AN: I liked writing this one. Remember in the last story where I said some points and loose ends that I brought up would come into play? Well, I said a conversation between Ahsoka and Leia in the first one was significant and you're about to find out why. Also some tension, a little fluff I guess you could say, not a lot.

Oh and I guess I should thank the people who run this website for finally fixing the errors on this website. It was begging to drive me nuts...

Read, enjoy, and review!

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Chapter Ten

"Your highness," one of Palpatine's royal guards said to him. "There's someone waiting to speak with you on the com."

Palpatine did hope it was Vader with his report on the invasion of the Hoth System. He intended on getting further information from his apprentice on how he suddenly knew the whereabouts of the rebel base. He only very cryptically told him that a spy of his came through with the information and Palpatine very much wanted to know who this spy was.

"Master."

Palpatine was a little disappointed that it wasn't Vader, but it was interesting that one of his own spies was contacting him and dressed as a bounty hunter no less.

"Yes, my hand?"

The spy took off her helmet to reveal long black hair, tanned skin and blue eyes.

"I've been watching Vader, just as you asked milord," she said. "And something interesting has come up. Vader's trying to keep it under wraps."

"Oh?" Palpatine asked interested.

"He has pursued searching for his son as you told him and he escaped from Hoth, but he brought another onboard, a woman."

Palpatine frowned. "A woman? Human?"

"No. Togruta. He seems to be very fond of her. He's very tolerant of her, much more tolerant of her than other people. They didn't talk much. She only seemed surprised he hired bounty hunters…"

"To look for his son and his friends I presume?"

"That's the weird part. He's looking for Captain Solo of the Millennium Falcon and his wookiee copilot, along with a protocol droid."

Palpatine didn't understand what was so abnormal about that until she added, "And there's a little girl with them."

"A girl?" Palpatine asked.

"Yes… Five years old. He specifically stated that there would be grave consequences if she was hurt, that whoever did so would be dealt with in his words."

Five years… Palpatine racked his memory to a time where Vader would make random disappearing acts when he had leave on Coruscant and would never be heard from during this time except to make contact with the fleet occasionally and report in to himself. Vader had abruptly stopped doing so five years ago after an issue on a little known and unimportant tropical planet in the Outer Rim, Rummiya was the name, on which he abandoned a mission to pursue the rumor of fugitive Jedi causing trouble on the planet. The Jedi had escaped and it seemed that Vader hadn't been too concerned about that little tidbit as he usually was. In fact he seemed relieved when the emperor didn't make him pursue the matter.

However, it was the way he suddenly fled that was the key. He had fled to Rummiya in a manner similar to the way he suddenly figured out the rebel base was on Hoth… And then the pieces began to fall into place.

Noticing Palpatine's silence, the spy continued. "Some of the officers were saying that she was a rebel prisoner but according to the records we found, it was only recent that she was arrested which coincides with the time Vader said this ship departed from Hoth. The only logical explanation I can think of," the spy added, "is that the woman sent the child away before the invasion and now they're looking to retrieve her because she is their child."

"The woman," Palpatine said darkly. "A torgruta woman. How old?"

"I don't know. She looked young, but you can never tell with Torgrutas. They always look a few years younger than they are and this one looks like she's had some kind of training. I couldn't tell exactly as it seems like Vader was shielding her, but I think she's force sensitive."

Palpatine tapped his fingers. So that was his apprentices little secret. His apprentice's former student had been presumed dead, but it was no secret that she had been on Mustafar during Vader's last confrontation with Obi-wan Kenobi that had severely crippled him. According to Vader, she had disappeared with his former master. It was also no secret that he had been very fond of her, very attached. It then occurred to Palpatine that Vader had known about his son all along and purposely hidden that knowledge from him.

Palpatine pressed his fingers together and said, "Keep a close watch on Vader and let's find out what other secrets he has, what other information he has neglected to mention."

