A/N: Thank you for your reviews! They make me smile every morning and get me through another day of boredom.
So here it is! The 'long-awaited' "confrontation". Not much of a confrontation...but...oh, you'll see ;)
Chou hime: Thank you! No, I didn't know that. Are you sure? Anyway, hope you like this chapter.
Stephanie C: You need wait no more! I hope you like it :)
TriGemini: Yes, that just about sums up the end of the chapter. No need to wait - Vader 'meets' Padmé today!
LaPapillion: No! Don't die! You have to read this chapter! lol.
tensixtythree: Okay - here you go!
Laura-chan: Yes! This chapter involves a Vader-Padmé confrontation! I really hope you'll like it
Jedi Knight Emerald Tyrande: Wow - thank you for your review! I'm glad you like it. I hope that my next chapters meet your expectations!
sMHL: Yes, it's quite odd. Glad you're enjoying the story. Thanks for your review!
Starclipper01: Thank you for pointing that out! I hadn't thought of that. Let's assume she was questioned. Glad you liked it anyway!
Mizra: I definitely agree! Such an odd way to kill her off. Glad you like the story.
So here it is - enjoy!
Chapter Three
Leia's cell door slid open and two stormtroopers entered.
"You're to come with us," one of them said mechanically.
She rolled her eyes and held out her hands. They bound them together and marched her out of the cell.
Another group of troopers, also holding a female prisoner, was heading to the cellblock. Leia's guards stopped to talk to the others, and the Princess's eyes widened when she saw the other woman.
"Mother?" she breathed, completely shocked.
Padmé gave her daughter a rueful smile. Sorry, she mouthed. Then she was marched away.
Leia knitted her eyebrows together in confusion and worry. Why is she here? Is she all right? Her thoughts were cut short when Vader appeared a second later. He beckoned, and Leia was marched wordlessly on after him. They entered the control room of the Death Star, and halted before Grand Moff Tarkin, who was standing in front of a huge wall screen.
"Governor Tarkin. I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash," Leia commented wryly. "I recognised your foul stench when I was brought on board."
Tarkin returned her derisive smirk. "Charming to the last. You don't know how hard I found it signing the order to terminate your life!"
"I'm surprised you had the courage to take the responsibility yourself!" she retorted.
The governor continued. "Princess Leia, before your execution I would like you to be my guest at a ceremony that will make this battle station operational. No star system will dare oppose the Emperor now."
"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
"Not after we demonstrate the power of this station." Tarkin's lips curved into a cruel smile. "In a way, you have determined the choice of the planet that'll be destroyed first. Since you are reluctant to provide us with the location of the Rebel base, I have chosen to test this station's destructive power..." he gestured to the screen behind him, "– on your home planet of Alderaan."
"No!" Leia cried, struggling against her bonds. "Alderaan is peaceful. We have no weapons. You can't possibly –"
"You would prefer another target? A military target? Then name the system!" Tarkin waved menacingly towards the young woman. "I grow tired of asking this. So it'll be the last time. Where is the Rebel base?"
A voice over the intercom announced the approach to Alderaan. Leia paused, fear growing in her body. She had to protect Alderaan – but she couldn't betray the Rebellion.
"Dantooine," she said softly, lowering her head. "They're on Dantooine."
"There. You see, Lord Vader, she can be reasonable," Tarkin said triumphantly. He turned to Admiral Motti. "Continue with the operation. You may fire when ready."
"What?" Leia cried, snapping her head up.
The smirk on Tarkin's face made her feel sick. "You're far too trusting. Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration. But don't worry. We will deal with your Rebel friends soon enough."
"No!" Leia screamed, struggling all the more. But the hands of her captors held her fast and she was powerless, powerless to keep her home and her friends from certain doom.
She hid her face from the screen. She could not bear to watch.
It was all her fault.
Vader's black boots snapped against the floor as he stalked to the cellblock. He was pleased. The princess had been broken, and the Death Star unleashed. All he had to do was interrogate the mother. Now that her planet and family had been destroyed, this task would be much easier.
He paused for a second. Her planet…a whole planet was gone. Not only the humans, but the wildlife and the history as well – everything erased within moments. All in the name of the Empire.
It did not give him the satisfaction he had expected.
Millions of lives had been snuffed out, and while Vader was sure that some Rebels were among the dead, he felt the pain of the innocents who had died. No doubt even pregnant wives were lost now, stolen from this life just as his was. He halted – he thought he felt someone near – a presence just like his wife's. His –
Do not speak her name! he ordered himself as he resumed walking. She is dead. Gone.
