Previously

Padme took a step forward. The second she did, her body collapsed before her. 'No..' Her mind cried out. She only needed a little more time. But it was too late. In an instant, everything went black. Unconsciousness calling out to her.

Vader sighed as he walked over to her collapsed body. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her body over to face him. He wiped a few stray strands of hair from her face. Even in a state of unconsciousness, she still managed to look beautiful. The way the dim light from the fire surrounded her made her look angelic in his eyes. He took his cloak off and placed it around her as he picked her up in his arms.

He looked down at her through sympathetic eyes. She was a mystery to him.

"Why do you have to be so damn stubborn Angel?" He asked the motionless body.

Prisoner of My Own – Dark And Light

She wondered to herself how it was possible to feel nothing at all. She could not feel the coldness which she had only seconds ago felt from the tip of her head to her toes. Or the pain from the wound she had foolishly acquired on her side. She was completely numb. Was this death? It had to be. There was nothing around her but complete darkness. She couldn't even tell whether her eyes were open or closed. It mattered not, there was nothing to see.

This darkness felt soothing to her for some reason. It was nothingness along with her. Just like what she had always been.. Invisible. She wanted nothing more than to just continue her peaceful sleep inside of this darkness. There would be no stress to go back to. Worrying about what once used to be her precious Republic. About her people.. About her family. It all just seemed to float away from her. And along with it, all of her memories of the hard times. She was left with nothing inside of her.

But her peaceful sleep did not seem to want to let her rest for a very long time. She realized that her eyes were indeed closed as a blinding light forced them open. The darkness all around her was gone. She felt the pain she had once felt come back to her. It was three times as strong as it had been before. She cursed at the light. Hissed for it to go away and leave her alone. It was it's fault that her life had turned out to be the way it had. Nobody deserved this future that the Emperor had so easily planned out.

"Padme.." A distant voice called out. The voice of a ghost from the past. It sounded familiar to her, but her memories did not seem to want to pay attention to what was going on.

She covered her eyes with her hands and turned away from to light. Not wanting to see what laid before her. Not wanting to leave the warmth of the darkness. The light burnt her flesh, sent her pain. She was tired of pain.

"Go away!" She shouted out at it. But the light did not comply. Instead it got louder, closer. The familiar voice becoming painful as it entered her ears.

"Padme..." The voice all of a sudden became soft and soothing as she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She let her hands slip from her eyes as she turned to see who the voice had been.

She gasped and recoiled as she noticed who it was that stood before her. It was her Master. And he was as alive as ever. He had a brilliant light surrounding him. Like nothing she had ever seen before. The pain that the light caused quickly began to fade away into the darkness as well. She felt all of her senses return to her. Her memories, the good and the bad. And for just a second, all was as it should be. There was nothing but serenity.

"Master.." She called out to him. Her voice shaky and surprised. "How is this possible?"

She could tell that it was indeed her Master from the chuckle and smile she had received in response. "The Force is very unpredictable.. is it not?"

She looked around through all the light. "Is this the Force? Am I dead Master?"

"No.. no, you are not dead. And this, yes I suppose this could be the Force. You have to remember... the Force is everything. Its all around you. Theres no way to label it as just one thing."

Padme nodded. "Why am I here Master? Whats going on?"

Obi-Wan sighed. "Padme, you have to know that I am very proud of you. You have to stop blaming yourself for every little thing that happens. For every failure. To be human is to fail. No one is perfect. How is one to learn if they do not fail?"

Padme lowered her head. She couldn't look him in the eyes. "But I should have done something." She spoke barely above a whisper. "I shouldn't have run away." This time her voice became louder.

"I would not have wanted you to suffer the same fate as me my padawan."

She looked up at him. He usually never called her that. It would bring too much suspicion to the others that she was being trained. They had agreed to keep it as a secret.

"If you had not gone, who knows what could have happened to all of the younglings. You did the right thing Padme. Realize that."

She felt her eyes water as she listened to his words. He was wrong. She should have stayed that day. Together, they could have both defeated Vader. Her Master would still be alive. The younglings would have been fine.. and they would have had one less person in the Empire to hunt for. The path she should have taken was clearly laid out in front of her.

