He would come, he always did. A part of her wished that he wouldn't, but most of her craved for his touch, his kiss, his embrace. She felt weak for wanting this. She had fled him. She had taken her children and run to the only place where she had ever felt completely safe. Once the twins were older and could be away from her, they had to go visit him regularly of course. How could you possibly win a custody battle with the Emperor of the entire galaxy? Yes as much as it pained her to think about it, she was, in fact, the Empress. Her husband had killed the emperor and had assumed the title, when she learned of this, she had moved to the place where he had once been her protector, where their love had blossomed, and where their forbidden marriage had taken place; Varykino. This bizarre tradition had started ten years ago…
She had been standing at the railing where they had shared their first illicit kiss. It was their anniversary, they had only been fortunate enough to be able to spend one together during the war, and now she would never spend another night in the arms of the man she loved. A dark form moved to her right, interrupting her musings, and her hand had flashed to the blaster she now always kept strapped to her hip.
Training the blaster on the dark figure, she was angry; no one was supposed to know where they were apart from her family. No one was going to hurt her children "Who's there? Show yourself."
"My love, as beautiful as I've always found you when you're ready for a fight, put the blaster away. We both know I could disarm if I wished to do so."
Had she been angry? Now she was downright furious. Of course Anakin knew where she lived, but she had never expected him to come here and now he was giving her orders. Who did he think he was? Oh, right, the Emperor of the galaxy and a powerful Sith Lord, he could easily disarm her, just as he had warned. Reluctantly, she holstered her weapon. "Why are you here?"
He stepped up to her, force, he was still just as handsome as ever. He still made her knees weak and his smell was absolutely intoxicating. No! She hated this man! He was not her husband. Anakin Skywalker had died the same night as so many other Jedi. The man standing before her was Darth Vader and he had destroyed everything she had once held dear.
"Love, have you forgotten the date?" He asked as he lifted his hand to her face.
"Stop calling me that! I hate you and everything about you." She replied hotly, turning out of his reach. How dare he stand there and pretend to be the same man that had once loved her with such intensity.
"No, you don't. You hate Vader, not me. To the rest of the Galaxy, I'm Lord Vader, or else Emperor Skywalker. To you, I am your husband" He reached forward again and cupped her cheek in his hand, inexplicable, she found herself leaning into his touch. He leaned down, brushed her hair back, and began nipping at her neck. "I am the man you love, the man you married here, the father of your children." Each statement was punctuated by a kiss. Why couldn't she make herself turn away? "And tonight is our anniversary, my love. Our fifth one" He pulled away and looked down into her eyes, eyes now swimming with tears, "Happy Anniversary, my love."
She gave in; she grabbed the edges of his cloak and pulled him to her for a kiss. That was the end of her resolve and it was a true anniversary night. The next morning, Padmé rolled over, expecting to see her husband lying beside her, but he was already gone.
Now it was sunset on their 15 anniversary and Luke and Leia, now age 12, were visiting her parents for the night and she knew he was coming.
"Happy Anniversary, Love." She turned away from the balcony and faced the most powerful man in the galaxy. She would always hate Emperor Skywalker, but Anakin was hers, and he would always own her heart.