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Darth Vader sat at his desk, a booklet set in front of him. On the cover was a big red stamp marked CONFIDENTIAL, with a photo attached to it. This boy kept showing up everywhere, even with Maul. The day he took down Anakin Skywalker's padawan.

Vader had decided it might be of use to him to learn more about this boy, to see whether this blue eyed child was even worthy of his time. It had been a while since he took down padawans and younglings, they didn't usually last very long in a fight. No need to fight battles that lesser beings can do just fine.

He opened the packet and began to scan the page. Ezra Bridger. 15 years old. Born Empire Day. Black hair. Blue eyes. As useless as that information might seem it triggered something deep in Vader's heart, at least what was left of it. A 15 year old child, a boy the same age as what his children should have been. The children who would have lived if he hadn't killed their mother. His wife. Anakin's children, he corrected himself. Anakin's wife.

What would they have been like if they had lived? Well Padme would have been surprised there were two of them. Anakin had known all along, he just decided to keep it quiet from his anxious wife. Senator Padme Amidala Skywalker had enough to worry about when she thought there was only one coming, Anakin's relationship with her being forbidden and all of that. No reason to add fuel to a raging fire.

The idea would grow on her, Vader was sure. Padmé had brought up that she wanted children even before she married Anakin. The senator was so good with her nieces, what even happened to those little girls on Naboo? Not relevant. Padmé would have been an amazing mother, nurturing and calm. Protective when needed, Darth Vader recalled his wife's skills with a blaster. Anakin's wife. Karabast.

Would the skywalker children have been more like Anakin or their mother? Much like the child in these files he assumed. Capable of flying ships, force wielders and even Jedi getting ready to become Masters. Obviously they would have been powerful, both politically and with the force. But behind that sarcastic facade they would be kind and generous just their mother.

Now that he thought about it, could they have been Jedi? Anakin's relationship with Padme would have been made public once they were born, it would be inevitable. Anakin would have been removed from his status, like his former padwan. The twins would have to commit themselves wholeheartedly for council would even consider them. But that was gone now, the council was gone. So was the Skywalker line.

Maybe the republic would have taken Skywalker's children as pilots? Anakin would have trained them well, especially without all the responsibilities of being a jedi. He would commit himself to being a father, a figure he never had. Which wasn't as true as what Vader wanted to believe, he had multiple role models who fit that position.

Obi Wan would have been happy for Anakin Skywalker, disappointed but still happy. Anakin would have had the life that Obi Wan wanted with Satine. But Obi Wan wouldn't be jealous, he was a committed Jedi. His former master would help raise the children, just like he raised Anakin.

Vader slammed his fists into the desk, he was getting lost in the past. A past he didn't need to see. Vader killed those children before they ever breathed, no need to be concerned about their hypothetical futures. Better focus on the present. This padawan.

So he looked back down at the file and got lost in his mind once more. He wasn't seeing Anakin's children this time, Vader was seeing a 15 year old Anakin Skywalker. Confident in every way, he definitely had a reason to be. Like Ezra Bridger he had only become a padwan late in life, allowing him to have an unconventional form of Jedi training. Both extremely wreckless yet devoted to their master. Both allowing their past to draw them toward the dark. Except Ezra Bridger was better than Anakin Skywalker, his will was stronger. Ezra didn't form attachments like he did, or at least not such an extent. That was evident by this boy's history.

Darth Vader wouldn't go down this path again. The one that gave him false hope of a future, a life of happiness. Power hadn't gotten him that, not yet anyway. Darth Vader picked up the file quickly and began to shred it violently, this wasn't something he would need. Any encounter with this child would result badly. Vader would never see young Ezra again.