Chapter 64:
A voice echoed tremulously into the darkness of the shuttle, disturbing Atrox's meditations. "Lord Atrox? Admiral Piett sent me to inform you that the preparations are complete." An officer stood in the doorway, looking extremely nervous, even more so when he caught a glimpse of the Sith Lord's expression.
Darth Atrox opened his glowing blood-red eyes, locking them onto the officer. In an instant he was standing, his crimson lightsaber ignited. Using the Force, he violently pulled the officer towards him. When the officer was in range, Atrox cut off one of his arms and then made several slashes on his back. When he spoke, his voice was a deep, unnatural rumble, filled with the Dark Side of the Force. "Next time you interrupt my meditations, I will kill you… slowly… painfully."
The man crumpled to the floor without a word, the agony of his wounds quickly driving him to unconsciousness.
Vader sensed the terrible conflict that had taken place between Mara and his son, and then Atrox vanished from the Force. He strode purposefully towards the quarters that Atrox and Mara shared, and Padmé followed. When they reached it, they could hear Mara's quiet sobs through the door, and Padmé slid it open, gently.
Mara turned her head sharply as the door opened, and glared at them both through tearstained eyes. "Leave me," she snapped, pulling her emotions tightly inside herself.
Vader said nothing, studying her and trying to piece together what was going on. Padmé approached her, slowly, and said, "Mara, what happened?"
Mara ignored her, walls going up inside her mind to keep everyone out.
"Where is our son?" Vader demanded, suddenly, his voice brooking no argument.
"Gone," she snapped, bitterly. Suddenly horrific screams echoed throughout the ship, and both Padmé and Vader glanced in the direction of the hangar. Vader immediately left the room, going to seek his son.
"I'll be back to check on you soon," Padmé promised Mara, firmly, before following her husband. Mara didn't respond, and soon was alone again.
Vader and Padmé entered the shuttle, and Padmé let out a little gasp as she saw the brutally mangled officer lying on the floor. Vader strode forward, moving between Atrox and his wife. He stopped in his tracks a moment later, stunned by the burns covering his son, visible from the still-activated crimson lightsaber.
Atrox turned towards his parents, his glowing red eyes observing them while an extreme expression of immense hurt and pain was on his own face. When he spoke, his voice had not changed from before. "Why would she have done this to me? What have I done?"
Padmé approached him, timidly, her heart going out to him. As she approached, the oppressive sensations grew stronger, making her feel nauseous, but her concern for him drove her forward. "Tell us what happened, Luke," Padmé pleaded, gently.
Atrox opened his mind to only his mother and father, showing every detail of what just happened, not holding anything back from them, including the pain he felt.
Vader's fists clenched with fury, only sheer willpower keeping him from going and giving Mara the punishment she deserved.
Padmé flinched, horrified by what he showed them. A sudden realization struck her. "She was angry because of what happened in the vision," she said to her husband, softly.
"What vision?!" Atrox demanded, his voice unchanged.
Vader opened his mind in turn to his son, showing him the latest vision he had experienced. Padmé watched him with concern, her eyes never leaving his.
Atrox's eyes stared into his mother's, understanding finally dawning on him. "Is that why you came to me earlier?" he asked, his voice still embedded in the dark side of the Force.
She nodded. "Yes." The word sounded small, even in her own ears. Tears threatened to spill out once more as she remembered her son's still form.
Anger still clenched at Vader's heart, and he brushed aside Mara's mental barriers, his words grating against her thoughts. Jade, get in here, now It was not a request, it was a threat.
A few minutes later Mara stood in the doorway, her face a mask. As she met her master's eyes, however, the mask was instantly stripped away by the torment she saw written across his face. She turned pale, consumed by guilt and self-loathing as she realized that it was she who had hurt him so terribly, body and soul. She sank to her knees, averting her gaze from his, the words he had spoken before coming back to haunt her. If you were any other person, I would kill you where you stand.
Vader could not resist the urge to taunt her, punish her further for what she had done. "How dare you? After everything he has done for you, how DARE you use what he taught you to hurt him?! Is this how you repay him?"
She trembled under Atrox's burning gaze, feeling those terrible eyes upon her even though she could not feel his intentions; even his emotions were cut off from her. A single hot tear rolled down her cheek, borne of her shame and remorse. "Forgive me…" she whispered, too softly to be heard. She knew she deserved neither mercy nor forgiveness, and expected none from the Dark Lords of the Sith.
