Here's chapter two! Most updates will not be so frequent, because this is a work in progress.

Have you ever seen that show, "Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed?" Well, the magician's mask in that show is more of what Vader's 'suit' and mask is based off of in this fic, with some differences. Vader's is a black cloth suit (with cloudy coverings, sort of like "flat-goggles" built into the mask part to see out of, though no one can see in) that he wears under robes. His voice is edited slightly by machinery built into the fabric, and is made to be deeper than his natural voice. I hope that description makes sense! I'll post a link to a photo of the magician on my profile as soon as I can if you want to see.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed, or anything else you may recognize.

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The sweet smell of breakfast pastries baking, the peaceful whir of a fan, the feel of a soft pillow beneath her head, those were the things Padmé was expecting as she slowly woke up. Instead, she was greeted by the sharp odor of disinfectant, the sight of eerily blank walls and a far too-hard sleepcouch. It took her a moment to realize where she was, but once she did, she sat straight up, a jolt of fear running through her body.

This morning she was going to meet her future husband, the infamous Darth Vader. Padmé didn't know why he had chosen her, out of all the people in the universe, to marry. She wasn't even sure how he knew she existed, yet for some reason, he had picked her and now here she was. While Padmé mostly felt fear and repugnance with the situation, a small part of her felt a sick curiosity. She had always been a bit interested in the mysterious dark figure, who he was, where he came from. Why did he keep himself covered from head to foot in a strange, cloth-like suit? Even his eyes were hidden behind strange coverings. Was he human? Though his general shape was right, it was impossible to know for sure. She wondered why Darth Vader would even want a wife. The Emperor had mentioned children in their talk, if you could call it that, the day before, but why take a wife for that? The empire could steal children from parents, it had happened before. And what about the experiments he had mentioned? Did Vader want children to experiment on, torture? The thought made her shudder, so she closed her eyes against the image.

Padmé suddenly missed Palo with a burning intensity. It would have only been four months until their planned wedding back on Naboo. While she hadn't particularly wanted to marry him, she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that she would far rather be there, listening to his shrill voice, than anywhere near where she was now. Palo wasn't a bad person; he was financially stable, came from a good family and had known Padmé since they were younglings in school. Padmé's life with him would have been good enough, she wouldn't have had the fairy-tale, all-encompassing love she dreamt about now and again, but it would have done. She could only imagine what her life would be like now.

Padmé's reflections were cut short when the single narrow door into the bedchamber slowly slid open. A light clattering sound reached her ears as her heart jumped into her throat. Padmé dug her nails into her palms, forced a neutral expression on her face and steeled herself to come face-to-face with one of the galaxy's most feared men. Instead, a tall golden droid clumsily ambled its way inside. Padmé's muscles relaxed as she realized it wasn't Vader. She had never seen a droid quite like this one before; it certainly didn't seem to be any of the standard empire-issued droids she had seen so far.

"Hello, I am C-3P0!" The droid announced perkily, stopping just short of the sleepcouch where Padmé sat. "Are you Mistress Padmé?"

"Yes," Padmé replied, growing curious.

"I am meant to bring you to my master's chambers. Please follow me, it's only a short walk," the droid replied.

"Who is your master?" Padmé asked, already sure of the answer.

"Oh dear, I should have told you right away," he apologized. "Lord Vader, of course. I'm meant to bring you to his chamber."

Padmé stood, straightened out her clothes, rumpled from sleeping in them all night, and nodded to C-3P0. If this was going to happen, there was nothing she could do about it. Being stubborn or putting up a fight would likely only end badly, perhaps even with her death, and she couldn't let herself be taken over with fear. If she was going to be married to Darth Vader, she decided she'd better try to be brave. "I'm ready," she said. The droid turned awkwardly, and Padmé followed him out of the room.

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After a brief walk through seemingly-identical hallways, C-3P0 stopped in front of a large door. "Here we are!" He announced. Padmé took a deep breath and relaxed her muscles as the droid entered a long code of numbers into the keypad. The door slid open with a whoosh. Padmé followed the droid inside, her stomach beginning to feel sick despite her best efforts to remain calm.

Darth Vader was standing just inside the door, arms crossed, as if he had been kept waiting too long for his liking. He was tall and imposing, scarier in person that she ever could have imagined. Padmé forced herself to look up him, wondering what he was going to say. A few moments passed with Vader apparently looking her over. "Welcome," his deep voice, coming from the silence, made her jump.

Padmé didn't know what to say. Her heart suddenly felt as if it was beating five times faster than normal and she couldn't quite get a deep enough breath. "I was sent here," she finally managed, not quite sure whether she meant from Naboo or simply by the golden droid. Vader said nothing, but uncrossed his arms and gestured, obviously meaning that Padmé should look around. She realized that they were in a large sitting area. There were two uncomfortable looking black couches set up in the middle of the room, in front of them sat a small table. A large holovision hung on the wall and next to it was a shelf of holovids. There was nothing else in the room, despite its large size.

"Sit," Vader commanded, nodding towards the couches. "We have much to discuss." Padmé did as she was told and Vader sat across from her.

