I had to disable anonymous reviews for me today just so you know, someone gave me a particularly nasty one on a different fic and it turns out he was stupid enough to use his actual pen name when doing it so he is blocked from reviewing me ever again.

Chapter 7: Training

Padmé awoke the next day in the bed Vader had set for her in his room. It was quite warm and comfortable and she didn't want to get out of it. She glanced at the digital chrono-holoprojector and her end table. Eight in the morning. She should get up. She slipped out of bed without any sluggishness and dressed in her Sith robes, tied all her hair back and went to the kitchen area for breakfast.

When she arrived at the counter she discovered Vader to not be around which was unusual, he was always with her from her experience the past two days. He had however left something. There was a data pad on the surface of the counter with a note imprinted on it from Vader. Next to it was some sort of green smoothie and a small bowl of Nubian fruit. The note read:

Amidala,

Drink the smoothie and eat the fruit immediately. Walk out of my quarters and enter the turbo lift across the hall. Take it one floor down exit, and turn to your left. Go to the second door on the right in that corridor. It is a little training room I have set up where you will begin to learn the ways of the Sith.

Eat up

Lord Vader

Padmé followed the instructions and ate the fruit and drank the smoothie. Neither of which tasted bad at all. After eating she felt extremely energized and walked out of the quarters to the sparring room. After debarking she was there in thirty seconds flat. The door opened to reveal a room about as large as Sidious's throne room, though the ceiling wasn't so high. The room was white, like every other, but it was also different. Vader had set blue mats on every inch of the floor. The back wall also had a mat. There were several blue obstacles everywhere as well. I blue punching bag, bars as high as her head to jump over, poles to climb, sparring droid poles to practice with and a few sets of durasteel weights and training mechanisms. It the center of the room sitting on the blue mats was Vader himself looking over some data pads. He looked up at her when she entered. She sat down by him and waited for him to speak.

"I found some records of you." Vader said.

"For what?"

"Physical training." Vader replied. "It says on a record from the Nubian Royal Defense Training Center"

"NRDTC." Padmé corrected.

"Well it says from the NRDTC that you are the highest rank in several different types of martial arts?"

"Yes."

"It also says that you are fully trained in the use of blaster rifles, blaster pistols, sniper rifles, and thermal detonator use, correct?"

"Yes."

"And it also says you were trained in melee weapons combat. In the use of vibroblades, vibroswords, quarterstaffs, and force pikes, correct?"

"Yes."

"It also says on your melee test record that you passed a section of the test that required you to spar with a lightsaber and you bested the sword master of Naboo in two minutes and thirteen seconds correct?"

"It was a training saber and yes. I was able to use it."

"Then I doubt I will have to train you much in lightsaber combat. Exactly what force of sword fighting do you use?"

"Makashi."

"Ah, well when you are able to use the force you will be a true Makashi stylist."

"Alright, so are we training today master?"

"I would not have called you down here if we were not, nor would I have set all this equipment up. Do not ask questions like that in the future, feel for the logical answer in the force."

"So, what are we going to do."

"You are going to stay seated while I get something right now." Vader replied standing up and walking to the other side of the room. When he returned to her he was carrying a small metal box with no lid. He tipped it over and several fist sized rocks tumbled out and landed at her feet.

"Today we are going to try and levitate these rocks with the Force. It is an exercise for Padawan Jedi to help them learn to connect with and wield the Force."

"So how do I do it?"

"I am getting there!" Vader snapped. "Close your eyes."

"What?"

"Close them, it tends to be easier for apprentices to feel the Force without distractions such as sight."

"Alright." Padmé said skeptically and she shut her eyes.

"Now." Vader said. "The Force flows through all living things, it surrounds us penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together. But the Force is not something to be worshiped and feared, and it is not to guide you. It is a tool, for you to take control of. Now empty your mind and feel the stones on the floor through the Force.

"Sense them, wrap all of your senses around them and lift."

Vader tapped into the Force and after several seconds felt a tiny ripple, like a leaf hitting a pool of water. He looked to Padmé.

"Excellent first try, you had the Force under your control for a moment, now keep it there and lift the rock."

She did it again, there was another ripple and all three rocks lifted a millimeter off the ground. Vader admitted he was surprised.

