Disclaimer: Star Wars and all associated characters, plotlines, and worlds (good and bad) are property and copyright © of George Lucas (aka The Richest Man in Hollywood). This is purely for fan entertainment only.

A/N: This is a personal challenge to myself: to use the first person point of view and to redeem Anakin, especially for my poor treatment of him in Vulnerable. Will be very AU. Happy birthday, Gizzi, this is your fault. ;) (And to Will, who will probably never read this… thank you for the "snippet" which grew into a plot bunny, which ate my muse)

Prologue

The first thing I thought of when I first saw you again was the jubilation at seeing you healthy, the fire and passion still in your eyes. And then I realized that this time, I was on the receiving end of your ire. I was the cause of the sweat streaming down in tiny, dirty rivulets, I was the source of the bruises marring your arms and legs, I had brought you to this place, to lie in your own stench and rot with the rest of them.

I had broken your façade, saw you for who you truly were.

I had been the one to push you down; I was there when you picked yourself right back up.

Why couldn't I come right back up?

… And why didn't I want to break your fall?

It did not matter that I had not touched you, perhaps not even for months. How I had counted the days! It did not matter that I had not even spoken to you. There is nothing left to say. The men that brought you here did it for my bidding.

You might know that power- the power to control everyone's lives around you. Yet that power is empty when you cannot control your own life. An empty power for an empty shell of an empty man.

That is what you did to me. That is why I brought you here. That is why my pain shall be your pain. That is why I stand before you- you took it from me.

I paced in front of you, hoping you would not see the tremble I felt would come over me, would not see the weaknesses that you could flaunt, that you could exploit. Like you already had. I watched you, waited for you to cry, waited for some sign of submission. Did you realize that you had no way to escape? That there was no one coming for you?

Or did you imagine that there was a Jedi left that would care about your plight, care about giving you mercy? Did you honestly believe that your Anakin would save you, perhaps his friend and mentor Obi-Wan?

Ahh, Obi-Wan. His name still boils my veins. He should be right here beside you. His fate should be yours, right beside you. Did you turn to him in those times before you turned against me? Did you rush to his arms, hold him close and ask him to save you from the awful Anakin?

I am still reeling in disgust at the idea. And betrayal still eats at my very insides. Do you know how that feels? Could you? For someone that you love, cherished, held above all others- to go behind your back and be with the only other person you had ever loved, trusted, and esteemed?

I don't know whether it happened or not, but if you were capable of taking his side, I can't put it past you to seek comfort in his arms. I can only hope you didn't.

When you did not flinch, did not recede, I pursued, leaning in. I was grateful for the mask, grateful that my eyes were shielded. No more seeing my tears, they are not yours. I had to ask you, before they took you away… "Who are you?" I no longer know. "What have you done with my wife?"