Never Walk Alone

Chapter 8 - Freedom

Author's Note: The end! :D

~ Amina Gila

The amount of satisfaction Vader feels from Sidious is sickening, and he can't deny wondering how much any of this is real. Vader doesn't wait to be told what to do, reaching outwards to where Luke's motionless form is lying.

There's something... still not right about this, even if he can't make sense of what. Now that he's actually physically closer to him, it almost feels like –

Like there's something blocking him from reaching Luke. Which would mean... that maybe he's not dead at all.

... Vader doesn't know what to believe anymore, but he tries to prod forwards, determined to know. The news doesn't shock him exactly, not really, because he didn't fully believe his son was gone in the first place, but he doesn't want to make the mistake of assuming Sidious was lying if he wasn't, not if there's truly a chance to bring him back.

Keeping his children safe is the only thing that matters.

Sidious' presence prods sharply against Vader's mental shields, and it only takes him a second to realize that he's trying to latch onto his Force presence, to –

He's going to kill him, and suddenly Vader doesn't think this ever had anything to do with Luke at all. This is all a lie, isn't it? He tries to force Sidious back, but his master keeps trying to press forwards anyway, trying to rip past his shields.

The pain is nearly whiting out his mind, but it's not enough for him to stop resisting. He's not going to let Sidious kill him senselessly, and –

But he's almost certain that how much the mental invasion hurts still isn't as much as it probably ought to, for what Sidious is doing.

With how much his head is spinning wildly, it's hard to see anything with any clarity, but for a moment, he feels as though he's seeing through the eyes of another, staring into a vacant dark emptiness, barely aware that he even exists.

Luke.

That – that's what it's like to be carbon frozen. He knows from when it happened to him.

He's still alive. Whatever Sidious is doing to block him off so much that Vader can't feel him, he has no idea, but that reassurance is the only thing he needed. He still doesn't much care if he dies here – even if there's a small part of him that desperately doesn't want to, that wants the chance to actually know both of his children for real – but if he does, he's going to take Sidious with him.

Vader gathers the Force to him, a strength flooding him that he hasn't felt in so long, and he lashes out half-wildly. Sidious is too focused on the mental attack to see the physical one coming, and he goes flying across the room, landing right in the carbon freezing chamber. Vader doesn't wait, reaching out with the Force and flipping the device on.

Steam floods the room instantly, and Vader forces himself upright, nearly stumbling from the pain still stabbing through his head. Sidious' hold has already disappeared from his mind, though, and as soon as he's stable, he moves to the edge of the device, to make sure Sidious is still inside.

It must've been too unexpected for the Sith Master to escape, because he's already half-way frozen, mid trying to jump out.

Vader has no idea if it's a process Sidious will survive, but he – That's what he was going for. He doesn't know what he expected to feel, but right now, he just feels a lingering sense of emptiness and guilt as he stares into the pit where Sidious will... forever be.

It feels like he betrayed him on some level, even if he knows that's not true. Not really. Sidious did first long ago. And he was hurting Luke. Vader can't just forget that.