I was wondering why Kylo Ren was so ridiculously obsessed with Darth Vader, and then I remembered the part in Cloud City/ Bespin where Vader offered to rule the galaxy with Luke and I thought: why not?
I am honestly curious for the newest Star Wars, and I cannot wait to see it. Just one more week of waiting.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, or the characters.

Enjoy!

If someone were to ask him who he admired the most, the answer would surprise most people. He did not admire his parents, as most people would assume. He also did not admire the many generals or senators that had fought in the civil war.

He cared for his mother, but she was always too distant, spend too much time with her work, and was too quick to dump him with either a nanny, his uncle Luke, or some distant relative. Though mostly with his uncle Luke. She wanted him to follow in her footsteps, while he just wanted to learn the ways of the Force.

He also cared for his father, but he was too childish, too cocky and he did not know what to do with a force sensitive child. He had tried to take him along on some of his smuggling trips, but he cared little for hiding in filthy places or repairing the Falcon every time they tried to escape from somewhere.

No, he did not admire his parents.

He did admire his uncle Luke. He always had. His uncle was and had always been as busy as his mother. But while she had just snapped at him if he went to her and while his father would awkwardly try to spend some time with him if he was around, his uncle always made time for him. Or he would just take him along with whatever he was doing – if it was not too dangerous – until he could make time for him. His uncle visibly cared for him, he listened to him, and he did not hesitate to discuss subjects with him that others believed him to be too young for. Point in case, his biological maternal grandfather.

His mother hated everything to do with Darth Vader, and did not see him as family. She rarely talked about him, and when she did it was to make an example of him. His uncle, on the other hand, had readily accepted everything though he did not like the majority of the deceased Sith's behaviour. He knew his mother's remarks about their father hurt his uncle, even though he clearly understood where she came from, but he never mentioned it. He loved her too much.

His uncle brought him along on his travels. He introduced him to stories of his past, and the planets he had visited. He showed him Tatooine, and the graves of the family they had had there. He showed him the remains of Alderaan, and told him about the Death Star. He took him to the forest moon of Endor, introduced him to the Ewoks, and showed him the site where he had burned his father's remains. He had even told him that, while he did not agree with his actions, his decisions or his way of life, he had loved Darth Vader. And he always would. He had explained to him how he could see the man's force ghost, and how they still disagreed on his lot in life. Who knew that his own grandfather has wanted his uncle to become emperor.

His uncle had a greater role in raising him than his own parents. And he loved him for it.

But he did not only admire him because of the attention he got or the stories he was told. His uncle was also a great leader, a better one than even his mother in his mind. His mother was politically savvy, but she had her own opinions and she was not willing to step away from those to listen to others. His uncle, too, had his own opinions, but he was at least willing to listen to others and base his decision on the discussions he had had with others. Even his enemies. He was also a better speaker, he was calmer and was better capable of cajoling others to work with him.

And it showed in the way others treated them. His mother was treated with respect, but also with disdain and even hatred. People did not willingly go to her. His uncle was not always treated with respect, but no one treated him with disdain and he was not hated. Not even those who had lost family to him or his actions hated him for it. People, even those that openly disagreed with him, went to him and even if they remained in disagreement, they still respected him because he at least tried to see their side of the story.

But the person he truly admired, was Darth Vader formerly known as Anakin Skywalker. He admired the way the man could change so easily. He admired the way he went from master, to master, to master and still choose to sacrifice himself for his own son. He admired the way he chose to gain strength to save those he loved. And he admired the way the man had been respected by his own personnel, even though he had been cruel and harsh and the terror of the empire.

He had never met the man, nor had he ever seen him or spoken to him. But he knew him through the stories his uncle would tell him, through the books and holos his uncle had laying around, through the summaries of conversations his uncle had or had had with his grandfather, and through the man's personal journals his uncle had found somewhere and he had been allowed to read.

The man had loved his wife fiercely before and even after her untimely death. He had loved his son just as much and he still loved his son more than anything in the galaxy. He loved him enough to stay behind as a force ghost, even though he could have faded away to join his wife. And he found that he agreed with his grandfather: his uncle deserved so much more than he currently had.

His uncle would have gotten everything Vader had owned, but others had taken everything away before he could. 'Everything' did not only encompass the entire Empire or heaps of money; it also meant information about his grandmother and her family, information about the Jedi order, and so much more.

His maternal family was not willing to accept his uncle, even though they were willing to accept his mother. He looked too much like Anakin Skywalker, the man in their eyes responsible for her death, for them. His mother was not willing to share what she had learned about his grandmother with his uncle as she had promised to keep it to herself. His uncle – strong man that he was – had accepted that, but he had felt the sadness it brought him. In retrospection, that was the first time he had realised that he cared more for his uncle than he cared for his own mother.

His uncle disagreed with him, of course. He had never agreed with his own father on what he did deserve in life, why should agree with his much younger nephew?

It was that disagreement about his uncle's lot in life that led him away from his family and into the arms of the Knights of Ren. Even though they did not agree with the new Jedi Order's way of life, they did agree with him that Luke Skywalker, Vader's heir, deserved better. The First Order under Snoke's leadership joined them, and he welcomed them even though he knew that they disagreed with his view on his uncle. But he would get stronger, and he would gift the galaxy to his uncle for him to rule. As it should have been his from the very beginning.

oOoOoOo

"Why are you so desperate to find him?!" was shouted at him by his maternal great-aunt – he had forgotten her name, she did not matter anyway, "what does he have that your own mother does not have?"
"Everything," he answered, just before his Stormtroopers shot her. She did not know his uncle's location, and she never had.

Naboo was beautiful. Varykino even more so. It used to belong to his grandmother's family; it was the place his grandparents had married. It was damaged during their invasion of the Naberrie clan in search for his uncle, but he would have it repaired. It would make a wonderful first gift to his uncle once he was found. He was sure uncle Luke would love it and not only for the place's significance to their family.

oOo

"You are obsessed with him," one of the many generals Snoke kept around told him with disdain as he studied the iconic mask he had managed to retrieve from where some thief had hidden it. The thief had not survived their meeting, and the place had been torched.
"Which him?" another general added mockingly.
"I can understand Vader," a captain added, "he was powerful, strong and dangerous. But Skywalker? He is nothing but weak!"

He felt his anger grow. His uncle was anything but weak, the man had endured more than they ever would. His uncle was, after all, the one who had damaged Snoke so terribly while walking away unscathed. His uncle was also involved in the untimely end the former emperor, the one to destroy a Death Star nearly on his own, and the one to get a heavy, dying Darth Vader away from the nearly destroyed second Death Star. His uncle had lost, and lost, and lost and still he came out on top stronger than anyone he knew.
The fact that he preferred flying and repairing over fighting and destruction did not make him weak, or a less capable fighter than he was.

He smirked behind his mask as the officers kept on mocking his uncle. He would not kill them. He still needed them, after all. But he would show them just how strong his uncle was as soon as he had gifted him the galaxy. His grandfather probably would not mind helping him.

oOo

The scavenger girl had found his uncle. She was strong in the force, she would see just how special uncle Luke was. She could help him conquer the galaxy, and she could help him convince his uncle to take his rightful place at the very top of said galaxy.

And if not, well, he had killed his own beloved father for his uncle. He would have no trouble killing an unknown, untrained scavenger girl from a planet less harsh than the one his uncle had been raised on.

At least his uncle had been found. He could finally continue with his plans.

I hope you liked this one-shot.

Reviews are as always appreciated

~Marwana