The Darkness to Come
Anakin could see Padmé on the other side of the transparisteel, but even as she shouted at him so hard her face was turning red, he could not hear her. Rain poured on her relentlessly, terror reflected in her eyes.
"I'm trying!" Anakin shouted back, though he doubted Padmé could hear him. "Hold on!"
He attempted to pry the transparisteel door open, but it remained steadfastly sealed. Have to open it, have to save her, hurry... His mind raced frantically. He took out his lightsaber, ignited it, and tried to cut through the door, but for some reason it had an odd sealant resistant even to the lightsaber's blade. Frustrated, Anakin bit out a curse and threw his weapon aside.
Padmé beat on the transparisteel with her hand, glancing behind her in fear.
Anakin summoned the Force, trying to use its mysterious power to break through the door. But to his amazement, it did not move. "Padmé, wait, please..." he said, placing his palm on the door where she had placed hers.
"Anakin," she mouthed, tears falling from her eyes...or was it the rain? No, her eyes were reddening. Anakin's heart beat faster and his breath became shallow. A terrible dread seized his very being.
A bolt shot out of nowhere from behind Padmé and struck her in the back. She never took her gaze off of Anakin as she slid to the ground, smoke rising out of the wound.
"Nooooo!" Anakin screamed. He had to get to her...but nothing worked...she was out there in the rain...dying.
With a horrible cry, Anakin focused all of his fear, all of his frustration, and all of his anger on the stubborn door. It shattered into a million pieces.
Anakin rushed outside, the rain drenching him. He took Padmé into his arms and he knew she had been mortally wounded. But he could save her. He was more powerful now. "Padmé, listen to me," he said, trembling as he held her. "I'm going to share my life force with you; it'll sustain you until I can get you to a med facility."
"Ani," she rasped. "There's something I need to tell you..."
"Shhh, save your strength, love. I'm going to save you." He closed his eyes, tapped into the Force, and sent its flow through him into her body. The feeling was so warm and so reassuring, he thought for several moments he had brought her back from the brink. But the realization dawned on him that her organs were shutting down, her heart was slowing, and she was slipping away. It was as though he had gripped her hand to save her from drowning, but the current was too strong and it was pulling her away.
"Ani, I love you...you have..." She tried to look up at him one last time and there was something she saw that made her mouth open with horror. "Ani, don't..." Then, her spark faded and her eyes deadened. Her spirit passed through Anakin; he felt it. She was gone.
"Padmé!" he cried, sobs racking his body. He shouted her name over and over. How could the Force have failed him again? First his mother, now his love. He had failed them both...
"Aaagh!" Anakin sat straight up in bed, perspiring profusely.
"Ani?" Padmé, awakened by her husband's cries, sat up. She saw his terror even in the dark and it frightened her. He hadn't had a nightmare like this since before they were married...
"Padmé." He turned to his wife, almost surprised to see her there. The dream, it was too real. He honestly believed he had lost his wife forever. But she was there beside him, in the bedroom of their home on Naboo. She looked at him with concern and she brushed back his hair.
"Bad dream?" she asked.
Anakin nodded. "The war," he said. "I dreamt about something that happened a few months ago." There was no way he could tell Padmé what he really saw.
"Oh, Ani," Padmé said, taking him into her arms. "It's all right. You're safe here with me."
As Anakin held her, he felt the warmth of her body and breathed in her scent. He banished the horrors of his nightmare from his mind; Padmé was with him now, alive and safe. The dream was nothing more than his deepest fears; and even it if it was a vision, he had knowledge of it in advance. He would do everything within his power to protect her.
No one will take his heart from him.