A/N: Finally updated! I was kinda mad since I didn't get any reviews on the last chapter, but I finally got one, so I decided to finish this off. Anyway, here's the last chapter, I hope its not to shabby…

Chapter 12: A Bitter Destiny

After leaving Padmé to wait for me, I went to Mustafar to finish off the war. I had no regrets by finishing off the war; I could make the galaxy a better place for her. We could finally live in peace, without worry of anyone harming us.

I went there immediately, as soon as I got there, began my attack. I showed them the same courtesy that they had shown us; no mercy. It was only fair. And the only way to stop the war was to kill them. By doing this, I would be renown as a Jedi. And I would finally have the power to save Padmé.

After killing them, I felt the power flowing through me, the Sith powers enter into my very body. I was powerful, powerful enough to do anything, to be anything. I had achieved my dream. I was the most powerful Jedi ever!

But, overwhelmed with this power, foolish thoughts entered into my head. I remembered the people I had killed, people that would feed my power. What did I do? I asked. Why am I doing this?

For Padmé. I insisted. I have to do this to save her.

Once again, I asked the question. But is it worth it?

Of course it is! I told myself. I can't live without her!

I thought that was good enough, but once again, I asked the question. Are you sure this is all worth it…in the end?

That one took me some time. In the end, I would be with Padmé, so yes, it was worth it, but I couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling that it wasn't. That thought kept haunting me, no matter how many times I pushed it away.

But then was not the time to dwell on such things. I had to send a hologram to my Master in order to tell him of my accomplishment. "The Separatists have been taken care of, my Master."

"It is finished, then." Palpatine replied, "You have restored peace and justice to the galaxy. You have done well, Lord Vader."

"Thank you, my Master." I answered.

He continued, "Send a message to the ships of the Trade Federation. All droid units must shut down immediately."

In truth, I didn't like being told what to do by him. Secretly, I loathed the Emperor, and all I wished to do was to destroy him in order to make the galaxy the way it was supposed to be. But I could not, not at this time. Not with Padmé like this. But I planned to, after I received my power to save her. For now, I had to follow orders.

"Very good, my Lord." I finished, turning off the hologram. As I was about to send the message to the Trade Federation, I felt a presence of someone I knew, their presence sending shivers down my spine. Padmé! I turned, and saw her ship on the radar.

I ran out of the room to meet her. What was she doing here? Why had she come? I had told her to stay on Coruscant, why didn't she stay where it was safe! As I ran out and saw her ship, I barely remembered to remove my hood as I ran out to her.

She ran into my arms, looking more frightened than I had ever seen her. "I saw your ship." I told her, holding her close, trying to make everything all right for her, once again. Even though I was worried about her coming, I was glad she had come. Her presence always seemed to calm me, and this time was no different.

I pulled back to study her face as she murmured, "Anakin…" She looked tired, almost weary of everything. More than anything, she looked worried; frightened. But it would be all right. I was there. I could keep her safe from whatever bothered her.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, full of concern. I was afraid something had happened, like the Jedi might have come after her, and she might have fled.

She replied, "I was so worried about you!" I sighed, she didn't have to be worried. She never had to be worried about me. I was the most powerful Jedi that ever lived. She wouldn't have to worry about me getting hurt, anymore.

But then she said, "Obi-Wan told me…terrible things!"

My breath caught in my throat. Obi-Wan? He had been talking to her again. What did he say? And these "terrible things" what did he want from her? I suddenly felt angry, my thoughts of being happy to see her faded away. Any time Obi-Wan was involved, it always got worse.

"What things?" I demanded, wishing I hadn't sounded so angry in front of her.

Her fright escalated, and I saw tears in her eyes. Had what he had said been so terrible that she had to come to me? In a quivering voice, she answered. "He said…that you…turned to the dark side!" I felt my heart sink in my chest. That's what he told her… "That you…killed younglings!"

