FINAL CHAPTER

THE WAY IT COULD HAVE BEEN

When Anakin got out of his ship, he inmediately ran towards his room to find Padmé. He needed to see the woman, his wife, that had saved him all those years when she married him.

He rushed inside the room and there she was: standing by the window, admiring the beautiful sunset. She seemed to be enchanted with the way the sun sank into the lake. Anakin was enchanted just by looking at her. He walked towards her and Padmé turned around. She was going to say hello, but Anakin collapsed in her arms. He was very tense, and she could feel that. Padmé rubbed his back in an effort to comfort him.

"Ani... are you alright?", she asked concerned. As she didn't get any answer, she kept rubbing his back, waiting for him to calm down. Finaly, he looked at her. He had a strange fear in his eyes, like nothing she had ever seen before in her husband.

"Padmé, Master Yoda told me something about me, of what would've happened if we would've never got married".

"What?", she asked confused.

Anakin explained to her that he would've turned to the dark side if it weren't for her, that there was something she did that save him. Padmé was shocked. Anakin was still afraid, afraid of something that never happened, but could have... Suddenly, Padmé remembered something.

"Master Windu sent you this package, he said that it was urgent and that you had to see it with me in the place that changed our lives. I don't understand what that means...", she said shaking her head. Anakin froze.

"The meadow... we must go to the meadow inmediately".

Twenty minutes later, Anakin and Padmé were in the meadow, in the same spot they were all those years ago when they confessed their love to each other. Anakin was holding the package in his hands. He unwrapped the box and in the inside he found a strange looking holo-projector. Attached to it, there was a note from master Windu that said:

"If you wouldn't have come to us first to talk about your marriage, or if you would've kept it a secret, this is how your life would've been. I'm in the obligation to show you this, so that you understand how important you are for the Jedi and the galaxy".

Anakin sat down and turned on the holo-projector. Padmé sat down next to him. The images that were displayed were horrifying. Anakin's eyes were wide open, but dead. Padmé was scared, too. She hel on to Anakin's hand tightly.

"A...Anakin...", Padmé managed to say. But Anakin kept watching, speechless. And this is what they saw.

The duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan was terrible. They were killing each other with each swing they made with their lightsabers. Anakin's eyes were on fire, so much hatred could be seen in those eyes. After a couple of minutes, Anakin killed Obi-Wan and kept slashing every part of his dead body trying to leave behind the anger he felt towards his former master.

Anakin kept walking through a dark hall until he reached a door. He destroyed the door and walked inside the room. Padmé was sitting on a bench, and there was something behind her that she was hiding, something she kept away from Anakin's eyes. Anakin walked towards her and grabbed Padmé by the wrist, making her move. It turned out that the thing she was hiding were two babies: Luke and Leia. Anakin held Luke in his arms and walked to the door. Padmé tried to stop him but he slapped her, leaving her lying on the floor, alone. Padmé cried hopelessly.

"The boy will be of some use for us. He is strong in the Force, and he shall join me in the Dark side", Anakin said looking at little Luke. Padmé stood up.

"Please, Ani... He's just a baby, leave him alone. He's our son, and I love him. I love you too, so why don't you let us be?", she pleaded. Anakin raised his hand and Padmé was thrown against the wall by some dark force.

"You will learn to keep your nose away from my buisness. I don't belong to you or to the Jedi anymore", he said in a hard tone.

"Anakin... what happened to you? You were a good man, and now you've turned out to be a monster!", she said between sobs. Anakin raised his hand again and Padmé was lifted from the floor, now she was floating in the air.

"SILENCE!!! How dare do you talk to me like that?", he yelled. He walked towards her. They were on the same level now with Padmé floating in the air like he had her. She brought her hands to her throat trying to stop the choking, but it was useless. Her eyes were caught on Anakin's arm, where Luke was sleeping peacefuly.

"Ani...", she managed to say. She reached for his hand, but he avoided the contact. "Please... you are... killing me...", she whispered. Anakin released her and Padmé fell to the floor.

Anakin walked towards the bench and left Luke lying there. When he made sure that he was safe there, he turned back to Padmé, who was still on the floor, trying to recover. Padmé lifted her head and looked at him.

"I'll make sure that you don't interfiere in my affairs anymore", he said. Padmé gave him a puzzled look, and before she knew it, she had Anakin's hands around her neck.

"NOOOO!", Anakin yelled as he destroyed the holo-projector with his lightsaber. He was breathing hard and sweating. He couldn't believe that he would do something like that to Padmé. He remembered that she was there with him watching the same images that he had seen before. Anakin turned around and saw Padmé, staring at him with wide eyes, but no feelings were displayed on her look. She stood up and walked towards Anakin, standing face to face. Anakin was at loose of words.

"Padmé, I...", he said shyly. Padmé wrapped her arms around him. Anakin returned the embrace and sighed. Thank you for saving me, Padmé".

THE END

A/N: well, that's the end of the longest story I have ever written. I want to thank you all so much for your support and reviews. You have been great to me, I really appreciate all the good things you've said about this and my other stories. This story was written for you, and I hope that you enjoyed reading it for all this time.