Vader only flew. He had taken his personal fighter as soon as they had estimated the slave ship's route. He knew exactly where he could find it. He had left his mask in the storage unit like before.
If he stopped the ship as Darth Vader, the word would be carried to the Emperor. It wouldn't be a problem anyway. He was armed with two lightsabers and the force was always by his side.
He would enter the ship and find his wife, and then he would kill anyone who had harmed her. He looked onto his radar, he was getting closer and closer with every second, he had almost reached his goal.
He speeded his ship up even further. He wouldn't let her slip away again, her suffering ended now. Vader's face darkened as he made out the ship in the distance. He was so close.
It only took a few moments until Vader had docked onto the ships landing platform. The airlock hissed as it closed. Vader hopped of the ship in a heartbeat and hid his face under his hood.
He approached the ships entrance, ready to pull out his lightsaber at any moment. "We are executing an imperial shipping mission, what is your business here?" Vader snorted. "I'm an imperial commander, I want to search your ship."
"Out here? We're not even close to any planets. Why would you come all the way out here? And who are you, anyway?" "Open the door.", Vader repeated, his anger boiling up inside of him.
They did as he told them. He marched into the ship where two men in shaggy overalls were waiting. "We're only bringing ore to coruscant. There's nothing on the ship but the goods and the staff. "I'll be the judge of that.", Vader growled.
He walked past them, completely ignoring their comment. He could feel many lifeforms onboard. As soon as he had left the hallway, he saw some of them too. There were dozens of dozens of people examining and working on the ores.
There were producing bars and cleaning pure material. There was nothing suspicious to be seen. The two overalls had followed Vader. "I have reason to believe, you are hiding and trading slaves on this ship. I came here to investigate."
One of them snorted. "Slaves? Here? I assure you, that those accusations are false, we are only shipping materials." Vader frowned. He couldn't feel the man's lies, not at all.
"The ship is big, this can't be all.", he said. "Of course it isn't. We have huge spaces used for storage. The only other part that lifeforms travel in, is the cockpit.
Vader raised his eyebrows. Again, he wasn't feeling any lies. He reached out through the force, using all of his concentration. He tried looking for his wife, he knew her signature too well.
But there was nothing. He nodded. "Alright. Finish your shipping assignment. But I will check that you don't land before you reach Abregado-rae." The overall nodded. "Yes, sir.", he said.
Vader left him standing where he was and made his way back to his fighter. His thoughts were twirling in his head. Had they excluded the right one? Or had the actual slave ship passed Polus illegally?
He sighed as he jumped into his own cockpit and let the airlock do its work. Only a few moments later he was back in space, flying towards the executor. He couldn't tell where the mistake was made.
Or were they warned, and took the slaves of the ship? No, Vader could have felt the employee's lies. So what was it then? He grunted in frustration as he entered hyperspace.
Anakin smiled at her. "How are you not disgusted by me?", she said with a chuckle as she washed her mouth. Anakin put his hand on her womb softly. "Disgusted? How could I ever be disgusted by you?"
Padmé only rubbed over her mouth with her sleeve. "I'm sure I am a rather poor sight at the moment.", she murmured and continued swilling her mouth with clean water, trying to wash out the burning taste.
"Padmé Amidala and a poor sight? What are you thinking, senator?" Padmé chuckled. "You are too kind. Even after you have just watched me get rid of breakfast." "You did so because you are carrying our child, Padmé."
Padmé smiled. "Is it healthy?", she asked as she turned to her husband. He closed his eyes for a moment. "I can't feel pain, nor fear. Just light." Padmé smirked. "Do you know what you want to name it already?", Anakin asked softly.
Padmé shook her head. "I've spent some time thinking, but I don't know yet. Anyway, we won't need the name too soon." She looked down at her womb, which was barely swollen. Anakin grinned. "It is going to be beautiful.", he said quietly.
"With you as a mother, it can only be beautiful." Padmé chuckled. "You're not too bad yourself, Master Skywalker.", she mumbled. He put his arms around her, grinning. "How many do you want?", he challenged playfully.
She laughed. "Patience, Anakin. We'll see." He stroked her hair, that he had just held back, gently. "Are you feeling alright again?", he asked. She nodded.
"I'm fine.", she said softly. He smiled. "You will tell your parents, won't you?", he asked then. She shrugged. "I guess I have to. It will be pretty obvious sooner or later." "Will you tell them it's mine?", he continued.
"Sola already knows about us. My parents wouldn't tell anyone either." Anakin nodded. "We can go to naboo as soon as possible.", he promised. She only wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Will they be mad?", he asked carefully. She chuckled. "Because they'll be grandparents? I don't think so." Anakin's face began to fade until it was gone completely. Padmé opened her eyes tiredly.
Again she returned to reality. A numb feeling spread in her as she thought about her family once again. Her husband and children were the most precious things she had ever known.
Nuha yawned next to her. They were sleeping in a locked room with the others. There were no beds or anything similar. The muddy earth on Thyferra had been a lot more comfortable than the metal they were lying on now.
Padmé tried to stretch her aching back. "You're talking in your sleep.", Nuha said. Padmé blushed. "What do I say?", she asked. Nuha stayed silent looking into Padmé's eyes. "You really miss him don't you?", she said quietly.
Padmé's eyes widened. "I talk about him? I dreamed of him for years, but I didn't know I spoke of him too." Nuha frowned. "He was a very able jedi. If Kenobi survived, he might have as well." Padmé shook her head.
