Author's Note: In which more about the past comes to light. :)
~ Amina Gila
Finishing up the space battle takes longer than Vader might have liked when Leia's on the ground near the rebel base. He knows Clone Force 99 is more than capable of taking care of her, but something could always catch them off-guard, too, if this was intended as a trap.
And it certainly was.
The resistance they encountered here was stronger than any battle Vader's fought in a long time. The Rebels were actually trying to make a stand here, and they caused a remarkable amount of damage to the Star Destroyer, even if it's still operational. They finally fled the system entirely, even if not before Vader destroyed much of their fleet in return, but the battle still took its toll.
But mostly, Vader's fixating on how Ahsoka was there. And he obviously refrained from causing any damage to that one ship after he knew that. He was admittedly hoping they'd be able to capture it, pull it on board with a tractor beam, but the pilot was too good for that, and they barely managed to escape along with the remains of the Rebel fleet.
Vader feels Leia nudging him with the Force, a silent assurance that she's okay before he sees the Marauder approaching.
He waits, watching tensely as the ship lands, and the ramp lowers. Leia is the first down, holding her helmet despite how they're supposed to keep them on in public. Doesn't matter anyway, he realizes a second later, because it's been damaged.
Cut open – from the lightsaber by the looks of it – and fear, sharp and cutting, flares up inside him. There was nothing like the heart-stopping moment he saw her fighter get hit, felt her flare of fear as she started crashing. He was so, so afraid she would die. Probably, he could've held the ship together with the Force itself long enough for someone to rescue her, but the fact that it was so close twice today makes him want to pull her off the fronts altogether.
She's only sixteen.
"Are you okay?" he asks, fear and desperation burning.
"I'm fine," she reassures immediately, squeezing his right hand where he lays it on her shoulder. It's a prosthetic, so he can't feel much in it anyway, but it's still something. He has pressure senses that pick up her touch, which is the most she can offer. Vader aches to pull her into his arms altogether, but they don't have time for that right here, right now. Not when they have an audience watching.
His gaze drifts past her towards the other six where they're approaching, then beyond to... the eighth member on the ship.
From the presence, it's a Jedi.
"Who is that?" Vader demands, eyes narrowing at the masked figure lazily leaning against the side of the doorway, arms crossed, two lightsabers clipped to her belt.
"Oh, you don't remember me?" she snarks back, and the voice, no matter how distorted it is – and the presence – finally registers.
"What is she doing here?" he asks, whirling to the clones.
He knew Asajj Ventress during the Clone Wars. He's fought her, and she's killed so many of the clones. She's killed his boys, too. She may have walked away from the war, from everything mid-war, but that doesn't make him any happier to see her.
"It's alright," Leia interjects, stepping back and turning to let Ventress past if she wants. Or maybe just to let Vader charge her if he wants. Which he does want to, but a lot of people made a lot of mistakes in the war, even himself, and he needs to know why his daughter thought this a good idea, first. "She was sent to the base to kill us, but she's had a... falling out with the Jedi."
To kill Leia? That explains the helmet damage, and nor does it make Vader feel any better about this.
"You were working with them?" he inquires, because he needs to focus, regardless of how he feels about it. He needs to assess threats and gain information, first.
"I am not on any side," she replies, sauntering down the ramp and removing her own helmet. Her hair's long. Or rather, she has hair in the first place – she didn't during the war, and it's a little weird to see. There's something softer, gentler about her presence that wasn't there before, and that's the only thing stopping him from lashing out.
"Then what were you doing down there?" Hunter asks, tensing and shifting forwards.
Vader moves forwards, gently pushing Hunter out of the way, mostly as a stand down gesture. If they start going at the ex-assassin, or maybe still assassin, she'll either stab them or break their necks. They don't have a defense like Vader and Leia do.
He also doesn't think they're any less wary about Ventress's presence than he is. Leia didn't grow up at that time, and she doesn't understand.
