A/N: This is a short chapter with Vader's perspective and feelings towards Padmé. It was Angie's suggestion, and I thought it would fit rather nicely into the story before the big event, and subsequent adventure. Things will heat up fairly soon for our favorite couple. I hope you enjoy it!
When Vader was granted the title of Dark Lord of the Sith, the last thing that he expected he would have to do was placate senators that were fearful of possible inquisitions given their colleagues treasonous activities. He despised politicians; they were ruthless leaches upon the galaxy that took whatever they wanted without considering the big picture. The Empire was a result of that neglect towards the big picture, it was the driving force that would eliminate the greed and corruption of the Senate. While Sidious had allowed the senators to continue to administer the Empire's systems, they were under the watchful eye of Sidious, which made them all the more fearful of the dark siders and their mysterious ways.
The dark side of the Force is a relentless beast. It consumes everything it touches, wanting to take complete control at all times, making whoever wields it a servant to its power. However, there are times of weakness, where the darkness slips, allowing a speck of light to shine through. Those moments are pure weakness, an insult to the dedication and pain it takes to truly become a Sith Lord. Becoming one of the exalted ones takes the ability to endure pain, sometimes more pain than a person can bear. It is harsh, chaotic, and unpredictable. The moment that a person trying to learn the dark ways finds relief, the pain visits again, but ten fold. That is the price to pay in order to earn the coveted title.
Vader had not been one to actively choose the pain, it had chosen him. From an early age he was trained against his will, for a time. The older he became, the more he was drawn to the savagery of the darkness. He lusted for the power that was within his grasp, wanting to wield it to be even stronger than his tormentor, Darth Sidious. For a time however, he had not fully been possessed by the dark art, which turned out to be a great advantage. He was able to travel the galaxy and perform the bidding of his master during their grand scheme to bring the Republic to its knees and establish the powerful Empire.
What Vader hadn't expected was that he would meet an immensely gorgeous woman, both on the inside and out while on assignment to Kashyyyk. Padmé had been an outlier than he had not foreseen, one that he would never forget. After he left her the morning after they made love, celebrating their freedom from the hellish shadowlands, he prayed that he would never see her again, fully knowing what she would see.
When he encountered her again in the Senate, he had been stunned to see her as he had figured that she would've abandoned her hopes of serving as a senator and fled back home to Naboo. That obviously didn't happen, so he issued her a warning that he hoped she would receive. She didn't. Then, when fate forced them to meet again at the gala, he issued the same warning, but stronger to see if she would abandon her foolish endeavors of trying to rebel against the Empire. That night he couldn't help but touch her, her soft whimpers bringing him back to when he had made love to her. His warning had to have worked, but she was too strong willed to listen. Then, finally, he gave her a final warning. She heeded it to an extent, but foolishly warned off the treasonous bastards that had she had sullied herself with.
He had been outraged, feeling that he had been betrayed after so many warnings, so many attempts to guide her away from danger, but as much as he had the right to, he couldn't damn her to live a life in a cold cell. She was a delicate flower, like the ones that blew in the gentle winds of Naboo. His affection towards her wouldn't allow him to take such a harsh penalty against her, so he did the next best thing. He incarcerated her with him. His desire for her, and her for him had ensured that it would be an equitable arrangement. Although, as much as he wanted to strip her naked and ravish her, she had to realize who he actually was, and he was afraid of telling her. He was fearful that she would reject him, that she would be betrayed all over again. He knew he broke her heart once, but not all the darkness inside of him could stand to see it broken a second time.
Regardless, his plan had been set in motion and he would continue to allow himself to be broken down by this woman, this Angel, his Angel, and eventually tell her the truth. At that point, if she accepted him for who he really was, he would give her a choice. Maintain her stance against the Empire as a treasonous senator or acknowledge that it was in control of the galaxy and roam freely from his estate, never to be a prisoner again as long as she desired to be his. Some would call that foolish, others would call it manipulative, but Vader saw it for what it was, the best chance for her to escape a sentence of death from the Emperor, and that was something that he would never allow to happen.
Now Vader was headed back to his estate, exhausted from the day. His interactions with Padmé the previous evening had been exciting when she described Anakin to him, how he had been her second lover, and what Vader correctly surmised as her only real lover. It had been wonderful to touch her skin with his bare hands after so many years and easing her into pleasure while she was in his grasp had been intoxicating to the point of euphoria. This other man who had taken her and then casted her aside was a concern. Vader knew the name as Clovis was one of those conniving senators that was willing to do whatever it took to get his own advancement across. He would eventually have to be dealt with, but not now.
Then the afternoon they spent with one another in the courtyard. Seeing Padmé so innocent amongst the flowers, eating fruits along with him had been so pure, so right. She had taken him from a position of pure lust, back to a place where he had been when he first met her. Wanting to romance her tenderly, taking his time to dote upon her and finally give her the most tender of kisses that he had ever given anyone. He felt a smile tug at his lips and longed to see her the next day.
As the transport landed, Vader leapt out and strode inside his estate, looking forward to nothing but sleep when he sensed the object of his affections in one of the living areas on the first floor. Curious, he never felt her presence down on the first floor so late and was curious as to why she wasn't asleep. He quietly stalked to the room and found her curled up on one of the couches wearing a robe over a nightgown. He felt his heart leap with desire and adornment at the same time at seeing the rise and fall of her chest so peacefully. It had been difficult for her to adjust to life at his estate, which he loathed, but he felt a certain level of peace from her aura at this moment.
