All You Mean To Me

By Aiko "Kitty" Skywalker

Chapter Four

Seven Months Later

Anakin turned heavily upon his heel, leaving the dusty imprint of his heal in the sand. Looking out upon the land, he studied the ancient landscape of the desolate planet that he stalked upon. He had come alone, freeing himself from his duties under Palpatine's cruel wing to continue his search. It had been seven months since he had last seen his wife Padmé, as well as heard anything about their child.

A lot had happened in those seven months since that fateful day on Tatooine. He was a Sith now, a real Sith, under the wing of Palpatine. He has lost his contacts with the Jedi, lost any feeling towards them at all. Freeing himself from what he believed was the heavy and binding chains that they had placed around his wrists, ankles, and neck, he was free, or so he thought.

Gazing about again, he was unable to see or sense a living form. Then, stalking back towards his land speeder, he took off again. He knew this planet well, like the back of his hand; he wasn't far from the place he once called home. This planet was Tatooine, and just as he had left it those fateful seven months ago, it was as sore on the soul as ever.

Stopping his land speeder in the same spot he used to leave it, he had a strange feeling of emptiness. This was the home he and Padmé had shared, but yet it was void of all life. Getting off his land speeder, he stalked towards the doorway. He already knew something was wrong as he approached the door, reaching out with the force for his wife. But yet, she was nowhere to be found. Entering into the house, his emotions whirled in his head. He allowed himself to continue walking inwards, looking back and forth in the house. The table was still set with the dishes Padmé had prepared for them those many months ago, the last meal they had eaten together, the chairs were stilled pulled away from the table as they had been when he had left, the food cooler was left ajar, just as Padmé had left it during there fight. It was as if nothing had changed. Had Padmé not been here since he had stormed out? Had she not stayed here when she had ordered him out? Was she no longer on Tatooine? Had she not waited for him?

The answers seemed clear to him. His anger welling up inside of him, he stalked farther into the house, the sheets of the bed were neatly pulled up as Padmé had left them, the refresher door was still open lightly and the closet near the end of the hall was shut tight.

She had left him.

"First the Jedi, now you Padmé!" he spat out. "Have I not gone through enough since that day seven months ago?" Clenching his left fist in a ball, he hurled it against the wall.

Calming himself slightly, he pushed those thoughts out of his mind. What had happened between him and Obi-Wan those seven months ago were nothing to be concerned about. He wasn't a Jedi anymore he was free.

Pushing himself to continue, he walked into their bedroom, the bed in which they had created the little life, which grew inside of his wife.

It was quiet, too quiet for Anakin. Whenever Anakin had come in at this time of the evening, he had been accustomed to seeing his dinner lying on the table for the flies and his wife lying in the bed, the soft sound of her breathing echoing in their small bed chamber. However, now all he could hear was the deafening sound of his shoes as they hit the floor and the loud pumping of his heart. His adrenalin pumped through him as he pushed himself towards the bed. Putting a hand onto the bed, his mind raced back to the last time he had come in late and left his wife unnoticed. The last time was when he had said he would come strait home from working with Owen for the day and he hadn't. Sitting on the edge of the bed, his mind silently lay amongst the memory.

"Good she's asleep,"

"Think again Flyboy,"

Resting his head in his hands, the voices continued.

"Your late,"

"I'm sorry Padmé,"

"You didn't call,"

"I love you,"

She would always soften up at those three little words. Letting the tears well in his eyes, he stood up again, heading over towards the closet. There were his clothes, still hanging from their hangers, and Padmé's were hanging loosely beside his. But yet many of Padmé's were gone. Yet, he noted, her wedding dress still hung there with her headpiece hanging over it. Letting more soft tears fall down his cheeks he reached out towards it, caressing the soft materials in between his gloved fingers.

It still held her sent within it.

Shacking his head in dismay he turned out of the closet. Taking one last look at their old bedroom, he turned and walked away. Looking about him again, he continued to walk. Taking one last step towards the door he could swear that he could still hear her voice screaming at him to get out. Putting one hand on the doorway he whispered the words that echoed in his mind, the last words he had ever said to his wife before leaving, not as Anakin, but as Vader, the last shreds of Anakin lost in his words and in his pain.

