213Getting Kenobi and Ahsoka to leave him was harder than it should have been. In the end, Vader told them that they could speak more in the morning, and with a glance at each other, they walked away. "Try to actually sleep, please." Kenobi had pleaded, while Ahsoka merely said,
"Good night, master."
Then they were both gone, leaving Anakin alone in the middle of his old bedroom. A bedroom. With a bed. Vader hadn't been in a bed in years (unless you counted medical ones), and when he stepped over he practically fell into it rather than sitting as he'd intended.
His legs were irritating, but he was beginning to grow accustomed to them once again. With hesitance he reached down to touch his feet, his left hand responding somewhat clumsily. To feel his own skin beneath fingertips that he hadn't had in 20 years … it was strange, but also strangely normal.
He glanced around his room, somewhat annoyed with his past self for the amount of clutter that littered a few of the surfaces. It looked like he'd brought several personal projects in, and- wasn't that Obi-Wan's teapot on his desk? Forcing himself back to his feet, Vader moved to pick it up, turning it in his hands before quickly discovering that it had clearly been recently fixed.
An old memory, of giving the teapot to Obi-Wan, who never apologized (what had Obi-Wan needed to apologize for?). The older Jedi had been pleased, however, and Anakin wondered if he should present it to him in the morning.
It definitely wasn't optimal, as old as it seemed to be. If he recalled correctly, Obi-Wan had inherited it from Qui-Gon. It wasn't a pretty thing - an ugly beige color, with a scratch on the side and heat damage near the bottom.
Anakin sat heavily at his desk, reflexively using the Force to assemble the tools that he would need as he pulled the bottom off. He was already in the guts of it when his door opened; there was no presence in the Force, but a familiar whistle had him relaxing. "Artoo." He said the name softly, and the droid rolled into the room as though he owned it (something which he recalled having bothered Kenobi immensely). It wasn't common for Jedi to live with a droid the way that Artoo had lived with Anakin and Ahsoka, but he had been a gift from Padmé at their wedding, and it was with an unexpected fondness that Anakin responded to the next whistle. "My dinner with Obi-Wan was … eventful."
His hands were still working through the connections in the teapot, but his eyes followed Artoo as the astromech neared with a chirp.
"It is a long story." He said.
A wheedling whistle.
Anakin had forgotten just how insistent R2D2 could be, and for a moment his lips twitched towards a smile. Then he said, "I saw a vision of the future. Ask Ahsoka if you're curious."
An insistent blatt came from Artoo in response, and Vader ignored it, turning back to the teapot. "It does not concern you."
Artoo didn't appreciate that statement at all, rolling towards Vader with a series of whistles and chirps that would have gotten him thrown out of anyone else's chambers. Vader merely glanced up with a raised eyebrow.
"My decision is made. I'm certain that Ahsoka is still awake if you wish to ask questions."
The droid finally acquiesced, rumbling with clear disapproval as it returned to the door, leaving as soon as it slid open and shouting back a final insult before it closed.
To Anakin's surprise, however, rather than feeling bothered he was smiling. R2D2 had been a faithful companion for many years - something even Kenobi had to eventually admit. For the first time perhaps ever, Vader wondered just what had become of the droid after his fall. Surely he hadn't gone with Kenobi? But then, Kenobi hadn't fallen, and that's where Luke had been. He hadn't seen the droid in many years, but even now Anakin knew that R2D2 would have wanted to stay with Luke, or as close to Anakin's family as possible.
His smile vanished as he thought back. The princess and the smuggler. There were reports linking them with a couple of droids. They described an astromech and a protocol droid with gold plating - the droids that escaped the Tantive IV with the Death Star plans, slipping out of his grip at the very last moment. He thought he could even recall seeing … The princess must have been desperate, sending the plans with droids - not many people trusted droids to that extent. It couldn't be. Surely those droids hadn't been Artoo and Threepio; if so, then how had the princess-
A shudder in the Force pulled Anakin from his thoughts to the present. He recognized the careful prodding from the other end of his dark bond with Sidious as the light of the temple eased away from him, recognizing what his past self never had.
Sidious was no doubt alarmed at the events of the last day, along with the silence from Vader's side of the bond. There could be no more waiting. He needed to be dealt with - his attentions redirected. Even now, without Vader at his side, Sidious had more than enough power to destroy most of the Jedi and - at the very least - completely destabilize the Republic, if not absorb it as he had before.
