Author's Notes: Oh dear, this chapter's grim… I hope you're not already down in the dumps when you read this because you might soon be. ;) It's nasty at some points. And things aren't gonna ever start to look up, depending on where your sympathies lie. But that's what Episodes IV, V and VI are for... I think. Hopefully there aren't any inconsistencies here from my last few chapters, but just give me a nudge if you find any - it seems so long since I published the last few parts that I've forgotten some of the finer details. :) Silly me. The next two parts are on the way soon. And I hope this one isn't too brief in places.

Padawanmage: Unless I'm mistaken, Padmé was there to see Dook' and Yoda fight in this version of events. I'll have to check, but I'm fairly sure I wrote it that way. And the rest of your questions should hopefully be answered as the story continues. If not, give me nudge later.

Lauren K: All your answers lie here within!

Queeny: Thanks for the kind words - I'm more confident about getting this done within the next three weeks, now.

HRHpadmeamidala: I'll try to make time to check out your fanfic - best of luck with it!

Cmdr. Gabe E: Things are getting a bit nasty now… I've got the next two parts almost ready, I'm just thinking of fleshing them out a bit more.

Leela74: I'm glad you find this fascinating - in retrospect, it's a bit of a weird story, but it's been fun. I do have another big SW fanfic project in mind for after this, a story I started when I was 14 and now think I can re-write much better. That'll be a Episode 4-to-6 and beyond era piece, though, which'll make a change. And there will be no Dooku in it! Eep.

Silverwolf47: Hey don't apologise - I'm sure there are better things for you to do sometimes than keep up to date with this. And I'm really doing my best to meet the deadline, believe me!

Rebel 3134: Thank you!

REV042175: I find fight scenes hard to write, so I am happy to hear you say that. Thank you.

Kynstar: Calm yourself! Heh - I love your reviews. They make me smile. I hope I can entertain you right up till the end.

Part 43 - Take and Conquer

There ensued one of those silences as the battle outside the Supreme Chancellor's office ceased; it wasn't a shocked silence, though - to Padmé it felt as something of a contented silence, a silence that told of Palpatine's utter control of the situation.

With no sign of surprise or even a slight shrug, the Chancellor just walked back into his office and approached Padmé as she stood there, pale and shaking, in Vader's grasp.

The look on the Chancellor's face was strange - it hovered uneasily between the trusting visage of his political guise and the arrogance of the revealed Sith Master.

Taking Dooku's lightsabre between his fingers, the Chancellor dangled it before her face and stared into her eyes. She stared back, swallowing hard, before her hands mechanically opened toward him and he dropped the weapon into her sweaty palms. "I think he would have wanted you to have this," he then said quietly. His lips thus momentarily rose into a smile before he turned and walked away.

Before she even had time to think on this, Padmé was subsequently whisked away by the Assassin, who appeared to have been given full charge of her. Urging her along ahead of him, the man guided her out of the ruined office and, once again, through the corridors of the senate. She soon realised that, contrary to being treated as a prisoner, she was oddly to be treated as a guest, and it turned out that a luxurious chamber was her destination rather than the assumed prison cell. This didn't make Padmé feel at all confident in her predicament; she felt completely and utterly sick as it was, and was both afraid and scared. Right now, she felt that she would much rather have fallen to her doom off the edge of the senate building than have ended up here, in the den of the Sith Lords, with every comfort at her feet…

"Welcome to my apartments," Lord Vader said as the doors closed behind them both in the luxury apartment. Padmé felt his grip slacken and his hands slide off her arms as she looked around the room uncertainly; there was a desk, a table, carpet on the floor, curtains at the window, wardrobes, a double bed… everything. She swallowed - something was very wrong. Then the Assassin suddenly rounded on her and stared down into her face. "I do hope you like it," he said.

Her brow furrowed and she gave him a quizzical look.