"Yes my master," she said and cut the connection.

A child… Palpatine smiled with malicious intent at the thought, the child of the chosen one and a former Jedi prodigy. This little girl possibly had even more potential than her brother inside her and she was the perfect age to begin to mold into his perfect and obedient apprentice, not like her traitorous father. Suddenly he was glad this had escaped his notice for so long. The potential in this situation…

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Vader didn't mention anything else about training Ahsoka for a day or so and for those days, Ahsoka had spent her time literally following him around everywhere as he navigated and commanded the executor. She didn't say much of anything, just casually observed him and Ahsoka was beginning to wonder if that was the entire point of it all. One thing was for sure though. People were still wondering who she was even though she was sure Vader had made it more than clear that they should suppress their curiosity.

Ahsoka thought he might have been just talking as it seemed highly unlikely that he would ever find the time to train her again. But finally he told her to be ready early the next morning to get started as they had no time to delay. She could help feeling a bit curious and anxiously anticipated seeing how he would go about it. There was a lot of things she hadn't gotten to in her apprenticeship to him the first time around, especially in light of fighting a war. It was learning as she went. But this was a different type of training, a more aggressive and vigorous training than anything the Jedi would have put her through she realized.

Her first level of training was endurance training. Generally, Ahsoka liked to think she had stayed in shape over the last twenty years or so, but as per usual Vader enjoyed proving her wrong. He didn't even waste time trying to warm her up or let her get adjusted as he activated the training droids to as high a level as he dared give her and set her right into the fire.

"You're nuts," Ahsoka remembered saying to him at one point to which he only instructed her to focus on her task.

Ahsoka noticed a few things very quickly. Her balance was off, she wasn't as flexible as she used to be, and her senses were too narrow (the result of years of being in one place with her sole task to raise Leia). Vader however nit-picked on every little detail and Ahsoka for one didn't remember him being that much of a perfectionist when she was a teenager, perhaps because as a teenager six and a half years was a wide age gap for a fourteen year old and a twenty year old. He seemed so much older than her then, more experienced. But when it came to the level of experience, they were basically on even ground.

Finally he stopped her and she sighed.

"What?" she asked a little irritated.

"A lot of things," he said bluntly. "But for one, you're too passive."

"Passive?"

"You're only fighting on a need to fight basis, because you have to. But in order to be able to defeat the emperor you have to want to see your enemy dead, want to make them suffer. Let that drive you. Don't hold back."

"That's a Sith teaching," Ahsoka pointed out.

"The Jedi teach that you fight and act with compassion right?"

"Yeah..."

"Then how do you do that if you don't feel. Put more feeling into your fighting. Let it fill your every action and move, drive you, but don't let it control you. You use it as a tool," Vader said to her.

"It still sounds like you're trying to turn me into a Sith," Ahsoka pointed out.

"If I were, your training would be a lot harsher and more vigorous than this and I'd be telling you to use your hate and anger," Vader replied.

"But naturally hate and anger are going to crop up into that if I fight like that."

"That's a given," Vader said. "It's a natural emotion."

"That's not the Jedi way."

"You're not a Jedi."

Ahsoka glared at him for a moment and then said, "It's easier to fight without emotion. It makes you calmer, more focus."

"No, it only makes it easier for you to accept failure when you fight that way because you forget about what's at stake to keep yourself guarded, ready to accept the worst as though you've already been defeated. When you keep in mind what's at stake, you pour your every being into your fight and that's what brings out emotion. That was why the Jedi fell. They didn't realize the true power in it." Vader pointed out.

"Neither do the Sith. They only believe in hate and anger and any emotions that stem from it or grow into it," Ahsoka reminded him.

"And therefore, I'm not teaching you a Sith philosophy," Vader deadpanned.

"It's still not a Jedi philosophy," Ahsoka shot back.

"What did you expect?" Vader asked her. "Besides, you said so yourself. Leaving emotion out of everything in general makes things easier to deal with."

