"Just the two of us."
"I don't want to talk to you," snapped Aaliyah and continue sitting on the bed, her back to the intruder, who walked into the room just a couple of seconds ago.
"I understand," the man said in hoars and (Aaliyah almost believed) in a heartbroken voice.
"I don't think you do," she hummed.
He sighed and walked two steps forward. "I know you think I betrayed the Jedi, but I never did," as soon as he said that Aaliyah jumped to her feet and turned around to look at the man with short blond hair, whose face used to be so familiar.
"The clones killed the Jedi. Their generals. People who trusted them with their lives. And did it in the most coward way possible."
Rex sighed again and whipped his eyebrow. "I understand. I do, but I came here," his voice broke and he stayed silent for a second. "I came here because I needed to tell you that I never raised a weapon against a Jedi. I never did," he said, and Aaliyah wanted to believe that.
"Yet, you are working for the empire," Aaliyah smirked ironically.
"I am not," he said quickly and when Aaliyah's face twisted into a doubtful expression, he shook his head and repeated his words. "I am not. I am working with Anakin...with Lord Vader. And I won't apologize for that," it has surprised Aaliyah when he called his master by his name. She was even more surprised that he knew this name.
"He is the empire, so what's the difference?" she asked not really seeking the answer.
"There's a big difference. Time will show you everything you need to see," he said and looked deep into her eyes. It made her angry, so angry. Everyone keeps telling her she will know the truth in time, but she was tired of it. What truth? She was sure she knew everything important.
Before she could even say anything else, the door slid open, and Vader's tall frame was standing in the doorway. He had his shiny black mask on his head, and his black cape was hugging his broad shoulders. This is just getting better and better, Aaliyah thought and wanted to sit down again and ignore the two men, those two intruders. Before she could do that, Vader's smooth and deep voice said words that made her heart stop.
"The Emperor wants to see you," he said, and Aaliyah couldn't believe that before he revealed his true identity, she never noticed how Vader's voice resembled that of Anakin Skywalker. Voice she always thought could recognize anytime.
"I don't want to see him," she said and hoped that Rex nor Vader could hear the anxiety in her tone.
"You don't have a choice," Vader said and quickly turned his head towards Rex. "Captain Rex, you will accompany us," he said and turned around to walked out of the room.
Rex sighed once again and looked at Aaliyah. "I'm sorry," he waved his hand towards the door.
She decided to save her resistance for the Emperor and simply just walked out of the door with Rex following behind her. "Just behave, please," she heard behind her from Rex and almost snorted in disgust. How dare he lecture her about anything?
"I know what I'm doing," Aaliyah said and looked up to see Vader waiting for them at the end of the hallways that lead to her quarters. Or what she considered just nicer looking prison cell.
She wasn't sure where they were going, but somehow, she expected them to board a ship and went to whatever planet the Sith Lord is using as a hiding place. Maybe if she gets this information and somehow managed to get it to the Rebel base, they would be able to attack him where he won't expect them. Surprise him and destroy him once and for all.
But the luck was not at her side. The Emperor came to see them, not the other way around. He was waiting for them in something that reminded her of a throne room. It was big, with tall tinted windows at the side that let in a reddish light, making the room even more intimidating. And at the very end was a big throne, that was occupied by a slumped hooded figure. The Emperor. Somehow, she knew that the throne was not made for him. Why would it be, if this was Vader's home, his fortress? The Emperor just used it to seem more intimidating, to appear to have endless power.
Vader was still in front of her, so she could see him when he took his mask with both hands and took it off. Maybe it was an act of respect for the Emperor, she couldn't know. Somehow, to see the familiar dark blonde curls attached to the suit of the Dark Lord still surprised her.
They stopped right before the steps leading to the platform which the throne was situated on. The Emperor still hasn't moved, but she could see his eyes on her. Scanning her. Analysing her. Stalking her. Probably trying to feel her emotions. She could feel the pressure of his force at the walls of the protection she built. Not averting her eyes from him, she stood her ground.
"You are much interesting to me," he said, and his slick, quiet voice was travelling through the big, empty hall, making it seems like it was coming from every direction. "I have to admit, I have been waiting for this moment. You are a very interesting character," he repeated and made a small movement with his hand. He waved to Vader, that was standing on the second step, watching both the Emperor and Aaliyah. His face was emotionless and blue eyes shining from the red light coming from outside. "Finally, we can see each other as we are, without hiding our true identities, don't you agree, my dear Aaliyah?" he said and stood up without warning. His form was hidden under a thick black material of his robes, only his sickly pale hands showing.
Aaliyah was quiet, feeling extremely vulnerable to stand before her enemy without any weapon. Without any form of protection. "Such a potential," he said in a raspy voice and slowly stepped down from the stairs. "You are powerful, you are a great Jedi, but you could be more."