He chuckled slightly at this and opened his arm to the room; "Well, look around!" he said, "Don't be afraid, for the Force's sake!" He then turned and began to walk away, pulling his dark gauntlets from his hands. "Things can be altered if you like," he went on, "but if--"

"Look, I just don't understand!" Padmé stated suddenly, causing the stranger to pause and look at her. She took several deep breaths and tried to calm herself as the events of the past few weeks - even months - suddenly threatened to cave in on her and add to the seeming absurdity of this situation. "What's going on?" she asked at length.

The stranger leant casually against a wall unit and laughed a little, still with that air of calm and frivolity about him; "Padmé," he said, "You're home!"

She shook her head and tried to weigh things up. Either she was suffering from amnesia and had missed a few days of vital consequence, or this stranger was completely mad; "Excuse me?" she asked again whilst she involuntarily rolled Serenn's lightsabre round and round in her hands.

The stranger's eyes flickered between Padmé's face and the lightsabre, and it lost its edge of optimism for a while, until something suddenly seemed to dawn on him and, straightening up, he reached for the bindings round his head and began to undo them.

Padmé watched in silence as, layer by layer, the black straps fell away, and, as the last swathe fell to the floor, the face of the man beneath finally came into view. He then said, almost as though nothing had happened, "I missed you."

Padmé was still very shaken, her eyes half-filled with tears of fear and uncertainty. The lightsabre was clutched closer to her breast as gasped, "Anakin?".

The doors stood ajar into the Jedi Temple as Obi-Wan, short on breath and filled with apprehension, skidded to a halt over the threshold. He knew that things were bad - the skies over Coruscant were filled with separatist craft, which the Republic army would no doubt soon engage - but he was not prepared for the scene he now faced down here. As his eyes scanned the sight beyond, his heart leapt forth into his very throat and he had to hold himself steady as his legs threatened to give way. Inside, there was dust and debris everywhere - pillars had been felled, statues destroyed, consoles blasted - yet that was nothing compared to the true atrocity Kenobi observed before his very eyes amidst the clouds.

Obi shook his head and took a tentative step into the main hall…

Bodies. There were bodies everywhere. There was blood upon the floor and splashed up the walls, like haphazard drops of paint. Hazy rays of unbefitting sunlight shone down in a shower through the high windows above and touched the dead lightly with their gentle fingers, as though fearful of waking them. For many a moment, Obi-Wan could do nothing but stare at this devastation, this massacre…

The hallways of his childhood ran with the sounds of nothingness, the walls in which he had grown up were now stained with the blood of hundreds… His friends were lain amongst the dead, as were his allies, his tutors and his pupils. Ithorians stared blankly into the ceiling, as did Rodians, Dugs and Quarrens - but worse than all this was the fact that most of them were children, small, innocent children; children no more than five years old and others no more than ten, their young eyes open and glazed, their inner fire having been torn from their youthful bodies long before it had even been given the chance to grow. There was nothing left.

/…voices had cried out in terror…suddenly silenced/

"No," Kenobi muttered with an urgent sense of denial, "Oh Force, no…"

He took another nervous step into the Temple, his hoarse breaths and unsteady footsteps creating lone sounds of life in the empty, lifeless space. Who could have done this…?

There was then a sound from the Temple depths, an echo rising up from the labyrinth within.

Obi-Wan swallowed, gathering his resolve - whoever or whatever this killing machine was, it was clearly still here. Forcing his feet onward and trying not to think on it, he concentrated on the feeling in his chest - the loss and the agony, the pain and the despair - and used that to fuel his soul, ready for the task at hand; he may have been a Jedi, but he was first and foremost a human being, and slaughter on this scale demanded revenge.

