The Smallest Rebel

Chapter II – "The Child"

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars

Darth Vader – 0BBY

It was in silence that the pair trekked back through the city of Mos Eisley. The dark lord held the girl firmly by her wrist, pulling her through the not-so-busy streets. Everyone must've ran off when they saw the Jedi fighting with his men. It was unfortunate nobody had caught them. Now he had lost Kenobi. He clenched his fist angrily. He had been so close, so close to catching that traitor. Of course, it must've been the will of the force, for he found the girl. She had put up quite the fight at first; kicking, punching, biting even, when he had caught her. The first minute she had been terrified out of her wits, so much he wondered how it was possible she went from frightened little girl to struggling to escape like a caged nixu. If he had any doubts of her Force sensitively before, they were gone then. When he had approached her, she had sensed him, turning around to face him. Without a doubt, she had sensed Kenobi too; he knew there was a connection between the two, he just didn't know what sort of connection it was. When struggling, he had felt it strongly. She had been subconsciously reaching out to the Force to assist her, and it had helped. Not quite enough, but it had helped.

Now, for the most part, she remained quiet. When it had become evident to her that there was no use in fighting, she had stopped, and he had taken her by the wrist, and started their way through the city. No doubt, if he checked now, her pale skin would be bruised dark purple, but he didn't dare loosen his grip. Anytime he did check back on the girl, she was glaring at him, or glancing around as if looking for something – no, somebody he decided, thinking on Ryker and Kenobi – or biting her lip. Ryker, he supposed, was an issue. He had only called the girl "kid" or "Avi"; the latter of which was most likely an abbreviation and a nickname. The name wasn't the issue though, it was Ryker himself. The shop owner had been anxious to keep him away from "Avi". Vader could only assume then, the man was smart, and possibly knew. The girl was strong in the Force, and she wasn't really Ryker's assistant. He had told her she really only helped out when she was "in-between jobs". So who was this kid? Where were her parents? And what was her connection with Kenobi?

The girl suddenly dug the heels of her boots into the ground. The sandstorm was coming in strong, and he squinted beneath his hood to stare at her, maintaining his hood on her wrist. She was pale, flushed, and overall exhausted for starts. He didn't need to look at her to know that, he could feel it radiating off her. She wasn't even trying to hide her feelings or current state. Scowling, Darth Vader locked his gaze on hers; noting without meaning to the intense blue her eyes were. She pursed her lips and squared her shoulders. It was all fake. She was feigning strength. Of course, she had to be commended for the way she carried herself; any non-Force sensitive would never have been able to see just how scared she was. It was natural, her acting. It reminded him to figure out just who she was.

"Where are you taking me? Where's Lev? What do you want?" She finally demanded. Her words came out fast and desperate. She was weary, constantly glancing at her wrist, still held in his grasp.

Instead of answering, he stared back at her for the longest time, blinking as he regarded her. There was something familiar about the way she squared her shoulders, and how her eyes flashed in restrained anger, how she titled her chin, an act of a defiance to an obviously stronger force. Maybe some of that strength wasn't fake. Just enough was real to retain a boldness he thought most teenagers probably upheld. He certainly had. Finally, he tightened his hold on her wrist, hearing her mumble a weak protest, her eyes glaring at him in pain and fear. "You are coming with me to the Executer. Your friend has been left unharmed."

With that said, he once again pulled her along. She fell back into silence, seemingly distracted by his words for the moment. The streets were mostly empty at this point, mostly Stormtroopers now walked along, on search for the Jedi Vader knew they wouldn't find. Kenobi had gotten away. Unless… Yes, that was it.

The girl was a liability. Kenobi had known her. Had told her to run. "Avigail." The girl frowned suddenly, head snapping up to look at him. He kept walking, his eyes fixed ahead, but he knew she was looking at him. He could feel the tremor of surprise pass through her. Truly, she was untrained. Ridiculously so, yet she had remained hidden for this long. That was the connection. Kenobi had hidden her. But why? What was his purpose? His goal? He had let the girl run out into a sandstorm, did he really think she would've made it far? Either his faith was strong, or he was truly a foolish old man. Or perhaps he was both, but Vader didn't believe his former master was stupid, nor did he think Lev Ryker a fool. The girl, Avigal, was important to them for some reason. And that boy.

He hadn't taken too much time passing them by. He thought he could grab the girl and still catch Kenobi. He was wrong. And he had taken too little notice of the boy. He couldn't even picture his face. A blonde boy; that was it. He had had a lightsaber though, but he hadn't used it. Vader was certain now, as he led Avigal towards his shuttle, that the boy was also Force sensitive. That was two young Force sensitives, and a Jedi master on one planet. At least the girl was in his possession, and not the Jedi's. The Emperor would not be very pleased despite the capture.

No sooner he took one step up the shuttle, the girl picked up where she left off on struggling. It was sudden, to be certain, but Vader felt himself, by instinct, tightening his hold around her wrist once more, before twisting her arm. Not enough to break, but enough to hurt. The kid, or rather Avigail, couldn't fight back, expect by frantically trying to hit him with her free arm; a futile effort. Icy eyes widened for a minute, before she grudgingly went slack, and he pushed her aboard the ship. She made a squeak of protest, giving him a harsh look as she sat down and he ordered the pilot to take off.