"I said it makes it easier to fight. When did I say it makes everything in general easier?"

Vader gave her the impatient patronizing look he always gave her when he expected her to figure out something he thought should have been obvious. So Ahsoka, knowing she definitely hadn't said it that day, racked her memory and then remembered saying something to Vader years ago, about nine months before Shmi was born. She looked at him a bit surprised but not that much shocked. It was only a matter of time before this issue came up again and it was better they get it sorted out before they brought Shmi in the middle of it. Ahsoka had a feeling she wouldn't be able to handle it like Leia had for the sole fact this time they would be dealing with a child that Ahsoka was actually the biological mother of. However, then wasn't the time.

Seeing that she had figured it out, Vader turned his gaze from her and started to chide her on her posture and stance before noticing Ahsoka frown.

"What?" he asked as he saw her tilting her head in different directions slightly. Anytime Ahsoka did that, it meant she was picking up something odd with her montrals. For her to be so obviously sensing something with the hollow horns wasn't a good thing though.

"I don't know," she said looking around. "I feel like I'm being watched."

"As in observed or spied on?" Vader asked her.

"Definitely spied on," Ahsoka replied.

Vader looked around and stretched out his senses feeling nothing immediately, but it was still a matter he was going to look into and so decided that correcting Ahsoka's stance and posture would have to wait until later. They were done for the day, at least this kind of training.

"Go get yourself cleaned up," Vader said to her. "We have work to do."

"Work?" Ahsoka asked tiredly.

"When I said I was going to finish your training, I meant it. That's means you tag along for everything and learn in the field," Vader said to her.

"Everything?" Ahsoka asked carefully. "Even missions?"

"I suppose," he said opening the door and leaving the room. It was a private training room near his quarters where no one was allowed to be in light of her arrival.

"Haven't been on one of those in a while," Ahsoka muttered.

"Not even for the rebellion?"

Ahsoka shrugged. "I didn't do much of anything for the rebellion. They would consult with me being one of the only surviving Jedi even though I never claimed the name, but I didn't go on missions. The only reason Leia went on any was because she was bored and Mon found out she could give Luke a run for his money when it came to flying."

"So she was the one who knocked out the two ships flanking me on the Death Star?" Vader asked carefully.

"That was her back there and Han," Ahsoka added.

"She's not a bad shot," Vader pointed out deciding not to comment on Han.

"I think if I had let her, she would have gone after you that day," Ahsoka said to him.

"What about you?" he asked as they arrived back in the living space of his quarters.

Ahsoka only shrugged. "I was content," she said cryptically.

"Liar," Vader said rolling his eyes. "Come on Ahsoka. Tell me. Where do your loyalties lie?"

Ahsoka opened her mouth and closed them. That was a question she didn't want to answer. To be honest, she didn't know and had been battling with it for years. There was a time she could just say she was only in contact with Vader because of Leia and that was her excuse. But Leia was an adult now and to be honest, Ahsoka didn't have to stay for Shmi. The girl had never met Vader, and it could stay that way if Ahsoka so pleased.

She was very aware that the stripes on her lekku were probably darker to reflect her conflict and confusion, not to mention her silence was enough for Vader, even when she chose not to answer.

Ahsoka then became very aware that his mood had darkened and his temper flared before he turned on his heel and started toward his room. Naturally Ahsoka had to follow as the fresher was in his room, but his horrible mood was hard to miss.

"What's your problem?" she asked.

"Nothing," he snapped in a huff taking off his tops and going into the fresher successfully keeping her from continuing her interrogation of him.

Ahsoka started to walk away but then decided she was not going to let him get away. He never let anything go when it came to her, and so she hit the door and continued to hit it while snapping, "Open the door! You can't be angry at me and I don't know why?"

"Never seemed to bother you much before," Vader said through the door.