Atrox glared, fully opening his bond again to Mara, allowing his physical pain and mental anguish to completely flood into her, opening his soul once again to her, almost daring her to hurt him again.
She doubled over under the horrific weight of the pain he carried, utterly overwhelmed by it. She instinctively tried to shield her children from it, encasing them in a durasteel-strong barrier of the Force. She hated herself even more as she fully understood what she had done to him. I- I- I'm sorry… I didn't know… She wanted to die, had sworn she would die before she let him be harmed like this again. And yet the person to strike the most deadly blow had been her. Vader had been right, he had been right all along. She was unworthy of his love, his teachings, his protection. It would have been better had she died defending her first lord and master rather than this.
Vader's voice broke through her torment. "Fool girl. Your every action proves what a mistake it was to allow you to live, to be trained by a Sith Lord. You used him to gain power, but you could not even control it. I've never seen something so pathetic."
Suddenly, Atrox lifted a hand and without any effort, used his new amount of power to violently send Vader flying backwards, flying out of the shuttle's hatch, into the hanger, and through a pair of sealed blast doors. YOU WILL NOT SPEAK TO HER THAT WAY! Atrox roared inside his mind. SHE IS MY APPRENTICE… I WILL DEAL WITH HER HOW I SEE FIT!
Mara somehow found the strength to make it to her feet, feeling raw inside and out from both Atrox's pain and her own. She knelt at his feet, head bowed, unable to meet his eyes. "Master," she whispered, shame and guilt in her voice. "I- I'm sorry. My actions are unforgivable, as are my words. I… I can never take them back, no matter how much I want to." Her voice broke slightly. "I only hope my punishment eases your pain, if only slightly. If… if I could, I would bear it all in your place. I deserve it, not you."
Atrox made a gesture towards his apprentice to rise. "I will forgive you if you heal me… my love." He said, his eyes returning yellow. "You are not to lose yourself in self-pity either." He paused, his mood darkening. "If you ever do that again, apprentice, I will kill you." He said darkly, his eyes once again glowing blood-red.
"I- I understand, master." Slowly she rose, and reached out to him, willing the Force to heal his burns, and her love to heal his heart. His love and forgiveness awed her, it was something she had neither seen nor experienced in her lifetime, especially among the Sith. I love you, she whispered. I'm so sorry…
I love you as well, Mara, he replied through the Force, his eyes turning yellow once more. How are the twins?
She touched her stomach, gently. They're fine. I think… I think they missed you.
Padmé slipped out of the room, worried about her husband. She picked her way through the wreckage in the corridor, and knelt down by Vader's side. "Ani?"
He forced himself upright, rage coursing through him, ignoring the lacerations in his back and arms. Brushing past her, he stormed back into the shuttle, one fist clenched tightly, tightening the Force
around his apprentice's windpipe. With his other hand he shoved Mara aside, and blasted Atrox with lightning. "Who are you to give me commands, apprentice?!" he growled, his voice guttural with rage. "Many freedoms I have given you, perhaps too many. Perhaps you should stay here with your apprentice while your sister and I deal with the Rebel base. Is that what you want?" He increased the intensity of the lightning, ensuring that his apprentice was listening.
Atrox met Vader's eyes, his expression unchanging as the lightning coursed through him. He smirked as his eyes once again turned blood-red. You are only increasing my power.
Vader's eyes narrowed, and with a ripping sensation he severed Atrox's connection to the Force. The Force lightning continued to increase in power, despite the apprentice's inability to combat it.
Atrox's screams could be heard throughout the entire ship. His shining, cold blue eyes darted to his apprentice, and his two unborn children. Just before he passed out from the attack, the only thought in his mind was Mara, I love you… Then everything went black.
Mara immediately felt a shift inside herself, as if her children were reacting to their father's absence. She rushed to his side, and cradled his head in her lap, trying to control the turbulent emotions building within her. Seeing him collapse like that, his eyes on her, reminded her too sharply of the images she had gleaned from the vision of his death. She embraced his still form tightly, angry tears brimming in her eyes.
Padmé rushed into the room, hearing his screams, and stopped in the doorway, horrified. She ran towards them, but stopped at Vader's side when Mara glared at her. "Anakin, what happened?" she asked, her voice steady and not betraying any emotion.
