"Rise, my friend." The holo image of the Emperor spoke.
Vader rose from his kneeling position on the floor. He had come to the communications room aboard the Executor to give his master his report on Dantooine.
"What news do you have?" Sidious asked.
"I have destroyed a rebel base and all its occupants on the small planet of Dantooine."
Sidious smiled, "Good, good. And what of the rebel leaders?"
"None were present at the base, but intelligence is continuing its search."
"Have you had any luck getting any information from your slave?"
Vader stopped himself from flinching as he replied, "No, my master, she remains defiant and refuses to speak. Probing her mind does not work and she will not negotiate either."
Sidious looked questionably at his apprentice, "Negotiate?"
"I made her watch the attack yesterday. I told her I would spare the rebels if she would give me the names of the leaders, but she refused."
Sidious cackled. He was not happy that he still did not know who the rebel leaders were, but the thought of Amidala's horror stricken face as she watched the rebels die made him smile. She needed to feel pain for her treachery against his Empire. Although he was disappointed that Vader's negotiation had failed, he was pleased with Vader's cunning. For he knew that if Amidala had given the names, his apprentice would not hesitate in destroying the rebel base before going after the leaders. Lies and deception were the ways of the Sith.
Sidious continued to cackle for a moment before he continued to speak, "Yes, she has always been defiant. It looks like things will not change. However, you should make her watch all of your attacks as punishment." Sidious cackled again.
"Yes, my master."
"You have done well, Lord Vader. Take two days leave, and then continue your search of the rebel leaders."
Vader kneeled before the image of Sidious. "Thank you, my master."
With that final statement, Sidious ended the transmission, and Vader exited the communications room. Vader would be taking the two days leave granted to him by his master aboard his ship since it would take too long to return to Coruscant. However, before he started his leave he needed to talk to his crew.
Vader told his crew that they would all be pulling intelligence duty until they uncovered another rebel base. He told them that until another rebel base was found, they would remain in orbit around Dantooine. Once they found something, the officers were to report to him immediately so that they could get underway in pursuing the rebels.
Many of the higher-ranking officers were unhappy that they would be pulling intelligence duty, but none of them dared to defy Lord Vader. After Padmé's display yesterday, they did not want to anger the Sith Lord anymore. He had not harmed Padmé yesterday, but they did not want to press their luck with the Sith. Someone could be killed if Vader was angered further, so they took on their new tasks without question.
After addressing his crew and insuring that all was well, Vader returned to his quarters. Vader peeked into his bedroom to check on Padmé, but found that she was still asleep. This did not surprise Vader, it was early in the morning, and her lightsaber stunt had kept her up late. Deciding to leave her alone, Vader backed out of the bedroom and went to make himself breakfast.
Padmé awoke five minutes later. As she stretched, she winced at a pain in both of her arms. She looked down at her forearms and saw large bruises where Vader had held her still the previous night. Padmé grimaced at the memory of the events of the previous night as she looked around the room for a sign of Vader. She was relieved that he was not in the room.
Padmé got out of bed and picked out a long sleeved wardrobe. She did not want to give Vader the satisfaction that he had hurt her by letting him see her bruises. Her arms were very sore, so she would have to be careful in her movements so she did not alert Vader.
After choosing her outfit, Padmé walked to the fresher to shower and dress before getting herself some breakfast. The first thing Padmé saw as she entered the kitchen was Vader who appeared to be cooking himself breakfast.
Vader turned at the noise of the kitchen door opening and saw that Padmé was coldly staring back at him. The two were silent for a moment while they stared at each other, neither knowing what to say to the other. Tension mounted as the silence continued. He had stopped himself from hurting her the previous night because her knowledge of the rebel leaders still made her useful. However, if she had fought him any longer he might not have been able to stop himself. He knew why she was angry with him, which helped him restrain himself, but every time she lashed out at him he could feel his control slip. He did not want a repeat performance of the previous night, so he interrupted the silence with a casual question.
"Good morning, are you hungry?" Vader asked as he turned back to finish cooking.
Padmé glared as Vader turned his back on her. He was acting as if nothing had happened the previous night. She might not be trying to kill him at the moment, but she was still furious and would never forgive him. However, she was forced to live with him, and she would not be able to avoid him. Padmé sighed as she replied, "Yes, I came in here to find something to eat."
Vader could feel Padmé's anger, but was pleased that she did not lash out at him. His control would not be tested this morning. "Well, this is almost done." He stated gesturing towards the meal he was cooking. "If you go pull out something to drink, we could split this." Vader suggested.
"Fine." Padmé agreed with coldness in her tone. She turned to the cooling unit to pull out some juice.
Vader had pulled out two plates and was dividing the meal he had cooked between them when he felt a sense of pain through the Force. Confused, Vader glanced at Padmé who had a grimace on her face as she gingerly pulled out a jug of juice from the cooling unit. "What's wrong?" Vader asked.
"Nothing." Padmé said as she tried to hide the pain in her voice. However, she could not hide the grimace on her face because the muscles in her forearms cried out in pain from the strain of lifting the jug. Vader had badly bruised her last night.
Vader could still feel Padmé's pain, and knew that she was lying. "Do not lie to me, I know that something is wrong, what is it?" Vader said a little more forcibly as he placed the two breakfast plates on the table and used the Force to take the jug from Padmé and place it on the table as well.
"Why should you care? I am only a rebel and now your slave. I should be of no importance to you." Padmé spat out with irritation.
Vader's eyes narrowed at this comment as he took a seat at the table. "I have never treated you as a slave, and you know it. Now tell me, what's wrong."
Padmé remained silent as she sat down at the table as well. She was not going to reveal the bruises on her arms and let Vader know that he had hurt her.
Vader knew that there was something wrong with Padmé's arms because she kept wincing every time she moved them. However he was irritated, that she would not tell him what was wrong. He decided to find out for himself. Using the Force he rolled the sleeves of her outfit up and gasped at the sight of the large bruises on her arms.
"How did you get those?" Vader asked with concern.
Padmé's anger rose when she realized Vader had used the Force to reveal her injuries. "I'm pretty sure you know." She replied angrily.
Vader paused for a moment in confusion before he realized that those bruises were in exactly the same spots he had held her the previous night. He thought he had controlled himself, but apparently his anger had broken free in their argument. He had just been trying to explain to Padmé why he had done what he had done, and that she could not change that matter by killing him. He had not had the intention of hurting her.
"I did not mean to do that." Vader said remorsefully. "If you had not fought me, this might not have happened. He added.
Padmé glared at him, "If you think I'm going to sit around and stay quiet while you kill off rebels, you are mistaken."
"Enough, I did what I had to do." Vader barked at her in irritation. He did not want to hear another speech from her that the Empire was evil. "Give me your arms." He demanded as he placed his own hands palm up on the table. However, Padmé did not move.
"Look, if you want to stay in pain then don't do what I say, but I can fix it if you will cooperate." Vader said angrily.
Reluctantly Padmé placed her own hands in Vader's as she continued to angrily stare back at him. Once he held her hands, he used the Force to heal Padmé's bruises. In a minute, her pain was gone and she did not wince when she moved her hands away from Vader's.
Padmé looked down at her arms, and was amazed that the bruises were gone. She looked back up at Vader, her eyes locking with his. "Thank you." She quietly replied.
"You are welcome." Vader stated as he turned his gaze from her and to his breakfast.