take a lot of work to make Luke whole again, if such a wound could even be healed completely. Already she was feeling drained from the effort, and the burn appeared to be just as fresh as when it was made. She continued anyway, ignoring the weariness steadily taking hold of her, determined to keep Luke alive.

Sokka could see his sister start to turn pale, and he put a hand on her shoulder. "Katara, you need to pace yourself. You're not going to help him if you die trying."

"Just… let me… I need to get him stable first," Katara said, shaking her head. "He's barely alive as it is. If I stop now… he might not make it."

Sokka sighed and started to dig in his clothes for bandages. "At least let me help…"

At the other end of the world, ignorant of the pillar of red light shining into the sky, Toph was running through the forest as quick as she could.

She had approached the clearing in the center of the forest, but found it completely deserted in her view of the world. There was no sign of Darth Vader, all footprints erased by the melting of the earth and cooling into glassy volcanic rock. But she did feel footsteps from elsewhere in the forest, heading away and stumbling on every other step. It looked like Aang to her, but there was something very wrong with the vibration image, and it had Toph rushing toward him. She almost forgot about the other woman nearby, following her through the forest.

Mara had gotten close enough to look into the clearing, had seen the pillar of light where the orb used to be, and didn't see Vader anywhere. Not willing to blindly charge into the pillar, not knowing where this portal led, Mara followed Toph instead. She heard rustling in the foliage up ahead, and smelled the unmistakable odor of burned flesh. Toph charged through some bushes into a small meadow, Mara came through after her, and both found Aang stumbling along, right before he collapsed and fell over his right arm.

"Aang!" Toph yelled, running over to where he fell. She placed a hand on him, and her unfocused eyes widened in shock. "Oh my… Aang!"

Mara watched her turn him over, and she saw that Aang was missing a hand. "That tends to happen around lightsabers."

The remaining hand was clutching the stump of an arm, and Aang saw Toph through vision starting to become blurry. "Toph… I'm sorry… I failed."

"We have to get you out of here," Toph said. She stomped her foot and a mound of earth rose upward, lifting all three of them a good six feet. "Just hang tight."

Toph made the mound move forward, slow at first but quickly gaining speed, heading straight for the nearest exit from the forest. Their passage tore through the main dirt path, shredding roots and bushes that were in the way. Mara spotted their discarded winter coats coming up, and was grateful that Toph slowed down enough to let her scoop them up. She cut off one of the sleeves with her lightsaber, and wrapped the sleeve around Aang's arm as a crude bandage. By the time she finished Toph had gotten them to the edge of the forest, and the temperature was dropping quickly.

"Slow down," Mara said. She was forcing a coat onto Aang's limp body. "We can't afford to freeze."

Feeling the chill already, Toph agreed and stopped the moving mound. "Yeah, point taken."

Toph took one of the coats for herself, quickly covering up before the chill could set in. That left the coat missing a sleeve for Mara, resulting in her right arm getting cold. She didn't like needing to use the damaged coat, but could deal with the discomfort for now. They made sure Aang was properly covered, being the most vulnerable right now, needing the most care. Then Toph made the mound move again, plowing through the tundra as they left the forest, creating a spray of ice and snow and frozen dirt in her wake.

Then Mara spotted something very peculiar. "Turn left."

"Kay," Toph said, making the mound turn left. She was having trouble telling what was up ahead, as the vibrations weren't very clear in ice and snow. "What do you see over there?"

In the light of the aurora in the sky, brighter than before if Mara wasn't mistaken, she saw a customized TIE Fighter parked on the tundra. "That's Darth Vader's ship."

"Ah…" Toph said. She made the mound go a little faster. "Let's strand him here."

Emerging from the portal on the other side, Darth Vader found himself in a strange place.

It appeared to be flat plains that stretched almost to the horizon, framed by a variety of cragged mountains on every horizon. Half of it was flooded with water, flowing in narrow channels through slightly wider swaths of land. There was a pattern to the land and the water, though a higher perspective was needed to make sense of it. Half of it was centered on the red pillar of light behind him, and the other half centered on a blue pillar in the distance. In between the pillars was a pile of rocks with an ancient tree planted on it, with gnarled bark and twisted branches, and a deep red glow.

But it wasn't the sights that had his attention, but what he felt through the Force.

