Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to update. I had three tests last week! Hope it was worth the wait…

TO LOVE A SITH

Chapter Twenty

Padme's eyes widened in both shock and terror as the red glow of Vader's light saber reflected on her face. What shocked her most was the fact that his weapon was directed at her and not at the Emperor like she had prayed he would. She did the only thing she could: she looked him square in the eyes and pleaded with him silently. He wouldn't do this, she knew him, she knew this wouldn't happen, this was all just a horrible dream that she was bound to wake up from soon.

Her scared, soulful brown eyes locked with Vader's equally terrified eyes. He found himself unable to break away from her gaze and somehow, over his Master's screams for him to complete his task, he heard her sweet voice:

"I love you."

His lips quivered and he felt his grip on his weapon loosen. He had longed to hear those words escape from her lips and now…she had finally said what he had been dying to hear. She loved him. She loved him…but she was saying goodbye. She was saying goodbye because he was going to kill the only person he had ever truly loved.

His gaze shifted from his wife to his Master and he felt something break down inside of him. The wall that he had so meticulously constructed was crumbling at those three beautiful words and he couldn't be happier. Yet, this put him in a very compromising position.

Suddenly, the doors were broken down and a small army of rebel soldiers burst into the room, led by Obi-Wan. Vader's gaze with his wife was now broken and his eyes locked onto Obi-Wan as Obi-Wan's eyes widened in shock at the direction Vader's weapon was pointed towards. Padme's eyes shifted desperately from her husband to Obi-Wan. The tension in the room was thick and suddenly as Vader looked at Padme's frightened, tear-stained face one more time, his decision was made.

Suddenly, a flash of red swooshed down, followed by an anguished cry.

Padme rushed into her husband's arms and cried loudly: "Oh, Anakin! I knew it!"

"Sshh. It's ok, now. Everything's going to be alright. You're safe now." He whispered soothingly, lightly stroking her hair. He caressed her face lovingly and realized that this might very well be the last time he would ever touch her and hold her.

"Padme, you need to go with Obi-Wan."

Her body trembled and she lifted scared and confused eyes to meet his.

"What? No…"

"I don't deserve to live, Padme. Not after everything I've done. Just like my Master. We're both evil and I deserve everything that the rebels give me."

"No, no, Anakin. You're not like him. You never were. You're back now. We can leave and raise Luke and Leia now. We're safe."

He nodded and held her tighter.

"I need to atone for my sins. I don't deserve to just leave now with you because I've killed the Emperor. It doesn't work that way."

"But why can't it? You and Obi-Wan can restore the Jedi Order and you can train Luke and Leia as Jedi. I don't see why you have to just surrender now after you've come so far."

"Maybe it has to be this way, Padme. I have to do this. It's only right. Besides, you'll be safe with Obi-Wan. He'll take care of you."

"No, I want you. I want you to be a father to your children."

"Everything you said before, about our children being safer away from me, you were right about that. I'm a danger to them, I'm a danger to you, I'm even a danger to myself. It's better this way, Padme. I know you don't see that now, but it's true. I'm setting you free. Go…go with Obi-Wan."

He pushed her slightly towards a very shocked and surprised Obi-Wan and Padme quickly resisted and rushed back to him.

Obi-Wan finally spoke up: "He's right, Padme. We can get the twins and leave here now and you'll be safe."

"But it's already safe. The Emperor is dead. I don't need to be set free, Anakin. I'm already free because I love you. I always have, even that night by the fire, I loved you. I just couldn't admit it to myself until recently. Anakin, I need you. Our children need their father. Please, don't do this."

"I don't have a choice. I have to."

"You don't have to do anything. You need to live. I couldn't survive if anything happened to you. Please…I just got you back, I can't lose you now."

Tears rolled down her cheek and he reached out to wipe them away. Oh, how he loved her. He realized now that he had never stopped loving her. He had just been blind. But he could see now. No matter what happened to him now, he loved her and he knew that she loved him. That was enough. He could die happy, especially now that he knew his family would be taken care of.

Obi-Wan broke the moment: "Padme we need to go." He motioned for her to come to him and she furiously shook her head in response. No, there was no way that she was leaving her husband there.

"You'll have to kill me first, Obi-Wan."

"What…Padme…you can't possibly mean…"

"You know exactly what I mean." She replied and stepped in between Anakin and Obi-Wan.

"Padme, I told you to go with him. Don't be stupid."

She looked at him lovingly as she replied to her husband: "Then I guess I'm just stupid. Because I'm not leaving you."

Obi-Wan looked back and forth between Padme and his former apprentice. As he looked at Vader now, there was an evident change in him, one that he had never expected to see. His eyes. His eyes were no longer ice…they were warm and caring and brimming with love and devotion for his wife. These were not the eyes of the monster, but the eyes of a man. A man who had made a horrible error in judgment. Perhaps…

"Padme, what about the children? They need you more than ever now. Go, if not for yourself, then for them."

He wiped a stray tear from her cheek and pushed her slightly towards Obi-Wan. He knew that she would have to leave him now. She didn't have any other choice, not where their children were concerned.

Padme's face contorted in anguish as she slowly nodded to him. She ran back into his arms and kissed him with all the force that was within her. His arms wrapped around her tightly and he returned her kiss with equaled force. When the kiss ended, she stroked his curls softly.

"I love you."

He smiled back at her and found it increasingly difficult to hold back the tears that threatened to spill.

"I know you do, Padme. I love you too."

At those words, her body shook with sobs and he pulled her to him again.

"I love you Padme. I always have and I always will. No matter what happens now, just remember that."

She nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. With one last look at her husband, she lifted her chin and walked towards Obi-Wan.

"Let's go."

He led her into the hallway and whispered to an officer on their way out: "Do not kill him. Bring him back to the base, alive."

As the doors closed, Anakin finally released the emotion he had been repressing for over three years. He knelt to the ground as the troops grew closer to him and cried. He cried for his wife, for his soon-to-be fatherless children, and he cried for himself, for the man that he realized that he had always been.