#fialleril based

"I would not have expected such an offer in these circumstances, Lord Vader." Captain Altor speaks, after a long, agonizing moment. "In fact, I would have expected to be treated the same as you would any other officer who committed such an infraction." I would have expected to be killed, she doesn't say. I would not expect you to believe my claims of innocence. Not without evidence. What's the catch? She also doesn't say. And yet.

"And yet." He says, because she hasn't outright refused him. She hasn't sounded any alarms or made any effort to override the scrambler. There's something there, something familiar in her gaze. "You would do well to consider it. Admiral Motti does not expect you to be brought to him until the morrow. You are well aware of the troopers' rotations. It would not be difficult for you to take a shuttle to the rendezvous and destroy it before you are tracked."

"You say you would have me defect into the Rebellion. That they'll welcome me." Tova Altor says. Is that what you'll tell them all once you have killed me? She doesn't. Am I to be bait for the Rebels?

Anakin inclines his head, a single, simple nod. He does not know how to say 'I have been working with them for nearly two decades' and be believed. He also does not know if she'll report this. But somehow he doubts it – it would not only doom them both, but he has a feeling that she wouldn't. And that feeling is one he has learned to trust. "They will." He says, voice final, "If you provide them with a code."

Tova Altor raises an eyebrow, a precise gesture that communicates her skepticism without words. And who will provide this code? You? She does not say.

But she hasn't refused him yet. "You will tell them you are sent by Ekkreth. The rain was long ago." He says, "But the desert does not forget."

And before he can say anything else, the Captain's face transforms. It is a falling away, he thinks, of a mask he never knew she was wearing. And suddenly, as her skepticism turns to shock that belies a fragile, unbreakable hope, then to a blazing, grim joy as bright and terrible as the twin suns, he realizes the familiarity she holds.

"The desert never forgets." She says, but her words are not in Basic. His own shock subsides quickly, and he responds in kind.

"The Mighty One comes with the Storm and the Fire." But he says 'Leia', and 'Umakkar'.

"We will walk free." She finishes, but instead of free, what she says is 'Lukka'.

Captain Tova Altor is Amaviikan. He did not expect that. But it explains things well, he thinks. The careful balance of a slave, between the words she left said and unsaid. The feeling of familiarity in her gaze, a steadiness that reminds him of the desert. And the droids like her, of course.

"Ek masa nu Bentu Terakreth ku." She says, a secret joy dancing in her once again composed face.

It's risky. He shouldn't. But he has a feeling. One that he has learned to trust. "Ek masa nu Anakin Ekkreth ka."

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Notes: Literally all elements of this are from @fialleril and their amazing headcanons, from their Tatooine Slave Culture and, more specifically, their Double Agent Vader AU. Go read that stuff! Some of this was lifted directly from Apology Accepted, and some from The Slave who Makes Free. Captain Tova Altor, AKA Bentu Rockstrider, is from the latter fic as well. It probably takes place some time before Bespin but not too long. Definitely after Apology Accepted, though.

The joy Anakin describes as grim and bright and terrible as the twin suns is the joy Bentu feels at realizing the implications of Ekkreth being Darth Vader's code name, that Vader is a slave, yes, but the Slave who makes Free, that he's Amaviika, a child of Ar-Amu, part of Tatooine Slave Culture like her, and oh the Emperor is so wonderfully screwed. When they share the desert phrases, they're speaking Amatakka, the language of the Slaves in Tatooine Slave Culture, where Leia is The Mighty One, the Elder Sister to the slaves, she who walks the desert unafraid, Krayt Dragon; Umakkar means the Storm, sandstorms to be specific, and Lukka is the word for free. Yes, Padmé named both of her children with names of their father's culture. Go read Fialleril's stuff for context. The final words they exchange are an introduction in Amatakka, "I am a person named Bentu Rockstrider, she/her" and "I am a person named Anakin Skywalker, he/him". Why are introductions like this? Go read Fialleril's work :P