This place was the Force.

Everything here, from the rocks to the water and even the air, was made of the energy that bound the universe together. This was the Force given form, its resemblance to the material plane being surface deep. Raw power coursed through everything here, able to be shaped through sheer force of will. Only once before, back in the Clone Wars, did he come across a place like this, and since that time he believed it had been nothing more than a shared dream. But this was very real, this place the people of Earth referred to as the spirit world.

Yet despite finally reaching this place, Vader was weary as he ventured further in. The exhaustion from battling Aang was catching up to him, and he was well aware of the damage inflicted on him. An exposed eye, a mangled arm, battered and seared armor, he was going to need a complete overhaul to repair everything. Adjusting his suit's systems helped to alleviate the pain, but his lungs still burned and his eye stung from exposure. Vader embraced the pain, letting it fuel his anger, strengthening his connection to the Force all around him.

"Welcome."

The deep voice came from up ahead, reverberating with power akin to a primordial force of nature. It was from the tree, and as Vader approached he saw a hollow in the trunk. There was a red veil across the hollow, and something was trapped inside. There was a single diamond shaped eye, surrounded by broad red lines like an upside down face, painted on a deep black form. Beneath the flipped face the markings were like the bones of an ancient fish, and the black form behind it filled the entire hollow of the tree.

Vader stood in front of the tree, looking at the eye in the hollow. "We meet at last."

It did not take long for TIE Fighters to fly through the clear blue sky.

Sokka heard the little ships long before he saw them, and they were coming in from the east. "We need to get out of here."

Katara heard the approaching ships too, and she let out a very deep sigh. "Yeah, just give me a minute."

By now they had gotten the burn on Luke's back bandaged, and done the same to the burn on his foot, enough to protect the burns from infection. Katara had gotten a few minutes to rest, tired from her work with healing, though it was still far from done. She stood up, waved her arms around, summoning what little water remained in the charred forest, pulling it up from the burned ground. There was enough to make a small raft of ice floating on a thin layer of water, forming underneath Luke and gently raising him up.

Katara stood on the left side and Sokka stood on the right, ice morphing around their feet to hold them in place, and Katara made the water flow to carry them along. The pillar of light was at their backs as they rode the ice raft, taking what remained of the path through the now burned forest. Sokka kept a look out for anything that might try to stop them, much easier to do now with the midnight sun in the sky and no foliage to block the view. There were very few dark places now, only narrow shadows beneath the charred treetops.

Spirits were in those shadows, watching Sokka and Katara as they passed by. Sokka had remembered to grab the chaingun blaster before leaving, and he held it up while expecting an attack. He saw a variety of eyes looking out from the shadows, yet they didn't appear to be mad about the destruction of the forest. Indifferent at best, the spirits appeared less translucent and more solid, more like actual animals instead of supernatural beings. Some were looking up instead of at them, eyeing the dim bands of aurora peeking through the daytime sky, as if enthralled by the colors.

"I don't like the look of that," Sokka said, pointing out the watching spirits to Katara. "I think that light is affecting them somehow."

"Do you think they're going to attack us?" Katara asked.

"I'm not sure," Sokka said. He kept his hands on the chaingun blaster. "I hope not."

By then they were approaching the edge of the forest, which was still burning and billowing smoke into the sky. Katara intensified her waterbending, creating a burst of speed to get through the blaze, passing through a narrow gap to reach the other side. The difference was like night and day, going from scorched earth to thick ice and snow. With far more water to use, Katara made a river to carry the ice raft, and now they could move much faster. They left the burning remnants of the forest behind, yet the pillar of light could still be seen for quite some distance.

Now there were tiny ships flying through the sky by the dozen, all heading toward the light. Sokka kept his eyes on them now, though they seemed to be unaware of the people below. "We need to find some shelter before they realize we're down here."

Katara made the ice raft stop. "Yeah, sure, it'll just be a moment."

There was a large snowbank nearby, and Katara waterbent a small frozen cave out of it. She brought the ice raft into the cave, and then she removed the ice holding her and Sokka's feet to the raft. Once inside and free to move around Katara closed the entrance to this cave, leaving a hole just big enough to let air and light inside. Sokka wished he had grabbed some branches to make a fire, but would have to make do with body heat in a small space. He checked over Luke, relieved that he appeared to be stable, though for how long he couldn't be certain.

