A note of thanks to all who are following this tale, including young Padawan reviewers: pokey, Laura-chan, QueenMeep, MissNaye, forceuser1456, doreenthatshot.

Chapter 5: Impasse

Padmé lay unconscious on the simple cot, and Vader watched over her.

He tenderly smoothed the blanket over Padmé's body, careful not to touch her. Vader's eyes caressed Padmé's face as his hands could not. The only sound in the sterile, quiet room was of Vader's breathing.

Padmé, where have you been?

Why did you leave me?

Padmé's eyes fluttered opened in the darkened room. She was groggy, but could sense someone was near her.

"…Anakin…?" she whispered tentatively.

Darth Vader's fearsome mask loomed above her. She recoiled and turned her face away. Her fear and revulsion were like a physical blow to him.

"Anakin, why are you wearing that mask? Please take it off so that I can see you." She had whispered her urgent plea to the wall, unable to face him.

There was a pause before Vader's harsh voice broke the silence.

"I can not."

"But why…?" She had turned back to him and her face was at once wary and inquisitive.

"It allows me to live outside my special hyperbaric chambers." No use in mincing words. He had greatly changed since they had last been together. She would need to know this about him.

She struggled to sit up, uncertainty twisting her face. "To live? But…I don't understand."

"Obi-Wan did this to me." She winced at his reply; she could feel his anger and hatred rising.

"Anakin, Obi-Wan was your friend, he would never-"

The quick images he flashed in her mind were meant to clear away any confusion:

The lurid backdrop of Mustafar. Obi-Wan slicing off Anakin's appendages. The hellish image of Obi-Wan watching the limbless Anakin slide into the glowing magma. Anakin's painful roar as his tortured body was consumed by flames.

Her eyes rolled back into her head with a throaty groan. A tortured scream was torn from Padmé's lips as her face contorted and reflected Anakin's suffering.

He could feel her body going into acute distress and immediately compelled her back to sleep with a slight wave of his hand. Padmé's body went instantly limp, but her tears continued to weave their path down her face.

Once again, the only sound on the cold room was Vader's respirator.

But his emotions were roiling. He felt anger, pain, and torment coupled with an awe-inspiring long-dead feeling of …joy at finding Padmé alive. The joy rose in his mind to wipe away all other emotion.

It was quickly crushed by the fear of loss.

I can not lose her again.

As his eyes caressed her face, he wondered how time had not marked her much in any way. His angel. If time had marked him physically, no one would ever know. But his deeds had marked him well.Regardless, he had to find a way to keep her with him.

You are as beautiful as I last saw you, on Mustafar, before I tried to- he stopped that train of thought. He could not go back to that time and place and hoped she would not remember.

Padmé, you're alive.

In her sleep, Padmé began to moan.

She was dreaming awful things in bright flashes: She was back on Mustafar. She could feel the cloying heat and gasses of the noxious planet in her lungs. She clutched at her throat and felt her feet leaving the ground; she could not breathe.

Anakin was furious and using the Force to choke the life out of her. Eyes glowing a feral yellow, his face was cruel with fury as his black-gloved right hand made a choking gesture toward her. He thought she'd betrayed him!

I swear I didn't know, Anakin! I love you! I would never betray you!

She heard a commanding voice.

"Let her go, Anakin!" She could feel Anakin's attention waver from her.

"Let her GO!"

Was it Obi-Wan?

Anakin released her and she crumpled to the ground. Cheek pressed to the warm stone tarmac, head lolling on her neck, she was still conscious. Luke strode down the gangplank of her Nubian cruiser.

"You've turned her against me!"

"You have done that, yourself."

It was Luke.

Anakin paced like a wild creature in front of Luke and responded with a hysterical outburst:

"YOU WILL NOT TAKE HER FROM ME!"

Luke remained silent, watching his father.

Unprovoked, in the blink of an eye, Anakin flew at Luke and sliced him in half with his red lightsaber. With a cry, Padmé woke and quickly sat up.

She was startled again by the dark hulk of Vader hovering over her, but now cowed. She wanted answers and she wanted them now. She took a deep breath, and on shaky legs, stood up to face him.

"What will happen to Luke?"

Vader hesitated as he looked at Padmé. The silence grew heavy and oppressive.

"Luke," he began grimly, "Must meet his destiny…"

"And what exactly is his destiny? Tell me!"

"Luke will turn to the Dark Side…or he will perish…It has been foreseen."

"Anakin, how could you allow this to happen! This is your own son!" Anger radiated off her body. Although a familiar and comforting emotion for Vader, it did not please him in the least.

It had been a very long time since anyone had argued with him.

Many had died for even addressing him without the proper respect. But here was Padmé attempting to change things. Vader wryly remembered Padmé in the Senate on Coruscant. She would never bow down to anyone.

"Apparently, your stubbornness has not diminished with the years, Padmé," the harsh disembodied voice declared.

A ghost of a smile crossed Padmé's lips.

"It's one of the things about me that you used to find irresistible."

Vader paused.

He was glad for the unreadable mask he wore that would not betray the warm flush he felt moving up his face at Padmé's words.

Was that a challenge?

An invitation? Oh, how he longed to take her in his arms.

He turned away from her.

Would she resist?

She found him repugnant. He could sense it. But even if she did not resist, it would torment him to no end, as he could not touch her warm flesh with his own hands. He clenched his fists at the thought. His sigh of frustration and longing came out as a raspy harsh sound, betraying nothing.

Padmé turned away from him and walked toward the large duraglass porthole to watch the red sunset. The billowing cloud formations outside the port window reflected an eerie crimson glow in the dying light.

The silence in the room was only broken by Vader's respirator. He silently moved to stand beside her, keeping a respectful distance between them, and also gazed at the garish splash of color.

After a painfully long silence, Vader finally spoke.

"I propose…a barter."

He continued looking out the large porthole.

Padmé's attention was caught. Puzzled, she turned to him, expectantly. She would hear him out. Silence again. Vader was struggling to form the words.

"If you will remain with me and not try to leave," he paused, then turned to her, "I will allow Luke to escape."

"Why would you do that? You know full well that you can keep me with you with or without my consent…" Because he stood so still and did not respond, it seemed as if he had not heard her words.

Padmé shook her head, bemused. She was still looking at him earnestly for an explanation. There was, once again, absolute silence in the room until Vader spoke again.

He turned his head; the intimidating mask looked directly at her.

"I want you…willing."