He stepped carefully over the myriad of bodies, clinging to the walls for much needed support, and made his way down the silent corridors toward the source of the sound. The echo had sounded like something falling, a large object crashing to the solid foundations with a great thud. Obi cared not what it had been, so long as he could still find people alive in this place and stop the cause of it all; the Temple had been a living organism, a place that had breathed and grown, and now, because of all this, it was but a shell, devoid of life and filled with darkness. Long shadows crawled up the walls and hovered in the corners, and only helped Obi-Wan feel more uneasy, reminding him of the presence of irrevocable death. As he went on his way, he left every body untouched - his common sense told him he should move them and give them some respect, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. The only thing his mind was focused on was finding the murderer and setting things to some kind of rights.

He turned corner after corner, dreading what he would see beyond, and with every step he took, he became more and more uneasy, for he was sure that he knew who was here… The fact was that he could pick up on no life signature, through the Force, of this offender, nor could he sense any presence or entity, and this could only mean that he was back to the fight in the mists on Yavin; it meant that Mace's murderer was responsible…

Obi descended down several levels of the Temple, passing further piled and mutilated corpses (every one taken down by the weapon they once stood by, by the lightsabre) yet he still found no sign of life. Every now and then, he would hear unidentifiable sounds rumble through the foundations, or echo from a distant part of the hallowed building, but he could find no source of them, which made it all seem very otherworldly. Yet despite the chill down his spine and the cold swell of his heart, he kept going - he would face down his fears and he would see this thing dead!

After a long walk over the bloodied carpets and the broken glass, Obi-Wan's ears picked up on the hum of an active lightsabre, one swinging to-and-fro in a combat motion, clashing at intervals with another. A battle - there was hope yet! Obi picked up his feet and ran - there was someone yet alive, and he had to reach them! He had to help them to fend off the enemy.

Kenobi ran faster and faster, following his ears, and taking up his weapon from his hip as he did so, until he took a sharp turn and careened into the Archives.

"Obi-Wan!" cried Ki-Adi Mundi, his cranium caught in the clawed foot of General Grievous and his limbs flailing as he was held up in midair, "Get out of here! Go! While there's still time!"

Obi felt his whole body tremble and he looked from his Jedi comrade into the eyes of General Grievous. The skeletal creature was silent and in control, and had the air of a triumphant victor about him. Ki-Adi had given up struggling and hung there, obviously in pain, and was covered in lacerations and burns. All the droid general needed to do to end it all was squeeze…

'Don't you dare' Kenobi tried to communicate to the droid general, 'Don't you even think about it.'

But it was too late. With a swift crunch, Grievous closed his claws about Ki-Adi's head then dropped the body to the ground. Then, his foot oozing with bone and blood, he slowly placed it back onto the floor and glared at Kenobi. His eyes didn't even hint at any slight emotion.

Obi didn't need to think about anything else. His lip quivering in despair, he simply activated his weapon and ran full-on, screaming, at the savage separatist general. Grievous swept his cloak out behind him in turn and rushed on all fours into the attack, leaping onto his feet in time to pick up two lightsabres and twirl into combat, taking Kenobi's frenzied attacks against his blades with ease.

Files from the archive shelves were strewn across the floor and many of the shelves had collapsed. The computer terminals were destroyed and served as little better than duelling platforms for the Clone Wars' two most significant Generals. There was further chaos on the first floor as well as the ground level of the library, there being all manner of bodies laid about the books, discs and paraphernalia. It all just sickened Obi-Wan to his core, and but served to heighten his fury; ignoring all the pain and the strain, Kenobi just fought on wildly, his principles and the honour of his lost comrades all being at stake - their blood was all over General Greivous's hands today, and that malformed beast would pay.

For all that it was worth, Obi-Wan could have fought with all the strength and will in the universe, but it didn't help things. Now, as before, the courageous Jedi was still simply outmatched by the droid general. And as the battle came to a brief standstill, and Grievous held Obi-Wan's blade aloft, the hybrid droid went on to kick the Jedi and send him flying across the old chamber. With a great thud, Obi fell against a pillar and knocked the bust of one of the Lost Twenty to the floor. There was a crack as the bronze head fell, leaving a great fracture down the figure's carved face.