"They gave me an offer," Ventress snips back, "They offered me money. Didn't see a reason to refuse." Her eyes drift to Leia again. "But evidently, rumors are true that the Jedi've fallen past what I thought."
Many of them are, in fact, actually Fallen. Vader can't count the number he's seen with eyes burned sulfuric yellow from the Dark Side. And they claim they're righteous.
"What are you here for, then?" Vader asks, "Money?" He's okay with bounty hunters, so long as they have some sort of morals or at least honor. Most don't. Some do.
She clicks her tongue. "Always right to it, Skywalker. I'm always in for a good fight."
That is admittedly a lot like the person he used to know. She'd do anything for a good fight.
That doesn't guarantee anything, though. For all they know? This could just be a front for something far more sinister. She could be here to spy on them, could be feigning all this, and he has every intent of taking it up with Maul and Sidious to see what their opinions are. Sidious is far more familiar with Ventress than Vader himself, and he doesn't really know what to think about her.
Back in the end of the war, there were rumors that she'd returned to the Light, but he can't entirely say he believes it. And even if she did, it doesn't mean anything. There is a vast difference between being Light and being good or moral.
He suspected, too, that the Rebellion knew his name, his former identity. It doesn't matter, but he's still on edge at hearing it. He hasn't been Anakin with anyone since Padme died. Since Operation Knightfall and the should-have-been destruction of the Jedi.
The last time he saw Ventress was when Ahsoka left him, left the Jedi, and if she'd stayed, she could be with Vader now.
He wouldn't have been so alone.
He wouldn't have to worry about the Empire hurting her, about himself hurting her by accident, because she's fighting against him. He needs to tell Maul about Ahsoka, too, so he can start searching for her. Vader needs to find her again, to talk to her, but that's something he'll have to worry about later.
He needs to tell Leia about it, too. And Cody.
"And your... current intentions?" Vader inquires shortly, still facing Ventress.
She purses her lips. "Find whoever sent me after your new little pet."
"Why would that concern you?" Vader asks. Because really, she's a bounty hunter and she nearly killed Ahsoka during the war, and she was younger than Leia is now. Maybe Ventress has changed, but he'll trust it when he actually sees it.
Ventress shrugs. "She's too young to be in a fight like this, on either side. And they neglected to tell me that little bit of information. Typical."
"They sent you after Leia specifically?" he demands, fear and anger flooding him instantly. She's not an unknown figure, but she only started fighting recently, and she's not that well known either.
"Specifically, they sent me after your favorite Inquisitor sidekick," she replies, "What's with you always being trailed by little girls?"
As if he's going to tell her the real reason.
"I'm not little," Leia grumbles.
"You're tinier than his last pet, actually," she retorts, smirking.
Speaking of Ahsoka, Vader needs a moment with Leia. "Since you willingly came onto an Imperial ship, I assume you're willing to give whatever information you do have about the Rebellion," he says, finally.
"I could be persuaded to," she muses. For money, she likely means.
"I have matters to attend to right now," he replies, shortly, "We will discuss this more later."
"As you wish," Ventress drawls, entirely unperturbed. Maybe she really is telling the truth, or this is a bold move. Only time will tell.
***
Vader pulls Leia into a hug the moment they're behind closed doors, the moment he can be certain no one dangerous is around to see. Everyone – or at least most people – aboard his Star Destroyer know who she is, but it's still not something they make obvious.
She hugs him back just as desperately, clinging to him.
"Are you alright?" he asks again, gloved hand pressing her closer. With how close he came to losing her, it helps to be able to hold her like this.
"Yeah," Leia promises, head resting against his chest, "I'm right here, aren't I?"
"It... was close," Vader replies, "If you would like a break to focus on your training..."
"It's okay," she assures, "But maybe I can practice more for space battles."
Vader entirely agrees with that. Even if she's on the field, in space can be... dangerous, and she's not as good with ships as he is, even if he has no doubt she could be when she has more experience. And he... doesn't want Ahsoka and Leia in a position to be fighting each other either; it's terrifying how easily that could happen.
