A House Divided
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A/N1:Major AU story!
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A/N2: For the purpose of this story, I have changed some canon facts, such as Han Solo having the Falcon earlier, being younger, and other things like that that I needed to change to fit this story. Thank you.
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A/N3: I do not own Star Wars.
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Anakin Skywalker has turned to the Dark Side, yet it was not without seeking to come clean before the Jedi Order. He went to the Council for help and confessed his marriage and impending fatherhood, hoping the Jedi would assist him in his struggle not to turn to Darkness. Instead they shunned him and refused to acknowledge Padmé any longer either, despite her pleas for help as she sought to assist Anakin also.
With this betrayal fresh in their minds, Padmé merely watched as Anakin— now Darth Vader to all but her— removed the Jedi Order from the face of the galaxy in its near entirety.
Now, after having completed his final mission on Mustafar, Padmé has come to him so they can speak... and more.
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Prologue:
"Don't try it Anakin!" Obi Wan Kenobi pled as he watched his former student ready to spring onto the hill Obi Wan had claimed as the high ground. "Please!"
"You underestimate me!" Darth Vader shot back venomously. "You always have!"
With that he sprang... and as he knew would happen Obi Wan moved to defend himself, but Vader changed course at the last second, and instead of Obi Wan's blade removing any limbs from Darth Vader, the man landed to the side.
In the next moment Obi Wan was the one screaming in agony as Vader removed his lightsaber arm. He then slammed the man into the ground a dangerously close distance to the river of molten lava.
Vader held Obi Wan at lightsaber point, looking down his nose at the Jedi as Obi Wan's pain-drunken gaze found his. Vader saw several things flicker through the Jedi Master's gaze then, before acceptance tempered with sadness finally settled in the other's blue depths.
"I guess you win, then, Anakin," Obi Wan whispered. "Go ahead. Finish me."
Vader ground his teeth, wanting for nothing more in that instant. But instead of killing his brother— despite it all, Vader could still acknowledge that they had been brothers— Vader lifted his blade.
In that instant Obi Wan's pants caught fire and the man shrieked again as his skin was rapidly burned. With a growl, Vader yanked the man uphill and used the Force to put out the flames before he turned away, throwing the Jedi's lightsaber into the magma below.
"Get out of my sight... 'for old times' sake'," Vader snarled as he walked away. "And if you ever interfere in my affairs again, I will not hesitate to kill you."
With that Lord Vader returned to the facility, feeling Obi Wan's defeat and reveling in it far more than he could have ever reveled in the man's death. That would have been too easy on Obi Wan. Now he could live in misery for the rest of his days.
It was some time before he saw Obi Wan's ship depart like a whipped nexu, and Vader bid him a final, silent goodbye.
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The heat was almost more than the Tatooine-native could bear, but even so he ignored it. Yes, it was oppressive, and the atmosphere wretched, but Lord Vader thought the scene befitting of how his Jedi life had fallen to hell.
Now the Jedi were all but extinct, and Vader could have cared less. He hated the Jedi now, after they had turned their backs on him. And with all that he had done for them; for the galaxy. They had deserved the fate they were given.
Vader had— unbeknownst to Palpatine, or Darth Sidious as Vader now knew him to be— let only the youngest children live. Only those who were too young to remember his slaughter of their masters, or who were too afraid to even dare rise against him.
Those children were even now being sent to an unspecified location for their future as his servants in the Force. He had spared them, and they now owed their lives to him. They would be well taken care of in their innocent years, and after their training began their continued care would depend on their devotion to him. Their loyalty would keep them alive.
Vader felt a ripple in the Force that drew him from his musings, and when he felt who it was his mind was touched with concern. But he was also glad to know his Angel was here. He needed to talk to her.
Vader made his steady way to the landing pad he knew she would use, and as soon as the ship's ramp was lowered, Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, rushed forward to greet her.
"Anakin!" Padmé Naberrie Skywalker exclaimed as she threw herself into his arms the best she could while heavily pregnant.
"Padmé," Darth Vader breathed, holding her close. He pulled back after a time, caressing her hair tenderly as he eyed her worriedly. "Are you alright? Why would you come here?"
"Anakin, I needed to see you," Padmé answered, taking his hand. "I need to be with you, I don't care where you are."
A small smile tugged at his lips, and Vader caressed her cheek with the backs of his fingertips. "That's perfect, especially since I wanted to speak with you."
Padmé lifted a bow. "What is it?"
Vader tilted his head somewhat. "Padmé, I am going to kill Palpatine as soon as he names me heir to his new Empire. He may have gotten me to do his bidding, but after all he did to you, and how he lied to me and deceived me all this time... he will die. I will take his hard-won Empire from him and rule it." Here he took Padmé's other hand and held their clasped limbs between their bodies. "And I want you to be my Empress. Rule at my side, Angel. We can raise our children in peace and luxury; train them however we want to. They are already strong in the Force. We can rule however we want to, and we will make the galaxy the place we want it to be."
Padmé was slightly taken aback by his words, and she hesitated, thinking it over. She had loved democracy, the Republic. She had given her life to serving it, and how had it repaid her? By ignoring her pleas time and time again whenever she asked for help.
With the Invasion of Naboo, with help during the Clone Wars, and even as she'd seen the Republic falling apart due to Palpatine... Padmé had done her best, and they had all ignored her. And now with the Jedi Order... that had been her final straw.
"Kriff the Republic: Democracy," Padmé ground out. "And damn the Jedi to hell. All of them."
Padmé squeezed her husband's hands and stepped closer. "We gave them both all we had, risked our marriage time and time again... risked our babies... and they stabbed us in the back."
Padmé took a deep breath and spoke in a clear voice even as Vader smiled happily. "I accept. We will rule, and the galaxy will fall in line, or they will be punished."
Darth Vader laughed almost giddily that his beautiful wife had accepted, and he captured her lips in a passionate kiss, pulling her close.
"I love you, Angel," he whispered after he pulled away.
Padmé took his arm. "Tell me your plans, and I will help however I can. I still have influence in the Senate."
"With pleasure, Milady," Vader replied, taking Padmé inside.
(A/N: Please refer to my profile for information regarding my other, unfinished stories, and if you have questions on them please PM me, don't leave a nasty review. Thank you.)