With caution, he allowed some of his feelings to trickle along the bond; fear, disorientation, shame and guilt. It would not satiate the Sith Lord for long, but it should be enough to stave off any investigation that the wily old nexu was no doubt planning. Darth Sidious was not an enemy that could be ignored, but he was no more easily disposed of. His death would take careful planning - planning that Vader had begun, and planning that he now continued, mentally creating the list of things that would have to be done in order to restrict the far-reaching power of his dark master.
He continued to fix the teapot as he planned, slowly growing used to the way that his left hand moved.
It surprised him when his eyes began to burn, and he checked the chronometer with a furrowed brow. It wasn't terribly late. This body wasn't used to the same hours that he'd grown accustomed to, clearly, but he blinked the feeling away and continued working - there simply wasn't time to sleep, not when he had so much to do.
Keeping Sidious from suspecting him immediately was only the first step, and for all of its importance (and difficulty), it was - in some ways - probably the simplest part of the plan. Order 66 was still in place, and would need to be neutralized along with the Separatist leaders …
A chime at the door is what woke him, and he could sense that it was Ahsoka before her voice called, "Master?"
Anakin was embarrassed to find himself slumped over his desk in a puddle of his own drool, the teapot sitting next to his head. When had he fallen asleep? He sat up, grunting as his muscles protested and his eyes stung - they felt swollen, likely due to the crying that he'd done the day before.
It took him much longer to get to his feet, and he leaned heavily on the back of the desk chair as the door chime sounded again, moments before Ahoska said loudly, "Skyguy, if you don't answer me, I'm coming in!"
The threat annoyed him slightly, and he stumbled to the door to let it slide open so that he could glare down at the padawan. "What do you want?"
"It's an hour past 8:00." Ahsoka looked him up and down, and her lips pressed together for a moment before she asked, "Don't you want breakfast?"
Anakin looked past her to see Barriss sitting in their main room, eyeing him with a carefully blank expression. Then he said, "No," before walking towards the door as he nodded to the mirialan. "Come. We need to leave."
"Whoa, where do you think you're going?!" Ahsoka stepped in front of him, forcing him to an abrupt stop to keep from running into her. He wobbled badly, and she steadied him with a hand on his arm, her voice softening, "Master-"
"I have an appointment with the Chancellor." He pulled his arm from her grasp.
"Chancellor Palpatine?" Barriss was just behind him, and Ahsoka shook her head.
"Tell him you're feeling sick; you need to start your meditation-"
"This is not something to be postponed." Vader stepped around her, unsurprised when she followed him, trailing behind his left shoulder as he opened the door.
"I'm sure he'll understand if you explain that you don't feel good …"
"Am I to accompany you?" Barriss was behind him on his right.
"Shouldn't you at least take a shower?" Ahsoka's voice had raised again, and it was the first thing she'd said that made him pause. Not because he cared what Sidious thought of him - in fact arriving at the Sith's office unkempt and hurried would help with his plan to distract the man. But it would not make Padmé any more amenable to his requests when he visited her afterwards.
He turned towards them, meeting both of their gazes for a moment before he said. "We will go as soon as I have finished."
"And eaten." Ahsoka responded, prompting a scowl.
"There is no time."
"It doesn't have to be a lot." Ahsoka insisted, as he pushed past both of them to reenter, heading straight for the 'fresher. He didn't answer her, quickly and clumsily tearing off his robes as soon as the door slid closed behind him. He used the Force to help him with his motor control, and to turn on the shower before he was even all the way in.
It had been 20 years since he had last stood in a water-based shower. The most that he'd had during his time in the Empire were sonic showers and bacta dips, so the feeling of being drenched by the hot water was one that he found surprisingly pleasant.
He washed himself, growling when his prosthetic got caught in his hair, ripping some of it out. When he finally emerged, his red skin steaming, he wrapped one of the towels around his waist and keyed open the door, unsurprised - if displeased - to find that Kenobi had arrived.
"Good morning, Anakin." Obi-Wan said from the kitchen, where he was serving himself a hot cup of tea. "Ahsoka and Barriss say that you've got a meeting with Chancellor Palpatine; are you certain that it can't be postponed until you're feeling better?"
"I am certain." Vader tried to ignore the sweet smell wafting from the kitchen. Ahsoka had clearly been cooking, and she looked up from a plate piled high with meat, clearly about to offer him some. "And I am not hungry."