"Is something else wrong?" Leia asks, when he reluctantly lets go of her, and she steps back.
Fondness momentarily flares through him at the question; she's always fast to sense things like that. "Yes," he admits, "I sensed Ahsoka with the rebel fleet."
Leia stills, shock flitting across her face. "Ahsoka was there?"
"She was reaching for me, along with some other Jedi, likely to determine my identity," he replies.
"Why would she fight for the Rebellion?" Leia asks, and there's an underlying note of almost-hurt in her voice.
With all the damage they've done to the galaxy, he doesn't want to think about why she'd side with them either, but he... truthfully expected it. "She was still raised a Jedi, and we are Sith, something she was always taught to be evil. And she may not realize the full extent of the damage the Rebellion is causing." Ahsoka always saw things in black and white. If she started out angry at the Empire for what happened to the Jedi, without realizing why it happened, Vader can see why she would never have left the fight. That's why he has to find her, talk to her.
"Can we convince her to join the Empire?" Leia asks, hopefully.
"I will try," Vader replies, firmly. He won't stop until he does. He won't let Ahsoka be his enemy. (But what if that's not a choice he gets to make? She walked away from him once.)
Leia reaches out, squeezing his hand. "With what you've told me about her, I'm sure we can convince her. How do we find her?"
"Finding Jedi is Maul's area of expertise. I must discuss the situation with him and the Emperor as soon as we reach Coruscant."
***
Sidious is at the Senate when Vader gets back to Coruscant with his fleet. It's been a long time since he was last here, and it probably will be a long time after before he's back again. Still, as he flies over the Imperial Palace – former Jedi Temple – on the way to the Senate building, he can't help his gaze drifting to the fancy steps that lead up to it.
Once, that was where he stood when Ahsoka walked away. It's been so many years since then. He's grown used to it, but now that he felt her again, it reignited a desperate yearning to have her at his side again, and maybe this time, it's actually in reach. Maybe.
For all that the palace is entirely different from what the Temple was, the Senate hasn't changed much.
The Senate building is as massive a maze as it always is when Vader arrives. It's changed, though. Bit at a time. Vader had insisted on purging the Senate of its corruption. Sidious had been reluctant, because that could cause... complications for the Empire, but Vader insisted, and Sidious eventually – albeit reluctantly – agreed. Even if that meant removing some of the people who used to support Sidious. It's complicated, though.
He pauses when he sees a familiar Senator – Fox. The clones were granted citizenship, despite how nearly all of them chose to remain in the army. Some... defected, but all things considered, the numbers are minimal.
Fox had been elected as a Senator for the clones, primarily because his role made him far more knowledgeable about what politics entailed.
And frankly? No one else was willing to volunteer, something Vader entirely seconds. He's accustomed to coming here, but he never stops hating it. The corruption and darkness no longer feel like it once did, but it's still very prevalent.
It's different than the Republic, though. Like this, Vader actually feels like he can matter, can make a difference. He's not lost, drowning in something far greater than him and way over his head. And at least unlike the Republic, the Empire actually did something for the clones.
(He wishes Padme was here, wishes she was able to see what's happened. She would know what to do, could guide the Senate somewhere, because right now, there aren't many people Vader knows or trusts in the Senate. But she's gone, like everything in his past life.)
Sidious is waiting when Vader reaches the office, though Maul's nowhere to be seen. Which is... unusual, because usually it's Vader who's running in last minute. That's normal for him – he can't say why, because he could swear he's never intentionally late, but it always happens anyway.
Sidious turns towards him, and it's hard to read his face with how badly Windu injured him back when this all started, but Vader would describe the look in his eyes as thoughtful. "I have sensed a disturbance in the Force," he replies. "Have you felt it, Lord Vader?"
He decides to go right off for explaining what happened, because even if Maul's the one who needs to know, Sidious is... more experienced. "When we were in the space battle over Dantooine, I sensed something," Vader settles on. "It – someone I thought long gone. Ahsoka Tano."
