Chapter 1: Darth Vader

Warning! Those of you who are thinking of reading this, know that this story is in the process of being rewritten, if you want to provide ideas, comments or whatever you want to see in this story go to the last chapter 'Rewrite! Requests for reviews and amendments!' to comment please.

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Chapter 1:

-Year 19 BBY, Volcano Edge, Mustafar, outer rim territory.

Ankin Skywalker and Obi-Wan confront each other on the lava river from the Volaco Edge of Mustafar.

"I have failed you, Anakin...., I have failed you..." Obi-Wan said agitated and frustrated.

"I should have known the Jedi were plotting to take over ..." Ankin yelled in anger.

"Anakin, Chancellor Palpatine is evil!" contest Obi Wan still trying to make him see reason.

"From the Jedi point of view! From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!" Anakin responded by yelling again in anger.

"Well, then you are lost!" Obi Wan said with many emotions on his face, fury, regret, sadness, loss...

"This is the end for you, My Master" Anakin finally said as he jumps and flips onto Obi Wan's platform in the lava river.

The fighting continues again until Obi Wan jumps toward the safety of the black sandy edge of the lava river.

"It's over, Anakin. I have the high ground" Obi Wan yells.

"You underestimate my power!" Anakin answered, staring at Obi Wan with anger.

"Don't try it" Obi Wan said sounding almost like a plea.

Anakin follows, and Obi Wan cuts his young apprentice at the knees, then cuts off his left arm in the blink of an eye.

Anakin tumbles down the embankment and rolls to a stop near the edge of the lava river.

Anakin struggles to pull himself up the embankment with his mechanical hand. His thin leather glove has been burned off. He keeps sliding down in the black sand.

"You were the Chosen One!" Obi Wan yelled in frustration as he watched Anakin suffer and scream in pain.

"It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them!"

"It was you who would bring balance to the Force, not leave it in Darkness!" Obi Wan kept yelling at him while looking at him with a lot of pain reflected on his face.

Obi Wan picks up Anakin's lightsaber and begins to walk away, but he stops and looks back.

"I hate you!" Anakin yelled as he looked with a mixture of hatred and pain in his now yellow eyes at Obi Wan.

"You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you!" Obi Wan replied giving him a sad and lost look.

Instantly Anakin clothing blows into the lava river and ignites.

Suddenly Anakin bursts into flames and he starts screming.

Obi Wan looks in horror as Anakin becomes engulfed in flames, he can't watch him as he struggles to climb the embankment, covered in flames.

He runs back to Padme's ship as Anakin drops, smoldering, near the top of the lava pit.

-Mustafar, Landing Plataform, Naboo Skiff.

Once Obi Wan left Anakin burning, he went straight to the ship and upon arrival saw Threepio.

"Master Kenobi! We have Miss Padme on board. Please, please hurry. We should leave this dreadful place"

Obi Wan runs on board the Naboo Skiff.

En la nave Padme lies on a cot or bed inside the ship, Obi Wan walks over and checks on her.

"Obi-Wan? Is Anakin all right?" Padme asked me weakly and worried.

Obi Wan looks at her sadly and does not answer.

He brushes her hair back and Padme drops back into unconsciousness.

ARTOO watches over her.

Later Obi Wan rides in the co-pilot's station. He sits looking pensive and Threepio drives.

-Mustafar, Volcano Edge, lava river.

Anakin had now gone completely still with his body smoking.

A shuttle flies overhead and lands.

In the meantime, Darth Sidious walks in front of the clone troopers on his way to get to Anakin at the edge of the lava pit.

"Your Majesty, this way" yelled one of the clones.

After a while they all reached where what was left of Anakin was.

"There he is!" Darth Sidious yelled and then he checks him out.

Later he turns to the clones.

"He..."

"He's dead..." Sidious said with a mixture of regret, frustration and annoyance.

'This shouldn't have turned out like this!' Sidious groaned internally as he saw Darth Vader dead.

But what no one knew was that Anakin Skywalker's soul, spirit, and essence had not died.

Now, after his physical body died, Anakin remained in the Force but somehow he felt he was still connected to the world of the living, so he was still alive, well... everything but his physical body.

He then looked at the events around him in shock.

Anakin saw his dead body, and could not fully comprehend what was going on, how he was still alive.

But he could feel his being and his current presence slowly but steadily merging with the Force, and it let Anakin know that whatever state he was in, he didn't have much time until he died completely.

He didn't know how much time he had, but now that he was almost dead on his way to dying completely, the only thing Anakin could think to do before his time was up was to see his beloved Padme one last time and spend whatever time he had left with her.

Quickly, Anakin searched for Padme through the Force, now their connection was much stronger than before, so much stronger that he could sense the entire galaxy and beyond.

But he didn't bother to think about that, he only thought about Padme.

Moments later he found the place where he felt Padme.

The Force led him to the landing platform at Polis Massa.

-Polis Massa, Landing Platform

Anakin saw Obi-Wan lands the Naboo Cruiser on the landing platform of the isolated post of Polis Massa.

