For the rest of the morning, Vader and Padmé said very little to one another. After their silent breakfast, Padmé went to locate R2 and Vader retreated to his bedroom. Walking to the room next to the kitchen, Padmé found R2 arguing with C3P0.
"Don't call me a mindless philosopher you overweight glob of grease! I am programmed to understand humans. If she had wanted your help she would have asked for it." C3P0 stated with irritation as Padmé opened the door. C3P0 was startled by Padmé's sudden appearance, and awkwardly softened his tone as he addressed her. "Oh! Miss Padmé, is there something that you need?"
"No 3P0, I just came to find out where R2 was, I had not seen him this morning."
"Oh! Well, I will be leaving to tend to things elsewhere" C3P0 stated and he exited the room.
"Thank you 3P0." Padmé stated to his retreating form.
"Beep boop boop beep boop beep boop?" R2 asked.
"I'm fine R2, don't worry about me. How are you?"
"Boop boop beep beep boop boop beep." The droid beeped in a tone that hinted at exasperation.
Padmé laughed and then bent down towards the droid and softly whispered, "Well look who built him, no wonder he has problems."
R2 gave out a series of beeps that sounded like laughter in response. Then he changed his tone to one of concern as he questioned Padmé. "Boop boop beep beep boop?"
"No, I'm fine. He did not hurt me. We just yelled at each other a lot last night."
"Boop boop boop beep?"
Padmé sighed, "I'm just trying to keep my distance. Stay out of the way for a while."
"Boop beep beep?"
"No, I will have to face him alone. You go and find something to do."
"Beep boop beep beep." R2 stated indignantly.
Padmé laughed, "I know, but at least he's friendly. Go, I'll be fine."
"Boop boop?"
Padmé sighed. As she turned toward the door to leave she replied to R2, "I'll be careful, I'll call you if I need you."
Padmé exited the storage room and R2 followed her. Once in the sitting room, R2 went to join C3P0 in the kitchen while Padmé walked towards the bedroom door. Once she approached the bedroom door she paused and took a deep breath, preparing herself for what lay ahead.
Padmé entered the bedroom and immediately glanced around to locate Vader. She found him sitting on the sofa in front of the holo screen engrossed in a podrace. Vader did not look up when she entered the room, so Padmé walked over to the bookshelf to find something to read. For now she did not want to alert him to her presence. She began to read an old report on Imperial fleet movements to pass the time.
Padmé read in silence, but she was distracted from the report when she heard Vader yell, "Sith!" at the holo screen. Padmé looked up from the report to see Vader shaking his head in frustration at the holo screen. Apparently the podrace was no going well.
Vader's posture still showed that he was frustrated, but he fell silent, so Padmé returned to reading the report. However, she became distracted again when Vader started cussing again and making comments to the holo screen.
"What are you doing? You are going to get yourself killed." Vader stated to the screen. "Bank left, you'll never get around him." Vader added. Padmé watched as Vader shifted his body left or right in the direction he wanted the podracer to go. She could not stop herself from laughing at Vader as he tried to will the racer on the screen to move.
Vader turned his head at the sound of Padmé's laughter, annoyed by the distraction from the race, "What is so funny?" he barked at her.
Padmé continued to laugh as she stated, "You."
Vader quirked an eyebrow as his annoyance grew, "And?"
Padmé rolled her eyes as she continued to snicker, "Does yelling at the screen help?"
Vader narrowed his eyes at Padmé as he replied, "You don't understand. He's going to get himself killed." Then Vader turned back to the screen, "Argh! Why did you do that? You'll never win!"
Padmé chuckled to herself as she started reading the report again. However, Vader continued to make comments about the podrace making it impossible to concentrate. Sighing she gave up on the report and walked over to the sofa. With Vader's shouts she would be forced to endure watching the race because he was too distracting for her to do anything else.
"Idiot, bank left!" Vader shouted as he shifted his own body to the left.
Padmé laughed at him as she took a seat on the right side of the sofa as far from him as she could get. "Does moving your body help him?"
Vader looked up at Padmé in disgust, "No!" Vader then turned back to the holo screen and jerked his body right as he shouted, "Right, right! This guy is awful!"
"And you know better?" Padmé asked as she quirked an eyebrow.
Vader turned to her and in an exasperated voice stated, "Yes! I've raced pods before, this guy does not know what he is doing?" He returned his gaze to the holo screen.
"You raced pods?"
"Yes, a long time ago." Vader stated his eyes never leaving the screen.
Padmé glanced at the screen and winced when she saw a racer lose control of his pod and crash into a nearby cliff face. She continued to watch as the racers approached the finish line to cheers from the crowd. "Who won?" She asked Vader.
"What?" Vader asked confused before he realized that Padmé did not know anything about podracing. "Oh, no one. They just started the final lap. Sebulba is in the lead."
"Oh. Is that good?"
Vader sighed in annoyance, "No. He cheats."
"How do you know?"
"He always cheats. Since before the days when I used to race."
Silence fell between Padmé and Vader as they both continued to watch the race. Vader continued to curse periodically. As she watched, Padmé realized that she had learned some things about Vader's past during their conversation. Perhaps she could use this race as a distraction to get more information from him.
"Is that Sebulba's name the crowd is cheering?" Padmé asked.
"Yes, because he is winning." Vader replied bitterly.
"Did you ever win when you raced?"
"Yes, I was and still am the only human to ever win." Vader smiled as he continued to watch the race.
"What did the crowds yell when you won?" Padmé asked springing her trap.
"Aaa…." Vader stopped himself from revealing the information as he angrily turned towards Padmé. "That is none of your concern. It is in the past." He stated coolly as he turned his attention back to the race.
Both Vader and Padmé remained silent through the rest of the race. It seemed that Vader was troubled by his momentary lapse in control when he almost revealed his former name. He did not seem to be as excited about the race. Padmé was incredibly disappointed that her trick had failed. She had almost learned his true identity and she longed to use it against him in retaliation for his attack on Dantooine.
Instead of focusing her attention on the race, Padmé tried to think of other ways to trick Vader into revealing his name. She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she did not notice when the race had ended. In addition, she did not see that Vader had turned off the holo screen and had turned his attention to her.
Vader stared at Padmé for a long moment in silence. He was angry with himself for almost revealing his former name to her. As he continued to dwell on the fact that she had almost tricked him, Vader's anger swelled. Padmé was a nuisance, one who needed to be controlled before she discovered more information than she needed.
Padmé was silent as Vader's eyes bore into her. She was unaware of Vader's changing mood as she continued to contemplate ways to trick Vader into revealing his real name. Caught up in her own thoughts, Padmé jumped in surprise when Vader started yelling at her.
"Why do you keep asking me my name?"
Padmé quickly turned towards Vader once she had composed herself. She noticed his eyes had changed from blue to yellow and realized she had angered him. However, she was not scared of him, and locked her eyes with his as she calmly stated, "Because I want to know."
"I have told you. That name no longer has any meaning for me." Vader growled.
Padmé quirked an eyebrow, "If it is not important why not tell me? What would be the harm?"
Vader growled as he raised his right hand and appeared to be grasping something in thin air. "I will not give you the name, and you will stop asking." He barked at Padmé.
Padmé felt as though an invisible hand was clenched around her throat, cutting off her air supply. She immediately brought her hands up to her neck, and tried to break the mysterious chokehold. When she realized that Vader was using the Force to choke her, she tried to choke out a response to him, but her attempt was incoherent.