Padme coughed and looked around. The last thing she remembered was Luke and Leia, and Obi-Wan. . .and Anakin. Oh, Anakin. Right then, she jerked her hands and feet, and realized they were bolted down. "What is this?" she whispered, looking for a key, but her search was fruitless. There was nothing in sight. Just then, she heard the door slide open, and jerked her head towards it. "Hello, Padme," Darth Sidious cackled. Padme shrank away from him. "Leave me alone!" she yelled, struggling to free herself. "Oh, don't bother," Sidious snarked, waving his hand dismissively. "They're made of the strongest metal in the galaxy. You'll never free yourself." Padme went limp.
"Anakin?" she asked, trying to at least glean answers. "Anakin Skywalker is dead." Padme flinched. "However, Darth Vader survived," Sidious snapped. Vader. Well, that's a start. "Alright, fine. Well, if I'm no danger, then let me go," Padme reasoned, hoping. "Yes, I think not," he answered. Padme sagged. "Please, Father," she begged. He smiled cruelly. "Do you still have that spark?" She tried to keep her mouth shut, but it opened almost against her will. "Yes, Father," she gritted out. He pointed at her bonds, and they fell off. She toppled off of the containment unit. "Oof!" she huffed as she hit the floor, scrambling up and brushing herself off, setting off at a brisk pace out of the room.
However, Padme quickly got lost in the maze of hallways. Where am I? she wondered, looking around at the metal corridors. She quickly wound up lost among many cells, all the same. She groaned and flopped against the wall in defeat. "This is hopeless!" she cried, and buried her face in her hands. A sound tore through the hallway, and she quickly ducked into the nearest cell, the door slamming shut behind her. Uh-oh. . .well, one thing at a time, I guess. The voices echoed along the hallway. "You're sure she's dead." "Positive, my Lord Vader." Vader? Anakin! Padme thought. She banged on the wall, the flat of her hands smacking the walls. "Let me out!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, ignoring the sting.
The door flew open with amazing speed, and suddenly, a man clad in black metal was standing there. Padme staggered back in shock. "Okay, not what I was expecting," she muttered. She rubbed her sore back, scrambling up. "Yeek!" she squeaked as she was lifted up by a man in grey leather. "Put me down!" she yelled, struggling to be let go. She kicked him in the stomach and sprinted out the door, but was stopped halfway down the corridor. "Hey!" she protested as she was dragged back towards them. The black man looked her up and down, and she resisted the urge to squirm under his gaze. "Padme," the man breathed. She backed against the wall. "Uhhhh. . .hi?" She was kind of freaked out. The metal man took a step towards her. "It's. . .it's me. Ana-Vader." Padme smiled tightly. "I'm sorry, but I don't know Vader." Suddenly, Sidious stood in the doorway. Padme shrank down farther. "No, no no no no no no!" Padme whispered.
Vader looked at her, and she could tell he was confused. "Please, don't! Leave me alone, Father!" Vader did a double take. "Master?" Sidious tried to cover up. "Well, she's obviously in shock. If she could be given the chance to -" "Don't. Try," Padme seethed. "Padme, you don't want this." "You don't know what I want! Have you ever once asked me what I want? Have you ever considered I'm not you?" she yelled. "Maybe I don't want to be an all-powerful Sith lord! Maybe I just want Anakin back, maybe I just want him!" Padme had started sobbing, and Vader and never seen her look so broken. "Please just leave me alone, Father!" Sidious bowed curtly and left.
Vader approached her, and she withdrew. "Please don't touch me." The words made Anakin feel as if he had been soaked by a bucket of ice water. "But, Padme -" "I don't know who you are, or why you want me, but please leave me alone!" she yelled, running out the door. She hit the wall, panting through and choking on tears, several confusing blocks later. She heard the slow steady beat of metal-clad feet behind her, and turned around to face the inevitable. She lifted her face, tearstained and tired. "Do you remember when I told you after Shmi's death that you would get over grief? That it hurt now, but later, it would fade?" Vader stopped. "You know who I am." It wasn't a question.
"I didn't tell you something, then. I didn't mention that my mother was dead." Vader looked at her. "What?" "My mother. Caela Naberrie. She. . .she died when I was sixteen." Padme gasped in a long breath, trying to hide the fresh tears. She hadn't told him this when he had told her about his mother, so why was she telling him this now? "It was an attack by my father, to retaliate after mistakenly thinking she had stolen me from him. They had divorced many years before. I was raised with my father until I was fourteen, and then I ran away to my mother on Naboo. I had lived on Tatooine. That's why I didn't seem unsettled when I met you. He killed her in cold blood, just because he was angry at her. He was more than angry. He was murderous." She gulped in deep breaths. "My father. . .was - is - Darth Sidious. I try to ignore it, but it sticks with me, and I think about him every night when I try to sleep." Darth Vader took her hand. "Padme," he soothed, awkwardly patting her back. In his defense, it was hard to do that in a metal suit.