"Fine Mé I'll leave. Goodbye Padmé Amidala Naberrie."

Padmé laid her head against the side of the ship's window. Gazing out upon the cold and desolate planet beneath her, she rubbed her hand against her swollen womb. Mace and Yoda sat across from her in the passenger section of the small ship that they had purchased on the small, desolate and cold world called Xavier below them. Obi-Wan was in the cockpit with fellow Jedi Adi Gallia, who was flying the ship. The four Jedi were the last escapees of Coruscant, and they had been lucky to do so those six months ago. Many other Jedi on the planet had perished when Palpatine had given in to the separatists and then had been crowned Emperor by the separatists, bringing forth the great Empire which was head by a Sith. Padmé couldn't help but somehow blame herself, knowing that somehow if she hadn't kicked Anakin out she could have stopped him, therefore none of this would have happened. Everyone knew that this wouldn't have come to be had Palpatine not had Anakin as his loyal follower at his side as his strong right hand.

"Hmm…sense in you much dismay I do Lady Skywalker," came the voice of Yoda from the other side of the passenger bay.

"Yes Master Yoda," she stated. She had long since given up on trying to hide her emotions to Yoda; she was no good at it anyways.

"Your thoughts dwell on what happened seven months ago," Mace Windu stated earnestly.

"When don't they?" she asked back, trying to make it clear she didn't want to talk about it.

"Your fault, Lady Skywalker, it was not. Much fear I sensed in him for many years."

"I know Master Yoda," she stated calmly, keeping her eyes on the decreasingly visible planet behind them.

Yoda shook his head. "Not good it is to hide something that bothers a person so much."

Padmé sighed heavily and stood up. Stalking away from them, she headed towards the small cabin with only one bunk within it.

"If you would excuse me Masters, I am tired. I must take advantage of the sleep that I can manage to get while these two take a break from kicking." Placing one hand onto her back and the other on her belly she pushed away from them and towards the cabin.

Walking only a few steps farther, she placed herself down on the bunk. Rubbing her swollen womb again, she reached out lightly with the force, as Obi-Wan had taught her to do, and feel the health of her babies. She had known that it was going to be twins for nearly three months now that was the last time she had managed to get to a doctor. That was when they stopped off on the small and quaint planet of Alderaan, a planet that had great ties to the Naboo. Both she and Obi-Wan were friends with the leader of the Royal Family there, the former senator of Alderaan, Bail Organa. Bail Organa had offered to hide her and the children there on Alderaan until a few things cooled off but Master Yoda foresaw a danger in this. Sure enough Anakin, now under his alias name Darth Vader, went to Alderaan two months later for a routine check of the planet's main databanks, making sure that there were no rebel plans stored in the databanks there.

"How are you this evening you two?" she asked as she prodded her two young offspring. As though they were beside her the reached up towards her with tiny force bonds, placing a smile on her face. Her arms nestled her swollen womb lightly as she sat on her bunk and rocked back and forth, singing a calming lullaby, that although she knew the twins couldn't hear, calmed her. Soon she rest her head against the pillows, one hand close to a blaster that Adi Gallia had placed in there for Padmé's mental well being and the other, instinctively, on her womb as she snuggled closer into the pillows. She was not quite used to the idea of safety, and although she knew she was safe in the small ship, she still needed a blaster close at hand. The last seven months had been hell for her, traveling from planet to planet, often traveling to planets and systems controlled by the huts, or even the republic, where she was always on her lookout for Storm Troopers, troops of the newly established Empire.

Finally she calmed herself enough to relax her hand that clenched near the blaster and relax it at her side.

"Good night you two," she whispered before drifting off into sleep.

Darth Vader marched slowly down the halls of Emperor Palpatine's ship the Rancor. It was the pride and joy of the Imperial Navy's Fleet and often carried Emperor Palpatine to his destinations, not that he left Coruscant often.

Taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly, he punched the activation on the final door he needed to pass through, entering into Palpatine's long and gargantuan quarters, in which he commanded the ship. He sat alone on a thrown like seat at the far side, a fair distance from when Vader stood and his back was turned, looking out the floor to ceiling windows that were edged into the metal structure surrounding them. Palpatine was alone in the room, besides his Royal Guards that stand post at strategically planned positions throughout the gargantuan room.

Vader looked around him for a moment, noting the position of every one of them, knowing that each time he entered they were in different positions.

Finally he stepped forwards, his footsteps breaking the deafening silence that, for a time being, was only disturbed by the silent humming of the great machines within the station. The Rancor was more a battle station than an Imperial Star Cruiser.

"Ah, Lord Vader, my young right hand apprentice, you have returned to me." Palpatine stated, still looking out of his windows. Vader could not see any part of Palpatine, but he knew for a fact where he was, he could sense where Palpatine sat, strait up yes shoulders slightly hunched forwards in his traditional position that he had gained through the years. Although the Emperor's wits were sharp and his health was a good as it had ever been, Palpatine still had the effects of age poring down upon him. But it had never stopped him before.

And the waving of Palpatine's hand only proved Vader's notion to where Palpatine sat. He beckoned his Royal Guard to leave them, signifying an earnest importance to talk with Vader.

Once Palpatine knew the Royal Guard had departed, he turned his chair to face Vader. His face was pulled into an emotionless state, but yet Vader knew it was only so that he could probe his young apprentice for a reaction.

Vader dismissed this; it was of no real importance to him.

"Master I have failed my mission,"

"The girl, still alive?"

"Yes, my master," he stated bowing to Palpatine. "Amidala is alive, I can sense it. But where, I am afraid, I do not know. The Jedi must have placed a strong blockade around her. It is impossible to feel where she is at any given time."

Palpatine seemed, for a moment, to be deliberating what Vader had just told him before spitting out at him.

"You must find her Lord Vader. Her political power makes for a strong enemy within her. I have known her for many years now she is loyal to the Republic and democracy. You must crush her like the bug she is, before she can infest herself into the underground political systems. Her ideals could soon gain enough allies to rally an underground resistance, which I do not need at this point, in which my Empire is flourishing. Have I made myself clear, Lord Vader?"

"Yes, my master,"

"You are currently dismissed from any other duties that I have previously asked you to fulfill until the death of Amidala has been completed. This is your duty Lord Vader, and it shall only prove your loyalty to me."

"My loyalty to you, master, is forever."

"Good, but remember Lord Vader, Amidala is Anakin's wife, and Anakin ceased to be those many months ago. It is Master Kenobi's fault that Anakin is dead now remember that. She is allies with him, she is allies with the Jedi, and remember what they did to you."

Vader's anger welled up inside of him. The Jedi. How he despised the term. Clenching his left, robotic hand, in a fist he fought back the urge to drive it into the floor below him. Clenching his teeth, he listened as his Master continued.

"Oh and Lord Vader, how is your hand these days?"

Vader looked up at Palpatine, his eyes cast in anger.

"As well as can be expected, master," he stated calmly.

"No problems with the circuitry?"

"It was better done than when my right was severed in the wars, master,"

"Good. Now you are dismissed."

"Of course Master," he stated calmly, bowing again and turning on his heel, flapping his black cape behind him as he walked away, his black armor shining lightly in the dimmed lights of the chamber.

Palpatine watched idly as Vader fled the room. Knowing that dutifully, Vader would promise to complete his task, he knew indeed that the man could not. Somewhere deep inside, Anakin still had control of Vader, although the pervious experiences that created Vader were still hot in his mind. Amidala would live, he knew, until Anakin had died.

And that was a task that would need some work, Palpatine knew. Anakin was a determined man, and in his heart he was still the newly knighted Jedi who was knighted during the Clone Wars.

And that is what frightened the Emperor the most.

Vader's mind drifted back and forth from thought to thought. Walking the halls of the station towards bay fifty-six where his personal ship lay, his mind roamed awkwardly to his orders.

