On the Wings of Valkyrie

Chapter CXVI

When Vader caught up to her, he had found she had seemingly paused in her flight for no reason, wind whipping around her as the Force reacted to Luna's inner turmoil. On the outside everything looked calm and controlled were one to ignore the unusual wind. His apprentice was standing straight and strong, as though she was about to walk out and take command of a battlefield.

But it was far from the truth. The Sith could all but see the darkside building around her in powerful waves, fighting to break free and lash out at anything in the way. There were many emotions, all of them pertaining to the darker aspects of the Force, namely grief and anger.

Though there was plenty of self hate layered throughout it all.

And that was something Vader himself hated more than anything else. Luna had such a large capacity for compassion that she could not bring herself to hate others more often than not, but herself?

The girl's view of herself had become so warped, or maybe it always had been warped and he had just never known. Perhaps the Sith Lord was a hypocrite considering he relied on his own self hate so often, but all the same the amount of hatred the girl held for herself....

Instinct more than anything else led Vader the rest of the way to her side. It was a different instinct than what usually led the Sith's actions, not directed by the Force or reflexes, but something that had been cultivated during the time Luna had spent by his side. Second nature to attempt to make things better for his precious apprentice. Somehow.

But for once that somehow had no obvious answer. Words were no good, how could simple words soothe the pain of the memories Luna had just remembered? Make light of what the girl no doubt considered her greatest failure? Vader avoided most if not all of his own memories of the Republic's fall and the slaughter of the Jedi. There was no reason to linger and what was done was done. But how could she not at this moment in time?

But....perhaps that would be necessary. Walk through the memories with her in a way? Try to recall the good and bad? Maybe finally tell her everything that had been left unsaid all these years? Where would he even begin?

Vader placed a hand on Luna's shoulder, ignoring her when she attempted to shrug him off. Think what she may, the girl did not need to be alone, this he knew well. Vader would not leave her to the misery she was experiencing.

The Sith then brushed his presence against the building hurricane that was Luna's. The result on her end, like his own earlier, was instinct more than anything. The girl had always relied and trusted him. He was her rock in the chaos that was the galaxy much like she was his.

So the wind calmed and the brewing storm stabilized into something smaller and more manageable. Despite this, Luna's body remained tense, the simple gesture not enough to fully relax her like it usually was.

Not that Vader had expected it to. Not with this. His apprentice had been pushing herself to the breaking point with every recalled memory (as well as everything else that Earth seemed to offer the group), and the Sith Lord feared that perhaps this time she may have breached her limits.

But at least she wasn't sobbing in the snow like she had when she had remembered Apollo's death. She was strong enough to still be standing.

Perhaps too strong. The life that lent her such strength was not a kind one. If strength was truly measured by how much one could take after having breached the breaking point, how many things had Vader's precious apprentice been forced to bear for the recollection of the last days of the Republic and her time in captivity to appear to have not affected her from the outside?