"It's good that you told them."
Muscles aching after his morning spent training with Finn—or, giving Finn the opportunity to take our any pent-up fury on him—Ben searches his cell for the ghost.
His grandfather, young and whole, without a mask, sits on the floor.
"Are you going to disappear again?" Ben demands.
"Not unless your mother comes."
"Why are you so afraid of her?" It's strange to consider, Darth Vader being afraid.
Anakin smiles. "I'm not afraid, Ben. I don't know if she'd want to see me. I tortured her. I destroyed her people."
"I thought she could never forgive me for what I did," Ben admits, cautiously lowering himself to the floor. His heart pangs as he remembers. "I did—what you couldn't even do."
Anakin sighs. "That's debatable. I thought I'd killed my wife for years, decades. That guilt was enough to teach me that I could never do it again. Not to my son."
"Padmé?"
"You and Rey remind me of her and me. Though hopefully you will have a happier ending, for both of you, and for your child." Anakin scowls at him. "It's a good thing that admiral, the red one, noticed your starfighter escape. I understand your spirit. It was a noble sentiment. But going to the Dark Side to save someone—it doesn't work. At least, it didn't for me."
Ben stares at him. "You tipped them off."
"I only needed to draw their attention to their radar screen for them to notice you running towards the starfighter."
Ben presses his hands against his face. "I don't understand. If you've always been there—pulling me towards the Light—why did I feel empowered in the Dark Side after calling to you on the Finalizer?"
"Snoke," Anakin says simply. "Your former master is quite skilled in deception."
"Where is Rey? You can travel the galaxy. Where is she?" It's been almost a month since Maz's appearance, and time is steadily running out.
"In a place neither Obi-Wan nor myself are familiar with. Apparently. We cannot travel to places we do not know the location of. Believe me, grandson—we've been looking for her. And we will find her. I won't let the Dark Side do to you and Rey what it did to me and Padmé."
So many questions swirl in his mind. "If you've been there—why haven't you revealed yourself before?"
"Because you were always appealing to Darth Vader, not to Anakin Skywalker. You were not ready to accept my help." Ben doesn't know if a ghost's eyes can flash, but if they can, Anakin's definitely do, and he sees traces of the commanding man that must have been Darth Vader.
"Ben!" Finn shouts from behind the door. "Why does this thing take so long to open?"
Anakin nods at his grandson. "I'll see you soon." He disappears as Finn bursts into the room.
"We know where Rey is!"
YOU ARE READING
•LEGACY - A Reylo Story•
Fanfic*WRITTEN PRE-TROS, POST TLJ* When a ship crashes near the Resistance base, Finn and Poe are shocked to discover Kylo Ren. What does he want? And where is Rey? And as for Kylo, he must decide how much he can trust them with what he knows about Snoke...