Kenobi raised his eyebrows and took a sip of his tea, the very picture of calm and collected (though the circles under his eyes betrayed him). Then he motioned towards the teapot - Anakin and Ahsoka's teapot, "Would you like some tea?"
"No." Anakin wobbled for a moment as he headed towards his room, and Artoo appeared beside him with a soft whistle - a far cry from his insults of the night before. It was likely that the astromech had done as Anakin had suggested and asked Ahsoka about his vision.
"I am fine."
R2D2's responding blatt was the binary equivalent of a snort of disbelief, but Vader ignored it, entering his quarters and dressing himself as quickly as possible. Artoo had followed him in, and chirped questioningly as he buckled his belt.
"I am not hungry."
A mournful whistle.
"I will eat when I am hungry."
It was getting easier to move, even if the progress wasn't as fast as Vader would have preferred. His movements weren't graceful, but he had no doubt that another day in his old body and he would be comfortable once again.
Once he was dressed he swept back out, seeing that everyone was still in the kitchen. "Offee." Was all he needed to say, and the young knight was immediately on her feet, heading to meet him at the door.
"Anakin, you need to at least drink something." Kenobi tried, but Vader ignored him - right up until the Jedi's signature lightly touched his shield, infused with care and worry.
Anakin slowly turned to look at his old master and padawan, both of whom were now standing, attempting to look calm when they were clearly worried. "I will eat after my meeting with the Chancellor." The words were hard to get out, but the result was a relief that felt palpable in the Force.
"We can meet at Dex's, if you'd like." The place where Vader had awoken in the past. "Unless you'd rather eat somewhere else."
"Padmé's." Anakin realized only after he said her name that he should have called her senator Amidala (and perhaps not mentioned her at all), but while Ahsoka's eyes went wide, Kenobi nodded.
"We'll meet you there, then."
"I don't need a caretaker." Vader said.
"Then what's Barriss?" Ahsoka tilted her chin up challengingly.
Vader met her gaze for a moment, then pressed the button to open the door, leaving the room with Offee at his heels. His upcoming conversation with Sidious was not one he was looking forward to, and the last thing he needed was to have Kenobi and Ahsoka following him around afterwards.
"How have you remained undiscovered?" Barriss' respectful tone did nothing to hide her derision, which clung to him far more closely than she did.
"Silence." Was his only response.
Offee didn't speak again, allowing Vader the peace he needed to prepare himself for the conversation to come. He walked with stiff legs to the shuttlebay, where he wasted no time choosing a temple speeder, instead borrowing the first one that they came across. He didn't waste any extra time in the air either, and saw Offee clinging fearfully to the speeder in the corner of his eye. Anakin's left hand was clammy, leaving sweat on the speeder controls, and by the time he arrived he was exceedingly grateful that he had chosen not to eat.
He had no appointment with the Chancellor, but then Anakin had never needed one - Sidious could not have cultivated the bond without close and common contact. Now the open door policy would work to Vader's advantage, if he managed to deceive the great deceiver.
"Stay here." He said to Offee, stepping out of the speeder and nearly tripping on his way up the steps. He made an effort to steady his breathing, carefully allowing his emotions to leak through his shields. Uncertainty and fear were - in this circumstance - his allies, as distasteful as he found them.
He was stopped by the Chancellor's aide before he could go in, but it was only so that she could announce him and unsmilingly open the door. Anakin gave the umbaran a nod, then stepped through to Sidious's chambers, wondering how his past self had ever found them comforting. Sidious was sitting at his desk at the end of the room, a pleased smile on his face that looked real enough. Vader knew him too well to fall for it now.
"Anakin, my boy!" Palpatine's kindly tone hearkened back to Vader's youth, sending alarm and nostalgia shooting up his spine, and he stiffened further. "I'm pleased to see you! Come, sit down." He motioned towards the chair with a hand that could have just as easily killed. "I'll admit that I've been a bit worried about you, but I suspect I've merely been spoiled by your earlier visits." The Sith Lord chuckled self-deprecatingly – a laugh that Vader hadn't heard in years, as the Emperor had never needed it.
"Chancellor." Vader moved mechanically to the center of the office … the center of the web. He sat down rigidly on the edge of the seat, instinct more than conscious decision keeping him unnervingly still.
"Anakin, is something troubling you?"
He met the Sith's eyes, surprised for a moment at their opaque blue color. The man looked nothing like the monster that Vader had killed, but he knew better than to fall for the facade again. "Just a few days ago, when I returned to Coruscant, I … had a vision."
