Disclaimer: Star Wars and all associated characters, plotlines, and worlds (good and bad) are property and copyright © of George Lucas (aka The Richest Man in Hollywood). This is purely for fan entertainment only.
Also, this fanfic is rated MA for any mature content I may or may not include (just in case). I don't recommend reading it if you're not old enough to understand mature themes or sexual content. Also, strong and possibly sexual language. (Just in case, not a promise)
Chapter 1- Nightmares Realized
His smile, fleetingly teasing and always rather boyish, spread gently across his face. They were standing back in her home on Naboo, underneath a veranda. The warmth of the afternoon sun flitted through the trees, leaving patterns beside them. But she only had eyes for him. "My Angel…" he murmured, his hand grazing her cheek. But, the hand shifted abruptly into the more mechanical hand he now owned. His playful smile turned to an eerie smirk, evil dancing in his eyes. Her worst fears had come true; her Ani had chosen the wrong path, seduced by the Dark Side of the Force. She rejected the image subconsciously, trying to wake from the dream, but she was trapped in her own worst fears.
She turned to run away, but they were just as suddenly on the moon of Mustafar, the air pregnant with heat from the molten rock and with fear. She remembered as she felt the grip of his Force choke around her, even now. Her throat tightened, she was bolted to the ground. "Ani!" she screamed wordlessly, pleading her lover to release her from his anger. In her dream, as in life, it all faded to black…
She awoke with a start, bolting up in the bed. Out of habit, she ran her hand down her belly to where her growing baby should have been, then as fingers met flatness, the rest of the reality came to her. She had given birth to twins. How long ago, she did not know. She searched the room, looking for clues as to where they were; babies should be with their mother. She then noticed Obi-Wan Kenobi sitting quietly in the corner, watching her.
"Where are they?" she demanded.
He paused, as if considering what to tell her. He took his time, rising and then coming to her side at the bed. "Safe." Was all he allowed.
She frowned, unhappy with the noncommittal answer. From her experience with her husband, she knew that Jedis would not lie to her, but they would not always tell the entire truth. "Obi-Wan, I want to know exactly where they are. They are my children, after all."
His conflict finally showed in his face, even after all the schooling. "Padmé, this is for your own best good, and theirs," he began, ignoring her angry glares she shot at once. "They are going to be separated. They will be taken to separate families to hide from Darth Sidious." He intoned emotionlessly, beginning the speech he had rehearsed after much deliberation on what their fate should be. "And you cannot be with either of them… your presence, especially with a young child, would attract the attention of Palpatine and his…" he searched for the correct word, this was not quite one he had found just yet. The horrors Senator Palpatine had unleashed upon the galaxy were innumerable. "and his… dark henchmen.". He was not yet ready to reveal Anakin's fate to Padmé.
He stood by her side, ready to explain further how her children would be safe, but unfortunately she decided to jump to the next topic at hand. "And what of Anakin?" her eyes sought his, she wanted the plain truth.
"He's… gone." He could not hide the conflicting emotions from his face upon remembering the events on Mustafar that led to his duel with his Padawan. He turned away from Padmé, not wanting to let her see.
She drew her legs up to her chest and sobbed into her knees. She could not speak for several moments, contemplating the loss of her love. Gradually, she calmed down enough to ponder the situation behind it. "How did he die, Obi-Wan?"
He did not turn to face her and hoped that his grief and her own would cloud his deliberation, the way he carefully chose what he would reveal to her. "I had to fight him, Padmé, he betrayed me." He choked on the words, remembering his Padawan's face. "He betrayed us, betrayed the Republic, betrayed the Order… There is nothing left of the brother I knew and the man you loved." He could not help the images that flowed through his brain now, remembering the laughter and skill of his young friend, then his arrogance, and ultimately his hatred. He would forever have his last words emblazoned in his mind, and they echoed now, "I hate you!"
She shivered, remembering her last moments with Anakin, the dream coming to her once more. She had been hoping it was a nightmare. "Was there not any other way?" she pleaded with him, her heart aching inside.
