It was late that night when Anakin and Padmé left. They'd informed the leaders of their departure and of the secret mission, without giving too much away. The leaders all agreed that they'd be allowed to go and they would be able to cope for a short while without them. They'd also agreed to let C-3PO and R2-D2 go with them.

As soon as they entered hyperspace R2 took over the piloting and Anakin and Padmé went to bed. Padmé was currently changing when Anakin entered the quarters, and as if they were two awkward teenagers quickly both turned away from each other.

"Sorry, I should have knocked." Padmé only laughed. "What?"

"It's just we're married and we both acted as if you've never seen me naked before." She laughed as she pulled on her nightgown.

"Yeah, it's just I'm not sure we're back to that level yet. We've been separated for twenty years, it's kind of like we're newlyweds all over again." He turned to face her.

Padmé laughed again. "Oh, Ani. That's what you've been waiting for."

"Well, yes, haven't you?"

"No." She laughed. "It's only been a couple of weeks since you nearly died on me. I was letting you heal. Letting you make the first move." Padmé walked over to him, slinking her hand delicately around his neck. She stood on her tiptoes and brought Anakin's lips to meet hers.

"Padmé Amidala not making the first move, who are you an what have you done with my wife." Anakin smiled as he shrugged on his robe, leaving him in him loosely hanging trousers.

Padmé smiled up at him his warmth so comforting to be so close once again. "She's right here and would be glad to make the first move." Padmé gently pushed him back onto the bed, smiling as she climbed on top of him.

Her hands caressed his toned chest as she pressed kisses to the nape of his neck. Exactly where she knew he loved. Padmé gently slid his trousers off, carefully positioning herself over him. Anakin was still recovering and they'd have loads of times for fast desperate lovemaking and foreplay. But not this time.

Anakin flipped her over so she was now on her back. He positioned himself as he pushed up her nightgown. "Just as beautiful as always." He kissed her gently. Just at that moment, 3PO entered the room.

"Mistress Padmé- oh my!" The droid through its hands over its eyes. "I'm so sorry to intrude mistress Padmé but there's a message from the rebellion. I'll tell them to call back at another time." the droid quickly left.

Anakin and Padmé laughed. 3PO had a habit of walking in on them accidentally.

Anakin kissed her again as he slid into her. They moaned into the kiss. Neither lasted very long and both climaxed within minutes. Anakin kissed her as he pulled out, rolling onto his back.

"Sorry, that didn't last very long." Anakin sighed as Padmé snuggled against his chest.

"It was perfect Ani, we've loads of time for longer sessions." She wiggled her eyebrows and they both laughed.

"I love you, angel." He kissed her forehead.

"I love you too."

Meditation was a strange thing. You're wavering in and out of the force. Out of the living force and into the cosmic force. Both existing and not at the same time. Seeing the past, the present and the future all at once and not at all. A deep breath out and a deep breath in. Hold it. And out again.

It was rhythmic, focusing and peaceful. There was a time when Anakin wouldn't have thought it possible he would even utter those words. But here he was, meditating for the fourth time today. The force whispering in his ear, surrounding him, and encompassing him.

A flinch at an all too familiar voice. No! Anakin screamed into the force. That wretched monster invaded every other aspect of his life, he would not poison his meditation too.

You're pathetic. The voice whispered. Pathetic, weak, useless. It coaxed. Hideous, demented, inhuman!

"No," Anakin whispered.

Pathetic, weak, useless, hideous, demented, inhuman. It whispered over and over.

A traitor and a coward!

"No." Anakin protested. "I won't let you in."

You're nothing. Nothing without me! I made you. Rebuilt you. Resurrected you from nothing! You betrayed them all! Your brothers and sisters. The Jedi. Yoda. Qui-Gon. Your master. Your padawan. Your captain.

"No." Anakin protested again struggling to keep his resolve.

Your friends. Your soldiers.

"No."

Everyone! You betrayed them all! You let them all down!

"No." Tears pricked his eyes as he struggled to keep on top of his thoughts.

Dead! They're all dead. You killed them all. Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Rex, Cody, every single one of the Jedi.

It was as if he was behind him right now. Whispering in his ear. Invading his mind.

You're a monster. A Sith. The Jedi slayer. You are Darth Vader.

The words hung in the air, just as the first time he was given the name.

You know you can't go back. No one ever can. Yoda said it himself. You chose this path. You're on it forever.

"No. I've changed."

Have you? Really? You're pathetic and weak. Flocking to power. You could never. You're pretending.

It was as though a hand was on his shoulder. As a deformed bony finger dragged down his face. Anakin's body clenched.

The dark side doesn't control you anymore. Take a look at your eyes. Are they blue? Oh no.

Anakin flinched again.