"Oh dear." Palpatine's approximation of care was undermined by the trickle of curiosity that Vader could feel through their dark bond. His eyebrows drew together in a marvelous impression of sympathy. "Was it like the visions that you had of your mother?"
"It was worse, m …" Vader bit his tongue to keep the word 'master' from slithering out. "M-my vision showed me much more of the future. It showed me … the fall of the Republic."
Curiosity and satisfaction oozed from the chancellor, contradicting Sidious's horrified voice, "Oh, but that cannot be; with the Jedi's support, we should have no problem quelling this Separatist rebellion. Tell me, my boy, how did it happen? Surely you were gifted this vision to help prevent it."
Vader didn't respond for a few seconds, picking his next words carefully. All of his plans hinged on this moment, and it made him nervous; more nervous than he had felt even when choosing to save his son and kill Sidious the first time. "Chancellor, I… I saw things in the vision that I cannot explain - things I do not understand. In many moments of the vision, I was the one committing the atrocities. I was the one who destroyed the Republic." The shame that filled Anakin was very real, and he allowed it to project along with his fear.
He felt their bond shudder slightly, and it took him a moment to recognize that the old Sith was delighted. His expression, however, reflected anger. "Ridiculous. You are one of the greatest heroes that the Republic has ever known; you could no more betray the Republic than I could!"
Vader tried to think of how he would have responded to that passionate defense of his integrity, twenty long years ago, but Palpatine quickly calmed himself before he could.
"I'm sorry for my outburst, Anakin. I just refuse to believe that you could ever turn against what is right. I know you too well. I am aware, of course, that the visions of your mother ended up coming true, but that was merely because the Jedi didn't trust you. I'm sure that they've learned from that mistake, and are more willing to believe you now."
The worst part had to be that Palpatine wasn't wrong. After coming back from the future, Vader almost felt like a bystander, easily able to see the manipulation for what it was. The Sith subtly stroked his ego to lull him into a false security, casually brought up the fact that Anakin's previous vision had come to pass and then laid the blame at the feet of the Jedi. All of that in a few simple sentences, and while sounding as though he were on the Republic's side.
On Anakin's side.
The most masterful touch was that Sidious knew that the Jedi didn't trust Anakin. It was an easy assumption that the vision had made things worse, and he wielded their fear and paranoia more gracefully than any lightsaber. Palpatine was right about the Jedi, just as he had been right about Anakin so many times in the past.
The Sith obviously knew that he was right, too, his pride glittering in the Force even through the layers of painted humility and compassion. It was doubtful that Sidious could even imagine being wrong, and that was exactly the arrogance Vader had come to exploit.
"I haven't told them what I saw."
"You never told them?" The bond twinged with a smug superiority.
"I'm afraid that they will banish me from the Order."
"Banish you? One of the greatest and most powerful Jedi that they have? Surely not!"
"The vision has affected me greatly, however, and so they have given me a month to recover from it."
"I'm happy to see that they at least care for your mental wellbeing." Palpatine clasped his hands together, worrying at them slightly as he continued. "The war effort will feel your loss, of course, but we want you in tip-top condition."
A classic guilt tactic, in the hopes that Anakin would rush his recovery, no doubt. Vader responded with fervor unfeigned. "I won't take any longer than is necessary before I return."
"I wouldn't say anything if you did take a few extra days, my boy." Palpatine smiled like a self-satisfied manka cat. "Goodness knows you deserve it."
Vader forced his own smile, but it felt stilted. Naturally, Palpatine noticed.
"Don't worry too much about your vision, Anakin. I trust your judgement, and I have no doubt of your loyalty."
"Thank you. Chancellor." He stood, not only because he had completed his goal, but also because one more minute in the man's presence would undoubtedly reveal him.
"My pleasure, Anakin."
The bond was singing with excitement and triumph as Vader left the room, and he hoped it was enough to distract the man for a month.
It had to be.
I know that this isn't quite Star Wars day, but just consider this a late celebration of it. "I am the Seventh!" and all that good stuff, ya'know? Anyway, I've had the conversation with Palpatine written out for quite a while - it was connecting it to the last chapter that turned out to be hard, haha. Thanks for your patience and your lovely reviews!
I was actually watching Star Trek on the 4th while I was tuning this up. I didn't even realize until one of my friends pointed it out, haha. That's completely irrelevant apart from being kind of funny, ofc, but I thought I'd let u know.
Peace and long life, Gremlins.