Padmé awoke early the next morning. Last night after her holovid was over, Padmé had slumped back on the couch's pillows just to relax and stretch out for a minute. She realized she must have fallen asleep. Padmé glanced over at the holoscreen that she had forgotten to turn off, but found that it was blank. Additionally a blanket had been thrown over the top of her. Padmé smiled, she would have to find out which one, R2 or C3P0, had done all this and make sure she thanked them for making her comfortable.
Padmé got up from the couch and neatly folded her blanket, before placing it back on the couch. As she walked to the fresher to tidy herself up a bit before breakfast, she glanced at Vader's bed. The bed was perfectly made and appeared that nobody slept in it. Padmé assumed that Vader had been busy with the ship and never went to bed. This thought made her happy, because she did not enjoy the idea of sharing a room with him.
As a Sith Lord who served the Empire, he was her enemy and as such she did not trust him. Additionally, his secretive nature did not facilitate a sense of trust either. Although Vader had only locked her in her bedroom on Coruscant rather than harm her, she did not know what he would do to her now, since space was limited aboard the ship. Therefore, the fact that he did not sleep in the bedroom last night pleased her because it meant she might be able to avoid him most nights while aboard the ship. That way, she would never have to find out what he would do to her in his anger. With a smile, Padmé walked into the fresher, cleaned herself up and then walked to the kitchen for breakfast.
As Padmé walked into the kitchen, she bumped into R2."Sorry R2." She said. "Thanks for taking care of the holovid last night, and finding me a blanket."
"Boop boop beep boop beep? Beep boop boop boop." R2 replied.
"Miss Padmé, he did not touch the holovid, or get you a blanket last night." C3P0 interjected from the right hand side of the kitchen.
"Oh! Sorry 3P0, I guess I should be thanking you."
"Miss Padmé, neither R2 or I entered the bedroom after you took your evening meal back there." C3P0 replied.
Padmé gave a puzzled look at this information. Neither 3P0 nor R2 had been in that room, then who had switched off the holovid and found her a blanket? She turned to the left of the kitchen to go sit at the table and think about this information, but her jaw dropped at the sight before her.
Darth Vader had come home during the night, for he sat at the far end of the table before her. He was reading a datapad and casually munching on his breakfast with a smirk upon his face. Padmé narrowed her eyes at him. The sneaky Sith Lord had been playing with her this morning, making her believe he was not around. She glared at him in both annoyance and irritation.
However, her glare softened as she continued to stare at Vader. Vader was shirtless and was only wearing a pair of black sleep pants and a black glove over his right hand and forearm. Padmé had never seen him like this and she marveled at the image of his sculpted chest and abdomen. Her eyes trailed up and down his arms and chest, and she wondered how he maintained all those muscles.
Vader noticed that Padmé had paused and looked up at her quizzically. "Are you ok?" Vader asked when he noticed she had a glazed look to her eyes.
Padmé shook her head at the sound of Vader's voice. He had broken the trance the sight of his body had placed on her. "Yes." She tentatively replied in response to Vader's question. She then quickly sat down at the table across from him and averted her eyes, careful not to look at him.
R2 came over and set a plate down in front of Padmé with her breakfast. "Thank you R2." Padmé said automatically, her brain trying to process what she had just done. She had stared at Darth Vader and mused that he was attractive. She could not believe she could ever have pictured Vader as anything but a monster and she was disturbed by her lapse in judgment. How could she think such things of a man who helped destroy the Republic?
Vader looked up from his datapad again and looked at Padmé. She did not seem to take any notice of him because she seemed to be deep in thought. Based on the distressed look on her face he surmised that something was troubling her. He smiled at the thought of her discomfort, she had been making him crazy for the last few days and she deserved to be miserable. However, he was curious about what had brought on her distress.
"You are awfully quiet, is something wrong?" He asked as he quirked his eyebrow at her.
Padmé looked up into his blue eyes and hastily replied, "No, no problem. Why would you think that?"
"Because you have a troubled look on your face, and by now you usually would have asked me a series of pointless questions." Vader chuckled.
Padmé narrowed her eyes at Vader as he laughed at her distress. However, she was also relieved to have this opportunity to be angry with Vader because she reasoned that it meant that she was not attracted to him. He might be easy on the eyes, but his attitude made him impossible to like. Vader was a Sith Lord, and as such was her enemy. Padmé's worry ceased at this thought as she defiantly stared back at Vader and said, "I have a lot of things on my mind, none of which is of any importance to you."
Vader noticed the tension leave Padmé's face, but he decided to try to get an answer from her about the rebels even though she would most likely ignore him. "Really? Well if one of those unimportant thoughts," he said sarcastically. "Are about the rebels, then I would not mind and would be highly interested in hearing about it." He added.
Padmé's anger rose, "I will never tell you that."
Vader smirked at her, "Very well I will have to find another way to get the information I need."
Padmé threw Vader a disgusted look before she started eating her breakfast. Vader went back to reading his datapad. After a few moments of silence, Vader spoke up.
"How was your holovid last night?"
"It was good. Why, what did you think of it when you first watched it."
"I have never watched it, in fact I have never watched any of the holovids in my collection."
"Then why do you have them?"
Vader shrugged, "I get them for free. If I watch anything, it's podracing."
Well, Padmé thought, she now had an explanation for the channels on the Imperial Network. Both Padmé and Vader sat in silence for a moment until Vader restarted the conversation.
"If I did watch any of my holovids, it probably would not be that one. Based on the summary it was not very realistic." Vader stated offhandedly.
"Yes that is true, Jedi do not form attachments, so he would not have fallen in love. However, the tragedy of their love made a very moving story." Padmé stated.
"That wasn't what I was thinking," Padmé quirked one of her eyebrows at Vader as he continued to speak. "I was thinking that if government officials are as annoying as you, then no Jedi would ever want to fall in love with them." Vader finished with a smirk.
Padmé glared at him as she changed the subject, "Why are you wearing that black glove?"
Vader laughed as Padmé tried to change the subject. He had won an argument, and she did not know how to retort back. He was pleased at this and smiled as he replied to her question. "It's covering my mechanical arm. My real arm was cutoff during a duel."
Padmé's eyes narrowed as she sarcastically said, "Pity they did not kill you."
Vader laughed at this comment, "Yes, it is a shame I'm starting to regret it myself. If I had been killed you would now be his problem instead of mine."
Padmé glowered at Vader as he continued to laugh at her. "Well I am your problem." Padmé said sarcastically emphasizing each word. "Now why don't you explain to me why you won't tell me your real name?"
Vader sighed in exasperation, "It is no longer my real name. Why do you want to know so bad?"
"I just do."
Vader studied Padmé's face at this remark. In the scheme of things his former name did not seem to be a significant piece of information to divulge. However, Padmé was a former leader of the rebel alliance and although she was stuck living with him he did not know if she had other motives for knowing his former name. He did not trust her, and he would not answer her. Besides, no one in the Empire except the Emperor knew that name and he felt no need for someone else to have that information about his past.
"That is not a good enough reason. Now if you'll excuse me I have work to do." Vader said as he stood up and walked out of the kitchen. Leaving Padmé to finish her breakfast alone.