Chapter 4: Confession

After deciding their next course of action, Darth Vader and his new apprentice Ahsoka exited the Imperial ship with two speeders in tow. Behind them were Rex and the Son waiting to hear their Emperor's command.

"Your orders, sir?" the Clone captain asked as Vader and Ahsoka started up their vehicles.

"Stay here with the ship and be ready to leave at a moment's notice." the Emperor replied evenly.

"Sir, we could just leave right now. I'm pretty sure the Republic doesn't want us lingering here any longer." Rex cautioned.

"Let them try! I will crush them, Master!" the Son responded with much enthusiasm.

"You will do no such thing. You will only act in self-defense. Is that clear?" Vader spoke firmly raising a brow as if his subordinate needed further clarification.

The Son felt delighted bearing witness to the reborn Anakin Skywalker. He couldn't contain the smile that spread across his pallor features as he humbly bowed to his Emperor. "If my Master wills it."

Ahsoka remembered the Son quite well from their previous encounter on Mortis. She scrutinized his earnest expression and found it hard to believe that an embodiment of the Dark Side would bow before her Skyguy so freely. His loyalty seemed unwavering to the new Sith Emperor, but the Togruta still didn't trust him. Her observations were interrupted when Rex spoke up to voice his opinion once more.

"Sir if I may, what exactly is so important to speak with the Senator that it couldn't wait until we left Coruscant?" he asked.

The Dark Lord shot his officer a glare that would make even a rakghoul stand still. His voice was harsh and stern when he spoke. "She's my wife."

Rex gulped when he felt the intensity of his master's stare. He dared not to raise his ire. "O-Of course, sir. We'll hold down the fort until you return."

"See that you do. Tell the pilot to set a course for the Dromund system." the Dark Lord commanded. Rex complied with a salute as he and the Son headed deeper into the ship.

The apprentice heard a familiar name in that conversation that made her question her master. "The Dromund system master? I thought it was just an Old Republic legend." Ahsoka asked following the speeding Darth Vader.

"I thought the same thing as you did, Ahsoka. According to Darth Sidious, there's a planet dedicated to be the Empire's stronghold. It was his backup plan if things fell through on Coruscant." Vader answered as they neared their destination.

"You mean before you dethroned him?" smirked the apprentice.

"Exactly." replied the Emperor.

The two later arrived at the apartment wards where they entered the Amidala residence. Inside, they were greeted by an all too familiar golden droid.

"Oh, Miss Ahsoka! A pleasure to see you again!" Threepio said happily welcoming the Togruta. His pleasantries came to a halt when his optics fell upon the hooded man by her side. If C-3PO was human, he would definitely be cowering in fear. "O-Oh dear… Who might your friend be?"

"Come now, Threepio. You already know who I am…" Vader lowered his cowl and removed his mask to unveil his handsome, youthful face. His eyes were aglow with his immersion to the Dark Side while a sorrowful smile painted his features.

The droid gasped at the sudden reveal, unable to believe the creator he presumed dead was standing before him. "Master Anakin? Good heavens! It is you!" he rejoiced. "Mistress Padmé come quickly!"

Threepio's voice could be heard from the Naboo woman's bedroom. She was in no mood for visitors as she curled up into her bed, burying her face into her tearstained pillow. The whole ordeal of discovering her husband becoming what he swore to destroy was just too much for her to bear. To make matters worse, he's been missing for a month with no signs of contact. The weeping politician could only assume the worst.

"Mistress Padmé come quickly!" her droid's voice beckoned. It roused the Naboo from her somber thoughts as she allowed herself to leave the comfort of the bed that she and her beloved Ani once shared.

"I hear you, Threepio! I'm coming!" Padmé announced. After wiping her chestnut eyes from any remaining teardrops, the Senator presented herself before the expecting company. The first one she saw was Ahsoka, who cheerfully greeted her, but as soon as her gaze fell upon her husband, she stopped dead in her tracks.