"It was Kenobi himself who killed him. He returned to me right after and confessed what he had done." Nuha nodded. "I know that. But someone's abilities don't exactly grow weaker after they join the dark side."
Vader's shuttle approached the executor on the radar. Ahsoka and Obi Wan could do everything he normally could, when they used his holoterminal. They had information to every imperial ship, and could track where they were.
"He's coming back.", Obi Wan said and pointed on Vader's shuttle on the radar. "Do you think he found her?", Ahsoka asked. "I hope not.", he said with a bitter voice. Ahsoka only stared at him unbelievingly.
"You would rather leave a woman in slavery,
bring her back to her husband and children." Obi Wan frowned. "Cross the husband out of that." Ahsoka snorted.
"You are so stubborn, Obi Wan. You won't even give him the slightest chance?"
Obi Wan only shook his head. "He is the bad guy. How many jedi does he have to kill until you accept the facts?" Ahsoka sulked.
"I just think, you're too hard on him. It's unfair. He saved your life by lying for you, and do you even see how he is with the kids?" Obi Wan shrugged. "He pretends to love them, so what?" Ahsoka sighed.
"Just consider, that he doesn't pretend anything. Consider that he is a good person. At least when it comes to his own children. And that means we can turn him back completely, it's not too late for him, it will never be too late."
Obi Wan didn't look at her, but his expression hardened further. Ahsoka knew what he thought. He had made that pretty clear. She was only trying to change his mind.
„Your good will honors you, Ahsoka. But your naive mind will be your downfall if you don't stay careful. Ahsoka, you always tell me to consider that he isn't evil. Well you have to consider that he is. For your own safety, and of others too."
Ahsoka felt a lump forming in her throat. She wouldn't accept that. She wouldn't accept that Anakin was gone forever. Ahsoka would fight to bring him back. It wasn't like Obi Wan thought. He didn't understand what she was trying to do.
She wasn't joining Vader, she wasn't trusting him blindly. She was doing what she felt was right. She was doing everything she could to help her old master, her friend. He wouldn't pull her to the dark side, she would help him out of it.
Obi Wan was too pessimistic. He didn't believe Anakin was able to return. He believed his friend was gone forever. He had always been the realistic one.
"He's entering the destroyer now.", Obi Wan stated quietly. Ahsoka looked up to the holos that were still hovering in the center of the room. Vader had arrived. Ahsoka sighed. He hadn't called them, so she didn't know if Padmé was with him.
But she hoped she was. For her own, Vader's and the children's sakes. I didn't take to long until the door opened mechanically and the air was filled with the sound of Vader's mask, that still gave Ahsoka shivers.
As soon as the door closed he pulled the mask of his head. "It wasn't the one.", he only said before typing things into the holoterminal. Four ships appeared in blue light. "Are you sure?", Obi Wan asked. "Which one is it then?"
Vader shrugged and erased a transporter from the holos. A imperial cruiser, a little shaggy ship, and a bounty hunter fighter. "There's three of the ships, and three of us.", Ahsoka murmured. Both men turned at her, staring at her wordlessly.
"No.", they said decidedly and simultaneously. "We don't trust each other, remember?", Obi Wan snapped. "And I won't leave the children alone. There is no droid that should take care of two two year olds."
Ahsoka sighed. She had hoped that the two would finally be able to work together. But Vader's point was true. They couldn't be left to themselves, and a droid's memory could be reviewed.
She turned to the holos. "Is there one you could exclude?", she asked hopefully. Vader sighed. "No. I won't be sloppy again. We excluded all of them last time, and obviously were wrong about one of them." Ahsoka frowned.
They had made a mistake. But what had they done wrong? Ahsoka began to chew on her lip. "What now?", she asked. "Will you just try one after the other?", she added. Vader shrugged. "If theirs is no efficient alternative."
Obi Wan stroked his beard in silence. "What if the slave ship wasn't registered? It might have crossed the orbit in secret." Vader shook his head. "I checked at all orbital observation stations on the planet. No other cruiser crossed Polus."
"What if one us took the children?", Ahsoka threw into the room. "Everyone takes another of those ships, and one takes the kids." Obi Wan remained quiet. "I don't like it.", Vader murmured. "What if Obi Wan finds her?", he explained.
Obi Wan opened his mouth in protest. "What do you think I would do?" Vader shrugged. "You hate me. You would probably run with her, and make sure I would never see her again." "Jedi don't hate.", Obi Wan reminded.
"Oh yes, excuse me. I am sure you adore me.", Vader said sarcastically. The corners of Obi Wan's mouth twitched a little, but he returned to his silence.
"It's probably true though. But what if Obi Wan took the kids? They would tell their mother about you." Obi Wan's eyes widened. Vader nodded slowly. "That's right. Is that fine for the master?", he asked with a glance at Obi Wan.
Obi Wan lifted his hands in defeat. "Okay. But how will I get off the ship. Ahsoka can pretend to be an autopilot again, but I have proven not to be the most skilled when it comes to sneaking through your security."
Vader chuckled. "Stormtrooper.", he only said. "You don't have any montrals." Obi Wan grunted. "Fine. So who takes which ship?" The three turned to the holos that were hovering in the room.
"Obviously, you will take the imperial one, master.", Ahsoka said. "You have full authority there." Vader nodded. "I call for the bounty hunters!", she called out after. Obi Wan snorted. "Have fun, little one.", he said. "I plan to do so.", she replied.