The Secret Apprentice | Vader x OC

The Truth

Sighing, I took a sip of my juice, "Blip, attempt at a transmission with Ceetoo. Whether it be holo, or a simple audio call. Whichever reaches further across the Galaxy."

She nodded in excitement, initiating an attempt to reach Vader's droid through audio only.

The seconds passed while I ate, the beeping emanating from her with each second that I tried my best to remain patient through.

The seconds passed into minutes, and within no time I had finished up my lunch. The longer I waited, the more I hoped the droid would answer the call itself, or maybe even Ciera.

Blip ended the call attempt, booping in disappointment. Sighing, I tossed my trash into the garbage shoot. Entry into the room grabbed my attention as Aurin made her way in. She hadn't been required to depart with Vader, because she instead served as the fortress's lead nurse while Ciera was away. She had also been left to ensure my safety. At this point in time, her and I had begun to get along. I began to tolerate her, and luckily for me she now has a better understanding of her boundaries. Her burns have healed, and she looked brand new. She greeted me while approaching with her datapad in her hands, "it's good to see you out and about, Reina."

Blip beeped and booped at her joyfully, making her laugh and smile, "it is good to see you too, Blip." Aurin made her way over to me.

"Yeah. I guess so." Keeping my eyes on the table, I rolled a stray bolt around upon the dark steel with two of my fingers.

Taking note of my depression, she leaned against the wall next to the table, "Still no luck, huh. I am sorry, Reina. They should be heading back soon. The castle is nearing completion, and Lord Vader would want to be here for it. Last I heard, he was to attend a final meeting with Emperor Palpatine on Coruscant. That was two rotations ago. I urge you to keep trying, otherwise he should be returning soon."

"Ugh. Waiting like this is killing me, Aurin. It has never been this bad." My head landed on the table, contemplating over whether or not I should distract myself with more training droids like I had been doing daily. I've mastered the blindfold, evasion, anticipation and stamina tests. At this point, we are running out of droids left to train me. I've struck the ones I've beaten, and I know if I run out entirely, I'd probably die of boredom.

"Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think you two have been this close before. That may be why it is affecting you more than it had in the past. Or maybe you had more to do on the Death Star that kept you distracted." She shifted her attention onto her datapad again, sifting through information.

The fortress around us rumbled, reminding me of the electrical storm beyond the fortress walls. The heavy winds and merciless strikes of lightning rampaged across the region. Unlike most storms, these never contained any rain. These occasional storms always made me fearful of their potential strength against the fortress. But now that it was nearly completed, I felt a little more safely sound.

"Yeah. The last time he had left for an extended period of time was on the Death Star. During that time, I hoped he would never return. I was so confident that we hated each other. But Ciera told me otherwise." Keeping my head on the table, my memories felt very chaotic.

Aurin giggled, "Clearly not anymore. Part of me wishes I could get that image out of my head, while at the same time I don't. Sorry, Reina."

Rolling my eyes, embarrassment led my body to heat up, "too much information, Aurin. I don't need to be reminded of that. I am still so sorry you had to see that."

Aurin laughed through her words, "It's funny, though. Ciera led me into the room because she was confident that it had only been you sleeping in here. Lord Vader had always been in his bacta tank around that time at night while you had been here. So we felt this space was safe to access like we had done a number of times before. Apparently not."