thanks for the reviews. i pondered the fic this weekend, im already ahead by a few chapters. i think i will go with the redemption, as well as nat making the ending sad, but its going to get really angsty along the way. ALSO PLEASE NOTE- this is extremely AU. I have tried to find a way to work the following things into the story, but it just is too much, so here is a quick summary of what has changed from cannon.

Anakin did have the dreams of padme dying, & he got manipulated by palpatine.Afterpalpatine sendsAnakin to execute order 66, he tells Anakin that padme's child is not his, that she had been cheating on him- which sets him off worse since he did it allto save her life. He goes to Mustafarjust like in the movie,& padme arrives. she doesnt know that anakin knows sheis cheating on him. Obi-Wan had visited padme, & snuck aboard her ship.Padme & Anakin argue, Anakin assumes that it was Obi-Wan she was cheating on him with when he seesObi-Wan on the ship. He force chokes padme- but does not kill her- palpatine later tells him that he killed her (all lies!). Obi-Wan & Anakin fight- Obi-Wan thinks Anakin dies.

Any questions? reviews are really appreciated!

8. Silent Discomfort

It took Aurren almost the entire hour to get her stuff together. She couldn't help but wonder why she would be meeting him in his quarters, even though she was finding that she was happy that she might get a chance to view his rooms first hand and get a better idea of his likes. Gazing at her faint reflection in the glass windows, she wished she had enough time to go change into her uniform. She wasn't required to wear it at all times, but she felt more comfortable in it when she had to deal with her superiors.

Rushing down the long dim corridors, she tried to remember if she had everything. 'Oh, never mind,' she thought as she realized she had meant to bring her watercolor pencils in case he wished her to sketch something. The clock she had just passed told her she only had 15 minutes until she would be late, and she had every intention of being early.

Stationed at the outer doors to his rooms stood two armed guards. As she approached, the guards opened the doors and granted her admittance without a word being said. 'Strange…' she thought, 'he must have told them I was coming or something…"

Walking towards the inner doors, she felt her stomach make a sudden leap. She was nervous.

Once again, before she reached to doors, they opened for her, but instead of by a guard, these seemed to open of their own accord.

Inside she saw Lord Vader seated in an armchair with one of the senior chiefs at his shoulder, and they were involved in a quiet conversation. As she entered, he looked up to her and said coolly, "I see you are early Miss Farr." "Please have a seat,' he said with a sweep of his arm towards the black leather couch to her left, "The Admiral and I are just finishing up."

Aurren cautiously sat down at the end of the couch furthest from the two men, holding her renderings and drafting tools in her lap. She suddenly became very interested in her feet as she tried not to be bothersome to the two men who spoke to each other in whispers. She traced the lines and creases in her boots with her eyes, then moved down to the carpet where she tried to memorize its intricate pattern.

Without warning, she felt a hand on her shoulder and bolted upright. Her heart felt as if it would pound right out of her chest as she looked down and saw a black gloved hand on her left shoulder. He was standing behind her.

"Have you found something interesting in my carpet Miss Farr" came a somewhat amused voice from behind.

She shot to her feet without thinking, "No my lord… I mean yes… well, I mean…" Upon standing up, she forgot about the items in her lap, and they fell roughly to the floor.

Immediately she dropped to her knees and began picking up the renderings that fell loose from the folder, only to see that Vader had also bent to help her retrieve her things. "I am so sorry my lord, there is no excuse for my clumsiness," she said meekly as she picked up the final drawing.

She glanced over at the kneeling man and discovered that he was looking back at her… at least she thought he was looking at her behind the mask. He stood rather gracefully, and outstretched a hand to her, intending to help her off of the floor.

A deep blush spread over Aurren's face as she humbly took his hand and was surprised, as he seemed to haul her effortlessly from the carpet. Thankfully, he broke the silence.

"I am sure you are wondering why I had you meet me here," he said.

"No my lord, I am happy to serve you, wherever you would like to meet," she replied.

"That's good then, because you will be accompanying me to Alderaan to scout out land for the estate you are planning for me."

Mild bewilderment was the only emotion she felt. It didn't surprise her too greatly, she knew that she would most likely be needed to help pick a location that would suit her design. It was just that… well… she didn't know what it was.

"Of course my lord," Aurren said, "when should I be prepared to depart?"

"We leave immediately," was his reply.

"Then I will only need a few moments to gather my things, sir," she said as her mind tried to run quickly through all the things she would need to bring.

"There is no need for that, everything you need will be provided for you, do not be concerned."

A sort of panic began to climb into her chest. The realization that she was leaving the ship for the first time since the rise of the empire that wouldn't involve inspecting military bases in the middle or war zones sunk in. Not only that, but they would be going to Alderaan.

Alderaan.

She never intended to return, especially to the beautiful countryside, where she was certain Vader intended to look. She stood lost in distraction mere inches away from him. In her minds eye, as the thought of returning crossed her, she could see the wildflowers floating in her parent's blood.

Noticing her apparent distraction, he used the force to figure out why she was so befuddled. The only thing he could pick up on was a vision of a small girl sitting on a wood floor surrounded by blood and flowers. It was disturbing, even for him.

Vader was saved from having to shake Aurren out of her stupor by a sudden beeping from his comm link.

Startled, she took the opportunity to move discreetly away from him as he answered the call.

"You had better be contacting me to tell me we are ready to depart."

A slightly frightened sounding voice replied, "Y-Y-Yes my lord. Your personal cruiser has already gone through the pre-flight inspections and the engines are running."

Without another word, Vader ended the call & turned to Aurren.

"Well Miss Farr, we are now to be stuck together," he said rather bitterly. Turning to leave, he stopped and turned back to her. Stretching his arm with strange elegance in her direction he said, "We might as well attempt to make the most of it," and then motioned her to take his arm. He meant to escort her personally to the ship.

