Obi-Wan stared at the wall. How could he possible be so stupid? Sure, he'd been worried about Padmé and what Eysh might do to her, but that was no excuse.

Bail paced over the floor, looking somewhat like a sabercat in a cage.

Like Vader in his cell...

The Supreme Chancellor stopped and sighed.

"We can't just sit here. We must find him, immediately."

Mace Windu nodded grimly.

"Indeed. But that might be close to impossible. He'd rather die than be imprisoned again."

Obi-Wan wanted to smash his head into a stonewall. Hard. The Republic would have to do everything to find Vader. That would leave little forces to save Padmé. And it was all his fault!

Mace Windu turned to the troubled Jedi and gave him a calm glance.

"You don't have time to bury yourself with guilt, Obi-Wan", he said, not un-gently.

The bearded Jedi looked up and nodded.

"Yes, master Windu. But..."

"And there's no time for 'buts' either, my friend. Vader has escaped. What's important now is how to recapture him, not how he managed to get away."

Obi-Wan sighed, but bowed his head in agreement. The master was right.

"What to do then? We're searching for the ship, but it was made for hiding. And Padmé..."

Mace Windu stood completely still for a moment.

"We'll have to wait. I don't think Vader will go on quietly. Sooner or later, he'll reveal himself, and by then we must be ready. For the moment, there is little else we can do."

---


The feeling was incredible.

He was free! Free from the Jedi, from the cell...and most of all, free from the Ysalamir.

For someone not in tune with the Force it would be impossible to understand what being cut from it was like. And the stronger you were, the more it hurt.

And there was no one stronger than him.

So. What now?

Padmé...yes.

He frowned. Why should he care? He didn't know. Yet he did.

Well. He would save her, all right.

Then he would be free from everything that still bound him.

Free, at last.

---


He looked around in the smoky room, as he sipped his drink. Scum from all over the galaxy filled the cantina. No risk of anyone noticing a Dark Lord on the run.

He'd been almost out of fuel, and the closest planet had been Malaster.

Vader sighed. If he'd had a racer...

But no time for that now. Besides, if a human suddenly started to win the podraces, people would talk. Eventually, the Jedi would hear about it. They would know it was him.

After all, they weren't that stupid.

Where to find Eysh? Probably on the Dread. Where to find the Dread then? And when if he found it, how could he be sure Padmé was there?

Well, he just knew.

He just knew -

Vader almost choked on his drink when the reality of that hit him. He just knew. If he did...that would mean their bond was still there.

A bond that would make him find her.




Back in space, Vader closed his eyes.

Took a deep breath. Reached for the Force...

It filled him...filled him and became one with him. Flowed through him, controlling him, was controlled by him...

Once again, they were one.

Padmé -  

He focused his whole being on her, purging his mind of any other thought. Searched for her...

Searched for her -

- found her!


With his eyes still closed he lifted his arm and fed the navigator with the co-ordinates.




Amidala sat up.

What the - ?


The sensation ended abruptly. She tried to grip it, but it was gone, as if it had never been there.

But it had. She had felt something.

Felt something...

It reminded her of...him. She cursed inwardly. Don't think of him, he doesn't mean anything...forget him!

But as she rested her head against her knees, senator Padmé Amidala Skywalker couldn't think of anything or anyone else.

Anakin, where are you?

---

"Still no traces?"

Obi-Wan shook his head downheartedly. "Not a single one."

"And Senator Amidala?"

"Eysh hasn't contacted us yet, but we're running out of time."

Bail sighed.

"At least we've been able to keep it secret."

Obi-Wan nodded grimly.

"Yes", he agreed. "But for how long?"

---

The ship came out of lightspeed. Vader felt his heart pounding. It ought to be right, he believed it to be right, but yet...

The ship that appeared in front of him was huge.

He smiled, satisfied.

Then the smiled faded, and was replaced with a frown.

So, he'd found the ship and Padmé was on it, he was sure of that. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

Make a run for it and hope everything worked?

Why not? There was no reason it wouldn't.

For a normal person it would have been stupid, not to say foolish, to enter a ship without a plan. But he was no ordinary person.

He was Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, and one with the Force.

Besides, why start doing the smart things now?

He steered his small craft towards the Dread. His comm buzzed into life.

"Incoming craft, this is the Dread. Identify yourself."

Vader leaned towards the small speaker-unit.

"This is Dark Force, asking for permission to dock."

"Request confirmed. Send clearance-code for permission."