Obi cringed as he tried to get back to his feet, his back tender from the blow, but had to stop and stare as he turned onto his hands and knees and looked into the eyes of the bust, the face of Count Dooku.

Grievous's shadow overtook the Jedi and Obi smartly turned back onto the creature, stumbling to his feet and preparing for the next round. "It is somehow fitting," the droid said, swinging both lightsabres about him like mere toys, "The face of Count Dooku, cracked…" He sniggered lightly, "He would have found that amusing."

Obi swallowed again but said nothing.

"He once told me not to kill you for… certain reasons."

"That's ridiculous!" Kenobi growled, "He would have killed me on Geonosis if he had had the chance!"

Grievous laughed again in what could best be described as a hoarse, mechanical way; "Foolish Jedi. Is it little wonder that the Republic crumbles when you, its protectors, cannot even see when rings are being run about you?"

Obi back-stepped. "You have a high opinion of yourself, I see."

"Perhaps," the droid grimaced, skulking forward with both sabres still whirring, "The Count would not have killed you on Geonosis. You were merely in the way. You were bait."

"You seem to know an awful lot, too."

"Oh, the Count kept me informed… And even if I don't know everything, I can infer much from guesswork."

Obi laughed sourly, "So you are not going to kill me? Am I still Count Dooku's bait?"

Grievous took to all fours and scrambled up a pillar before leaping behind Obi quicker than the Jedi's eyes could follow; "I do not know what Count Dooku wants anymore," Grievous hissed, just as Kenobi turned around. "For now, I am my own master." He paused, wrists twisting three-hundred-and-sixty degrees and transforming the lightsabres into whirling vortexes to his either side. "In fact, I lie," he murmured, "I know of one thing he wants, or at least desires… but it is not you." He snickered once more, "I no longer even know where he is. If he is still alive."

Obi-Wan couldn't care less any more. "So you just decided to go on a killing spree, did you? To pass the time?" He shook in anger, trying to keep the rage down, "My family are dead!" he yelled, "and it's all your fault!" Thus, once again overcome by emotion, the Jedi simply charged.

Grievous's two vortexes were now turned on Obi-Wan and the General used them like pulsating, deadly shields. Kenobi could do absolutely nothing to penetrate them; all he received for his labours was the constant sound of the droid general's merciless laugh. This only made him hit out at the droid harder and harder, but still he made no further gains. He consequently felt the brunt of Grievous's foot against his abdomen, before he again tumbled away into a pillar and fell to the ground in a heap.

"Oh you have potential, no doubt," the General said, "But it is not enough to warrant my sparing you. The era of the Jedi is over, young one, and a new era is about to begin. It is time for you to evolve or to be eliminated."

Obi coughed as he yet again got himself onto his feet and staggered in pain. He suddenly felt a shadow of depression overtake him and he half believed what the General was saying - was there really anything left for his kind any more? What Jedi could possibly face a creature of Grievous's likes and win?

Obi sighed and was almost prepared to throw in the towel, but his ever-optimistic mind tried to buoy him up, and it told him that nothing was invincible, that nothing was immortal, and that there had to be a way to bring Grievous down.

The Jedi gave the creature another glare and shook his head, trying to comprehend the devastation around him; "You killed everyone…" he whispered, gesturing about himself despondently, "There was no need. No reason."

"I am doing my duty," Grievous countered.

"But for who?" Kenobi scoffed loudly, "The Sith Master!"

The General crossed his lightsabres over his chest. "For the sake of the Republic," he said, "And if you had lived, General Obi-Wan Kenobi, you might one day have understood. But you won't live…" And swiftly, the droid general used a pillar behind him as leverage, then thrust himself forward, flying at Obi-Wan, with both lightsabres blazing.