She sniffed and looked at him through tears. "He didn't care about anyone except to use them to his own ends. I was his weapon, Ani. Not his daughter. That's why I ran away. But, when I was a child, barely three years old, he woke me up in the middle of the night. He told me it was special training. I never should have believed him. I should have run." Vader looked at her. "Then you would be dead, and I never would have gotten the chance to know you." "The special training turned out to be chaining me to a table. I was helpless as he came towards me, a glowing red orange spark in his hand. He stuck it in my chest. That's why you've never felt my heart. I don't have one. He took it out. Just the spark. He didn't want me to be able to love, but I found a way around it. Either way, he can control me. I was born a Sith, Ani. I was born with hate coming naturally, brimming out of me. I could revert anytime, and you. . ." Padme breathed deeply. Fresh rage bubbled up in Vader's chest. No one should be able to treat Padme like that.
Suddenly, a shadow appeared leaning against the doorframe. "Oh, Padme. You should never have left." Padme's eyes went wide with fear, but she stood her ground. "I don't regret my decision. I stand by it. I will not be sorry for something that wasn't my fault." "Oh, but what about your mother's death? That was your fault. You could have stopped it. You were the queen. You could have saved her. You should have saved her." Vader whipped his head back and forth as Padme reeled back as if she'd been slapped. "That's not true," she whispered. "Oh, but it is." Sidious' smile grew grotesque, and he stared at Padme, straight into her brown eyes. "In fact, it might even be his fault," Sidious grinned, pointing at a nearby stormtrooper. Vader watched Padme's eyes fill with fire, and she choked the life out of the trooper.
Sidious released her, and she sagged back. She looked at the trooper, then at her outstretched hand, still cupped. "No. No, no no no no no!" Padme sobbed. Vader held her protectively, but Padme shoved past him and ran out of the room. She ran down the corridors, stumbling and tripping, but she finally found the room. She threw the doors open and burst inside. "Obi-Wan! Obi-Wan, please!" she called quietly. A shadow leapt down, landing lightly beside her. "Are you ready?" she asked him evenly. His eyes flashed orange. "Of course," he replied, and winked. Her eyes reflected the orange, and they took off.
The doors to the corridor blew off their hinges, and Vader saw Padme and. . ."Obi-Wan," he seethed. Then he saw the orange in both their eyes and staggered back. "Hello, Anakin," Obi-Wan greeted him. "Are you ready?" Padme called. "Of course." He bowed to her. Obi-Wan's lightsaber flashed red and cut through half the stormtroopers. Padme thrust her hand towards Sidious. He flew back into the wall, but recovered quickly. He shot a steady stream of lightning in her direction, but she returned fire, her purple lightning meeting his blue. She gritted her teeth and slid back against the floor, quickly losing ground. She was struck by lightning, and hit the floor, twitching.
Suddenly, she pushed back hard, sending him flying. He went straight over the edge of the platform, and she fell back, breathing hard. She stared emptily at the space where Sidious had been just a minute before. Vader came over, and she looked at him, her eyes shattered and full of tears. Just then, a watery smile curved her cheeks. She waved her hand towards him, and he felt a fizzy feeling in his chest, quickly spreading along the rest of his body. She looked into the shiny surface of the wall and found that he was exactly as he had been before he was burned, curly hair and all. Padme smiled weakly. "Sorry. . .It's just that. . .I thought you were cute with curly hair." A watery smile curved his face. "It's okay, Padme," he replied, clasping her hand in his. "I never got to tell you. Here." She pressed a silver disc into his palm. "I love you," she gasped, and went limp. Obi-Wan came over. "She did love you, you know." Anakin pressed the center of the disc.
Watto's Junk Shop emerged as a hologram, Padme and Anakin sitting on the counter. "Are you an angel?" "What?" "An angel. They're the most beautiful creatures in the universe. They live in the moons of Yeago, I think." "You're a funny little boy. It was nice meeting you." "It was nice meeting you too!" The scene changed to Obi-Wan and Anakin walking along a corridor. "I haven't seen her in ten years, Master. I've thought of her every day. Being around her is intoxicating." "Be careful of your feelings, Anakin. They can cloud your mind." The scene changed again, this time on a Naboo beach. "I love you." "I love you too." They leaned in to kiss. After all the other experiences, finally, a video of Padme came up, smiling through tears. "I never got to tell you, Ani. . .I'm pregnant."