Only In Dreams
By infinitykat
Finale: In The End
"those left standing
we'll make millions
writing books on the way it should have been…
floating in this cosmic Jacuzzi
we are like frogs oblivious
soon the water, starting to boil
now I flinch and we all float face down…"
A/N: Welcome to the final chapter of Only In Dreams. I had a great time writing this story and I'm glad it touched all you folks out there in fan fiction land! Look for the alternate ending, "Oh, Possibilities" coming to ff.net soon. Thanks to the readers and George Lucas, the Maker, for making this a fun experience. Enjoy! (Ps. This was hard for me write, with the Vader stuff…this author was on the edge of tears!)
----- ---- --- -- -
I thought I saw a man brought to life
he was warm, he came around, like he was dignified.
He showed me what it was to cry…
Some time later…
His heavy mechanical breathing filled the silence in the egg-shaped chamber. The only other noise was his oxygen IV, pumping the life into what he had left of his veins. This semi-silence gave way for meditation that he did not get on a regular basis.
A few months time away from his love turned into years, and now he was sure she was dead. The former master had demanded that he believe she was dead, because he could not become a Jedi with this attachment to her.
But none of that mattered now.
No, the Jedi betrayed him, so he destroyed them. The Republic was weak, so he destroyed it, obeying his new master. There was so much hate flowing through him that he never realized that he destroyed these things to cope with his own weakness. Aggression, arrogance, disobedience, and… love.
Love for his mother and his angel. Love for Naboo. Love for piloting.
Even though the Jedi Code was destroyed, there was no room for love in his heart. Or what was left of it. There was only room for hate, nothing else.
The Emperor was his only ally. He promised him immense power, which was delivered. Yes, only one friend in a galaxy of suffering.
but you couldn't be that man I adored.
you don't seem to know, seem to care
what your heart is for.
well, I don't know him anymore.
----- ---- --- -- -
Padmé smiled as the little princess ran up to her.
"Padmé! Padmé! Bella isn't playing fair!" Leia cried, looking up at her assumed handmaiden. She folded her arms over her chest and pouted. Padmé squatted so she was eye-to-eye with her daughter.
"Well, whatever you do, don't hit her, Leia. That can only lead to everyone getting hurt. Okay?" Leia sighed and nodded, then walked away briskly, reminding Padmé of her sister's sweet little children.
But, she tried not to think about it. That was the life she had to leave behind, so her own daughter only needed to worry about her friend playing fair.
Another haidmaiden, dressed just as Padmé was, in a deep magenta cloak, hurried up to her. This woman was one Padmé knew very well.
"The Viceroy is expecting a visitor from the Empire. He needs us in the main chamber."
"Alright, Dormé. Just let me get Leia and Bella into a safe room." Dormé nodded.
----- ---- --- -- -
Another day, another planet to deal with. As the Tie Advanced Starfighter started its landing procedure on Alderaan, Vader kept reminding himself that the sooner he got this over with, the sooner he could just go back to the Executer and rest in his medical chamber.
For some reason, the Force was telling him that someone important to him was on the planet, but that couldn't be. Anyone he had, or could, care about was dead.
----- ---- --- -- -
"Failure to cooperate will not be tolerated." Vader said menacingly. The following silence was only broken by his breathing.
Viceroy Organa stroked his slick, black goatee. He inconspicuously glanced at Padmé, who just stared straight back.
"Good. I will leave you now. Any further complications will receive a harsher punishment."
Organa nodded. "Padmé, will you see our guest back to the docking bay?"
Padmé stood and walked past Vader towards the exit without a word.
He followed, curious to what the Viceroy had called her. Could it be? His angel disguised, once again, as a common handmaiden?
As they walked together towards the docking bay, he kept his eyes on her. Oh yes, it was surely her. The wavy dark hair, the rich brown eyes, the soft lips…
"Are you an angel?"
----- ---- --- -- -
Obi-Wan sat in the small hut with the bundle in his arms. The even smaller master limped over to the pot and scooped up some mush, dropping it into the wooden bowl.
"Get the child to Tatooine, you must. There he will be safe."
"And I should just wait. Until he's ready."
Yoda nodded.
"I just have one question. Did he bring balance to force?"
"The child you hold in your arms is the answer. A choice he must make. Balanced, is he."
------ ---- --- -- -
Padmé looked at the dark lord fast.
"Excuse me?"
"It is I…Anakin."
there's nothing where he used to lie.
conversation has run dry.
that's what's going on.
nothing's right, I'm torn.
Padmé stopped dead in her tracks. She stared up at him, the tears welling up in her eyes.
"Come with me, Padmé. We can rule the galaxy together!" Padmé narrowed her eyes.
"Never. I've heard of what kind of man you are. You are not the man I loved."
"But, things could be different."
"Yes, they could have been. If you came to Naboo, or if you finished your training. You took the easy way out. Now there is no hope."
Vader didn't respond.
"The docking bay is down the hall and to the left. Good day."
With that, Padmé walked away. A single tear fell down her cheek and she wiped it away. She decided that nothing could save them.
Only in dreams.
----- ---- --- -- -
you can't resist her
she's in your bones
she is your marrow
and your ride home
you can't avoid her
she's in the air
in between molecules of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
only in dreams
we see what it means
reach out our hands
hold on to hers
but when we wake, it's all been erased
and so it seems,
Only In Dreams.
The End.
Post Note: Remember, the more reviews I get, the sooner the muses will move me to write the alternate ending.