"No… way…" she uttered. Even though Padmé was not sensitive to the Force, she could feel the coldness that took root where the hearth of his heart used to be.

"Hey Padmé, I'm back." Vader smiled lightly.

That smile quickly became a frown when he noticed his wife retreat a step back. He didn't have to search the Force to know what Padmé was feeling. The Dark Lord didn't want to see that look in her eyes, he didn't want her to look at him with fear. "You know, don't you…?" he asked apprehensively while slowly approaching her.

Padmé's fright immediately turned to anger causing her to strike the Sith with a slap that echoed throughout her home. "It's kind of hard to ignore when your husband's public enemy number one!" she shouted.

Vader rubbed his right hand on the swelling mark on his cheek. The fact that she struck a Sith voiced just how furious she was at him. The Emperor thought it was best to be honest with his spouse from now on. Even though most of his dark deeds had come to light, there was still so much he has hidden from her. "Padmé, there's a reason I'm doing this…" he said flatly while motioning his pregnant wife to take a seat.

"Tell me, Anakin. What reason is good enough for you to kill all those people!?" she asked grudgingly as she sat down.

"I'd like to know too, Master." Ahsoka piped in taking a seat by the Senator's side. Threepio stood quietly and watched the conversation unfold. He felt it was not his place to be involved.

From that moment on there was silence. A heavy tension hung in the air that weighed down on the Dark Lord's shoulders. To save the woman he loves, the mother of his child, he became a shadow of his former self; a destroyer. Surely they would understand if he explained, right? That was all he could hope for.

The Emperor took a deep breath and gathered his resolve to tell his wife and his apprentice the truth. "For you." he said briefly. A response that made the two women give each other questionable glances.

"What do you mean?" Padmé inquired for further clarity.

Vader clasped his hands together tightly as he reiterated his answer. "Padmé, I joined the Dark Side for your sake."

"With all due respect, Master. That doesn't make any sense." Ahsoka answered narrowing her gaze.

"I've been…having premonitions… Nightmares about the future ever since you became pregnant…" he said with a quivering voice.

"Nightmares?" Vader's wife raised a brow with intrigue. "Tell me about them."

An image of himself at the dying Padmé's side came rushing through his mind again, causing him to fall silent. His body was there presently, but his mind was at the hospital with her. Padmé's hand weakly reached out and touched his weeping face. Her fleeting words whispered, "Ani… It's not your fault…" His wife's hand then fell limp the moment she took her last breath, leaving behind her grieving husband who cursed the galaxy for taking her away. The worst part of this vision was the irony of it. It was not their professions that killed her, but cruel, indiscriminate fate.

"Master!" the apprentice's voice called him back to reality. "You've been staring off for a long time… Was it another nightmare?" she inquired. It was clear that Vader's disciple was worried about his wellbeing.

"Y-Yeah. They still come to me every once in a while." Darth Vader regained his composure after clearing his throat. "I became a Sith in order to obtain the power to change fate."

"That doesn't answer my question, Anakin! What are these nightmares about!?" Padmé urged. Her stubbornness wouldn't allow her to stop pressing the issue until she heard an acceptable answer. "What vision is so terrible that you would kill innocent people to change it!?"

Her question broke through the steeled resolve of Vader's emotional fortitude, causing him to unravel the feelings he kept locked away. "YOU DIED!"

The two women grew silent hearing the Sith voice his greatest fear. He was on the verge of tears and his voice was shaking. "You…died… You and the baby…and there was nothing I can do to stop it…" Vader clenched the hem of his tunic as his internal dam began to burst.

Before them was not the Dark Lord of the Sith, nor the new Emperor of the Galactic Empire, but a broken man collapsing under the weight of his sins all for the selfish wish of keeping the last light in his life alive. His golden eyes receded to their normal hue as he wept, but he was determined to voice his dedication. "Don't get me wrong, I regret killing all those people. But if it could save your life, I'd do it again."

