Chapter 90

Vader's Flag Ship Exactor - Month Twenty Seven, Day Fifteen PEF

Early morning

Padmé stood at the viewport, exhausted and emotionally drained from the confrontation with Vader in the cell block. Max was dead and it was her fault for having gotten involved with him in the first place. She'd spent the last several hours since returning to Vader's suite under armed escort, going over in her mind everything that had occurred since her capture by Vader and Asajj's betrayal.

Reluctantly, she'd come to the conclusion that Asajj had been right.

Her feelings were so far beyond anger, she had no name for them.

Only they weren't directed at Vader; they were directed at herself for allowing herself to be so thoroughly duped. She'd willfully allowed herself to be blinded by the familiarity, letting Vader manipulate her deep seated desire for the return of her family. A family which had once included the man he'd once been. Her desire for what had been, for what she knew should have been, coupled with her desperation to find Luke and Leia had left her vulnerable. And Vader had capitalized on every aspect of that vulnerability possible.

Reviewing his actions in her mind, those she'd been witness to over the past several months, had revealed man who was now so twisted by his ambition to be unrecognizable beyond the surface. Sure, he'd been Anakin once, so his mannerisms were those of her husband, but nothing in the way he processed his priorities now were close to what they had been before he'd taken the mantle of Vader.

Vader; Lord of the Sith.

Padmé shuddered as the thought drifted through her mind unbidden, but unlike before, she didn't shy away from it and didn't try to rationalize it. Since she'd turned to him the days after Luke and Leia's life day, needing the comfort and support, the compassion of someone who understood what she was going through, she'd blocked out what he'd become, focusing only on the aspects he'd let her see. Willfully, she'd let herself be blinded, ignored the signs of anything but what she wanted or needed to see. She'd rationalized his less than Anakin-like behavior as simply the stress he was under and not the truth.

Anakin had become Vader, consumed with his ambition and drive.

Alone in the suite, she stared at the vastness of space, unseeing but no longer blinded to his true nature and nothing between them could ever be the same again.

Vader's Flag Ship Exactor - Month Twenty Seven, Day Fifteen PEF

Late morning

Vader scanned the next file and then the next, sorting through the data of the latest information dump from the various contacts he had out looking for the twins. Since his confrontation with Padmé several hours ago, and the most satisfactory death of her former companion, he'd immersed himself in his search for the twins. Padmé had been most receptive to his advances when they were centered around their children and, if he was determined to not only reunite them all, but repair their relationship, this was the key.

Artoo was nearby, helping him sift through it. Needing some uncharacteristic reassurance, he directed a question to the droid. "How is she, Artoo?"

The droid turned his receptors and gave a sharp, scolding answer.

"Alright, no need to get short with me. I just wanted to know if she's taking care of herself."

Artoo's response was slightly longer and made him frown. "That was a little uncalled for. What's gotten into you?"

The bells and whistles that followed were beyond what Vader had been expecting.

Sitting back in his chair, shocked, Vader regarded the droid with wide eyes. "She's my wife, Artoo; that slicer had no right-"

Artoo cut him off with a shrill whistle and loud bleeting noise, followed by a holo being projected in the room, one of him and Padmé in front of the cell and there was no mistaking Padmé's expression.

"It's not that easy, buddy."

The insulting response from the droid clearly showed his disagreement.

"I am not making it more complicated! The moment I go back to the room she's going to ask me about those blasted planets again."

An uncompromising squwak answered him.

"I think relationship mechanics are beyond you, Artoo. I've tried telling her the truth. She either doesn't want to see it, or she's deliberately being obtuse to what needs to be done. Either way, she won't be able to see that eliminating the Jedi on those planets was necessary to ensure the safety and security of the Empire."

Artoo's rebuff was softer this time and less accusatory.

"I do know it," Vader propped his elbows on his desk, fisting his hands so he could rest his chin within the cradle. "She's still too idealistic about the Jedi, even after their betrayal."

The scolding was back as Artoo bleeted another accusation.

