Disclaimer: I don't own the SW universe. All the characters belong to George Lucas. This story was written for fun and meditation purposes only.

A/N: Hi, everyone!

Again, due to the very cruel real life, I decided to update sooner. I'm updating my other story today as well.

I'm so sorry for the lack of time, but I don't have time to reply to your reviews! I've read through them, and I'm very grateful. You lot managed to lift my sunken mood a bit. ;)

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Three

Twilight fell upon the city, and daylight was replaced by cold, dead neon glow. Despite endless speeders zooming outside, life seemed to have stopped on Coruscant, at least it did for Padmé. How could life go on without Anakin? It wasn't possible.

Padmé rolled herself in a ball, trying to find some comfort, but there was none. First, she refused to accept the fact that Anakin died. He was a capable warrior, very skilled and powerful. He was the Chosen One, his destiny was to shoo the darkness away, not to be lost in it. And if something had happened to him, she would have felt it. Anakin and she were soul-mates, and if one of them was in danger, the other would sense it. She didn't capture anything.

But then a nasty voice of reason remembered her about the feeling of foreboding, about her dream, about the sense of upcoming danger. She had felt something, and couldn't explain why it sent icy chills down her back, why it clutched her heart in a grasp of despair. Now she knew what it was. Now she knew what it felt like when the second half of her soul would be ripped away.

She didn't know how long she just lay on the bed, her body shaking from uncontrollable sobs, her entire being calling for Anakin. Her pillow was wet from river of tears she shed, and they still kept coming. Dormé must have brought her something to drink, but the steaming liquid had long turned cold.

Anakin was gone, and he would never return to her. He became one with the Force, and maybe he was watching her now, trying to comfort her. But she wasn't Force-sensitive, and she couldn't join the brilliant flow Anakin told her so many times about. What did it feel like, being connected to the Force? She never asked Anakin, and the chance to do it was taken from her.

Yet a large part of her refused to believe that Anakin was gone, he couldn't retreat from this world so simply. Anakin always loved flashy entrances, and it was not his style to leave the galaxy quietly, only with his picture being transmitted per HoloNet. His death would have been more spectacular, and he would have surely exploded a large Separatist space station before going to the netherworld.

Padmé let out an angry half-groan, half-sob and curled even tighter. What was she thinking? Death wasn't a gift, it wasn't something anyone could choose. It just comes to take someone, either unexpectedly, or it is like a venomous spider eating someone's soul till there is nothing left to feed upon…It cannot be prevented, stopped or foreseen. It just happens.

Everything that lives dies one day…The suns can't be stopped from setting…Even the stars burn out…This was the way of the Force, the law that couldn't be broken. Now the brightest source of light in the galaxy was diminished, and it became a much darker place. A colder place, since the warmest sun set down, for forever.

The weeping body of a once beautiful woman on the large bed was inhabited by two persons – a rational Senator Amidala, and a little dreamy, romantic girl. Senator Amidala's sharp mind accepted the bitter truth – a man died accidentally. This man was strong, but not invincible. He fought in the front lines in the horrible war, and he was just another fallen soldier. These sad, yet inevitable things happened everyday.

But Padmé clung to the sweet image of Anakin returning to her. He couldn't be killed simply because he was Anakin Skywalker. Padmé was sure that she would have felt more than just dark foreboding if he had indeed been taken away from her. She didn't feel his presence enveloping and soothing her, as it would have been if he had become one with the Force. Anakin was a bundle of energy, and his energy couldn't be emptied by a simple blaster shot. Goodness, he was just too arrogant to accept such a boring death as being shot by a battle droid.

Anakin was alive, and she knew it. He must have sensed that she was in pain, as he always did, and at the moment he was surely bursting through the front door. The only thing she had to do was to just turn around, and she would see him, standing by door, smiling at her. Her heart began to race, and excitement flooded through her. Anakin was there, she knew it-

The seed of hope blossoming in her heart, Padmé turned around and looked at the door step, expecting to see Anakin, the special smile he gave only to her, to see his brilliant blue eyes…But no one was standing in the door way.

Disappointment was burning in her throat, and Padmé felt as if she had lost Anakin again. Another wave of hot, stinging tears overwhelmed her, and she wept once more, feeling as miserable and lonely as she had never felt before. Maybe, he couldn't come to her because he was on the other side of the Galaxy? That was most probably the reason why he wasn't standing at her door step, but he would return, and she knew it. Would he?

The edge of her consciousness vaguely perceived approaching footsteps, and someone lowered himself on the bed next to her. Padmé didn't know who it was, nor did she care. Even it was Darth Sidious, the mysterious Sith Lord the Jedi were looking for, Padmé wouldn't care. Except if he offered her to bring Anakin to her…

"Padmé," a soft male voice spoke to her.