Slumped down on the side of the cave, Katara was already falling asleep. "Wake me when it's night…"

Sokka glanced through the hole at midnight daytime, and when he turned back his sister was sleeping. "That's not for another week…"

The little ship was surprisingly spacious.

Sure the cockpit was only big enough for one person, but the chamber behind it could hold a handful of people. Mara and Toph had to hoist Aang up and into that chamber, and they closed the ship's hatch behind them. Aang was placed in one of the corners, Toph took off her coat and put it on Aang to give him extra warmth, and Mara went through the next hatch to enter the cockpit. Mara closed that hatch behind her, leaving Toph alone with Aang while she got to work. Soon enough the ship rumbled and lifted off from the tundra, flying off into the colorful night sky.

Toph was not happy with the ground falling away, but set her concerns aside when she noticed Aang beginning to stir. "Aang, it's okay, you're with us. You're safe."

Despite being wrapped up two coats, Aang still shivered despite the heat. "Where… where are we?"

"We stole Vader's ship," Toph answered. She noticed Aang trying to get the coats off, and she grabbed the shoulders to keep them on. "Don't move. You're hurt pretty bad."

Aang kept fiddling with the coats anyway, struggling with a single hand. "I noticed…"

He got his left arm free, and winced when he saw the makeshift bandage on the stump. Aang closed his eyes, and he could almost imagine feeling from the missing hand, getting the sense of pain from the missing appendage. He sighed, opened his eyes, and gently started removing the bandage. Toph was about to stop him, but figured Aang had to have his reasons. The bandage came off easily enough, no blood to be found, and Aang saw the burn that cauterized the wound shut. The memory flashed, Aang winced, reliving the event in his mind.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Toph asked.

"No," Aang answered.

With his hand Aang reached around himself, slowly making subtle hand gestures to waterbend. Snow tracked in on Toph's boots melted and flowed to Aang's hand, coating it in a thin film of water. He struggled to keep his focus, and this was a technique he rarely used, but managed to make the water glow a dim blue with the power of healing. He gently placed his hand on the stump, the glow brightened a little bit, and Aang winced when he felt a bit of pain. The healing lasted for a few moments, until the water was gone, and the burn was slightly less red than before.

Drained of what little strength he had left, Aang slumped back and let his head rest against the wall. "Katara makes that look so easy…"

Toph sat down next to him, one arm draped over her knees. "I didn't realize you could heal."

"Any waterbender can do it," Aang said. He sighed and put his hand over his eyes. "But I hardly ever needed to and I don't practice very often. Now I wish I did."

There was a moment of silence between them, and Toph turned away. "I don't think you're fixing that."

Aang looked down at the stump again, imagining the missing hang and feeling phantom pain. "Yeah…"

By now the TIE Fighter was soaring through the upper atmosphere, and both of them felt their earthbending leave them. Aang's airbending was not far behind, though water and fire remained with him. They didn't have a view of space from in here, no windows for Aang to look through, but he could imagine the Earth hanging in the void. Toph looked ready to pass out, and Aang wasn't faring much better. But worse than the pain was the feeling of failure, of abandoning Earth yet again, with consequences even more dire.

Toph turned toward Aang and put a hand on his shoulder. "This is worse than it seems, isn't it."

"Yeah," Aang answered. He wrapped his arms tight around his chest. "When I was fighting down there, in the Avatar State, I had visions. I saw the thing Vader wants to release."

"Really?" Toph asked. "What was it?"

"I am Vaatu."

The spirit trapped in the tree was quite cordial to Vader, speaking politely and being very friendly. Vader sensed malevolence within this spirit, but no deception whatsoever, it was truly grateful to have someone to speak with it. Vaatu couldn't act directly from imprisonment within the tree, but could extend his influence into others, and now Vader realized that his attraction to the portals had come from him. But Vaatu had no control over the portals, and had no choice but to wait for Vader to open them on his own terms.

"I am very impressed with your accomplishment," Vaatu continued, his single diamond eye fixed on Vader's exposed eye. "I had feared that only Raava could open the portals. When you did not attempt to trick her vessel into opening them, I had thought I would remain for another ten thousand years. Never have I been so pleased to be wrong."

"I do not know what this Raava is," Vader admitted.