You know I'm right. You can't control your power. It controls you. It'll take you again. You'll kill them all. You'll take the dark side once more. You'll snap. You'll feel the power flow through you once more. And you'll kill them all. The rebellion, your son!

"No!"

Your daughter!

"No!"

Your wife!

"No!"

Yes! Yes! Because you are not Anakin Skywalker. For you truly are Darth Vader! You'll strike them down in cold blood. And you won't hesitate as you plunge your saber right through their heart and watch their eyes go cold!

"No!" Anakin screamed, his lightsaber ignited in his hand. He swung to kill the imaginary Sidious haunting him, his hand clenched as to strangle him through the force. Tears flowing from his glowing yellow eyes.

"Anakin!" Padmé screamed as his lightsaber came to halt in front of her chest, the force elevating her in the air. Anakin stared at her in shock, dropping his hand instantly, his eyes still glowing. "Anakin! What are you doing?!" His lightsaber fell from his hand and clattered to the ground. Anakin sunk back down to the floor. Openly sobbing.

Padmé instantly dropped beside him, embracing him.

Hours later Padmé brought Anakin another steaming cup of Caf. "Padmé, I'm so sorry."

"Anakin, it's alright." She tenderly cupped his cheek. "You just need to tell me what's going on."

Anakin took a deep breath. "Where do you want me to start."

"The beginning."

So Anakin began to explain everything. How he didn't know who he was anymore. Wearing a mask for so long, you forget who you are beneath it. Sidious invading his dreams, his thoughts, his meditation. His guilt over everything.

Padmé nodded and listened not interrupting until he finished. "Your eyes. They were yellow. What happened your eyes?"

"That's what happens when a swell of dark emotion so powerful flow through you it causes a physical change."

"Dark emotion."

"The Jed believed it was just use of the dark side, evil, anger, and hatred. They were wrong. It could be any of those but also; fear, sorrow, guilt, jealousy, passion, sadness. Any negative type of emotion swell."

"So you weren't relapsing on me?"

Anakin stayed quiet for a moment.

"Anakin?"

"I can't exactly control it all of the time."

"I thought you said you'd gotten your dark side under control?"

"It's almost as if Vader and Anakin are different people, and Vader is fighting for release. There are times. When I'm more susceptible to dark emotions. And I can feel it struggling to break out."

"Maybe you haven't fully come to terms with your dark side."

"Force sake, Padmé, I'm forty-six and still can't control it. Most Jedi have control of it by the time they're knighted."

"Anakin, you aren't a Jedi."

"I know. It's just frustrating. I can't control it. And it makes me...afraid. Terrified. That he'll take over and ki-" voice crack "-kill you all." Tears pricked his eyes once again. Padmé took his hand in hers.

"Anakin listen to me. Maybe you're right. That you and Vader are fighting for control. But Maybe control isn't what's needed. Maybe you need to accept that he's apart of you and work with him." Anakin looked to her. "And you need to stop comparing yourself to Jedi. Ordinary Jedi have a mother and father, and the force is simply something that they can use. They can control their dark side more as the force isn't apart of them it simply flows through them.

You, Anakin Skywalker, you are the force, partly." Anakin chuckled slightly. "The force isn't simply something at your disposal. It created you. It's part of you. You have more force than any other force sensitive being in the galaxy. It's logical to assume that you have more dark side energy flowing through you too."

Anakin smiled. "Trust you to apply logic to the force."

"You are special. You are powerful."

"I just get so afraid of myself. For as long as I've been in the Jedi Order, I've kept a figurative cap on my power. I don't know what'll happen if I let that cap off and give Vader more control. Even when I was Vader and I let the cap off a little more, I was still afraid to let it off completely. To let Anakin get control. "

"You see, that could be part of the problem too. You're afraid of your own power. That cap can't hold forever. If you took it off, you and Vader wouldn't be fighting for control. It'd be the both of you together." Anakin nodded as he contemplated what she'd said. "The dark side isn't inherently evil. You can't be afraid to show your dark side."

"You're right. Padmé Amidala, you are right once more." Anakin kissed her. "You're a kriffing genius."

"I know." She shrugged and they both dissolved into laughter.

It had taken four whole days to get to Kamino. It being in the outer regions of the known galaxy and because they had to take many, many detours to avoid being followed or detected. Finally, they descended towards the planet only protected by the cloaking of the ship.

The hairs on the back of Anakin's neck stood on end as the familiar cold, dark presence of his former master bled through the force. "The Emperor is definitely here." His eyes were dark and pained.

"It'll be alright Ani. We take everything in stride."

"What if I can't defeat him?" Anakin swivelled in his seat once the ship had touched down.

"We." Padmé corrected. "We're in this together now. You never face anything alone ever again. I promise you." Padmé took his hands in her own. "I mean it. I'm never leaving you. I can't imagine what the Emperor put you through. This time you aren't facing him alone."

