A/N: This is my first attempt at a Vader/Padme story so I'd really appretiate feedback on it.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Star Wars (But a girl can dream can't she?)
Set in Stone
He hated it here. He hated it here with all that was left of his broken heart. It was just a reminder of all the mistakes he had made. Yet every year he came back without fail. Each time he came he promised himself it would his last visit. But like every other promise he had made in the past, he never kept it. He could not stay away. Not from her. He could not leave her here all alone.
He fell to knees at the foot of her grave. He dared not look at the headstone which bore the name of the woman he had loved. Did love. If he looked it made it real. Set in stone. As long as he did not look he could pretend that none of it had happened.
He could see her in his mind. Her chocolate ringlets hung loosely around her shoulders. She was standing with her back to him on the balcony of their home in the lake country in Naboo. She was wearing a long blue gown. He took a step towards her, feeling for the first time in years the smooth, coolness of the tiles underfoot. It was like none of it had happened.
She turned around and he stopped walking. He expected her to shout and to scream, to tell him how much he had hurt and betrayed her. He hung his head in shame. She didn't do any of that. Instead she smiled and beckoned him closer. He hesitated. He could not understand how she could forgive him so easily, after every thing he had done. She beckoned to him again. This time he did not hesitate. He just wanted to hold her, kiss her, to tell her how much he loved her. But just as he was about to enclose her in an embrace, she disappeared. Instead he found himself looking up at a beautiful polished stone.
He felt the tears rolling down his cheeks. He tried to force them back. They were a sign of weakness and he never liked to show weakness. Though he knew it was useless to try and stop them. They would flow until there were no more.
Laying a single rose on the grave he stood up. Just like every other year he promised himself he would not come back. But he knew it was a promise that he would break. After all she was his angel and he could not stay away, not from her.