Author's Notes: In case you read the original upload, I made an error in one of the lines near the end of Chapter 3. Gizzi has pointed it out, and I thank you for doing so. It should be edited now; the refresh rate on this site takes a bit of time. Also, this is the point where I'll be slowing down on the time jumps. No more big leaps like three months later or six months later. I needed to establish a period of time with Padme and Vader before I could successfully (in my mind) go about the story I wanted to tell.

Chapter 4

Vader may look like a man, but he isn't one. He's lived far too long in this darkness, knowing no other comfort beyond death and he has long ceased feeling human. The mask he wears is proof of that damnation.

He thought back to the night before, an action he scarcely allowed himself to do. In spite of the bitterness in her voice, there held a tenderness in her touch that left him confused. He looked into the glass that separated him between the world, his reflectiona stranger to him.

Struggling slightly to pull his armor on, he winced silently when he lifted his mask over his head. The colors around him turned a darker shade as he sealed his mask shut.

Over the months since their marriage, he has committed infractions that the Emperor wasn't too keen to let go. He had known that there would be consequences but he was too far numb to care.

She brought out something in him he couldn't describe.

Beyond even his own comprehension, he knew of one thing.

He had a need to protect her.

And to this day, he didn't know why.

City of Alderaan

Senator Bail Organa walked along a long corridor besides Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"Thank you for sheltering us, Senator, but you've taken a big risk by hiding us here. Sooner or later, Palpatine will find us. It'll only be a matter of time."

"We will do what we must," Senator Bail Organa said with determination and sincerity. "But I will not let more friends fall by the hands of that madman."

"Your people will need you. The Empire will continue to rise, and soon, the galaxy will be under its throes," Obi-Wan sighed. "Senator Amidala was a good friend of yours…"

"And yours," the Senator reminded the Master Jedi.

Obi-Wan nodded. "It isn't easy to leave her behind with him."

"I've known Padme a long time, Obi-Wan. She's strong; she always has been. She will not give into to the Emperor or Darth Vader."

A moment of silence appeared between them until Bail finally asked what he had learned of his friend's captor days ago.

"And what of Darth Vader? Have we learned anything new about him?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "No. There's no record of him anywhere, none that we can find anyway. Palpatine has made sure of that. But I know that he's human."

Senator Bail rested his hands behind the small of his back as they turned a corner.

"It's hard to imagine that something that looked so fearsome like the mask he wears held a human face beneath it. If it is true, I often wondered how he got there. If I didn't think him a monster, I'd feel sorry for him."

"Once you have fallen to the dark side, there's no turning back," Obi-Wan said knowingly.

Senator Bail nodded agreeably.

Throne Room, Coruscant

"Come forward, my apprentice."

Darth Vader took several steps forward and took a knee; he bowed his head as he's done so for many years. A habit never to be broken in his master's presence.

"Yes, Master"

The Emperor snickered at the leveled tone of his apprentice. The beating he received from him earlier did little to change his attitude. His countenance over the years has changed drastically.

Always the loyal servant until he'd given him the Senator.

In order to fulfill his goals, he needed her alive. If he killed her now, there would be a revolt in his newly formed Empire he felt no desire to fight with. No, he was going to keep her alive for as long as she served his purpose.

But that won't stop him from punishing his protégé for disobeying his orders.

And for allowing Obi-Wan Kenobi slip through his grasps.

He will be punished, for that the Emperor was certain. A slick evil smile graced his lips as he let a bolt of power and lightning escape his fingertips, throwing Darth Vader across the room where he held him there for countless minutes.

Darth Vader gasped in pain, having mentally prepared himself for the onslaught.

Oddly enough, he barely felt half of it, as if he was death itself.

The Dark Side has consumed him too much that he'd forgotten what it was like to feel… anything.

Pain was his medicine.

It always has been.

It always will be.

Vader used the force to hold whatever pain he felt inside of him as he walked with his head held high and authoritavely out of the Throne Room. Servants and Storm Troopers withheld their gazes as he exited without showing a hint of him being harmed, when they knew that the screams within the doors sounded otherwise.

Vader finally made his way back, his mind weakening with every step. He typed his access codes into the door and it slid open. The moment he step foot, he collapsed to the ground.

In the bedroom, Padme stepped out and saw the door open.

Her salvation.

She caught a glimpse of Vader on the ground before instinct forced her legs to move. Halfway down the hall, she stopped when her conscience got the better of her. She turned back and saw him motionless on the ground.

Cursing under her breath, she went back to him as a part of her mind wondered if she would even make it out of this building alive had she escaped at all.

"Vader," she kneeled down once again, an occurrence that seemed to happen a lot with him nowadays. As heavy as he was, she used any strength that she had to pull him inside.

The door hissed closed and she shut her eyes timidly. That could've been her freedom… then again; it could've been her death as well.

Life for her has always held a sense of uncertainty.

Soonafter, Padme went through the process of removing his mask and armor once again. She was no use to him with all of it on, and it would make getting him comfortable all the more easier.

