Ashes and Dust

By Seven

Rating: PG
Summary: During ANH, Darth Vader hears a familiar voice.
Disclaimer: We all know the drill: GL owns all of the characters and situations. I play on his swingset for no money.
 
 

For the first time in years, Darth Vader felt excitement. The lightsaber in his hands was thrumming with heat.

Then he grimaced under the mask. He only felt it in one hand... no. He didn't think any longer about the past. He set forward in the corridor.

So, Obi-Wan had resurfaced after years, twenty years of hiding. Vader knew the feel of his old master, just as surely as he knew that Obi-Wan felt him. He wasn't angry any longer--he only felt a sense of duty.

Anakin... A man's voice, quiet and low, but one that he knew very well.

Vader stopped short. "Master?" he asked.

Anakin, turn around.

Vader shook his head slightly and kept walking. "Be gone," he said sharply. "I have no use for your words."

Do you now? The voice was not mocking, only quizzical. There was once a time where you strained to hear me.

"You are dead," Vader said harshly. "Dead for thirty years, dead to all but the Force, dead as the Jedi are dead. You have no place here."

A man who had lived over thirty years before, but was now nothing but ashes and dust. That was what death was, to Vader... dust and ashes, decay and emptiness. There was no place for useless reminders of anything that had gone on that path.

Anakin, listen to me. Don't do this... Anakin, I know what you're planning.

"What you know makes no difference."

Anakin!

It rose in volume and urgency. Vader half-expected to hear it echo through the halls.

Stop where you are and turn back!

No, Vader thought grimly.

He ignored the long-gone Jedi's voice, focusing himself on the task at hand. The task his master expected of him. And like smoke on the wind, Qui-Gon Jinn's voice melted away into nothingness.

And Vader saw Obi-Wan Kenobi. The older man's face was weathered and leathery, and there was a faded look to his clothing and robe, but the blue eyes that shot to him were as keen as ever. And he still held a lightsaber.

Anakin, stop!

Vader shook himself, and the fight began.

He never remembered how long it took, or how he fought, or what the two might have said to each other. He remembered only that he felt that this should have happened long ago. Scores settled, grudges dealt with. Exhilarating fire shot through him, pushing him to fight harder. For the first time in twenty long years... Darth Vader felt alive again.

Then Obi-Wan stopped. The old man glanced to the side and smiled slightly.

And Vader swung his lightsaber.

ANAKIN!

"NO!"

As the empty robe crumpled to the floor, Vader heard the heartbroken shriek. He turned, and saw a young man staring at him, next to the escaped princess, as stormtrooper blasters wove a deadly web in front of him. He wore the baggy white clothes and wraps of someone from Tattooine... clothes that Vader knew very well.

Vader looked down, then prodded the empty robe with his boot. Nothing.

What have you done?

Then he turned and began to walk to the doors as they slid shut--the boy from Tattooine had shot the control panel.

He stopped and pressed one large hand to the door, frustrated for the moment. Long experience forced all thoughts of Obi-Wan from his head. But it did not take away the sounds...

It's not too late, whispered the voice.

Vader grimaced under his mask. "It is for me," he rumbled, hoping that this answer would dismiss whatever spirit lingered around him.

It's never too late, Ani... never.

Vader began walking briskly away. "It is for me," he repeated in a whisper, so soft that his mask did not pick it up. "It is for me..."