Vader closed his eyes, and reached out. It was harder to do this when the victim was far away.

"You don't need it. Permission granted."

The control hesitated. Vader pressed harded.

"Permission granted, Dark Force. You may dock in the main hangar."

"Thank you, control", Vader said with a mild smile as he shut of the comm and steered towards the ship.

The easy part, check.




The hangar was almost empty.

As Vader left the ship a dozen of stormtroopers entered the hangar. He waited for them below the ramp.

Padmé's presence...he could feel it, as palpable as the sunshine on Tatooine.

They come to a halt just before him, and their leader aimed his weapon at Vader. The Dark Lord almost smiled. If the man only knew...

But there was no risk of being recognized as long as he kept his hood on.

"What is your errand?" the leader asked, his voice somewhat distorted behind the mask.

"I'm here to deliver a message for the Imperial Commander", Vader said with the confident, ominous voice of a man who expected to be obeyed at any time, without questions.

The voice of a Dark Lord.

"Check it", the leader ordered one of his men. Vader waved his hand slightly.

"You don't need to check it", he said.

The leader glanced at Vader, then at his men.

"You don't need to check it", he said.

"I can go find him on my own", Vader continued, and wondered if it really was such a wonder that the Jedi had defeated them, considering the intelligence of the troopers.

"You can go find him on your own."

Vader smiled.

"All too kind", he mumbled as he went past the squad.




The corridors on the Dread were identical with the corridors on most Imperial starships. A little boring, perhaps, but you didn't visit an Imperial ship for fun.

And he wasn't here to inspect furniture, either.

He hadn't much time. There must be someone with half a working brain on this ship, and sooner or later that person would question Vader's presence.

He better be out of here by then.

---

Korlon took a deep breath to control his rage.

He'd given them a chance to answer to his offer. And they'd thrown it away.

Fools. Ignorant fools.

Well. At least he would have the pleasure of seeing Senator Amidala die. The Republic would pay for their arrogance, all in due time, as would Darth Vader. But first his wife.

Ah, yes. In her pain, he might find some retribution.

He turned to his guards.

"Bring me Senator Skywalker", he ordered, "immediately."

---

Vader entered the prisoners' area. Not very big on this ship, but at least someone had considered it worthy of a heavily guarded door. Not that it was guarded enough to stop a Dark Lord in tune with the Force.

He looked around in the narrow hallway between the two rows of door. Not many cells, but the ones that were seemed to be occupied.

Her presence was stronger than ever. She was here, so close -

He stopped outside her cell. She was in there, he could feel it. Vader pushed the controls and the door slid open.




Padmé looked up as she heard the sound of the door opening. Maybe Eysh finally had decided it was time for her to die. Well, she wouldn't go without a fight...

She gasped as she recognised the figure standing in the opening.

"Anakin!"

Without thinking she rose and, unable to prevent herself, she flung herself in his arms. He wrapped them around her and held her close. She looked up and met his blue gaze. He flinched, as if he suddenly realized what he was doing, and took a step backwards, letting his arms drop. Padmé felt her jaw tighten.

Of course. He wasn't Anakin. He was Darth Vader, and he loved no one.

And still, she couldn't stop herself from loving him...

Not allowing her feelings to show, she moved past him and out through the door.

"We better get moving", she said, not looking at him, not acknowledging what had transpired a moment before. He didn't say anything, but followed her down the corridor. They went past the four fallen guards outside the armoured door leading to the cellblock. She glanced at them and gave her husband a sarcastic glare.

"Still no sense of refinement, I see?"

He stared at her angrily and gritted his teeth. Of all the ungrateful beings he'd encountered...

"And you still think you'll never have to thank anyone for anything", he snarled.

She stopped and took a step closer towards him.


"Hell freezes over before I thank you!" she hissed.

He stopped as well, his eyes shooting daggers.

"You..."

They stared at each other, both with their faces twisted with anger. Inwardly. Padmé admitted that she wasn't really angry with him, but with herself. Just as he was angry for embracing her, those few seconds in the cell.

Vader opened his mouth to say something, but shut it again, and turned. She did, too.

And saw the stormtroopers coming round the corner.

There were only four of them, but they blocked the only way out. They looked at Vader and Padmé and then at the fallen guards.

A stormtrooper didn't ask question in a situation like this. These were no exceptions. They opened fire, but as the blasterbolts enclosed to the couple standing with their backs against the door leading to the detention area it was as if they hit an invisible wall and bounced back.