Carefully sitting down next to her, he stripped off his gloves and placed his right hand on her thigh, gently stroking her while she slept. The silk of her robe felt soothing to his touch and he longed to feel the suppleness of the skin underneath again, to make passionate love to her like he had several years ago.
Vader froze when he heard her moan in her sleep, afraid that he had woken her up, but after she shifted slightly and resumed her gentle breathing, he continued to let his hand roam her, careful to avoid her erogenous zones. Those would only be his for the taking if she accepted who he was, accepted that he was Anakin, her lover from the past.
"I've never forgotten about you, Angel", he whispered. "You've always been present in my mind."
He let his hands wonder down to her silky legs, enjoying the smoothness of them, the tight muscles that were beneath that helped give her such a lithe figure. It made him groan with desire and he bent down to run his lips across her bare legs.
Padmé giggled in her sleep at the brush of his lips, forcing him to hold back a chuckle, lest he wake her. Her lighter moments were the highlight of being near her, filling him with emotions that he hadn't felt in years, emotions that he never realized he missed.
Deciding to press his luck even further, he bent down and kissed her legs again, this time letting his tongue briefly flick out to taste her sweet flesh. She moaned again, but this time he couldn't help himself. He continued his soft kisses on her legs, unable to get enough of her taste. His hands roamed her, comforted by the warmth of her body. He heard her breathing change and knew that she was waking up, but he didn't stop, he couldn't stop.
"Milord?", she asked in surprise.
This time he did chuckle. "I didn't mean to wake you, Senator. I merely couldn't help myself", he said, unashamed of his actions.
To his pleasant surprise, she giggled. "Well, you could've woken me up, Milord. I wouldn't have minded at all. I was waiting down here for your return, but I fell asleep." That was curious. Vader had told Padmé that he would talk more with her the following day, but she couldn't wait to see him until then.
"I came back a little later than I intended", he said. "You shouldn't have waited for me, but I'm glad you did."
She shifted her body into a sitting position. "How glad are you?", she asked in a low voice that made his member twitch in anticipation.
"This glad", Vader growled as he placed a hand behind her head and crushed his lips against hers, aching to hear here moans, and he wasn't disappointed. His other hand gently slipped behind her back, slowly crushing her to him in efforts to feel as much of her as possible through his damned tunic and robes.
She whimpered as he continued his assault with his lips and tongue, wrapping her arms around him, pulling him closer. Force she was such a prize, one that he wanted to, no, needed to have again. It made him want to rip off his hood right there and expose his face for her to see, but he just couldn't. He was too afraid that he would lose her. One day, he promised, one day he would have the fortitude to risk it all and show her who he really was. To show her that he made well on his word that she would see him again.
Finally, he pulled back to give them both a chance to breathe. Their make out sessions would always last so long that it threatened to asphyxiate them both, but they were so desirable that they couldn't help themselves but push their bodies to their limits in order to feel close to one another.
Padmé's lips tugged into the whisps of a smile. "I think that was worth staying up late", she said as she leaned in to give him a peck on his lips that made his heart ache for her. Her having so much hatred towards him yet being able to care about him in such a way simultaneously made him feel elated and terrible at the same time. All she wanted was to see who she was kissing, and he was depriving her of that request.
He gently wrapped his hand around her neck and turned her head to the side, planting kisses on her check before he gave her a gentle suck on her earlobe. "I think it was worth it too", he whispered. He felt her shudder and he wrapped his arms around her, clutching her to his chest.
"I don't know why", she whispered, "But I'm afraid of you, but at the same time, I feel safe around you."
That shot an arrow through his chest, and for once he was at a loss for words. He merely held her tighter to him, not wanting to let her go, not wanting the moment to end. She shouldn't feel safe around him, he was a monster. But she just admitted that she did.
Soon, he felt her breathing become steady and her body grow limp. His Angel was asleep in his arms, just as she was meant to be. However, she wouldn't get much rest in that position and neither would he. She needed to be in bed, so he very carefully lifted her into his arms and carried her to the grand hallway. He flicked the button of the lift to the fifth floor with his mind and clutched her as if she were the most precious thing in the galaxy.
After the lift doors opened, he carefully carried her to her room. Thankfully the lights were dimmed low, and he pulled the sheets and blankets back with the Force and softly laid her down and covered her back up.
Wanting to get a good look at her, unencumbered by the damned hood he wore, he lowered it to his shoulders. Looking at her freely with his eyes for the first time in three long years. He had meant what he had said then and earlier today that she was gorgeous and wished that she would feel the same way about herself. Maybe someday soon, he could show her how gorgeous she was to him by making love to her again. Maybe.
Figuring he was pushing his luck; he raised his hood back up over his face and flicked the lights out before stepping out and closing the door. He gently walked to his room, not wanting to wake the sleeping women up and when he was safely inside, he shucked out of the robe and his clothes, pulling on a pair of comfortable sleep pants. He poured himself a drink and sat back on his couch, wondering how the fuck he would go about his unveiling.
A/N: Again, apologies for such a short chapter. I have longer chapters planned with Vader's perspective, but they'll happen much later in the story. As always, if you liked what you've read, consider dropping a review and following!