The Young Republic | A Star Wars Story

Chapter 25

Meet Darth Vader

"Fear is a disease; hope is its only cure."

It felt like Anakin blinked, and the world went to shit.

Like, seriously, he was just washing his hands, making idle chatter with Master Al Sher and how well the surgery had gone, making a joke about how Xena - the future one - started drooling in the middle of surgery and Anakin was the designated drool wiper. And Anakin had thought that everything was going to be okay. Xena's sedation was being lifted, so she would wake up soon, and they could determine if the surgery was successful.

Then a nurse told them the child's bed was empty. Weird. And as soon as Anakin was about to dry his hands, thinking about Xena's recovery process and how similar it would be to how Anakin had to learn how to use a prosthetic hand. 

And then the shit hit the fan.

First, he felt Ahsoka's Force presence suddenly plummet into the ground. Okay... Maybe her head injury was worse than they all had thought. Anakin was about to grab his comm to contact a nurse or something. He dried his hands, flexing his prosthetic to ensure it still worked fine. It was as if one of the gears was rusty, making his pinky move all jangly.

Then, he felt the tang of distress spring up in the Temple. Strong, pungent darkness hovered over them all, a small voice telling him to keep away. And just when that tang stung against his mind, Anakin felt a snap. A cold, deafening snap basically diminished the presence of the child missing from her bed.

"Xena!" Anakin yelled in fear and surprise. Shoving his way out of the fresher into Xena's recovery room, Anakin half-expected to see that horrible sight of Xena's body vanishing.

But she was there, eyelids fluttering as she was waking slowly. Okay.... okay...

Anakin rushed out of the room into the Halls of Healing. He almost bumped into Captain Rex, who, too, had been rushing.

"Rex!" Anakin exclaimed. His Captain was entirely out of breath, his shoulders raising and falling as he sucked in sharp breaths. He must have taken the long way around to get here.

"What's happening?" Anakin asked.

Rex gulped. "An attack, Sir. The apprentice healer shot down the kid, and there's a Sith down here. The men can't get to the Halls; we believe another Sith is keeping them away."

Well shit. Shit, shit, kriffing shit. Anakin panicked. At least it seemed that the kid was still alive; otherwise, Xena would be long gone. But wait-

"And what of Ahsoka?"

Again, Rex fidgeted. "I don't know, Sir. Last we heard, she was with the Mandalorian...."

Rex didn't need to say anymore. Anakin sprinted down the hall, right towards that manipulating voice, pushing his thoughts to everywhere but where he was heading.

And then, oh then. A sickening crack was felt, and then there was the feeling of him. Of that man Anakin had seen through Xena, had felt and dreamt of in the worst of nightmares. A monster of a man that was not supposed to be here.

Darth Vader.

Anakin staggered momentarily, slamming his body against a wall just to have support. His ears rang, vision blurring and bile rising into his mouth at the feeling of the man he would become someday. No, no, no, no-