He also saw Yoda and Bail Organa, along with a few ground crew who are waiting as the ramp lowers and Obi-Wan emerges, carrying the unconscious Padme in his arms, followed by ARTOO and Threepio.

"Padme!" shouted Anakin rushing over to her to touch and talk to her but quickly realized that he could do anything but stare at her.

No one seemed to be able to notice Anakin.

Only Yoda and Obi-Wan seemed to sense something, but they could not identify what it was as Anakin's presence was minimal and camouflaged perfectly with the Force that was slowly making his presence in the world diminish more and more.

"We'll take her to the medical center, quickly," said Bail Organa.

Soon they all arrived at the medical center on Polis Massa.

Polis medics work, on Padme in an operating theater.

Anakin stayed by his beloved's side while Obi-Wan and one of the medical droids enter an observation room where Organa and Yoda were waiting.

"Medically, she is completely healthy. For reasons we can't explain, we are losing her," the medical droid reported.

Hearing that, Anakin despaired and couldn't believe it, it didn't make sense to him.

"Why is this happening?, she's perfectly fine, so why..?!." a worried and confused Anakin began to say, only for no one to hear him again.

"She's dying?" asked Obi-Wan in confusion and sadness.

"We don't know why. She has lost the will to live. We need to operate quickly if we are to save the babies," replied the medical droid.

"Babies??!!!" exclaimed Bail Organa in surprise.

"She's carrying twins," replied the droid.

"Save them, we must. They are our last hope" commented Yoda.

The medical droid rushes back to the operating room.

Moments later...

The twins are being delivered as Bail Orana, Yoda, ARTOO, and Threepio watch.

Obi-Wan is in the operating theater with Padme.

He takes her hand.

"Don't give up, Padme" Obi-Wan tells her as he takes her hand.

Padme winces from the pain.

The medical droid is holding the baby.

"It's a boy," said Obi-Wan taking the baby and holding him close to a tired Padme.

"Luke..." said Padme weakly, she can only offer up a faint smile.

She struggles to touch the baby on the forehead.

Then she winces again from the pain.

"And a girl," Obi-Wan then said as he saw the baby being held by the medical droid.

"Leia..." said Padme with what little strength she had.

Obi-Wan leans over Padme and softly speaks to her.

"You have twins, Padme They need you hang on," Obi-Wan tells her.

"I can't..." Padme winces again and takes Obi-Wan's hand.

She is holding Anakin's japor snippet.

"Save your energy," said Obi-Wan.

"Obi-Wan ... there is good in him. I know there is ... still ..." Padme started to say with the last of her strength, but she couldn't finish what she wanted to say as she died.

Anakin, who witnessed everything that happened, could only cry inwardly.

'It's my fault, it was all my fault..., I... I killed her!,' Anakin said to himself with fury, regret, and pain even greater than the pain he felt when he was burned by the lava.

'I just wanted to save Padme's life... I... I couldn't live without her... it was all I wanted...' thought Anakin in frustration and fury.

'She told me that she was afraid and I... and I told her to have faith, that everything would be all right soon'

'I promised her that things would be different, I asked her to wait for me, and I failed her'

'Ha... I thought the dark side of the Force could save her...' Anakin laughed sarcastically inwardly in frustration, sadness, and anger.

He was angry with himself.

He let himself be manipulated by Darth Sidious' words.

Sidious told him that they could save her from her fate, that cheating death was a power only one had ever achieved, but that if they worked together, he knew they could discover the secret to it.

He submitted to Darth Sidious to gain his teachings and save her... but...

"I ended up killing her!" shouted Anakin angrily.

"No...Darth Vader..."

'Darth Vader was the one who killed her!' thought Anakin.

That was the name Darth Sidious gave him when he decided to submit to his teachings, that was the name that made him lose everything...

And that is the name he deserved, to always remember his greatest mistake, his greatest shame, he was:

"Darth Vader"

And he would remember it until he died, that name was his greatest shame, his greatest mistake, and his greatest regret.

He no longer deserved to be called Anakin Skywalker.

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Time passed and Vader remained in the Force with a very slight connection to the physical world, he knew that now he only had a few minutes to live.

But he didn't have to live anymore, he had lost everything and it was his own fault, yes, he was manipulated and he didn't listen to Obi-Wan, but still, it was his fault, he couldn't deny it.

'Padme trusted me until the last second of her life and I... and I just failed her, the darkness blinded me and because of that I lost everything...'

"I just wish I could have done something more...." Vader sighed sadly.

'But it seems I am only destined to fail...'

'I hope at least my children have a good life...' thought Vader with sadness and frustration, he really wanted to do something to fix his mistakes.

To somehow repay Padme for the trust she had in him, but there was nothing he could do, in a few hours he would be dead.

Just knowing that with Darth Sidious taking control of a large part of the galaxy no one would be safe frustrated him even more.

But at least Vader knew that his children had gone to homes that would keep them safe, at least for a long time he was sure they would, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Bail Organa would make sure of that.

That was the only thing that comforted him, but Darth Sidious was a future danger to his children and the entire galaxy, a danger he didn't realise in time, and probably if he hadn't died, he would have continued to think that the right path was with Sidious.

