The Nubian fields lay before her like a sea of green, hosting a small herd of Shaaks who feasted upon the soft green grass. Small patches of yellow and violet sprouts were spread subtly throughout the meadow. Yes, she was sure now, this was the place she had been seeking. As she slowly sank down onto the ground, she could not stop the rush if memories that flooded her mind. This was the place, where so long ago, she and her husband had spent a day. She remembered it almost as if it were yesterday. Anakin, trying to impress her by standing on the back of one of the shaaks. Laughing as he pulled her to the ground, tickling her.

Padmè blinked. Had it really only been four years since that day in the meadow? Only four years since the war began, and Anakin's mother had died? She shuddered, as she remembered that it was these events that had begun her beloved Ani's transformation from man to monster. Her chest grew tight at the mere thought of him. Of how he had killed all those innocent people, then trying to justify it by saying that he had done it for her, for their child.

She placed a hand over her abdomen. Their child. She had almost forgotten how the little space in her belly held a new life and a galaxy of hopes. A life which held so much promise. It was all Padmé could do to keep herself from bursting into tears altogether. It seemed as if everything was happening so fast: the news of the baby, the kidnapping of Palpatine, Anakin's transformation. Silently, Padmé reminded herself to be calm. Even though she knew it was not true, in the darkest recesses of her mind, she had a feeling that Anakin's becoming Darth Vader was somehow her fault. After all, hadn't he told her that he had done everything for her? To save her? Indeed he had.

Pondering on this even further, she lay back in the grass, giving her aching back a chance to rest.

If she had in fact driven her husband to the brink of insanity, surely she could bring him back. It seemed so logical in her head, but she knew that it could never be possible. Anakin was addicted to power. So much, it seemed, that she was no longer his number one priority. Allowing the tears she had been holding back for so long to fall, she mourned for everything she would lose.

Stolen kisses, tender words, and a father for her baby. She could hardly bear to remember the last time she had seen Anakin. How he was not the same man he was when she had last seen him. It was as if his spirit, his passion, had died. And their marriage along with it. When Padmé had married Anakin, she never dreamed that she would be trying to escape from him four years later, while she was carrying his child. Remembering the look of hurt and betrayal on her husband's face when she had told him that she was leaving was more than she could handle.

Forcing herself to sit up and eventually stand, even as her back screamed in protest, Padmé walked away from the meadow. She shivered, despite the fact that summer was fast approaching. The weather was so warm. And yet the memories, as well as the bleakness of her future, left her so cold.

With a final glance at the fields, she turned on her heels and walked away.