Gates of Hell

Chapter 25 - Intervention

Author's Note: Here's the extra chapter this month. It's longer than normal, so I hope that y'all enjoy! :D

~ Amina Gila

Vader doesn't know how to feel about Ahsoka coming here. He can't trust that she'll ever see him in a better light, but Anakin seems hopeful, and more than anything, Vader trusts Anakin. If Anakin thinks this is a good idea, he'll allow it... but he'll be cautious. He has lost enough that he's become a pessimist, a cynic. It's how he's survived.

He's on edge when the office doors slide open, admitting Anakin, Ahsoka, and Omega. Omega comes to him immediately, holding out a datapad. "Here's Padme's report," she says as he takes it from her. "She finished. I helped her. She said that we have enough evidence to take action."

Vader flicks the screen on, setting it on his desk, and looking at Omega. "Good job, young one," he praises, and she beams. She leans closer, standing on her tiptoes, trying to see the screen, and he doesn't even think before lifting her into his lap so she can see better.

There's a flicker of suppressed shock from Ahsoka, and Vader looks up at her. Anakin is at her side, and he seems lighter, as if a burden has been taken from him. Vader is glad to see it, because Anakin deserves to find peace, to make amends with the family he lost by choosing Vader. It is, perhaps, a good sign that Ahsoka isn't radiating any hatred. Distrust, yes, but there's some curiosity there too. Her talk with Anakin has impacted her a lot, or perhaps it is just the time she has had to reflect.

It hurts, sharply, to see her, to see how much she looks like the girl Vader last saw before he rushed off to Coruscant. She survived, he knows, but she is forever lost to him. If she could see him now... he doesn't know how she would react, knowing what he became. It's different with this Ahsoka; she is younger, and it is true that she still clings to the Jedi Order, but she does not have the same involvement that his Ahsoka would. For the first time, Vader lets himself feel a cautious, fleeting hope that Ahsoka, at least, might become an... ally, a friend even.

"Ahsoka wanted to see you," Anakin tells him, as if he hadn't already done so through their bond. He's only doing it for Ahsoka's sake, to break the silence that has settled.

"And here I am," Vader replies, tilting his helmet, trying to picture her as she looked with his human eyes, instead of being filtered with a layer of red; he cannot tell if her clothing is actually red, or if it is blue, like he last remembers it being.

"Are you really Anakin's father?" Ahsoka blurts out, moving closer. She's wary, trying to keep a distance, but she can't stop her gaze from darting to the way Omega is perched in Vader's lap, one of his arms around her waist to keep her from slipping off. It is somewhat painful to have pressure on the stumps of his legs, but they have gotten better in time, and Vader is well accustomed to pain.

Should he tell Ahsoka the truth? Well, not the truth, but should he answer truthfully?

Anakin answers for him. "No."

Her brow furrows as she looks between them. "Then why...?"

Vader understands her question. "It was... convenient," he answers, "To let the galaxy believe it. I should hope you will not be reporting this to the Jedi."

"Shouldn't I?" she snips.

He regards her with a long look. "I think you will not," he states at last. "I think that your curiosity will overcome whatever loyalty you feel that bids you to report on us."

She shrugs, as if his opinion means nothing to her, but in the Force, he can feel how rattled she is, how his words hit a mark. Even now, he can still see her, and that pleases him. Perhaps his relationship with Ahsoka has not been the smoothest, but he is still glad that, despite whatever differences and distance they have had, she is not a stranger to him. Or Anakin.