The lady walked as though she had the weight of the galaxy on her shoulders. The walls of her world had been crumbling for a long while now, but the words spoken by a once trusted and dear friend cracked the foundation of her beliefs to its very core. While she knew things were terribly wrong in the universe and in her private life, denial was a powerful coping mechanism, protecting her from a harsh and bitter reality.
Two Clone Troopers led Senator Padmé Amidala through the expansive hallway of the Senate building as if she were a prisoner taking her final steps on death row. What was once a building buzzing with excitement over the announcement of the first Galactic Empire was now barren, cold, and lifeless. The clanking of the troopers' armor and the sounds of their footsteps echoing throughout the halls reminded Padmé of the sounds of a firing squad executing a prisoner.
Where had she gone wrong? When she looked in the mirror before she left, she could not even recognize the sorrowful face that stared back at her. How could the former Queen of Naboo, who once fought for her people both literally and figuratively, have morphed into this pitiful weeping creature? How could her judgment about two of the most important men in her life be so terribly wrong?
If what Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi said was true about Anakin Skywalker and Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, it would mean that what she placed her faith in romantically, politically, and morally was the very evil that stood opposite of everything she believed in. And she was pregnant. Pregnant by a man who might have betrayed his fellow Jedi, turned to the dark side, and killed innocent children.
This very thought caused tears to pool in Padmé's eyes. If anyone were to show her even the slightest bit of concern at her obviously distressed demeanor, she was sure she would have collapsed into a heap of tears. But no. All that sought to comfort her were two machines of flesh and blood, as faceless and as cold as the droid armies of the Separatists. She had to be strong. She had to get to the bottom of this.
As the automatic doors to Palpatine's office opened, her former mentor, ally, and friend sat behind his desk, smirking through his deformed features at her arrival. His black billowy robe and hood cast his eyes in shadow.
"Sorry for the formality, Senator," Palpatine spoke. "One can't be too careful these days."
Palpatine raised his hands to push back his hood and reveal his pale melted face.
"What brings you here, my dear. I was told it was most urgent," he continued.
His insincere concern caused a rage inside Padmé. Here sat the man who destroyed democracy, perverted the galaxy, and may have corrupted her husband and the father of her child.
"You may dispense with the pleasantries, Chancellor," Padmé said accusingly. "It was you, wasn't it? It was you this whole time."
Palpatine's smile grew wider at her words.
"My dear lady, what are you talking about?"
This was her moment. Padmé wouldn't hold anything back.
"The attack on Naboo all those years ago… the attempts on my life… the wars… you've been playing both sides ever since I've known you."
"Rather bold accusations, M'Lady." Palpatine's grinning face soured into an expression of serious discord. "Dangerous accusations one might construe as treachery. Tell me, you wouldn't be talking to any Jedi, now would you?"
Padmé was taken aback by Palpatine's insightful inquiry. She dared not confirm his suspicions, for it was her conversation with Obi Wan that set her on this quest for truth.
"Chancellor," Padmé objected.
"It's Emperor now, Senator," Palpatine interrupted with malice, "and you best learn your place. These are different times now, M'Lady, and I would hate to see you suffer the fate of those not loyal to the Empire."
Padmé and Palpatine's eyes locked. It was in this moment that Padmé knew the once honorable Senator from Naboo, who befriended her as a mere child, was gone, if he ever existed to begin with.
"Is that a threat?" Padmé asserted with a raised brow.
A deep maniacal laugh responded to her statement. Standing up from his behind his desk, Palpatine moved toward Padmé like a spider cautiously moving in towards its prey.
"How long have I known you, Padmé?" Palpatine questioned as he clasped his hands. "You of all people should appreciate the position I am now in. After all, I wouldn't be here without you."
At those words, goosebumps pricked itself upon the back of Padmé's neck and her stomach tied into souring knots.
"What?" Padmé managed to stammer.
A look of prideful joy illuminated Palpatine's face as he spoke in a mockingly revelatory tone. "It was you, wasn't it Senator, who set things in motion for the removal of Chancellor Vallorum. It was you who entrusted Jar Jar in your Senate seat during your leave of absence, who in turn proposed the legislation that gave me my emergency powers."
Padmé turned away from Palpatine and looked at the floor in horror. Was it true? Was she responsible for the great evil that was now engulfing the galaxy? All the innocent lives lost during the war… could it really have been all her fault?
"Let's play a game, shall we," Palpatine continued. "Let's say I was responsible for the attack on Naboo, and I was playing both sides of this war. That would make me a Sith Lord, wouldn't it? In fact, the Sith Lord long sought after by the Jedi. Truth be told, as a Sith Lord, I wouldn't have been able to rise to the ranks of power I am now in without the sympathetic aid of a naïve little girl from a pathetic little planet in a galaxy full of corruption. If I were this Sith Lord, I truly couldn't have done it without you, Padmé."
Guilt was quickly replaced by fear in Padmé's heart as she now realized the tremendous danger she was now in. How could she have been so reckless confronting Palpatine when she had a child to worry about? This whole situation was making her act irrationally.
Turning away from Palpatine, Padmé grabbed her belly and looked towards the exit of the chamber. Just as she was about to move, the claw-like hand of Palpatine grabbed her shoulder from behind.
"Tell me, Senator, is it a boy or a girl?" Palpatine questioned threateningly.
Padmé was speechless.
"Don't know? Shall we take a look then?"
Palpatine closed his eyes and placed his hands on Padmé's belly, attempting to use the Force to give him insight into the identity of her child. As his mind concentrated on the soul within, a violent force abruptly knocked Palpatine away from Padmé. Someone or something was protecting her child.
As Palpatine grabbed his head in pain, Padmé seized the opportunity to make a run for it. She had to get to Anakin. She refused to believe her beloved would succumb to such evil.
As she hastily made her way out of the office, one of the Clone Troopers raised his gun and shot at Padmé, nearly missing her as she turned the corner. As the Clone Troopers moved to charge after her, Palpatine interrupted them. "No! Wait. Her part is not yet over."
A devious smile came across Palpatine's face.
"The child of Skywalker will soon be mine for the taking. I have foreseen it."