On the Wings of Valkyrie

Chapter CXVII

The girl's breathing was steady, chest rising and falling in slow, constant motions, while her eyes flicked around under her eyelids, studying whatever dream had presented itself to her.

Vader watched in silence, having returned to Luna's bedside a few hours after he and Ahsoka had left her to rest. He'd been monitoring the bond to differing degrees over that time, his apprentice's presence never too far from his attention now that she had finally returned, and therefore knew that she hadn't woken since going back to sleep. Perhaps the Force had temporarily decided to take pity on her and allow her the rest required for her recovery.

Unlikely. The visions would be coming soon enough. Just not yet.

The Sith frowned at the thought as he ever so lightly brushed his fingers over her cheek, using the added contact to establish a better connection over their seemingly weakened bond. Luna's mental shields were down, but that was alright, she was safe here.

And it allowed him to dive a bit deeper with little effort.

Vader closed his eyes as he turned his full focus to Luna's presence as he slipped further into her unconscious mind. Had the Sith been anyone else, the girl would have likely woken from the intrusion or instinctively resisted him, but thanks in part to their bond, as well as other factors, her unconscious didn't necessarily recognize Vader's presence as an invasion.

Though that could change as quickly as the tide of battle if the Sith Lord wasn't careful.

Gently, he prodded for information, quickly receiving a read on Luna's still recovering injuries. Perhaps a day or two more before she would be up and about, even if she ought to be resting for a longer period of time. Luna was never one to stay down.

Satisfied with his knowledge over the physical aspect of her health, Vader's attention moved to something more delicate as he carefully delved deeper into the unconscious girl's mind. Her subconscious resisted a little bit at the action, but not enough to wake the girl or stop the Sith. In very little time he was looking around a rather familiar area.

Luna's galaxy. It was darker than usual, near pitch black with very few distant stars, likely because she was asleep. There was an unfamiliar undercurrent Vader could sense. Well, unfamiliar in a way, yet he felt as though he had sensed it before.

The Sith just couldn't put his finger on when.

Vader silently wandered through the darkness, looking to see if he could locate the galaxy's usual resident.

Eventually he finally stumbled up on the girl, though she appeared to be sleeping in the darkness, as dead to the happenings of the galaxy slowly spinning around her as she was to the happenings in reality.

The Sith kneeled down beside the girl, pressing a couple fingers to her temple as he reached out and—

It was like a supernova had gone off. All at once emotions, memories, and sensations flew at him, a titlewave too confusing to truly comprehend. Vader instinctively started to enact control over the whole thing before recalling this was not his to control and pack away. He found that he was capable of wielding power over that domain should he see fit though he knew that by all rights he shouldn't be able. The joy, the sadness, the anger, the greif, they were not his to brush to the side or feed on. He would overstep....well, overstep more than he already was if he did.

So instead the Sith did his best to ride it out, locking down his own emotions to the best of his ability so they wouldn't rise up in response and get out of hand. A trying feat when the sensations were so overwhelming that it threatened to conquer logical thought.

But Vader beared it, and after a few moments, he was used to the waves of emotions enough to it to actively look for what he'd originally come for. He had to focus on finding....there.

Panic. Recent.

The Sith latched onto the feeling, tracing it back through the threads of sensations and memories to the origin.

To the vision.

Under normal circumstances, the Dark Lord wouldn't have gone behind his apprentice's back to draw out the memory of a vision in order to properly see what was in it, but be things as they were, the Sith had a feeling Luna wouldn't be telling him anything anytime soon and there were no guarantees as there used to be that she would eventually tell him what she was seeing once she felt ready or that it needed to be revealed.

At least, not before it may be too late.

Vader silently watched the so called vision play through. Being it was a memory and not as fresh (considering the sleep deprivation Luna had been forcing on herself, not that the Sith Lord was one to talk), there were likely some parts missing. But what little he did see and hear the Sith did not understand. The feelings that came with were more easily translated though, most noticeably the pain that brought to mind what had happened to him on Mustafar or Luna during her year of captivity.

Strange and problematic.

And worrying.

Vader sighed, cutting off the connection to his apprentice's memories and emotional state of being.

"Whatcha doing?" a sleepy voice muttered. Vader opened his eyes to find deep blue eyes staring at him.

"Go back to sleep," he told her, weaving a Force suggestion into his voice, not that he needed to. Luna was hardly in the fringes of awareness, and it didn't take much to send her back into a deep slumber.

Vader opened his eyes back in reality and, unwillingly, left his apprentice's side.

Perhaps if he was lucky, the Force would let him see the full vision if he meditated on it.