Amidala…dead?

The first time he had gotten those orders, Anakin inside of his head pleaded with him to say no. Yet Vader had agreed but he knew that he couldn't kill her, he wouldn't kill her, at least not until the child was born.

The child…that was something that often plagued Vader's mind. Somehow he had been unable to tell the Emperor about his wife's pregnancy, more than likely it was Anakin's doing. But still he didn't know why he didn't tell the Emperor, Anakin had died when Vader had walked out of his old home on Tatooine twenty-four hours ago, right?

Grumbling horribly within his mind, he entered into the docking bay and walked stealthily over towards his ship. Entering into the small, yet comfortable, starship that he had personally designed himself, adapting the plans of the Tie Bomber that he had finalized himself while combining it with the size of a small starship. It had stealth, strength, maneuverability, and speed to outmatch any other in the fleet. It could make it point five past light speed comfortably without a hesitation within seconds and could out run any Republican Starfighters left in the galaxy, easy for hunting down fugitives in the Empire's eyes. It was everything he had ever wanted in a ship, even in his waning days of Anakin, but yet this time as he approached the ramp and entered into the ship, it felt empty. Somewhere deep inside he had been praying to the force that when he left Tatooine he would have his beautiful wife beside him and would be presenting her to Palpatine, carrying his child. He had prepared for her arrival, even had the whole thing cleaned inside and out. He had made sure that there was room for her in the cabin and it would be suitable for her, but yet now he realized that he had had all of that done for no reason. She wouldn't be coming.

And that is what pained him the most.

But he somehow managed to push that from his mind as he headed over towards the controls. The doors of the ship closed behind him as he whipped his cape behind him. Entering through the doorway of the cabin he took a few moments to look about it. It was void of life within except for him, and it made him shiver. Taking a look at the empty co pilot seat beside him, he had suddenly gotten the image of his wife sitting there, one little energetic baby girl with brown hair and eyes sitting on her lap and a little boy with eccentric and electrifying blue eyes that enticed and exploded with innocence, knowledge, and wonderment with blonde hair standing on the captain's chair, reaching up towards him with cubby little hands with an expression of wonderment on his face.

But as quickly the image had come it was gone. Padmé's smile was gone from his mind, the little girl sitting on her lap had relapsed into the imagination and the little boy, and the tiny boy that enticed him and freed something inside of him had disappeared and gone back into nothingness.

What had happened Vader didn't know. All he knew was that this would not be the last time he would ever see these three, and he knew it for the silent little voices that he had managed to quiet within his mind and body, his midichlorians, told him so.

Taking his seat in the captain's chair, he still couldn't rid himself of the feeling of emptiness. Yet he fought it out of his mind. It wouldn't control him. He wouldn't let it control him. He couldn't let it control him.

Placing his hands on the controls, he sent in his codes to open the tractor beam and release his ship from the Rancor's control. Than he took off, and once away from the Rancor he set course for where he was going, a place where he knew if anyone knew anything on Padmé's whereabouts they would know it there: back to Tatooine.

Padmé lay still upon her bunk. She had long since awoken in the dismal darkness of the cabin and because of the silence outside of her room she knew that the others were asleep.

Relaxing in the silence of her room, she shivered lightly because of the coldness of space. Wrapping her arms around her womb, she protectively tried to warm the children, although she knew they were warm enough.

She began to settle herself in again, relaxing in her moments of peace where the children were unmoving within her womb and she could rest. But that was when her silent thoughts were disturbed by a quiet rapping at her door.

"Come in," she stated softly yet firmly.

It was Obi-Wan. He opened the door and reached over and turned on the light.

"The others are asleep. I don't want to disturb them with the light and I had a feeling you were awake. May I come in?"

Padmé nodded her head. Sitting up strait she beckoned for Obi-Wan to come in and close the door behind him. Nodding, Obi-Wan walked in and shut the door behind him. Taking a seat on the far edge of the bed, he looked hard at Padmé.

"How are the children?" he asked looking at her swollen belly than back at her.