Padme sighed in realization. She was trying to make Vader comfortable. A man she married out of fear and obligation. A man who cared for nobody's well-being but his own.

But she felt that knowledge wasn't entirely true.

While his words always stung her, his actions spoke otherwise.

Vader opened his eyes slightly and in a soft voice that seemed natural, he says, "I'm sorry." Then he fell back down to unconsciousness, leaving Padme more confused than ever before.

Vader awoke in the middle of the night, sweat beading down on him as he swelled with a fever. The young Senator sat besides the bed, her knees lifted to her chest as her head rested against her elbow.

Vader watched her in silence as she slept soundly. He couldn't imagine that sleeping like that would be comfortable, but she never struck him as the kind of person to complain over such a mundane thing.

Trying desperately to move his limbs, the Emperor's wrath upon his body suddenly came at full force, and with his senses weakened, he felt every bit of it. He let out hard and uneven breaths.

The Senator's eyes snapped open and she quickly leaned forward.

"What are you doing?" she asked, preparing to reprimand him. "You're hurt and you're weak." She laid her hand against his cheek and he could feel the warmth radiate off it. "You must rest," she insisted softly.

Her touch sent an unfamiliar feeling of desire inside him. He shuddered back, frightening her, but only for a moment before she turned irritated.

"If you don't allow your body to heal, you might as well kill yourself now," she spoke angrily.

Vader tried to look away but it was useless. She was just so strong and defiant, courageous and incredibly stubborn.

"This is the second time you've removed my mask," he said instead, his voice back to its emotionless tone.

Padme tried not to send a glare his way but it couldn't be helped.

"Well it's the second time you've nearly bled to death in front of me, consider us even."

A small smirk played on his lips, and if Padme hadn't been watching him so intently, she would've surely missed it.

Suddenly, Vader begins to shake uncontrollably. Padme placed the back of her hand to his forehead to feel his temperature.

"You feel so cold," she said, still amazed that after so many hours, his skin felt ice-cold against her touch.

"There's nothing you can do about that," he said without a care in the world. The coldness has been something he had gotten used to a long time ago. It's become so much a part of him, it made him appear dead.

It's fitting to be known as a cold-hearted monster.

Because he is one.

"No man, not even as one as evil as you, deserves this," she said very convincingly.

Vader found himself admiring her for her selfless devotion even with the knowledge that it can get her killed. She had withstood much since Palpatine rose to complete power, and in all that time, even as his prisoner, she remained steadfast in her convictions.

Not since Palpatine had taken him in as a child has someone taken the time to care for him. Her words of comfort, and the gentleness in the way she touched him felt foreign, yet oddly enough, he welcomed it.

"Why?" he asked aloud.

Padme looked at him, confused.

"You could've left, but you stayed. Why?"

Padme let out a deep breath. That was a question she herself has been mulling over all night. The opportunity had literally been an open invitation to leave, and while a large part of her wanted to get out and runaway, the cause in which she initially agreed to this marriage and her reluctance to leave a gravely hurt man die had been too much for her conscience to handle.

She dipped a dry cloth into a warm bowl of water. Squeezing it dry, she began to clean the open wounds on his abdomen. Vader flinched slightly at her touch.

"It is not in my nature," she answered in a low voice.

Vader's reddish eyes bore into hers in an almost unforgiving manner.

"But it is in mine."

Padme wasn't surprised by his proclamation, but she continued on, helping him as she would do any other. If she could pretend for just one moment, this could have been any other day for her.

"And that is why I will never surrender to you or your master."

For a brief second, she could swear that she saw a swirl of blue in his eyes, and as she allowed herself to take a closer look, she found none.

"You are a fool to think that my master can't break you," he sneered, but he remained no more dangerous than he already is.

"Perhaps," she replied evenly.

Being around her was difficult enough for Vader, but to talk to her like this, seeing her so calm and collected in the face of dangerous adversity, it left the Sith Lord daring to believe the galaxy wasn't completely useless.

"Try not to move too much." Then something sprung to mind. "Can't you… you know…"

"Do what?"

"I thought all those with the power to wield the force could heal."

Vader gives her a faraway look. "The Dark Side doesn't heal. We rule and destroy. That is all we are."

Padme frowned. "That's a lonely existence."

"But we exist, and that is enough."

"Is it?" she challenged softly.

To be continued…

Author's End Notes: Gizzi, thanks again for the awesome feedback. MissNaye, it'll only be a matter of times until things get complicated between Vader and Padme. DarthGladiator45, I hope I can continue to sustain your interest. Uhm, there are certainly a mirror of similarities and we'll see where that takes this story. JediMan, it is just an armor but there was an incredibly subtle hint in this last chapter about what may be a number of reasons he wears it. Thanks for the comment, Delrious. naberrie, how do I reply to your comment without giving anything away? lol Stefymoon, as I look over my characterization of him, I totally agree with you. wildchartermage, I'm glad you like it.