MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT!
This is Part III, also known in The Clone Wars TV series as S06E06, "The Rise of Clovis".
The Senate and the Council were both pleased with the successful recovery of Senator Amidala. They turned a skeptical eye on Clovis, a traitor to the Republic the last time he had been seen on Coruscant, but he insisted he was aware of a plot within the Banking Clan that would be to the Republic's advantage if brought to light. With Padmé backing his every word, neither the Senate nor the Council could do much to stop him. Senator Amidala was the most secure person on the Senate; if she knew it was right, it must be right.
No sooner had they landed at the Senate Building than Padmé was rushed off to be put into a presentable state for their meeting with the Chancellor. Clovis, too, disappeared. Sissy, thought Anakin, sitting down on a long bench outside the Chancellor's office. It was too comfortable, though, and he lay down, his long, lean body fitting perfectly. A second later, he was dozing off, still in connection with the Force and aware of his surroundings, but asleep nonetheless.
"What are you doing, Skywalker?" came a deep, severe voice, and Anakin's eyes flew open as he pushed himself upright. Master Windu stood in front of him, arms crossed, Master Yoda at his side with an amused expression on his face.
"Forgive me, Masters. I know better."
"Yes, you do," answered Master Windu, then he and Yoda disappeared into the Chancellor's office without another word. As soon as the door slid closed behind them, Anakin lay back down, the comfort calling his name as nothing had before. Well, except Padmé, on occasion. Padmé.
"General Skywalker?"
No. His eyes flew open; he didn't know who might be with her. He was on his feet in an instant when he saw Clovis hurrying to join her, his siesta forgotten. Padmé, however, would not forget it, and her eyes laughed at him. It amazed him ever and anon how quickly she could change from travel worn battle garb into regal gowns which must require a crowbar to get them off.
"Oh, Anakin…" whispered Padmé before Clovis joined them, and her voice sounded seductive even without her trying. Anakin grimaced, then crossed his arms and glared at Clovis.
No more words were exchanged as the little group filed into the Chancellor's office, Anakin making sure to stay between Clovis and Padmé. The Chancellor greeted them warmly as more Senators entered behind them. Anakin took up a position behind Padmé, close enough to touch her, not even realizing how strange this stance may seem. No one noticed, though, and if they did, they did not bother themselves with reason.
Senator Bail Organa from Alderaan was the last to enter the Chancellor's office, and he did not bother to exchange pleasantries, but addressed Clovis directly. It was clear that the Senator did not trust Clovis, and any excuse made by said individual towards his plight was not taken, nor absorbed, by the esteemed Senator. Padmé, however, came forward to support Clovis on several occasions, and as before, none would doubt her say; if she said he was a good man, he must be. Anakin didn't believe it; he liked Bail Organa more and more as the minutes wore on. And occasionally, Anakin's best training got behind him and a snide remark exited his mouth in the direction of Rush Clovis. These incidents were passed off by all but Padmé and Master Yoda, who regarded Anakin with a questioning eye. The ice was thick between these two men.
And then, to Anakin's horror, Chancellor Palpatine stood up and ordered Padmé to work with Clovis in an attempt to discover where the funds from the Banking Clan were being put. They were clearly being stolen, but this was of no concern to Anakin. Clovis was going to be working closely with his wife.
The meeting was dismissed soon after, and as they filed from the Chancellor's office, Anakin took up the rear behind Padmé. When they were free from the office, and in the central hall between the office and the main lounge, Anakin grabbed Padmé's arm, forcing her to stop. She whirled on him, but he didn't let her get the upper hand this time.
"Why didn't you just say no?" he demanded, keeping his voice low so the others couldn't hear.
"Say no? Why?" The anger was starting to flash in her eyes.
"I don't want you working with Clovis," hissed Anakin.
"You don't want me working with him?"
"A serpent can shed it's skin, but it is still a serpent." Wow, that was wise.
"Well, you're just going to have to trust my judgment here." The doors had closed behind the others, leaving Anakin and Padmé alone in the central hall. Padmé turned to join the others, but Anakin stopped her with a hand on her arm.
"Like the last time? When you almost got killed? Or how about you getting arrested just now, and it was me who had to bail you out!"
"The Chancellor has asked me to do this, Anakin," insisted Padmé, turning on him and putting on her most diplomatic face. It wasn't hard.
"But I'm asking you to say no. As your husband. I demand you tell the Chancellor you are stepping down."
"Demand?" The anger was clear on her face as Padmé lit into her husband. "We've been over this before, Anakin. I'm not foolish enough to be deceived twice. My soul intentions are to defend the Republic, and if you can't trust me…"
The door opened then, and Clovis walked in, cutting the conversation short. Padmé's eyes still flashed, though, and Anakin's jaw muscles clenched as he tried to keep his anger in check. They both turned when Clovis entered, and tried to appear as normal as possible.
"Padmé, we'd best get started," said Clovis, then glanced at Anakin. "General Skywalker." Anakin gave him a curt nod, a purely murderous look on his face that should have been a warning. Why didn't it work on this young fool?
