#V: Two lost souls (Sabe and Vader)

[corruptedforce]

Someone's watching // Vader & Sabe

Battling Obi-Wan had taken a toll out of him, physically. He had gotten injured. His breathing was going to be an issue, in most atmospheres, and his sight and hearing were great, either.

But, his force sense was extremely strong. He was a powerful Sith now. In many ways, his other senses picked up stronger. But when he was out in public especially, Sidious wanted him to be fully armored, including the mask, so they didn't worry about his breathing. But today, he was rebelling and he had just his rebreather connected to his life support, and was breathing that way, with just his Sith robe over his head.

He could sense he was being followed, and it could be because he wasn't in full armor, or it could be an enemy. If he was lucky, it was a Jedi that he could kill.

But, he was trying to be a bit more levelheaded, sometimes. He was glad he went with his breathing collar, because he was relying on the life support today.

Turning for the third time, he spoke in a deeper voice. "You know, you can't hide forever and I can kill you without ever seeing you. So explain yourself, so I give you the right to be seen before I kill you."

@mayxthexforce

[corruptedforce]

He would have probably died on the floor of the ship, if it wasn't for his son. The boy was stubborn, didn't know how to take no for an answer, and believed the best in him when he didn't. It was positively annoying, but it reminded him, in a way, of himself when he was younger, with a touch of Padme thrown in there. But, he saw a lot of himself in Luke. He was a Skywalker. He was not a Lars.

It took him some time. Four surgeries and a lot of meditating before he could leave the hospital, and now he still had time, before he could leave the house. Did he listen to that? No. He had basically left the house, under the watch of everyone he had been left with, including Chewbacca. Okay, maybe not R2. R2 had guilted him about the last 20 years, and he'd stayed put.

Droids. That droid in particular was sassy.

He had cleaned the entire small dorm sized apartment today, because it felt good to be productive. He'd had to lay down after that, with his rebreather collar, and turn the light off.

The light always burned.

But then, he was awake and bored. He didn't feel like meditating, so he took his two lightsabers out towards a starfighter, ignoring the fact that Han Solo was watching him, but threatened him with carbonite again.

Things were easier for him, when he was fixing things. It was the time of day, where he could work on that, with the lights on. He always had his rebreather collar handy, if he went to pass out. But, he had even more metal in him now, and some of his old skin was coming back. He was even growing some hair.

He froze when he heard her voice, unable to turn. Had she now been a part of his nightmares the way that Padme, Obi-Wan and the younglings were? He regretted losing his temper with her. He knew that feelings were developing on his end and he didn't handle anything well, especially his power being out of control.

But, when he faced her again, she was still there and he swallowed and used the force to take in her presence.

"It's pointless to escape. He'd just find me if I did. He's stubborn, wonder where he got that from." He looked into her eyes. "So, are you a nightmare, a hallucination, or are you actually here?"

One Last Chance || Sabé & Vader

Starter for @corruptedforce

Sabé still couldn't believe she let Skywalker convince her of this.

He might have the eyes and hair his father used to have, decades ago. But Sabé would have testified, without any doubt, that Luke Skywalker had inherited all of his mother's stubbornness when it came to believing that anyone could become a better version of themselves. She hadn't understood that belief when it was Padme's, and she didn't understand it any better now that it was Padme's son's. But as it turned out, "He threw me into the sea and left me to drown." made for a flaky excuse to avoid someone when the person BEGGING her to consider giving Vader– Anakin, a chance, was the very same boy who had lost a hand to the very man he was vouching for. He knew what sort of damage his father could cause and yet, here he was, speaking on his behalf.

She just couldn't say no.

So, she agreed to be flown by Skywalker to where he was keeping his father. Apparently, and despite everything, not as a prisoner. Sabé didn't ask questions, no matter how much what little Luke had told her about the events that led to the rebellion housing the once Commander of the Imperial Army, and right hand of the Emperor, poked at her curiosity. She'd already left it clear that if things didn't go well, she expected a ride back to where Luke found her. That was all the conversation she deemed necessary.

Sabé also insisted to meet him ALONE.

And that's exactly what she did. She followed Luke's instructions. Straight down the hall, follow the signs, can't miss it. And sure enough, there was Vader, working on some starfighter.

"You're not planning to escape, are you?" she spoke up. "Skywalker would be upset."

No 'hello's, no 'how are you?'s. He'd almost drowned her. From what Luke told her, Vader/Anakin had been certain he did drown her. He was lucky she'd even agreed to see him again.