"Raava is my counterpart," Vaatu said. His eye darted to the side. "We have company."

Vader turned toward the other portal, the column of blue light shining into the sky. There was a bright shimmer at the base, and someone came through into the spirit world. It wasn't who Vader was expecting, not the young Skywalker sure to be curious about this place, but someone that should be standing guard on the other side. It was the lackey he had pulled from the labs on Coruscant, barely remembering the name of Ozai. He appeared to have been scuffed up a bit, clearing having done some fighting today.

As he walked into this bizarre place, Ozai saw Vader standing next to the tree. Ozai stopped in his tracks, startled by the sight of Vader. Anger and hate welled up in him, wanting nothing more than to see Vader dead. Then he noticed the damage Vader had sustained, far more than he had suffered today. The eye in particular looked plenty vulnerable, given that he could actually see it now. It proved that Vader could be injured, that his power had limits, and that he was at his weakest at this very moment.

This was his chance to be rid of Vader once and for all.

Already charging a large bolt of lightning, Ozai took aim at Vader, going for that control panel bolted to his waist. He fired the bolt and it seared through the air, crossing the distance between them in nearly an instant. But Vader already had his lightsaber activated, and he blocked the lightning with the blade, and electricity arced out in several directions before going into the ground. Ozai shot one lightning bolt after another, taking steps forward with every shot, getting closer and closer during this lightning assault.

Vader stood his ground, holding back the successive lightning bolts with his lightsaber, his exposed eye closing in the glare from all the light. The massive amount of electricity warped the lightsaber in several directions, nearly overloading the weapon, barely holding together under the strain. Some electricity arced into his damaged arm, surging through the wires and inflicting further damage, along with quite a lot of pain. He held the lightsaber as far out as he could, keeping the bulk of the electricity away, and waited for Ozai to come even closer.

"You are wasting my time," Vader said.

He reached forward, clenched a fist, and raised it upward. Ozai was flung into the air, his latest lightning bolt going straight into the ground as a result, and he flipped end over end. Vader pulled in his fist, Ozai fell toward him at high speed, until he stuck his hand out to make him stop just out of arm's reach. Slowly clenching his fingers, Vader choked Ozai through the Force, stretching it out for maximum agony. Ozai's feet dangled in the air, his hands clutched at the invisible grip at his throat, seemingly unable to conjure flames while he couldn't breathe.

"Do not kill him… yet."

Vader turned his head toward Vaatu. "I trust there is a reason."

"No point in letting him go to waste."

Not sure what to make of that, Vader kept his strangle hold on Ozai for a little while longer, waiting until his face turned blue and he passed out. He let go of the Force and dropped Ozai to the ground, hearing very weak breaths from him. That was when Vader noticed the lightsaber in Ozai's pocket, and he used the Force to summon the lightsaber to his hand. He looked at the lightsaber in close detail, recognizing the design from another lifetime. It was his, from his old life as a Jedi, before his former master took it from him before leaving him to die.

Vader put that lightsaber next to his, and turned toward Vaatu again. "Now then, where were we?"

While Luke was out cold and Katara was sleeping, Sokka got to work.

He carefully searched through the pockets of Luke's clothes, or what was left of them anyway. It took a few minutes to find a communicator in them, and Sokka sat down to tinker with it. The little device looked simple enough to operate, flick a switch to turn it on and hold down a button to talk. He assumed it was set to a rebel frequency, there was no reason for anything else, not intentional anyway. Sokka hesitated to use it, worrying about all the possible ways this could blow up in his face, but he needed to go through with it.

Sokka turned on the communicator and hoped someone was listening. "Hello. Is anyone receiving this? It's Sokka, speaking on Skywalker's behalf."

He didn't have to wait more than half a minute for a voice to come through. "Yes, Sokka, can confirm. Please state the purpose of your transmission."

"I need to talk with Leia," Sokka said. "Please, it's urgent."

"Leia is a busy woman," the voice said. "You're going to have to give me a very good reason."

"I'm right next to Luke Skywalker, the entire reason this truce exists," Sokka said. "And he's severely injured, Leia needs to know, so put me through to her now!"

There was a very brief silence as the demand was consider, and the radio operator got to work. "Just a moment, I'll connect you."

He had to wait a few minutes, and then the voice of Leia came through the communicator. "Sokka, what's going on over there?"