Obi had rarely felt pain as far as withstanding another lightsabre with his own went, but this time he truly did. As the giant droid catapulted into him, every parry Kenobi made against Grievous's weapons sent shockwaves through his skeleton, and he was surprised that his very bones didn't shatter within him. He cried out in physical agony as he was beaten down to the floor, bruised and weakened by the mere power of this mechanised warrior. He was fortunate to find a short recess in the onslaught through which he could roll away and scamper off through the pillars and shelves to safety. All he could hear as he fled was Grievous's terrible laugh; "Yes, run little Jedi!" the triumphant warrior shouted, "Run! I will still catch you in the end, when you can go on no more…"

Obi rushed wildly between and under the debris of the Archives, until he fell beneath a collapsed shelf and hid, peering out of it like a cornered rodent being pursued by a ravenous feline. The wrist he had once fractured was particularly beginning to ache and bring up those bad memories from the past where this nightmarish droid had once again got the better of him. Obi-Wan just couldn't focus, he was so filled with rage and misery, and this only played against him. He couldn't afford to be in such a state of mind when his opponent was perhaps the greatest Jedi-fighter, and killer, in history.

The General was steadily searching for him, upturning all the fallen shelves and objects as he searched for Kenobi's hidden body. "I know you're here," he hissed, opting in due course to just cut through everything rather than waste his time looking under them for his prey. Obi knew that that meant trouble - he might never be uncovered, but at the rate the General was going, he'd still end up dead.

Suddenly, there was movement across the hall! A Youngling appeared from behind a pillar, shaking and terrified, and made a run for the door!

"Oh, Force!" Obi shouted. He tore out from his hiding place and prepared to fling the child aside with the Force - but Grievous was too quick for him. Seeing the child, the mighty droid clambered over the walls and debris with ease, and dropped before the child in an instant. Before the poor little lad could even scream, he had been halved down the middle by the rapid swing of one of the General's blades.

Obi shuddered in horror but held his ground, even as the frightening yellow-eyes of Grievous swivelled onto him; "And now," the creature quietly uttered, "We finish it."

But there was another disturbance, a great rumble from the doorway, drawing the attention of both Grievous and Kenobi to it. Stood in the great, yawning threshold of the Archives was the diminutive Master Yoda! 'Thank the Force' Obi-Wan thought.

Grievous's full attention was now turned to the Jedi Master like a dog who had just caught sight of a far more interesting toy. "Jedi Master Yoda," he hissed, twisting his lightsabres into place by his sides and performing a mock salute, "We are honoured."

The green Jedi Master's face was carved in a manner that frightened Obi-Wan, so he was surprised that Grievous was not more cautious. The droid general might be called thick-skinned if it were not a contradiction of terms.

"We are somewhat related, you and I," the General went on, "Your teachings have been passed from your apprentice down to me. You might like to know that your Padawan made a fine tutor. It is a pity that it has now come to this." He then snickered once more.

"Misled has my Padawan been," the small Jedi replied, "To such skills teach to you. Respected is power to be, not abused."

"It will be a true honour to add your lightsabre to my collection, Jedi Master," Grievous went on, "Will you oblige me?"

The small Jedi dropped his cane and took up his weapon.

"I presumed that you would," the General hissed, before he scrambled at speed toward the Jedi on all fours and with his humming blades at the ready. Yoda activated his blade in turn and flung himself at the unbeatable General, and a deadly duel ensued.

Obi-Wan just froze in awe as the two blades of the droid general fizzled and whirred against Master Yoda's small green weapon.

The blurring motion of the three lightsabres had a dizzying effect on Obi-Wan, but one thing that he noticed above all others was the speed of Master Yoda - Grievous just could not catch him with his feet as he usually did with his other, less competent opponents. This soon led to a certain tension building up between them, and it wasn't long before it became obvious that the General was getting rather frustrated. If Yoda leapt onto a console, he was gone again by the time Grievous's blade got there; if Yoda pounced onto the floor, Grievous's foot missed him by a mile, as he again moved away.

"What has been said of you is fairly accurate," Grievous growled at length, "You are the best."