It was only by dying and seeing Padme die that he was able to open his eyes and understand the truth.

"I am useless..." Vader sighed in defeat when suddenly a great and strange wave was felt throughout the Force.

Something unique was happening and it was somehow altering the entire Force.

Suddenly everything went dark for Vader.

Now Darth Vader found himself wandering in endless darkness.

You may wonder how this happened, well..., he had died, or at least his physical body died.

He was still alive, but now he was doubting whether he had died at all.

"Is this what it feels like to die?" wondered Vader, confused by the sudden surge in the Force and his dark surroundings.

'No, I'm still in the same state as before..., but that wave in the Force, I don't know what it did or what caused it, but it was something huge,' Vader concluded to himself.

Darth Vader had already understood that after Obi-Wan cut off his legs and left him lying near that river of lava, his body was completely burned and no matter how much he wanted to resist death he ended up dying.

But after his body died, it seems that his will remained alive, his being, his essence, his soul, his spirit along with his consciousness remained in the Force.

'Although I still don't quite understand how it was possible, but I managed to survive even though my body died,' Vader analysed.

'My body died, but my being, my soul, and my consciousness are still intact, well... at least for a while'

He could feel that little by little his time was running out and soon he would disappear forever.

The sudden and strange wave in the Force did nothing to change that.

He had tried to find a solution to this problem, but it was impossible, he thought of taking someone's body but his soul was too weak to do that, he could only take a living body without a soul or one weaker than his own in this state.

"Yeah, right... as if that were possible," laughed Darth Vader at the absurdity of the thought.

After the sudden wave in the Force, he was in endless darkness and could only wait to die.

Or so he thought until now.

'Strange, very strange..., I don't know for how long I have been in the darkness of the Force without feeling anything, but now I can sense that the dark side of the Force is being agitated by a living being,' thought Vader in surprise.

He did not know in whom or how it was possible to achieve such a shaking, but it was certainly responsible for the sudden wave in the Force.

Or so Darth Vader thought, only something like the wave he felt could cause the dark side of the Force to be so stirred by a single being.

He knew that not even Darth Sidious was capable of such a thing, otherwise he would have felt the presence of his master at this time, but he did not.

Now he could feel the presence of this living being that was being targeted by the dark side.

It seems that someone had done something that the dark side did not like at all and was now suffering the consequences and that is why Vader could feel it.

The dark side was responding violently against the Being responsible for this wave.

Darth Vader knew that this was his chance, perhaps his only chance if he wanted to survive.

If this Being was being consumed by the dark side, that meant it was fickle.

'Maybe... just maybe he could take his body, if...' thought Vader.

He had to at least try, he wouldn't have another chance.

So it was that Darth Vader didn't think twice and in the middle of the darkness decided to follow the dark side of the Force that was being drawn to this living being.

No matter if he could not see anything, the dark side of the force would be his guide.

Soon Darth Vader reached the source that attracted the fury of the dark side.

He could not see who or what it was, but he could feel its anger, pain, sadness, loss, and chaos, great chaos was in this living being and he decided to take advantage of it.

Darth Vader only had to follow the dark side of the Force to get to the soul of the living being and this is because his soul was being torn apart by the dark side.

The soul of this Being was being devoured by the dark side.

If Vader didn't do anything it was likely that this living being's soul would be consumed by the dark side and he could then take his body... but there was a problem with that...

"A body without a soul could remain alive?" wondered Vader.

Darth Vader did not know and would not take the risk, it may not be ideal to intervene between this soul and the dark side that is devouring it, but he had nothing to lose, this was

his only chance and to do so he had to save this soul and integrate with it to take its body.

As Vader expected, the soul of this person defended itself from being devoured by the dark side but only in a matter of minutes the dark side would consume it completely.

So it was that Darth Vader intervened and quickly integrated himself into this soul, he had already seen that the Force and therefore the dark side had a connection to him and would not attack him.

He concluded that maybe, just maybe, if his soul would merge with the soul of this body, the dark side would stop devouring it and he could take over this body.

He would have to deal with the remnants of the body's soul, but he would be in control because this body's soul was now even weaker than his own.

Finally, Darth Vader merged with the remaining living soul part of this living being.

He knew that by doing this he would not have total control, but he would still have greater control than the other living being because the dark side had left this being's soul incredibly weak and that for Vader was better than dying, he could now do something that would make Padme proud.

Darth Vader joined his soul as if it were the missing part of the other and covered it up.

His plan seemed to work as they soon began to merge and he could feel his consciousness merging with that of this living being.

Only moments after it began to integrate, the dark side of the Force automatically stopped and stopped devouring the soul, Vader's soul had overlaid the soul of this body and acted as an insulator.

It was incredibly crazy but still, it had worked, he had taken control of this body and the dark side had left it alone.

'Hmph this being should thank me for saving him..., I guess taking control of his body is only secondary considering I ended up helping him' thought Vader.

Darth Vader knew that no matter how fickle this body's soul was after suffering such consumption by the dark side of the Force, he could not completely eliminate this person's being, but the worst that could happen was that he would start to have some of this being's characteristics, nothing serious...