"Luke's hurt pretty badly," Sokka reported. He heard a gasp from Leia. "He's stable for now, but I don't know how long that will last."

"What the hell happened?" Leia demanded.

"He got a lightning bolt in the back," Sokka said. "He's lucky to be alive, or it's that whole Force thing at work, I don't know, doesn't matter. The real problem is that Vader got what he wanted and our ace in the hole is out cold. We're completely screwed down here."

It seemed like Leia was ready to curse, but was holding it in for her own sake. "Where are you?"

Sokka heard several ships fly by overhead, close enough for their passage to shake the walls of this ice shelter. "Pinned down. I honestly don't see a way out of this. Not without screwing you guys over."

There was a pause on the other end, and he imagined Leia checking the situation up in space. "Everything we do is being monitored by that Super Star Destroyer. They're probably listening in as we speak. That's assuming they aren't trying to jam us yet."

Sokka didn't want to admit it, but there was really only one option for any of them. "You need to take that big ship of yours and get out of here. Vader doesn't need that truce anymore."

"I don't like the idea of leaving you guys behind," Leia said. "If we can set up an extraction point, maybe we can-"

Harsh static cut her off, and Sokka gritted his teeth in frustration. He hit the side of the communicator, but that didn't get the signal back. "Great, it's already started."

The flight seemed to be taking too long, and Aang tapped Toph on the shoulder. "Help me up. I want to get to the cockpit."

Toph was already getting Aang's arm around her shoulders. "Kay."

She stood up, bringing Aang up with her, easily carrying the weight. Toph slowly walked over to the inner hatch, and Aang limped along with her. Aang closed his eyes, weakly stomped a foot on the floor, getting a pale and brief image through vibration sight. In that image he saw Mara at the controls, gently navigating the ship through the void, making gentle turns back and forth. But he couldn't see anything outside the ship, and wanted a better view from inside the cockpit. But when Toph went to open the hatch it remained closed, much to Aang's frustration.

Aang knocked on the hatch with his fist. "Can you let us in please?"

There was no response.

Toph knocked even harder. "If you don't open up we'll have to break in there ourselves."

Still, there was nothing from the other side.

"Why isn't she answering?" Aang wondered aloud. He knocked again, but still got no answer. "What's going on in there?"

Hearing the knocking but refusing to acknowledge it, Mara kept her focus on flying the ship. It was well beyond the planet's atmosphere, heading off into space on a vector back to imperial territory. Directly ahead were the two massive ships still in standoff, the Executor and whatever the rebels considered to be a flagship. Being in Vader's personal ship, she had to pilot very carefully, needing to make it look like Vader was returning to the Executor. It was made difficult by several hailing signals sent her way, likely to coordinate Vader's return, and answering would give her away in an instant.

Once again, Mara had a choice to make. It was the same choice, whether or not to keep her allies of convenience alive or silence them permanently. Her cover had been blown, and that alone would normally be reason enough to kill them. But she had witnessed the power Aang had to offer, power that her master could certainly put to good use. Of course they weren't going to be happy about it, but they really didn't have a say in the matter. It seemed that they lacked their abilities in space, as they hadn't simply forced their way inside by now.

The Executor was still sending hailing signals to the ship, and they were sure to suspect something very soon. "And this is time to leave…"

Mara turned the ship away from the Executor, though just by the ever so slightest, enough to get around the massive ship. The rebel ship was just past it, and Mara accounted for that obstacle as well. That was when sensors detected the launch of TIE Fighters, a dozen of them on intercept course. Mara realized she was out of time, had the navigation computer set, and pushed forward the little lever to engage the hyperdrive. The stars turned into streaks, and the ship plunged into the blue void of hyperspace, course set for Coruscant.

She heard a loud thud against the hatch, and Mara imagined Aang collapsing on the other side. "Get comfortable back there. We're in for a long trip."

"Nearly ten thousand years ago, I was trapped in this tree by Raava, seemingly for eternity."

Now that there weren't any more interruptions, Vaatu believed Vader deserved to know the truth.

"Raava had merged with a human to defeat me, fueling his elemental abilities with her raw power. Their union made Raava powerful enough to seal me away, and then Raava closed the spirit portals so that I could not escape this prison."