He can't read the Sith's face. "Are you certain?"
"It was her," he answers with conviction. He could recognize that gentle-soft presence anywhere, the presence of his former padawan, the first child he raised as his own, the one he failed and would do anything to get back. He would have done anything for Ahsoka once, and... that is every bit as true now as ever.
"Then you and Lord Maul must find her," Sidious cautions. "She could be... a threat to our Empire."
"An ally," Vader responds instantly, "If she will join us."
And even if she won't – and he very much fears that inevitable – he could never hurt her, could never let anyone hurt her. She was his padawan.
"Perhaps," Sidious muses, studying him. He inevitably seems to know what Vader is thinking about. "She may also lead us to other Jedi out there. But you must remain focused on what is most important for the Empire."
"I understand, Master," he replies, even if he already knows he wouldn't be able to hurt Ahsoka, no matter what it came down to. There has to be a way it... doesn't have to end with them fighting.
Somehow, he doesn't entirely think Sidious is appreciative of his response, but the conversation is interrupted when Maul finally arrives. "I was held up, Master," he says, a little breathlessly. He sounds slightly irked about something, not as though that's unusual.
Vader's grown used to it, but sometimes, it's still strange to be working so closely with him. After he was brought to Coruscant – Vader's still proud of Ahsoka for being able to defeat him, especially now when he sees just how good of a fighter Maul is – Sidious decided that his skills would be of better use for the Empire, so long as he remained loyal.
It was difficult at first, because he and Maul had little desire to work with each other back then, and Maul didn't much want to serve Sidious either, since he apparently killed his brother sometime in the past. But the Zabrak also wanted to live, so he accepted the Sith Master's offer. They've come a long way from there.
Or at least, Vader and Maul have. He can't say for the other two.
"I encountered a Jedi," Maul begins, "He was far more skilled than any I've confronted in the past."
"Did you determine his identity?" Sidious asks.
"He was careful to conceal it," Maul replies, flipping on a holorecording.
It's showing a masked figure wielding a purple lightsaber, attacking some Imperials along with a number of other people, though they're only using blasters. With all the smoke from the attack, it's hard to get a close look at anything about him.
The fight is in the middle of a town somewhere, and none of the rebels are paying any mind to all the surrounding civilians getting caught in the crossfire. They never do, though.
The Empire doesn't always either, and Vader isn't happy about that, but it's not nearly as extreme as it is for the rebels. And many of them are Jedi, who supposedly never do things like that. He'd... have far more questions about what he'd started doing in Operational Knightfall, if not for this.
There are times that Vader finds himself questioning if the Dark Side is the only answer, but then he sees what the Light is doing, and that answers everything. Dark is nothing like what the Jedi have taught, and far beyond even Sidious's knowledge himself, which made Vader eventually turn to more... ancient things. To holocrons. They have far more knowledge than Sidious does.
They've given him far more power and skill, things he's using to better the galaxy in ways that the Jedi never tried, even in the time before they fell.
"Is he familiar to you, Lord Vader?" Sidious asks.
Vader's the only one who might know, after all. He studies what he can see of the fighting style. It would be easier, if the figure was attacking another lightsaber wielder. It's hard to tell, but he can faintly pick on the Force presence even if it's shielded well, and the way he's fighting is a little familiar. That he's also using a purple lightsaber makes him wonder even more.
But that doesn't make sense, because Windu hasn't been seen or heard from since that night he went out the window of Palpatine's office. He was supposed to have died there. They never had a reason to think otherwise.
"His fighting style does resemble Windu, as does the lightsaber." Though that doesn't have to mean much, because with how many Jedi have been lost, there's lightsabers all over on the black market now. But still, the coincidences are too... convenient to be merely coincidence.