What did this man want here? Everything she wanted was to be left alone, to be let wail in misery and self-pity, howl for Anakin.

"Go away," she managed to splutter through another fit of sobs.

"Padmé, what happened?"

He couldn't possible understand what happened. Anakin was gone, but these plain words couldn't describe the effect it had on her, for the galaxy. The world seemed to have come to the brutal end for Padmé, and that's what happened.

"Padmé," the voice said again, even softer than before. "Please look at me."

What for? What would she see? Why should she move?

A warm hand touched her shoulder. This touch felt comforting and soothing, and Padmé turned around reluctantly. Brown eyes met blue ones, and Padmé blinked in confusion, her heart beating faster. Could it be-?

"Anakin," she whispered barely audible, her voice hoarse from interminable weeping.

These warm eyes of smiling blue could belong only to one person… Her vision was obscured by the shroud of tears, and Padmé blinked, trying to clear it. She focused on the person sitting next to her, and her heart sank low again, terrible weight of disappointment smashing her once more, for it was not Anakin by her side. It was Kayle.

"It will be alright, Padmé," he said. "Whatever happened, it will be alright."

"How can you say such a thing to me?" Padmé asked incredulously, her grief replaced by anger. "It will never be alright. Never!"

"Things happen and people make through it. I know this is hard for you, but it will get better," Kayle said simply.

Things happen. How could speak so casually about it? How dare he estimate the hole Anakin's death left in the Force, in the galaxy, in her soul by two simple words? A barrier broke inside of her, and she began pounding on his chest as hard as she could, trying to hurt him as much as possible. How could he speak like that?

"How dare you? You don't understand anything," she shrieked angrily, streams of tears blinding her. Her eyes were red and puffy, and the hair lay flat, beautiful curls were gone.

A slightly startled Kayle captured her hands effortlessly, and pressed her tight to him, embracing her protectively. Padmé felt as if she were in trance, but the feeling of two strong arms enveloping her was comforting, and she could give in the illusion of being cuddled by another man.

"I know he is still alive," she whispered brokenly. At this moment, she believed in her words.

"I guess we won't be going to the ball tonight," Kayle murmured, stroking her hair. "Pity," he said quietly, but Padmé didn't hear him. His eyes were sending icy sparkles, and his mouth curved into a malicious smile.

-------

Two Jedi star fighters landed on the Jedi Temple landing platform. The cockpits flew open, and two men climbed out of the ships. One of them was clad in a brown cloak, with dark red hair and a short beard he was stroking absent-mindedly. The other man was younger and taller than his companion, with dark blonde hair and astonishingly blue eyes. Two Jedi Masters approached them – a dark-skinned human and a Nautolan alien.

Both newcomers bowed deeply to the Jedi Masters.

"You have summoned us back to Coruscant," Obi-Wan Kenobi said, tiny notes of polite curiosity in his voice.

About time, Anakin thought, scowling inwardly, but his facial expression didn't betray anything. He was at last on Coruscant, and would come home, to Padmé…As his thoughts drifted to his secret wife, his senses captured a wave of pain and grief emanating from her. Padmé was suffering, and he was not there with her. It took all his self-restraint not to take off immediately.

"We have traced Taren Meeda, or Kayle Mentho, how he calls himself now," Kit Fisto said. "He is on Coruscant."

Anakin vaguely listened to the conversation, for his attention was glued to Padmé. What could have happened to her? He hoped she didn't believe in yet another ridiculous death rumour. Anakin stretched his senses and reached into the Force, trying to access Padmé and find out what caused her such pain, still overwhelmed by a stream of hot, bitter anguish. He felt a lump rising up his throat, and fought hard to restrain it.

Obi-Wan's lips stretched into a shadow of smile. "Do you know the exact location, Masters?"

Through the Force and the bond of love he shared with Padmé, Anakin felt another presence by her side. He reached further into the Force, and tried to determine who it was. With his inner eye, he saw a bundle of darkness and malice that could belong only to the person they were tracing all these months. No, it can't be! He must have been mistaken. Anakin closed his eyes, ignoring the fact that he was standing with three Jedi Masters, and tried again. There was a tinkering dot which was Padmé, and the bundle of darkness was still next to her. Taren Meeda. Kayle Mentho. Kayle Mentho was with his wife, causing her so much pain…Anakin felt his fists clenching, there was no voice of reason, no tranquillity in his soul, only wild flames of love and burning desire to protect his wife, to give Kayle Mentho what he deserved. He tried to send his love to Padmé through their bond, but his attempts failed, as the dark presence blocked her from him.

"We do. According to our sources, Kayle Mentho is-"

"at Senator Amidala's apartment," Anakin finished for Mace Windu. He cast a look at his lightsaber, checking if his weapon was still with him.

