Dance of the Sith

Chapter 8 - Feeling the Pressure On Your Mind

***

"I'm sorry about the Commander," Cody tells him the moment Vader goes to talk to him again. "I don't know how she got off without me being alerted."

"It's fine," he reassures, "Leia would have found a way to get to me even if you attempted to stop her." She's good, and Vader is ceaselessly impressed with her skill. She always finds a way to make anything work, the same way he once did.

"That's true," he concedes, faintly amused. "She can be very hard to keep track of."

It was a nightmare when she was little, but her presence was always brilliant, and Vader could find her anywhere if he tried. She always sang like a beacon of light in the Force, and he has to admit he misses those days, back when she was little and so bright.

She's... changed though. She's older and understands the darkness and realism of the galaxy, for all that he's tried his best to shield her from it. He used to think he could protect her, but in the end, there's been so little he could do for her.

"There is a chance the war may be over soon," Vader tells him. It feels so surreal, to even think it's possible. The galaxy has been in a state of constant war ever since the Clone Wars broke out in the first place. It's been practically two decades.

"We heard that once before," Cody points out, bluntly. Yes, when the Empire first formed, and Vader can't blame him for not really believing it.

"I know," he concedes, "But it will depend on the Jedi."

"As it has this entire time. I... can't imagine the war ending."

"I can't either," Vader admits, "But we're negotiating now."

"Will the other insurgents stop simply because the Jedi agree to stand down?" Cody queries.

"The Jedi fueled most of it. I... believe they will." Or at the very least, he can hope. Yes, there will always be something else to fight, but that doesn't have to mean the galaxy needs to be in a constant state of war. "Either way, it will change the galaxy as we know it."

"That may be for the best, sir," he responds.

"It will be." Of that, at least, he's certain. Ahsoka's right that if there's a chance, he has to take it.

***

Ahsoka left to meet with what's left of the Jedi command immediately, with the Empire's offer. Aayla's in charge now – she's one of the last leading Jedi who escaped Malachor; many of those who did get out of the Temple were captured by the Empire – and she was hesitantly willing to take up the Empire's offer, of the Jedi being given a planet to stay in the Outer Rim, where they won't be a danger to anyone.

They can stay in the Empire itself if they want to, but they can't reconstruct a Jedi Order there. And with how long the war's been going on, public opinion has turned very much against the Jedi anyway, so Ahsoka doesn't think starting a new Order so soon would be wise.

"You're sure this isn't a trap?" Hera asks, from over the hologram.

Ahsoka only doesn't wear a hood because there's nothing to hide anymore. She's right on Coruscant. "On Vader's part it isn't. I can't say about the Emperor." Sidious is the only she doesn't trust at all, and she can't understand how Vader could, either.

Out of range of the hologram, someone shrieks loudly. Several someone's actually.

"Don't mind the kids," Hera advises, dryly.

"There seem to be more than normal," Ahsoka replies, raising an eye marking. She's almost certain she had someone distinctly feminine, and the only kids should be Zeb, Ezra, and Chopper.