Yoda said nothing. Continuing to leap and twirl about the hybrid droid, he let his mind fall back into the Force and saw the General as if in slow motion, foreseeing how and where he was going to move before he'd even thought about it, such was the power of the Jedi Master. This led him to eventually dodge a double-sabre shot, before he then swung his blade up and ran a deep gash through the metal housing of Grievous's thigh.

The General had little capacity left to feel pain, but the wound still left him in shock and anger. Screaming out in a terrible mechanical manner - a cry which shook Obi-Wan to his very soul - a far darker aura now overcame the General, and his eyes seemed to flare red; for the first time, Obi-Wan Kenobi saw General Grievous in his fullest rage.

Roaring out in a savage antagonism, the General flung himself at super speed toward Yoda. Obi-Wan thought he was seeing things as the General somersaulted across the floor and soon appeared to be sporting four separate blades. But he wasn't seeing things; the droid's two arms had each split into two, and thus, with four appendages on the go, the General had taken up two more lightsabres and was throwing all his weight behind his fourfold attack on Yoda.

Miraculously, Yoda didn't even look slightly dismayed, so deeply was he concentrating, but Kenobi still couldn't help but feel that he ought to help him; four blades was never a good prospect for any Jedi Knight to face in battle. "Master Yoda!" Obi cried, preparing to pick up his blade and rush into the fray; but he was stopped. /Help me, do not/ Yoda's voice whispered into his mind, /Help me, do not./

So Obi hung back in distress, licking his lip as he watched the deranged mutant droid thrust and swing his four blades about with a terrifying precision - yet still the small Master Yoda somehow managed to dodge each and every one of them.

More and more aggravation was building up behind Grievous's feral eyes as Yoda proved unstoppable, and it must have dawned upon the droid that he had finally met his match. And Yoda had some kind of plan up his sleeve. Obi-Wan could tell from how the Jedi Master simply stalled on making any attacks - he remained evasive and in the defence until he found the appropriate opportunity to strike. And this he did when, Grievous's four blades crossing, he sprang forth at the General and took up residence beneath his chest cavity.

Grievous was too far gone in the regions of fury and recklessness to care what he was now doing - all that mattered was Yoda's destruction - thus, in a desperate move, he plunged two of his lightsabres straight through his own chest! At this same moment, Yoda appeared again from behind Grievous's head, somehow having manoeuvred at such speed to move from the General's chest and evade the attack.

Grievous seemed to pause for a moment. With a heavy sigh, he slowly hauled his two blades from his abdomen and stared across at Obi-Wan, in the distance. After taking in several more laborious, deep breaths, Grievous dropped down onto his knees and let his head hang. Two lightsabres dropped from two hands, and then the other two lightsabres dropped a second later.

"Defeat," the General muttered, hoarse breaths rasping out of his mechanical mouth. "It hurts." He heaved another breath. "I have failed."

Obi-Wan took a step back as Grievous's eyes landed on him again. Even though he knew the droid general was defeated, he was still terrified of him.

"Defeat," Grievous repeated again.

And, taking Obi-Wan by complete surprise, Yoda swiftly slung his blade across Grievous's throat and the General's lifeless skull hit the floor, the eyes still open and glaring.

Kenobi sighed in bitter relief, and had to turn away, unable to face those feral pupils any longer. Ultimately, he heard Yoda's cane approach, and he looked down at the diminutive Jedi Master following his grim triumph. The look they shared was one of mutual grief and sorrow - their family had been taken from them in the most savage manner possible, and now there were few left.

"Leave, we must, Master Kenobi," Yoda said as he looked across the wrecked archives, "No longer safe, the Republic is."

"But Master Yoda…"

"No buts," Yoda countered, "Turned on us the Republic has. To the Chancellor they now look for answers. To him they now command respect."

"I don't understand. What's happened?"

Yoda sighed and looked away. "A democracy we soon shall not be. A dictatorship the Republic has all but become. Reshaped the political systems, Palpatine has. In sole command is he now."

