BEACH BAD, BEACH BAD [OPEN]

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

To say Vader was out of his element was the understatement of the millennium. He'd taken refuge under a large umbrella and was seated in his his chair as though it were the Emperor's own throne. Under the pretense of meditating, he was keeping a three-foot radius of space around him sand-free.

His beach towel would stay immaculate until he got someone else's blood on it.

Comments

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"I am not delusional. She was...the most perfect woman in the entire Galaxy. She was a queen, every inch of her, and she was just and fair to her people...they Jedi stole her from you as much as they did from me!"

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"N--" Vader was ready to deny it, but he could feel the truth of her words.

"Then I expect you to begin to act like it! You cannot be so much older than I am that you have taken leave of your faculties!"

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"Of course. The Force is present wherever there is life to sustain it...or anyone capable of recognizing its presence," Vader shrugged. "He shields me from his thoughts. I am unable to penetrate them-- he is very strong in the Force, it is his birthright."

Vader tilted his head slightly, thinking for a moment. "Without training, the Force is used unconsciously. Do you often predict events before they occur?"

[jaded-jedi.livejournal.com]

"I'm on vacation. I'm alive and so is my family. I think I'm allowed to take leave of my faculties."

[changelingdude.livejournal.com]

Beastboy thought about Vader's words for a few minutes before he answered cautiously, "Well...these Jedi dudes ruined your life right? Would making them err...disappear, fix anything at this point? I mean really considering the situation we're in with Stacy and all that?"

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

Vader threw his hands up in the air. "Then I can achieve nothing with you. You are clearly just as spoiled and petulant now as you were at three years of age."

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"Distance does not matter-- my mission is still the same. Eliminate the Jedi, and make them pay for what they have done. Why would I stop when I am so close?" Vader folded his arms, leaning back in the chair.

"I will have vengeance."

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

"I didn't say you were delusional," Luke replied, then quieted and watched the waves. Even after all these years away from Tatooine, he never got tired of seeing so much water in one place. "As much as I wish I could have known her, I understand I was shaped to be who I am by these events," he said quietly. "I like who I am."

[jaded-jedi.livejournal.com]

She tossed him her bottle of water. "Don't dehydrate out here. Luke'd be so upset."

To find him all wrinkled and gross and -- oh wait.

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

"It is an interesting means of suicide," Arha offered with a soft snort.

[ayasofia.livejournal.com]

"You could ask him to let you show him."

Sofia laughed. "Oh no, I'm not like Jessie or Irene. I can't predict anything."

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

Very purposefully, and without ever looking away from her face, Vader undid the cap and poured the water out onto the sand.

"You cannot poison me so easily."

[jaded-jedi.livejournal.com]

"I was just drinking that--" She broke off and shook her head. "You know what? Nevermind. Never. Mind."

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"But you do not have to give your entire life to this galaxy- they do not deserve you! They never deserved you, only I because I gave everything to have you. You were supposed to be living the perfect life I created for you because you are my son!"

Vader hardly stops for a breath the entire tirade.

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

Vader shrugged. "You may have to rely on words then, as I must- to commune in the Force is very...personal. It have no doubt that Luke will not allow me in."

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Luke stared blankly. Sometimes, he wasn't very good at responding to these things.

"What if I chose to?"

[ayasofia.livejournal.com]

Sofia smiled. "You can ask. And if he says no then you will have to rely on words too."

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

Vader was very quiet for what felt like hours. Very, very quiet.

"You would choose them- every faceless, worthless criminal from Coruscant to beyond the Outer Rim- over your mother and I? I created a Galaxy you could live in and you would turn it back over to the very people who-- who--" Vader's eyes aren't just glowing yellow now, they are blazing and bloodshot as though they might pop out of his head.

"I gave everything for you and you would turn your back on me for them?!"

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

"I would choose to help them," Luke said. "I wouldn't feel right if I didn't."

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"Without you and your mother in it, my life is worthless," Vader hissed. "When my duty to the Empire is finished I will only continue to live as you do, breathe as you do-- and you would chose them over me? They who would turn on you, hate you, spit at you in the streets- you would choose them over your mother?"

In a moment, he would begin to foam.

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

"Well of course, not over you two," Luke said, becoming more incredulous by the minute. "I mean... you'd be my family. But I'd still rather be a Jedi than not."

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

This seemed to pacify Vader and he settled back in his chair, the storm diverted...for now.

"Your life always came first. Always. I made you a galaxy that you and your mother and sister could live in. It was for you."

Perhaps if he says it enough, it will stop being terrifying and start being true.

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"Anakin Skywalker was always to weak to live," he said. "He didn't give what I did to have his...perfect life."

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

"Perhaps such a man would have given in other ways," she said thoughtfully. "When faced with the challenges you had to face, perhaps he chose differently. To take from him what he braved to get, such is foolish and undermines the ways of the universe. In any case, you cannot have what you have lost, but, perhaps there is a chance your wife is among those in the pods. It is possible that you may see her once more. The ship itself may surprise you one day. It is enough to have hope that you may be reunited with her."

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

Vader opened his mouth to protest-- I gave everything and was left with nothing, he does not deserve to have Padme while he lives as a slave to the Jedi-- but nothing emerged. He could not bear the idea having to wait, day after day, not knowing which pod held his wife if she were there at all, if she would take him back, if she would know him...

But he still felt a spark of hope accompanying his longing.

"When would I see her?"