Shadows of Tomorrow

Chapter 76 - Twilight of the Apprentice

Author's Note: I've been waiting for this chapter almost since the start of the fanfic. :D Hopefully everyone will enjoy it as much as I did. Also, prepare for everything to become mostly AU-ish from this point onwards. ;) 

- Tirana Sorki

Vader knew that one day he would see Theseus again. When he heard about the Jedi on Mandalore, he had no question as to who it was. He wanted to see him so much, but he knew if he found him... At that point it couldn't have been a peaceful meeting. He was on a mission to kill or capture the Jedi on Mandalore, even if he knew he couldn't bring himself to do either. He wanted to avoid Theseus and Ahsoka all these years for that reason, so he wouldn't be forced to hurt them.

He knew this moment would come eventually, but it seemed like little more than a dream. (Or maybe a nightmare, if it had been under other circumstances, where he was here with someone other than Athea.) The first person he's seen of his... family in the past sixteen years. (Except for Obi-Wan, only six years ago; he shies away from the memory.)

Theseus looks so much older now, Vader could hardly recognize him, if not for his armor and Force-presence. He's nothing like the boy Vader once thought of as his little brother. He's a full-grown adult now – he's in his thirties?! – and... Vader saw none of it. Years and years ago, Anakin had been foolish enough to believe they would spend the rest of their lives together, too. Vader knows better.

Theseus seems at a complete loss for words. Which... isn't surprising, especially not when Vader can still pick up on the other's very turbulent emotions. "Did... you do what I asked you to?" Theseus asks him finally.

He remembers that, and the mention of it makes his anger flare with the betrayal it always does. It always hurts to think about, even now, so many years later. "He was a traitor, like the rest of his Order," Vader cuts back sharply.

"Is he alive?" Theseus asks.

Vader knows the answer to that, of course. He would have felt it, even from across the galaxy, if their bond broke. It holds firm though, but he won't tell him that. If the surviving Jedi don't already know, he won't tell them – he won't give them support. "We need not be adversaries," he answers instead. If Theseus doesn't listen to him... Vader knows what it will mean, for both him and Ahsoka. (He can't do that though. He can't hurt them.) "If you surrender, perhaps the Emperor will show you mercy."

"The Emperor," Theseus replies, and somehow, even now, Vader can see how the gears are turning in his mind – he's not a boy anymore. He should stop thinking of him in those terms. "He betrayed all of us. He is deserving of death."

"Do not walk this path," Vader warns him sharply. Of course, he should have known that Theseus would try something so ridiculous. He always has been a dreamer, but now, it will only bring his death. "It will only lead to your destruction."

"It is only with Sidious's destruction that our family will find peace."

He resolutely ignores the flare of... something inside him. It doesn't matter. "I have no family." He has nothing, except for his master, and that's something he's been reminded of over and over. He wants more, sometimes, but it's no more than a dream, and one he never ceases to suppress.

"You are Anakin, aren't you? I sensed it." Vader can't see his face, but he can sense Theseus's emotions anyway, the way they come and go, and now, there's a deep, smothering grief crushing him, something echoing the loneliness that Vader himself feels, though it's different with Theseus of course – he hasn't been alone all this time. Seeing him again is bringing back so many emotions that Vader has been content to ignore for years, but now, he can't deny the deep, aching yearning tearing him apart. Theseus is here, and Vader can sense Ahsoka not far away.