Disclaimer: George owns everything except the pathetic characters/settings/etc. I may whip up. That shit's mine.
Summary: an AU in which Senator Padmé Amidala is the secret Sith Lord who finds the Force very strong in the young Jedi Knight, Anakin Skywalker. developed from a prompt on tumblr.
A/N: good morning/afternoon/evening, my darlings, and welcome to Red. i am your author, samara. since this is my first story posted on here, i thought i might introduce myself a little bit, and also introduce my writing (you'll understand why in a second). so, yes, my name is samara, and i am fairly new to the fanfic world. i've had this account since last june, but i haven't planned on doing anything with it (other than reading fics) until recently. star wars was a big part of my childhood. i first discovered it when i would visit my cousin's house, and we'd play with his star wars legos or watch the movies or play the video games. i eventually lost interest as i grew up, but a sudden urge to watch the movies had me fall in love with the series all over again around christmas time. since then, i've read multiple fanfics regarding my favorite OTP, anakin skywalker & padmé naberrie-amidala and have even developed a couple plots of my own, depicting their relationship in au circumstances. this story is one of those au plots. now, i have a certain writing style that some of you dear readers may pick up right away while the rest will read along without a clue to it, and that's perfectly okay! i'm just giving those author-analyzers a heads up that my writing is basically satire, especially in this story. obviously, you must have gathered from the summary that this will be a darker story, and when it comes to darker themes, i tend to go sarcastic, cynical, mocking. you will find these characteristics present in not only my words, but the words of the characters as well. pain & suffering will be something of a joke in this story, and what i mean by that is that there will be gruesome pain & suffering, but it will be disregarded as if it is nothing; please don't think of me as a heartless person when it comes to that, i just find it rather befitting for the story & plotline. so, i guess with that i should mention that if you cannot handle graphic images of violence, torture, sex, all put in a derisive light, than i suggest you close out of this tab right now.
thank you for bearing with me on that much-too-extensive author's note. now, enjoy the program, kiddos!
PART ONE: The Color Of Desire
Coruscant hadn't always been her home.
If she thought hard enough, Padmé Amidala could remember her homeworld planet of Naboo, with its lush, green forests, crystal-blue acres of water, natural architecture and overall pleasant atmosphere. It was a lot different that the planet she stood on now.
Coruscant was ugly, physically and socially - at least the majority of it; everything outside of the Senate district was practically an eyesore, and even though Senator Amidala had never really made an effort to wander past the physical depths of her senatorial territory in the hopes of finding a diamond in the rough, she was most likely safe in saying there wasn't much beauty on the city-planet. And the people were even worse: aggressive, impatient, greedy. When sent on charitable missions in the slum districts of the planet, Senator Amidala only encountered creatures with bad attitudes and unhealthy amounts of pride - not to mention, nonexistent personal hygiene.
But even with the terrible conditions ninety-five percent of the planet hosted, Senator Amidala could not help but swell with pride as she looked down at the city sprawled out before her.
Her city.
It may be ugly, it may be harsh, it may be slightly chaotic, but it was so much better than her homeworld of Naboo. It was Triple Zero; it was the center of the universe; it was the home to the Republic, and it was home to her, too. This was her city.
As if on cue, a low moan was released into the quiet air of the Chancellor's office. A slight smirk on her rich, pink lips, the senator rolled her eyes and turned away from the large window overlooking the planet. Her dark gaze landed on the black, hooded figure lying motionless at the foot of the expansive Chancellor's desk.
"You must understand that your time is up, Master."
That haughty smile never left her beautiful face as she sat down comfortably in the Chancellor's chair; the hooded figure stirred slightly, and Amidala pushed the dark cloak out of the way with a careless kick of her foot, exposing the hideous face of Chancellor Palpatine - or to Amidala, Master Sidious. His acidic yellow eyes stared up at her in loathing, in pain, in...fear. The senator's smile widened.
"It's nothing personal, I assure you that," she said lightly, her tone not unkind. "It's just...politics. You of all people should know how it works. Once we have a taste of power, us politicians will stop at nothing to consume the rest, and we'll jump at the first sign of our opponent's weakness." She sighed. "I hate to say it, Master, but you've been lacking in the offense for the last few years; if we're not plotting the Jedi downfall, we're running from them, jumping from one corner of the galaxy to the other. Things were at a standstill for too long, and I had to act on it."
The fallen Chancellor took a rattling breath. "Your greed will finish you off before you begin," he spat, then hacked a great, raspy cough. Amidala's nose wrinkled. "You fool yourself with your knowledge...of the Dark Side. Too young, too naïve…to know of its extent...and its limitations. You'll…murder yourself before you become as great as I, and your masters that have come before me…"
She let out a trill laugh, tossing her head back with a certain form of regal elegance that had the Chancellor looking away. Then, she sobered quickly - all amusement wiped clean from her face. "You are the fool," she whispered.