"I know, I know." With a sigh, Vader rubbed one hand over his face. "If you have another idea how to keep her from wandering the ship and putting herself in danger, I'm all ears. I don't like locking her away, she just won't stay put if I don't. I just don't know what else to do, buddy. I thought all that time on Dandoran would solidify our relationship again."

The soft query, almost mournful in nature, was gentle and probing.

"Not the way I hoped," the admission was weary. "She still sees who I was and not who I am, buddy. Every time I try, we get into a fight. Every time."

Another inquiry.

Vader shook his head and smiled slightly, though it died almost immediately. "Not for a minute. I did what I had to and I'll continue to do what I need to. My only regret is that she's going to be hurt by it," came the immediate reply. "It was necessary to secure the prosperity and cooperation of such a politically valuable system."

Moving closer, Artoo gave a soft little whistle.

"What do you mean?"

A series of beeps and whistles had Vader shaking his head, but Artoo didn't let him interrupt, sipping off into a noisy tirade that escalated quickly back into harsh squeaks and beeps.

"That's enough, Artoo!" Vader pushed up from his desk, glaring at his friend, wondering idly is everyone important in his life was going to turn on him. "You know everything I've done as been for her, or to avenge her. The Republic was weak; the Jedi traitors. Padmé can't see that; she never could. Telling her the truth, regretting what had to be done... it solves nothing. I made my decisions. I stand by them. I'd do them again with all but one exception. If I had known Obi-Wan was going to steal her, I'd have taken her with me to Mustafar instead of leaving her on Coruscant!"

Artoo's question was harsh.

"So what? If she'd come with me, the twins would be with us, I could have told her more about the Jedi uprising and the purge in my own way instead of Obi-Wan poisoning her mind with a twisted version of the truth!"

There was no response from the astromech and Vader sighed, closing his eyes and bowing his head, letting his whole body sag onto his arms as they held his weight. "I'm not mad at you , Artoo. I'm just frustrated. If I could just find the twins, if I could present them to Padmé, bring them home, we could get past this and just be a family. She would have them to focus on, us to focus on... what am I missing?"

More silence greeted his question and Vader raised his head to find his astromech watching him in such a still silence, it was almost eerie. The only sign that Artoo was on were the smoothly blinking lights on his chassi.

Vader tried for levity. "Nothing to add, buddy?"

Artoo rotated his dome in a clearly negative response but again stayed silent.

The comm chirped on his desk and Vader flicked it on with a motion of his finger. "Vader."

"My apologies, Lord Vader, the Governor of Gwori has made contact and is requesting an audience."

With a grimace that didn't sound in his voice, Vader's gaze flicked to the chrono on his desk before he responded. "Thank you, Captain. I'll be on the bridge shortly. Tell the Governor I'll make contact before the end of the hour."

"Very good sir."

The comm. clicked off.

Exhaling on a long breath, Vader stayed where he was for a long moment before standing upright and straightening his clothing. "Keep an eye on Padmé, Artoo. If she needs anything, let me know. Gwori is close enough to Coruscant we'll have to be on our guard and that means she can't leave the suite. If she does, she runs the risk of catching the attention of someone she shouldn't; she's supposed to be-"

A rude noise cut him off

"There you are." Vader smirked. "I was starting to think that tirade earlier fried your vocabulator. Once we're done on Gwori, I'll have time to dedicate to the search for the twins. I need you to run comparison searched on the database; everything we've collected to date. I want you to cross reference the files from Threepio's memory bank and see if you can pull any more data about who else was with Padmé when the twins were born. A reflection, a voice, anything. I know I'm missing something, I can feel it."

Artoo barely acknowledge the order before Vader was out of his office and on his way to the bridge.

Whatever more there was to say, Vader was confident his droid wouldn't spare him later; he never did. For now, he had a job to do and part of that job meant dealing with the lead politician on Gwori. Later, he would worry more about the puzzle that was his wife and his Astromech's line of questioning.

Later.

For now, he pushed all thoughts of his wife and his children deep into the recesses of his mind and focused on his next task. There would be time enough later for everything else; Padmé wasn't going anywhere.