Washed Away

AUTHOR: Abigail

SUMMARY: What if Padme was so worried about Anakin that she went looking for him at the Jedi Temple? The night of Anakin's turn to the Dark Side?

TIMELINE: During RotS, alternate universe.

CHAPTER 1: Ruminations

RATING: T

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything that was created by George Lucas.

NOTE: Of course, I'm writing another AU. That's because I always get these musings and...Sigh. Oh well. I hope you guys like this little twisted story of mine...This was mainly inspired by that moment during RotS when Anakin and Padme are thinking about each other, right before Anakin leaves to go save the Chancellor from Windu. I feel that the connection between them at that moment would have been strong enough to tell Padme something was wrong...and I think she would have taken action on those emotions. Therefore, I give you my story...REVIEW!

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Padme slowly walked to the window, her beautiful gown gently trailing behind her. She placed her hand against the cold glass as a tear slipped down cheek. She felt scared and alone, and tried to reach out towards Anakin, seeking his comforting presence.

He was alone as well...and from inside the Council Chambers he could sense her...her signature pattern in the Force trickling through his veins. Anakin stood up and walked to the window, staring out over the vastness of Coruscant. His eyes searched until they found the small building in the distance...Padme. Her presence grew stronger and for a moment all thought of the Council and Palpatine slipped from his mind. The connection between the two of them met...

Padme's presence engulfed him, slowly filling him up with a serenity that he needed at the time. But her impending doom floated in front of him...a barrier between him and that longing of peace he wanted. His mind shut once again, blocking her from his raw emotions...He quickly ran from the Council Chambers, finding his way down to the hangar where he jumped into his speeder, flying towards the Senate Building.

Another tear slipped down Padme's cheek as she felt him vanish, his presence disappearing from her empty apartment. Her mind pondered that moment they shared...that slight continuum of time where his emotions were exposed to her. And she was frightened by the revelation that formed in her head...Padme's gaze continued to bore upon the Jedi Temple in the skyline of Coruscant when C-3PO entered the room.

"My lady, are you...are you all right?" he asked quietly, his clanging footsteps nearing her place at the window. Padme quickly brushed the unshed tears from her eyes and turned towards him.

"I'm fine, 3-PO..." she murmured softly as she nervously patted her gown. She sat down on the armchair next to her, letting her body sink into the plush cushions. The protocol droid simply nodded and left the room, assured that despite her quiet demeanor, Miss Amidala was quite fine, just as she said.

Padme's gaze drifted back over to the window, her eyes seeking out the Jedi Temple in the distance. And as she continued to stare, the small web of thought inside her head began to grow, her mind spinning it quietly as she watched Coruscant's sun slip past the horizon...

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Anakin sprinted through the long corridors of the Senate office building, his mind racing. There was a small shadow that had been lurking in the back of his head, and it began to grow and grow. His shadow of doubt towards the Jedi pushed him to come here...for the idea of doubt presented itself to Anakin when he felt that connection between Padme. He had realized, almost too late, that the Master Windu and the other Jedi could easily overpower the Chancellor...and ruin all hope for Padme.

The thought pushed Anakin harder as he ran to the room that lay at the end of the final hallway. He stepped through the open entryway and slowed as he walked inside. The scene that he was presented with caused the blood in his veins to freeze.

"You are under arrest..." Anakin heard Mace say, as the Jedi Master towered over Chancellor Palpatine, who lay crumpled on the open precipice of what used to be the window of his office. Anakin looked around him to see the lifeless bodies of three other Jedi and soon began to understand what was transpiring before him.

"Anakin! I told you it would come to this!" the Chancellor cried, his head turning towards Anakin's. Anakin stood still as he watched the Chancellor struggle to sit up and speak. "The Jedi...are taking over. I was right..." he croaked, his weak body straining as his weapon fell from his hands. Mace lowered his saber in front of the Chancellor, facing him with a warning.

"You old fool. The oppression of the Sith will never return," Mace said slowly, his stern face intensifying with each word. "Your plot to regain control of the Republic is over...you have lost..." he added triumphantly, his powerful words slowly reaching Anakin's ears. A frail silence fell over the room as all three men were motionless...each contemplating their place in the situation. It was the Chancellor who spoke first.

"No...you will die!" he said passionately as bolts of Force lightning left his fingers, trailing towards the Jedi Master. But Mace was too quick, and his unyielding saber returned the hateful energy back away from him, yet struggling under the Sith Lord's strength. Anakin watched in horror as the two most influential men in his life violently attacked each other with the ways of the Force...both good and evil.

"He's a traitor, Anakin!" the Chancellor seethed, his arms struggling under Mace's onslaught. His face twisted as he spoke the words, his head turning slightly towards Anakin's conflicted face.

"No! He's the traitor. Stop him!" Mace yelled. The amethyst glare of his light saber illuminated his rigid face. Anakin was torn, the rationality in his mind and the emotion in his heart fighting for control. He struggled mentally as he continued to stare, dumbfounded, confused...

"Come to your senses, boy. The Jedi are in revolt! They'll betray you just as they've betrayed me..." Palpatine hissed, his eyes flickering with fervor. "I'm your pathway to power. Don't let him kill me..." The Chancellor's strength began to fade away. "You must choose, Anakin. I have the power to save the one you love...you must stop him..." he added desperately.

"Don't listen to him, Anakin." Mace said this as he pushed the Chancellor out onto the window ledge, where the fierce night wind whipped Palpatine's robes about him. Anakin stepped forward, his mind clearing from the fog of conflict. He could see the Chancellor wasting away in front of him as Mace moved closer, arching the lightning back towards Palpatine himself. The Chancellor's whole entire body began to tremble as the lightning wore away at his skin...slowly depleting him of life. Anakin couldn't let his one chance for Padme to live slowly disappear in front of his eyes.