How could she believe that about me? Obi-Wan had stretched the truth. I had not turned to the dark side. I was still me. Still a Jedi. I was just becoming more powerful than the Jedi had imagined. I was using a Sith power to save her, for good. The dark side was evil, I was not. And the younglings, they were Jedi. Ones who would eventually try to kill me, and try to kill her. I was only doing this to keep her safe, not to frighten her.

I replied in a calm voice, "Obi-Wan is trying to turn you against me." And my anger for Obi-Wan grew, but I did not show it in front of Padmé. I just couldn't take it that Obi-Wan would sink to this. Telling Padmé lies to make her leave me. He was trying to split us apart, once again.

But she didn't want to believe it. "He cares about us." She said.

That struck me like a fatal blow. "Us?" I demanded. She had told him about us? How could she do that?

Padmé nodded, and I noticed that her eyes were fearful…and looking as if she was starting to wonder if she had done something wrong… "He knows. He wants to help us."

This notion was all too amusing. Obi-Wan, wanting to help us? That was a laugh. Could she not see that all he wanted was to keep us apart?

She looked into my eyes, and murmured, "Ani…all I want is your love."

She had my love…more than she ever knew. I did this all for her, didn't she know that? "Love won't save you, Padmé." I insisted. "Only my new powers can do that."

The tears in her eyes threatened to spill. I hated those tears. I hated it whenever she cried. All I had ever wanted was to make those tears go away, but now they remained day and night. "At what cost?" she pleaded. "You're a good person, don't do this!"

Padmé still didn't understand. She had to. She had to understand that this was all for her, not because I was a Sith. I was doing it for a good reason, and that's all that mattered. I said, determinedly, "I won't lose you the way I lost my mother. I am becoming more powerful than any Jedi has ever dreamed of, and I'm doing it for you. To protect you."

That didn't calm her down, like I hoped it would. It just made her more scared. She suddenly embraced me. "Come away with me." She begged. "Help me raise our child. Leave everything behind while we still can!"

That was almost laughable. Padmé was never one to run away. She always told me that we cannot run away from our problems, we had to face them. Why now, would she want to run away when everything was made perfect for us? "Don't you see?" I asked her. "We don't have to run away anymore!" A smile crept up my face, as she started backing away, suddenly terrified.

"I am more powerful than the Chancellor!" I told her, in hopes that she would understand. "I can overthrow him!" I went on, extending my hand to her, begging her to listen to reason. "And then you and I can rule the galaxy, make things the way we want them to be!"

But Padmé…she didn't understand. She was too naive to understand that sometimes one had to make sacrifices for things to be perfect. She was too lost in what Obi-Wan had told her, and would rather have believed him than me! A tear rolled down her cheek as she looked at me. "I don't believe what I'm hearing…Obi-Wan was right…you've changed!"

Back to Obi-Wan once again. He had done all of this. Told her these things, changed her, making her not trust me anymore…turning her against me, like all the Jedi had done. Like he, who was like my brother, had turned from me. And now Padmé, the love of my life, was against me. They all were. Why was the galaxy determined to hate me? Why was I the one who everyone lost trust? Why was it me?

Why, even though I had done everything for good, I had done this to keep her safe, was everyone against?

I was now angry. Angry at everyone and everything. They all hated me, why shouldn't I hate them? But Padmé…I could never hate her. But I was angry that she had believed everything, and had followed Obi-Wan instead of me. "I don't want to hear anymore about Obi-Wan!" I shouted. I hated Obi-Wan! He had done this to her! "The Jedi turned against me, don't you turn against me!"

Padmé kept backing away, the tears still rolling down her face. "I don't know you anymore…Ani, you're breaking my heart! You're going down a path I can't follow!"

"Because of Obi-Wan?" I accused.

She cried, "Because of what you've done! What you plan to do!" She continued crying, "Stop! Stop now! I love you!" But I wasn't listening. I felt another presence. I turned towards her ship, and then hatred roared inside of me.

Obi-Wan.

I understood now, why she had come. She didn't come because of worry. She came because Obi-Wan made her. She brought him here for me! This was not the Padmé I knew. She had changed. Obi-Wan had changed her! She didn't love me, she had turned from me. She loved him!

"Liar!" I roared, exposing her plan.