"Good, good." He said sounding like Sidious. "Do it again, keep them up there, use all of the Force, you need to use more."

She tried once more and this time all three rocks lifted a foot of the ground, stayed there for at least fifteen seconds and feel.

XxX

A Month Later

Padmé woke up in her bed, ready for the usual routine. Eat breakfast and go train for three hours. When she entered the training room Vader was wearing nothing but a pair of black trousers. She took to long of a look at him and he noticed.

"Stop looking at me." He said. "I felt it, we both have decided we cannot do it."

"You're right, lets get on with the training."

"Stand over there." Vader said. Pointing to the matted wall of the room. This was now the norm, a few levitation drills. She had progressed quite far, she could tap into the force at will and stop most anything that Vader could send her way. He smiled.

"Ready!" He cried. "Begin!"

He lifted his hands and seven rocks the size of his legs flew at her. She lifted her hands, they stopped in midair and flew to opposite sides of the room. Vader smiled. She loved it when he… wait no, she couldn't think about that. Next five stones as big as Vader flew toward her and she stopped them and sent them away once more. This went on for hours, stone after stone. She stopped them all, perfectly. By the tip the second hour she was tired and Force exhausted. So was Vader, each were drenched in sweat from matted hair to smelly feet. She saw now why Vader didn't wear a shirt. In face- she ripped off her own shirt and tossed it to the side of the room, wearing nothing but and undergarment. Vader's gaze flickered to her wet chest. Both denied it but each were starting to examine one another. Padmé's glance stayed on Vader a little to long when he came out of the shower soaking wet. And Vader's glance stayed on Padmé a bit to long when she went came out of the shower as well. Both had seen each other without clothes quite a few times.

Vader's gaze stayed on Padmé after her shirt landed. He quickly flicked it away and pulled out two lightsabers from his trouser pockets. One was his and the other was Xen's set to stun for training. He handed her Xen's and sent out twelve training droids. Ten laser bolts zoomed at her and she deflected each, Vader activated his own lightsaber which was at full power and absorbed the stray energy blots that bounced off the walls. After several minutes of firing each droid deactivated and fell to the ground. Padmé knew what was coming next, the second best part to dueling a drenched-in-sweat-Vader. And there she went again, thinking about him, she pushed it out of her mind focusing on the droid that was about to come out of a hidden wall panel. But then suddenly the lights went pitch black and a blaster bolt flew at her. She deflected it and it burned into a mat.

"What is going on master?" She asked.

"Your eyes deceive you, don't trust them." Vader's voice said. "There are five assassin droids in here now with night vision, each armed with a vibroblade and set to kill you. Use the Force, find them and destroy them, they cannot fight back. They can only kill you when close enough."

"I'll try."

"There is no try!" Vader cried. She could practically see his eyes turn yellow, or maybe she sensed it. "Do or do not."

She didn't answer him, she was about to do. She tapped into the Force and sensed the contours of the room around her. It was as though it was now bathed in golden light. She found one droid, extended a hand in its direction and pulled it to her with the Force. Activating her saber she stabbed it when it was a few feet away from her. Suddenly she heard the clank of magnapads, now the remaining four came at her. She sensed them box her in, each prepared to stab. She could actually feel the worried concern from Vader. He was having trouble controlling his feelings.

She leaped upward as the droids stabbed and grabbed onto one of the many chairs hanging from the ceiling. She droid looked around in confusion, she sensed their heads rotate and used the Force to push each on a little more. Each droid neck snapped and the bodies fell with a muffled thud onto the ground.

"Excellent." Vader said as the lights came back on. He was defiantly sweating more, he looked like he had recently stepped out of a moisture evaporator. His hair was matted and his trousers stuck to his legs. She on the other hand looked more like she had been squirted with a children's water blaster in the face, neck, stomach, and back. She was a lot less wet than he. "That is enough for today."

Padmé looked down but did not let her disappointment show. She enjoyed dueling a shirtless Vader just as he enjoyed examining her as she exited the shower. But today she could not enjoy fighting him. But he could enjoy watching her exit the shower. Though she could do the same to him. Wait, why was she pondering on how best to catch him wet or vise versa. She had to stop. She was so busy thinking she didn't notice Vader had left until the door closed. She quickly hurried after him.