"No, he would not be swayed, he saw no alternative to his actions. He firmly believed that he was doing the right thing. He was so powerful, I almost failed myself. But I gained the upper hand, gained higher ground. He overestimated his skills and by the will of the Force, he fell." He dropped off, feeling the weight of consequence. He had done it, it was his hand that felled his friend, his brother. But he remembered again those last words, and his voice hardened. "He was no longer the same, Padmé, there was no saving him. The Dark Side had consumed the very essence that was Anakin."
She sat silent, absorbing his words. She was childless, and without her husband. Hopeless, as if falling forever into the depths of dark space, with no hope of anyone retrieving her and righting her. Her Anakin could never save her. Without him or her children, she saw no point in going on. "Obi-Wan, let me be." She curled up under the blankets, hiding her tears from him. There was no sense in alarming him any more.
"No, I won't leave you alone." He breathed in, clearing his face and taking all his emotions to his core, letting the Force soothe him. He had to be strong for her. "You were on suicide watch, Padmé, we thought we were going to lose you."
She flinched, and turned to face him. "Well, there is no point in my life anymore. I shouldn't have woken up." She stated it as if it was simply a matter of fact.
He became animated again, not concealing the care in his eyes. "Padmé, but there is a point. You have friends, we can help you reconstruct your life." He paused, and then revealed the next part of their plan to her. "We are holding a funeral for you on Naboo. Your body double, Sabé, will be drugged to where she is unconscious and barely breathing. We will sneak her away after the funeral, but we want the entire galaxy to think you died in childbirth."
She considered this, and took in the sight of the gentle caring in his eyes. "But what are you telling them of my child, children?" she almost wondered it as an afterthought.
"We are going to pad Sabé's abdomen, make her appear pregnant. We will even paint bruises on her neck to correspond with your… injuries." He gingerly reached out and stroked Padmé's neck, where tender purple sores were already forming. She did not flinch away from his touch, much to his surprise and happiness. "Senator Palpatine will not look for you if he sees no advantage in the situation. He will presume you dead."
She pondered the plan, and sunk back into her pillows, relaxing. "I hope you're right… it would be good to start over." She sighed, her chest still heavy from aching.
He brushed his hand over her forehead, watching her smile. "Sleep more now, Padmé, we will talk later. You need your rest, to heal." He closed his eyes, willing sleepiness on her, and hoping that it would be a gentle sleep not plagued with nightmares… she had enough to deal with as it was.
He could still not get used to the loud whoosh of his mechanical breathing in his own ears, or rather, inside his helmet. As he had hundreds of times during the day, he flexed his fingers in the heavy black gloves, feeling the sensation of not feeling anything. The pain still echoed in his head, but dead limbs on fire did not extend from his torso. Instead, he was seated very calmly in Palpatine's new throne room, his body a mechanical husk, and unfortunately (as he now saw it) very much alive. "Tell me again, Master, what happened to her?" his voice sounded foreign to him, another thing he would need to get used to.
Palpatine turned to him, and pushed back the heavy, dark robe. His ancient, wrinkled face was revealed, his hollow yellow eyes piercing almost through the helmet. "I have already told you, Lord Vader, you killed her."
Darth Vader rose again, as he did after every time he heard the harsh reality, but this time he did not raise his voice in anger. There was no sense in getting angry again at his own actions- he had failed Padmé, and instead of saving her from death in childbed, he had pushed her to an early grave at his own hands. But there was no turning back now, no way he could change the past. He had already embraced his new fate and now there was nothing to keep him from reaching his full potential, no one to stall him. But he still would have not done it any way, given the chance. Apparently he was not strong enough to save any of the ones he loved. So he would embrace this new power and gain that strength; he would never again know loss. "I need to learn that skill that you talked about, Master. Teach me how to give life back to those that are dead."
Palpatine laughed, a bitter laugh, then laughing turned to coughing. "Ahh, my impatient apprentice… You cannot bring back the dead, only hold death at an arm's length away." He pulled the hood of the cloak back around his face, and sat back once more. "You will have to be patient, I will teach you everything in time."
Vader almost started to protest, as this was all too familiar of his training as a Jedi- always a matter of needing patience, but stopped. He had all the time in the world.