It took five minutes to reach the Executer, during which the girl began to doze off. In the silence, Darth Vader studied her once more, contemplating just how she could be used against Kenobi. The Jedi's compassion was a great weakness; he had learned this the hard way multiple times during his days as Obi-wan's apprentice. The girl was just that; a girl. She was twelve, at his best guess; give or take a year. She was painfully small even for that. Eleven maybe. Ten. He watched in silence, noting how strands of wavy, golden brown hair strayed into her face. There was something familiar about those simple features. Like looking through a mirror almost, but only a foreign mirror. He was not a child. Definitely not a girl. He had had blonder hair as a boy. Yet the resemblance, odd in what it was, only served to irritate him. Kenobi's presence, and this child; it made him recall what he would rather not. As the ship docked, the girl stirred. That was a good; he didn't need to waste time waking her.

As her eyes flickered open, Avigail seemed wearier than before. She was fully alert in seconds, unsurprising due to his suspicions of her obvious Force-sensitivity. She flinched when he reached to grab her wrist again, pulling away as she stood up. She seemed a little green, for some reason, if he thought about it. Her steps were off-balance, but she quickly left the ship; most likely disliking the idea of being dragged around again. He didn't blame her; her wrist did look very bruised, but he couldn't bring himself to care overly much. Instead, he beckoned her to follow, setting off without looking behind him, through the many corridors of his flag ship. The click of her boots alerted him to her movement, struggling to keep up with his long strides but he didn't slow. She had nowhere to go, or any hope of getting away if she tried to run; she'd follow.

That was… Until she saw where he was leading her. Two times, they had stood in a lift. Vader had leaned against the wall, arms crossed against his chest, eyes closed as he waited. The girl would stand, bouncing on the balls of her feet, glaring up at him. That had happened twice now, and together they walked down one more corridor before she stopped. He heard her boots click one more time, then silence. With an irritated sigh, the dark lord turned, eyeing Avigail carefully. She'd turned two shades greener. It would've been funny really, if he was someone else. With a frown, he turned towards the door, then to the girl. "Perhaps there's a reason you're more afraid of a medical facility than me, but I don't care for it," he snapped. He hadn't actually expected her to dart inside after he said that, but she did, visibly furious and embarrassed as she did. Running his hand through his hair, he shook his head to himself before following.

Avigail somehow had already managed trouble. Vader had no clue how, but the girl – who looked painfully small at this moment – was practically having a glaring match with the doctor. Impatiently, he glowered at the two, ready to call upon the Force to get the girl's attention but she suddenly turned, her angry gaze fixed on him once more, to the doctor's immense shock and surprise. He easily waved away both Avigail's fury and the doctor's confusion. With a frown, he gestured the girl to sit on a nearby chair, before addressing the doctor. "I need a DNA test on the child."

"Wait what?" He ignored her.

"Of course milord." The doctor scampered off, to get the materials no doubt.

In the minute that followed, he turned back to the girl. She'd gone from green, to white as a sheet. "You can make this a little easier, child, by telling me your full name."

She made a face; somewhat a mix of a scowl and look of fear. "If I did… No…" She gestured in the direction the doctor went.

"If I suspect you of lying," he stated in response. "Then the doctor will take a sample of your DNA for analyzing."

"Why?"

He was the verge of strangling that girl. He sighed. She had to live. She was a liability. "I want to know who you are. Ryker didn't supply many details, nor do I believe you will be fond of giving such information willingly yourself. Correct me if I am wrong of course."

She said nothing. He had suspected as much. Soon, the doctor walked back in, seemingly unaware of the tension between the two. Vader crossed his arms and took his place against a wall, closing his eyes and calling upon the Force. He heard the doctor say something along the lines of Avigail being too tense, and the sound soon distorted. The Force whispered in his ears, but gave no answers. If only it listened to his questions, and answered them, he wouldn't have as many things to ask. There was just too much he needed to know. The Emperor, of course, might already know of the girl. The old man might've gotten a vision, or sensed her. Yet… She'd reminded hidden all this time.

A hand tugged on the sleeve of his tunic. Opening his eyes, he looked down to the girl; she was pale, and flushed bright red, and her free arm was nursing where the doctor must've taken the blood. She was no longer glaring at him, but her eyes were flickering about anxiously. Without a word, he turned his attention to the doctor, who seemed to be right on top of things. A small data-pad like device was in his hands, and he was clearly analyzing the sample. Avigail had gone tense again. No surprise there. Still, the question why was left unanswered. Like why had Avigal decided to retrieve him from his Force-induced reverie? The doctor wasn't done–

The doctor, who had been silent for the most part, turned to the dark lord, offering the data-pad. If possible, the man was paler than Avigail. Furrowing his brow, Vader took the data-pad, to which Avigail strained to get a look at too, standing on her tiptoes. He pushed her away gently, quickly scanning the results with weary eyes. "That's… Not possible."

The girl frowned, tugging his sleeve again. She was biting her lips, until they bled it seemed, as he looked down at her once more. The resemblance was there of course… But… "I double-checked milord," the doctor said softly.

Of course he did. It would've been incredibly foolish not to.

"I would've known," he murmured. "Would've sensed it."

"It would seem in your anger, you killed her." The child… The child.

"My name is Avigail Skywalker."

"I know."