Disclaimers: everything belongs to the great George Lucas, who made up all this shyt in the first place. We just improvise on it.
Dedicated to Alex A'lex Alastriana Mac Queen Curses-Like-A-Sailor Dubchana, who doesn't even know what an 'Obidalah' or a 'Padme' is. Also dedicated to Good Charlotte, for no particular reason.
Chapter One
Anakin peered around the corner into the dark hallway. Two figures stood at the end of the corridor, talking in hushed tones. He strained to hear what they were saying. One of the figures turned. A cloak swirled around his feet and the dim light glinted off the handle of a lightsaber. Anakin's hands crept towards his own, dancing over the metal and the rounded switch that would activate the deadliest weapon in creation-
"What was that?" said the woman. Her head turned towards Anakin's hiding place. Anakin gripped the saber blade recklessly, barely restraining himself from activating it and slicing the couple right down the middle. He could hear the weapon humming in his hands, the red blade cutting molecules right out of the air.
The beads hanging off the woman's headdress clicked as she turned her head worriedly back to the Jedi.
"Don't worry," said the Jedi. Obi-Wan! Anakin realized, gritting his teeth. How could he!
"Obi-Wan," said the woman. "What's wrong?"
"There is something," said Obi-Wan, "something over there."
"Is it dangerous?" the woman said, placing her hand on the Jedi's arm. "Maybe you shouldn't go."
Obi-Wan drew his lightsaber out of his belt. The blade illuminated the hallway with a strange, surreal light. It turned the Jedi Master's face the electric pastel color of the blade and cast light onto the woman's face.
Padme, Anakin realized. I should have known.
A speeder buzzed outside, the headlights inching along the corridor towards Anakin's hiding place. He stepped back as the light cast over the alcove, and he remained veiled in shadow. Obi-Wan's bearded face wore a look of intense concentration as he slipped the blade back into his belt. Padme placed her delicate hand on his shoulder again. "Obi-Wan," she said. "Come, whatever is there will stay there."
"You don't know that for sure, though," said Obi-Wan, his brow furrowed.
"Obi-Wan," Padme insisted gently. "Come, don't worry."
The Jedi squinted one last time into the shadows before following Padme into one of the rooms off the corridor. As the door clicked shut Anakin stepped out of the shadows confidently, his black cloak trailing behind him as he walked the length of the hall. He held his head high like a proud lion, and he was as deadly as one.
Padme's fingers trailed along the doorknob as she shut it against the darkness. Obi-Wan flicked on one of the lights. The shadows recessed into the corners of the room against the glow. Obi-Wan stood in the center of the furnished chamber, an unsure look on his face. "There was something there, Padme," Obi-Wan said. "I felt it."
"What was it?" Padme asked, not turning away from the door. Instead, she traced the inlaid carvings with her fingers. The buzz of Coruscant traffic became a faint background noise against this slight confrontation.
"It was something evil…I think. It was not quite clear. It was almost half immersed in the Dark side but there was still some light shining through, which is why I could not tell exactly what it was. It was a living thing, but…I could not tell…" Obi-Wan's voice trailed off as he walked to the wide window and rested his hands on the metal sill. "I've always been able to tell before. But it was like the thing was behind a heavy shadow, to thick to penetrate but you could see through it slightly."
Padme followed the Jedi to the window and stood slightly behind him. Obi-Wan laced his arm around her waist and pulled her close. "I felt that it was dangerous," Obi-Wan admitted.
"Don't worry," Padme murmured, lifting the beaded headpiece off her brown hair. "I'll protect you." Her lips curved into a graceful smile as her eyes seduced the practiced Jedi. Obi-Wan blinked in pleasant surprise, but the look was veiled a moment later.
"What about Anakin?" Obi-Wan said. Padme let out a harsh sigh and leaned her head against Obi-Wan's chest. A tear slipped from the corner of her eye and traveled slowly down the bridge of her nose, finally dropping discreetly onto Obi-Wan's tunic. Anakin. The name conjured so many images in her head, images of fear and love and lust and uncertainty.
"I don't know about Anakin anymore," Padme murmured, pressing her face into Obi-Wan's chest like a little child hiding in her mother's skirts. Obi-Wan enveloped her in his arms.
"You did marry him," Obi-Wan said, an amused tone in his voice.
"Oh, Obi-Wan, it's not funny!" said Padme, pulling away to look the Jedi square in the eyes. "Anakin is different then everyone else, he is like a shadow pulled in front of light and darkness and every moment is a moment of vagueness and doubt. Even the happy moments," Padme added in a whisper, staring out into space. "Even the happy moments, I could never tell."
Obi-Wan stood in silence and quiet astonishment for a moment before pulling Padme back into his arms. "Don't worry my darling," Obi-Wan said, his words contradicting the anxious look in his eyes. However, Padme took the lies to heart and snuggled back up against her husband's Master, forgetting for a moment the danger that these trysts were causing.
Anakin stalked along the corridors of the building, keeping in the shadow. His eyes were deep in darkness now. His soul was a torrent of evil thoughts. If there was any goodness left within his dark soul, you could not see it now.
Anakin's wild eyes met those of every person he encountered, and he stared them down one by one as he passed them. His black cloak flowed behind him like a living thing, devouring the happiness and the light as he made his way to the hangar.
A red, slim, speedy looking ship sat in the front of the hangar. Anakin hopped into it and blasted it out of the hangar using the Force. His knowing hands gripped the controls. Numerous phrases and words flew across his mind; memories of past pod races and the exhilaration of flying across the desert until it was night and the stars were pinpricks in the sky.
He owned the darkness now.
Dangerous looking aliens fled the area as he entered a club. Neon signs glared from the walls. Anakin stretched out his hand and a glass of amber liquid flew to his hand. He drank deeply from it and then sat down at the bar. A scantily clad alien with purple skin and flowing hair eyed him fearfully from the other end of the bar. Anakin glared at her. The alien's breath became labored and she crumpled to the ground, slumping against the metal of the bar.
Anakin grinned, a silhouette of his old grin twisted into something sinister and new. He finished the drink and went back outside to his stolen vehicle. The lights from the top of the Temple glimmered mockingly in the distance. Anakin kicked the red ship, damaging the paint and rendering a long dent in the side. He spat and cursed and punched the air with his hand, causing the ship to fly off recklessly into the distance. Anakin breathed heavily. A faint feeling stirred in his heart and then seemed to die.
Anakin was angry and envious now of his Master. The lights of the Temple bore holes into his brain as he stood staring at them. They dulled the pale light of the stars and the moons and glared through the night, taunting him. Out of the mist his imagination formed Obi-Wan's face, for whom he held no pity. Then Padme's image swam before his eyes. A million emotions stirred within him as he looked at her face. Angry tears spilled out of his eyes and ran over his cheeks as he glared at the picture, trying to make it go away.
But he knew it wouldn't disappear. He would love Padme for as long as he lived, but that didn't mean he couldn't be angry with her.