Vader's second chance

Chapter 14

During his time in the Jedi temple, there was a short time where he and Ventress would walk past one another, barely sparing the other a sideways glance. Anakin occasionally heard of Asaji Ventress, a fellow slave that quickly became a prodigy. The rumours reminded the young Jedi of himself. Looking upon her now, Vader can see that same drive and talent, applied to a filed much more suited to her. The way of the Jedi wasn't for everyone. The Jedi way did not have any place for things such as passion or drive, only patience, meaning being eager could only take you so far. The Dark Side however, was built around passion, drive, and sheer will. These things meant that Asaji made leaps and bounds during her curriculum, mastering simple force tricks at a speed that rivalled young Anakin himself. By the time the clone wars came around, if they came around, she would be a force (pardon the pun) to be reckoned with. Watching her train with such vigour, Vader felt the tiniest bit like Anakin again. Right now, she was lifting a series of rocks in a circle around her, each heavier than the last. Beads of sweat ran down her pale skin, but she grits her teeth and refuses to relent. Stubbornness was a trait he admired, both in a student and a potential Sith. Walking up to her, he lifts a hand to take away the weight of the stones. "You've done enough for today. Rest." 

Rising from her place on the ground, she is slightly hunched over with exhaustion. "I can do more." R2, who accompanies Vader most places, zaps her for her stubbornness. "Ouch! Stupid tin bag." She kicks R2 and he shocks her again, causing her to jump back, holding her shin and glaring at the astromech. Vader sighs. He admired stubbornness, yes, but there were times he wished she was slightly less so. 
"You cannot train forever. Doing too much is often worse than not doing enough. You will rest, and we will continue with basic combat training later. Besides, you wouldn't want to
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miss your mother's visit, would you?" Asaji was gone as soon as he finished his sentence, eager to see her mother again despite her last visit only being the day before yesterday. He chuckles at his second apprentices' antics. 

Now alone with R2 in the isolated, rocky area of Dathomir, he turns to his faithful droid. "May I have my communicator, R2?" The droid produces the device from one of his many storage units. "Thank you." Activating it, he sees Maul. "Maul, how goes your progress on Malachor?"
Maul salutes his master before answering. "It is going well. We have collected many of the lightsabers here, and we can soon begin extracting the kyber crystal from the temple."
Vader nods. "Good. How are the workers?" He refers to the other Zabraks and Nightsisters Maul brought with him in order to collect the sabers. 
"They are doing well, and working diligently."
Vader nods again. Good news so far. But an issue needed to be addressed. "I hope you know that kyber crystals are one of the secrets we will keep. If any go missing, find it, and the one responsible. Is that understood?" He couldn't always be the good guy. If he is seen as soft, people may question his authority.
Rather than disturbed by the implied threat, Maul seems calm. "There will be no need. While they are primarily loyal to Dathomir, we are allies, and they have honour. To steal from an ally would be a disgrace." Vader also admired faith. Such a thing was in such short supply these days.

When Maul came back from Malachor, it was with a hoard of Jedi and Sith lightsabers along with a very large, red kyber crystal. Vader did not specifically plan on powering the temple with such a thing, but a few modifications to the temple and it was a simple thing. The lightsabers would be kept in storage until Asaji felt the need to modify or experiment with her lightaber, but until that point, he felt he had to make a call. He remembered finding his first crystal, and making his own lightsaber. As someone with experience with machines, he was the first to finish without affecting the quality of his weapon. He felt that his own students deserved that feeling that it gave him, that satisfaction at having been chosen by such a unique and powerful object, and the dopamine rush of making your first lightsaber. So, he made a call. "Master Yoda."

Yoda very rarely displayed emotions beyond on guard, at ease, contemplative, or in extremely uncommon cases, mildly annoyed, but for a moment, the Grandmaster almost seemed relieved at Vader's call, in a way someone is relieved when they're pulled away from an awkward conversation. "Lord Vader, unexpected, this is. Brought you to call me, what did?"
Vader considered lying, dodging the question or any number of things. Yoda would most likely see through it, but that wasn't the problem. If he backed out now, he'd be disappointed in himself. So, he settled on a decision. 'For my students.' He swallows his pride. "I was hoping me any my newest student would be able to accompany you to Ilum for The Gathering." 
"Absolutely not!" Mace Windu appears on the communicator with a scowl on his face. "We will not allow for a Sith to gain access to one of our most scared grounds!"
The extremely rare mild annoyance appears on Yoda's face. "Speak for all the council, you do?" When the Master is left in silence, Yoda makes a motion that looks like he's turning towards other people. Vader guessed he was interrupting something. "For your opinions, I ask." There is muffled speaking from the room.
'This may take a while.' He is familiar with the councils' methods.
"Allow you and your students to accompany us, I will."
Vader jolts at that. The council never made a decision this quickly. "Very well. I thank you for your generosity, Master Yoda."