Gazing up at Luke…his son…so much like Padme…so compassionate…so bright with the force… Anakin Skywalker could feel death coming. He was already feeling lightheaded, his damaged lungs unable to provide enough oxygen for his body. He could feel the darkness closing in around him, and let himself relax into it, welcoming death as an old friend.

The last thing he saw before his vision went dark completely was Luke, a single tear rolling down his face, and feeling so proud of the man his son had become.

Then everything went dark.

A voice whispered to Anakin, Qui Gon's voice, remembered clearly by Anakin even after all these years.

"Would you change things?"

"Yes."

"Then May the Force be with you, Anakin Skywalker."

STAR WARS

Anakin jerked away, sitting bolt upright as he sucked in air.

Air!

He coughed and gagged, reaching for his mask, but it was gone…the suit was gone and he was suffocating. Panic surged through Anakin's body as he fought to breathe, his eyes wide as he clawed at his chest…the skin strangely smooth and unblemished. His Left hand clenched and Anakin gazed in wonder at his flesh hand, so much lighter than the prosthetic that had replaced it. His right hand was still cybernetic, but Anakin recognised the model that he had carried during the Clone Wars. He'd spent so much of his free time modifying it, trying to improve it. He'd been happy with it byt the end of the Clone Wars, but then Obi-Wan had cut it off, and Darth Vader had been forced to start over again with his new prosthetics…all four of them.

His breath still wheezing and haggard Anakin yanked his bedding away from him, revealing his legs…flesh and bone and so much lighter than the prosthetics had been.

"Anakin!"

Anakin startled at the voice, so so familiar, looking around the room wildly in shock. He recognized the room he was in…his own quarters on the Resolute, but he was alone.

"Anakin!"

This tine Anakin realised where the voice was coming from, and his breath stuttered some more and he leaned forward, resting his forehead against his knees. His breath still coming in wheezes and gasps.

The bond…the one that Anakin had severed so long ago, were back, perhaps not as strong as they had once been back when he was a Padawan, but still there. He could feel Obi-Wan's concern, the Jedi reaching out to Anakin, obviously having sensed Anakin's distress.

"Hold on, Anakin, I'm coming."

Obi-Wan was close…not close enough to indicate that they were on the same ship, but close enough to make Anakin think that the ship that Obi-Wan was on was travelling beside the Resolute.

"Skyguy?"

Anakin's breathing hitched at the sound of Ahsoka's voice. Oh, how he had failed her. Her leaving the Jedi Order had been the beginning of the end, for him…among with other things. In hindsight Anakin knew that it was a whole combination of factors that had contributed to his fall. Thinking about it, Anakin reached within himself, deep into his mind…yes, that's where it was.

Sidious.

The Sith had been corrupting and manipulating Anakin since they'd first met, although Anakin hadn't realised it until a few years after he'd become Vader. It had only added to Vader's hurt and anger to realise that he'd been used, moulded and shaped by Sidious.

"Master?"

Anakin jumped, looking up once again, having not noticed the sound of the door sliding open. Ahsoka stood in the doorway, her blue eyes round with fear and uncertainty. She looked so young, a far cry from the experienced warrior she'd been the last time they'd encountered each other, when everything had been tinted red.

"Snips?" he choked out, his breathing only just starting to even out, although his heart was still racing in his chest.

"Are you ok? I felt…it felt like an explosion, in the force."

Anakin choked, Ahsoka's words reminding him of how it felt when order 66 had happened and the Jedi had been all but eliminated…and then, years later, the feeling that had washed over him as the entire population of Alderaan was wiped out in an instant while he stood by and watched, doing nothing except holding his daughter back. It was too much. Anakin gagged and leaned over, vomiting onto the floor of his quarters. He dimly heard Ahsoka calling for Kix, but the memories kept washing over him of the things he had done…the younglings…Mustafar…Obi-Wan…Padme…so many, countless deaths…Ahsoka…Leia and the Death Star…Luke on Bespin.

All because of him.

"It's ok, Skyguy, Kix is coming…Obi-Wan too. They'll help you. I'm here too"

Anakin trembled as he felt Ahsoka's hand rest on his back, rubbing it gently as he coughed and gagged. His chest shuddered with every rasping breath he took and Anakin could feel his whole body shaking. He could feel tears rolling down his face, but he was powerless to stop them. He felt Ahsoka gently pull him against her, his body dwarfing hers, as she tried to calm him down. Anakin could only shake, his eyes squeezed shut as the memories of what he'd done went through his mind over and over and over again.

"I'm sorry," he croaked out hoarsely, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Anakin lost track of how many times he apologised to Ahsoka…how long they were like that, with her basically cradling him in her arms. He was dimly aware of others in the room…Rex and Kix, but he couldn't bring himself to move. At least his stomach had stopped trying to empty itself, although it still felt like it was churning.

It was only when he felt another familiar presence enter the room that Anakin could bring himself to move. Obi-Wan's presence felt like a warm blanket wrapped around Anakin, warding off the cold and anything that sought to hurt him. Dimly, Anakin could hear Obi-Wan and Ahsoka talking.

"I…I don't know, Master. He's been like this since it happened

"Has he said anything?"

"He just called me Snips and then he started apologising, over and over again."

"Anakin"

Anakin shuddered as he remembered the pain on Obi-Wan's face just before their battle on Mustafar, and then of their final duel on the Death Star, when he'd killed his former master. During Anakin's years as a Padawan Obi-Wan had often lightly observed that Anakin would be the death of him, and Anakin had always been quick to rebut that claim, but it had turned out to be true.

Slowly Anakin opened his eyes and looked up. Obi-Wan was there, and oh so gently he combed his fingers through Anakin's long, mussed hair. Anakin let out a shuddering breath, remembering belatedly that he didn't have the suit anymore to breathe for him.

"Anakin…what happened…what's wrong."

Anakin sobbed and let his force bond with Obi-Wan open up a little more, letting his feelings leak out a little, although he didn't…couldn't bring himself to share his memories with Obi-Wan. Without saying a word Obi-Wan sat on the other side of Anakin, so that Anakin was pressed between his former Master, and his Padawan. He felt Obi-Wan gently tug him into an embrace, and Anakin let himself be eased so he was leaning against Obi-Wan, rather than Ahsoka.

"Master Obi-Wan…what is it?"

"I don't know. If I didn't know otherwise I would say someone's tried to torture him, but he was safe and in his room the whole time. I think we need to contact the council. Maybe Master Yoda has seen something like this before."

Anakin blinked. He'd never encountered Master Yoda since he'd become Vader, although Vader had long suspected that Yoda had survived order 66 and was hiding away somewhere, but the ancient Jedi was very perceptive. What if he realised what Anakin knew…what he would someday become.

No…Not would… Anakin was not going to fall…not this time.

The Empire would not rise, and Anakin Skywalker would not become Darth Vader

And he could start taking action on that right now.

"I know who the Sith Lord is…its Chancellor Palpatine."