"What are you here for?" The senator has asked him earlier. He hadn't replied.
He wasn't sure.
He was here because his master sent him, and he had to obey his master. But how could he explain the complexities of the sith to a senator? A senator who was far too idealistic, even in the direst of circumstances? A senator, who Vader was sure was a part of the rebellion, and he was simply waiting for her to slip up.
When he had been notified by his men about the strange pendant that the senator had packed, he at first considered looking at it himself. But he held back. There were more important things to consider, and while the pendant may be a potential rebel tie, or perhaps a symbol of something, Senator Amidala had yet to act on any of that.
"Are you sure that you will not be attending the banquet, Lord Vader?" Padme asked as she walked down the hallway. After the fiasco in the town square earlier, Vader had ordered everyone back to their temporary quarters in the capital. And that was where they stayed.
"I am not a politician." Vader said, repeating his sentiment from earlier. Truthfully, he hated most politicians. And he was sure that if he had to sit there and watch as Senator Taa stuffed himself silly while his people starved in the street, then Senator Taa would not make it though the night. Vader would choke him, and make it appear as if he chocked on his food instead. Eating too fast and hoarding the wealth while people outside of the halls begged for scraps.
Why his master had ordered for him to not kill Taa, Vader would never know.
"But surely you must eat at some point." Senator Amidala replied. Vader didn't move. He continued to stare out of the window, watching as the citizens of Ryloth moved about below him.
He did eat- but it was usually when no one was around. And he only ate enough to sustain himself, not particularly caring for the taste of anything. But the imperial rations were mostly tasteless, and so Vader just ate them as quickly as he could.
Why his master had insisted on having him go through formal etiquette lessons, he would never know. His master had forbidden him from allowing other people to see his face. At first, he wanted them too. He wanted them to see that he was the boy that the Jedi abandoned, and left for dead. But as time passed, he understood why his master wanted it to be a secret.
When people met him, they didn't know what to expect. And Vader loved the element of surprise. He loved feeling the fear in other's hearts when they weren't sure who, or what they were facing. They weren't sure if he was alive. If he was a droid. Perhaps a cyborg?
None of them would ever get it right. His power didn't come from machine, it came from the force, and the fury that burned inside of him.
He heard her footsteps approach. The click of her heel on the stone floor.
He turned to face her and watched as the sun sparkled off of her skin and lit up the jewels hanging from her hair.
She was beautiful, but he had no idea what he should do with that information. She had been beautiful then too when he first met her in that cursed shop.
But why she was here and insisted on speaking to him more than she had to, he didn't understand.
"Is there something you need, Senator Amidala?" Vader asked.
"You didn't answer my question from earlier." She replied, crossing her arms over her chest. Vader sighed, grateful that his mask hid the sound.
"I am following orders." He told her but bit his tongue. He could not expose the relationship between him and his master.
She wouldn't understand.
Padme's shoulders slumped, and Vader could tell that she was disappointed. But she managed her expressions well, her face barley changing at all.
"Well, perhaps it is for the best that you do not attend." She said with a slight smile. "Most of these banquets are boring anyway."
Vader's eyebrows shot up. Was that humor? Was she trying to make him laugh. What was the point? What was her motive?
As the silence grew between them, Padme checked the time.
"Oh!" She exclaimed. "The banquet will be starting soon." She inclined her head slightly.
"I will see you tomorrow then, Lord Vader." She said and walked away.
Vader watched her go, unable to move from his spot.
"I just don't understand him." Padme said and sighed as she walked towards the banquet hall.
"What do you mean?" Sabe asked. "He's the emperor's lapdog- what more is there to understand?"
"No, my lady, you might be right about something." Typho added.
"There has to be something in this for Vader as well, otherwise why else would he just blindly follow the emperor's orders?" He asked.
Sabe shrugged. "I keep telling you, he's probably a droid or cyborg."
But Padme shook her head. "I don't think so. He grabbed my arm earlier, and well… it felt like a flesh hand." She sighed and rolled her eyes.
"That probably didn't make a lot of sense." She mumbled.
"No, I understand what you mean." Sabe replied softly, her voice barely audible over the noises that were coming from up ahead.
"And he has five fingers." Padme noted.
"So, he's human, or humanoid then." Typho said.
"Then I guess you're right, my lady." Sabe replied. "There has to be something in this for him as well."
"But what?" Padme asked. "What could he possibly want?"
"Power? Money? The ability to crush his enemies whenever he pleases?" Typho suggested.
"There are a lot of reasons for why someone would want to be in Vader's position." He continued.
"But for now, let's turn our attention back to the matter in front of us." Sabe said.
"Surviving this banquet."
"Right." Padme replied, nodding her head as two servants opened the doors to the banquet hall in front of them.
The sight was nauseating. Around her, people sang and drank and danced without a care in the world. Women moved about in scantily clad outfits- and the men in the room eyed them as if they were pieces of meat and not beings in their own right. On the tables in front of them were piles and piles of food.
How anyone could eat this much in one sitting, she would never know.
And at the front of the room was Senator Taa, surrounded by young and beautiful women, a large plate of food piled high in front of him. Music played, and Padme saw the musicians eyeing the food, want in their eyes.
But she knew that a quick speeder trip would take her to parts of the city where people were fighting over scraps of bread. Where people couldn't afford to eat. And here she sat, watching as their Senator stuffed himself stupid instead.
"Senator Taa." Padme greeted, throwing on her best fake smile as she approached his table. She tried not to grimace as he choked on the piece of meat he was eating.
"Senator Amidala!" He exclaimed; his mouth full of food. "Please sit, my dear!"
She sat, careful, avoiding stepping on bits of food that had fallen to the floor. As he turned his attention to speak to a high-ranking imperial officer, Padme spoke to one of his aids.
"How does all of this food get eaten?" She asked. The aid shrugged.
"People go get sick in the bathroom, and then come out and keep eating." She replied nonchalantly.
"What?" Padme exclaimed. "What about the poor outside?"
"What about them?" The aid asked her back, her eyes narrowing.
Padme was flabbergasted. This explained why Vader didn't want to come after all.
She couldn't blame him.
He had taken off his gloves along with the rest of his suit, allowing the pendant to touch his skin. It felt foreign, yet familiar at the same time. The simple carvings. He ran his thumb over them.
They were supposed to bring good fortune to the wearer. He remembered making them, his mind stuck on the beautiful girl that had come into the shop that day.
She had even kept the same leather cord.
He ran his hand over the design again. How long ago had he done those carvings? How long had she kept the pendant?
His tears slid down his cheeks and splashed onto the palm of his hand and the pendant in the center. He didn't want to, no, he couldn't think about his life before this.
Anakin Skywalker was dead. He had died on Tatooine.
But when he looked in the mirror, and saw the person starting back at him, he wondered how true that was.
Gone was the tan skin that he had when he was young, replaced with dark circles and a scar by his right eye. But some of his freckles were still there, standing out even more now that his skin was pale from the lack of sun it saw.
He bit his lip, to stop himself from sobbing. But he couldn't help it as a soft cry escaped his lips. He clutched the pendant in his hand and gripped the edge of the sink with the other.
And he sobbed. He cried, mourning the loss of the person who gave her that pendant.
But when he looked into the mirror, and saw his red and puffy eyes…
Anakin gasped.
They were blue.