Chapter Text
Darth Vader
Breathing hurt. After that last scream, he could no longer speak without his throat punishing him with even more pain. The last half hour kept replaying in his mind. What had he done wrong? Where had he failed?
And yet, for a few seconds at least, Anakin Skywalker had surfaced. He kept repeating it over and over again. "Anakin Skywalker is a weakness I cannot rid myself of."
Vader had already spent an hour trapped between pain, ragged breathing, and remorse, regretting not finishing Obi-Wan off. The eyes of his former master were burned into his memory. Those same eyes were the ones that, through all his mental barriers, made Anakin Skywalker slip through.
If his hatred for him was truly that deep, then why was he still lying on that desolate planet, consumed by regret?
"I need... I must..." he could barely speak. "Go back..."
His consciousness slowly abandoned him until everything turned black.
—Anakin, are you still in bed? I thought you'd be the first one up today. Last night it seemed like you could barely sleep.
He felt someone gently touching his arm, trying to pull him out of his sleep. That voice, so familiar. That accent.
Obi-Wan.
His eyes flew open, and with a sudden movement he jumped out of bed. Vader couldn't remember the last time he had moved with such ability.
—Hey, easy. It's me. And you should already be ready, we're going to be late meeting the Senator.
A small smile slipped onto Obi-Wan's face. Vader couldn't believe what he was seeing. His former master looked young, long hair, no trace of gray, only a few wrinkles.
That was when realization hit him all at once.
He quickly looked down at his arms, then even faster examined his legs.
—Anakin, are you alright?
His former master's voice now carried concern. The smile had already vanished.
—Obi-Wan...
Vader finally spoke, timidly. He immediately gasped. His voice without the respirator. His lungs didn't hurt.
—I... What is this? Are you playing with my mind? —he demanded at once.
—What are you talking about, Padawan?
Obi-Wan stood up from the edge of the bed.
—I don't know what you were dreaming about, but you need to get ready. We don't want to be late meeting Senator Amidala.
The name snapped him out of the panic consuming him.
Obi-Wan left the room while continuing to lecture him about punctuality. Vader slowly rose from the bed, staggering as he still wasn't used to his legs, his real legs. Nothing mechanical remained in his body.
He finally made his way to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror.
Once again, the face of a nineteen-year-old boy stared back at him. A long braid hanging at one side, short hair, but real hair. His eyes still blue.
Anakin Skywalker.
Anakin Skywalker
His mind was spinning in every possible direction, trying to understand what was happening. He remembered everything he had lived through. Darth Vader was fully aware of it all. But somehow, he had lost consciousness in Vader’s broken body and awakened as Anakin some... what? Twelve or thirteen years earlier?
As far as he understood, this was the day he would finally see his angel again after years of Jedi training.
Padmé.
After all his suffering, after Mustafar, he would finally see her again, alive, safe. The last thing Sidious had told him was that she had died because of his attack in rage, a scene that replayed over and over in his mind.
Mustafar.
This was an opportunity he could not let slip away. There was no way he would waste it. It wasn’t clear whether this was a dream or if he had somehow truly managed to travel back in time.
On the way to Padmé’s apartment alongside his former master, well now his master once again, he looked toward the Senate.
Palpatine.
The Force undoubtedly felt clouded. But he didn’t know if it was because of the miraculous event he was experiencing or because Sidious had already begun weaving his schemes through the Force.
Yet everyone around him seemed ignorant of the truth. Of course they only saw the facade of a kind old man, the Jedi too blind to look beyond appearances, and the corrupt Senate.
It would be so easy to catch him off guard and end the Sith once and for all.
—Are you even listening to me, Anakin?
Obi-Wan’s voice pulled him out of his spiral of thoughts.
—You’ve been distracted since this morning. You look exhausted.
—I...
He didn’t know how to act. Seeing his former master’s face without tears, without the weight of the years, without the apology in his eyes...
—I haven’t been sleeping well... —was all he managed to say.
—Do you need to talk about something? Can I help?
That was when Vader felt it.
It was like water in the middle of a desert, an oasis after a drought.
The bond.
He had forgotten how comforting it felt to have Obi-Wan on the other side of it. He hadn’t realized how much he had missed it, small brushes against his mental walls, carefully feeling for answers without being invasive. Gentle. Careful.
That was Obi-Wan.
The last times Vader had tried to connect with Obi-Wan, the pain had been obvious. His mental walls had been weak, and Vader knew Obi-Wan had spent a long time disconnected from the Force. That weakness during their encounter on Mapuzo had partially allowed him to win.
Mapuzo.
"What have I done?"
Obi-Wan parked the speeder and gently touched Vader’s shoulder, making him flinch.
—Anakin, I’m serious. You can talk to me. You’re completely lost in your thoughts. I thought today you’d be nervous, or that you wouldn’t stop talking about Padmé, like last night when we were informed about the mission. But ever since you woke up, it’s like you’re somewhere else.
—It’s just exhaustion from our previous... mission?
Vader couldn’t clearly remember what they had been doing before seeing Padmé again.
—It left me exhausted, and like I told you, Obi-Wan, I couldn’t sleep well.
Obi-Wan looked at Vader strangely and tried again.
—I know you often prefer confiding in your other friends —he said carefully— but you’re my Padawan, Anakin. My concern for you isn’t going anywhere. But we’ll leave this for later. We’ve already kept the Senator waiting long enough. I don’t want angry politicians.
His heart felt like it was about to burst from his chest.
Padmé.
His angel. His great love. His everything. His wife.
The closer they got to the elevator, the more nervous he became.
How was it possible to feel exactly the same as that first time?
What would he do when he saw her?
His master kept glancing at him from the corner of his eye.
—Anakin —he began— she’ll be happy to see you, I’m sure of it, but...
He hesitated for a few seconds. Vader could practically see Obi-Wan mentally calculating his next words.
—Don’t say anything stupid —he finally said with a laugh.
Vader froze in shock.
He barely remembered this conversation in the elevator. He only vaguely remembered words of encouragement, the "she’ll be happy to see us, but don’t let your thoughts betray you."
But this was completely different.
And before Vader could answer, the sound of the elevator doors interrupted him.
The last person he expected to see rushed over to greet them.
Jar Jar.
He didn’t know what had become of the Gungan after Sidious had slowly begun removing senators from the Imperial Senate. Jar Jar had probably been among the first.
—Obi!
He rushed forward and hugged Obi-Wan tightly. It was almost funny seeing how uncomfortable his master looked. Obi-Wan wasn’t very fond of physical contact, yet somehow the smallest touches from him had always been comforting.
It didn’t take long for the Gungan to tightly hug Vader as well.
—Ani!
He released him immediately and hurried into the apartment, loudly announcing their arrival.
The nerves returned instantly.
Obi-Wan walked ahead, greeting the group.
And then he finally saw her.
Padmé Amidala.