Part II: Downfall (Approximately 12 years after The Phantom Menace; 2 years after Part I of this story.)
Amidala heard Anakin come in before she saw him. She knew immediately that something was wrong. Instead of going straight to her as he always did, he instead slipped out onto the balcony overlooking the city. She quietly watched him as he stood there, completely lost in thought, seemingly oblivious of her presence. She did not need the Force to tell that he was tense and agitated.
She debated joining him for several seconds before finally moving towards the transperisteel door that separated them. Just as the door slid open, a strong gust of wind whipped through the balcony, lifting Anakin's blond hair from his face. Amidala gasped involuntarily at the sight. He looked nearly ten years older than when she had last seen him only days ago. His face was hardened as if cut from stone, and his eyes burned darkly with bitterness. His entire body was rigid, consumed with something Amidala could not place. Hate? Anger? Who was this person who stood before her?
She knew he had been struggling for the last few months. Every day he had seemed more and more distant. She kept telling herself that this was how it would be. This was the price she must pay for falling in love with a Jedi, with someone who belonged not only to herself, but to an entire galaxy who needed his protection and guidance. He could not always be there for her, physically or emotionally. His turmoil always seemed to fade eventually. He would smile at her, brush his worries aside, and everything would be alright again. Until now.
She barely trusted her voice, but she had to know. "What happened?" The words came slowly, quietly. Something had gone horribly wrong on this last mission. Something that had taken Anakin from her and left this cold stranger in his place.
He turned to face her, the first sign that he was even aware of her presence. She froze in shock when his eyes met hers. She took a step backward, suddenly realizing where she had seen his look before. It was a look of such intense wrath, so consuming that it held his entire body captive. It was a look of hated that drowned and choked any hint of love that had once been there. It was a look that terrified her to the very core – a look that she had seen before, one that she had hoped she would never see again. For, in her husband's eyes, burned the rage of Palpatine – the rage of the Dark Side.
"No," she cried, her voice barely a whisper. Realization pored over her in waves, all too quickly, threatening to drown her in its wake. She stepped further away from Anakin, afraid of him for the first time in her life.
He reacted quickly, grabbing hold of her arm in a tight grip. She fought back, and somehow managed to find the strength to wrench herself free. Enraged, he snatched her with both arms and forcefully threw her to the ground, as easily as if she had been a doll. This time she did not fight, but lay weakly at his feet, face to the ground. Anakin raised his fist to strike, and paused mid-air.
Amidala waited for the blow that would never come. She raised her face to meet his gaze. An eternity of seconds passed, as confusion pushed aside bitterness in Anakin's eyes. A battle raged within, and Amidala could see that he was visibly shaken by her presence. He was torn, the promise of a powerful future suddenly confronted by the happiness of the past.
Slowly, she reached her hand out to him, wanting so desperately to touch that part of Ani that she knew was still there. Buried beneath this hate, this anger, was her husband – a husband who deeply loved her and cared about those around him. She could still feel that part of him, that connection that had brought her to him so many years ago. She had to make him remember. She had to make him feel again.
Anakin backed away from her. A hundred hearbeats passed between them. It was as if time itself had stood still, and he was wavering at the edge of a great precipice. She was there, urging him to stay, reaching out for him to come back to her. Emotions raged in a tangled storm, and the decision he had thought was so easy now tormented every part of his being.
Then, it was over. The rush of greed and power once more overtook him. He had already made his decision. There was nothing more to consider. His eyes clouded over, and, as quickly as it had appeared, the confusion was gone. Only hatred smoldered in its place.
"Why, Anakin?" Her words sounded weak, even to her own ears. But the anguish behind them could not be stronger. "Why?"
The man who had once been her husband did not answer. Instead, he turned from her, and walked through the door. Through the balcony glass, she heard the door to their chambers open, and then close. She knew that he would never again walk back through those doors.
Fear was replaced by grief, more intense than she had ever felt before. She crumpled into a heap against the cold floor, unable to support her own weight, and wept uncontrollably. Sobs wracked her entire body. Her breath came in ragged, labored gasps. Her heart ached with a pain for which their was no equal.
Her husband, her best friend, her lover, was dead.
* * *
Obi-Wan knew he had been there, the moment he stepped inside the door. Fear and grief hung heavy in the air, and it was all he could do to keep them from overtaking his own emotions.
He found her lying on the floor of the balcony. Her dress was torn, her hair disheveled and falling around her face in haphazard, cascading waves. Her face was wet and sticky with tears, and she was shivering violently in the cold evening air. Her eyes were vacant and hollow, starring straight ahead and seeing nothing.
Obi-Wan gently lifted her in his arms. She was as light and weak as a child. "Padme," he said softly.
She lifted her face to his. Dim recognition flickered in her eyes. It was as if she was awakening from a deep sleep and couldn't quite remember who she was or where she was at.
Obi-Wan carried her to her bed, and tucked her underneath the warm blankets. She started to speak, but he stopped her.
"Do not give up hope," he said. "There is still good in him, I feel it. I can bring him back."
Amidala nodded. A single tear escaped from her eyes and ran slowly down her cheek. Obi-Wan leaned in close to her, and kissed her on the forehead. "I will bring him back to you. I promise."