Placing her folio cautiously under her left arm, she timidly reached out & folded her arm through his, closing her fingers lightly just under his elbow. He led her away in long slow strides. She noticed that he had consciously slowed from his normal pace to compensate for Aurren's much shorter stride. As he guided her silently through the corridors, she thought absently about how she would probably have to jog to keep up with his regular pace…

After a short ride in a lift and one further corridor, they reached the Emperor's private hanger bay on the star ship. Parked inside was a gigantic, sleek silver cruiser. The hanger crew scurried off of the ship and stood at attention, waiting for Vader to approach. He placed his right hand- his mechanical hand, gently over Aurren's as he felt it loosen its grip on his arm, then guided her towards the ship. Stopping in front of the men, he addressed the ranking officer.

"Lieutenant, I do hope you have everything prepared as I ordered."

"Yes my lord, you are cleared for departure."

"Very good," he replied, then leading Aurren once again, he turned to board the ship.

Once inside, he waited until he had led her all the way to the cockpit to release her arm. Seating himself in the pilot's chair her turned to her and spoke briefly.

"Please, sit," he said, motioning to the co-pilot's seat.

She sat down and watched as he began flipping switches, turning knobs and raising levers. She began to worry as she realized that he would be piloting this enormous cruiser. 'Are you kidding me?' she thought, 'how can he pilot this thing, I'm sure he can hardly see out of that horrible mask!'

As she finished that thought, she heard what she swore was a laugh. Looking to Vader seated at her left, she realized that he was indeed… laughing. Had she said that out loud? No, she couldn't have…

"Do not worry about my ability to pilot this craft Miss Farr," he said, sounding highly amused. Aurren could feel the heat rising to her cheeks. "I can assure you, despite my appearance- and this 'horrible mask'- I could drive this ship better than any other pilot in the galaxy, with my eyes closed."

What… how was this possible. Had he somehow heard her thoughts? How…

"The same way I could pilot this ship with my eyes closed. I use the force."

Aurren didn't say another word after that as she tried not to think about what that implied. She watched out of the front windows as they left the hanger bay and he programmed their course to Alderaan.

It wasn't until they had entered hyperspace that another sound was uttered.

"Feel free, Miss Farr, to explore the ship. It will be several hours until we reach Alderaan. Help yourself to anything you wish. There is a bedroom prepared for you near the back. I will alert you when we arrive."

Aurren was mildly stunned. He was treating her as if she were… his guest. It was completely unexpected, everything she had ever heard about the infamous Darth Vader was that he was cruel and calculating and cared not for the well being- and certainly not the comfort- of anyone else. He was a sith lord, the right hand man of Emperor Palpatine, the most feared person in the galaxy. It just didn't make sense. Why was he concerning himself with her at all, trying as he was to treat her as if she were… a lady? Picking up on this thought, Vader addressed her again.

"I do not deny, Miss Farr, that I use my power, that I create fear in the hearts of men, to get what I want," he said, looking straight at her. "But there is a reason for everything I do. I do not accept disrespect or disobedience from anyone, and I punish it as I see fit to keep it from reoccurring. There is no such thing as fair in this galaxy."

She couldn't look away from him. Even though she couldn't see his eyes, she could feel them burning through her.

"The reason I treat you as I do, Miss Farr," he continued, "is because you are a lady. You were commissioned to do a project- which I shall tell you now, no one expected you to succeed- and not only did you do well, but you did better than well. It has been years since I have been sincerely pleased by anyone. Not only did you go above and beyond, but also you have been a faithful and completely willing assistant who has not once betrayed an ounce of disrespect… " He said, stopping momentarily, then continued in a questioning voice. "And not once have I felt that you actually fear me – and its not because you are unaware of the fact that I could take your life with the same ease as you might take a breath."

Aurren couldn't help but tear her eyes away from him as he said that. He had an offhanded way of complimenting someone… if that was what this was supposed to be.

"I suggest that you retire now, my lady," he said with a harsh edge to his voice, "and as long as you continue to show me the same respect and obedience you have thus far, I will gladly return the same upon you."

"Yes my lord," Aurren said quietly, almost ashamedly.

She rose to leave, and as she walked out of the cockpit he spoke once more.

"As I said earlier, we are stuck together." She looked over her shoulder at him as he went on, "I do not enjoy being surrounded by sniveling, underhanded imbeciles- those that I am normally forced to spend most of my time with. For the first time in years I have a project before me that might grant me a chance to find some leisure, and the only being I have to deal with or concern myself about it you."

She turned fully to him at this.

"Luckily for me… and even more for you, you are not a sniveling, underhanded imbecile. I am not sure what you are actually, but I will find out. Once again, as I said, we might as well attempt to make the most of it."

A strange sense of… relief? bathed over her. He hadn't exactly told her he wanted her around, but he didn't seem to be too disturbed by the fact she would be with him for… well, she didn't know how long.

"I am sorry that I failed to inform you further on the nature of this trip, please forgive me. I will brief you further once we are settled on Alderaan." he stated.

He had done it again… she wanted him out of her mind… even though she had nothing to hide from him.

A short, deep laugh came from Vader, "Allow me to apologize once again Miss Farr, I am sure you have nothing to hide from me, but I cannot help but try to understand you. I will try to refrain from invading your thoughts in the future," he said, with a tinge of warning in his voice, "but I will not tell you that I will never do it again. You can remember that I am a man of my word."

"Yes my lord… thank you," was all she could say. She bowed her head and left the cockpit, in search of what, she wasn't sure… but sleep seemed like the best idea.

stay tuned! next chapter- Vader's thoughts about his words to Aurren... he's not very happy about it. angst ahoy! r&r!