She turned, and acted surprised that Obi-Wan was there. A false surprise, to be sure. "No!" she screamed.

I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't take anymore of the lies, the crying, everyone leaving my side. It was all too much and now even Padmé was against me…I lost control. "You're with him!" I roared. "You brought him here to kill me!"

Before I knew it, I was using my new powers to choke her. She grabbed at her throat, still crying, "Anakin…"

Obi-Wan came down the landing plank. "Let her go, Anakin." He said.

I glared at him, but I didn't let her go. He had done all of this, planned all of this out! He had made her turn from me, he had made the Jedi turn from me, he did this to me!

He insisted. "Let her go!"

Inside of me, a small voice said, I'm hurting Padmé! And I released her. I couldn't keep hurting her…I couldn't…

As she fell, I remembered her last look at me, the shock on her face, the pain…pain from seeing me like this. She had turned from me, like everyone else…

The worst pain I had ever felt, was knowing that Padmé was afraid of me.

After Obi-Wan arrived, he challenged me. He didn't understand, just like Padmé didn't understand…they both didn't understand that it was all for good…no one understood…

We fought, and my rage and hurt pushed me through. But it wasn't enough. Obi-Wan, smug Obi-Wan, ended up being the victor. He nearly killed me, slicing off my remaining limbs and leaving me to die on a slope near the lava.

He watched as I caught fire, and felt bodily pain beyond anything as I was burned. He watched, and didn't care. If anything, he was laughing at his triumph, my pain. He did nothing for me. My once good friend maimed me and left me for dead.

I thought I was going to die, to die and never see Padmé again. But for once, I had luck on my side. Even though I did not personally like my Master, he proved useful in showing up and getting me to medical aid. I was treated, and once again fitted with mechanical limbs, except now, all of them were mechanical, instead of just one. Because of the burns, I was forced into a breather suit forevermore.

I was becoming more of a machine, than a man. But that didn't matter…I was still mobile. Still alive.

I will never forget when I was finished, when they flipped the table up and the Emperor entered into the room.

"Lord Vader," he asked. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes, my Master." I replied, in a voice that was not my own. I hated this suit, which made me less than a man. I was nothing but half machine parts, half human now.

I immediately did the first thing that came to mind, I wanted to feel for Padmé, to feel that she was safe. Surely if he had seen her, he would have brought her as well? I had just been through a lot. I needed to see her, maybe apologize. Anything to get her presence to calm me once again. But I couldn't feel her presence. This puzzled me.

"Where is Padmé?" I asked. "Is she safe? Is she all right?"

His face hardened, but he spoke. "It seems in your anger…you killed her."

Those three words hit me like bricks. You killed her…you killed her… It couldn't be…I couldn't have…no…it couldn't have been…

"I couldn't have!" I yelled. "She was alive! I felt her!" But I knew, somehow I knew, that Padmé was dead. And along with that…our child…

In my rage, many of the droids exploded, but I didn't care, I couldn't help it. I was feeling despair beyond what I had ever felt. Padmé was gone…she had left me…she was never going to be there, to comfort me, to calm me…to make me feel happy…

Padmé was gone…

And I had killed her…

With Padmé gone, I had nothing to turn to. I was left with nothing. She was gone, the remaining Jedi had turned against me, there was nothing left for me. The Emperor offered me a position in his empire, and I accepted, because I needed something…But even now, I always long for Padmé…

I wish I could have found that power sooner, so I could have saved her…I wish so many things had and had not happened…but I cannot change the past. There is only one thing I can do, and that is to rule the galaxy the way its supposed to be, in vain hope that I may one day find that power…and one day bring her back…

But I know that will not be. The only time I will ever meet her again is when I die, and perhaps, then…I can ask her forgiveness…

Because Padmé…you're the only one I've ever loved.

Please forgive me.

Fin

A/N: Whew! Finally finished! I sorta wanted it to end like the ending of a movie, where you can hear the SW theme start playing at the end.

So, I thank all of you that Bothered to review, and I hope that you enjoyed this story. Bye now!