"How do you know it, young Skywalker?" Mace Windu asked him, his forehead frowned in suspicion. Somehow Master Windu always managed to pronounce his name as if it was an affront. Obi-Wan looked torn between being surprised and being impressed.

Anakin used all the skills he gathered through the years of marriage to remain nonchalant, though his entire being urged him to take the nearest speeder and rush to save Padmé.

"I sensed him through the Force," he said. Well, it was true, even though the fact that Anakin picked up the Dark Jedi's presence was a pure coincidence.

"Well done, Anakin," Obi-Wan said, and despite the earnestness of situation, Anakin was stirred by his former Master's words. It was not often that Obi-Wan praised him, and Anakin knew to appreciate these rare moments. Obi-Wan's opinion meant much to him, more than the opinion of the population of ten largest star systems put together.

Mace Windu gave a tiny nod. "Let's head for Senator Amidala's apartment."

Anakin took off with three Jedi Masters, horrible images of what Kayle Mentho could be doing to Padmé flashing in his head, each more terrifying than the previous. He hoped he would manage it in time to save his wife from that monster. If he wasn't there soon enough, if something happened to her-

Anakin shook his head involuntarily. No. He would prevent it for their both sakes. He couldn't live without Padmé, and if she passed into the netherworld, he would just cease to exist.

-----

Padmé lay on the bed, Kayle's arms wrapped protectively around her. She stopped crying simply because she didn't have any more tears to shed left. Anakin was dead, she saw the evidence with her own eyes, and he would have contacted her in some way if were alive.

"I know hard it is to lose someone dear to you," Kayle said softly.

He pulled himself on the elbow and faced Padmé, his deep blue eyes mirroring terrible grief and sadness. Something horrible must have happen to him. A strange feeling stirred in Padmé. First she didn't understand what it was, after spending eternity, as it seemed to her, crying over Anakin. Then she realised that it was compassion.

"Who have you lost, Kayle?" she asked.

For a moment, it seemed as if he would not answer her.

"My mother," he said at last, his bright blue eyes haunted. "She died before I could save her."

Padmé inhaled sharply as she thought of another young man losing his mother. Anakin…Anakin had dealt with his loss back at that time so much better than she did now. She thought dumbly if it helped her if she went out and killed Chancellor Palpatine. It was his fault Anakin died…if Anakin had died.

"He will always be with you," Kayle said gently, touching her cheek. "The pain of loss is fresh now, but it will get better. You will see."

"He is not gone," Padmé said. "He is still alive, I feel it."

Kayle just shook his head sadly. "He is gone, Padmé. I'm so sorry, but he's gone for good. You have seen the evidence with your own eyes."

He was right, but Padmé still refused to believe in Anakin's death. It was too sudden, too unexpected, too easy…She had a feeling that there would have been more to it.

"I'm sorry," Kayle said softly.

They looked each other deep into the eyes. Padmé felt herself losing in the ocean of blue, just like that of Anakin. The air seemed to sparkle with electricity between them, as the gaze became even more intense. Kayle leaned down a bit.

"I will help you through the hard time," he said. He looked very shy for some reason. "I like you very much, Padmé."

"I like you too, Kayle," Padmé whispered, as he leaned closer. Their noses almost touched each other. His hands made way to explore her body, and Padmé allowed it. She felt as if she were hypnotised and observed the scene from the outside. Kayle moved to kiss her. An alarm sounded inside of her.

"No, Kayle," Padmé protested weakly, turning her head away. It was wrong. Her heart belonged to Anakin, and would always belong only to him.

Kayle gently cupped her by the chin and made her look at him again. "I really, really like you, Padmé," he said softly, gazing her deep into the eyes, and Padmé felt herself losing into his beautiful eyes. He looked so much like Anakin…

"You are special."

He moved again to kiss her, and Padmé allowed it. She felt as if she were in a trance. It was a tender kiss first, but it grew more passionate with each moment. Time seemed to stop, and Padmé felt herself losing in this kiss, surprised by the softness of his lips. She felt safe and comfortable in his embrace, and her entire being yearned for more-

"In the name of the Galactic Senate of Republic, you are arrested, Kayle Mentho," a dark voice sounded above them.

Padmé heard the familiar humming sound of many lightsabers and broke away from Kayle. She looked up and felt as if the air was drawn from her lungs. She wanted to scream, but her voice abandoned her.

Four Jedi - Mace Windu, Kit Fisto, Obi-Wan Kenobi and … Anakin were standing by her bed, their lightsabers ignited, but Padmé's eyes saw just Anakin. His face, an emotionless Jedi mask, could as well be carved out of stone. His eyes, usually so warm and glowing with love, were icy cold, and looked with contempt at her instead of love.