"Please Padme.. listen to me. Only when you stop blaming yourself can you move on. If you don't realize that then you will commit your worst failure of them all. One which I know you will not recover from."

"Whats the point master?" She shot back. Tears now freely falling from her eyes. "You're dead, the Jedi are dead, the Republic.. IS DEAD! Theres nothing more for me to live for. I'm only fantasizing that I could somehow make everything right again. I'm not strong enough Master. I'm not ready!"

Obi-Wan looked at her with so much sympathy that she could have sworn she was drowning in it.

"I have faith in you Padme. But you first need to have faith in yourself."

"How can I Master? How can I!"

"The past holds many secrets which it still has not unveiled. Be patient."

Padme felt her stomach become uneasy as the lights all around her began to swirl. They merged with the darkness into one. Making it harder for her to see. She felt her Master float further and further away from her, his light leaving her. The pain she felt came crawling back into her skin.

"Wait! Master!.. What does that mean?" She was so very tired of trying to decode everything which came out from a Jedi's mouth. It was worse when she had known Master Yoda. Just once she wished they would tell her things the way it was suppose to be.

Padme opened her eyes to find herself on a bed in a dimly lit room. It appeared to be inside of a space ship of some sort. She attempted to recall the last thing that had happened. Her Masters words were still banging inside of her head. The last thing she remembered.. Vader. This must be his ship. She wondered to herself why he had not thrown her inside of a cell or something along those lines. After all, she was his prisoner now..was she not?

The room she was in was pretty plain. There were no windows or paintings on the walls. Everything was just a plain gray color. 'How dull.' Her feminine side taking over. The only thing with any real color was the sheets that she laid in. They were a blood red color. 'Very original..'

Her eyes went wide as she took another look at the bed sheets she was laying in. It was not the sheets that made her skin crawl all of a sudden. No. It was the fact that these sheets were the only thing covering her. What had happened to her clothes? She attempted to recall the previous day.. but all she remembered was fainting.

A sudden surge of rage filled her as she put all of the pieces together. 'Why that vulgar, immoral, sneaky son of -'

Vader jumped up from his pilots chair as he felt a sudden wave of anger hit him straight in the face. It was anger like he had never felt before. Something deeper. And for just a second, Vader admitted to himself that it scared him just a little.

"She must be awake." He spoke under his breath.

He quickly made his way through the ship to the room which he had left her in. The second the door slid open, the anger in the air intensified. He was not sure how much longer he would be able to take it. He did not think it was possible for such a little person to be filled with so much anger. And over what?

"You!" She hissed at him. Pointing a single finger accusing him of something.

Vader took a step inside of the room and instantly regretted it. She was like a wild animal. He was unsure of what would happen next.

"How dare you!" She screamed at him. Before Vader had a chance to anticipate the move, the pillow she had once been resting on was now one with his face. 'What in the world could have gotten her so worked up?'

She sent him images of what she wanted to do to him through the Force. None were really that pleasant. All of them involved weird contraptions, except for the one with the lightsaber, and resulted in the loss of a lot of blood. Possibly death.. Vader wasn't quite sure. Was this just the normal behavior for a woman which he had once heard of? It seemed unlikely.

"What the hell is your problem?" He shot back as he dodged the second pillow.

"Whats my problem?" Vader could have sworn he heard her growl. "Whats my problem!" She exclaimed this time. "Where.. the hell.. are.. MY CLOTHES!"

Vader took a second look at her as he reminded himself that she was completely nude. He opened his eyes to respond but was left mesmerized by the vision before him.

"I.." He managed to blurt out.

She looked absolutely beautiful in the lighting of the room. He curly hair was a complete mess as it hung loosely all around her body. Dipping over the creamy smooth skin of her shoulders. He especially loved the fire he saw in her eyes. She looked anything but weak right now. She had a little wrinkle over her nose as she stared at him angrily. He found it adorable.

Noticing the way he had been staring at her, Padme pulled the sheets closer to herself. Securing them from any and all wondering eyes. She absolutely hated the way he looked at her.