Clovis turned to leave again, and Padmé made, hesitantly, to follow him, glancing back at her husband with an expression that bespoke trust and respect. Anakin knew what she was asking him to do; to trust her, to believe what she said was true. But he couldn't. Watching her leave, the loneliness had never been closer. His hands balled into fists and he turned away. He didn't know what to believe now.
Master Yoda must have said something, for no sooner had Anakin returned to his rooms at the Jedi Temple than Obi-Wan came looking for him. There was no easy way to discuss the matter of Padmé and Clovis, and though Anakin tried to keep his temper in check, his words held an edge, and his jaw clenched whenever he spoke. Obi-Wan didn't ask, but Anakin found himself answering with the usual response: "The Senator and I are just friends."
In that moment, as he had never before, Obi-Wan all but directly revealed the romantic connection he had shared with the former Duchess Satine of Mandalore, who had been killed only a short time earlier. But he insisted that they had moved beyond that, to a state of friendship that was purely business.
"It's not that we're not allowed to have these feelings, Anakin. It's natural."
Anakin couldn't care less. This wasn't about Obi-Wan, this was about him, and Padmé, and Clovis. The latter of which he had narrowly avoided killing several times already that day. In a roundabout fashion, Anakin was forced to admit that Clovis and Padmé were no longer romantically attached, at which time Obi-Wan smiled and heartily said, "Then we should have no worries." And left without another word.
Anakin wasn't convinced. Padmé had insisted no romantic ties. Now Obi-Wan seemed to be saying the same thing. But Clovis had other intentions; Anakin could feel it. Why didn't Anakin trust Padmé as his wife? Where had their relationship gone off the rails in such a way that he would doubt her fidelity?
For several hours, Anakin paced in his room and tried to busy himself. At last, he could take it no longer, and went in search of a Jedi starfighter. He wondered if this was a wise decision on his part, but he had to know, for certain. He was at 500 Republica before he could rethink his motives, and then he could sense Padmé, and Clovis was with her, and the anger returned, telling him that something was wrong, and something should be stopped. He didn't trust Clovis; he didn't trust either of them.
"How maybe you will trust me."
Clovis and Padmé were together in the public lounge of her penthouse suite, enjoying a few horderves after a night at the theater. There was very little business going on, as Clovis insisted on changing the subject back to the sad story of his life, softening Padmé through her tender heartstrings if nothing else would work. He had just finished regaling her with the story of his upbringing.
"I'm here, aren't I?" asked Padmé, her sympathy winning her over as she walked over to Clovis.
"I want to thank you for everything you've done," said Clovis, reaching for her. "I don't think I would have had the strength, had I been alone."
"Clovis, don't," said Padmé quickly, pushing him away and turning her back on him. There was a reason their relationship had deteriorated, and she could never love him again. His advances, though she disliked them, made her feel as though she were being dishonest to Anakin. She would never cause him to distrust her.
"It's that Jedi, isn't it?"
"General Skywalker?" Padmé was taken by surprise. "We're friends, nothing more."
"Friends don't argue the way I saw you arguing today."
"Of course they do, Clovis."
"But friends don't argue like two old married people."
"You're confused…" She gave him a skeptical eye.
"Isn't it forbidden for a Jedi to have romantic ties? He would be banished from the Order, would he not?"
"There is nothing romantic between General Skywalker and I."
"Ah, then there is absolutely nothing to stop us from doing this…" And Clovis grabbed her tightly, dipping her down as he moved his lips towards hers.
"Clovis, no!" cried Padmé, trying to push him away, to no avail. This was like a nightmare, a horror story, something she had never seen coming, nor wanted. And she couldn't even get away from him. She pounded on his chest, but still he advanced.
And then the door flew open, and Anakin Skywalker was standing on the threshold, his eyes a fiery yellow as they saw what his heart only feared.
"Get away from her, Clovis!" he yelled, then reached out his hand even as he reached into the Force, clenching his fist even as the Force clenched around Clovis' neck, squeezing his windpipe, choking him. So strong was Anakin's wrath that Clovis was lifted off the ground, then was blasted with back-breaking force into the far wall.
"Anakin, no!" screamed Padmé, but he didn't hear her. He ignited his lightsaber and paced towards Clovis, who was rubbing his neck and trying to stand.
"Why don't you try fighting like a man without your Jedi tricks?" hissed the Senator, pushing himself to his feet. Anakin laughed, withdrew his lightsaber, and threw it to the side.
"It would be my pleasure!" he growled, then dove into Clovis, who put up a valiant fight before being pinned beneath the Jedi Knight and used as a punching bag.
"Both of you, stop this!" yelled Padmé.
"You don't have a say in this!" yelled Anakin back. The momentary distraction allowed Clovis to kick Anakin hard in the chest, sending him flying.
"I thought you said he didn't have feelings for you!" he said, turning towards Padmé as he rubbed his bruised jaw. Anakin was on his feet now, and glanced quickly at Padmé, his eyes flashing worse than before upon hearing that comment. Padmé looked at him with a mixture of pity and fear, before Anakin shook himself and dove once more into Clovis.
"I see you for what you truly are! You're a serpent, a traitor!"