"He can't do that!"

"Done it he already has. Emergency powers he has long had, Master Kenobi, and now fully used them has he. A dictatorship now have we become, and no part in it can we play."

Slow realisation dawned on Kenobi; "He means to destroy us," he whispered.

"Outlaws we soon shall be, unless join this dictatorship we do and to its laws succumb." Yoda sighed again, "But join it, we shall not."

Obi-Wan shook his head, unable to quite believe it. "And what of the separatists?" he asked.

"Still fighting they are. A battle being fought there is."

Obi nodded, having seen the start of the battle as he entered the planet.

"But soon overthrown they shall be. Win the battle the Republic shall." Yoda paused, then added, "Strange things are happening, Master Kenobi. Knows what he is doing, the Sith Lord does."

Obi-Wan swallowed. "Of course… the Sith Lord."

"Won he has. This round we have lost."

Obi shook his head. "But who is he? Where is he?"

Yoda shook his head. "Not the time to tell, it is," he said, "In the galaxy, still friends we have. To them we now must go. Hurry."

Obi-Wan had no intention of questioning him, so they both turned and went about escaping the planet.

Lord Vader returned to Padmé's side and his metallic fingers brushed her cheek whilst she stood there, frozen in horror; "It's all right," he whispered soothingly, "He's gone now. You're safe. You're back with me again."

But still, she just stared at him, unable to string any words together. His hair was long and scraggy, his eyes sharp and unforgiving… He was the same, but so different.

"Come on, it's okay," Vader continued, picking up on her nervousness and her unease.

Finally, after much effort, Padmé managed to mutter, "You joined him."

Darth's smile remained, though it seemed to slacken a little. "The Emperor?" he asked.

" 'Emperor' now, is it?" she snarled, though more sharply than she'd intended.

Vader's gaze tightened a little. "He's a good man."

"He's a Sith Lord!"

"Yes, well so am I!" he replied loudly, "Am I an evil monster, Padmé? Am I a disgusting beast? No - not all Sith are like that. Just some of them…"

"Serenn, you mean?"

Darth's eyebrows cocked and he mimicked her in turn. "Oh, 'Serenn', now is it?"

Padmé took her turn to glare, giving the bloodied lightsabre in her palms a tentative glance.

"After all he did to you…" he went on, shaking his head in disbelief, "Aren't you glad you're free? Aren't you happy that I've saved you?"

"Oh, Anakin…" she sighed, turning away, until, with a yelp, she jumped back as Anakin's metal fist pounded into the wall just by her ear.

"Vader!" he snarled, "My name's Vader."

She almost laughed at his brutality, hoping he wasn't being serious, but it was clear, from the force behind his blue eyes, that he was far from kidding; "'Vader'?" she whispered.

He nodded. "Well, aren't you happy?" he pushed on.

She looked at the 'sabre hilt in her grasp once more, a mistake she shouldn't have made. Picking up on this, Vader viciously tore the weapon from her grasp and slung it across his room; "What's wrong with you?" he yelled at her, "He dishonoured you, used you, raped you! Doesn't that mean anything? Doesn't that make you sick with hate?"

"Yes, but --!"

"Then why aren't you happy?" he thundered, his once placid visage rapidly turning sour, "Have I wasted all my time and all my effort trying to rescue you? I've sacrificed everything for you, and this is what you give me in return? This is how you repay me!"

Padmé was leaning back against the wall now, feeling the tears rush down her cheeks; "Anakin, please!"

"VADER! My name's Vader!" he bellowed.

She turned into the wall, trying to get away from that gaze, from the heat and the rage. She sank down to her knees and tried to hold back the tears, but they just wouldn't obey.

He inhaled deeply. "So this is how badly he's poisoned you, is it? So much that you would choose him over me!"

"That's not true," she spluttered, but Vader could hear no solid foundation in her words. He looked as though he were trying to contain himself, his lip trembling with suppressed rage.