Anakin smiled as Padmé tenderly held his cheek. "I love you." He whispered as tears pricked his eyes. "So much."

She gently pressed a kiss to his lips. "I love you too, Ani, nothing will ever change that."

Anakin smiled and gathered himself. "You're right. We can do this." He stood up. "Artoo, Threepio, you two stay here. You keep this." Anakin tossed a comm-link to Artoo. "If we need you at any point, the code word is 'sky', you got that?"

Artoo made a cheerful whistle, Anakin chuckled and pat his dome. "Good. We'll be careful and you don't destroy the ship." Anakin smiled as he and Padmé made their way out of the ship.

"It's been a long time since I was here," Anakin muttered as he tried to shrug off the terrible dread in his stomach and the warning bells blaring through the force.

"Anakin, stay calm," Padmé whispered beside him. "I can feel waves of panic emanating from you."

"Look at you using the force. Looking out for little ol' me."

"It's hard to miss you, you kriffing supernova."

"Obi-Wan used to say that all the time." He smiled weakly. "Now," he whispered as they came to the building complex. They both knelt and Anakin reached out with the force.

"A good few hundred life forces. Not all Kaminoian, not all human."

"So what's the plan?"

Anakin moved to the right his hand gliding along the outer wall. A sudden crack of thunder broke his concentration. "We better get inside before it rains again," Padmé whispered.

"Give me a minute," Anakin muttered as he resumed what he was doing. Several minutes later Anakin came to a halt. He glided his hands in a wide circumference. "Alright, we can enter here," he stated as he ignited his lightsaber and plunged it through the wall.

Finally, after five achingly long minutes, Anakin had finally cut a hole big enough for them to get through. "This was the thinnest section I could find." He added as Padmé commented on how long it took.

"Right," she said as they landed in an empty room. Anakin quickly snatched a drive from the desk, inserting it into his comm, and rifling through the files.

"Aha," he quietly celebrated as a map of the complex sprung up. "Into the air ducts." Anakin motioned to the grating in the left corner of the room."You inspect from up there, I'll inspect from down here. We'll meet in this room two blocks over."

"Are you putting me up there to keep me out of the action?"

"What? Of course not. I was going to go into the air ducts with you, but looking at it now I know I'd just get stuck." Padmé attempted to hold in her laughter but couldn't.

"Shh." Anakin covered her mouth muffling the sound.

"Sorry," She whispered as he removed his hand.

"Now, I thought about us both, masking ourselves in the force and patrolling on the ground but I do think it would be better if we split up and meet here." He pointed to the room once more. Padmé nodded as he explained.

"Alright."

"Now, here's the map for reference, but we can find each other in the force if it comes down to that." He added as he uploaded the map to her own holo-reader. "Good luck." He smiled.

"You too." She replied as he pulled the grate off with the force.

"Now remember when you force jump you have to imagine you're a feather landing on a cushion. That'll make no noise at all."

"Got it, feather on a cushion." She smiled positioning herself by the air duct. "I love you. Keep yourself safe, Ani." She pressed a kiss to his lips.

"You too, angel." He smiled softly. And with one final goodbye kiss, they parted ways. Padmé smiled as she landed softly in the air duct. Being small had its advantages.

Anakin sneakily exited the room. Hiding himself in the force and vanishing himself visually.

Anakin was following some robed figures. By the look of the robes, they were Church of the Force followers. He also noted that there were some troopers fully garbed in Mandalorian armour. As well as Vader's old shadow guards, the red-robed royal guards, and death troopers.

Anakin went to turn the corner when his commlink suddenly bleeped. "Kriff," he cursed as he dived back behind the wall.

Artoo beeped frantically.

"Artoo, slow down, what's wrong?"

Artoo repeated slightly slower this time.

"Why do you keep saying sky?"

Artoo began whistling angrily.

"No, the 'sky' was for us a code word for if we were in trouble. Not a code name."

"Yes, I know that my name is Skywalker."

"And that Skywalker has 'sky' in it. Yes, you're very smart. Now, what were you trying to tell me." There was a commotion and some fighting with Threepio before the comm was dropped.

"Guys, this isn't the time for fighting." Anakin chastised them. The comm was picked up once again and Threepio spoke. Although not before a string of curses from Artoo.

"Master Anakin, what Artoo was trying to say is, an Imperial fleet just entered the system. Along with a rebel fighter and unidentified ship."

"A rebel fighter?"

"Yes, probably an old stolen one."

"Kriff. What size of a fleet?"

"It's rather small. Two Imperial light cruisers, a few squadrons of TIE fighters."

"Kriff." Anakin cursed to himself again. "Well thanks for informing me."

