this chapter sucks... ok i said it. it sucks. but it is a necessity. i just have to get all of the stuff out of the way that has to happen before all the good action. really, this chapter sucks. i hate it. but its more important in the fact that it spells out the mindset of the characters. thanks for all the previous reviews.

19.Home Alone

"Miss Farr, we will not be going out today. Or for the next few days. Instead, I would like you to work further on your drawings for the palace. I will be leaving for a short while. You are to stay here and not venture further than the gardens outside… I tell you this for your own safety Miss Farr, please, I have my reasons. Stay at the villa. Do not venture from the home. I will be back later."

He was gone before all of the words he had said to her had a chance to register completely. Aurren stared blankly at the floor for a moment as she listened to the sound of Vader's heavy footfall fade down the hallway and up the stairs, ending behind a slamming door.

Had something happened? Had something gone wrong? Had she done something wrong?

Slowly, Aurren turned and left the greenhouse, and went into the kitchen. The jittery smell of freshly brewed caffe was welcomed with a smile, as she reached for a mug and poured herself a steaming cup full. She sat down at the counter on a high stool and carelessly added sugar and cream to her cup… she had her mind on other things.

Her elbows propped on the cold countertop; she held the steaming mug just under her nose and inhaled the aroma. 'I wonder what's going on that's got Lord Vader all riled up?' she thought. A small amount of fear began to rise in her. Perhaps she was going to begin seeing the Darth Vader that people all over the galaxy feared and loathed. She felt a knot of anxiety bunching in the pit of her stomach. She didn't want to see that side of him… in fact she had done her best to please him in every way she could. And he had been nice to her. And even though she truly couldn't be sure, and he surely wasn't direct about it, she had a feeling that he actually cared about her- at least some. Enough to have a certain amount of camaraderie with each other. That had to count for something.

'Well… at least as much camaraderie as someone could have with a masked man…'

That thought stuck with Aurren for a while. Camaraderie. Friendship?

The thought alone made a smile and a giggle escape her lips when she thought about it. 'Oh, sure Aurren, you shun friendships of any kind your whole life, and now you decide to try to strike up a friendship with Darth Vader?' Unconsciously, she placed a hand over her mouth to stop her laughing. It really was inappropriate.

Friends with Darth Vader. Now that was a new thought to her. She didn't even know what he was under all that black. Hell, maybe he wasn't a man at all, maybe not even humanoid.

Aurren sat at the counter for a long time. She was confused, and worried. When she had finished her third cup of caffe, she rose from her seat and made her way to her chambers. For now, she wouldn't worry about what Vader's sudden change in demeanor meant. For now, she would simply do as he asked, and stay at the villa, work on the plans, until he decided to begin again.

In his own rooms, Vader was pacing back and forth in front of the wall of windows in his own seating area, thinking about what he should do. Hastily, he grabbed a data pad and left his rooms. He stopped outside of Aurren's rooms. He could feel her confusion- strongly- from the hallway. Shaking the thought of her from his mind, he swiftly descended the stairs and left the house, headed for the hanger.

Once on the small ship, he didn't know exactly what to do. So, instead of deciding on a pre-destined route, he simply took off with no destination in mind, just letting the force guide him.

He was flying directly towards the mountain that separated the villa from the village Aurren had been born in. Soon, he was around the mountain, and below him he saw a sight that had not only become all too familiar to him, but also haunted him. Yes, this was the place. This is where he saw her- her as a child.

He landed in the grassy meadow and sat in the cockpit and found it was hard to breathe. He was alone now, and he took the opportunity to remove his disguise. A nervous energy began to boil inside of him as he looked out the windows to the long sweet grasses that rippled in the breeze. An overwhelming compulsion to get out of the ship, feel the sun on his face, breath the fresh sweet air came over him, and in moments he found himself outside of the ship, lying on his back in the middle of the field.

He was in awe of the beauty of the place. Off in the distance he could see the small village of Pappillon, as well as the dilapidated remains of what was once the Farr Homestead. Looking behind him, the snow-covered peak of the mountain glistened in the sunlight like a diamond. He never wanted to leave here.

For the first time that day, he began to feel calm. He let that calm wash over him, and lay down in the field, letting the sun kiss his face and the wind play his hair whimsically around his face. He closed his eyes and savored it. Before he knew it he was asleep.

Back at the villa, Aurren had become bored with simply looking over what she had already done. She was hesitant to start anything new due to the fact that she would need to consult with Lord Vader about any changed before she was willing to actually make any. Of course, changes would eventually need to be made to suit the building site, but as of right now, any effort to reconstruct the design would be in vain.

She slumped back against the couch she was perched on and took a deep breath.

She was tired. More tired than she had felt in ages. In fact, she didn't know if she had ever felt this physically exhausted.

Deciding that she could do no more on the plans, and she was too tired for anything else, she resigned herself to her bedchamber.