Realization struck on as Vader imagined what could have been going through her mind when she awoke. He snapped out of his trance and shook his head wildly.

"Its not what you think." He took a step closer.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" She shrieked picking up yet another pillow in her hand.

"Calm down will you!" He shot out getting a bit annoyed with her. He crossed his arms as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Calm down?" She called back out. "How can you expect me to be clam!"

Thinking it over again, maybe those weren't the right words to tell her. He would never understand this creature in front of him.

"It was the medical droid that removed them." He pointed to a corner in the room where a droid lifelessly sat.

Padme instantly calmed. A singe of anger still hanging over her.

"They were wet anyways and needed to dry. I believe it left them in the refresher." This time he pointed to a door in the room.

Padme all of a sudden felt very foolish for reacting the way she had. But still, none if it made sense. Why would he care if her injuries were treated or not? Let alone whether she was cold or not. Who was this man. He could not possibly be Vader.

"Why?"

Vader eyed her curiously. "Excuse me?"

"Why are you doing all of this? Am I not your prisoner?"

Vader asked himself the very same question over and over again. He was not one to be known for mercy, but there was just something about this girl. Every time he was around her..a side of him he had long left for dead seemed to spring back to life. Trying to tell him something but it never seemed to seep through the veil of darkness that still hung over him.

"Yes," he replied as he turned to leave the room, "yes you are."

He left her there sitting dumbfounded and unsure of what to do. She decided that she would never be able to understand this man. He was one person at some point and then a completely different one at another. She had seen recordings of just how cruel he could be. The way he acted now made her want to believe that they were all just fake. But she knew they weren't. Vader was a murder. And he was to die sooner or later. If not by her own hand.. then by another.

She brought her hand up to her neck quickly as she remembered something. The Japor Snippet she wore. Had that been taken from her as well? She was relieved to find that it had been caught in her hair. She softly detangled it and let it hang loosely on her chest once again. It was one of the only things she had left to remember her old friend with.

Padme stood up from the bed and instantly regretted it. The bandages that covered her wound on her side turned a slightly blood red color. She bit her lower lip and closed her eyes. Pushing the pain aside, she walked over to the refresher where she found her dry clothes just as Vader had said. The one thing she had not gotten back was her lightsaber. At least the removal of her weapons made her feel more like a prisoner than she did right now.

Once she was dressed, she walked over towards the door. What surprised her even more was that it was not locked. She could leave and enter it as she pleased. Vader's surprises never seemed to end. Didn't he worry that she would escape? Or furthermore.. attempt to kill him.

She left the room and walked through the halls of this ship cautiously. She let one of her hands clasp on to her side tightly to ease the pain while the other remained against the wall for support. She was in no state to be walking right now. Her lousy mood didn't seem to help either. But her stubbornness overcome her.

She found Vader sitting in the pilots chair. He seemed to be asleep, and very uncomfortable. She herself had once slept in a chair all night. It was not a very pleasant feeling. The better question however was why she was concerned with his level of comfort.

"You shouldn't be out of bed." He spoke startling her.

"I thought you were asleep." She replied eying him cautiously.

"What do you want?" He asked as he opened one eye to look at her.

"You didn't answer my question." She bluntly said.

The sight of a red stain on her side made both of his eyes pop open. She should not have gotten out of bed. Not in her current state.

"You're bleeding." He stated the obvious.

"Damn it Vader!" Padme shot out as she slammed her hand on the nearest wall. The fire beginning to burn in her eyes once more. "Stop being so goddamn nice! I know what you're capable of. What you've done. Just tell me why!"

Vader stood from his seat, no longer having to look up at her. Now the roles were reversed. Why was he being so nice to her? He himself wished someone would answer the question already. He did not know this woman in front of him. Not her name, nor who she was. But he could not bring himself to harm her. As if she were someone important to him. But she was not. She was nobody. She would die soon.

"The Emperor would like you back in one piece. Now return to your room."

"I see." She stated as she shifted her eyes from him towards a window on the ship. "The Emperor sends his slave to do his bidding yet again. That is all you are." She looked back at him, directly in his eyes. Attempting to break him down. "Nothing but a pathetic slave."

