POST NO 37

Young Vader lay back on his bed. His body was one single entity of pain. Every movement was agony. Lord Sidious hadn't taken his little tantrum lightly and had made good on his threat. Even now when he closed his eyes the Sith apprentice would see sparks of lightning behind his eyes; the painful memory refusing to go. He should've been dead; he thought that he had died at the time. But obviously he hadn't because he wouldn't be here in his room in his bed, thinking of the one thing that he wanted, more than anything else. He could not get Padmé's smile out of his head or the taste of her sweet lips. But with that memory came the bitter sensation of piercing jealousy and frustration. No, it was definitely not the pain that was bothering him at the moment; that sensation was eclipsed by the deep sense of loss and defeat that ate at his very being.

Vader lay back staring at the ceiling, the door swooshed open and Razur entered, a woman followed close behind. They both came and stood beside the bed. The woman or rather the young girl-for she could not have been more than sixteen-was dressed in peasants clothes made of blue and gray sackcloth. The minute he saw her appear from behind his master, Vader jumped and rolled onto his elbow his eyes wide with surprise, for a split second he thought it was Padmé come to visit him, but he soon realized that could not be. Palpatine would never invite Padmé here. He fell back dejectedly against the pillow when he realized that it wasn't her.

"Who is she?" He asked coldly. He could feel his anger welling inside him.

"Her name is Leeyatza. She…" Lord Razur was going to say more but was interrupted by a very upset Vader.

"Why is she here? Get her out of here? Now!" He screamed. Lord Razur just closed his eyes as he had done before and weathered the rage that seemed to boil inside the boy like a volcano. Vader screamed at the top of his voice but Lord Razur seemed unfazed by it. He did not interrupt him and waited till he'd tired himself. But the girl stepped back in fear, cowering into a corner. That's when Vader saw the leash that extended from her bound hands to his saber master's. Razur pulled her back to stand by him.

"Don't be afraid young one!" He murmured. The girl cringed as he put his huge hand on her shoulder. It was obvious that the Sith's tutor's efforts to comfort her were scaring her even more.

Razur pulled a chair besides the bed and sat down crossing one leg over the other. The girl stood besides him, not lifting her head.

"Lord Vader," He began though he was quite loath to add the 'Lord' title after seeing the boy in this weak state but he did want to bring his apprentice back to the living.

"This is Leeyatza, she is a qualified nurse and is here to nurse you back to health." He turned to the girl, "Isn't that so?" He asked turning to the girl who promptly nodded her lowered head.

"I don't NEED her, I don't need anybody…just Padmé," He hissed.

Lord Razur held up his hand. He pushed Vader back onto the pillows. "Relax, just relax. I have good news for you, Lord Sidious and I have debated your situation, he is in agreement with you in the matter of the young Senator."

Vader gave him a suspicious look but he let the Sith continue.

"Lord Sidious thinks that your choice to take Padmé as your spouse is an excellent idea. He thinks the Senator is acceptable even necessary to our plans to dominate the galaxy. But if you are to have her and be her master you will have to be patient."

"Her master?" Vader thought. He hadn't thought about Padmé in those terms.

"For obvious reasons," Lord Razur continued, "I cannot bring Padmé here, not now. If she knew who you were and what you represented she will never agree to take you as a mate or even a friend. Think about it. What can you offer her now? What would you offer her IF you choose to rebel against your master? You as an individual have nothing to offer her. No money, no name, no status! Nothing. You will be only an ex-slave and nothing else." He waited for Vader to answer but the boy only stared back at his master then let his head down.

Vader shrugged "I…I didn't mean for you to bring her here? Forcibly?" "I…I just…I'm just angry…disappointed that she rejected me."

Razur rolled his eyes, "And all this while I was thinking you wanted me to bring her here forcibly. Why then all the needless tantrums, the shouting and rebellion against your masters?"

Anakin looked ashamed. " I think I lost my mind."

Razur glared at him, " Lost your mind? Well you better not loose it again or you could loose that golden little head of yours the next time."

He gave a half smile then, "Don't worry, Padmé shall be yours, she will choose you. It will all depend on your position of power-If you do as your master commands. She will come to you."

Then he leaned conspiringly," We are close, Lord Vader, very close, the trap is set for our enemies, the Jedi, many have perished and pretty soon none will be left. Leaving the stage open for us. When we are the masters of the galaxy you can take what you want when you want it. My young apprentice, soon you will be powerful more powerful than any Senator or Captain or even a head of a planet. You will as Lord Sidious's apprentice have the galaxy at your feet."

Vader seemed to think that over. What his saber master was saying seemed to make sense. It was plain; Padmé would never choose him over that Captain unless he had some thing other than a ragged scar to offer her. For once he had a genuine urge to be powerful, really powerful and not just so that he could visit his revenge upon some one but to be powerful for the sake of power itself, for the awe and invincibility it brought with it.