"Come back to me, Padmé," he said, "Forget about the past. Let's just forget any of that happened. Let's go back to how things were before, when --"

"Oh, are you so naïve!" she choked, "I can't forget what has happened. I can't recover just like that!" She shakily got to her feet again, moving across the wall away from him; "Things have happened that can't be taken back," she went on, "And it's going to take some time for me to get over it all… to adapt to life as it is now."

Vader's face seemed to only darken, an impatience brewing within him; "I haven't got years to spare for you, Padmé. How long will I have to wait?"

She shook her head, trying to identify some aspect of the old Anakin within this persona he called 'Vader', trying to find something she could use to get back onto safe ground, on the level of the man she had fallen in love with; "What's wrong with you? You're not the man I remember."

"That's rich, coming from you."

Her eyebrows arched. "Meaning what?"

He smiled at her, but it was an arrogant, foul smile, one she'd never hoped to have seen grace his hansom features; "He raped you, didn't he?" he muttered, "I know. The Force told me so. But what did you do but stay with him, become his loyal lapdog?"

She shook her head again, "You have no idea…"

"Don't I?"

"No! For Force's sake, don't do this to me! I've been through so much!"

"You could have fooled me."

"I wanted to save myself for you, I truly did! I love you, Anakin!"

There was a blur of motion as Anakin swung his metal fist back into Padmé's face and sent her, with a cry, down onto the floor.

"Lies, all LIES!" he yelled, "You dim-witted whore, damned slut! You think I'm so stupid as to fall for all this?"

She was too shocked by what she was hearing emerge from his mouth to care about the pain in her jaw, and she just stared idly at him as blood crept from her lip to the floor.

He laughed coldly; "I'd hoped that he was lying, I'd hoped that I could prove the Emperor wrong, but no, it again appears that he was right."

"What…?" she gasped.

"My Master said you'd be like this, that you loved him…"

"I don't --"

"You do! I can see it in your eyes, hear it in your voice! You can't stop staring at his damned lightsabre, for crying out loud!"

"You're not listening to me!" she protested.

"I don't have to!" he seethed as he began stepping forcefully in her direction; she saw a fire in his eyes that she'd seen somewhere else before, and it unnerved her. Scrambling to her feet, she found herself rapidly trying to avoid him, rushing backward across the room as he continued to loom over her. Panic soon erupted in her abdomen and she swiftly turned to run from him - but he grabbed her from behind, taking a strong grip of her beneath her elbow, before he hurled her across the room.

Stumbling into the centre of the chamber and falling awkwardly to the floor with a yelp, Padmé froze up, her body trembling all over. She couldn't take her eyes off Anakin, she was so very afraid…

"You disgust me," Vader growled, approaching her, "After everything I've done, I find that I was wrong about you. You did love him."

He dropped to his knees by her side, pinning her to the floor by either arm, "And had you conceived, you'd have loved his child, no doubt?"

Padmé's eyes widened in horror. "That's unfair Anakin, and you know it."

"It's Vader, my love," he snarled sarcastically, looking her up and down as though she were some piece of filth, "And I swear that I'd kill any offspring of that man's blood, no matter from what wench it came."

Padmé could barely bring herself to believe that the same man she'd fallen in love with was now stood over her like some predatory beast, preparing to kill; it was all almost inconceivable.

"I think it's time for some reclamation," he mused, talking as though the subject vaguely interested him, "These things can be 'rectified'…"

Padmé gasped as she felt his hand run down her body, filling her with an old, cold sensation that she knew far too well; it was there, in the pit of her stomach, the iciness, the control, everything that Dooku had first put her through now returning under Anakin's influence. She felt her breaths quicken and her mind fill with a cloudy haze…

Darth snickered, seeming nothing but empowered by this; "I think it's time," he continued, lowering his head and brushing his lips over her eyes, "That I take you back."

TBC…