"Do not call me a slave." He replied through gritted teeth.

"You're right. A slave is much to high of a position for you." She taunted him. "Why do you listen to him Vader? Don't you see how weak he is? You could easily overthrow him at any time. Especially now. Why don't you? Why don't you really show the people who it is that holds the power."

He looked away from her. "I need him." Images of his mother flashed through his mind. Maybe there was still a chance to bring her back from the dead. There had to be a way. He was sure they could figure it out eventually.

"For what! How can you take orders from such a vile man? Don't you care about anything? Anything at all. Are you not human? Can you not see how much everyone is suffering."

She received no reply from him except silence.

"No. Of course not. Someone like you could never understand the losses we have had." She spat out with a disgusted tone.

"You do not know me assassin." He screamed at her startling her for the second time. She took a step back as he walked closer to her. A dangerous look on his face. "You do not know what I have been through!"

Even though her heart was about to explode inside of her, she dared not break eye contact with him.

"It must have been a hell of a lot if you are able to kill so many innocent people without a second thought. What kind of a monster are you?" She managed to keep her tone strong as fear crept into her body. The man before her had changed again. This time it was the murderer she had heard of so many times before.

He hated that word. Vader lifted his hands as if he were about to choke the life out of her. He wanted to at this moment. How dare she say such things about him. She did not know anything of his past. Of what he had been through.

He stopped himself as he looked down at her. Her face did not betray her. Her hands however were another story. They laid by her side, clenched into fists; shaking uncontrollably. He could tell he had frightened her. Was that not what he wanted? For her to fear him just like every other being in the galaxy did?

He groaned in annoyance as he let his hands drop. He promptly walked past her, leaving her confused for the second time in the past hour.

"You should not be out of bed." He repeated.

"I will kill you." She plainly stated as she stared out the pilots window. Her back was turned to him, but she heard him stop in his tracks. "I promise you that."

"What is it that I have done to you? Was it the fall of your beloved Republic?"

She shook her head as she continued to stare out the window. "You killed someone.. who was very dear to me once. He was just a child." She turned to stare at him. "And.. you killed my Master. An old friend of yours I'm sure."

"Your Master?" He eyed her curiously. She was not from the temple. She must have been trained in secret after the fall of the Jedi. But by who?

"Yes," she replied, "Obi-Wan Kenobi." Just saying his name brought back pain to her. She did not need the force to know that he remembered him. The look of shock was clearly written all over his young features.

Had he heard wrong? His old Master had been this girls Master as well? It almost seemed too unlikely to be true. Why had his Master chosen this girl to train? He could tell she was not as in tune with the Force as many others. He was sure she wouldn't have even been accepted as a Jedi.

"Ah. So you do remember him?"

He turned from her and continued to walk down the hallway.

"Why did you do it? Why did you kill him?"

"He was a Jedi. It was my mission to kill them all." He replied instantly.

"Don't lie to me." She shot back as she walked after him. Placing a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "I was there."

He looked back over his shoulder at her.

"I was with him seconds before you two began to fight. I heard the way you called out to him. There was something more than the fact that he was just a Jedi!"

He sighed and looked forward once again. If it would stop the million questions coming from her, then he would answer her.

"He let my mother die."

That was all it took to get her to shut up. She could not say a word or move from her current spot as Vader walked away. Her Master would never let anyone die. Not even the mother of a ruthless murderer. Something didn't feel right as Padme now stood alone in the hallway of the ship. There was something missing.

Was this what her dream had been referring to?

Authors Note: Ugh.. sorry for not updating in forever guys! I thought I was going to have some time to plan the next chapters during the week I was away on vacation.. but I never did :( .. anyways.. after a week I was expecting to just come home and begin writing the next chapter. No problem right? Wrong. The first thing I found out when I came home was that my Internet was broken. Don't need the Internet to write a chapter though right? .. So then I find out the program I use for writing became corrupt or something. Urg. Just a huge mess. But now its all taken care of :) .. so i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. More to come soon.

Heh.. I was kinda lazy with this chapter :( .. since schools starting soon.. im so stressed out about everything. grr. evilness. I'll re-do it later if necessary. Let me know :)