"I'm sorry for overreacting. It was very immature for me to act this way. I…I promise it won't happen again." Vader finally whispered.

"Ah! Your master will be happy to hear about this. But you must also promise to take Padmé off your mind, for the moment and never to try to see her till Lord Sidious permits it."

It took the young longer to answer this time. After a time he decided it was the right course of action.

"OK. I promise but please take the girl with you I don't need her."

"Oh! Leeyatza is here just to help you regain your health then she'll be gone."

Vader shook his head.

Razur persisted. "Look at her, she is pretty, as pretty as Padmé. You need a companion till the time Padmé comes to you…"

"No!" Vader hollered loosing control again. "No one can place in for Padmé! I didn't like the other girl you brought and I don't like her. Get her out of here! And stop bringing them here. They're not animals that I can adopt to keep me occupied and I'm not a child in need of pets to keep me company.

Razur stood up abruptly. "Shut up! And stop being so difficult! I will not put up with any further humiliation from you. Lord Sidious says you need companion and you will take her in or she goes through the raven's gate!"

'Raven's gate' was a back door deep below their complex where Darth Sidious's unfortunate captives were made to disappear never to be seen again.

Vader turned to look at him startled, the truth of Meesra's fate dawning on him. He had known about this rule, he had once caught a trespasser lurking in the corridors and Lord Sidious had made him kill the unfortunate intruder who could've possibly exposed his secret hideout. But the idea of killing a helpless girl-one who had been forced to come here against her will seemed gross to him. At the same time he understood that young as she was she could talk and that would be bad for Palpatine. Even though he had not been mentioned by his famous name, she could pose a danger for them and their mission.

Vader looked up at the girl. Her face was pale and her large eyes were wide with horror. Obviously she was no fool and had figured what had happened to Meesra. She looked at him with pleading brown eyes. He noticed for the first time how much she resembled Padmé-Padmé the peasant girl who had befriended him on Tatooine and not the Senator who had rejected him. Vader realized that Razur had purposely gone to so much trouble to dress her up as a peasant girl, he had seen the halos Vader had shown him of Padmé when she'd visited Tatooine almost a decade before. Darth Razur was trying to distract him with this girl so he would forget Padmé but that would not happen, he thought to himself he had not forgotten her in the last ten years and he would not forget her in the next hundred.

"Well!" The Sith tutor thundered, "Should she go or should she stay?" Vader did not answer.

"This young woman's…" Razur said, as he reached out to sweep his huge hand across her long black hair, which had been meticulously made in the same style as Padmé's, "…fate now rests in your hand, Lord Vader."

Vader shifted uneasily in his bed. He really didn't want the girl dead but he also did not want any one else, least of all a female, complicating his life-unless the said female was one particular Senator for whom he'd be willing to change his life and his ways.

"Lord Sidious will be pleased if you keep Leeyatza for it will mean that you have agreed to his proposal concerning the Senator."

"OK!" Vader said with a shrug, "she shall stay. But on condition that she will not interfere with my life. I do not need her services, CAM4 is sufficient for that purpose."

Razur seemed surprised, he had been sure he'd have to kill the girl the prospect of which wasn't too pleasant for him. It was one thing killing for a sacred cause and another to kill just for the sake of pleasing the whims of a boy. But Lord Sidious had decided that Vader needed a companion.

"He is the not your regular Sith apprentice, Razur." The Sith Lord had said after he had failed to break the boy by using his conventional methods-methods, which involved using a lot of deadly lightning. Lord Sidious had to stop because he did not want to kill the boy–he could not kill the Chosen One-hence Vader was saved the fate that should have been his had he been any other apprentice.

Lord Sidious went on to explain. "He joined when he was almost thirteen. It is plain that the boy has been corrupted by base emotions in his early life and I have my reservations about purging these from him. So why not use these emotions to further our own plans." Razur had then agreed with him that he had the most devious mind. "You are a genius when it comes to using people my Lord."

Lord Sidious had seemed very pleased with the complement. "Most devious to be sure," He added, "making Padmé the proverbial carrot will stimulate the boy to be more aggressive and single minded in his pursuit of power which are traits which he lacks to a certain degree. Plus I will be able to arrest Padmé's influence in the Senate, which is considerable at the moment and will grow more as time passes. She is not one to sit back and let the Sith take over without a fight. As Vader's wife or captive she will be effectively disqualified from politics once and for all, one thorn less in my side." Lord Sidious laughed at the prospect of finally caging the all too independent Senator and clipping her wings and so did Razur, though he was at a loss as to where the actual humor lay.