"You can't kill him, Master. He must stand trial!" Anakin shouted above the fizzle and crackle of the energy in the room. He stepped forward once more, the conviction in his heart creeping to his once emotionless face. Mace saw this in Anakin's eyes and knew that he had to convince him otherwise.

"He has too much control of the Senate..." Mace said firmly. "He is too dangerous to be kept alive." The Chancellor howled in pain as the bolts of lightning that pressed against his body increased...

"I'm too weak...don't kill me..." he pleaded, his voice giving way to the pressure of the Force.

"It's not the Jedi way..." Anakin interjected, as his hand stealthily crept to his saber's place on his belt. He was prepared to fight anyone that would stand in the way of his quest to save Padme's life...even if it included the Jedi Council. Anakin felt the burning anger itch at his soul...the feeling of spite welling up inside his bursting heart. Mace ignored Anakin's pleadings as he raised his saber against the collapsed Chancellor.

"He must live!" Anakin shouted, trying to find the words that would explain his desperation. "I need him...please..." he said quietly, as Padme's imaged floated in his mind. Padme...his angel...her soft skin, chocolate tresses, beautiful brown eyes, lilting voice...all of that would be gone...

Anakin lunged at Mace, deftly pulling his activated saber from its holster and quickly slashing Mace's arm, the same arm that held his amethyst saber which was closely aimed at Palpatine's throat. Mace's face contorted with pain, his eyes staring at Anakin in utter horror and disbelief.

Then, suddenly and without warning, the Chancellor sprang to life, his previously limp arms rising forth and unleashing a torrent of lightning towards the unaware Jedi Master. Mace screamed loudly as he was thrown from the ledge of the window, sent to his death as he fell meters to the ground. The screams and moans died away...and the room returned to a vociferous silence.

Anakin felt his weight buckle as he slowly fell to his knees. "What have I done?" he whispered, as a sudden fear washed over him. Palpatine slowly stood up from the window ledge, straining to walk towards Anakin.

"You're fulfilling your destiny, Anakin..." he said slowly, as he transformed into his true form. He pulled his hood over his cadaverous face, allowing only the yellow of his eyes to shine from under the darkness. "Be my apprentice. Learn to use the dark side of the Force..." he said, as he finally stood in front of Anakin.

Anakin listened as he held his face in his hands, millions of thought and feelings running through his mind. He looked up at Palpatine, who towered above him. "I will do whatever you ask," Anakin said slowly, his eyes turning away from the man in front of him. "Just help me save Padme...I can't live without her."

"If we work together, I know we can learn the secret..." Darth Siddious said cautiously, knowing that the power to cheat death was only achieve by one Sith Lord...a powerful one at that. But Anakin felt assured, as he rose up on one knee, bowing his head before his new Master.

"I pledge myself to your teachings...to the ways of the Sith." Anakin hesitated as he said the last part, knowing that he was fully giving his life to the Dark side of the Force...he was going down the path that he had been warned against all his life. But he was willing to do anything for his precious Padme.

"Good..." the Chancellor hissed. "The dark side of the Force is strong with you. Henceforth, you shall be known as...Darth Vader," Siddious said, as he chuckled lightly, feeling the power emanating in the room.

"Thank you, my master..." Anakin spoke quietly, a sense of finality washing over him as he heard his new name.

"You may rise, Darth Vader,' Darth Siddious said, as Anakin slowly stood up.

"I want you to go to the Jedi Temple," the Sith Lord said as he walked over to his desk, grabbing his cloak. "We will catch them off balance. Do what must be done, Lord Vader. Do not hesitate. Show no mercy...Only then will you be strong enough with the dark side to save Padme," Siddious said, his eyes closely watching Anakin as he pulled his hood over his face as well.

"Yes Master..." Anakin said harshly, as he turned and left the room...

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Padme quickly awoke from her place in the armchair, her breathing coming in short gasps as her eyes madly searched the room. She soon realized that it had all been a dream...a nightmare. The images were still fresh in her brain as her mind gently teetered on the line between the dream world and reality. It was awful...and her skin grew cold thinking of it. She couldn't help but stand up from the chair and walk to the large window. Padme was presented with a night time view of Coruscant, the city alive and thriving, as speeders and other ships flew by in a steady stream of traffic above her apartment.

Her trembling hand rested against the cold pane of glass as she gasped loudly, her emotions quickly overpowering her. Tear began to slip down her cheeks as she remembered the nightmare...She quickly ran into her bedroom where she found a shawl and hurriedly wrapped it around her bare shoulders. C-3PO entered the room as Padme was about to leave it.

"I'm sorry, my lady. Are you going somewhere?" he asked politely, noticing that Padme appeared to be dressed for an outing of some kind. He then noticed the freshly shed tears on her face. "Is something wrong?" he asked, as sympathetically as his robotic voice would allow him.

"Hurry and ready my ship...I need to go to Anakin...now," she said quickly. C-3PO obeyed as he rushed out of the apartment, his metallic footsteps sounding loudly in the empty rooms. Padme followed behind him, her body trembling from her overwhelming emotions. All she could think about was Anakin...and how blind she had been to everything that was going on between them. Ever since he returned from the Outer Rim, a large gap had formed between them. Only now did she realize what he had been secretly keeping from her...and it frightened her.

She ran up the ramp as the ship's engines rumbled to a start. "He's at the Jedi Temple..." she said to C-3PO while she took a seat beside him in the cockpit. The protocol droid easily punched in the coordinates, and pulled back on several levers...thrusting the ship from the platform of Padme's apartment...