Somewhere deep within, a tiny voice whispered, And you couldn't save her, despite your powers…
He clenched his dark fists and strode more purposefully. That may be so, but I will never fail again. I have more power than any man could dream of! I have no need for her any longer.
The door of the cell slid open, and the woman inside turned disdainfully, her greying brown curls swinging limply.
Vader froze in shock and utter disbelief.
It was her.
It was his wife.
Padmé's breath caught in her throat when she saw Vader. She was afraid of what he was going to do to her, and what he had done to Leia. Her eyes were red from crying – she had heard that Alderaan had been destroyed.
Strangely, he did not move or speak – he simply stood there, his gaze boring through her though she could not see his eyes behind the mask. She grew bolder, and crossed her arms.
"What do you want, Vader?" she snapped. She narrowed her eyes at him. "If you plan to weasel Rebel information out of me, you might as well kill me now. I will tell you nothing."
"You're…alive." Vader's voice seemed almost uncertain.
Padmé raised her eyebrows slightly. "It would appear that I am," she commented dryly. "If you do not intend to torture or interrogate me, could you at least have the decency to let me see my daughter?"
"Your –" He seemed to stiffen. "Our daughter."
"Our?" she repeated, dumbstruck. She shook her head, and the look on her face was one of pure venom. "What are you trying to do, Vader? Turn her to the Dark Side? Make her join you? She will never join you."
"No. You will join me."
"Never," she hissed. She would not turn her back on the fragments of what she had worked her whole life to preserve. She would never follow the path that had destroyed her husband. She would never abandon her children.
"You would turn your back on your husband?"
She blinked. "What?" What kind of twisted plot is this? Marry Vader? Never.
"You do not have to marry me," Vader said in answer to her thoughts. She had forgotten that the Sith – like the Jedi – could often sense thoughts and feelings.
"No," he continued. "You do not have to because you already have."
She stared for a second, and then the meaning behind his words hit her. She stepped back, her shock reflected on her face.
"No. No! My husband is dead. He was killed twenty years ago!" He's gone, he's not here, he can't be here…
He took a step forward, reaching out to her. "Not killed, my wife. I am still here. Still alive. And now we can be together." He sounded almost eager, almost like the Anakin she –
"No!" She backed away until she hit the wall, tears forming in her eyes, though she did not know why she was crying. He reached out to her and she shrank away. It couldn't be Anakin. How could her Anakin possibly become this…this monster?
And yet, she remembered the last time she spoke to her husband…
"You turned to the Dark side and killed Younglings…you are going down a path I can't follow…"
The tears in her eyes burned her like acid as she stared into the mask of Darth Vader. "Stay away from me," she hissed. This man, to whom she once had given her heart and her life, had assisted in the destruction of democracy. He had broken her heart and rejected her, choosing to believe she had betrayed him. He had supported an Empire that was corrupt and oppressive. And now he had tortured her – their – daughter and destroyed an entire planet. He was not the Anakin she remembered. He was not the husband she still loved. He was Darth Vader, a Sith.
Stunned, Vader lowered his arm and stepped back. Why was she responding this way? Couldn't she see that it was the Dark Side that had saved her?
He narrowed his eyes. The Princess's name was Leia Organa. Could it be that the senator, Bail Organa, had…
No. Even if she thought I was dead, Padmé would never be unfaithful, he reasoned, calming down. In any case, Organa is dead now.
He looked again at his wife, who was still glaring shakily at him. He reached out with the Force to her, and sensed her feelings.
There was shock, and anger at his deeds. Yet there was something else – despair.
She was despairing for the man he used to be.
The thought angered him. Wasn't it enough that he was alive? Wasn't it enough that he had saved her? He had silenced the weak, foolish Anakin – the one whose powers had not been enough to save her. He would not emerge again.
Vader turned abruptly and exited the cell. Coming towards him was Princess Leia and her guards. For a moment, Vader looked at her. His daughter.
He wondered why he had not recognised it before. She had the same eyes as her mother, the same stubborn spirit – even a similar Force-signature.
She shot him a glare, and the stormtroopers began to take her to her cell.
"Stop," Vader commanded. Despite her abhorrence of him, he still loved his wife, and so he would give her this chance. "Put the Princess in the cell with her mother."
"Yes, sir," the trooper responded.
Vader walked on, noting the surprise on his daughter's face as she was pushed into the cell. Soon, Tarkin would order Leia's execution. Vader would delay it as long as he could, but his duty was to the Empire.
But he would not let his wife slip from him again.