Clovis was too busy fighting to make a good retort, and in that moment, discovered just how painful Anakin's metal prosthetic could be when clenched into a fist. Padmé continued to beg them to stop, but by this point, they weren't hearing her at all.
"Is that all you've got?!" yelled Anakin when the two men were locked in their struggle.
"You should just accept that the Senator has other interests than you," hissed Clovis, which angered Anakin to a breaking point. He rammed his head into Clovis', then threw him across the room, pacing like a caged beast towards the beaten man.
"Skywalker, you fool," hissed Clovis, then Anakin was on top of him, beating him once more into a pulp of bruises and blood.
"Stop it!" screamed Padmé, running over to Anakin, though she knew better than to get between him and Clovis for fear he would hurt her. "Anakin, stop! What are you doing?!"
What am I doing?! It was like a flash of lightning. What am I… doing?! Anakin's arm was lifted, ready to land the fatal blow, and Padmé's voice stopped him. He glanced at his metal prosthetic, curled into a fist, then down at Clovis' swollen face, and he was taken by utter horror.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, too stunned to speak clearly, and backed away. Padmé knelt by Clovis' side, even as her security team rushed into the room, alerted by the sound of fighting. They demanded answers, but all Clovis said was: "There was an attack. It was my good fortune that General Skywalker was here. They escaped in a speeder over the balcony."
"Is that what happened, Sir?" asked Captain Typho, directing his attention to Anakin.
Anakin couldn't trust himself to speak. He opened his mouth, but no words came. His look was withering and a little ashamed, if you were fortunate enough to know what those expressions looked like on him. He looked down at Clovis.
"Sir?"
Anakin opened his mouth again. The words were slow in coming. "If… if that's what the man says."
And then Clovis was being rushed off by the guards, and Anakin was moving towards Padmé, the sincere regret clear on his face.
"Padmé, I'm…"
"Stay away from me," she hissed, and her eyes flashed. Without another word, she followed Clovis and the guards out of the room, leaving Anakin in a state of miserable agony.
It was a while later that Padmé came looking for Anakin. The medical droid had done what he could for Clovis, and when the verdict came through (nothing but bruises and minor cuts), she had gone in search of Anakin. It did not take much. Captain Typho, the only person on her personal entourage who knew fairly well of their secret marriage, directed her to the private sitting room off of the bedroom, where Anakin had initially docked his speeder. She found him there, sitting on the steps beside his speeder, his head in his hand, gazing off into oblivion. He turned when he felt her approach, and quickly stood up.
"How is he?" asked Anakin.
"Nothing that won't heal," was the short answer.
"I'm so sorry, Padmé," he said then, and there was sincerity in his voice. "I… I don't know what came over me."
"What's done is done," she said, her voice tight.
Anakin wasn't finished. "I can't explain my actions. It's just, when I saw you about to kiss him…"
"And I regret that," said Padmé quickly. "But it was not what you thought." She sat down heavily on the couch, not even looking at her husband for fear she would see mistrust in his eyes as there had been before. "You must know I don't care for Clovis."
"Don't you?" asked Anakin. There was that mistrust.
"I've told you why I'm doing this," insisted Padmé, turning to him now. "But still you refuse to accept it as the truth." Anakin sat down beside her, feeling how upset she was in the Force. "You could have killed him, Anakin!"
"I know," he said in a soft voice, dripping with regret he didn't know he felt. He looked at his mechno-hand, knowing full-well that Clovis would be dead if he had been allowed to continue, and knowing for once how revolted that made him feel.
"This marriage is not a marriage, Anakin," whispered Padmé, looking away from him. "If there isn't any trust. We said at the beginning that this could be a terrible mistake." The tears glinted in her eyes. Anakin looked up quickly.
"What exactly are you saying?" There was not anger, there was not defensiveness; there was simply concern and a deep sadness.
"That other people who are married have everything we don't. Everything we won't. We live in secret, Anakin. Like it or not, our relationship is built upon lies and deception." She stood up and shook her head. "No relationship can survive that."
Anakin shook his head as if doing so would send Padmé's words away. "I know I went to far, Padmé! It's just…" He took a deep breath and looked away towards the Jedi Temple. "It's like something inside of me snapped."
"I don't know who's in there sometimes!" There was despair in Padmé's voice as she looked back at Anakin and he met her gaze. "All I know is that I'm not happy anymore, Anakin. I don't feel safe."
"But, Padmé…" He stood up and reached for her as she turned away again.
"I think it's best that we don't see each other anymore," she said, and she didn't try to make herself sound strong; she wasn't strong, and she knew Anakin already knew that. "At least not for a while. Not until I can trust myself again. I'm sorry, Anakin."
"I'm… I'm sorry, too," whispered Anakin, and as Padmé walked away from him, he turned and slowly walked back towards his speeder.
Captain Typho came down the stairs at that moment and saw Padmé with tears in her eyes moving towards him.
"Is everything alright, Senator?" he asked.
Padmé glanced back at Anakin, then shook her head and turned away, the tears starting to pour down her face. "No."
And then she was gone up the stairs, and Typho watched her leave before looking back at Anakin's starfighter as it slowly flew away from 500 Republica.