"It is time my apprentice learned his place." Vader replied, flatly, his tone brooking no argument. "When he knows proper respect that is when I will restore the Force to him, and not before." He turned on his heel and strode out of the shuttle, coldness personified.
Mara glared at his retreating figure, hatred burning in her eyes. Only when she was certain he was well out of sight and earshot did she relax fractionally. Her expression softened as she stroked Atrox's hair, studying his quiet features for a moment. "We're expecting twins," she said suddenly, turning to look Padmé in the eye.
Padmé just stared at her for a moment, stunned, then exclaimed, "Oh, that's wonderful, Mara! Does…" she hesitated. "Does Luke know?"
"Yes." She looked back down at him, then met the older woman's eyes, her gaze hard. "Do not tell Vader, do you understand? I respect you, but if you tell him, you will suffer, I promise you."
"I… I understand," Padmé said at last, a trace of sadness in her eyes. "Let me know if I can help in any way. I truly am happy for both of you," she added softly.
"Thank you. Perhaps… perhaps we can talk more later. I do have questions for you." Mara admitted.
"Whenever you wish," Padmé said graciously, and left them alone.
In the passage she ran into Leia, who had come looking for her brother. In hushed tones Padmé told her what had happened. Leia was silent for a moment, thoughtful. "I'll try to help them," she said at last, heading for the shuttle. Upon reaching it, she stopped in the doorway as Mara glared at her.
"What do you want?" Mara almost snarled at her.
"I came to see if my brother needed help," Leia replied, attempting to remain calm.
"I'm taking care of it," Mara responded flatly.
Leia sighed. "Are you sure you don't need help? He's my brother, and…"
"…and he doesn't need the help of a Jedi like you" Mara snapped. "Now get out."
Leia frowned, suddenly tired of being treated like the black sheep of the family, and retorted, "He may not need the help of a Jedi, but he does need his sister's help. You can't do everything for him by yourself. We're a family, and if you want to be a part of it you're going to have to learn to accept our help when we offer it and stop pushing us away."
Mara glared at her, annoyed. "You Skywalkers are all going to get yourselves killed with your obstinacy one of these days," she muttered under her breath. With a sigh, she stood up, and said louder, "Come on. We need to get him to his quarters. He'll be able to recover better there."
Leia nodded, and helped her lift Atrox with the Force, as they didn't have a stretcher.
Once they reached the quarters she shared with Atrox, Mara reflected that it was much easier with Leia's help than it would have been on her own. "Thank you," she said at last, a trifle grudgingly. "I appreciate the help. I'm sure he will, too, once he wakes."
"It was no problem, I was happy to do it," Leia assured her. "Please let me know if there's anything else I can do to help."
"I'll do that," Mara said, her tone indicating the matter was closed.
Once Leia had left, Mara collapsed into a chair beside the bed, more tired than she'd been willing to let the other woman see. She gazed tenderly down at Atrox's calm face, determined to wait out his unconsciousness, no matter how long it took. I love you, Skywalker, she thought to him, knowing he could not hear her.
Perhaps in a few hours she would begin trying to heal him, once she had a chance to rest.
Padmé finally found her husband, who had just finished putting the crew on standby until further notice, as well as ordering the cleanup and repair of the two blast doors that had been damaged.
"Anakin, we have to talk," she began, as she followed him down the passage toward the hangar. He ignored her, pointedly, until they arrived back at the hangar, where he drew out a hydrospanner and began working on one of the blast doors with a studied calmness.
"Anakin, listen to me!" She pulled on the sleeve of his robe, angrily. "You almost killed our son! I know what he did was wrong, and he hurt you, but—"
"He is my apprentice, to discipline as I see fit," Vader snapped icily, turning on her. "He still lives, unless Jade has killed him with overprotectiveness."
"Is that how you rationalize it?" Padmé demanded, her voice shaking with emotion. "Just because he didn't die this time, no harm was done? You're killing his love for you, and once that is gone, there's nothing stopping him from… from the scenes in your vision." She faltered, then tried again. "Why can't you respect him and his decisions? Maybe then he would respect yours in return."
Vader turned back to the blast door, attacking it with newfound intensity. "He is not supposed to love or respect me… I am his master… that is all."
Padmé watched him, silently, for a moment. "Then I'm going to lose you again… both of you." She turned and walked away, fighting the tears of grief that suddenly sprang to her eyes.