Something in Aaliyah made her laugh out loud, getting the attention of every person in the room. Rex, who was standing next to her, quickly turned his eyes on her, just like Vader and the Emperor stopped in the middle of the stairs. "Your sweet talk and compliments won't get you anywhere," she said with sharper tone than she expected, and consequences came sooner than she expected. Her voice wasn't even able to fade from the hall when her screams started.
Her knees shook and suddenly gave up underneath her, when a wave of purple lightning struck her straight into her chest and the torturous pain began. As quickly as she screamed, Aaliyah willed herself to stop, biting into her tongue, refusing to show how painful this experience was. She wasn't able to tell how long it took, maybe a couple of seconds, maybe hours, but when the lightning disappeared, her body still shook.
"And most of all, I was waiting for this," the Emperor sneered and came down to stand above her. She wanted to get up, but the pain from the shocks still wiggled every muscle of her body. "Your little affair almost cost me everything," he said, and his voice was colder than the hard floor she was laying on. "Believe me, I don't need sweet talk to get what I want."
Aaliyah coughed and over the Emperor's shoulder caught sight of Anakin, whose face was as emotionless as it possibly could be, but he simply shook his head to show her that resistance won't get her far.
"I apologize," she said when she looked at Sidious again. He tiled head under the hood as if urging her to continue. "I apologize, that I had an affair with your apprentice. Believe me," she highlighted this phrase. "if I knew, I would sooner kill him, than had any sort of relationship with him."
This time it was the Emperor's time to laugh. It was disgusting, twisted and disturbing sound to her ears. "You see, my young apprentice?" he turned to look at Vader. "You vouch for her, beg me to spear her life, yet she would kill you if she could." Vader's face still hasn't changed, as if he was made out of stone. "Perhaps it's her resentment to you that you like so much, Lord Vader? Or you like the fact, that you can't have her? Before it was because she was a Jedi and now it's because you are everything she hates," he laughed again. "If nothing else, you two at least provide me with a great show."
No words were said when the Emperor jerked his head as a sign to get her out of his sight. With two long steps, Vader was already next to her, gripping her arm tightly, pulling her up and out of the room. He was in a hurry, completely forgetting Rex behind, or he simply understood, that his master won't need him anymore. "I can walk on my own," Aaliyah snapped, when he dragged her behind him, his cape waving from the speed.
He never stopped, never even slightly turned around to look at her. Not until they were in her quarters, and the door closed behind them. "What a nice visit," she murmured sarcastically underneath her breath and massaged the place on her arm, that was now read from Vader's hold.
When he didn't say anything, didn't do anything, Aaliyah looked up to see him staring at her with lips locked tightly in a line and eyes narrowed. She smiled at that. "I see, you don't like how I spoke to your master?"
Once again, he stayed quiet, but came closer, slowly but surely, he was inching up to her, watching her just like she imagined a predator would watch it pray. Her heart rate quickened because she noticed something in his eyes. Something she used to see, something she was familiar with. Something that used to make her smile teasingly. Now it just woke up expectations she wanted to bury deep down inside her. It was lust she saw inside his blue eyes.
As slow as he was before, when they were just an inch apart, he bent down, took her face into his hands and kissed her. To say that she was surprised was an understatement because she was also appalled, that he dared to do something like this when just a minutes ago, she was tortured by his master. Aaliyah even found the will to lift her hands to push at his chest. But when she felt him underneath her, when she focused on his lips, it was as if she time travelled. Suddenly she wasn't a prisoner, she was a Jedi, there was no Empire, just a Republic. Everything was as it was supposed to be because Anakin was once again all around her. His smell, his touch, his presence, and also something that was never there before, something that used to be hidden. His force presence. And it was not hollow, cold and dark. It was warm and pure, light, shining when everything else seems to be dark. It surprised her.
Intoxicated by this feeling, by their force presences in intertwining together, almost dancing, she gripped his black robe and pulled him closer. It gave him the courage to wrap his arms around her waist and deepen the kiss as much as he could. No breath was needed for either of them because they felt everything they needed. Finally, both of them realizing, that this was meant to be. The force around them was cracking, wrapping them into some kind of protective bubble, where nobody else was welcomed. Just the two of them.
They could stay like this for hours, but it still wouldn't be enough for Aaliyah. Disappointment clouded her mind, when he slightly pulled away, still holding her, watching her face with no apparent expression. She didn't know what to do, whether to say something or to stay quiet. But he solved the problem for her when he leaned down again and kissed her slowly and gently again. "Excuse me," he whispered, and let her go, just to walk past her and out of the room. So suddenly, that it made her think as if she just imagined everything.
Absentminded, she walked to her bed and sat down. She tried to understand this situation. She tried to understand him but couldn't for the life of it. The feeling she got when they kissed was not something, she expected from a Sith Lord. His force presence was supposed to be different, after all, she felt it before, the dread that it made her feel.
But not this time.
Why?
And why did he kiss her?
Was he really begging the Emperor to spear her life?
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Hi, long time no see. I apologize for shorter part, but tbh I'm glad I had a time to post this.
Please let me know what you think.