Anakin's breathing slowed as his eyes met Padmé's and he was assured that she was safe. He noticed that she was trying to get off the bed and retreat from the room.
"Don't go. You need to rest." Anakin called out to her.
"I am not resting here." She replied tensely as she continued to get up.
Anakin stood up from the couch he had been sleeping on and moved towards her. As he approached her he spoke, "You will do the rebellion no good if you kill yourself. You are weak and need to rest. I know you do not trust me, but I promise you that I will not harm them."
Padmé rolled her eyes at this and stood up from the bed, ignoring Anakin's comments. Unfortunately, he had been right, she was weak. Her head began to spin and she started to fall over in a state of dizziness. However, Anakin caught her before she hit the ground and placed her gently on the bed again.
As her head quit spinning and her equilibrium was restored, Padmé realized that Anakin was holding her again, "Get your hands off me!" She shouted.
Anakin took his hands off of her, but also asked her a question, "Will you stay still and rest?"
Padmé rolled her eyes at him, but then brought her right hand up to her forehead, which now ached. She sighed in frustration as she replied, "Thanks to you, it seems I have no choice."
"I'm sorry." Anakin replied meekly as he turned his head away from her. He was now sitting at the foot of the bed. He placed his head in his hands trying to reconcile the dream he had just had.
He was relieved that Padmé was safe in his bedroom beside him, but he was worried about what he had witnessed. He wondered if it was only a nightmare, or if the Force had warped his usual nightmare about his mother as a warning of the future. Anakin let out a worried sigh as he remained sitting on the bed.
Padmé had been holding her own head and had not noticed that Anakin was still sitting on the bed. She briefly glanced up and noticed that he seemed to be mulling something over. She wanted to avoid speaking to him, but her curiosity got the better of her, as she asked, "Did you have a nightmare?"
"Yes."
"Bad?"
"Yes."
Padmé glared at him. His answers were not revealing any information and her curiosity was not satisfied. She had been awaken by his last shouts, and had her own suspicions about his nightmare. She decided to goad the Sith Lord about it.
"It sounded like you had failed at killing me, or something."
Anakin quickly turned his head towards her. Padmé was shocked to see a tear trickling down his left eye as he replied with a simple, but sad, "No."
Silence permeated the room until Anakin continued to speak. "When I was very young, my mother was killed by a band of Tusken Raiders. They dragged her from our hovel and beat her mercilessly. I followed them, and slaughtered them in an attempt to save her. However, I was too late. By the time I got to her, she was already dead. I occasionally have nightmares of that day. I had that same nightmare tonight, but…." Anakin trailed off and turned away from Padmé. He placed his head back in his hands and gave out a pained sigh.
Padmé stared back at Anakin; she had been surprised that the Sith Lord had revealed so much information. He was being very open with her, which based on past experience was a rare event. So she decided to press him further, "But what?"
There was a pause of silence before Anakin answered, "It was different this time."
"How so?"
Anakin glanced back at Padmé. She could see another tear trickling down his face. However, he did not answer her. He turned his head away, and placed it back in his hands.
Darth Vader had made his emotions of anger and frustration well known to Padmé during her stay with him. He had never shown sadness, which seemed to be an emotion the Dark Lord was not capable of expressing. Padmé was trying hard not to let her feelings of compassion change her view of the Sith Lord as he openly grieved before her. To distract herself, she pressed him further. "Tell me."
"Every time I have that dream, I approach my mother's body and turn her over. I then look down in horror at her lifeless body, but this time…." Anakin paused before continuing. "This time, instead of her it was you I saw at my feet."
Padmé gasped.
Anakin turned towards her and his eyes locked with hers as he continued to speak, "That is not all. After I saw you, the Raiders turned into Sidious, and shot Force lightning at your body." Anakin paused and then continued. "He killed you." Anakin dropped his gaze from Padmé, and turned away from her once more. He placed his head back in his hands and gave another long sigh.
Padmé stared at him for a moment in silence and then soothingly replied, "It was only a dream." She then reached her right hand out to him, as if she was going to comfort him. However, a moment before her hand touched him, she quickly withdrew it as she realized what she was about to do. Her emotions were battling with her again, and she was fighting back her compassion. She would not comfort Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith.
Padmé was continuing to fight her emotional battle, when Anakin abruptly stood up from the bed. "I have some things to do before my shuttle leaves. Stay here and rest."
Padmé glared at him, his words had ended her internal war, "Yes, I'm sure you have lots to prepare. Tell me, if you are so sincere, why don't you let me come with you?"
Anakin turned towards her, "I have my reasons."
"I thought you said you were setting me free after you spoke with the rebels, why not sooner?"
"I would free you now if I could insure your safety, but there is no guarantee that the rebels will not shoot down my shuttle." Anakin paused and smirked slightly, but it turned into a frown as he spoke, "Given past circumstances, I do not generally receive warm welcomes from rebels. I will not free you, just to put you in jeopardy again. I will face the rebels alone. If I am killed, I am sure that they know where you are, and that you will be rescued. If I survive, you are free to join them."
"But…" Padmé angrily tried to reply, but Anakin cut her off.
"You are too weak to travel at the moment anyways."
Padmé glared at him. Anakin could feel her anger and knew that he had to act quickly, or she would do something to hurt herself again. He quickly stepped to the bedroom door, and called R2 to the bedroom.
"Boop boop?" R2 asked as he entered the bedroom.
"R2, do you still have the comlink I gave you?" Anakin asked.
"Boop." R2 replied as he pulled out the comlink and held it out to Anakin with one of his metal appendages.
Anakin took the comlink from R2 and replied, "Thank you, that is all I needed." He then waved his hand in a gesture indicating that R2 should leave.
After R2 had left, Anakin turned toward Padmé and gave her the comlink. "Here, take it. I will leave mine on during my meeting with the rebels, and you can listen in on this one."
Padmé looked at the comlink in disgust, "Listen to you kill them?"
Anakin shook his head, "I know you do not believe me, so do what you think is right. I must go."
As Anakin left, he was not sure if Padmé would not do something to hurt herself, but there was not much more he could do for her. When he entered the sitting room, he saw both R2 and C3P0. Before he left his quarters entirely, he turned to them and said, "Stay and watch over her."
As the door closed behind him, he heard C3P0 call out, "Of course, Master Anakin."