Behind the Mask Part one
You are Anakin's friend, true love and the secret he will keep beyond all others. Anakin&F/reader
"Obi-Wan, go." You breathe heavily, staring between your friends. The heat of the planet, making sweat run down your face hiding the tears. The older Jedi looks to you, then back at Anakin still floating on this platform. "Palpatine is here. Please go." Your eyes turned to Anakin. Though you don't watch him you feel as Obi-Wan walks away. The new Sith Lord walks onto the hard lava rocks; even standing lower on the hill than you he towered over you.
"And your allegiances, Y/n, where do they lie?" His voice was hard. You look up into his yellow and red eyes, seeing how broken he was. You blinked several times rapidly, a fight against your mind and heart.
"As ever, I am with you, Anakin." There was nothing now that could stop what has already happened. Nothing you could do to change the anger and fear that had taken control of your friend.
"You will be my General, but you must renounce the Jedi." Anakin said, stepping closer to you.
"I will do as you command, Lord Vader." Saying the name broke your heart. Still you knew the only way to keep Anakin safe from himself was to stay with him. You followed your new master back to the command centre on the lava planet. The self appointed Emperor stood waiting for you. He was already displeased, seeing you behind Vader only furthered his disdain.
"The Jedi should all be dead." He growled, a crooked, pale finger pointing at you. You felt Anakin shift beside you, his shoulder coming across you, shielding you.
"There are no Jedi in this room." He states for you. You take a knee before the Emperor, "I give myself to the Empire."
"I have made Y/n my General." Vader crossed his arms over his chest.
"Ahh, good, Lord Vader. You will need a good, trustworthy team beside you, but she is not one of them. Kill her."
"What?" Anakin looked down at you.
"Kill her, her pledge is false, I can hear it in her voice just as you can. Kill her, or I will do it for you." The Emperor took a step closer to you.
"No, I'll do it." Anakin pulled you by your shoulder, pulling you close to him. "I'm sorry. Just stay still, don’t move." He whispered, letting his lightsaber ignite through your body. You fist his robes in your hand as the heat sears through your body making you impossibly hotter. Tears dropped from your eyes as you fell limp in his arms. Anakin set you on the ground following his laughing master out of the room. Bile and blood bubbled in the back of your throat as you lay there. After everything that had happened, here you laid, stabbed by the man you loved.
You don't know how long you stayed there lying on the ground waiting for death to come to you. Seat dripped down your forehead mixing with the tears from your eyes. At some point arms wrapped around you, taking the weight from your body and carried out of the room. The chest was warm and familiar, you had been against it before. Only two men had held you this way, Obi-wan had once carried you from a collapsed building during the clone wars. Anakin had held you close at night, when it was just the two of you alone. There had been time before his vision had taken over his mind. A time when you thought you might one day leave the Jedi order to be together with him. Whispered promises in darkened rooms. Until, the dreams began. Strange prophetic dreams of a child with Padme. Anakin had begun a relationship with the senator, all while keeping you on a hook of future promises. You watched as he became consumed with fear of his visions. Showing him stood side by side with his son. Defeating the Emperor. The sith and bringing balance to the force.
When you did finally open your eyes once more you were on a dark ship, the engines rumbled indicating you were already in space. Sitting up a sharp pain hits you in the side of your body.
"Steady, try not to move too much." A medic droid spoke to you.
"I'm alright." You say holding your side as you stand.
The door to the room opened and you looked into Anakin's face, full of regret.
"Y/n, you're awake. I'm so sorry, the Emperor he..."
"I understand. I shall stay hidden."
Anakin dropped into a chair, running his hand through his hair.
"Padme is...dead." a tear fell from his eye, "I did all of this to save her and now."
You crouch in front of him, trying to hide your pain.
"We can still try. Find the power Palpatine promised you." He nods, "what about the baby?" You ask. He closes his eyes and you have your answer. Dead mother and child gone. His visions had been wrong.
"The Emperor wants to keep my identity hidden. I was too well known." His voice broke between words.
"He's going to put you behind a mask isn't he?" You say. You had already noted the change in his outfit. Anakin looked at the ground, then back to your eyes. After we left you he…” his breath hitched, “He made sure I would need it.”
“The suit is keeping Lord Vader alive, acting as lungs in replacement for his.” The medic droid announced from behind you.
“Replace yours?” You ask.
“He crushed them, he knew I didn’t kill you, I am supposed to take you to the temple and show your death to any Jedi that are left.” You could hear it now, the way his breath didn’t come easily.
"I have a suit being made for you. Y/n, I need you by my side. I can’t do this without you." his hand reached out to you.
"Anakin, I met you thirteen years ago, I have been beside you from that moment." You put your hand on his, squeezing gently. "Where are we going to do?" You ask.
"The Emperor has given us a mission to seek out any Jedi left alive and eliminate them. Once I have killed a fake you we will make a start"
"But Ani we can't."
He stood, dropping your hand, stepping back from him. You watched his eyes harden once more, the soft man you knew fading away to the Sith Lord he had become.
"The Jedi betrayed me, this has to happen." He turned leaving you alone in the cold room. At least you had stopped sweating.
With nothing to do but wait for his return you stood in front of the mirror, pulling your shirt up to see the wound. The droids had done a good job of sealing it and rebuilding the skin.
“Lord Vader was clever when he did this, the blade missed every organ and went clean through. You were very lucky.
“Lucky.” you repeated the word, unsure if you believed it. A clone trooper entered the room, in his hands he held a stack of clothes, and a mask. All of it black. The trooper helped you into the suit, as the droid explained the tight leather straps around the middle had been added to give support to your injury. A heavy cloak went over the top of it all before the trooper pulled your back, tying it up so it would fit perfectly below the mask. Lifting the mask onto your head felt like a nail in a coffin. The shiny black ord connected onto a plate around your neck that held two small breathing valves and a voice controller. Before your eyes you could see several digital inputs. The world around you being explained through ones and zeros. A message appeared across the front telling you to come to the ship's hangar. You were informed that anything you say inside the mask will be heard only by Anakin. You walk beside the trooper, a finality in your steps. There was no going back when you saw him, adorned in a full mask, cap and sabre at his side. You fell into step behind him as Darth Vader excited the ship.
Part two
