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

[starlightace]

"Are you so sure that that's all they are? Maybe they think what they're doing is for the best."

"It might not be so clear-cut as that, don't you think?"

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"I once considered myself one of their number-- I believe I am far more familiar with the Jedi than you."

[starlightace]

She canted her head to the side. "Why do you think I was asking?"

"I've always tried to understand as many sides as possible. So what made you leave?"

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"They were going to let my wife die," Vader said, "they were tearing apart the Galaxy, attempting to take over the Senate and they were going to let Padme die."

[starlightace]

"That's... very sad," Nanoha said sincerely, her eyes lowering. "Can I ask what was wrong? Why was she going to die?"

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

I hurt her.

"Something was wrong with the birth," Vader muttered, not quite looking Nanoha in the eye. "I foresaw it happening."

[starlightace]

He wasn't telling her everything; Nanoha could tell that much - but she didn't think he was exactly lying, either. "And did they foresee it too? If they saw themselves as peacekeepers, why wouldn't they want to help?"

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"Because the Jedi's most powerful pawn is not supposed to be married or even allowed to love at all," Vader went on, bitterly. "A Jedi feels nothing."

[starlightace]

Things were beginning to come together now. "...you were keeping it secret from them because of that, weren't you?" It wasn't much of a question.

She looked up at him again. "I'm sorry, Vader."

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"Do not give me your false pity," Vader snarled, "you are on their side!"

[starlightace]

She shook her head. "You're wrong, I'm not on anybody's side. Why would I be on the side of an organization I've never heard of from a world I've never been to?"

"I just want to understand what happened," she explained, gently and calmly as she'd ever been.

"And sympathy isn't pity. If the people I work for said I couldn't be with my partner, I'd probably have kept it secret, too."

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"The Jedi made the foolish mistake of trying to kill the Emperor. They will all be exterminated. That is all anyone needs to know," Vader said, but his mind is still with Padme.

[starlightace]

Another shake of her head. "Anyone can know what happened. I've always liked to try to understand why, myself."

A pause. "If the Jedi aren't allowed to have a family, why is it that Luke openly has a wife and a son?"

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"It is one of the ways the Jedi keep him loyal, no doubt- he may be over the moons for this Mara Jade, but I do not trust her in the slightest."

[starlightace]

"But that doesn't make sense. If they were just using her to keep him loyal, why wouldn't they do the same back in your day?"

"Is it possible they aren't like you remember? A lifetime can be a long time."

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"It is likely they did not want to risk another of their prized possessions breaking away from the flock as I did," Vader snarled. "The Jedi will never lose their ambition to rule the Galaxy."

[starlightace]

"Maybe. Like I said... I don't know your world, and I'm not on anybody's side. I just like trying to understand people." Nanoha gave a little shrug, fairly sure that she could trust Luke's interpretation of matters over that of his father - not that she thought he was LYING. He seemed genuine in his convictions.

"All I know for sure is that Luke's a good person." A smile. "I'm glad I know him."

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"Consider yourself favored among beings that you have been given the chance to walk in the shadow of my son," Vader said, fatherly pride overriding his hatred of the Jedi. "He is without flaw, like his mother."

[starlightace]

Nanoha couldn't help but chuckle into her hand. "He probably wouldn't like to hear you say that, though," she pointed out. "People always get embarrassed when their parents say good things about them. I think it's a natural law."

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"But it is true," Vader growled. "The Galaxy is not worthy of the service he gives to the undeserving masses."

[starlightace]

"Maybe, maybe not. If someone needs help, maybe it doesn't matter what sort of person they are."

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"The petty squabbles of the Galaxy are beneath a man such as Luke," Vader replied, "he should have a life of his own- the life I tried to make for him."

[starlightace]

Nanoha shook her head. "I think it's the other way around. It's because he doesn't consider people in need beneath him that he's such a great man."

[sin-and-misery.livejournal.com]

"He will be killed one day because of their inability to be civil!" Vader snapped. "His own life wasted trying to preserve theirs!"

[starlightace]

"Isn't it his choice what he wants to do with his own life? If he doesn't think it's wasted, than it isn't." Nanoha retorted pleasantly.