Padmé was at a loss of words. She still found her husband's claim hard to believe, but for him to fight the "future" to that extent, she couldn't tell whether to pity him or reprimand him. "Be that as it may, it doesn't justify your actions…" she answered finally finding her words.

"His visions could be real, Padmé. I remember having my share of nightmares when you were in danger." Ahsoka voiced her opinion toward the politician.

Silence returned once more after Anakin's confession, but it was even heavier than before. Suddenly, as if to answer a need, the Son appeared before them with an eager look on his face. "When it comes to interpreting visions, perhaps I should assist?"

"Who are you?" Padmé asked, bewildered at the male's abrupt appearance.

The Son simply smiled at the question and lowered his towering form to a polite bow. "Call me 'Son,' my lady. I am but a humble follower of your husband's will."

"Son, I thought I ordered you to stay with the ship." Vader growled as his Sith persona resurfaced.

The Dark Side entity looked offended despite his initiative. "My lord, I came only for your sake! I could sense that you were troubled."

"How did you get here?" the Togruta demanded. A question that came to everyone's mind.

"It matters not how I got here, but what I can do for you." Son gesticulated with an empathetic expression. "What you two need is clarity. I'm sure what my master told you was a lot to swallow, no?"

Their simultaneous nod only confirmed his conjecture. "You both play important roles in my master's life and he cannot move forward without either of you."

"W-What would you have us do?" Padmé pried cautiously.

The Force wielder merely grinned at the question. "It's quite simple, my lady. You will see what he has seen and in turn, know the measures he took to reach where he is now."

The apprentice gave the Son a doubtful smirk. "How so? Are you gonna pull the visions from his mind for us to see?"

"Not exactly." the Son said as he placed a hand over the Dark Lord's shoulder. "Forgive me if I'm being intrusive, master. I'm only doing this for your sake."

Vader gave his consent to his minion, allowing the Force entity to enter his mind. Son closed his eyes and extended his free hand to the two women for them to witness firsthand the nightmare that plagued the Sith. It was at that moment they saw it, Anakin's personal hell. A horror so vivid it drove them to tears. Ahsoka and Padmé could feel everything. His anguish, his rage. They could feel it all.

When the vision came to an end, Son removed his hands and laced them behind his back to allow the party to collect themselves. He took their silence as understanding. "Do you see now? My master didn't commit these atrocities for the sake of being cruel. He did it out of love!" he smiled.

"I understand now, but I still don't believe it…" Padmé spoke. "The Chancellor was the Emperor all along!?"

"I was just surprised as you were when he told me, Padmé." nodded Ahsoka with a troubled look on her face. "I still can't believe Obi-Wan is gone… I guess your fight with him was inevitable, Master."

"As unfortunate as his death was, it lowered Sidious' guard enough for me to kill him. The galaxy's far better off without him terrorizing it." Vader voiced his opinion with a brave front. His fight with Obi-Wan still shook him to the core. His glooming thoughts ceased when his wife took his cybernetic hand in hers and brought him to her side on the sofa. Her chocolate eyes gazed into his as her other hand tenderly caressed his cheek.

"You don't need to make that face…" Padmé smiled warmly. "At least, not when you're with me…"

Anakin placed his hand on hers, leaning into her touch and savored her warmth. The only words he could think to say now was what he should have told her a long time ago. "I'm sorry..."

Ahsoka stood up and stretched while walking over to the Son's side who seemed quite pleased with himself that he brought them all together. "Thanks for this, I was having second thoughts about joining the Dark Side, but seeing the truth made me realize that my place truly is by his side."

"It was nothing, Ahsoka. I only wish to serve my lord's desires." smiled the Force wielder.

Padmé gave her husband a light kiss to convey the feelings she kept buried after he fell into darkness. No longer would she keep them hidden. If Anakin was going to walk in darkness, she was going to be his light.

"So tell me, Ani~ What big plans do you have now?" she grinned allowing their lips to part.

Feeling that the world around him was restored, Anakin allowed himself to smile while he made his proclamation. "I'm going to change the Empire!" An answer that surely stunned his party.