"The disturbance in the Force is growing," Sidious says, which is enough of a confirmation that they need to be prepared in case it is Windu. "You must find these Jedi insurgents and destroy every last one. If Tano can be turned, you may... recruit her, but if not, she must be stopped, as well."
"Yes, Master," Vader replies, even if he doesn't truly mean it. He does have to stop Ahsoka somehow, though. But he won't hurt her. He won't.
"It will be done," Maul assures, a hint of glee in his voice. He's always eager to go fight another Jedi. He bears a certain hatred of them that Vader doesn't really understand, because it's not about what they're doing to the galaxy, exactly. It's just that they're Jedi. Likely, though, that's what Sidious raised him to believe.
Maul has always been the Lord of Vengeance, in that way. It's what he does, with his role in the Empire of hunting down Jedi. Vader deals primarily with anyone else in the Empire who's causing problems, though those factions frequently are led by Jedi, making him the... Lord of Wrath.
Sidious was titled the Lord of Deceit in the same way, with how he led the galaxy to this point. Vader still isn't happy with what he can guess at what Sidious did to reach this point, but at least they're actually making a difference in the galaxy now.
"What's this about Lady Tano?" Maul asks, as he and Vader head from the room.
"I sensed her. She's with the rebels, but if I find her, she may join us."
Maul is studying him again. "And if she does not?"
He doesn't want to think about it. "She will."
"She is still a Jedi," Maul reminds, "I will find her, but I fought her once before. I do not see her easily swayed."
"I know," Vader responds, and he does. He understands exactly how stubborn his padawan can be, but he's dealt with her before. Probably, talking Ahsoka down will be far more difficult than he anticipates, but he still has to try.
***
Leia is in their quarters at the Imperial Palace when she senses the downward spiral of her father's emotions. Something's... bothering him, and it immediately catches her attention.
With Vader, it could be anything, and for as unbeatable as he always seems to be, that's never enough to make her stop worrying about him. She doesn't think anything ever could be.
He's in his room, and she nudges him lightly in the Force, to make sure he's fine with her entering – not that there's really ever a reason he wouldn't be – before she steps inside. The room is controlled chaos, as always. Mechanical parts are scattered around on the floor and on the table in there, in what he insists is perfectly organized.
How he remembers their location months later when they stop by here, since they aren't here that often anymore, she has no idea.
There's a Sith holocron, glowing red in the dimly lit room, on his desk. Something from the stash of holocrons he's often studying, she assumes. Sidious... doesn't follow the Sith way quite how Vader does, and he eventually let Vader continue studying on his own. Maybe after he realized that Vader's power had far surpassed anything Sidious himself knew.
"Father?" she inquires tentatively, stepping inside. She doesn't know what's wrong, but she doesn't want him to be alone through it.
"Leia?" He looks up at her, expression flickering with surprise before it fades out.
She doesn't know how to say it, short of cutting right to the question. "Are you okay?" she asks quietly.
"I... was thinking about Ahsoka," Vader explains quietly, looking away. "I... know how stubborn she is, and it may not be as simple to bring her back as I am hoping."
That isn't something Leia can reassure him about. She's heard so much about her... aunt that it feels as though she knew her, but really? She doesn't. Leia has no idea how Ahsoka will react to knowing who Vader is. Shey may have left the Order, but if she's fighting with the Rebellion when it's doing everything it is, she doesn't know what to think about her.
"We'll figure it out," she offers quietly, approaching him.
"Yes," he agrees tiredly, though he doesn't sound like he believes his own words. "We... will."
She climbs onto the edge of the bed next to him. "Whatever happens, I'll still be here. And so will the boys," she promises. Not that it helps much, but it's the most she can say.
"I know," he replies, something unfailingly soft in his eyes when he looks at her, the same way he always does.
Leia scoots closer, climbing into his lap instead, wrapping her arms around him tightly. He returns the embrace so fiercely it's practically smothering, not that she could ever mind.
She knows from the little she's heard of her father's life that he was often lonely, and she's glad that at least she can promise to always be with him.
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