Padmé glanced at Vader. He stood with his hand raised and eyes closed. Then his face hardened and a loud crack echoed through the room as the guards stiffened and then fell to the floor.

He took her hand and dragged her with him.

"C'mon! We don't have much time."

She didn't protest.

---


Korlon Eysh frowned. Why did it take so long. Whoever was responsible for this delay would be severely punished once Korlon laid his hands on him.

He looked at the aide standing next to him.

"Call the cellblock and find out what is taking them so long."

"Yes, sir!" '

The man bowed his head and picked up his comlink.

Made the call.

Frowned.

"Sir, they're not responding."

Eysh gave him a cold stare.

"What do you mean?"

"The cellblock doesn't answer, sire. Actually, it seems as if their comlinks have been destroyed..."

Eysh interrupted him, feeling the cold anger grow in his heart. So, the Republic had managed to track him down...

"Send troopers to the hangar immediately!"

He took a deep breath. He mustn't lose his focus now.

They wouldn't get away with this. Not alive.

---

Vader came to a halt and Padmé barely managed not to run straight into him.

"What?" she demanded.

He smiled coldly.

"Just a little thing to take care of. It won't take long."

"It better not!"

"If you feel so insecure you can return to your cell, where you are safe", he hissed. Then he reached under his clothes and picked up a small item, hardly lager than two nails. He kneeled and fastened it low on the wall.

She frowned.

"What's that?"

He smiled.

"A small but very powerful bomb. Right here", he tapped at the wall, "is the ship's power-reserve. When this little beauty detonates, the ship will go up into smoke."

"Where did you get that?"

"On my way to your cell. They haven't deleted my override codes, so entering the weapon store wasn't too hard."

"Why, then?"

"I'm not very fond of crazy Commanders who's trying to kill me."

"Kill you?"

"Kill me."

"Why?"

Vader shrugged.

"Guess he didn't like my aftershave."


She gave him an annoyed glance, but decided to drop it.

"Did they send you to rescue me?" she asked instead.

He snorted.

"Don't be stupid."

"You escaped then."

"Well, seems as if, huh?"

She eyed him closely.

"If they didn't send you, why did you come?" she asked quietly.

He rose, as if he hadn't heard her and pointed down the corridor.

"We better be going."

Before she could demand and answer, or say anything at all, he gripped her hand and started to run. She had no choice but to follow him as quickly as she could.




It took about five minutes to reach the hangar. It wasn't that far, but every now and then they ran into troopers. Vader could handle the easily enough, and Padmé had picked up a blaster from one of the fallen guards as well. But it was a little time consuming for them to stop every thirty seconds to kill half a dozen of white armoured troops.

Vader stopped abruptly and cursed silently. Padmé peered over his shoulder, and was tempted to do the same.

The hangar was filled with armed men. And by the far end of the room stood Korlon Eysh, surrounded by guards in simpler versions of his own red and blue armour.

She looked at her husband.

"So, your lordship, how are you going to save us from this?"

He barely gave her a quick glance, completely focused on the scenery before them. Then he turned to his wife.

"We have no choice but to make a run for it."

"You are crazy!"

"Says the one who led a very small group of warriors and handmaidens into a castle occupied with hundreds of enemies."

She ignored him.

"Wouldn't it be better to wait and see what happens?"

He grimaced.

"Sure it would, but the bomb detonates in five minutes."

"Intelligent, Dark Lord, really."
 
"Listen, Padmé. I can't kill all of them, they're too many even for me. But I can use the Force to make them fall. Perhaps they will be so shocked or dizzy that we can reach the ship before they reacts."

"Perhaps."

"It's not like we have a choice."

He was right. It wasn't.

"OK. Let's do it your way."

He nodded.

"At my signal. Ready?"

She nodded.

"Go!" he yelled.

She ran out in the hangar without hesitation, with Vader slightly behind her. The stormtroopers reacted immediately but then something slammed them against the walls. It was like a very strong wind swept through the room and made them fall like shak-r'a pawns.

But as Vader had said, there were many of them, and not even a Jedi of his potential could keep all of them down for long. They stood and opened fire. Padmé ran, focusing on the ramp, only a few steps away.

Something hit her in the back and she fell. At first she felt nothing but then a freezing feeling started to creep up her back. She couldn't feel her legs anymore -

And then she lost consciousness and everything faded away as she heard Anakin scream her name.

TBC