"But all those times I knew why you were angry," Ahsoka said dryly.

This time Vader opened the door to glare at her. "Did you really?"

"It was hard not to. We would argue about it. Remember?"

"I don't think you really did."

Tired of his cryptic answers Ahsoka groaned and said, "Well why don't you just come out and say it instead of being an egotistical maniac?"

Vader sighed looking away from her before saying, "You can't straddle the fence forever. You're going to have to pick a side sooner or later. And to be quite honest, I think you've already chosen. You just don't want to admit it."

He closed the door again and this time, Ahsoka was too confused to pursue him. So she sat on the bed and waited for him to come out. She still didn't quite understand why he was angry at her. She hadn't given him an answer. But if anything, she had proved no matter where the chips fell she would never turn on him. Sure she didn't actively help or hinder either side of the war they were in the middle of, the one between the Sith and Jedi or the one between the Alliance and the Empire, but she had never turned on Vader.

And then she went back to a conversation she had with Leia when she told her that her dad being angry was his way of hiding his fear. His fear drove him to do passionate things. His fear of Padmé betraying him drove him to hurt her. And then it clicked in Ahsoka's head. She had been wrong that night. Everything they fought and argued about did have a common thread. The Jedi, the Sith, the Empire, Padmé, Leia… Vader was afraid that she was going to end up betraying him like everyone else had in his eyes. The Jedi hadn't betrayed him but they had let him down in their unshakable faith and interpretation of their code and his role in the prophecy of the chosen one. Palpatine had manipulated him for his own gain even though Vader liked the power that came with his position. Obi-wan had been like his father and later his brother but lacked the understanding of why Vader did the things he did, why he couldn't conform to the Jedi. And Padmé… Padmé believed in principle over personality and though she faithfully loved him until the day she died, she would not follow him down the path he had chosen if only to save him even.

Ahsoka leaned her head on her hand. So where did that leave her? As she pondered this, she didn't notice Vader come out the bathroom or even go back in the bathroom to get dressed. It wasn't until he snapped his finger and told her to hurry up and get ready that she snapped out her stupor.

"You must be really out of it if you didn't notice me at all," he commented.

She looked up at him. "You remember that day in the hospital, before you sent me and Leia with the Jedi?" she asked suddenly surprising herself as much as she surprised Vader.

Vader didn't respond immediately as he was trying to figure out where she was going with her statement. But Ahsoka was patient with him and waited.

"Yes," he finally said and then added, "How could I forget it?"

"I meant what I said to you. I didn't just say it because of the moment. Even though I'm not clear what it is you feel for me I…" Ahsoka trailed off.

"What?" Vader pried obviously still irritated with her and more than a little impatient.

Ahsoka sighed and stood up putting her hand on his arm.

"I do love you," she finally said. "And even though we both know that you do a lot of things I don't agree with, I'm not going to abandon you or turn on you if that's what you're afraid of. If that were the case, I'd have done that a long time ago. I think I've proven that much."

Vader looked visibly surprised and something that felt like hope and relief passed over their bond to Ahsoka, but it was just as quickly gone on to be replaced with cautiousness and wariness. Vader seemed to want to say something but couldn't find the words. Ahsoka didn't wait for him to answer, if he had an answer, as she pressed her lips against his and pulled back. She looked him in the eye for a moment and the turned around, making her way for the bathroom.

"How long?" he asked stopping her.

"How long what?"

"How long have you known this?" he asked again.

Ahsoka only shrugged saying, "I don't know. A long time I guess. I just didn't want to admit it."

Ahsoka went into the bathroom to get ready at that point leaving Vader to whatever his thoughts were. It was always hard to tell with him.

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AN: So Palpatine joins the party and Vader doesn't trust Ahsoka and that's just the beginning people. Next chapter is major sexual tension between our favorite couple and it was so fun to write. I can't wait for you all to read it Monday.

Hope you enjoyed. Review Please!