"As well as can be expected, Obi-Wan."

"Good," he seemed to be thinking about what to say for a while since a disturbing silence followed. Finally, clearing his throat, he continued.

"I have received a message from Beru back on Tatooine."

"Oh?" Padmé asked, raising an eyebrow at the mention of her step-sister-in-law.

"Yes, she was quite urgent in fact," he stated, "it seems Anakin returned to Tatooine."

"What? When?"

"Yesterday," Obi-Wan answered. "Beru was returning from Mos Eisley market when she spotted Anakin's speeder outside of your old home. She saw him come out and then take off on his land speeder. She was afraid that he would return to the Lars Homestead but luckily he did not."

"Why do you think he was there?"

"To find you most likely," Obi-Wan stated in all seriousness. "More than likely he wants to know of the child. Sith or not, I have a feeling he has a deep caring for the child that he knows you are bearing. Well caring is not quite the word I believe that he wants it, possibly under Palpatine's orders. If Palpatine knows of your pregnancy he shall want the child. More than likely he wants to raise the child as a Sith and when he is strong enough, exterminate Anakin and use the child. A child brought up in the ways of the Sith never knowing of anything else is less likely to turn than one that has been brought up as a Jedi and knowing the happiness and freedom of love. This is what the Sith were famous for in our records, train one and after their training is complete, exterminate the other one to take that one's place."

"Makes sense," she stated calmly.

"And once Palpatine has the child he shall be rid of you, you know that don't you?"

Padmé looked up and nodded.

"I have a feeling that Palpatine wants me gone, bearing a child or not."

"Why is that?"

"He's afraid of me, always has been and I believe always will be. He knows that as queen I politically reigned over him. Unfortunately I was young and naive. I am confident, as is he, that is I were older and more experienced I would have seen what he was doing during the invasion upon Naboo." Nodding her head sagely, she continued. "He, as well as I know that if I were not bearing these children inside of me I would be heavily politically active in the underground systems, growing support for the rebellion. If I did not have the restraint, more the responsibility of mother hood on my shoulders I would be trying to rally up a rebellion."

"And I, my dear friend, would be beside you." Obi-Wan smiled. "Now try to get your rest. I'm sorry for bringing this disturbing news to you now, I just believed you should know."

Padmé smiled then frowned again. All this talk of her former husband and his evil tendencies frightened her and scarred her to the bone.

"Please Obi-Wan, leave me," She said after a few moments.

"Why?"

"I just wish to be alone with me thoughts."

Sighing heavily Obi-Wan prodded her mind lightly, coming out with the thoughts he knew he'd find.

"He's gone Padmé, you know that."

"I know," she stated softly.

"What happened wasn't your fault."

"I know," she returned, forcefully.

"Padmé please, don't hide your feelings."

"I don't want to talk about it Obi-Wan, please respect my request. I don't want to talk about what happened seven months ago."

Obi-Wan gave her arm a reassuring squeeze before standing and turning to leave. But before he left he looked back at her.

"By the way, we're heading to one of the moons of Yavin, the fourth to be exact. There are ancient Jedi temples there, which are a haven for the Jedi Masters. No Sith would dare step foot within those temples, I believe we shall be safe there. More than likely there are other Jedi already there. It shall be a good place for your last month of pregnancy."

"Thank-you Obi-Wan,"

"We'll be landing in approximately twelve hours. Now rest, we shall have a big day ahead of us when we arrive."

End of Chapter Four

That's it for now. You just have to wait for some more. Well this took a different spin than I thought. It adds a little more surprise to it all. Hmmm…I wonder what happened seven months ago that angered Anakin so much and frightened Padmé? Hehe…I know, but do you? Nope, of course not. OK I better stop trying to be smug it isn't working. Anyways sorry about the long title and the late arrival, my screen broke and ff.n has been down for a little while so I haven't updated.

Make sure to e-mail me at aiko_kitty_skywalker@hotmail.com or review. I would really appreciate people's input on how the story is going.

May the force be with you,

Aiko "Kitty" Skywalker