Vader looked at both portals in turn, and he remembered Aang's attempt to reseal the northern portal. "Now that they are open, are you able to break free under your own power?"

"I will be at the next Harmonic Convergence. That is when the planets align and spiritual energies are at their greatest. The portals will connect, the power will flow to me, and I will break free."

"And when will that be?" Vader asked.

"Alas, the planets will not align for another seventy years," Vaatu said. And yet, Vader could feel the confidence exuding from this spirit. "And yet I believe you are not willing to wait."

"Of course not," Vader said. He held his hands apart and looked at the sky. "The Force was able to open your portals. I believe the Force can join them as well."

Vader slowly raised his hands, focusing on his connection to the Force, feeling it all around him. His influence spread out into his surroundings, to a greater extent than ever before, bathing in the raw power permeating this place. Left hand toward the red portal, right hand toward the blue portal, Vader gripped them both with the Force, fingers coiling together. There was resistance, the invisible tether pulling back against him, but Vader would not let that deter him. The Force was strong here, and Vader felt more powerful than ever.

The pillar of red light bent to the right, the pillar of blue light bent to the left, a little at first but steadily bending further. Vader brought his hands together, and the ends of the pillars came together, turning golden where they touched. The golden light spread down the length of both pillars, crashing into the base of both portals, and the energy between them flowed freely. The new arch of golden light was wreathed in lightning, and the bolts rained down on the tree, transferring power through the trunk into the spirit within.

Bright red light shined from the hollow of the tree, Vaatu's power growing beyond the barrier's ability to contain. The barrier shattered and Vaatu emerged from the hollow, expanding to immense size and flying into the sky, billowing out like some massive kite in the wind. Tendrils stretched out from every edge of his flat form, and the red lines on both sides were far more elaborate now, like a complete skeleton of an ancient fish. After stretching to his maximum size Vaatu turned around, coming back down to the ground to look at Vader up close.

"Free at last," Vaatu said. That single diamond eye of his met Vader's gaze. "I am truly in your debt. And I will repay it in full."

Vader released his grip on the Force, yet the portals did not separate, the golden arch of light seemingly self-sustaining for now. "I desire the power you possess to augment my own."

"I would grant nothing less," Vaatu said. He was incapable of smiling, but the sense of satisfaction exuded from him. "You have seen the power Raava grants her vessel. I can do the same for you."

Remembering the glowing eyes of his surprisingly powerful foe, Vader nodded. "And how can I trust that this is not some kind of trick?"

One could almost see a smirk in that visage of Vaatu. "If you and I are one, truly one, trust won't be an issue, will it?"

Vader sensed true honesty from Vaatu, not a hint of deception whatsoever. "Very well."

Vaatu ascended into the air, turned and swooped back down toward Vader. Colliding into him head on, Vaatu's ethereal form phased into Vader's physical body, with bright light shining from where they made contact. All of Vaatu vanished within Vader, the exposed eye glowed bright red, and the visage of Vaatu appeared on Vader's chest. The spirit world moved around him, bringing him to the northern spirit portal, and he placed a hand on the column of light. Purple light emerged and spread up his arm, then to every part of his body, both flesh and mechanical, and the light shot from his eye into the sky.

Raw power coursed through Vader's body, saturating the scarred scraps of flesh within the mechanical frame. As the physical and the spiritual joined together, so too did the organic and the technological, merging man and machine. New flesh spread down his arms and legs, filling in the gaps of the artificial limbs, and the metal warped into biological counterparts. Scarred tissue reformed into healthy flesh, restoring the burned organs and healing decades old wounds. His entire body morphed into a technorganic whole, better able to harness the power flowing through him.

The light ceased. All went quiet. A damaged helmet fell to the ground. Deep breaths broke the silence. Not mechanical, but natural, the air rushing into restored lungs. It was slow at first, but quickened as Vader grew accustomed to it. He walked to the edge of a stream and looked at his reflection in the water, seeing a face he hadn't seen in decades. It was the face of Anakin Skywalker, albeit with patches of metal skin around the edges, and hair just starting to regrow. The eyes glowed bright red for a moment, a brief display of the power he now wielded.

Darth Vader looked flexed his fingers, enjoying the sensation of the flesh, and smiled to himself. "We are now one. This world… no… this galaxy is ours to rule as the Sith Avatar."