She closed the heavy curtains over the windows, rendering the room into cool darkness, then striped down to her undergarments, leaving a trail of clothing behind her, and crawled into bed. The heavy darkness of sleep overtook her almost immediately.

On the other side of the mountain, in the fragrant wind-swept meadow, Darth Vader had gone from pleasantly relaxing, dozing, enjoying the sunshine- to being trapped once more in the dream world that had assaulted his slumber the previous evening.

At first, he did not realize that he was having the dream once again. He was simply wandering the meadow in his dreams as he might have done had he not fallen asleep. Suddenly he found himself surrounded by wildflowers. Glancing around, he saw something move within the grasses and flowers. He stood very still, hoping to see what it was, only to be confronted with a tiny blond head with a crown of wildflowers atop it.

'Oh no,' he thought, 'why am I here again… I don't want to see this again… I know what happens. I don't want to see this again, damn…' He tried to remain rooted firmly where he stood when the child picked up the arm of flowers and began walking towards the homestead in the distance, but it was futile. His legs led him behind her of their own accord.

Inside his mind, he was screaming no. He tried over and over again to wake himself up, to get out of the dream, but he couldn't. He was stuck there. Suddenly, his dream changed. He was no longer in the field, but in an alleyway, and the child Aurren was replaced with the adult Aurren.

'No!' he thought, 'No…No… not again, not this again. WHY?'

And once more, Darth Vader found himself struggling against his vision to try and stop the scene that was playing out before his eyes. He knew his screaming and his threats were going unheard, but at the sight of Aurren Farr being ruthlessly attacked, beaten… and now…

His vision was not doing him the favor of cutting him off where it had the previous night. He felt bile rise in his throat as he watched the assailant rip at her clothing with his crude long knife. He wanted to turn away, to close his eyes, to run… but he could do nothing but scream unavailingly.

He watched the wretch of a man run his knife over the perfectly white flesh of her stomach, leaving a liquid crimson line in its wake. He watched the man punch her repeatedly- in the face, in the chest, in the stomach. When the man seemed to have enough brutalizing of her, Vader felt the warm wetness of tears sliding down his face as he watched him rape her. When he had finished with his assault of her, the man kicked her once more, leaving her bleeding amongst the filth of the alley.

Not long after that, the vision slowly faded, and Vader came out of his unrestful sleep.

He remained there for a long time, tears rolling down his face. For once, he did not try to justify the emotion, just let it roll through him- really feeling it, and then releasing it into the arms of the force. He didn't know what was worse, knowing that this could happen to her… or not knowing if the Aurren in his visions survived the attack. That was the major difference between the dreams of his mother & Padme to his dream of Aurren.

He couldn't do anything about it. He didn't even know where this alleyway was… if it was on this planet or another. He didn't know when this would happen… tomorrow, the next day… years from now even? It wasn't as if he could simply lock Aurren up for the rest of her days to make sure that no harm would come of her.

'Actually… perhaps that's not too bad of an idea,' he thought… but then pushed it aside. He couldn't make her a prisoner against her own will. And he certainly could not tell her about his visions. It was too much. It would mean revealing too much of himself to her.

No… he truly could do nothing.

He sat up in the field and looked around. He felt at home here. Relaxed. Peaceful. Calm. This is where he wanted his home.

But… how would he tell Aurren that the place he wanted to build her masterpiece was practically in the backyard of the home her parents died in.

He was dumbstruck for a moment. He actually cared about what she would think of his decision to build here?

Of course, he knew that she would not defy him. Hell, he could tell her he wanted it on top of that damned mountain, and she would try to find a way to please him. Sure, she would be upset about it, but she would never let him know that.

She would never let him know that. It stung, for a moment, when he thought about that. She really wouldn't let him know. Their relationship was nothing more than a boss-employee relationship. They had of late become very casual with each other, but overall, she remained very professional. He could tell when she would chastise herself for being too familiar with him. But to him, the nature of their boss-employer relationship was very much different than any other of the same sort he had.

He thought back to the young technician he had unmercifully killed back on the star ship. A sharp sting of guilt coursed through him. No, this was not the sort of relationship he had with Miss Farr. Theirs was something different indeed. What it was, he was not sure, but it was something that he felt he needed.

For the past 5 years he didn't realize he had been missing something until now. Friendship. He sorely missed seeing anyone look upon him with smiling eyes. It had been too long since before this trip that he had actually heard laughter, and even laughed himself.

He wondered about Aurren. She was not one to give herself up to friendships. At the time when he was preparing the rooms at the villa for her, he had found out that not a single soul on the ship knew her as more than a casual acquaintance. He could not find a single person who he would consider a friend- and it was all because of the distance she put between them and herself.

He wondered how she had managed to let herself open up to him, of all people. He wondered why he wanted to open himself up to her, of all people.

He remained in the field until long after the moon had rose and the sun had set. When he felt sufficiently sure that he would not find Aurren up and about in the manor, he returned to the ship and set the course for home.