Chapter 1 – Ruminations

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own anything to do with Star Wars – it's all George Lucas's! I'm just a lowly fan writer (for now...). I hope you enjoy this fic, it was the result of too much time on my hands and lots of inspiration and hyper enthusiasm. Enjoy!

Anakin had made up his mind – he had to do something to protect Padmé. He realised now, telling Windu that Palpatine was a sith lord had been a mistake – Windu would certainly kill the Chancellor now, at the time when Palpatine's life was most valuable to Anakin.

Sitting alone in the council room, it was almost as if Anakin could hear the Sith, Sidious's voice – a last, desperate plea for help: "... You do know that, if the Jedi destroy me, all chance of saving Padmé will be lost...". Deep down, Anakin knew the Sith was right, even though every part of him repulsed the notion that such a creature of evil could be truthful. Though, after all, good and evil were merely points of view, and in Anakin's mind it seemed that this Sith and the Jedi contested each other when it came to evil: the Chancellor was a Sith, a being Anakin had been trained to destroy; the Jedi, it was now clear to him, had been corrupted by a want of power.

Suddenly, Anakin became aware of Padmé's presence. It was the strangest sensation, and rising to the window, he looked across to the elegant building in the distance where he knew Padmé was doing the same. For an extraordinary moment, it was as if their minds were connected – Anakin could feel Padmé's worry for him, for democracy, could perceive her ominous instinct that something was very, very wrong. He sensed her loneliness, her helplessness, as she accepted that she could do nothing but put her faith in her fierce love for Anakin and their unborn child.

These feelings made Anakin fully realise his responsibility, and what he truly stood to lose if he failed, and suddenly it was overwhelming. Padmé had been right – he did expect too much of himself, though he wouldn't lose her, not while she was the only star in his pitch-black night. Surely, this was the ultimate of love: to be so selfless that he would even turn to the dark side, if it meant he could be strong enough to save those he loved? Though he hadn't been powerful enough for his mother, there was still hope for Padmé if he took advantage of the Sith's knowledge. Anakin felt he owed it to the memory of his mother to prove himself, to save his wife.

Staring out of the window to Padmé's apartment across the city, so close and yet so far from each other, Anakin felt the strength, and yet, the impossibility of their the dying sunlight from another day bathed the city around him in a vibrant crimson glow, he thought and so this is how it will always be. For his and Padmé's destinies were so different, they would always be separated in a way, with only the tender strands of their love spanning the breach between them.

Tears of acceptance pooled in his eyes as he made one last, final promise to the sun of his life, the one who made his existence worthwhile: Padmé, my love for you is eternal. I cannot live without you, so everything I do now will be for you, even if it means joining the dark side so I can learn the power to save you. Please, forgive me for what I am about to do...

A single tear fell from Anakin's eye as his gaze dropped to the floor – he couldn't bear her not being here. He knew what he had to do – the Sith would have to live.

Without warning, there came a low humming from just outside the door, quickly followed by an abrupt crack! Startled, Anakin held his lightsaber ready and crouched behind a chair. What was happening?

"Force that was painful!" an irate female voice cried from where the noise had just come from, "Whatever happened to stabilisers on this sithin' piece of rubbish? I hope you're listening up there people, 'cos you really need to sort that – oh, great. Radio's not even working! What a disaster – still, at least I ended up in the right place... I think..."

Anakin heard the voice pause, and decided to make his move – whoever this person was, they clearly didn't belong here. In a swift movement, he approached the door, which slid open at his command, igniting his lightsaber as he shouted "Show yourself!"

A/N: so, there we go, chapter 1. Don't worry if you found it extremely gloomy and depressing – the rest of the story is written in (hopefully) quite a different style, so shouldn't be too heavy.

As always Read + Review, my lovely readers, constructive comments are very welcome but please don't flame me *puppy eyes* this is my first SW fic. Enjoy the rest of my story!