His head swiveled her way as he began to speak. "You know that you were brought here to be my wife?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Good. Then I will let you know that I have no interest in taking a wife. My master is the one who commanded that I do so." Padmé wasn't sure what to think about that, so she remained quiet. "There are two purposes for this union," he continued. "The first is for public publicity, a distraction. The empire wants new headlines to take citizens' interest from the rebel alliance, remove them from the spotlight. The second purpose is to produce children. Do you understand?"

"Why…?" was all Padmé could get out. She was uncomfortable in the presence of the Sith lord, and his stark, clipped manner of speaking was unnerving.

"I am unsure of his reasons," Vader replied, somehow knowing what she wanted to ask. "But I will do my master's bidding."

The two fell silent for a few moments. C-3P0, feeling forgotten, took the opportunity to speak up and remind them of his presence. "Oh, children! I remember when those…"

"Silence!" Vader called, causing the golden droid to stop mid-sentence. Padmé cringed inside for him; she couldn't help but like the friendly, nervous droid and wondered again what sort of droid he was and what he was doing in the service of Vader.

"What kind of droid is he?" She couldn't help but ask as curiosity got the best of her. "I haven't seen any others like him around here. Is he old?"

"Protocol," Vader replied. "I don't know how old he is."

"I've been keeping an eye on Master Vader since he…" C-3P0 began, but again was cut off by the dark lord.

"Enough," the dark lord rumbled. "Leave us."

"Oh dear," the dejected droid exclaimed as he scuttled for the door.

"Infuriating droid," Vader remarked, and Padmé almost thought she heard a tinge of amusement in his voice. She must have imagined it. He continued, "Our wedding is set for next week. It will not be a formal affair, just a quick ceremony here, and will be released to the press as a 'shock story' sometime during the following week. After our wedding, you will move from your room to here. We will remain in Imperial City for at least the next six months, as I have orders to do so. Is this clear?"

"Yes," Padmé replied, everything suddenly feeling surreal. She had only a week until she was wed to this monster? And it was quite apparent that he had every intention of consummating their marriage. The thought made her sick, but what could she do? Hopelessness washed over Padmé like storm clouds on a sunny day.

"Good," Vader said. "Over the course of the next week, you will be prepped. For now, you may leave." Padmé nodded, but realized something as she stood up.

"Lo...Lord Vader?" It was the first time she had spoken his name, and for some reason it just didn't want to roll off her tongue.

"Yes?" he asked. If she were going to be his wife, Padmé deserved to know some things, and as far as she was concerned, she had two choices. She could either sit back and go along with everything, or she could start to ask questions and hopefully get some answers. She realized that fighting and trying to put down her heels wouldn't get her out of the situation, but at least she could have some sense of control. Her earlier decision to be brave came to mind, so she decided to press forward.

"Why me?"

"What do you mean?" he humored her.

"Why did you choose me? For this? How did you even know I exist?"

"This is all my master's doing," he replied. "I have no idea who you are." His words only brought more questions to Padmé's mind.

"Do you want to get married?" She asked.

"What I want does not matter. I will do my master's bidding." Padmé was taken aback by the feeling that washed over her as he answered. She suddenly felt a bizarre kinship to him, to a cold blooded killer. Her desires ceased to matter when she was summoned to this place, but it seemed his hadn't mattered in a long time, if ever. Padmé suddenly wondered how long Darth Vader had been the Emperor's shadow. She wasn't sure. At least four years, starting from when he made his first public appearance, maybe more. It suddenly occurred to her that maybe he was someone else first. Her heart leapt into her throat for the umpteenth time that day as she asked her next question.

"What is your name?"

"You addressed me by my name a moment ago, surely you haven't forgotten?" His response was oddly calm; Padmé would have expected his infamous temper to flare long ago. It was almost as if…did he want her to keep asking questions?

"Surely Vader isn't your real name?" She tried to copy his inflection, but it came across weak, her voice wobbling a bit at the end.

"Vader has always been my name," he replied.

"And how long have you had it?" Vader's lack of anger gave Padmé a boost of confidence that allowed her to keep pushing. Her interested peaked the more he said, something about his responses seemed to egg her on.

"You are asking my age?"

"Yes," she replied, eyes flicking across his face again, stopping where his were meant to be. Everything felt surreal, like it wasn't really happening. Lord Vader would have killed anyone who dared speak to him so casually, wouldn't he?

"Age is irrelevant," he boomed. A moment passed in silence, and then he spoke again. "Enough of this questioning! You will be informed of anything else you need to know during the next week. I will escort you back to your quarters for now."

When Padmé returned to her room, she was surprised to see a healthy-looking lunch sitting on the table. She wondered who prepared it, but decided it didn't matter. She was hungry, so she would eat it. As she ate, Padmé's mind wouldn't quit replaying the events of the past hour. She had never thought of Darth Vader as anyone or anything other than vicious, a killer with supernatural powers and a desire to inflict pain; basically the physical manifestation of the empire itself. Their conversation, however, gave her reason to question this.

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Vader's character is a bit different, this will be explained throughout. Please review. I'm also still looking for a beta if anyone is interested! Thanks.