Blinding lightning shot out from the tips of her fingers, and Darth Sidious's body absorbed it all; he thrashed about, pale skin lit up with the killer electricity. It was too much for him to even cry out - not that anyone would hear him. His red guards were dead at the entrance to the room, and the closest living soul was levels upon levels below them. Amidala watched with cold, detached eyes as her weakened prey's mouth stretched wide in a scream he could not set free. Then, she lifted her hand, and the lightning vanished into thin air.
"I know," she began in a low voice, standing slowly to her full height (somehow, a meter and a half seemed more intimidating than it normally was), "more than you accuse me of. Was that reminder enough or shall I enlighten you further on my mastery of the Dark ways of the Force?"
Placing her boot most uncomfortably on the side of his face, Amidala lifted her hand again, and the once pompous Dark Lord cringed in fear. But instead of an attack on her master, the senator sighed deeply, as if the exchanged between the two of them was boring her.
"Master..." she tsked. "I will admit, I've waited most impatiently for this day to come. But I only began my waiting because of your incompetence! Please try to see with me on this, Master, just how - how pathetic you really were! You should be thanking me for ending your disgraced reign quickly instead of letting your legacy commit seppuku. You know, your training may have been horrendous and your torturing endless, but I did come to care for you in an appropriately, father-like manner; not only did you teach me everything I know and shaped me to be the mighty Sith I am today, but none of it would have been possible if you hadn't taken me from my worthless parents and introduced me to the Force-sensitive world - for that I am truly, very grateful!"
Senator Amidala removed her foot from Darth Sidious's head and moved slowly around the Chancellor's desk, beginning a leisurely pacing.
"You've been all I've ever known," she admitted, her voice the closest it's ever to been to something not superior. "And I owe everything to you...So it pained me to watch your performance as what should have been the galaxy's most feared being slip through your fingers without you trying in the least to catch it. Obviously, we both knew the day for the apprentice to prevail the master would come, but so soon? I don't think even the Force could have foreseen that."
She smiled wryly, turning back to her pain-ridden master.
"It's all right, though. My seizure of the Dark Side's throne will restore the Siths' power in the universe, so you need not die fretting." Amidala approached Sidious, and leaned over him, her stunning face hanging teasingly over his ruined one. "That's the difference between you and I that proves why I shall live forever and you shall perish quickly: I'm smart enough to know who my enemies are. And, dear Master, you are not one of them."
She grinned, blinked, and then a flash of red illuminated her joyful expression and his dying reaction; the once-powerful Dark Lord had been slain.
Across the city, the inhabitants of the Jedi Temple all felt a great, disturbing shift in the Force. For a brief moment, there was a peace, but then as suddenly as it came, it was vanquished; destroyed; terminated, a darkness of such magnitude the Jedi haven't encountered in years falling over their hearts and minds. Master Yoda dropped his stick, a green claw reaching out for the tiniest bit of light left; Master Windu jumped up from his meditation in a blur of purple light, 'saber at the ready for no present opponent; Master Kenobi's face crumpled in pain, and the bottle of spirits acting as his company shattered in his grasp; and Jedi Knight Skywalker sat up in his cot with a deep gasp for air, drenched in sweat, shaking from head to foot, trying to determine if the vision he had was a dream or reality.
Back at the Republic executive building, Amidala stood in front of the window again, shoulders back, chin poised high in the air as she looked down at the city - her city. She felt weightless, high, and indestructible; lightning crackled at her fingertips as her body physically buzzed from the new position of power she now held. She was the queen, the empress, the ruler of the Dark Side - everything was hers for the taking, and that's exactly what she planned to do.
Senator Amidala, secret apprentice to the Sith Lord, was no more. Now, there was only...
"Lady Vrouw," she whispered, the name falling from her lips before she even knew the answer herself. At the sound of her new christening, a wild, unhinged smile shot across her face. The time had come.
It felt as if the scream had been building up for years, and when she finally released it in a fury of decibels, the glass window shattered, as well as the glass desk, the glass lights. Tiny, lethal shards whipped around her, and Amidala - Lady Vrouw - outstretched her arms, as if to embrace the city, the planet, the whole entire universe.
It was hers, after all, so why the kriff not?
A/N: thank you for reading! there should be more soon, but i'm not the type to finalize an updating schedule...\: sowwy. my guess is that the next update will be within the next two months! in the meantime, plz let me know what you think as reviews are the only form of payment us authors on this site receive. once again, thank you.