Anakin shut off the connection and immediately turned to make his way for the rendezvous with Padmé. It just so happened that as he turned he came face-to-face with the Emperor, two death troopers, and two royal guards. Four darts immediately pierced his neck. In the few moments before he blacked out and collapsed onto the floor; Anakin managed to send a force pulse, killing the two troopers and severely injuring the two royal guards.

Several more guards rounded the corner. "Bind his arms and legs. Take him to the light cruiser. And put the entire compound on high alert. If Skywalker is here; so will Padmé Amidala. We cannot allow this information to escape." Sidious ordered.

"Yes, your highness." Everyone sprung into action.

As an ear-splitting alarm bleared throughout the compound. Padmé launched herself into the air duct. "Artoo, come in. Sky, sky."

"Mistress Padmé," Threepio answered.

"Threepio what the kriffing hell is going on."

"It seems that Master Anakin was discovered. The entire compound has been put on high alert, and a search is being conducted for you."

"Kriff." Padmé cursed. "Threepio, can you find out where they're taking Anakin."

"They're taking him to one of the light cruisers that just entered the system."

"Thanks, keep me updated." With that Padmé pulled up the compound map, studying the best route to escape the compound.

Sidious laughed as Anakin was forced onto his knees. Bonds on his wrists and around his neck. As if that wasn't enough, five electro whips were also holding him in place. One on each of his arms, one around his neck, one around his torso and one binding his legs.

Grand Admiral Thrawn stood to the left of the Emperor. "I believe there is someone you need to meet, old friend." Hate coated every word. Anakin gathered the strength to lift his head. From the shadows emerged a tall, cloaked in black Darth Vader.

Padmé carefully scaled the perimeter of the deck. Hundreds of speeder bikes and AT-ST's. HEr mind whizzed through strategies. A high success of failure or capture in all of them. Finally, she decided on a fairly risky plan. Using the force she'd create a distraction on the far side of the hangar. Then she'd steal a speeder bike, something small not likely to be missed. It was extremely risky, as she still didn't have full control over her force powers. But she had to try. Anakin was counting on her.

"No, it can't be!" Anakin cried exasperatedly.

Sidious laughed again. "Why yes my old friend, it can be." Sidious took two steps closer to Anakin. "It's you." Sidious smiled widely.

"A clone?" Anakin asked desperately.

"You do catch on fast. Yes, he's a clone, bred to be loyal just to me." He sneered.

Anakin looked to the figure cloaked in his old armour. He could sense turmoil and conflict within the soul of the clone.

"Grand Admiral, Vader,"-Sidious turned to them-"go find Padmé Amidala." The two turned and quickly left.

"You won't find her unless she comes willingly."

"You seem to be mistaken, I have known her far longer than you."

"But I know her better." Anakin remained as triumphant as he could.

"Just because you've slept with her doesn't mean you know her better."

"And because you've underestimated her you will die."

"She will break," he sneered once more. "Or be killed. As will your children."

"No!" Anakin yelled as a pulse of force energy surged through him. He didn't think it was possible, the bonds should have cancelled any force abilities. Yet, his bonds clattered to the ground and the whips disintegrated. Anakin's rage bubbled through him. The ship shaking and shattering around them. Igniting and exploding.

He couldn't control it. The pulse emanated from him, spreading throughout the ship, killing Sidious, destroying anything and anyone in its way. As the ship disintegrated around him Anakin was thrown from it. Plummeting towards the water.

Just before he would have hit the water at a fatal speed and force. Padmé swooped in on a speeder catching him while using the force to dampen his landing. "I've got you, Ani."

Anakin lay on the back for a moment, catching his breath. "I'm so glad I taught you how to do that."

"Couldn't let you get off that easily." She winked as they landed.

"He's got a clone of me."

"Oh kriffing hell."

Padmé helped Anakin onto the bed. "Any severe injuries?" She asked.

"I don't think so, mainly seems to be burns." Padmé helped rid him of his cloak and shirt inspecting the burns on his chest and back.

"They don't look too bad, some ointment and bacta patches should do the trick." She smiled and grabbed a few from the med kit.

"Thank you." Anakin sighed as she began applying ointment to the burns. "For coming for me."

"We're in this together. Remember." She smiled. "Each other before the mission."

"I love you."

"I love you too. And I will always put you first," she said as she applied the last bacta patch.

"I don't deserve you."

"Yes, you do." She smiled clearing away the med kit.

"I really don't, you are probably the best person in the history of the galaxy and I'm the one who kriffed it up."

"Listen to me, Anakin." She sat on the bed. "Look at me." She lifted his chin so his eyes met hers. "You have done some horrible things, yes. I can't deny that. But you turned away from it all. You're helping to take down the emperor. Rebuild the republic, the Jedi order. I forgive you Anakin, your family forgive you. Who gives a kriff is no one else does. You deserve me. We deserve each other."

Anakin, with tears in his eyes, pulled her onto his lap. "I love you so much." He whispered before their lips met.